Booth Maps of London

[Alexander Bisset]

Charles Booth a Victorian pioneer produced the famous "poverty maps" of London by visiting all the streets and describing them and classifying them according to a scale of his own devising. These maps provide a fascinating insight into the types of area your London ancestor may have lived in.

One of the unusual things that clearly comes across is how relatively wealthy people were living just a street away from those classed as "Vicious, semi-criminal.".

The London School of Economics have produced a website that houses his research including all the maps, which you can browse and search as well as having indexed his original notebooks thus making them too fully searchable.

These Links will prove useful :

The main website​

The maps search page​

Browsing the maps​

Searching the notebooks
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[peter]

Another wonderful resource at the LSE are the original notes that became Round About a Pound a Week, a book that had an enormous influence on me, partly because I read it as I was starting my research, but mainly because the data was collected around the time of the 1911 Census, which - being so recent - made it all the more shocking. Whereas the book doesn't name the families, the notes do - and one day I'd like to track down their descendants, who probably don't realise what hardships their ancestors went through.

 

[Jennie]

Another wonderful resource at the LSE are the original notes that became Round About a Pound a Week

Sounds a great read! I have just ordered a copy on Amazon, in 'good condition' and only £2.80 and free delivery. Another 18 copies (prices unknown) left whilst I was on the site. Thanks, Peter, another of your successful money-saving suggestions and hints!

 

[Carla]

Now that book sounds interesting. I see the ones on Amazon are from the re-print library. With your recommendation Peter it could go out of stock again.

I also took a look at the link Alexander gave for the 'poverty maps' I have looked in the past but to be honest i had forgotten about them. I went and had a look again just now and saw
Browse the digitised police notebooks. Fascinating stuff.......i clicked on district 7, Mile End Old Town and Spitalfields and it has really piqued my interest. Going over to Amazon and typing in Charles Booth has thrown up lots of interesting information and now thanks to you, Peter and Alexander, the postman will have a nasty job delivering some huge bundles!! You may find i vanish from this forum in a few days while i end up reading everything. You have been warned! (you may be glad? )

 

[Heilan Lass]

It looks as if you can read the book and notes on line:-

Maud Pember Reeves’s book "Family Life on a Pound a Week" which appears to have been it's title before being re-titled "Round about a Pound a Week" - see para 2 of the publisher's write up about the book

The individual ladies' notebooks

 

[Heilan Lass]

Just found the link for "Round about a Pound a Week" itself as a digital book. It can be read on line or downloaded free as a PDF or for Kindle, etc. Any chance of you cancelling your order Jennie and saving yourself the cost?

 

[Jennie]

Just found the link for "Round about a Pound a Week" itself as a digital book. It can be read on line or downloaded free as a PDF or for Kindle, etc. Any chance of you cancelling your order Jennie and saving yourself the cost?

Thanks for the tip-off, much appreciated! I've got so many recommended books on my Kindle and by not using it they are easy to ignore, so I'll stay with the hardcopy, thanks, and enjoy walking past it looking forward to the time when I'll actually get to read it.