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 1914

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Stepney]

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REPORT
of the
MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH AND PUBLIC ANALYST
FOR THE YEAR 1914.
To the Mayor, Aldermen, and Councillors of the
Metropolitan Borough of Stepney.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have much pleasure in submitting to you my fourteenth Annual Report,
which deals with the Vital and Sanitary Statistics of the Borough of Stepney
for the year 1914.
Population.

Table: The resident population of the Borough of Stepney estimated to the middle of the year was 273,265, distributed as follows:—

The resident population of the Borough of Stepney estimated to the middle of the year was 273,265, distributed as follows:—

Limehouse District52,238
St. George-in-the-East46,345
Mile End Old Town110,452
Whitechapel District64,230
273,265

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Towards the end of the year, the empty houses were very few in number. The
population is therefore to that extent under-estimated and the actual birth-rate
and death-rate are really lower than recorded in this Report.
The further we are removed in time from the preceding census, the more
inexact our estimated population becomes, and the less reliable are all vital statistics.
For statistical and comparative purposes, it is almost impossible to depart from the
method adopted by the Registrar-General in order to arrive at an estimate of the
population. This method is based on the assumption that the rate of increase, or
decrease, which prevailed in the last completed intercensal period, has been similar
since the census was made. The results obtained by this method are not correct.
In 1891, the census population was 284.931, and in 1901_it_was 298,600. There was