View report page

Population. The Registrar-General's estimate of the
resident population at the middle of the year 1937 was 259,500.
The allocation of the population to the different wards and the
changes in the size of the population through the years, are more
fully discussed in a later section.
The population of West Ham, as enumerated at the 1931
census, was 294,278 persons, of whom 143,714 were males and
150,564 females. The total population of the Administrative
County of Essex, including its associated County Boroughs, West
Ham, East Ham and Southend-on-Sea, at that Census was
1,755,459 persons. For further particulars of the Census population,
see the section on vital statistics.
Dwelling-houses. The total number of dwelling-houses
in the borough at the 1931 Census was 48,907, of which 298 were
unoccupied. The number of structurally separate dwellings at
that date was 49,280. The number of occupied rooms at that
date was 253,254, and the average number of persons per room
was 1.14. The number of private families in the borough at the
1931 Census was 72,994. The estimated number of dwellings at
the end of the year 1937 was 50,247, of which 49,972 were occupied
and 275 were unoccupied.
Rateable value and finance. The rateable value of this
borough in 1937 was £1,518,245, and the estimated product of
a penny rate was £5,942. The corresponding figures for 1936
were £1,510,131 and £5,998 respectively.
A summary of the income and expenditure of those
Committees of the Council which administrate the health services
is given in Table I. For this statement I am indebted to the
Borough Treasurer, Mr. E. J. Johnson, O.B.E.
Principal industries. A comprehensive list of the most
important industries in the borough is given in the publication
"The Story of West Ham" referred to previously. Some idea of
the variety of the industries which have developed may be gathered
from the fact that the published list—which is not claimed to be
complete—includes 146 separate and distinct trades. The
importance of the West Ham docks has already been mentioned,
and the London and North Eastern Railway works in Stratford
employ a large number of hands.
28