Piece
See MH 82/13
Catalogue reference: MH 82/70
Date: 1966 July 21
See MH 82/13
Item
Folios 174-182. To: The General Board of Health. From: Francis Cooper, Officer of...
Catalogue reference: MH 13/171/76
What’s it about?
This record is about the Folios 174-182. To: The General Board of Health. From: Francis Cooper, Officer of... dating from 1857 May 28 in the series General Board of Health and Home Office, Local Government Act Office: Correspondence. It is held at The National Archives, Kew.
Is it available online?
No, this record is not available online. However, you can order a copy. Other ways to view it.
Can I see it in person?
Yes, this record is held at The National Archives and is available to see in person. How to view it.
Full description and record details
-
Reference (The unique identifier to the record described, used to order and refer to it)
- MH 13/171/76
-
Date (When the record was created)
- 1857 May 28
-
Description (What the record is about)
-
Folios 174-182.
To: The General Board of Health.
From: Francis Cooper, Officer of Health, Southampton [Hampshire].
Subject Matter: Letter advising that he has very carefully gone through the 'table' issued by the General Board of Health - 'which appears to have been obtained from the Registrar General of Births and Deaths' - and he finds that the calculations are erroneous. Cooper submits that it is right, both for the sake of sanitary business as well as the town, that the sum of mortality should be accurately stated. He encloses his own statement of the amount of 'year by year' deaths, with the average for the last seven years. Cooper finds that the mean average since the application of the Public Health Act 1848 to Southampton is '2.29 percent', or '22.90 per thousand', and not '25.1 per thousand', as stated in the document which the General Board have sent to him - 'thus showing a saving of life annually of 52.80, as compared with the mortality before the application of the Public Health Act'. Assuming the return from the General Board to be correct, Cooper observes that Southampton's mortality at 25.1 per thousand would give a mortality of 96, in round numbers, over the present death rate - 'an excess, which if correct, would be significant in a very marked degree'.
Cooper remarks that it is impossible for him to say to where the error which the document transmitted by the General Board presents might be traced, but he suggests that the Board can rely on the accuracy of his table, as he has had it verified by the Registrar of Deaths - 'and after working out the analysis, we both arrived at the same amount, unknown to each other'. As he considers it important that the real sanitary condition of Southampton should be known, he hopes that the Board will not consider his report out of place. On the whole, he considers Southampton 'a triumphant testimony of the value of sanitary science - as the rate of our mortality clearly shows'.
-
Held by (Who holds the record)
- The National Archives, Kew
-
Legal status (A note as to whether the record being described is a Public Record or not)
- Public Record(s)
-
Closure status (Whether the record is ‘open’ (available to the public) or ‘closed’ (not available due to a legal exemption))
- Open Document, Open Description
-
Record URL
- https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/id/C16500025/
How to order it
- View this record page in our current catalogue
- Check viewing and downloading options
- Select an option and follow instructions
Series information
MH 13
General Board of Health and Home Office, Local Government Act Office: Correspondence
See the series level description for more information about this record.
Catalogue hierarchy
Over 27 million records
379,937 records
89,577 records
276 records
You are currently looking at the item: MH 13/171/76
Folios 174-182. To: The General Board of Health. From: Francis Cooper, Officer of...
Related records
Records that share similar topics with this record.