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16
Marriages.
There were 1,576 marriages (1,496 in 1937). The marriage rate was 20.88,
as compared with 20.0, 19.4, 17.9 and 18.19 in the four preceding years.
Deaths.
The total number of deaths registered in the Borough was 1,223. This figure
includes 179 non-residents who died in the district but does not include 532 residents
who died outside the Borough. When allowance is made for these inward and
outward transfers, the nett figure of 1,576 is obtained. The death rate for the
year was 10.4, compared with 11.1 in 1937, and 11.2 in 1936.
In order to make the local death rate comparable from a mortality point of
view with the crude death rate of the country as a whole, or with the mortality of
any other area, the Registrar General supplies a factor by which the crude death
rate should be multiplied, based upon the age and sex constitution of the population.
The proportion of old people to young and of men to women varies considerably
in different parts of the country, and these proportions affect the crude death rate.
The death rate is higher among old people and among young people than it is in
the middle periods of life, and at all ages the death rate for men is higher than it
is for women. The population of Woolwich differs from that of London in that
it is a younger population. Death rates in Woolwich from tuberculosis are
relatively higher and death rates from cancer relatively lower because of this fact,
and the general death rate compares favourably with Boroughs where a large
percentage of the population consists of older people. In order to obtain a proper
comparison an adjusting factor has been introduced by the Registrar General and
in the case of Woolwich it is higher than 1.0 because of the favourable distribution of
the population as to age and sex.
When the crude death rate for Woolwich (10.4) is multiplied by this adjusting
factor (1.06), the adjusted death rate for 1938 is found to be 11.0, and it is this
figure which should be used when comparing the death rate of Woolwich with that
of other districts.
In 1938 the death rate for England and Wales was 11.6, for London 11.4, and
the mean death rate for the 126 County Boroughs and Great Towns, including
London, was 11.7.
The seasonal mortality in the four quarters of the year was as follows:—
First quarter, 13.2; Second quarter, 9.5; Third quarter, 9.0; Fourth quarter, 9.9.
Deaths over 45 years of Age.— The number of deaths which occurred at 45 years
of age and over was 1,199 or 75.4 per cent, of the total deaths.