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The County Borough is an important industrial centre. In
addition to a number of factories in the North, there are in the
South of the Borough some of the largest and most important
factories in or near London. These factories manufacture various
articles such as rubber, soap, sugar, and glass.
By rail it is only about 5 miles from the City of London,
hence a large number of the populace work in London and district.
The whole of the Royal Victoria Dock, and part of the Royal
Albert, and the new King George the Fifth Docks, as well as the
locomotive and other works of the London and North Eastern
Railway Company, and the carriage works of the Midland Railway
Company (London, Tilbury, and Southend section) are
within the district. There are extensive docks, consequently one
finds a large number of casual labourers.
West Ham is a densely populated town, having 63 persons
to the acre.
There is still a great shortage of houses in the district, and
even with the addition of new houses erected by the Council and
private enterprise, there is still a very long list of persons requiring
increased or improved housing accommodation. In this connection
there is a dearth of building sites in the Borough.
The growth of the district can be observed by the fact that in
1762 the number of houses in the Borough was 700, whereas in
1931 the number was 49,280.
Summary of General Statistics.
Area (acres) 4,706.
Population—
Census 1931, 294,278.
Estimated population to the middle of 1932, 289,300.
Number of inhabited houses (1931), 49,280.
Number of families or separate occupiers (1931), 72,994.
Average Rateable Value—
General Rate, £1,404,660.
Sum represented by a Penny Rate—General District Rate, £5,853.
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