Historical Context | Reflection: Flora's London

Key:

Black = Criminal

Dark Blue = Very poor

Light Blue = Poor

Purple = Mixed

Pink = Usually comfortable

Red = Middle class

Yellow = Wealthy

A map of the parish of St. Bartholomew, just north of Whitechapel, London, England, late 1800s. This is Flora Byrne's birth-place and where she grew up. In the story, I reference all of the real streets and landmarks of the area, including Flora's street, Somerford Street, where she lives. Can you spot it in this image? 

This is a real map of London created in the late nineteenth century known as Maps Descriptive of London Poverty from Charles Booth's Inquiry into Life and Labour in London (1886-1903). You can access the full class map of London in the late 1800s here: booth.lse.ac.uk. Each residential building was colour coded based on the social class/average income of the occupants (see key listed above).

Full Source Information:

London School of Economics & Political Science. (2016). Map | Charles Booth’s London. Charles Booth’s London | Poverty Maps and Police Notebooks. https://booth.lse.ac.uk/map/14/-0.1174/51.5064/100/0 [Accessed 29/06/2021]