London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Hackney 1882
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Hackney]
This page requires JavaScript
29
The mean temperature for October was 50.8 degrees, which was
nearly 1 degree above the average, whilst that for November
was 43.5 degrees, or precisely an average. December had a
mean of 40.1 degrees, which was slightly in excess. Snow fell
in London on the 24th of October, and there were occasional
slight falls of snow in the first fortnight in December, the total
rainfall in October being 5.42 inches, or more than 2½ inches in
excess, 2.19 inches in November, and 1.78 inches in December,
which was about one-fifth of an inch in the two last-named
months in defect of the mean. The death-rate for the quarter
in London was less than usual for the three months, having
been 21.8 per 1,000, and in Hackney it was still less, having
been only 18'8 per 1,000. The mean temperatures just given
are those for Greenwich, as there is not a sufficiently long series
of observations made here for purposes of comparison. However
I subjoin a table of highest and lowest temperatures, as well as
of the rainfall recorded at my house, which amounted to 21.36
inches.
| Absolute Temperatures. | Mean Temperatures. | Rain 1nches. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highest. | Lowest. | Highest. | Lowest. | ||
| January | 54.0 | 27.6 | 43.9 | 36.3 | 1.20 |
| February | 56.4 | 25.8 | 47.9 | 36.7 | 0.87 |
| March | 63.8 | 29.8 | 54.7 | 38.8 | 1.35 |
| April | 65.4 | 33.0 | 57.2 | 41.0 | 2.02 |
| May | 73.8 | 36.6 | 65.4 | 45.6 | 0.92 |
| June | 74.6 | 41.0 | 65.1 | 50.1 | 1.99 |
| July | 78.4 | 46.2 | 69.3 | 53.7 | 2.15 |
| August | 83.2 | 47.6 | 69.7 | 53.5 | 1.00 |
| September | 70.6 | 36.4 | 63.9 | 47.5 | 2.42 |
| October | 69.8 | 32.6 | 57.4 | 44.6 | 4.51 |
| November | 61.0 | 27.2 | 49.6 | 39.1 | 2.11 |
| December | 58.2 | 24.6 | 44.4 | 36.3 | 0.82 |
These observations shew that the highest temperature here
was recorded in the month of August, viz., 83.2 degrees, and
the lowest in December, viz., 24.6 degrees, indicating a range
of 58.6 degrees. The highest mean temperature for any month