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
Stepney 1902
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Stepney]
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For census purposes a block of model dwellings was counted as a single house,
whatever may have been the number of separate tenements. At the census of 1891
in some cases the local registrars failed to observe this rule, and returned each
tenement as a house; consequently the numbers of inhabited houses in 1891 and
1901 have not much value for comparative purposes.
TABLE C.—S eparate families , 1891 and 1901.
| 1891. | 1901. | |
|---|---|---|
| Limehouse | 12,425 | 12,485 |
| St. George's | 10,311 | 10,000 |
| Mile End Old Town | 24,668 | 24,558 |
| Whitechapel | 14,258 | 14,070 |
| 61,681 | 61,113 |
TABLE D.—T otal tenements and tenements of less than five rooms.
| 1891. | 1901. | |
|---|---|---|
| Total tenements | 61,681 | 61,113 |
| One roomed | 16,101 | 13,282 |
| Two roomed | 16,437 | 15,690 |
| Three roomed | 10,979 | 11,926 |
| Four roomed | 7,666 | 8,284 |
| Five roomed and over | 10,498 | 11,931 |
The number of inhabited houses has decreased from 33,866 in 1891 to 31,462
in 1902; this is partly due to tenement dwellings which are being erected, but
this does not entirely explain diminution, as the number of separate tenements has
decreased from 61,681 in 1891 to 61,113 in 1901, Part of the area has been taken
up by the warehouses and business premises, and the increased population has thus
been crowded on a diminished area and in a smaller number of houses. These houses,
however, are much loftier, and of course contain a larger number of rooms. The
number of separate families has also decreased. This relation of a diminution of
the number of families in an increased number of inhabitants is most marked in
those districts where the proportional increase of aliens has been highest.
Turning to the table giving the number of rooms in each tenement, the number
of one-roomed and two-roomed tenements has markedly diminished, but there was
an increase in the number of three, four and five-roomed tenements.
In Limehouse the number of separate families rose from 12,425 in 1891 to
12,485 in 1901, whilst the percentage of foreigners only increased from 2.1 to 3.7.