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REPORT
of the
MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH
for the
metropolitan borough of stepney
FOR THE YEAR 1928.
Public Health Department,
43, White Horse Street,
July, 1929.
To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the
Metropolitan Borough of Stepney.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to present to you my twenty-eigth Annual Report
upon the Vital Statistics and Sanitary condition of the Borough for the year
1928.
Population.
The resident population of the Borough of Stepney for 1928 is estimated
by the Registrar-General to be 244,000, which is 7,580 less than in the
previous year and 5,338 less than in the Census year of 1921. This estimate
does not make, in my opinion sufficient allowance for local conditions, and
is much less, therefore, than the actual population.
In the Census of 1921 the population was 249,738, and the RegistrarGeneral
estimated that in 1927 it was 251,580—an increase of 1,842 in six
years;—practically it remained stationary. Yet from the middle of
1927 to the middle of 1928 it is estimated that it had decreased by 7,580.
It is true that many families have left the district for Becontree, but
this emigration has been going on for several years and is not limited to 1928.
On the other hand it must be remembered that there has been a natural
increase in the population, of 15,510 more births than deaths since the census
of 1921. Overcrowding was worse in 1928 than in any previous year, and
in most cases it was impossible to abate it.
331 houses and flats were built on unoccupied ground in Milk Yard,
Brunton Place and other places in 1928.