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The public is much indebted to the Rev. J. F. Kitto, the Rector
of Whitechapel, and the Rev. S. A. Barnett, Vicar of St. Jude's,
Whitechapel, for their strenuous exertions in obtaining this vacant
space for the use of the inhabitants of this District.
There are still two other open spaces in the Whitechapel District,
viz.: the disused burial grounds of Whitechapel and Spitalfields
Churches, which, I sincerely hope, will shortly be made available for
the recreation of the inhabitants of this densely crowded District
with its population, according to the last census, of 76573.
The acreage of the whole area of the District is only 405 statute
acres, or 1,958,200 square yards, including the 38 acres of the
River Thames; thus affording only about 25½ square yards for each
inhabitant. For the health of the people it would be better not to
erect another house in the District until the population is sensibly
diminished.
Density of Population.
The number of persons to an acre in this District is 189, or, as
above stated, about 25½ square yards to each.
In his Annual Summary of Births and Deaths in London for 1879,
the Registrar-General says that, "a considerable improvement has
taken place in the health of London in recent years; thus, the
average mortality to 1000 inhabitants was 24.1 in the thirty years
1841-70, whereas in the nine years 1871-9, it fell to 22.9, showing a
a decrease of 5 per cent. In the year 1879 the death-rate was 23.3,
nearly the same as that in the previous year. This result may, as is
said by the Registrar-General, be greatly attributed to improved
sanitation. In the 53 weeks of 1879, the births amounted to 134,090,
the deaths to 85,540; so the natural increase of population was 48,556,
or at the rate of 131 daily."*
Diminished Death-rate in London.
By the continued progress of sanitary improvements the deathrate
of London, which is now about 23 per 1000 annually, may, says
the Registrar-General, "be reduced to at least 20 per 1000. A diminution
of 1 per 1000 in the annual death-rate of the present population
of London implies the saving of about 3600 lives; a reduction, therefore,
from 23 per 1000 to 20 per 1000, would show a saving of more
than ten thousand lives annually."
* On an average there was in London one birth in every four minutes, and one death in every six-
and-a-quarter minutes.