The history of infant, child and adult mortality in London, 1550-1850

London Journal

Volumn 32, Issue 3, 2007, Pages 271-292

  Razzell, Peter ^a   Spence, Christine ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CHILD MORTALITY; DEMOGRAPHIC SURVEY; DEMOGRAPHIC TREND; EIGHTEENTH CENTURY; HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY; INFANT MORTALITY; MATERNAL MORTALITY; MIGRATION; NINETEENTH CENTURY; POPULATION GROWTH; SEVENTEENTH CENTURY; SOCIAL HISTORY;

ENGLAND; EURASIA; EUROPE; LONDON [ENGLAND]; UNITED KINGDOM; WESTERN EUROPE;

EID: 38849169927     PISSN: 03058034     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1179/174963207X227578     Document Type: Article

References (90)

1. V. Harding, 'Early Modern London 1550-1700', London Journal, 20, (1995), 36;
2. L. Schwarz, 'London, 1700-1850', London Journal, 20, (1995), 46-55;
3. L. Schwarz, London in the Age of Industrialization: Entrepreneurs, Labour Force and Living Conditions (Cambridge, 1992).
4. Harding, 'Early Modern London', 36.
5. R. Finlay, Population and the Metropolis, the Demography of London 1580-1640 (Cambridge, 1981);
6. Harding, 'Early Modern London', 39;
7. B. Luckin, 'Perspectives on the Mortality Decline in London, 1860-1920', London Journal, 22, (1997), 123-41;
8. R. Woods, 'Mortality, Poverty and Environment', in R. Woods and J. Woodward (eds.), Urban Disease and Mortality (1984), 24.
9. See for example J. Brownlee, 'The Health of London in the Eighteenth Century', Proceedings of the Royal British Medical Society, 18, (1925), 73-84;
10. A.B. Appleby, 'Nutrition and Disease: the Case of London, 1550-1750', Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 6, (1975), 1-22;
11. P.R. Galloway, 'Annual Variations in Deaths by Age, Deaths by Cause, Prices and Weather in London 1670-1830', Population Studies, 39, (1986), 487-506.
12. W. Heberden, Observations on the Increase and Decrease of Different Diseases (1801);
13. W. Ogle, 'An Inquiry into the Trustworthiness of the Old Bills of Mortality', Journal of the Statistical Society, 55, (1892), 442-43;
14. A. Hardy, 'Diagnosis, Death and Diet: the Case of London, 1750-1909', Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 18, (1988), 387-401.
15. For this type of individually based research, see Finlay, Population and Metropolis, op. cit.;
16. J. Landers, Death and the Metropolis: Studies in the Demographic History of London (Cambridge, 1993).
17. E. Chadwick, The Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring Population (1842);
18. For Marx's and Engel's views on the relationship between poverty and health, see F. Engels, The Condition of the Working Class in England (1845);
19. for Mayhew's discussion of the effects of poverty, see H. Mayhew, The Morning Chronicle Survey of Labour and the Poor: the Metropolitan Districts, 6 Volumes (Firle, 1980).
20. For a discussion of these complex issues, see P. Razzell and C. Spence, 'Poverty or Disease Environment? The History of Mortality in Britain, 1500-1950', in M. Breschi and L. Pozzi (eds.), The Determinants of Infant and Child Mortality in Past European Populations (Udine, 2004);
21. P. Razzell and C. Spence, 'The Hazards of Wealth: the History of Adult Mortality in Pre-Twentieth Century England', Social History of Medicine, 19, No. 3. (2006).
22. See Harding, 'Early Modern London 1550-1700', op. cit., 36.
23. The uncertain quality of the Bills of Mortality has led scholars to adopt significantly different correction ratios for inflating baptisms and burials into estimated births and deaths. For two very different estimates of mortality based on the Bills of Mortality, see J. Landers, 'Mortality and Metropolis: the Case of London 1675-1825', Population Studies, 41, (1987), 63,
24. and R. Woods, 'Mortality in Eighteenth-century London: a New Look at the Bills', Local Population Studies, No. 77,(2006).
25. Finlay, Population and Metropolis.
26. Landers, Death and the Metropolis; R.T. Vann and D. Eversley, Friends in Life and Death: the British and Irish Quakers in the Demographic Transition (Cambridge, 1992).
27. R.A.P. Finlay, 'The Accuracy of the London Parish Registers, 1580-1653', Population Studies, 32, (1978), 99.
28. See J. Landers, 'Mortality in Eighteenth-century London: a Note', Continuity and Change, 11, (1996), 303-10.
29. See D. Glass (ed.), London Inhabitants Within the Walls (1965).
30. This material is deposited in the library of the Society of Genealogists. For details of this source, see A. Camp, 'Boyd's London Burials and Citizens of London', Family Tree, 1, (1985), 12;
31. J. Beach Whitmore, 'London Citizens', Genealogists Magazine, March 1944.
32. We have examined the 1695 census listing of the city of London carried out under the Marriage Duty Act, and have been unable to find any living same-name children in any of the families enumerated. See D. Glass (ed.), London Inhabitants Within the Walls (1965). For an examination of other censuses and a discussion of the same-name method, see P. Razzell, 'Evaluating the Same Name Technique as a Way of Measuring Burial Register Reliability', Local Population Studies, 64, (2000), 8-22.
33. The main form of wealth listed was the ownership of real estate worth £600 or more, although other categories of wealth-owners were also included.
34. These 37 same-name children were those born before 1695.
35. Personal communication from John Landers. According to the London Bills of Mortality, child burials under the age of two represented about 60 per cent of baptisms in the period 1728-1739, suggesting that the same-name ratios in Table 2 do not overstate the levels of under-registration of burials. See Marshall, Mortality, 63.
36. Boyd's data probably includes more wealth-holders than was typical for London as a whole. Glass estimated that about 27 per cent of the population were wealth-holders paying the higher level of taxation, lower than the proportion of wealth-holders in Tables 3 and 4.
37. B. Weinreb and C. Hibbert, The London Encyclopedia (1983), 167-77.
38. Finlay, Population and Metropolis, op. cit.
39. P. Razzell, Essays in English Population History (1994), 147.
40. Additional research confirms the elite status of fathers given the titles of esquire, gentleman or Mr. In the two periods 1655-1670 and 1751-1812, information is given on whether people were buried inside or outside the church: 75 of 92 (82 per cent) members of elite families were buried inside the church, compared to 4 of 29 (14 per cent) servants. Of 55 people buried inside the church and located in the 1695 Marriage Duty Listing, 33 (65 per cent) were in families with £600+ fixed wealth or £50 p.a., whereas none of the 26 people buried outside and traced in the 1695 Listing were in the higher wealth category.
41. B. Luckin and G. Mooney, 'Urban History and Historical Epidemiology: the Case of London, 1860-1920'. Urban History, 24, (1997), 47.
42. Ibid.
43. R. Woods, 'Mortality, Poverty and Environment', in R. Woods and J. Woodward (eds.), Urban Disease and Mortality (1984), 24.
44. P. Razzell, 'The Conundrum of Eighteenth-century English Population Growth', Social History of Medicine, 11, (1998), 484.
45. According to marriage licence data, the mean age of marriage of London bachelors was 27.6 in 1630-1636 and 27.2 years in 1693-1695. The figures for 1630-1635 are based on the first 200 marriages selected from the Bishop of London marriage licences. See G.J. Armytage (ed.), Allegations for Marriage Licences Issued by the Bishop of London 1611-1828 (Harleian Society, Volume 26, 1887).
46. The figures for 1693-95 are derived from the first 200 marriages selected from the Vicar Generals' marriage allegations in the Society of Genealogists' library. The mean age of marriage of bachelors in England & Wales in 1867-82 was 25.8 years, but the London average was probably higher than this in the early nineteenth century. 4.3 per cent of bachelors married under 21 nationally, compared to 1.6 per cent in the metropolis in 1843-44. See the Registrar General's 7th Annual Report, 1843-44, xxx, xxxi; Registrar General's 45th Annual Report, 1882, viii.
47. It is possible that poor widows had an incentive to place their sons into apprenticeships, although there is no direct evidence on this and any possible distortions are unlikely to have varied greatly over time.
48. The data are based on the analysis of the British apprenticeship register lodged in the Society of Genealogists' library.
49. See Razzell and Spence, 'Poverty or Disease Environment?, op. cit., 63.
50. Samples taken from the national apprenticeship register for the period of 1710-1713 indicate that the average ages of apprentices in the different premium categories were as follows: £1-£5: 14.4 years; £6-£14: 14.9 years; £15+: 15.9 years. See Razzell and Spence, 'Poverty or Disease Environment?, op. cit., 63. These figures are based on an analysis of Vicar General's marriage allegations in the Society of Genealogists' library.
51. The mean age at marriage in London does not appear to have varied greatly by social status at this time. In 1687, the mean age of marriage of London bachelors according to marriage licences was as follows: merchants, gentlemen and professionals: 26.8 years (N = 200); tradesmen and artisans: 26.4 (N = 360); mariners, servants and labourers (1687-94): 27.5 (N = 135).
52. Razzell and Spence, 'The Hazards of Wealth', op. cit., 59, 60.
53. See also Table 9.
54. Ibid.
55. Finlay and Shearer have put forward a set of alternative population figures, but these are partly based on inflation ratios applied to parish register data. These ratios are significantly different from those used in the present paper, highlighting the uncertain nature of all population estimates before the advent of the national census registration in 1801. See R. Finlay and B. Shearer, 'Population Growth and Suburban Expansion', in A.L. Beier and R. Finlay (eds.), London 1500-1700: The Making of the Metropolis (Harlow, 1986).
56. For a discussion of the role of mortality in shaping population growth for the period 1650-1750, see E.A. Wrigley, 'A Simple Model', op. cit.
57. For confirmation of the very high proportion of migrants in the early seventeenth century, see Elliott, op. cit., 84.
58. An analysis of the records of the apprentices who acquired the freedom of the City of London indicates that the proportion of fathers living outside London fell from 77 per cent in 1673-74 (N = 200) to 14 per cent in 1822-24 (N = 99). See 'City of London Freedom Certificates', Guildhall Library, Corporation Record Office, Ref CF1.
59. The first 200 marriages were selected for analysis in each of the periods 1583-86, 1601-05 and 1630-40 from Armytage, Allegations for Marriage Licences Issued by the Bishop of London 1611-1828, op. cit.
60. See T.R. Forbes, Chronicle ftom Aldgate (New Haven, 1971);
61. R. Hovenden, The Register of Christenings, Marriages and Burials of the Parish of Allhallow London Wall, 1559-1675 (1878);
62. J. Landers, 'Age Patterns of Mortality in London During the Long Eighteenth Century: a Test of the High Potential Model of Metropolitan Mortality', Social History of Medicine, 3, (1990), 53.
63. Forbes found in his study of the parish of Aldgate that there were 117 deaths from smallpox out of a total of 5,309 - 2.2. per cent - during 1583-99. 83 of the 117 deaths - 71 per cent - were under the age of ten and there were 3236 baptisms in the parish during this period, indicating a case-fatality Tate of about 4 per cent. See T.R. Forbes, Chronicle from Aldgate (New Haven, 1971).
64. There were 12 deaths from smallpox in Allhallows London Wall during 1574-98, 10 of which were under the age of 7, and 442 baptisms in the parish during this period, indicating a case-fatality rate of under 5 per cent. See R. Hovenden, The Register of Christenings, Marriages and Burials of the Parish of Allhallow London Wall, 1559-1675 (1878).
65. P. Razzell, The Conquest of Smallpox (2003), 168, 177.
66. Ibid. 166-78.
67. Ibid. 74, 96, 97.
68. H. Zinsser, Rats, Lice and History (New York, 1963), 279.
69. A.J. Saah, 'Rickettsia prowazekii (Epidemic Louse-borne Typhus)', in G.L. Mandell, J.E. Bennett and R. Dolin (eds.), Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases, 2, (2000), 2051;
70. C. Creighton, A History of Epidemics in Britain, 2, (Cambridge, 1965), 47.
71. Creighton, A History, 2, 30-33. The environmental conditions favourable to the spread of typhus appear to have been present in England well before the sixteenth century. Body lice continued to be prevalent in both town and countryside into the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
72. Forbes, Chronicle.
73. Vann and Eversley, Friends, 212-15, 234.
74. Vann and Eversley, Friends, 234.
75. Schwarz has noted the decline of mortality from fever, smallpox, consumption and the diseases of infancy in London in the eighteenth century. See L. Schwarz, 'Review Article: Death in the Eighteenth Century', Continuity and Change, 11, (1996), 300.
76. Creighton, A History, 14.
77. T.R. Forbes, 'Births and Deaths in a London Parish: the Record from the Registers', Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 55, (1981), 390;
78. Vann & Eversley, Friends, 218;
79. J. Landers and A. Mouzas, 'Burial Seasonality and Causes of Death in London 1670-1819', Population Studies, 42, (1988), 64.
80. R. Porter, 'Cleaning up the Great Wen: Public Health in Eighteenth Century London', Medical History, Supplement No. 11, (1991), 61-75.
81. See F.J. Fisher, London and the English Economy, 1500-1700 (1990);
82. E.A. Wrigley, 'A Simple Model of London's Importance in Changing English Society and Economy 1650-1750', Past and Present, 37, (1967), 44-70;
83. A.L. Beier and R. Finlay (eds.), London 1500-1700: the Making of the Metropolis (Basingstoke, 1986).
84. See J.A. Chartres, 'Food Consumption and Internal Trade', in Beier and Finlay, op. cit.;
85. A.L. Beier, 'Engine of Manufacture: the Trades of London', in Beier and Finlay, op. cit.
86. Wrigley, 'A Simple Model' op. cit.;
87. Beier and Finlay, op. cit.
88. Not only did the population increase in London during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries have economic and social consequences for the country at large, but it probably had a significant influence on political developments in the mid-seventeenth century. The City of London provided critical financial and military support for the Parliamentary cause - the City's trained bands constituted the core of the early Parliamentary army. See S. Porter (ed.), London and the Civil War (Basingstoke, 1996).
89. There is evidence that the cyclical fluctuations in mortality in London were also found in the country at large. See P. Razzell, 'Population, Poverty and Wealth: The History of Mortality and Fertility in England, 1550-1850', Population and Disease: Transforming English Society, 1550-1850 (London, 2007).
90. For a discussion of the role of wealth in shaping adult mortality, see Razzell and Spence, 'The Hazards of Wealth', op. cit.