[Report 1919] / Medical Officer of Health, Burnley R.D.C.

  • Burnley (England). Rural District Council.
Date:
1919
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1919] / Medical Officer of Health, Burnley R.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    NATURAL AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS. POPULATION. The population of the district at the last census—1911—was 20,292, it is now under 19,000. The Registrar General has supplied tlie following figures for the estimates of birth and death rates— for birth-rate a population of 18,266 and for death-rate 17,535. PHYSICAL FEATURES. The district is situated in North-East Lancashire and has an area of 41,774 acres. It is very hilly in character, ranging from 200 to 1,831 feet above sea level, the mean being about 650 feet. The subsoil is mostly clay, and the district is very damp, the rainfall averaging over 40 inches. The summer of 1919 was exceptionally dry, the rainfall being under 38 inches—there was rain on 206 days during the year. The staple industry is cotton weaving, for which a damp atmosphere is very favourable. Coal mining and dairy farming are the other principal occupations. Speaking generally the houses in the district are in good condition being well built and stone fronted—the two-story type prevailing. Quite a large number of householders are very thrifty and own their own houses. VITAL STATISTICS. Birth-Rate.—The total number of births registered in the district during the year was over 234—males 127, females 107 ; and of these 9 (3 males and 6 females) were illegitimate. These figures differ slightly from those supplied for statistical purposes by the Registrar General, which are total births, males 121, females 106 ; illegitimate, males 3 and females 8. The annual birth-rate for the district for 1919 is nearly 12’43 per thousand of the population, which is much lower than the average for England and Wales, which is 18.5. The following table gives the birth-rates from 1913 to 1919 : Year. Births. Rate per 1,000 of Population. 1913 347 16-92 1914 346 16-87 1915 302 15-27 1916 312 15-25 1917 282 ’ .... 14-66 1918 227 12-00 1919 234 12-43