GB Historical DB

Quarterly vital statistics for Registration sub-Districts

Table ID:
VITAL_EW_SUB_QUA     (1253398)
Contents:
Quarterly vital statistics for Registration sub-Districts
Approx. number of rows:
60,809
Table type:
Raw Data
Documentation Author:
Humphrey Southall
Geography:
Reporting units are identified by:
   Registration County
   Registration District
   Registration District Number
   Suffix to Registration District Number
   Registration sub-District
   Registration sub-District Number
Chronology:
The data are for the single year 1871.
Dates and times are identified by:
   Quarter
   Year

Sources:

  1. These data were transcribed from the regular tables published in the Registrar General's Quarterly Returns, titled 'Marriages Registered in the Quarter ending ... in the Divisions, Registration Counties, and Superintendent Registrars' Districts of England. Births and Deaths Registered in the Quarter ending ...; Deaths of Infants under one year of age, and of persons aged 60 years and upwards from all causes; and Deaths from Small-Pox, Measles, Scarlet Fever, Diptheria, Whooping-Cough, Fever, Diarrhoea, Cholera and Violence, also Inquest Cases and Deaths in Public Institutions registered in the quarter ending ... in the Divisions, Registration Counties, Superintendent Registrars' Districts, and Registration sub-Districts of England'. Almost identical tables appeared in the Quarterly Returns from no.85 (1869) to no.252 (covering late 1911). NB the data for marriages refer to the quarter preceding the quarter for which births and deaths were reported, but as the marriage statistics are given only for Registration Districts, not sub-Districts, they are not included here.
  2. These tables are very extensive and the data held here are a series of selective transcriptions:
    • A full transcription of all four quarters for each census year within the period covered by the Quarterly Returns: 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901 and 1911.
    • A transcription limited to the County of London and to numbers of births and infant deaths, but covering the full run of reports from 1871 to 1911.
    • A full transcription of all four quarters of 1876, but limited to the north-west of England, defined as Cheshire, Lancashire and Westmorland plus Chapel-en-le-Frith and Hayfield Registration Districts in Derbyshire and Saddleworth in the West Riding. It is intended to extend this regional transcription to cover the full period 1871-81.
  3. The 'full transcriptions' including the footnotes to the table but exclude: a crude count of the numbers of workhouses, lunatic asylums and hospitals in each sub-District; the population of each sub-District at the previous census and the acreage of the sub-District (both of which can be computed from census reports); and the average total number of deaths in the same quarter in the three preceding years (which is complicated by boundary changes).
  4. WARNING: This table has been extensively re-worked over the years, including matching to the AUO, but needs to be checked against the original source.

Notes:

  1. The QR for the first quarter of 1881 states 'The Registration sub-Districts (2177 in number) are sub-divisions of the Superintendent Registrar's Districts in which the Births and Deaths are registered by Registrars severally appointed for that purpose.
  2. The figures for London sub-Districts are described as 'drawn from the Weekly Returns made by the Registrars', and never include footnotes.

Checking:

  1. These notes on checking were supplied by CDDA:

    "There is no scope for checking individual rows of the data, but the tables begin with data for counties and then for Registration Districts. While inputting the data, county totals computed from the sub-District statistics were systematically checked against the county totals printed in the reports; where inconsistencies arose, the intermediate totals for Registration Districts were used to locate the problem rows. NB this procedure located a substantial number of errors in the original reports; in general, we include here the actual figures printed for the sub-District even if it is inconsistent with RD and county totals.

    No checking was possible with the partial transcription for London."
  2. Unfortunately, the sub-totals for counties and districts, used by CDDA in the above checking, have been deleted from the table as held here, so the results cannot be confirmed. However, annual totals at district level for many of the variables in this table exist in the RG's Annual Reports. In 2021, comparisons were made with the cause_ew_reg_ann table, for total deaths, cholera, measles and scarlet fever, all of which appear in both tables. A total of 8,966 comparisons could be made, of which 6,624 exactly matched and 8,371 differed by 2 or less. It seems likely that the Quarterly Returns were produced more hurriedly than the Annual Reports, and are consequently less consistent.
  3. All rows in the data have reg_cnty_unit and reg_dist_unit set. A total of 38 rows are currently (Feb 2021) missing sub_dist_unit. The majority are from 1911 and appear to be for new sub-districts created that year, which is not currently covered by the AUO. The remainder are cases where the original transcription needs to be checked.

Acknowledgments:


We are extremely grateful to the following:

  1. Graham Mooney: The transcription of births and infant deaths for London sub-Districts was created by Graham Mooney as part of the Wellcome-funded 'Metropolitan Mortality' project.
  2. Samantha Sneddon: The full transcription for the Fenland counties (Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Lincolnshire) in 1871 was created by Samantha Sneddon.

Indices:

IndexTypeColumn(s) indexed
vital_ew_sub_qua_idx Unique year, quarter, reg_cnty, reg_dist, sub_dist

Columns within table:

ColumnTypeContents
year Integer number. Year to which data relate.
quarter Integer number. Quarter to which data relate.
reg_cnty Text string (max.len.=40). Name of the Registration County containing the sub-District.
reg_num Integer number. Number of the Registration District containing the sub-District.
reg_sfx Text string (max.len.=6). Suffix to reg_num; handles IDs such as '431A'.
reg_dist Text string (max.len.=34). Name of the Registration District containing the sub-District.
sub_num Integer number. Number of the sub-District within the District (i.e. a number running from 1 to, exceptionally, 13).
sub_dist Text string (max.len.=44). Name of the sub-District.
area Integer number. Area in Statute Acres.
tot_pop Integer number. Enumerated Population, 1911 (Unrevised).
births Integer number. Number of births during the quarter.
av_deaths Integer number. Average in Quarters ended 30 June in the 3 years 1908-10.
deaths Integer number. Total number of deaths during the quarter.
d_under1 Integer number. Number of deaths of infants under 1.
d_over65 Integer number. Number of deaths of persons aged 65 and upwards.
d_over60 Integer number. Number of deaths of persons aged 60 and upwards.
smallpox Integer number. Number of deaths from Smallpox.
measles Integer number. Number of deaths from Measles.
scarlet_f Integer number. Number of deaths from Scarlet Fever.
diptheria Integer number. Number of deaths from Diptheria.
whooping_c Integer number. Number of deaths from Whooping Cough.
fever Integer number. Number of deaths from Fever [In the 1900s, this is specified as 'Enteric or Typhoid Fever'].
diarhoea Integer number. Number of deaths from Diarrhoea.
diarhoea_ent Integer number. Number of deaths from Diarrhoea and Enteritis (under 2 years).
cholera Integer number. Number of deaths from Cholera [This does not appear in the tables before 1871 Q2, or for the 1900s].
violence Integer number. Number of deaths from Violence.
inquests Integer number. Number of inquest cases.
d_inst Integer number. Number of deaths in Public Institutions.
unc_deaths Integer number. Uncertified Causes of Deaths.
notes Long text. Comments transcribed from source. These provide information on the timing of deaths within the quarter, and on notable geographical concentrations of deaths from particular diseases, so they add useful information on the progress of epidemics.
rec_num Integer number. Sequence number added on loading, to keep the rows in order.
nation_unit Integer number. ID number for the nation (England or Wales) containing the sub-District, as defined in the AUO.
reg_cnty_unit Integer number. ID number for the Registration County containing the sub-District, as defined in the AUO.
reg_dist_unit Integer number. ID number for the Registration District containing the sub-District, as defined in the AUO.
sub_dist_unit Integer number. ID number for the sub-District itself, as defined in the AUO.