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West Ham is one of the three County Boroughs in Greater London. As the official
guide comments - "For centuries it has been sufficiently near to share the life of the
capital, and yet sufficiently distant to maintain its independence." From being a
largely rural and agricultural area at the end of the Napoleonic War, it rapidly became
a growing industrial town. The population increased from 6,500 in 1801 to over 267,000
at the end of the 19th Century. Sanitary conditions in the early years of rapid growth
were appalling. Vestry powers to cope with the situation were completely inadequate, and
even when a Local Board for he Sanitary District of West Ham was formed there were elements
beyond their powers, e.g. uncontrolled land,use, dreary housing, chronic under employment
and poverty. West Ham achieved County Borough status in 1888 and the progressive nature
of its municipal enterprise in the succeeding years is not as well known as it should be
nor is the damage which the Borough suffered in World War II. Thus, nearly a third of the
houses were totally destroyed, and there were heavy casualties amongst the civilian
population. Although the Authority has shown great zeal in tackling the tragic shortage
of housing due to the destructions of war and the sanitary unfitness of many of the remaining
properties, it has not been able to meet al the demands, and the need for more and better
housing is still of the greatest priority as far as the health and happiness of West Ham is
concerned. The Authority's problems have been accentuated because of the shortage of land
for rebuilding in a town which has both congested and slum areas.
Population
The Registrar General's estimate of the population on the 30th June, 1959, was 164,300.
The various rates per 1,000 population quoted in this report are based on this estimate.
The corresponding figure for 1958 was 165,000.
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