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Whitechapel North, where the rate of infantile mortality, in proportion
to the total deaths, has been in the two quarters mentioned above 34.1 per
cent.
The sub-district of Whitechapel North comprises that portion of the Parish
of Whitechapel which is bounded on the North partly by the Parish of
Spitalfields, partly by the centre of Old Montague Street and the Hamlet of
Mile End New Town, and partly by the Parish of Bethnal Green, and
bounded on the South by the centres of Whiteehapel High Street and
Whiteehapel Road. In this sub-district there are the crowded localities
of all the Courts on the East side of Middlesex Street, the South side of
Wentworth Street throughout its whole extent, Goulston Street and Goulston
Court, Castle Alley, George Yard and New Court in George Yard, Inkhorn
Court, Queen's Place, &c.; the whole of which places for density of population
is probably not exceeded in any other district in London.
As regards Castle Alley, I have, on three separate occasions, reported it to
be unfit for habitation, in consequence of the faulty construction of the
houses, the want of ventilation, and the impurity of its atmosphere.
It contained in May last, on a house-to-house visitation made by Mr.
"Wrack, a population of 375 persons; viz., 208 adults and 167 children.
There are 31 houses in which there are 108 rooms. The entire
area of the place is 1,496 square yards, which gives an average of about 4
square yards to each person. Castle Alley is entered by a covered way
several feet in length and only about 3 feet in width, and owing to the filth
which is daily deposited in this narrow passage it is always in an offensive
condition. The backs of the houses in Whiteehapel High Street completely
prevent a free current of air from entering this densely crowded locality, so
that the foul emanations which are given off from so many people congregated
together in this narrow place, extending from the entrance in Whiteehapel
High Street to the new Board School, cannot escape, and hence the
atmosphere is always close and fetid. In short, a privy smell pervades the
the whole place. This being so, it is in vain, in a sanitary point of view,
to enlarge the existing windows or make new ones in the houses ; for, by so
doing, an unhealthy atmosphere will only be admitted into the rooms.
The total mortality in the year ending October 10th, 1874, was 12; which
gives a death-rate of 32 per 1000; while the total mortality for the whole
District, excluding the deaths of non-residents in the London Hospital, but
including the deaths from accident in the same year, was 28.1 per 1000.
Although the rate of mortality in Castle Alley is 4 in 1000 in excess of the
rate of mortality in the entire district, yet the rate of mortality taken by
itself does not sufficiently indicate the comparative unhealthiness of any
particular locality; and in order to obtain the best information on this subject,
I made application to Mr. Sequeira, one of the Medical Officers of the Union,
to give me his opinion in writing of the sanitary condition of Castle Alley.
In his letter to me, dated 1st May, 1875, he states that during the whole