In the Whitechapel union, in which the special investigation which led to the inquiry into the sanitary condition of the metropolis was first directed, the numbers were as follows in the year 1838:—
| No. of Deaths. | Whitechapel Union. | Average Age of Deceased. |
|---|---|---|
| 37 | Gentlemen and persons engaged in professions, and their families | 45 years. |
| 387 | Tradesmen and their families | 27 |
| 1,762 | Mechanics, servants, and labourers, and their families | 22 |
To judge of the comparative mortality amongst the average of a town population, I obtained the following returns; the one from the clerk of the Strand union, the other from the clerk of the Kensington union:—
| No. of Deaths. | Strand Union. | Average Age of Deceased. |
|---|---|---|
| 86 | Gentry and persons engaged in professions and their families | 43 years. |
| 221 | Tradesmen and their families | 33 |
| 674 | Mechanics, labourers, servants, and their families | 24 |
| No. of Deaths. | Kensington Union. | Average Age of Deceased. |
|---|---|---|
| 331 | Gentlemen and persons engaged in professions, and families | 44 years. |
| 348 | Tradesmen and their families | 29 |
| 1,258 | Labourers, artisans, and others similarly circumstanced, and their families | 26 |
The remarkable result obtained from the examination of the mortuary registries of the county of Rutland induced me to have them examined for different periods. They have accordingly been examined for three complete years, 1838, 1839, and 1840, and it is found that the same general law of mortality obtains with little variation for each period.
As the climate or soil of that county might possess some peculiarities, I caused an examination to be made of the average periods of death amongst the agricultural population of all the unions in the county of Wilts during 1840. In this examination the registries of deaths in the towns were excluded, and only those of persons included who were described as agricultural labourers, or as farmers and graziers, or as gentry and professional persons resident in the rural districts. The results of this examination are as follow:—
| No. of Deaths. | Unions in the County of Wilts. | Average Age of Deceased. |
|---|---|---|
| 119 | Gentlemen and persons engaged in professions, and their families | 50 years. |
| 218 | Farmers and their families | 48 |
| 2,061 | Agricultural labourers and their families | 33 |