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
St Giles (Camberwell) 1884
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Camberwell]
This page requires JavaScript
80
The numbers have increased generally, since that time:
and the Registrar General calculates that, in the middle
of 1884, the population of the Metropolis amounted to
4,019,361 persons.
Table II gives the births and deaths, and the birthrates
and death-rates per 1000 in 1884, both for the whole
of London and for its several groups of districts.
Table II.—Births, Deaths, Birth-rates & Death-rates of London and of its Groups of Districts for 1884.
| London. | West D. | North D. | Central D. | East D. | South D. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Births | 137,495 | 20,900 | 30,534 | 8,851 | 27,941 | 49,269 |
| Deaths | 83,050 | 13,823 | 18,589 | 6,440 | 16,531 | 27,661 |
| Birth-rates | 33.7 | 29.1 | 31.4 | 32.8 | 38.9 | 35.2 |
| Death.rates .. | 20.3 | 19.2 | 19.1 | 23.8 | 23.0 | 19.8 |
The death-rate (19.8) here assigned to South London
is a fraction larger than that (19.5) which prevailed in the
previous year ; but if due allowance be made for the extra
six days mortality included in the returns for 1884, the
rates for the two years become exactly equal. It will be
noted that the death-rate for South London is less than
the death-rates for the central and eastern districts; and
only a trifle in excess of those of the Western and Northern
Districts.
I he birth-rates, which were low in the previous year,
were still lower in 1884. And it is not improbable, that the
extraordinary lowness of the death-rates may be in some
slight degree attributable to this circumstance. For children
in their first year die in much larger proportion than
other persons: and if births fall off, the excessive mortality
due to infantile deaths must also diminish. It will be