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REPORT.
Gentlemen,
I have the honour to lay before you my Annual Report
on the Vital Statistics and Sanitary Condition of the Parish of
St. Matthew, Bethnal Green, during the year 1885—a year of more
than common interest, since it is marked by the elevation of the
Parish to the rank of a Parliamentary Borough, returning two
members to the House of Commons.
The year too has witnessed a re-adjustment of the Sanitary Staff,
and of the divisions of the district, for health purposes: these
changes have been brought about by the resignation of Sanitary
Inspector W. W. Burrows, and the retirement of his father,
Sanitary Inspector J. W. Burrows, from their respective districts.
It has long been practically recognized that, though nominally
separate districts, the two allotted respectively to father and son
were practically united, and the duties of both efficiently performed
by the son. The retirement of the son, therefore, involved a double
vacancy, and the opportunity was thought a favourable one to
reorganize the Health Department of the Parish. The whole
question of Sanitary Inspection was accordingly referred to a
Committee, with instructions generally to consider and report.
A sketch of the Sanitary History of the Parish may in this connection
materially help to mark the progress we have made. The startingpoint
of our local Sanitary History may, for present purposes, be
taken to be the year 1855, when the Metropolis Local Management
Act (18 and 19 Vie., c. 120) first gave to this Vestry its present
constitution as the local authority, and created the offices of
Medical Officers of Health and Inspectors of Nuisances; and when