“London Water Supply.—The following is an extract from a letter which the Registrar-General has received from Mr. Pitt, the Registrar of Rotherhithe:—
“‘I consider Mr. Morris’s description of the part of the parish through which the pipes of the Kent Water Company were laid in 1849, is in the main correct; for though the Company had entered the parish, the water was but partially taken by the inhabitants up to the time of the fearful visitation in the above year.
“‘With respect to the deaths in 1849, they were certainly more numerous in the district now generally supplied by the Kent Company than in any other part of the parish. I only need mention Charlotte Row, Ram Alley, and Silver Street,—places where the scourge fell with tremendous severity.
“‘Among the recent cases of cholera, not one has occurred in the district supplied by the Kent Water Company.
“‘The parish of Rotherhithe has been badly supplied with water for many ages past. The people drank from old wells, old pumps, open ditches, and the muddy stream of the Thames.’
“In 1848–9 the mortality from cholera in Rotherhithe was higher than it was in any other district of London. This is quite in conformity with the general rule, that when cholera prevails, it is most fatal where the waters are most impure.”
The following table (which, with a little alteration in the arrangement, is taken from the “Weekly Return of Births and Deaths” for 31st December 1853) shows the mortality from cholera, in the epidemic of 1853, down to a period when the disease had almost disappeared.
The districts are arranged in the order of their mortality from Cholera.
TABLE V.
| Districts. | Population in 1853 (estim.) | Deaths by Chol. in 17 wks., Aug. 21 to Dec. 17, 1853. | Deaths by Cholera to 100,000 living. | Water Supply. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bermondsey | 48,128 | 73 | 150 | Southwark & Vauxhall. |
| S. Saviour, Southwark | 35,731 | 52 | 146 | Southwark and Vauxhall, Lambeth. |
| S. George, Southwark | 51,824 | 74 | 143 | Southwark and Vauxhall, Lambeth. |
| St. Olave | 19,375 | 26 | 134 | Southwark & Vauxhall. |
| Rotherhithe | 17,805 | 20 | 112 | South. & Vaux., Kent. |
| Whitechapel | 79,759 | 78 | 95 | East London. |
| Newington | 64,816 | 37 | 57 | Southwark and Vauxhall, Lambeth. |
| Kensington,—except Paddington | 73,699 | 40 | 53 | West Middlesex, Chelsea, Grand Junction. |
| Wandsworth | 50,764 | 26 | 51 | South. & Vaux., Pump-wells, River Wandle. |
| St. George (East) | 48,376 | 21 | 43 | East London. |
| Camberwell | 54,667 | 22 | 40 | Southwark and Vauxhall, Lambeth. |
| Stepney | 110,775 | 40 | 34 | East London. |
| Lambeth | 139,325 | 48 | 34 | Lambeth, Sou. & Vaux. |
| Greenwich | 99,365 | 32 | 31 | Kent. |
| Marylebone | 157,696 | 48 | 30 | West Middlesex. |
| Westminster | 65,609 | 19 | 27 | Chelsea. |
| St. James, Westminster | 36,406 | 9 | 25 | Grand Junction, New River. |
| Hackney | 58,429 | 13 | 22 | New Riv., East London. |
| Paddington | 46,305 | 10 | 22 | Grand Junction. |
| Shoreditch | 109,257 | 23 | 21 | New Riv., East London. |
| Bethnal Green | 90,193 | 18 | 20 | East London. |
| Poplar | 47,162 | 9 | 17 | East London. |
| West London | 28,840 | 4 | 14 | New River. |
| Hanover Square and May Fair | 33,196 | 5 | 12 | Grand Junction. |
| Islington | 95,329 | 12 | 12 | New River. |
| Chelsea | 56,538 | 6 | 11 | Chelsea. |
| East London | 44,406 | 4 | 9 | New River. |
| London City | 55,932 | 5 | 9 | New River. |
| Clerkenwell | 64,778 | 5 | 8 | New River. |
| Belgrave | 40,034 | 3 | 7 | Chelsea. |
| St. Martin-in-the-Fields | 24,640 | 1 | 5 | New River. |
| St. Pancras | 166,956 | 8 | 5 | New River, Hampstead, West Middlesex. |
| St. Luke | 54,055 | 2 | 4 | New River. |
| Lewisham | 34,835 | 1 | 3 | Kent. |
| Holborn | 46,571 | 1 | 2 | New River. |
| St. Giles | 54,214 | 1 | 2 | New River. |
| Strand | 44,460 | New River. | ||
| Hampstead | 11,986 | Hampst., West Mid’sex. | ||
| 2,362,236 | 796 |