Social class maps of London

[LizzieL]

Some time ago I saw a television programme which showed maps of London which had the streets coloured according to the social class of the occupants. I only caught part of the programme so I don't remember what the maps were called or who drew them. Does anyone recall ever seeing this type of map and if they are available on-line. I have ancestors who moved around London a bit and am interested as to what type of area they lived in and whether their address "matched" their occupations.

[ChrissieL]

The maps were produced by Charles Booth. I'm not sure if they are available online. You could try googling Charles Booth poverty map

Chris

[StevieSteve]

Googled as suggested

http://booth.lse.ac.uk/cgi-bin/do.pl?sub=view_booth_and_barth&args=531000,180400,6,large,5

[LizzieL]

Thank you  both very much, that's exactly what I was looking for

[nanny jan]

Hi,

If you want a paper version there is a 2 pack (West & East London) sold by the National Archives (other sellers are available!)

http://bookshop.nationalarchives.gov.uk/9781908402806/Booth%27s-Maps-of-London-Poverty-%3A-East-and-West-1889/


Nanny Jan

[jorose]

As well as the maps themselves, the website has his notes from when he went back a year or two later, indexed and .  The local policemen gave him information as they escorted him around, and he describes quite vividly the areas - what sort of people lived there, what the conditions were, if it had improved or not since the maps were made, etc.

This is typical (area near Old Ford road, close to where some of where mine used to live):
http://booth.lse.ac.uk/notebooks/b349/jpg/245.html

Pickering Street, South Islington.  "Very rough, very poor, very noisy" said Pearn - windows broken & dirty, curtains torn, 6 children looking of out of one window high up.  2 rooms let at 5/- or 5/6-.  Opposite it are (3 courts?) Ernest place, 8 2-storied cottages, light blue as map. Providence place, also light blue but with a better & cleaner lot of children playing in them.

Or
http://booth.lse.ac.uk/notebooks/b354/jpg/121.html

Little Wild St, 2st the Sardinia Bldgs, 6 st on S.E. side. "Worse than Nottingham Court".  Many flower girls, drunk, Irish, fighting set: the buildings do not look so bad outside but Tait says the smell inside 'is awful'. 80 or 90 different families living there.

To find this info, choose "Search" - you can do "Streets in 2000" if the place still exists, then "Search for in catalogue" to see if digitised pages are available.   Or, when zoomed in to the map, there is a drop down menu on the top right which says "from this page you can...".  Choose "Find Nearby Pages..." and hit go.

[LizzieL]

Thank you, that's very useful, I'll give it a go with my streets of interest.

[nanny jan]

One area of London, the south east, has been transcribed and printed as:

The Streets of London, the Booth Notebooks.

It also includes maps and some photographs.  Available from a well-known online supplier.

I found it very useful for researching my south-east Londoners.

[Plummiegirl]

The SW London ones seem to be the only ones yet to be transcribed.

Good luck to the person who tries that one.  The police officer who Booth walked the streets with had the most appalling handwriting!!!!