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THE PUBLIC HEALTH COMMITTEE, 1895.
Mr. Councillor Polley (Chairman).
Mr. Alderman Fielder.
Mr. Alderman Smith.
Mr. Councillor Alden.
Athey.
,, ,, Hunns.
,, ,, Loury.
,, ,, Mansfield.
Mr. Councillor Noakes.
,, ,, Relf.
,, ,, Rippin.
,, ,, Threlford.
Gentlemen,
I beg to submit my report on the work of the Public Health Department during
the year 1895, and express my regret at the delay in its appearance. The opening of
our hospital for infectious diseases, together with the preparation for and carrying out
of the collection of house refuse by the Council, necessarily inundated me with work
during the greater part of the year, and occupied time which should have been devoted's
to the purposes of this report.
It is extremely to be regretted that arrangements could not have been made to
have included West Ham in the Metropolitan census of 1896. I know of no district
where a quinquennial census would be more useful. As it is, I entirely agree with our
Borough Accountant in thinking that the estimate of the Registrar-General of 249,000
for the population of West Ham in the middle of 1895 is too large, and, for the purposes
of my statistics, have fixed the population at the middle of the year at 239,000.
Four thousand six hundred and fifty-six deaths were registered, being an increased
of 630 over those of the previous year, and making an annual recorded death-rate of
19.4, and a corrected death-rate of 20.9 per 1,000.