London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Kensington 1884

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington]

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"Kensington" is the title of a Superintendent Registrar's
District, No. 1 in the Registrar-General's list, which comprises the
parishes of Kensington and Paddington.

The subjoined table shows the relative areas of the two parishes, and other particulars relating to the Census years 1871 and 1881.

Area in Statute Acres.Inhabited houses. 1871. 1881.Increase in 10 yearsPopulation. 1871. 1881Increase in 10 years.
Kensington2,19015,73520,10314,368120,299163,15142,852
Paddington1,25111,84713,1871,34096,81-3107,09810,285

Registration Sub-Districts.—For registration purposes
Kensington parish is unequally divided into two "sub-districts,"
viz., "Kensington Town," hereinafter for brevity designated
"Town," and "Brompton." The area of the Town sub-district,
according to the Registrar-General, is 1,497 acres, that of Brompton,
being 693 acres; total, whole parish, 2,190 acres: in your
Vestry's Annual Report the total area is given as 2,245 acres
The population of the town sub-district at the middle of 1884 was
about 125,400, and that of Brompton 44,600; total, whole parish,
170,000. The Town sub-district still includes some open spaces,
e.g., Holland Park, and fields at Notting Barn Farm; the latter,
however, are now being built over. The Brompton sub-district,
in which the builder has been active of late years, many of the
new houses being of a palatial character, is now nearly covered.
The West London or Brompton Cemetery is in this sub-district,
and the Kensal Green Cemetery is in the Town sub-district:
both these cemeteries, it is to be regretted, are still in active use.
The sub-districts present considerable differences which should
be borne in mind in any comparison of their vital statistics.
In Brompton the rich and well-to-do form a large proportion of the
population, whilst in the Town sub-district there is a considerable
and an increasing percentage of persons of the poorer classes.
The poor in Kensington, however, possess one advantage over the
poor in some other parts of the Metropolis, in that for the most
part they live in well- built houses obviously intended for occupation
* The number 20,103 is taken from the Census return. The rate books show
20,705 occupied and rated premises, many of which, presumably, do not afford
living or sleeping accommodation, and therefore would not be enumerated at
the Census.
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