HH62/2/STIRLI/77

Transcription

COUNTY COUNCIL OF STIRLING.

WESTERN DISTRICT.

REPORT BY MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH,
FOR YEAR 1891.

The Western District consists of the long, somewhat pear-shaped
tract of country extending from beyond Ben Lomond on the north
down the east side of Loch Lomond, and through the valleys of the
Endrick and the Blane towards the southern boundary, which is
constituted by the Kelvin between Kirkintilloch and Killermont.
It includes the range of hills known as the Campsie Fells, and at
one part extends beyond them so as to embrace the parish and
village of Fintry. The whole district is thirty miles long, and at
its widest part fifteen miles broad. The parishes contained within
it, as is seen from Table II. of the County Report (page 14), are
Buchanan, Drymen, Balfron, Killearn, Fintry, Strathblane, Bal-
dernock, and Campsie.
The population of the District at the census of 1891 was 12,473.
In 1881 it was 12,638.
The places with a population of over 300 within the District
are:-

1881.
Balfron, -- 970
Killearn, -- 365
Netherton and Blanefield, -- 514
Lennoxtown, -- 3249
Milton of Campsie, -- 555
Torrance and Wester Balgrochan, -- 624

1891.
Balfron, -- 885
Killearn, -- 354
Netherton and Blanefield -- about 550
Lennoxtown, --2838
Milton of Campsie, -- 664
Torrance and Wester Balgrochan -- 466

[Page] 77

The population of Haughhead was 207 in 1881 and 185 in 1891.
Torrance, without Wester Balgrochan, had 496 in 1881 and 380 in
1891.

HOUSE ACCOMMODATION.
(SEE TABLE 1.)
Through the kindness of Mr. Baird, registrar for the Parish of
Campsie, I am enabled to make in Table I. a comparison between
the censuses of 1881 and 1891 as regards the statistics of house
accommodation in Lennoxtown, Milton and Torrance. In Lennox-
town the number of rooms per house is almost the same at the two
periods; in Milton there has been an improvement from 2·16 to 2·66
rooms per house; and in Torrance the corresponding figures are
2·08 and 2·28. The rooms, too, are less crowded than before.
In Lennoxtown the number of persons per room has diminished from
2·13 to 2·02; in Milton, from 2·09 to 1·79; and in Torrance, from
2·20 to 1·78. It will be seen that the number of inhabited houses
has diminished in Lennoxtown from 694 to 636, and in Torrance
from 137 to 114, while in Milton there has been an increase from
123 to 139.

(SEE TABLE 11.)
The figures in Table II. relate to the census of 1881; those for
1891 will be published in the course of 1892. The table shows that
in Campsie over 30 per cent. of the houses had only one room, and
in Balfron and Baldernock, 21 per cent. In Buchanan there were
only 5·7 per cent. of one-roomed houses, the great majority having
either two or three rooms; in Campsie there were 43·7 per cent. of
two-roomed houses; in Strathblane, 41 per cent.; and in Fintry, 37
per cent. The largest proportions of three-roomed houses were in
the Parishes of Buchanan (26 per cent.), Drymen (19 per cent.),
and Killearn (18 per cent).
In Lennoxtown many of the houses are very old and damp. In
connection chiefly with cases of infectious disease I have inspected
a number of them, and eight have had to be closed as unfit for
human habitation. Further steps in this direction will have to
be taken in the course of the year. * In Milton, Mr. Lamb called

* Since the end of the year Mr. Lamb has made a full report on the sanitary
condition of all the properties in Lennoxtown, and action is being taken in
regard to various nuisances referred to in the report.