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9
Report on the Birth-rate and Death-rate of the Parish, for the ten years
1887 to 1896 inclusive.
To the Public Health Committee.
Gentlemen,
The comments which have recently been made upon
the high birth and death-rates of the Parish of St. Luke for the
year 1896 have induced me to compare the statistics with those
of previous years, in order that we may judge whether or no there
is justification for assuming that the Parish is less healthy than
formerly, and if the criticisms are just, to endeavour to ascertain
the causes upon which they are founded.
The first table annexed hereto shows the results of the several
Censuses of 1871, 1881, 1891, and 1896, and the decrease in the
population during each interval, also the number of births and
deaths, and the rates per 1,000 of the population for the years
named.
The several Districts into which the Parish is divided for the
purposes of registration of births and deaths is shown in this
table, and the enormous decrease which has taken place in the
southern portion of the Parish is made apparent.
The second series of tables relate to the ten years from 1887 to
1896 inclusive, and give the ascertained population for each year.
These figures are arrived at by dividing the decrease at each
Census by the number of years intervening (viz., 10 or 5) and
deducting the result from the preceding year's population.
The last table is a summary of the foregoing, and shows at a
glance the number of births and deaths with the rates per 1,000
of the population living during each of the ten years mentioned.
In dealing with the birth-rate permit me again to refer to a
fact to which I have from time to time called attention in my
Annual Reports, namely, that the number of births registered in
the Parish, and upon which the data of the Registrar-General is
formed, should not be taken as the basis upon which to estimate
the birth-rate, because it includes from 400 to 500 infants born
in the City of London Lying-in Hospital, while only 7 to 8 per
cent, of the parents of the said children are permanent residents
of the Parish. It is not, therefore, strictly accurate to state, as