View report page

115
APPENDIX II.
Farewell Letter to the Council from Dr. Priestley,
Medical Officer of Health and Chief Executive Tuberculosis
Officer, addressed to the Council, on the Occasion
of his Retirement from Office on October, 31st, 1927, and
the Action taken by the Council Thereon.
(a) Letter.
To the Mayor, Aldermen, and Councillors of the
Metropolitan Borough of Lambeth.
Dear Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Thursday, October 13th, 1927, is the last occasion upon which I
shall have the privilege of being present at a Council Meeting as
Medical Officer of Health of the important Metropolitan Borough of
Lambeth. I should not like the occasion, a very momentous
occasion to me, to go by without a letter of farewell.
Everything in this world comes to an end—even the official
career of a Medical Officer of Health. I shall be in that position on
October 31st, 1927, when, at the hour of midnight, my appointment
passes to another.
I have been very happy officially since my appointment on
June 27th, 1895 (a period of 32 years), and I am fortunate in being
unable to recall a single case of misunderstanding or disagreement
with any Committee, or Committees, with which I have had to deal.
That means much in a period of 32 years of official life. I have
given work of my best, and my reward is shown by the results, of
which I am naturally proud.
Taking the official mortality figures, as published for the year
1895, when I first commenced my duties as Medical Officer of Health
for the Parish of St. Mary's, Lambeth, and comparing these official
figures with those published for the year 1926 (the last full year of
my appointment, as Medical Officer of Health, for the Borough of
Lambeth), the decreases, when given in percentage rates, can only
adequately be described as extraordinary. The same remarks practically
apply pari passu if a comparison be made between the 1895
figures and the yearly averages for the thirty-two years (1895-1926),
during which I have held the position of Medical Officer of Health
for the old Parish of St. Mary's, Lambeth, and of the new Borough
of Lambeth. The figures speak for themselves, and are set out as a
record for the Council's Minutes as follow:—