London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Whitechapel 1861

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Whitechapel]

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In order to show in which of the sub-districts the population has increased and decreased, I have been able, from information kindly afforded to me by the Registrar-General, to construct the subjoined Table:-

DISTRICTS.Population enumerated.Increase + DecreaseNo. of distinct Families.Houses.No. of Persons in Public Buildings.
1861.Total.1851.InhabitedUninhabitedBuildingBuildings.M.F.Total.
M.F.
Artillery3080347765576769—2121503732170Workhouse253385638
Spitalfields788978111570015336+ 36431631535356London217188405
Mile-end N. Twn.770376891539214543+ 84934851641420Hospital
Whitechapel N609760121210912530—421251015474019Sailors'2020202
Whitchpl. Church4000406080607818+ 24219211000380Borne
Goodman's Fields548556811116612069—90325461263720Tower616167783
Aldgate55514429998010694—7141963949361Docks, &c.4150415
Total39805391597896479759—7951709186672802617037402443

From this Table it appears that an increase in the population has taken place in the
Spitalfields, Mile End New Town, and Whitechapel Church sub districts, amounting in the
aggregate to 1.455, while, the Artillery, Whitechapel North, Goodman's Fields, and Aldgate
sub-districts have fallen off to the extent of 2.250. Several causes have contributed to this
result, for instance—the taking down of numerous inhabited houses and erecting warehouses on
their sites—the building of the Victoria Docks at the extreme east of the metropolis, which
has induced a great many of the labouring class, who lived in the southern part of this district,
to leave their habitations, and to locate themselves in the more immediate vicinity of the newly-,
constructed works, in the expectation of employment—the operation of the Common Lodging
House Act, which has limited the number of persons to the cubic dimensions of each room, and
to the emigration of families to other parts of the world.
The effect of the house to house visitation which has been for some time practised ia
this district, may, to a certain extent, have prevented that further overcrowding of the remaining
houses, which might have been expected, as the result of displacing so many of the working
classes as the recent improvements have occasioned. In all the neighbouring districts, with
the exception of each of the three divisions of the City of London, the population has increased
since the taking of the census in 1851. In the East London, West London, and London City,
the number of houses is less by 1,228, and the population in these districts has decreased to
the extent of 15,804.
In order to estimate, with some degree of accuracy, the relative proportionate mortality
of each district, every circumstance relating to a difference in the condition of the population
must be considered, such as the number of children in proportion to the adults, the ages of the
adults, the occupation of the people, &c., which information, so soon as I am myself acquainted
with it, I shall lay before you, with my deductions therefrom. In the mean time, I am able to
state the number of the population, the number of distinct families, and the number of
inhabited houses in each sub-district; from which data we can calculate the number of persons
residing on an average in each house, and the average number in each family. Thus, it appears
that in the Artillery sub-district, there are 1,503 distinct families, and 732 inhabited houses,
whiph, on an average, is 4.3 in each family, and 8.9 in each bouse. In the Spitalfields sub-