[Report 1904] / Medical Officer of Health, Stockport County Borough.

  • Stockport (England). County Borough Council.
Date:
1904
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1904] / Medical Officer of Health, Stockport County Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    6/160 (page 6)
    Introduction. Uo tbe TKHorsbipful tbe /il>a$or anb tbe Blbennen aitb Councillors of tbe County Borouob of Stocftport. Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen,— HAVE the honour to submit herewith my Fifth Annual Report on the health of }our Borough, and in so doing 1 desire to direct your notice to a few of the principal matters dealt with therein. I would first draw attention to an extract of both historical and sanitary interest from a book published in 1795 by Dr. J. Aikin, descriptive of the country round Manchester. I am indebted to the courtesy of Mr. L. Caldecutt, solicitor, of Knutsford, for the opportunity to reproduce this. The statistics sbowT that in the year 1794 there were GOO burials in the old churchyard, and that this number comprised “nearly all the deaths in the town.” The text goes on to say that “ even upon the supposition of the year being an unhealthy one, this “would imply a population of about 15,000 persons.” In other words a death-rate of 40 per 1,000 of the population was explained in those days by the statement that “ the year was an unhealthy one !” Turning to the statistical portion of the report, one finds that there has been an increase in the marriage-rate, a considerable fall in the birth-rate, and a very slight rise in the death-rate. The incidence of zymotic disease has been again very heavy, and one can only be thankful that it has been mainly manifested in the occurrence of scarlet fever of a mild type.