Annual cause-of-death Statistics for Registration Districts in England and Wales

Table ID:

CAUSE_EW_REG_ANN     (1246794)

Contents:

Annual cause-of-death Statistics for Registration Districts in England and Wales

Approx. number of rows:

42,060

Table type:

Raw Data

Documentation Author:

Humphrey Southall

Geography:

Reporting units are identified by:
   Registration County
   Registration District
   Registration Division
   Registration District Number
   Suffix to Registration District Number

Chronology:

The data cover the period 1856 to 1910.
Dates and times are identified by:
   Year

Sources:

1. These are the only cause of death data in the Registrar-General's Annual Reports which include statistics for Registration Districts. The titles of the tables vary, but for example in 1881 it was "Deaths from several zymotic and other causes, and inquest cases, in divisions, counties, and districts".
2. This is a complete transcription of a very extensive set of tables, done in stages. Coverage added by type of area as follows:
   • Registration Divisions and national totals: A complete transcription for the full run of years, 1856-1910, created by Humphrey Southall in summer 2020.
   • Registration Counties: Data for census years (plus 1882) were added by Humphrey Southall in summer 2020.
   • County data for non-Census years were input by Harold Price in Portsmouth. These were added in autumn 2020 and winter 2020-2021.
   • London Registration Districts: These were computerised c. 1995 by Graham Mooney, then working at the Centre for Metropolitan History, for their 'Death in the Metropolis, 1860-1920' project, which also funded the construction of a more detailed GIS for London by us. This transcription covers all years except 1856-9.
   • Non-London Registration Districts: Census years only were computerised c. 2000 by the Centre for Data Digitisation and Analysis at the Queens' University Belfast, as part of work funded by the Wellcome Trust.
   • For non-Census years the remaining districts outside London were input by Harold Price in Portsmouth. These were added in stages during autumn and winter 2020 through to March 2021.
   This means that this is now a complete and fully-checked transcription of the source tables 1856-1910.
3. This table was rebuilt in June 2020, having previously been held as mort_reg and mort_reg_ew.

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Notes:

1. The data held here are the only cause of death statistics published annually at district level, and the emphasis was always on epidemic ('zymotic') diseases. However, the causes of death are consistent only within shorter blocks of years:
   • 1856-1857: These are the first reports to contain any information on causes of death at district level, listing each district's total population in 1851, the "Average Annual Rate of Mortality from All Causes to 1,000 Persons living 1841-50", and fifteen specific causes of death.
   • 1858-1868: The list of causes is re-arranged and slightly extended.
   • 1869-1880: In this period, a relatively short list of causes was listed and these did not include an 'other' category, so the columns do not sum to total deaths. Unlike later periods, the counts of deaths are preceded by other data: always total population, based on the 1871 census (or the 1881 census for 1880) plus 'average mortality' in 1869 and 1870, and the total area in acres, as supplied by the Ordnance Survey, in 1871-8. Lastly, inquests were first listed in 1870, so they are null for 1869.
   • 1881-1900: A different and longer set of causes is listed, including 'other' and, from 1897 onwards, total deaths. Partly to enable checking during data preparation, for 1881-96 the total number of deaths has been added from other tables in the same Annual Report, the table of death by age group if available and otherwise the table of counts of births and deaths. The latter table does not include data for Poor Law Unions which were sub-divisions of Registration Districts, which appear in this cause of death table, but it does include data for Sub Districts, and notes explaining their relationship with Unions, so the correct totals could be computed for each Union.
   • 1901-1910: The detailed set of causes again changed, but continued to include 'other' and the total. The 1910 report is the last to be included here because the 1911 report presents broadly similar data by local government district.
   Because of this variability, and with the exception of 'violence', 'other' and 'inquests', which always appear at the end of the rows, columns are arranged in this database table in alphabetical order, rather than that of any particular report.
2. Where possible, Graham Mooney attempted to combine causes which were in fact identical despite a change in name (e.g. Scarlatina and Scarlet Fever) CDDA followed the same approach.

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Checking:

1. It is unclear how much checking was done during the original transcription work, but these data were exhaustively re-checked in 2020 and 2021:
   • For each cause of death, the sum of each group of lower-level areas was compared with the reported total for the relevant higher level; for example, districts with counties. For years where data are held only for the Divisions and the districts within London, the districts were compared with the London division total.
   • From 1881 onwards, for each area, the sum of the individual causes of death was compared with the reported total.
   • For each area where separate data were given for males and females, that the total number of deaths for these summed to the overall total. Given the other checks being used, it was felt unnecessary to repeat this type of check with each individual cause.
   The originals are hard to read, and some numbers are completely missing. 1858 is particularly bad. Based on the above checks, many corrections were made, including inferring missing values from totals and changing what appeared to be correctly transcribed values where this would cause two checksums to be met.
2. After careful re-checking of the source material, the following 74 differences appear to be fundamental inconsistencies in the source material:
   • 1856: For Leicestershire the total population county total (235,920) was more than the summed districts total (235,420) by 500.
   • 1858: The Eastern region total given for childbirth (91) was less than the counties summed total (96) by 5; The Northern region total population (969,126) was less than the counties summed total (969,626) by 500; The Welsh region total given for smallpox (1700) was less than the counties summed total (1750) by 50.
   • 1860: For Hertfordshire the county total for violence (103) was more than the summed districts total (98) by 5; For Wiltshire the county total population (236,027) was more than the summed districts total (229,027) by 7,000.
   • 1863: North Wales Counties total for Phthisis (1467) was more than the summed districts total (1367) by 100.
   • 1866: South Wales Counties total for Cholera (2033) was less than the summed districts total (2053) by 20.
   • 1873: South Wales Counties total for inquests (935) was more than the summed districts total (916) by 19. In Pembrokeshire Narbeath and Pembroke are both missing figures for inquests so it is not possible to determine how the difference should be split between them.
   • 1874: For Middlesex the county total for diptheria (46) was more than the summed districts total (41) by 5. Staines and Uxbridge are both missing digits for diptheria so it is not possible to determine how the difference should be split between them.
   • 1876: North Wales Counties total for inquests (328) was more than the summed districts total (298) by 30.
   • 1878: For Wiltshire the county total for childbirth (23) was less than the summed districts total (24) by 1.
   • 1879: The national total number of deaths from Phthisis (51,274) was more than the sum of the divisions (51,272) by 2; The Eastern region total given for Enteric or Typhoid Fever (243) was less than the counties summed total (248) by 5; For Staffordshire the county total for phthisis (1,423) was more than the summed total (1,297) by 126. Newcastle under Lyme and Wolstanton are both missing digits for phthisis so it is not possible to determine how the difference should be split between them.
   • 1880: The London region total given for whooping cough (3,516) was more than the counties summed total (3,515) by 1. The summed districts total (3,516) was also more than the county total by 1. This suggests the county figure is wrong in the original; The North Western region total given for inquests (4,594) was less than the counties summed total (4,597) by 3.
   • 1881: Within Durham, the reported total number of deaths in Hartlepool district (888) was greater than the sum of the causes (887) by 1, and conversely the reported total for Sedgefield Union within Stockton district (413) was less than the computed sum (414) by 1.
   • 1882: In Lincolnshire the reported total number of deaths for Holbeach district (274) was more than the sum of the causes (277) by 3, conversely the total number of deaths given for Spalding district (375) was less than the sum of the causes (372) by 3; Similarly the given totals for Caistor district (1,188) and Glandford Brigg (709) were each more than the sum of the causes by 1 (Castor, 1,187 and Glandford Brigg, 708) while the reported total number of deaths for Gainsborough district (670) was less than the sum of the causes (672) by 2; In Nottinghamshire the reported total number of deaths for Basford district (2,406) was more than the sum of the causes (2,404) by 2, conversely the reported total number of deaths for Southwell district (358) was less than the sum of the causes (360) by 2; In Herefordshire the reported total number of deaths for Weobly (163) was more than the sum of the causes (167) by 4, conversely the reported total number of deaths for Hereford: Dore (163) was less than the sum of the causes (167) by 4; In Hampshire the reported total number of deaths for Droxford district (181) was more than the sum of the causes (171) by 10. The county total given for phthisis (1,150) is also more than the summed districts total (1,140) by 10. This suggests Droxford has the error, but the phthisis figure is 6 for this district so this cannot be the only issue.
   • 1883: The Monmouth county total for inquests (387) was more than the summed districts total (385) by 2.
   • 1886: In Hampshire the reported total number of deaths for Christchurch district (681) was more than the sum of the causes (680) by 1. The Hampshire county total for violence (335) was also more than the summed districts total (334) by 1; In Sussex the reported total number of deaths for Petworth district (202) was less than the sum of the causes (203) by 1. The Sussex county total for a simple continued fever (8) was also less than the summed districts total (9) by 1.
   • 1887: The Cheshire county total for inquests (780) was less than the summed districts total (800) by 20; The Lancashire county total for diseases of the nervous system (11,445) was more than the summed districts total (11,245) by 200, conversely the county total for Diarrhoea and Dysentery (4,002) was less than the summed districts total (4,202) by 200.
   • 1888: Within London, the reported total deaths from Diseases of the Generative System (279) was less than the computed total for that cause across all districts (280) by 1, and conversely the reported total for deaths in Childbirth (202) was greater than the computed total (201) by 1. The Lancashire county total for inquests (4,043) was more than the summed districts total (4,003) by 40; The Buckinghamshire county total for inquests (154) was less than the summed districts total (164) by 10; The Wiltshire county total for inquests (262) was less than the summed districts total (282) by 20; The Durham county total for phthisis (1,513) was more than the summed districts total (1,510) by 3. Conversely the county total for scarlet fever (243) was less than the summed districts total (246) by 3.
   • 1889: In Sussex the reported total number of deaths for Westbourne district (89) was less than the sum of the causes (90) by 1. The Sussex county total for tabes mesenterica (79) was also less than the summed districts total (80) by 1; In Huntingdonshire the reported total number of deaths for Huntingdon district (287) was less than the sum of the causes (292) by 5. The Huntingdonshire county total for cancer (53) was also less than the summed districts total (58) by 5.
   • 1890: In Lancashire the reported total number of deaths for Burnley district (3,327) was more than the summed districts total (3,307) by 20. The Lancashire county total for diseases of the circulatory system (6,830) was more than the summed districts total (6,810) by 20; The Buckinghamshire county total for whooping cough (63) was more than the summed districts total (62) by 1, conversely the county total for diptheria (23) was less than the summed districts total (24) by 1.
   • 1894: In Lancashire the reported total number of deaths for Chorlton district (5,317) was more than the summed districts total (5,312) by 5. The Lancashire county total for other TB and scrofulous diseases (1,907) was more than the summed districts total (1,902) by 5.
   • 1900: The Dorset county total for inquests (167) was less than the summed districts total (201) by 34.
   • 1902: The Kent county total for other causes (7,291) was more than the summed districts total (7,282) by 9. Conversely the county total for bronchitis (916) was less than the summed districts total (925) by 9; In Northamptonshire the reported total number of deaths for Hardingstone district (172) was more than the summed districts total (168) by 4. The Northamptonshire county total for tuberculous meningitis (41) was more than the summed districts total (37) by 4.
   • 1903: The South Midland region total given for scarlet fever (186) was more than the counties summed total (178) by 8, conversely the regional total given for typhus (1) is less than counties summed total (9) by 8; The Buckinghamshire county total for typhus (8) was more than the summed districts total (0) by 8, conversely the county total for scarlet fever (0) was less than the summed districts total (8) by 8; The Cheshire county total for phthisis (247) was more than the summed districts total (246) by 1, conversely the county total for phthisis not otherwise defined (625) was less than the summed districts total (626) by 1.
   • 1904: The Surrey county total for influenza (140) was more than the summed districts total (139) by 1, conversely the county total for other causes (5,411) was less than the summed districts total (5,412) by 1.
   • 1906: The North Wales given total for inquests (319) was more than the summed districts total (309) by 10.
   • 1908: In Yorkshire West Riding the reported total number of deaths for Skipton district (659) was more than the summed districts total (619) by 40. The Cheshire county total for cancer (2,748) was more than the summed districts total (2,708) by 40.
   • 1909: In Cheshire the reported total number of deaths for Birkenhead district (2,829) was more than the summed districts total (2,729) by 100. The Cheshire county total for violence (450) was more than the summed districts total (350) by 100.
   With these exceptions, the data should be error free, although this is less certain in the pre-1881 period when within-area checksums were not possible.
3. All data held here have been matched to the AUO with the exceptions of:
   • The groupings of districts forming the London parts of Middlesex, Surrey and Kent, which are not defined as units in the AUO.
   • Westminster St James is currently unmatched for 1869, because it is listed in the AUO as being abolished in 1868. This needs further investigation.
   • In 1870 Kington PLU became a Registration District. In the table this district is listed in Radnorshire, but in the AUO it is given in Herefordshire.
   • In 1856 there are 22 districts in London which do not match the AUO. This is because of their relationship to London. The first report of the Poor Law Board to identify London was that of the 1st of July 1857, so the relationship between all these districts and London registration county starts on the 1st April 1857 in the AUO. The districts are: BETHNAL GREEN, CAMBERWELL, CHELSEA, GREENWICH, HACKNEY, HAMPSTEAD, HOLBORN, ISLINGTON, LAMBETH, LEWISHAM, MARYLEBONE, PANCRAS, POPLAR, SHOREDITCH, ST GEORGE IN THE EAST, ST GILES, ST OLAVE SOUTHWARK, ST SAVIOUR SOUTHWARK, STEPNEY, STRAND, WANDSWORTH, WHITECHAPEL.
   • The reports list data separately for Poor Law Unions which were sub-divisions of districts, giving the name of the district first and spanning multiple rows, then a bracket then the names of the unions. These are held here as the district name followed by a colon followed by the union name. We have attempted to match both the districts and the unions to the AUO, requiring unions have a different ID to the district. In two cases, according to the AUO the unions did not exist at the relevant dates, so could not be matched:
     • According to the AUO, the town of Salisbury formed a separate Poor Law Incorporation and Registration District (10075555) until 1869, when it was merged into Alderbury (10099596) which was renamed to Salisbury in 1895. However, the RG reports list them as two separate districts, but sharing the same number, in 1871, and as a single district containing two Unions in 1881. To enable matching to the AUO, we have labelled the 1871 case identically to 1881, so all data have reg_dist_unit=10099596, but the "unions" lack g_unit values.
     • Similarly, according to the AUO, Shrewsbury formed a separate Incorporation and Registration District (10199955) until it was merged into Atcham PLU and District (10005589) in October 1871. However, the 1871 lists Atcham and Shrewsbury as two separate rows linked to the single number 351 by a bracket, while in 1881 the appear like the divided districts, but the footnote says that Atcham PLU had consisted of two Registration Districts, but only up to 1871. Here again all data have reg_dist_unit=10005589, but except for Shrewsbury in 1871 g_unit values could not be assigned.
     These cases require further investigation. In these cases, g_unit is unset but reg_dist_unit is always set.
4. In 1875 the registration district of Middlesbrough was created. In the table in this year only it is mis-spelt as 'Middlesborough'. In all subsequent years it is spelt correctly as 'Middlesbrough' so it has been matched to the district by temporarily changing the spelling during matching only.

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Acknowledgments:

We are extremely grateful to the following:

1. Graham Mooney: The data for London Registration Districts for ALL years 1860-1910 were supplied to the database by Graham Mooney. No limits have been placed on access.

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Columns within table:

Column	Type	Contents
year	Integer number.	Calendar year to which data relate.
row_type	Text string (max.len.=14).	Type of area covered by the current row. The available values are: Nation: National total for England and Wales. The unit ID is held only in g_unit. Division: Totals for a Registration Division. The unit ID is held in both reg_div_unit and g_unit. County: Totals for a Registration County. The unit ID is held in both reg_cnty_unit and g_unit. LonPart: Totals for those Districts within the London Division within each of the three ancient counties, i.e. Middlesex, Surrey and Kent. These areas are not currently defined in the AUO so these rows have no ID numbers. District: Registration District not divided up into constituent Poor Law Unions, The unit ID is held in both reg_dist_unit and g_unit. Dist:PLU: Poor Law Union which was a sub-division of a Registration District. The district ID is held in reg_dist_unit while g_unit holds the ID of the Poor Law area, if known.
reg_div	Text string (max.len.=44).	Name of the Registration Division. "ENGLAND AND WALES", for the national totals, is also held here.
reg_cnty_num	Integer number.	Number of Registration County.
reg_cnty	Text string (max.len.=44).	Name of Registration County.
reg_num	Integer number.	Number of Registration District.
reg_sfx	Text string (max.len.=5).	Suffix to number of Registration District.
reg_dist	Text string (max.len.=104).	Name of Registration District to which data relate. Null for data for Divisions and Counties.
sex	Text string (max.len.=5).	Gender: whether data are for all persons (T), males (M) or females (F). Only overall totals are given for Districts.
area_a	Integer number.	Area in Statue Acres.
tot_pop	Integer number.	Total Population.
avg_mort	Integer number.	Average annual rate of mortality from All Causes to 1000 persons living, 1851-60. A footnote at the start of districts within the 1870 table, the last to include this column, says: "In calculating the average annual rate of mortality from all causes in London, a correction has been made by distributing the deaths in hospitals proportionally over every district. The second rate of mortality (in figures of different character) is the result of a further correction - in Chelsea and Greenwich for the Military and Naval Hospitals, in Wandsworth for the County Lunatic Asylum, and in the other London Districts for Workhouses situated out of the Districts to which they belong. In all the other Districts of England the second rate of mortality is the result of a correction for either a Naval or Military Hospital or Camp, a County Lunatic Asylum or a Workhouse situated out of the District to which it belongs. The particulars of these corrections are given in the supplement to the 25th Report, pp. xi-lviii." In practice, this means that this column sometimes includes a second figure, in brackets, and there is at least one instance in 1870 of a single value being assigned to two districts by them being bracketed together. Given the unclear usefulness of these data, the second values in brackets were not transcribed, and the value shared between two districts was assigned to each of them. No systematic checking was possible.
total	Integer number.	Total number of deaths. (This appears in the source table only from 1897, but has been added for earlier dates from the listing of births and deaths, or the age structure of deaths, to assist with initial checking.).
bronchitis	Integer number.	Bronchitis (Listed for 1901-End).
cancer	Integer number.	Cancer (Named Cancer) (Listed for 1881-End).
childbirth_1	Integer number.	Childbirth (Listed for 1860-1900).
childbirth_2	Integer number.	Child birth and Puerperal Septic Diseases (Listed for 1901-1910).
cholera	Integer number.	Cholera (Listed for 1860-1900).
diar_dys	Integer number.	Diarrhoea and Dysentery (Listed for 1881-1910).
diarrhoea	Integer number.	Diarrhoea (Combined with Dysentery from 1881) (Listed for 1860-1880).
dysentery	Integer number.	Dysentery (Combined with Diarrhoea from 1881) (Listed for 1860-1880).
diptheria	Integer number.	Diphtheria (Listed for 1860-End).
dis_circ	Integer number.	Diseases Of Circulatory System (Listed for 1881-1900).
dis_digest	Integer number.	Diseases Of Digestive System (Listed for 1881-1900).
dis_gen	Integer number.	Diseases Of Generative System (Listed for 1881-1900).
dis_nerv	Integer number.	Diseases Of Nervous System (Listed for 1881-1900).
dis_resp	Integer number.	Diseases Of The Respiratory System (Listed for 1860-1900).
dis_urin	Integer number.	Diseases Of Urinary System (Listed for 1881-1900).
enteric_1	Integer number.	Enteric Or Typhoid Fever (Listed for 1869-1900).
enteric_2	Integer number.	Enteric Fever (Listed for 1901-End).
erysipelas	Integer number.	Erysipelas (Listed for 1860-1880).
influenza_1	Integer number.	Influenza (Listed for 1860-1880.
influenza_2	Integer number.	Influenza (Listed for 1901-End).
measles	Integer number.	Measles (Listed for 1860-End).
metria	Integer number.	Metria Or Puerperal Fever (Listed for 1860-1880).
phthisis	Integer number.	Phthisis (Originally named Phthisis and Consumption, changed to Phthisis in 1881, and To Pulmonary TB, Phthisis in 1901). (Listed for 1860-End).
phth_other	Integer number.	Phthisis, Not Otherwise Defined (Listed for 1901-1910).
pneumonia	Integer number.	Pneumonia (Listed for 1901-End).
puerperal_f	Integer number.	Puerperal Fever (Listed for 1881-1900).
pyrexia	Integer number.	Pyrexia, Of Uncertain Origin (Listed for 1901-1910).
rheumatic_f	Integer number.	Rheumatic Fever, Rheumatism Of The Heart (Listed for 1901-End).
scarlet_f	Integer number.	Scarlatina/Scarlet Fever (Changed name from Scarlatina to Scarlet Fever in 1869). (Listed for 1860-End).
septic	Integer number.	Septic Diseases (Not Puerperal) (Listed for 1901-1910).
simp_cont_f	Integer number.	Simple Continued Fever (Listed for 1869-1900).
smallpox	Integer number.	Smallpox (Listed for 1860-End).
tabes_mes	Integer number.	Tabes Mesenterica (Listed for 1901-1910).
tb_meningitis	Integer number.	Tuberculous Meningitis (Listed for 1901-End).
tb_periton	Integer number.	Tuberculous Peritonitis (Listed for 1901-1910).
tb_other	Integer number.	Other Tb and Scrofulous Diseases (named All Other TB Diseases from 1901) (Listed for 1881-End).
typhus_f	Integer number.	Typhus Fever (Listed for 1869-1900).
typhus_1	Integer number.	Typhus (Split into Typhus Fever, Enteric or Typhoid Fever and Simple Continued Fever from 1869) (Listed for 1860-1868).
typhus_2	Integer number.	Typhus (Listed for 1901-1910).
whooping_c	Integer number.	Whooping Cough (Listed for 1860-End).
violence	Integer number.	Violence (Listed for 1881-1910).
other	Integer number.	Other Causes (Listed for 1881-1910).
inquests	Integer number.	Inquests (Listed for 1870-1910). This is not broken down by gender in the listings for Divisions and Counties.
notes	Long text.	Comments taken from original report. These are all either references to recent splits/mergers, or explanations of the Districts listed as multiple Poor Law Unions.
nation_unit	Integer number.	ID of either England or Wales, as appropriate and derived from the county the District was in.
reg_div_unit	Integer number.	ID number of the Registration Division, as defined in the AUO.
reg_cnty_unit	Integer number.	ID number of the Registration County, as defined in the AUO.
reg_dist_unit	Integer number.	ID number of the Registration District, as defined in the AUO.
g_unit	Integer number.	ID number, as defined in the AUO, of the area covered by the current row. See documentation for the row_type column for what exactly will be held here.
rec_num	Integer number.	Unique number identifying row in table.