What Changes Were Implemented to Improve Conditions of Streets in London in the Mid-18th Century?

The ascent of cities in the 18th century

Cities expanded apace in 18th century Britain, with people flocking to them for work. Matthew White explores the impact on street life and living conditions in London and the expanding industrial cities of the Due north.

Life in the 18th-century city would take provoked a dazzling mixture of sensations: terror and exhilaration, menace and bliss, awe and compassion.

Scene of drunkenness and immoderacy from Hogarth's Rake's Progress.

Title：A Rake's Progress Author/Creator：William Hogarth Held by：British Museum Shelfmark：18,680,822.15 Copyright：© Trustees of the British Museum and British Museum Standard Terms of Utilize

This image shows an extract from the hand-written diary of Francis Place which describes his pleasure at the bustling trade of London as seen from his sleeping room morning on a fine sunny day in the early 1800s.

Championship：Extract from the diary of Francis Place describing a morning in London, 1827 Writer/Creator：Francis Plac Held by：British Library Shelfmark：Add MS 27828 Copyright：Public Domain

This image shows an extract from the hand-written diary of Francis Place which describes his pleasure at the bustling trade of London every bit seen from his bedroom morning on a fine sunny day in the early 1800s.

Title：Extract from the diary of Francis Identify describing a morning time in London, 1827 Writer/Creator：Francis Identify Held by：British Library Shelfmark：Add MS 27828 Copyright：Public Domain

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Population Growth

The population of Britain grew rapidly during this period, from effectually five meg people in 1700 to nearly 9 1000000 by 1801. Many people left the countryside in order to seek out new chore opportunities in nearby towns and cities. Others arrived from further afield: from rural areas in Ireland, Scotland and Wales, for example, and from across large areas of continental Europe.

The English language Spy is one of a number of illustrated serials describing stylish life in Regency Britain.

Title： The English Spy Author/Creator：Charles Molloy Westmacott , Bernard Blackmantle [pseudonym] , Robert Cruikshank as illustrator Held by：British Library Shelfmark：C.71.f.ane. and C.58.chiliad.fifteen. Copyright：Public Domain

This moving-picture show shows an early nineteenth century London seafood marketplace ('old' Billingsgate Market) scene. TheMicrocosm of London tapped into the demand for highly-coloured prints of real-life subjects that proved something of a publishing sensation during the Regency period. As such, the prints stand every bit a fascinating historical record of London life in the early on years of the 19th century.

Title：Billingsgate Marketplace from Microcosm of London Author/Creator：Rudolph Ackermann , W H Pyne , William Combe , Augustus Pugin , Thomas Rowlandson Held by：British Library Shelfmark：C.194.b.305-307. Copyright：Public Domain

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Past today's standards, nigh 18th-century towns possessed remarkably young populations. Young people were drawn to urban areas by the offer of regular and full-time employment, and past the entertainments that were on offer there: the theatres, inns and pleasure gardens, for instance, and the shops displaying the latest fashions.

Described as 'a faithful Portraiture of High & Depression Life' from the West End to the Due east End, Pierce Egan's comical monthly publicationLife in London was one of the popular sensations of its day. The central characters – Tom, Jerry and Logic – were well-heeled young men nigh boondocks, great to run across 'a flake of life' in the poorer districts of London. Their escapades and misadventures were largely autobiographical, existence drawn from the lives of Egan himself and his illustrators, George and Robert Cruikshank and Isaac Richard.

Title： Life in London Writer/Creator：Pierce Egan Held by：British Library Shelfmark：838.i.2. Copyright：Public Domain

London in particular was flooded with thousands of young people every year, many of whom worked as apprentices to the capital's thousands of tradesmen. Other new arrivals gained employment as domestic servants to the dozens of aloof families that began spending much of their time in elegantly built townhouses.Though death rates remained relatively high, by the end of the 18th century London's population had reached near 1 meg people, fed by a ceaseless catamenia of newcomers. Past 1800 almost one in 10 of the unabridged British population lived in the capital urban center. Elsewhere, thousands of people moved to the rapidly growing industrial cities of northern England, such as Manchester and Leeds, in order to work in the new factories and cloth mills that sprang up there from the 1750s onwards.

Street Life

Cities streets echoed with the din of horse-drawn traffic clattering on cobblestones and the hubbub of people engaged in daily trade. Scores of hackney coaches cantered here and in that location while hundreds of carts transported goods back and along. Sedan chairs weaved their way up narrow streets as they conveyed wealthy passengers to their places of business organisation, while thousands of pedestrians hurried to and fro.

Depicted here is a scene of confusion as a sedan chair topples over in the night-fourth dimension gloom of an urban street. Much similar modern taxi cabs today, many were hired on street corners and carried by licensed 'chairmen'. By the early Georgian period sedan chairs became particularly popular amongst the wealthy elite as a individual mode of send.

Championship：'The party breaking upward' past Thomas Rowlandson, a depiction of a traffic accident Author/Creator：Johnny Quæ Genus , William Combe , Thomas Rowlandson as illustrator Held by：British Library Shelfmark：C.59.f.9. Copyright：Public Domain

18th-century city life was frequently disruptive and chaotic. The network of narrow allies and lanes, that had remained largely unchanged in many towns since medieval times, proved increasingly inconvenient to horse-drawn vehicles, and similar today many cities were prone to traffic congestion. In 1749, for example, hundreds of people were stuck in a traffic jam on London Bridge that took nearly three hours to clear.

Crowds and people

Rises in population added to the sense of confusion in many British cities. Crowds swarmed in every thoroughfare. Scores of street sellers 'cried' goods from identify to place, ad the wealth of appurtenances and services on offering. Milkmaids, orange sellers, fishwives and piemen, for case, all walked the streets offer their various wares for sale, while knife grinders and the menders of cleaved chairs and piece of furniture could exist found on street corners.

Depiction of a street seller offering colourful boxes, from William Craig'sItinerant Traders of London, 1804.

Title：The Itinerant Traders of London in their Ordinary Costume Author/Creator：West G Craig , Richard Phillips Held by：British Library Shelfmark：10349.h.13. Copyright：Public Domain

People crowded around the windows of print shops displaying the latest satirical cartoons or waited exterior lottery offices for results to be fatigued. Others gathered to sentry politicians brand speeches at election time or to watch a bare-knuckle battle match. House fires, accidents, fights and public executions, amid an array of other urban spectacles, all drew huge audiences whenever they occurred, and added to the sense of excitement that was part of daily city life.

Conditions

Many 18th-century towns were grimy, over-crowded and generally insanitary places to be. London in particular suffered desperately from dirt and pollution; so much and so that candles were sometimes required at midday in decorated shops owing to the smoggy weather outside. Many travellers noted the 'smell' of London as they approached from far away, and messages received from the capital urban center were often said to accept a 'sooty' aroma.Alongside the stinking rivers and choking pollution of cities, open sewers ran through the middle of numerous streets. Gutters carried away human waste, the offal from butchers' stalls and the tonnes of horse manure that were left daily on the streets. The roads of about towns and cities were unpleasantly dusty in the hot summer months and many became virtually impassable in the winter, owing to their muddy and flooded condition.

With the explosion of urban populations, the demand to ameliorate regulate the flow of traffic and deal with common nuisances such as poor drainage and narrow streets became a pressing business for many municipal bodies.

Championship：An Deed for the better paving, cleansing and lighting the town of Cambridge Held by：British Library Shelfmark：1379.g.xix. Copyright：Public Domain

With the explosion of urban populations, the need to better regulate the flow of traffic and bargain with common nuisances such as poor drainage and narrow streets became a pressing concern for many municipal bodies.

Title：An Human action for the better paving, cleansing and lighting the town of Cambridge Held by：British Library Shelfmark：1379.g.xix. Copyright：Public Domain

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Street improvements

Towards the end of the century small steps were made to improve these conditions in cities. Several 'paving acts' were passed in London during the 1760s, for example, that resulted in the more efficient drainage and mending of roads, in order to keep local trade flowing. Regular street cleaning was implemented to ensure a clear passageway for traffic while hazardous shop signs overhanging streets were ordered to exist removed.

An extract from an essay on the state of our public roads published in 1756. The essay argues for 'the absolute necessity of a total prohibition of the utilise of narrow wheels, on all carriages fatigued by more than one horse lengthways. And the benefit that volition accrue thereby to farmers and carriers, to trade and manufactures, as well as ease, pleasure, and safety to travellers'.

Championship：Extract from an 'essay on the present state of our publick roads' Held past：British Library Shelfmark：RB.23.a.23166 Copyright：Public Domain

Held by：大英图书馆 Shelfmark：RB.23.a.23166 Copyright：Public Domain

Held by：大英图书馆 Shelfmark：RB.23.a.23166 Copyright：Public Domain

Held by：大英图书馆 Shelfmark：RB.23.a.23166 Copyright：Public Domain

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Street lighting was also improved. From the centre of the 18th century oil lamps were more usually used in many towns, paid for by householders out of local rates. Past 1800 many visitors to London were mesmerized past the bright urban center lights they encountered there, which became the green-eyed of near European cities.

From the centre of the 1700s oil lamps were commonly used to calorie-free the streets in many towns. For the beginning time, previously pitch black streets were visible by night. By 1800 many visitors to London were mesmerised by the bright city lights they encountered there, which became the envy of most European cities. This diary extract, written by the German author Karl Philipp Moritz on a visit to London, describes the street lighting as a 'festive illumination'.

Championship：Travels, chiefly on human foot, through several parts of England, in 1782. Described in letters to a friend ... Translated from the German language, by a lady Author/Creator：Karl Philip Moritz Held by：British Library Shelfmark：1608/2523. Copyright：Public Domain

Towns and metropolis authorities also alleviated the huge problems of traffic congestion by laying out new roads and avenues. Towards the end of the century huge areas of decrepit housing were gradually cleared in order to make way for new turnpike toll roads, built to adjust the ever-increasing levels of horse-drawn traffic.

The text in the article is published under a Artistic Commons License.

Contributor: Matthew White

Dr Matthew White is Enquiry Boyfriend in History at the University of Hertfordshire where he specialises in the social history of London during the 18th and 19th centuries. Matthew'due south major research interests include the history of crime, penalty and policing, and the social bear on of urbanisation. His most recently published work has looked at changing modes of public justice in the 18th and 19th centuries with item reference to the role played by crowds at executions and other judicial punishments.

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