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A Statistical Survey of the London Deaf, 28th of August 1855

By H Dominic W Stiles, on 14 February 2014

From one of the pictures in Selwyn Oxley’s photo collection comes a postcard sized copy of this fascinating document.  Were you to ask anyone what the deaf population of London might be today, you would have to have some fun with the O.N.S. and might well struggle to find any useful information, for statistics related to Deaf people or Deafness are notoriously hard to find.  Define what you mean by d/Deaf  to start with.  Do we include people deaf in one ear?  There is a gradation in the population from those with no hearing loss to those with complete hearing loss or profound deafness.  This document was compiled by someone – I am not sure who but I expect that someone might know or have an educated guess – on behalf of the “Association in Aid of the Deaf and Dumb”, that is what became the Royal Association in Aid of the Deaf and Dumb, now the R.A.D.

Whether the document survives in its original form or not we simply do not know.  If you do, feel free to comment.  You may like to compare this with the famous Booth poverty map of London.   There are many interesting questions you could consider with this topic.  Did poorer areas have more deafness due to illness in childhood, or did wealthier people ‘disguise’ deafness in their children?

To the Secretaries of the Association in aid of the deaf and dumb.

Gentlemen,

In submitting to you my last report, permit me in the first place to lay before you a “statistical account” of my labours in visiting the 36 districts into which London was divided.

Idiots not mutes Adults untaught From 5 to 14 years untaught At School Residences not-known Anxious to be visited & attend chapel Total
1 (Districts -) Marylebone 12 4 7 7 21 16  67
2 St.George’s Hanover sq. 7 0 1  0  13  6  27
3 St.James’s 0 0 0 0 9 1  10
4 Westminster 3 1 3 0 11 7  25
5 St.Martin in the Fields 0 0 1 2 3 2  8
6 St.Giles & Bloomsbury 1 2 1 1 15 4  24
7 Strand 3 2 2 2 5 7  21
8 Holborn 1 0 2 0 11 6  20
9 St.Pancras 5 2 7 1 19 27  61
10 Kensington 1 0 2 2 11 4  20
11 Chelsea 3 2 0 0 8 8  21
12 Islington 3 1 1 0 20 8  35
13 Clerkenwell 3 1 1 1 13 5  24
14 St.Luke’s 1 3 2 0 6 3  15
15 East London 1 2 0 3 4 9  19
16 City of London 0 0 1 1 11 6  19
17 West London 1 1 0 1 9 6  18
18 St.George’s in the East 1 2 3 1 13 6  26
19 Whitechapel 2 6 6 3 13 13  43
20 Stepney 2 4 5 2 14 9  36
21 Bethnal Green 0 3 4 1 16 9  33
22 Hackney 1 1 5 0 7 3  17
23 Shoreditch 2 2 0 5 16 9  34
24 Lambeth 3 2 3 2 18 16  44
25 Wandsworth 1 0 0 0 6 5  12
26 Camberwell 2 0 3 0 12 5  22
27 Newington 0 1 3 0 13 14  31
28 Bermondsey 1 1 0 0 8 14  24
29 Rotherhithe 0 0 2 1 1 5  9
30 Hampstead 0 0 1 0 0 0  1
31 St.Olave’s 0 0 1 0 4 2  7
32 St.George’s Southwark 0 1 4 0 11 5  21
33 St.Saviour’s Southwark 0 4 0 1 7 7  19
34 Poplar 0 1 2 0 8 0  11
35 Greenwich 0 0 2 2 16 10  31
36 Lewisham 0 1 0 0 2 9  12
60+ 50+ 75+ 39+ 374+ 266= Total 864

By the census returns there appears to be 1325 deaf and dumb in London, including men, women and children – I can only account for 864 which who with the 301 in the Old Kent Road Asylum make 1165 leaving a deficiency of 160 – But taking into account on the one hand the deaths and removals of the deaf mute population since the census was taken and the number of deaf mute infants born since the census was taken and the number of deaf mute infants born since that period we may fairly conclude that at least there are 1325 mutes in the Metropolis.

survey deaf London 001

Click onto the image to see it in a larger size.

Before quoting from the table, double check the picture – I wrote the totals from that rather than adding them manually.

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