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
Kensington 1877
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington]
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The decennial average birth rate in Kensington was 31.9 (see
Table 2, Appendix). One hundred and five males were born to
every 100 females, the males forming 51.5, and the females 48.5
per cent. of the total number of births. The low birth-rate in
Kensington as a parish is due to the excess of female population
above alluded to. The difference between the birth-rate in the
whole Metropolis (36.1) and in the Brompton sub-district (22.6)
is striking. The "Town" birth-rate does not present such a
great contrast to the Metropolitan rate. The births exceeded the
deaths by 2,090, a proportion greater than usual, and due to the
low death-rate. The illegitimate births numbered 191, or 4T per
cent. of total births. One hundred and seventy-one of the
illegitimate births were registered In the Town sub-district, and 20
in Brompton. The former district contains the parish workhouse,
where, out of 122 births, 86 were registered as illegitimate.
The subjoined table shows the quarterly number of births of each sex registered in the sub-district:—
| Kensington Town Sub-District. | Brompton. Sub-District. | Grand Total. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Males. | Females. | Total. | Males. | Females. | Total. | ||
| 1st Quarter | 529 | 468 | 997 | 99 | 99 | 198 | 1,195 |
| 2nd „ | 426 | 461 | 887 | 114 | 94 | 208 | 1,095 |
| 3rd „ | 474 | 478 | 952 | 116 | 115 | 231 | 1,183 |
| 4th „ | 507 | 428 | 935 | 121 | 116 | 240 | 1,1 75 |
| Total | 1,936 | 1,835 | 3,771 | 453 | 424 | 877 | 4,648 |
DEATHS AND DEATH RATE.
The deaths registered in Kensington were 2,558, or 1 death to
59 of the population. The deaths were fewer by 338 than in 1876,
without making any allowance for an increase of 3,000 in the
population. The total, moreover, includes 124 deaths of nonparishioners
in the Hospital at Brompton for Consumption and
Diseases of the Chest. These deaths are retained in our statistics
as a compensative allowance for the unknown number of deaths of
parishioners which may have taken place in general hospitals and
elsewhere outside the parish. To the total of 2,558, moreover, we
must add 66, viz., the deaths from small-pox (60) and "fever" (6)
in the hospitals of the Sick Asylum Board. The gross death-rate,
therefore (reckoning the deaths at 2,624) was 17.3 per 1,000, as
against 21.9 in the whole Metropolis, and 194, the decennial
average in Kensington (see Table 2, Appendix). Of the deaths
registered in the parish, 2,002 occurred in the Town sub-district
(including 227 at the Parish Infirmary and Workhouse, and
33 at St. Joseph's House), and 5.57 in Brompton (including
130 at the Consumption Hospital). Twelve hundred and
ninety males died out of an estimated population of 62,000,