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
Brentford and Chiswick 1958
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Brentford and Chiswick]
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The number of new dwellings built by the Council showed a slight drop over
the previous year and there were very few built by private enterprise in the
Borough during 1958.
The houses built by the Council were still required for rehousing of tenants
from slum clearance areas, and the need for rehousing of families from requisitioned
properties which would be due for release before 1960 meant that still
the waiting list of overcrowded families could not be dealt with.
The unemployment figures for adult persons, i.e. aged 18 and over, in the
Borough at the end of 1958, reflected the national general decrease in the number
of jobs available due to a widespread readjustment of industry. On 8th December
1958, there were 283 unemployed altogether of which 223 were men and 58 women.
This compares with 140 men and 42 women unemployed at the end of 1957 and 125
men and 59 women unemployed at the end of 1956.
On 3rd December 1958, the number of jobs vacant totalled 227 of which 93
were for men and 134 were for women.
Although the level of unemployment was higher in 1958 than in previous years, there was still a condition of fairly full employment existing in the Borough up to the end of the year bearing in mind that a considerable proportion of the numbers unemployed were men and women in the course of changing their jobs.
| Boys | Girls | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of young persons (other than school leavers) registered as unemployed on 31.12.58 | 11 | 10 | 21 |
| Boys and Girls who left school at Christmas to enter employment | 62 | 60 | 122 |
| Totals | 73 | 70 | 143 |
Vacancies outstanding at 31.12.58 69 128 197
The number of vacancies is a little deceptive since the Christmas leavers
had still to be placed in work after 31st December, also a choice of work for
boys leaving school was not so great as in recent years.
| Area in Acres | |
|---|---|
| Boston Manor Park and Island | 40.7 |
| Carville Hall Park South | 5.8 |
| Carville Hall Park North | 10.3 |
| St. Paul’s Recreation Ground | 4.3 |
| The Ham Recreation Ground | 1.3 |
| Chiswick Common South | 8.7 |
| Chiswick House | 65.9 |
| Stamford Brook Common | 2.5 |
| Homefields Recreation Ground | 8.7 |
| Strand Open Space | 2.5 |
| Turnham Green Common | 7.5 |
| Duke’s Meadow Sports Ground | 25.7 |
| Embankment Promenade | 12.5 |
| Future Embankment Promenade | 15.3 |
| Chiswick Open Air Pools Site | 1.2 |
10.4 acres of the above open space land is used as allotments.
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