A letter addressed to Her Majesty's Justices of the Peace, for the county of Middlesex on the subject of the increase of inquests / by William Baker.

  • Baker, William (coroner)
Date:
1839
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A letter addressed to Her Majesty's Justices of the Peace, for the county of Middlesex on the subject of the increase of inquests / by William Baker. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

    17/44 page 17
    s4< IT u a (< u In other words, the people in one set of circum- “ stances (in the better localities) live fifty years, whilst “ in another set of circumstances (in the more distressed “ districts) they do not live more than twenty-five years. “ In these wretched Districts/’ he adds, “ nearly eight “ per cent, are constantly sick, and the energy of the “ whole population is withered to the roots. Their arms are weak, their bodies wasted, and their sensa- tions embittered by privations and sufferings ; half the “ life is passed in infancy, sickness, and dependent help- u lessness.” He adds “ that in the neighbourhood of “ Whitechapel, 3908 die annually, out of a population “ of 100,000, and that it will be found, caeteris paribus, “ that the mortality increases as the density of the population increases.” And he adds in a note, “ that “ the mortality in the city of London has been augmented ten per cent.” As some observation has been made in your Court, in reference to the increased number of Inquests, as well as of expense, in my densely crowded district, over that of my Colleague, I have thought it necessary thus to point out, what has been the rate of mortality in several of the principal leading parishes in each district, which will shew, that in my district, as Mr. Farr has above stated, there is an increase from its density of nearly two to one in the most densely crowded parts which necessarily involves increased inquiry, and in such a neighbourhood, as I have described, it can by no means excite surprise, therefore, that there is an increase of expense in medical and other witnesses f who from their poverty are more likely to seek for a remuneration for their attendance, as well as being more liable to be called constantly into action, than in a less fuo'Ukt. A* Cr ■' t' *i * <&*M**df ^ C J&yd. 4 A t V
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