Charles Booth's Poverty Survey Notebook Nine Elms & Battersea, 1899
A transcription of four pages from one of the notebooks kept for Charles Booth's Inquiry into Life and Labour in London — the walk-round survey in which a researcher toured a district with a local police sergeant, recording street by street what he saw and what the sergeant told him, as the basis for the colour-coded poverty maps. This walk, dated on the manuscript 28th June 1899, covers Districts 36 and 38: the parishes of St George and St Andrew, and part of Christ Church, in Nine Elms and Battersea — including Everett Street, the "island" enclave where Benjamin Soley (17th Lancers) lived in the early 1870s. See his own page.
Uncertain readings are flagged in square brackets rather than guessed at. Booth's shorthand "l.b." and "d.b." (light blue and dark blue, on his poverty-classification colour scale) are explained at first use.
Notebook p.63 — district map, and opening description
Notebook p.63: the hand-drawn "District covered" map (facing page), and the opening of the walk report.
June 28th 1899. Dists. 36 and 38.
Walk with Sergeant Hann round district bounded on the north by the Thames and Nine Elms Lane, on the east by the Lambeth and Battersea boundary and Wandsworth Road, and on the west by the L.C.D.Ry, being the parishes of St George and St Andrew and part of the parish of Christ Church.
Starting at corner of Nine Elms Lane and Wandsworth Road, west down Nine Elms Lane: this is a mixed street, the north being almost exclusively wharves and other business premises; but the small uncoloured piece called [“Prices Terrace”?] on the map is inhabited: 3½ st.; pink to purple in character. On the south side are first Brewery Cottages, excellent buildings erected by [Mr Thorne?] the Brewer for his workpeople, all of whom Hann says are expected to be teetotallers: beyond the Brewery are 3, 2½ and 2 st. shops and dwelling houses of poor class; pink to purple in character; pink on map.
The pink bit west of Everett St. is now uninhabited.
South to Ponton Road, Currie St, [Bedford St?], Woodgate St, Everett St, and Ponton St: these streets are so completely cut off from the rest of the world and so homogeneous in character and appearance that they are not grouped together. They are all 2 st., flush with the pavement, with no backs to speak of. They here are the worst spots in the division. With the exception of Everett St. and a bit of Currie St. and the northern end of Ponton Road, they show all the usual signs of squalor in an exaggerated form: broken windows, filthy broken plaster, dirty ragged children, drunk sodden women etc. I saw several bare-footed children, and one girl of about 5 with nothing on but a shirt; Hann says it is quite common here to see the small children running about naked. But in spite of their dirt the children as usual looked well fed and healthy. In hot weather the people, especially in Everett St. . . .
Notebook p.67 — continued; Haines St
Notebook p.67.
. . .and in the Gas Works often bring mattresses out and sleep in the street. Many if not most of the inhabitants of these streets earn good wages as gas workers, coal porters, costers etc, and almost the sole cause of their destitution is drink. Hann thinks there has been little or no change here: if anything there are fewer drunken rows than there used to be; but Hann admitted that as long as the people kept on their own ground there was not much interference with them: they don't often complain of one another.
As to the colouring I doubt if any alteration should be made. Hann said that Everett St., as the map indicates, was a little better than the other streets; as for the rest he said there is nothing to choose between them: they can't be worse; but [Bedford St.?] (black on map) certainly looked worst, while the north side of Currie St. and the north end of Ponton Road might be l.b. [light blue] coloured instead of d.b. [dark blue].
West to Haines St.: here nearly all the frontage on to Battersea Park Road, the whole of . . .
. . .Moat St. and the east side of Haines St. have been absorbed by the Gas Works. The west side of Haines St. is 2 st.: here and in the neighbouring streets are many of the more respectable gas workers. The street is mixed and purple as map at north end, but the little bit south of Arden St. is very poor, and no better than l.b.
Opposite Haines St., on part of the ground that belonged to the Southwark Waterworks, the Vestry are building a second large baths and washhouse.
West to Arden St.: 2½ st.: poor throughout; l.b. to purple; purple on map.
West to Cherwell St.: 2 st.: as Arden St.; probably l.b. rather than purple.
North to Tweed St.: 2 and 2½ st.: small front gardens, well kept; pink on map.
West to Eglon St.: 2½ st.: more mixed than Tweed St.; pink to purple; pink on map.
North to Battersea Park Road: at this point small shops; pink on map.
South to [Shafford St.?]: 2 st.: some very old cottages on west side, but these were new, as this is . . .
The manuscript continues past this point onto a further notebook page, not transcribed here.
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