London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Shoreditch 1929
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Shoreditch]
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The number of deaths properly belonging to Shoreditch is accordingly 1,593, which
figure gives a general death rate per 1,000 population of 16.1. The death rate in
England and Wales for 1929 was 13.4 and in London 13.8.
The death rate in Shoreditch has not been so high as 16'1 since 1918, the year of
the influenza epidemic, when it was 22.7.
The high death rate during 1929 is to be attributed to the spell of extremely cold
weather at the beginning of the year, during which period weekly death rates much
above the average were recorded.
In the Table on page 4 are included corresponding figures for Shoreditch
during recent years.
The distribution of the deaths and the death rates in the different Wards are qiven below :—
| Ward. | Males. | Females | Total. | Deaths per 1,000 population. | Deaths of infants under 1 year per 1,000 births registered. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moorfields | 35 | 38 | 73 | 18.5 | 83.3 |
| Church | 160 | 137 | 297 | 17.1 | 103.2 |
| Hoxton | 133 | 110 | 243 | 16.1 | 92.1 |
| Wenlock | 128 | 89 | 217 | 15.9 | 60.1 |
| Whitmore | 153 | 138 | 291 | 17.1 | 118.9 |
| Kingsland | 68 | 76 | 144 | 14.5 | 65.2 |
| Haggerston | 80 | 62 | 142 | 13.6 | 39.4 |
| Acton | 95 | 91 | 186 | 16.3 | 80.6 |
| Totals | 852 | 741 | 1,593 | 16.1 | 83.3 |
Considering the deaths at all ages the chief causes are seen to be as follows:—
Heart disease, 351 (22 per cent.); Cancer, 146 (9 per cent.); Tuberculosis, all forms,
115 (7 per cent.); Pneumonia, all forms, 154 (9 per cent.). The number of deaths
due to accidents in connection with vehicular traffic was 18. In the years 1920 to
1928, inclusive, the corresponding figures were respectively 16, 10, 12, 9, 15, 14, 16,
21 and 15. The particulars regarding the deaths from cancer are contained in the
table on page 16.
It will be noted from the Table on page 10 that the chief causes of death of
children between the ages of one and two years were Pneumonia and whooping
cough—these two causes in fact accounted for 45 out of a total of 71 deaths between
these ages.
Altogether 239 or 15 0 per cent, of the total number of deaths of all ages were of
children under the age of 5 years.
The particulars regarding deaths from Tuberculosis are given in the section of
this report devoted to that disease.
In the subjoined table are set forth the various institutions outside Shoreditch
with the number of persons belonging to the Borough dying therein :—