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 Mary (Islington) 1892
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Islington, Parish of St. Mary ]
This page requires JavaScript
97
DEATHS.
Owing to the manner in which the death records of the Public
Health Department had been kept, it is impossible to make an accurate
statement as to the correct meaning of the mortality returns. It was
the custom to exclude from the returns the deaths of all non-residents
in the districts, and rightly so, for these persons only came to Islington
for treatment at the public institutions, but it was also the practice not
to include the deaths of parishioners dying in the various institutions
outside the district. Consequently the returns are erroneous. As an
example, I place in parallel columns the official figures of the RegistrarGeneral
and those kept in the Public Health Department, and it will be
noticed that in every instance these figures differ from each other.
The Registrar-General's returns, I believe, include the deaths of all persons dying in Islington.
| Registrar-General's Return. | Public Health Department's Return. | Registrar -General's Return. | Public Health Department's Return. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1881—5,617 | 5,116 | 1887—5,756 | 5,400 |
| 1882—5,643 | 5,264 | 1888-5,206 | 4,864 |
| 1883—5,561 | 5,140 | 1889—5,093 | 4,752 |
| 1884--5,515 | 5,229 | 1890—5,962 | 5,718 |
| 1885-5,729 | 5,323 | 1891—6,326 | 5,857 |
| 1886—5,510 | 5,159 | 1892—5,942 | 5,685 |
I will not attempt to make any comparison between the figures of
the year 1892 and those in the preceding years, because all are more or
less inaccurate.
These inaccuracies, however, will not be allowed to continue, as for
some time past the returns of the Public Health Department
have been recorded in a manner more in accordance with modern
requirements.
In this report the figures of the Public Health Department are
adhered to as being more accurate even than those of the hegistrarGeneral,
which, as I have stated, include all deaths. His is a plus
error to a larger amount than the local official s minus error.