Mr. Spear's report to the Local Government Board on the general sanitary condition of the Oswaldtwistle urban sanitary district / [John Spear].

  • Spear, John.
Date:
[1887]
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Mr. Spear's report to the Local Government Board on the general sanitary condition of the Oswaldtwistle urban sanitary district / [John Spear]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    IMcfWWiasTV WtWMt* welcome j ■ I/JftfABY --Mr. Spear’s Report to the Local Government Board on the 'IGti. J Collections +P General Sanitary Condition of the Oswaldtwistle Urban Sanitary District. George Buchanan, Medical Department, July 20th, 1887. The urban sanitary district of Oswaldtwistle is situated towards the northern extremity of the Lancashire coalfields, on soil that, in the populous parts, is mainly clay. The district is wide-lying, comprising 4,883 acres of well-elevated sloping land. The town of Oswaldtwistle is situated at the lower and northernmost part of this area, well elevated, however, above the “ Tinker’s Brook,” a tributary of the Ribble, which skirts it. The outlying villages of Belthorn. Cross Edge, and Stanhill-with-Knazden are placed one to three miles away, and in different directions, on much higher ground. The population of the whole district is estimated at 13,400; Oswaldtwistle con¬ taining over 10,000 of that number. The industries are various, consisting of coal-mining, cotton-spinning, and the manufacture of chemicals and manures. The agricultural part of the district is, further, largely devoted to grazing purposes, and dairy-farming (markets being found at Blackburn and Accrington, as well as in Oswaldtwistle) is extensively carried on. The following table gives the more important data relating to the vital statistics of the district:— Year (Mean Population of Six Years, 12,800). Deaths under one. Deaths from various Causes. Births. Total Deaths. X o & 1 Vi Vi os aS .5 03 g J3 5 looping- iough. U <v cS 8 H £ s 8 a fl s u O £ Eh £ 18S1 478 247 91 ■ - 1 i i 14 4 9 1882 492 261 86 — 8 6 — i 5 4 7 1883 457 255 79 — 1 14 — 3 _ 13 13 1884 461 296 94 — 17 — — 7 6 8 13 1885 475 265 75 — 14 4 — 3 13 5 9 1886 454 324 78 — 6 44 i 4 5 1 17 Mean ratio per 1,000 of population } 21-5 179* •64 •90 •66 •46 •91 Corresponding Ave¬ rage of England } 19-3 144* •41 •43 •46 •27 •65 and Wales J * Deaths of children under one, are given in rates per 1,000 of births registered. It will be seen that the principal mortality rates, compared with the corresponding averages of England and Wales, are excessive. Of the 13,400 inhabitants of Oswaldtwistle, 30 die annually over and above what would be the average death-toll. Of every 1,000 children born, 35 die before reaching the age of one year over and above the average number of deaths at that age. The mortality from “ fever ” is 70 per cent, higher than the average rate, and that from scarlatina rather more than double its corresponding average. The “ fever ” mortality is practically all due to enteric or typhoid fever. This disease, the Medical Officer of Health informs me, is scarcely ever entirely absent from the district; and from time to time, at frequent intervals, small groups of cases, forming small localised outbreaks, occur. I examined, A 51515. 200.—8/87. Wt. 4498. E. & S. A