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 1881
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington]
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of the population of Brompton, whilst in the Town sub-district
there is a large and increasing percentage of persons of the poorer
classes. The poor in Kensington, however, have one advantage
over the poor in some other parts of the Metropolis in that they
live in well-built houses obviously intended for occupation by a
superior class of people, miles of streets of such houses being now
inhabitedby a class of persons who, in the older parts of the Metropolis,
find shelter in dwellings that by comparison might be described
as squalid. But rents are high, and high rents where the poor dwell,
mean overcrowding, which is certain in the long run to increase the
death-rate wherever it exists. That the overcrowding I have long
suspected is going on may be seen in the section on "Population."
This state of things has already, I fear, led to a greater variation
in the rate of mortality in different sections of the parish than
should rightly prevail. The ultimate effect of the overcrowding,
unless a remedy should be found, and of this I see no prospect,
unless it be in an exodus to newer and cheaper suburbs, will be to
cause the death-rate of Kensington to approximate more and more
closely to the Metropolitan rate.
The Parish of Kensington is for some local purposes divided into "Wards:" the subjoined table shows the acreage of the wards, their population, and the number of inhabited houses, etc., in 1871 and 1881.
| Name of Ward. | Area in Statute Acres | Inhabited houses. | Increase in 10 years. | Population | Increase 10 years.* | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1871 | 1881 | 1871 | 1881 | ||||
| St. Mary Abbotts | 846 | 4,781 | 6,573 | 1,792 | 35,696 | 48,604 | 12,908 |
| Holy Trinity, | 439 | 3,224 | 3,936 | 712 | 22,128 | 26,746 | 4,618 |
| Brompton | |||||||
| St. John, Notting hill, and St. James Norland. | 905 | 7,730 | 9,594 | 1,864 | 62,475 | 87,574 | 25,099 |
The increase in the number of "inhabited houses," is perhaps,
not quite accurately set out in the above table. The description
"inhabited house" on the rate books applies to rated premises,
and, under the provisions of the Act for the Quinquennial Valuation
of Property, many premises have been separately rated since 1871 that
* The increase in the table totals up 42,625, and was ascertained upon the unrevised
figures of the Census, showing a parish population of 162,924. The actual
increase was 42,852, the revised figures of the Census, showing a population of
163,151, but details are not yet available,