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The estimated increase in the number of inhabitants of this
district has been placed at a higher number than that between
1871 and 1873, as the rate books show a relatively greater
number of assessments, and the applications for the drainage of
new houses have also been in excess of the average for past
years. The increase in the number of residents in Stoke
Newington is still very large, as the fields are rapidly being
built on, and the houses occupied almost as fast as built. The
density of population per acre in the whole district is also
increasing, and is really greater than represented in the table,
as out of 3935 acres there are 467 acres of open spaces which
cannot be built upon, and 101 acres of water; but it is an
undoubted advantage to have open spaces in our midst which
cannot be built on in future years. The density of population in
some parts of the district is very high, for instance at Hackney
"Wick, in 1876, there were above 2100 inhabitants residing on 10
acres of ground, which would give 210 persons per acre, and in some
parts of the district the number per acre must be still greater.
The mortality at Hackney Wick was very high in 1876 and 1877,
partly from the number of deaths from Small Pox, but chiefly
from other diseases, as in the former year the death rate was
37.3 per 1000 inhabitants, and in the latter year 32.9 per 1000,
or excluding Small Pox it was 28.3 in 1876, and 26.9 in 1877.
In Hackney district the death rate for 1876, including the deaths
from Small Pox, was 18.5, and excluding these deaths 17.8, and
for 1877 the death-rate from all causes was 19.4, and excluding
small pox deaths was 18.2 per 1000 inhabitants. I do not attribute
this large mortality to one cause, but believe it arose from
several, such as the great density of population, the comparative
poverty of the people and want of comforts, as well as to a great
extent from the bad foundations and bad construction of a large
number of the houses, the low level of the ground, and the habits
of many of the inhabitants by which drains get choked, and the
houses are kept in a dirty state. I trust, however, when all the