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'Excessive deaths' - an 1843 report


With the introduction of civil registration in 1837, a Superintendent Registrar was appointed for the District of St George's East, Thomas Stone, of 6 Wellclose Square, where the Poor Law Guardians were also based. Stone, a solicitor, was born in 1812 in Piddington, Oxfordshire, where his father Job was a farmer, he married Susanna Hart at St George-in-the-East in 1843 and they had nine children; he died in Blackheath in 1893.
Each of the three areas also had a Registrar, and a deputy:
St Paul's (the western part): Henry Baddeley of 27 Colet Place (deputy J.B. Talbot of Lower John Street): Baddeley, a solicitor, was born in 1799 and articled to his father John in 1821
St Mary's (the eastern part): William Lockwood Howell, 40 Ratcliff Highway [St George's Street] (deputy G. Findley of 146 Ratcliff Highway): Howell, a solicitor, was also the Vestry Clerk, in office at the time of the Ritualism RIots, and held other local government roles; born 1799, he died, a gentleman, at 149 Amhurst Road, Hackney in 1875
St John's (mainly Wapping): John Verrall, Raine's School, Charles Street, Old Gravel Lane (deputy John Verrall jnr.): his namesake father was Master of Raine's School for over 35 years, and the 'middle' John was the parish clerk of St George-in-the-East.
So links between 'church' and 'state' remained.

Their statistics for deaths were gathered for the 1843 Supplementary Report on the Results of a Special Inquiry into the Practice of Interment in Towns commissioned by the Home Office and presented to both Houses of Parliament. Its author was (Sir) Edwin Chadwick (1800-90) [left], an enlightened Poor Law Commissioner and sanitary reformer. It was wide-ranging, covering many of the changing aspects of funeral practice (some of which were deeply disreputable) and was influential in the closure in the following decade of overcrowded urban churchyards and the establishment of municipal and other cemeteries. He also produced figures estimating the number of premature deaths, by social class, across London. St George's was ranked 24th out of 32 in terms of the average age of death; he caluclated that in 1839 there were 408 'premature' deaths, and that in this District the life expectancy of tradesmen was 13, and of artisans 16, years below the average. Note also John Verrall's comments.
 

Causes of Death - the Registrar General's classification 1858

I.    ZYMOTIC DISEASES

    1. Miasmatic
        1. Small-pox
        2. Measles
        3. Scarlatina
        4. Quinsy
        5. Croup
        6. Whooping Cough
        7. Typhus (and Infantile fever)
        8. Erysipelas
        9. Metria
        10. Carbuncle
        11. Influenza
        12. Dysentery
        13. Diarrhoea
        14. Cholera
        15. Ague
        16. Remittent Fever
        17. Rheumatism    

    2. Enthetic
        1. Syphilis
        2. Stricture of Urethra
        3. Hydrophobia
        4. Glanders

    3. Dietic
        1. Privation
        2. Want of Breast Milk
        3. Purpura and Scurvy
        4. Alcoholism
            (a) Delirium Tremens
            (b) Intemperance    

    4. Parasitic
        1. Thrush
        2. Worms, &c.


























 III.    LOCAL

    1. Nervous System
        1. Cephalitis
        2. Apoplexy
        3. Paralysis
        4. Insanity
        5. Chorea
        6. Epilepsy
        7. Convulsions
        8. Brain Disease, &c.

    2. Organs of Circulation
        1. Pericarditis
        2. Aneurism
        3. Heart Disease, &c.

    3. Respiratory Organs
        1. Laryngitis
        2. Bronchitis
        3. Pleurisy
        4. Pneumonia
        5. Asthma
        6. Lung Disease, &c.

    4. Digestive Organs
        1 Gastritis
        2. Enteritis
        3. Peritonitis
        4. Ascites
        5. Ulceration of Intestines
        6. Hernia
        7. Ileus
        8. Intussusception
        9. Stricture of Intestines
        10. Fistula
        11. Stomach Disease, &c.
        12. Pancreas Disease, &c.
        13. Hepatitis
        14. Jaundice
        15. Liver Disease, &c.
        16. Spleen Disease, &c.   
 
    5. Urinary Organs
        1. Nephritis
        2. Ischuria
        3. Nephria
        4. Diabetes
        5. Stone
        6. Cystitis
        7. Kidney Disease, &c.

    6. Organs of Generation
        1. Ovarian Dropsy
        2. Uterus Disease, &c.

    7. Organs of Locomotion
        1. Arthritis
        2. Joint Disease, &c.

    8. Integumentary System
        1. Phlegmon
        2. Ulcer
        3. Skin Disease, &c.		 V.    VIOLENT DEATHS

    1. Accident or Negligence
        1. Fractures and Contusions
        2. Wounds
        3. Burns and Scalds
        4. Poison
        5. Drowning
        6. Suffocation    
              
    2. Homicide
        1. Murder and Manslaughter

    3. Suicide
        1. Wounds
            (a) Gunshot
            (b) Cut, Stab
        2. Poison
        3. Drowning
        4. Hanging
        5. Otherwise

    4. Execution
        1. Hanging
II.    CONSTITUTIONAL

    1. Diathetic
        1. Gout
        2. Dropsy
        3. Cancer
        4. Noma
        5. Mortification    
   
    2. Tubercular
        1. Scrofula
        2. Tabes Mesenterica
        3. Phthisis
        4. Hydrocephalus




 IV.    DEVELOPMENTAL

    1. Of Children
        1. Premature Birth
        2. Cyanosis
        3. Spina Bifida
        4. Other Malformations
        5. Teething

    2. Of Adults
        1. Paramenia
        2. Childbirth (see Metria)

    3. Of Old People
        1. Old Age

    4. Of Nutrition
        1. Atrophy and Debility		 SUDDEN DEATH, CAUSE UNASCERTAINED




CAUSE NOT SPECIFIED

 

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