Of the Working Nightmen and the Mode of Work.
Nightwork, by the provisions of the Police Act, is not to be commenced before twelve at night, nor continued beyond five in the morning, winter and summer alike. This regulation is known among the nightmen as the “legal hours,” and tends, in a measure, to account for the heterogeneous class of labourers who still seek nightwork; for strong men think little of devoting a part of the night, as well as the working hours of the day, to toil. A rubbish-carter, a very powerfully-built man, told me he was partial to nightwork, and always looked out for it, even when in daily employ, as “it was sometimes like found money.” The scavengers, sweeps, dustmen, and labourers known as ground-workers, are anxious to obtain night-work when out of regular employment; and, ten years and more since, it was often an available and remunerative resource.
Night-work is, then, essentially, and perhaps necessarily, extra-work, rather than a distinct calling followed by a separate class of workers. The generality of nightmen are scavengers, or dustmen, or chimney-sweepers, or rubbish-carters, or pipe-layers, or ground-workers, or coal-porters, carmen or stablemen, or men working for the market-gardeners round London—all either in or out of employment. Perhaps there is not at the present time in the whole metropolis a working nightman who is solely a working nightman.
It is almost the same with the master-nightmen. They are generally master-chimney-sweepers, scavengers, rubbish-carters, and builders. Some of the contractors for the public street scavengery, and the house-dust-bin emptying, are (or have been) among the largest employers of nightmen, but only in their individual trading capacity, for they have no contracts with the parishes concerning the emptying of cesspools; indeed the parish or district corporations have nothing to do with the matter. I have already shown, that among the best-patronised master-nightmen are now the Commissioners of the Court of Sewers.
For how long a period the master and working chimney-sweepers and scavengers have been the master and labouring nightmen I am unable to discover, but it may be reasonable to assume that this connexion, as a matter of trade, existed in the metropolis at the commencement of the eighteenth century.
The police of Paris, as I have shown, have full control over cesspool cleansing, but the police of London are instructed merely to prevent night-work being carried on at a later or earlier period than “the legal hours;” still a few minutes either way are not regarded, and the legal hours, I am told, are almost always adhered to.
Nightwork is carried on—and has been so carried on, within the memory of the oldest men in the trade, who had never heard their predecessors speak of any other system—after this method:—A gang of four men (exclusive of those who have the care of the horses, and who drive the night-carts to and from the scenes of the men’s labours at the cesspools) are set to work. The labour of the gang is divided, though not with any individual or especial strictness, as follows:—
1. The holeman, who goes into the cesspool and fills the tub.
2. The ropeman, who raises the tub when filled.
3. The tubmen (of whom there are two), who carry away the tub when raised, and empty it into the cart.
The mode of work may be thus briefly described:—Within a foot, or even less sometimes, though often as much as three feet, below the surface of the ground (when the cesspool is away from the house) is what is called the “main hole.” This is the opening of the cesspool, and is covered with flag stones, removable, wholly or partially, by means of the pickaxe. If the cesspool be immediately under the privy, the flooring, &c., is displaced. Should the soil be near enough to the surface, the tub is dipped into it, drawn out, the filth scraped from its exterior with a shovel, or swept off with a besom, or washed off by water flung against it with sufficient force. This done, the tubmen insert the pole through the handles of the tub, and bear it on their shoulders to the cart. The mode of carriage and the form of the tub have been already shown in an illustration, which I was assured by a nightman who had seen it in a shopwindow (for he could not read), was “as nat’ral as life, tub and all.”
Thus far, the ropeman and the holeman generally aid in filling the tub, but as the soil becomes lower, the vessel is let down and drawn up full by the ropeman. When the soil becomes lower still, a ladder is usually planted inside the cesspool; the “holeman,” who is generally the strongest person in the gang, descends, shovels the tub full, having stirred up the refuse to loosen it, and the contents, being drawn up by the ropeman, are carried away as before described.
The labour is sometimes severe. The tub when filled, though it is never quite filled, weighs rarely less than eight stone, and sometimes more; “but that, you see, sir,” a nightman said to me, “depends on the nature of the sile.”
Beer, and bread and cheese, are given to the nightmen, and frequently gin, while at their work; but as the bestowal of the spirit is voluntary, some householders from motives of economy, or from being real or pretended members or admirers of the total-abstinence principles, refuse to give any strong liquor, and in that case—if such a determination to withhold the drink be known beforehand—the employers sometimes supply the men with a glass or two; and the men, when “nothing better can be done,” club their own money, and send to some night-house, often at a distance, to purchase a small quantity on their own account. One master-nightman said, he thought his men worked best, indeed he was sure of it, “with a drop to keep them up;” another thought it did them neither good nor harm, “in a moderate way of taking it.” Both these informants were themselves temperate men, one rarely tasting spirits. It is commonly enough said, that if the nightmen have no “allowance,” they will work neither as quickly nor as carefully as if accorded the customary gin “perquisite.” One man, certainly a very strong active person, whose services where quickness in the work was indispensable might be valuable (and he had work as a rubbish-carter also), told me that he for one would not work for any man at nightwork if there was not a fair allowance of drink, “to keep up his strength,” and he knew others of the same mind. On my asking him what he considered a “fair” allowance, he told me that at least a bottle of gin among the gang of four was “looked for, and mostly had, over a gentleman’s cesspool. And little enough, too,” the man said, “among four of us; what it holds if it’s public-house gin is uncertain: for you must know, sir, that some bottles has great ‘kicks’ at their bottoms. But I should say that there’s been a bottle of gin drunk at the clearing of every two, ay, and more than every two, out of three cesspools emptied in London; and now that I come to think on it, I should say that’s been the case with three out of every four.”
Some master-nightmen, and more especially the sweeper-nightmen, work at the cesspools themselves, although many of them are men “well to do in the world.” One master I met with, who had the reputation of being “warm,” spoke of his own manual labour in shovelling filth in the same self-complacent tone that we may imagine might be used by a grocer, worth his “plum,” who quietly intimates that he will serve a washerwoman with her half ounce of tea, and weigh it for her himself, as politely as he would serve a duchess; for he wasn’t above his business: neither was the nightman.
On one occasion I went to see a gang of nightmen at work. Large horn lanterns (for the night was dark, though at intervals the stars shone brilliantly) were placed at the edges of the cesspool. Two poles also were temporarily fixed in the ground, to which lanterns were hung, but this is not always the case. The work went rapidly on, with little noise and no confusion.
The scene was peculiar enough. The artificial light, shining into the dark filthy-looking cavern or cesspool, threw the adjacent houses into a deep shade. All around was perfectly still, and there was not an incident to interrupt the labour, except that at one time the window of a neighbouring house was thrown up, a night-capped head was protruded, and then down was banged the sash with an impatient curse. It appeared as if a gentleman’s slumbers had been disturbed, though the nightmen laughed and declared it was a lady’s voice! The smell, although the air was frosty, was for some little time, perhaps ten minutes, literally sickening; after that period the chief sensation experienced was a slight headache; the unpleasantness of the odour still continuing, though without any sickening effect. The nightmen, however, pronounced the stench “nothing at all;” and one even declared it was refreshing!
The cesspool in this case was so situated that the cart or rather waggon could be placed about three yards from its edge; sometimes, however, the soil has to be carried through a garden and through the house, to the excessive annoyance of the inmates. The nightmen whom I saw evidently enjoyed a bottle of gin, which had been provided for them by the master of the house, as well as some bread and cheese, and two pots of beer. When the waggon was full, two horses were brought from a stable on the premises (an arrangement which can only be occasionally carried out) and yoked to the vehicle, which was at once driven away; a smaller cart and one horse being used to carry off the residue.
TABLE SHOWING THE NUMBER OF MASTER-SWEEPS, DUST, AND OTHER CONTRACTORS, AND MASTER-BRICKLAYERS, THROUGHOUT THE METROPOLIS, ENGAGED IN NIGHT-WORK, AS WELL AS THE NUMBER OF CESSPOOLS EMPTIED, AND QUANTITY OF SOIL COLLECTED YEARLY. ALSO THE PRICE PAID TO EACH OPERATIVE PER LOAD, OR PER NIGHT, AND THE TOTAL AMOUNT ANNUALLY PAID TO THE MASTER-NIGHTMEN.
| SWEEPS EMPLOYED AS NIGHTMEN | Number of Cesspools emptied during the year. | Quantity of Night-soil collected annually. | Number of operative Nightmen employed to empty each Cesspool. | Total number of times the working Nightmen are employed during the year. | Sum paid to each operative Nightman engaged in removing soil from Cesspools. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loads. | Pence. | |||||
| Kensington. | Hurd | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 |
| Francis | 12 | 72 | 4 | 48 | 6 | |
| Russell | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Hough | 20 | 120 | 4 | 80 | 7 | |
| Chelsea. | Burns | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 |
| Clements | 10 | 60 | 3 | 30 | 6 | |
| Groves | 18 | 108 | 3 | 54 | 6 | |
| Clayton | 20 | 120 | 3 | 60 | 6 | |
| Sheppard | 14 | 84 | 4 | 56 | 6 | |
| Nie | 16 | 96 | 3 | 48 | 6 | |
| Haddox | 20 | 120 | 3 | 60 | 6 | |
| Albrook | 30 | 180 | 4 | 120 | 7 | |
| Westminster. | Peacock | 60 | 360 | 4 | 240 | 7 |
| Reiley | 40 | 240 | 4 | 160 | 7 | |
| White | 20 | 120 | 3 | 60 | 6 | |
| Ramsbottom | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| Ness | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| Porter | 10 | 60 | 3 | 30 | 6 | |
| Edwards | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Andrews | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Foreman | 10 | 60 | 3 | 30 | 6 | |
| St. Martin’s. | Wakefield | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 |
| Whateley | 6 | 36 | 3 | 18 | 6 | |
| Templeton | 10 | 60 | 3 | 30 | 6 | |
| Pearce | 10 | 60 | 3 | 30 | 6 | |
| Marylebone. | Effery | 2 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 |
| Brigham | 10 | 60 | 3 | 30 | 6 | |
| Ballard | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Pottle | 25 | 150 | 4 | 100 | 7 | |
| Shadwick | 20 | 120 | 3 | 60 | 6 | |
| Wilson | 20 | 120 | 3 | 60 | 6 | |
| Lewis | 10 | 60 | 3 | 30 | 6 | |
| Cuss | 30 | 180 | 4 | 120 | 7 | |
| Wood | 20 | 120 | 3 | 60 | 6 | |
| Paddington. | Prichard | 20 | 120 | 3 | 60 | 6 |
| Randall | 25 | 150 | 3 | 75 | 6 | |
| Brown | 10 | 60 | 3 | 30 | 6 | |
| Lamb | 20 | 120 | 3 | 60 | 6 | |
| Bolton | 10 | 60 | 3 | 30 | 6 | |
| Davis | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Rickwood | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Elkins | 6 | 36 | 3 | 18 | 6 | |
| Hampstead. | Kippin | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 |
| Bowden | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Islington. | Hughes | 25 | 150 | 3 | 75 | 6 |
| Boven | 20 | 120 | 3 | 60 | 6 | |
| Chilcott | 25 | 150 | 3 | 75 | 6 | |
| Baker | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| Burrows | 20 | 120 | 3 | 60 | 6 | |
| St. Pancras. | Justo | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 |
| Neill | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Robinson | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| Marriage | 20 | 120 | 3 | 60 | 6 | |
| Rose | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| Hall | 20 | 120 | 3 | 60 | 6 | |
| Jenkins | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| Steel | 4 | 24 | 3 | 12 | 6 | |
| Lake | 60 | 360 | 4 | 240 | 7 | |
| Hewlett | 10 | 60 | 3 | 30 | 6 | |
| Snell | 10 | 60 | 3 | 30 | 6 | |
| McDonald | 30 | 180 | 4 | 120 | 7 | |
| Hackney. | Mason | 20 | 120 | 3 | 60 | 6 |
| Clark | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| Starkey | 25 | 150 | 4 | 100 | 6 | |
| Attewell | 20 | 120 | 4 | 80 | 7 | |
| Brown | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| St. Giles and St. George’s, Bloomsbury. | Store | 20 | 120 | 3 | 60 | 6 |
| Richards | 20 | 120 | 3 | 60 | 6 | |
| Norris | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| Eldridge | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Davis | 10 | 60 | 3 | 30 | 6 | |
| Francis | 10 | 60 | 3 | 30 | 6 | |
| Tiney | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| Johnson | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Tinsey | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Randall | 4 | 24 | 3 | 12 | 6 | |
| Day | 60 | 360 | 4 | 240 | 7 | |
| Strand. | Catlin | 10 | 60 | 3 | 30 | 6 |
| Richards | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Hutchins | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Barker | 4 | 24 | 3 | 12 | 6 | |
| Holborn. | Duck | 30 | 180 | 4 | 120 | 7 |
| Eagle | 20 | 120 | 4 | 80 | 7 | |
| Froome | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| Smith | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| Clerkenwell. | Davis | 30 | 180 | 3 | 90 | 6 |
| Brown | 20 | 120 | 4 | 80 | 7 | |
| Day | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| Hawkins | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Grant | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| St. Luke’s. | Brown | 20 | 120 | 4 | 80 | 7 |
| Mawley | 20 | 120 | 4 | 80 | 7 | |
| Stevens | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| Badger | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Lewis | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| East London. | Crozier | 30 | 180 | 4 | 120 | 7 |
| James | 20 | 120 | 4 | 80 | 7 | |
| Dawson | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Newell | 20 | 120 | 4 | 80 | 7 | |
| Lumley | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Harvey | 6 | 36 | 3 | 18 | 6 | |
| West London. | Rayment | 20 | 120 | 4 | 80 | 6 |
| Clarke | 20 | 120 | 4 | 80 | 7 | |
| Watson | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| Desater | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| London, City. | Tyler and Tyso | 30 | 180 | 4 | 120 | 7 |
| Burgess | 20 | 120 | 4 | 80 | 7 | |
| Wilson | 20 | 120 | 4 | 80 | 7 | |
| Potter | 10 | 60 | 3 | 30 | 6 | |
| Wright | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Shoreditch. | Wells | 20 | 120 | 4 | 80 | 6 |
| Whittle | 20 | 120 | 4 | 80 | 6 | |
| Collins | 15 | 90 | 3 | 45 | 6 | |
| Crew | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| Atwood | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| Conroy | 10 | 60 | 3 | 30 | 6 | |
| Pusey | 6 | 36 | 3 | 18 | 6 | |
| Pedrick | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Bethnal Green. | Crosby | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 |
| Mull | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| Darby | 20 | 120 | 4 | 80 | 6 | |
| Hall | 20 | 120 | 4 | 80 | 6 | |
| Collins | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| Whitechapel. | Brazier | 10 | 60 | 3 | 30 | 6 |
| Harrison | 20 | 120 | 3 | 60 | 6 | |
| Harris | 16 | 96 | 3 | 48 | 6 | |
| Mantz | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Whitehead | 20 | 120 | 4 | 80 | 6 | |
| St. George-in-the-East. | Rawton | 20 | 120 | 4 | 80 | 6 |
| Wrotham | 20 | 120 | 4 | 80 | 6 | |
| Harewood | 20 | 120 | 3 | 60 | 6 | |
| Rawthorn | 25 | 150 | 4 | 100 | 6 | |
| Darling | 20 | 120 | 4 | 80 | 6 | |
| Jones | 15 | 90 | 3 | 45 | 6 | |
| Johnson | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| Simpson | 15 | 90 | 3 | 45 | 6 | |
| Bermondsey. | Wilkinson | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 |
| Goring | 10 | 60 | 3 | 30 | 6 | |
| Lively | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Stone | 9 | 54 | 3 | 27 | 6 | |
| Ward | 6 | 36 | 3 | 18 | 6 | |
| Walworth and Newington. | Kingsbury | 6 | 36 | 3 | 18 | 6 |
| Goodge | 4 | 24 | 3 | 12 | 6 | |
| Wells | 15 | 90 | 3 | 45 | 6 | |
| Wilks | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| James | 10 | 60 | 3 | 30 | 6 | |
| Morgan | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Croney | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Holmes | 8 | 48 | 3 | 4 | 6 | |
| Stepney. | Newell | 10 | 60 | 3 | 30 | 6 |
| Fleming | 20 | 120 | 3 | 60 | 6 | |
| Tuff | 20 | 120 | 3 | 60 | 6 | |
| Hillingsworth | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| Smith | 10 | 60 | 3 | 30 | 6 | |
| Field | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Poplar. | Weaver | 18 | 108 | 3 | 54 | 6 |
| Strawson | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| Culloder | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Ward | 10 | 60 | 3 | 30 | 6 | |
| St. Olave’s, St. Saviour’s, and St. George’s, Southwark. | Vines | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 |
| Humfry | 15 | 90 | 3 | 45 | 6 | |
| Young | 10 | 60 | 3 | 30 | 6 | |
| James | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| Penn | 10 | 60 | 3 | 30 | 6 | |
| Holliday | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Muggeridge | 15 | 90 | 3 | 45 | 6 | |
| Alcorn | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| Fisher | 12 | 72 | 3 | 26 | 6 | |
| Goode | 10 | 60 | 3 | 30 | 6 | |
| Smith | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Roberts | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Pilkington | 9 | 54 | 3 | 27 | 6 | |
| Lindsey | 6 | 36 | 3 | 18 | 6 | |
| Daycock | 6 | 36 | 3 | 18 | 6 | |
| Moulton | 4 | 24 | 3 | 12 | 6 | |
| Lambeth. | Roberts | 25 | 150 | 4 | 100 | 7 |
| Holland | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| Ballard | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| Brown | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Mills | 10 | 60 | 3 | 30 | 6 | |
| Giles | 6 | 36 | 3 | 18 | 6 | |
| Spooner | 6 | 36 | 3 | 18 | 6 | |
| Green | 4 | 24 | 3 | 12 | 6 | |
| Barnham | 4 | 24 | 3 | 12 | 6 | |
| Price | 4 | 24 | 3 | 12 | 6 | |
| Christchurch, Lambeth. | Plummer | 18 | 108 | 3 | 54 | 6 |
| Steers | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| Clare | 10 | 60 | 3 | 30 | 6 | |
| Garlick | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Hudson | 6 | 36 | 3 | 18 | 6 | |
| Jones | 4 | 24 | 3 | 12 | 6 | |
| Wandsworth & Battersea. | Foreman | 15 | 90 | 3 | 45 | 6 |
| Smith | 10 | 60 | 3 | 30 | 6 | |
| Giles | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Davis | 6 | 36 | 3 | 18 | 6 | |
| Flushman | 4 | 24 | 3 | 12 | 6 | |
| Rotherhithe. | Shelley | 6 | 36 | 3 | 18 | 6 |
| Richardson | 20 | 120 | 4 | 80 | 6 | |
| Norris | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Smith | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| Dyer | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Greenwich & Deptford. | Manning | 30 | 180 | 4 | 120 | 6 |
| Vines | 20 | 120 | 4 | 80 | 6 | |
| Roseworthy | 20 | 120 | 4 | 80 | 6 | |
| Tyler | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| Munshin | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| Woolwich. | Pearce | 30 | 180 | 4 | 120 | 6 |
| Fiddeman | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| Sims | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| Smithers | 12 | 72 | 3 | 36 | 6 | |
| Rooke | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| James | 8 | 48 | 3 | 24 | 6 | |
| Lewisham. | Ridgeway | 20 | 120 | 4 | 80 | 6 |
| Binney | 10 | 60 | 3 | 30 | 6 | |
| Total for Sweep-nightmen | 2992 | 14960 | 3&4 | 10,062 | 6&7d. | |
| SWEEPS EMPLOYED AS NIGHTMEN | Total Amount paid to the operative Nightmen during the year. | Total Amount paid to Master-Nightmen during the year for emptying Cesspools, at 10s. per load. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £ | s. | d. | £. | ||
| Kensington. | Hurd | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 |
| Francis | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Russell | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| Hough | 3 | 10 | 0 | 60 | |
| Chelsea. | Burns | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 |
| Clements | 1 | 10 | 0 | 30 | |
| Groves | 2 | 14 | 0 | 54 | |
| Clayton | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 | |
| Sheppard | 2 | 2 | 0 | 32 | |
| Nie | 2 | 8 | 0 | 48 | |
| Haddox | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 | |
| Albrook | 5 | 5 | 0 | 90 | |
| Westminster. | Peacock | 10 | 10 | 0 | 180 |
| Reiley | 6 | 13 | 4 | 120 | |
| White | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 | |
| Ramsbottom | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Ness | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Porter | 1 | 10 | 4 | 30 | |
| Edwards | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| Andrews | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| Foreman | 1 | 10 | 4 | 30 | |
| St. Martin’s. | Wakefield | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 |
| Whateley | 0 | 18 | 0 | 18 | |
| Templeton | 1 | 10 | 0 | 30 | |
| Pearce | 1 | 10 | 0 | 30 | |
| Marylebone. | Effery | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 |
| Brigham | 1 | 10 | 0 | 30 | |
| Ballard | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| Pottle | 3 | 15 | 0 | 75 | |
| Shadwick | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 | |
| Wilson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 | |
| Lewis | 1 | 10 | 0 | 30 | |
| Cuss | 4 | 10 | 0 | 90 | |
| Wood | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 | |
| Paddington. | Prichard | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 |
| Randall | 3 | 15 | 0 | 75 | |
| Brown | 1 | 10 | 0 | 30 | |
| Lamb | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 | |
| Bolton | 1 | 10 | 0 | 30 | |
| Davis | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| Rickwood | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 | |
| Elkins | 0 | 18 | 0 | 18 | |
| Hampstead. | Kippin | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 |
| Bowden | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| Islington. | Hughes | 3 | 15 | 0 | 75 |
| Boven | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 | |
| Chilcott | 3 | 15 | 0 | 75 | |
| Baker | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Burrows | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 | |
| St. Pancras. | Justo | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 |
| Neill | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| Robinson | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Marriage | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 | |
| Rose | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Hall | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 | |
| Jenkins | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Steel | 0 | 12 | 0 | 12 | |
| Lake | 10 | 10 | 0 | 180 | |
| Hewlett | 1 | 10 | 0 | 30 | |
| Snell | 1 | 10 | 0 | 30 | |
| McDonald | 5 | 5 | 0 | 90 | |
| Hackney. | Mason | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 |
| Clark | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Starkey | 3 | 15 | 0 | 75 | |
| Attewell | 3 | 10 | 0 | 60 | |
| Brown | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| St. Giles and St. George’s, Bloomsbury. | Store | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 |
| Richards | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 | |
| Norris | 3 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Eldridge | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| Davis | 1 | 10 | 0 | 30 | |
| Francis | 1 | 10 | 0 | 30 | |
| Tiney | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Johnson | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| Tinsey | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| Randall | 0 | 12 | 0 | 12 | |
| Day | 10 | 10 | 0 | 180 | |
| Strand. | Catlin | 1 | 10 | 0 | 30 |
| Richards | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| Hutchins | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| Barker | 0 | 12 | 0 | 12 | |
| Holborn. | Duck | 5 | 5 | 0 | 90 |
| Eagle | 3 | 10 | 0 | 60 | |
| Froome | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Smith | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Clerkenwell. | Davis | 4 | 10 | 0 | 90 |
| Brown | 3 | 10 | 0 | 60 | |
| Day | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Hawkins | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| Grant | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| St. Luke’s. | Brown | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 |
| Mawley | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 | |
| Stevens | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Badger | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| Lewis | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| East London. | Crozier | 5 | 5 | 0 | 90 |
| James | 3 | 10 | 0 | 60 | |
| Dawson | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| Newell | 3 | 10 | 0 | 60 | |
| Lumley | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| Harvey | 0 | 18 | 0 | 18 | |
| West London. | Rayment | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 |
| Clarke | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 | |
| Watson | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Desater | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| London, City. | Tyler and Tyso | 5 | 5 | 0 | 90 |
| Burgess | 3 | 10 | 0 | 60 | |
| Wilson | 3 | 10 | 0 | 60 | |
| Potter | 1 | 10 | 0 | 30 | |
| Wright | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| Shoreditch. | Wells | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 |
| Whittle | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 | |
| Collins | 2 | 5 | 0 | 45 | |
| Crew | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Atwood | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Conroy | 1 | 10 | 0 | 30 | |
| Pusey | 0 | 18 | 0 | 18 | |
| Pedrick | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| Bethnal Green. | Crosby | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 |
| Mull | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Darby | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 | |
| Hall | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 | |
| Collins | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Whitechapel. | Brazier | 1 | 10 | 0 | 30 |
| Harrison | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 | |
| Harris | 2 | 8 | 0 | 48 | |
| Mantz | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| Whitehead | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 | |
| St. George-in-the-East. | Rawton | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 |
| Wrotham | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 | |
| Harewood | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 | |
| Rawthorn | 3 | 15 | 0 | 75 | |
| Darling | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 | |
| Jones | 2 | 5 | 0 | 45 | |
| Johnson | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Simpson | 2 | 5 | 0 | 45 | |
| Bermondsey. | Wilkinson | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 |
| Goring | 1 | 10 | 0 | 36 | |
| Lively | 2 | 4 | 0 | 30 | |
| Stone | 1 | 7 | 0 | 24 | |
| Ward | 0 | 18 | 0 | 24 | |
| Walworth and Newington. | Kingsbury | 0 | 18 | 0 | 27 |
| Goodge | 0 | 12 | 0 | 18 | |
| Wells | 2 | 5 | 0 | 18 | |
| Wilks | 1 | 16 | 0 | 12 | |
| James | 1 | 10 | 0 | 45 | |
| Morgan | 1 | 4 | 0 | 36 | |
| Croney | 1 | 4 | 0 | 30 | |
| Holmes | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| Stepney. | Newell | 1 | 10 | 0 | 30 |
| Fleming | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 | |
| Tuff | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 | |
| Hillingsworth | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Smith | 1 | 10 | 0 | 30 | |
| Field | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| Poplar. | Weaver | 2 | 14 | 0 | 54 |
| Strawson | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Culloder | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| Ward | 1 | 10 | 0 | 30 | |
| St. Olave’s, St. Saviour’s, and St. George’s, Southwark. | Vines | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 |
| Humfry | 2 | 5 | 0 | 45 | |
| Young | 1 | 10 | 0 | 30 | |
| James | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Penn | 1 | 10 | 0 | 30 | |
| Holliday | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| Muggeridge | 2 | 5 | 0 | 45 | |
| Alcorn | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Fisher | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Goode | 1 | 10 | 0 | 30 | |
| Smith | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| Roberts | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| Pilkington | 1 | 7 | 0 | 27 | |
| Lindsey | 0 | 18 | 0 | 18 | |
| Daycock | 0 | 18 | 0 | 18 | |
| Moulton | 0 | 12 | 0 | 12 | |
| Lambeth. | Roberts | 4 | 7 | 6 | 75 |
| Holland | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Ballard | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Brown | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| Mills | 1 | 10 | 0 | 30 | |
| Giles | 0 | 18 | 0 | 18 | |
| Spooner | 0 | 18 | 0 | 18 | |
| Green | 0 | 12 | 0 | 12 | |
| Barnham | 0 | 12 | 0 | 12 | |
| Price | 0 | 12 | 0 | 12 | |
| Christchurch, Lambeth. | Plummer | 2 | 14 | 0 | 54 |
| Steers | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Clare | 1 | 10 | 0 | 30 | |
| Garlick | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| Hudson | 0 | 18 | 0 | 18 | |
| Jones | 0 | 12 | 0 | 12 | |
| Wandsworth & Battersea. | Foreman | 2 | 5 | 0 | 45 |
| Smith | 1 | 10 | 0 | 30 | |
| Giles | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| Davis | 0 | 18 | 0 | 18 | |
| Flushman | 0 | 12 | 0 | 12 | |
| Rotherhithe. | Shelley | 0 | 18 | 0 | 18 |
| Richardson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 | |
| Norris | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| Smith | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Dyer | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| Greenwich & Deptford. | Manning | 4 | 10 | 0 | 90 |
| Vines | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 | |
| Roseworthy | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 | |
| Tyler | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Munshin | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Woolwich. | Pearce | 4 | 10 | 0 | 90 |
| Fiddeman | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Sims | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Smithers | 1 | 16 | 0 | 36 | |
| Rooke | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| James | 1 | 4 | 0 | 24 | |
| Lewisham. | Ridgeway | 3 | 0 | 0 | 60 |
| Binney | 1 | 10 | 0 | 30 | |
| Total for Sweep-nightmen | 455 | 15 | 0 | £7480 | |
DUST AND OTHER CONTRACTORS ENGAGED AS NIGHTMEN.
MASTER-BRICKLAYERS ENGAGED AS NIGHTMEN.
SUMMARY OF THE ABOVE TABLE.
| MASTER-SWEEPS EMPLOYED AS NIGHTMEN IN | Number of Masters employed as Nightmen. | Number of Cesspools emptied during the year. | Quantity of Night soil collected annually. | Number of working Nightmen employed to each Cesspool. | Sum per load paid to each operative Nightman engaged in removing soil from Cesspools. | Total amount paid to Master-Nightmen during the Year for emptying Cesspools. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loads. | Pence. | £ | s. | d. | ||||
| Kensington | 4 | 48 | 240 | 3 & 4 | 6 & 7 | 120 | 0 | 0 |
| Chelsea | 8 | 140 | 700 | 3 & 4 | 6 & 7 | 350 | 0 | 0 |
| Westminster | 9 | 180 | 900 | 3 | 6 | 450 | 0 | 0 |
| St. Martin’s | 4 | 34 | 170 | 3 | 6 | 85 | 0 | 0 |
| Marylebone | 9 | 155 | 775 | 3 & 4 | 6 & 7 | 387 | 10 | 0 |
| Paddington | 8 | 107 | 535 | 3 | 6 | 267 | 10 | 0 |
| Hampstead | 2 | 16 | 80 | 3 | 6 | 40 | 0 | 0 |
| Islington | 4 | 82 | 410 | 3 | 6 | 205 | 0 | 0 |
| St. Pancras | 13 | 226 | 1,130 | 3 & 4 | 6 & 7 | 565 | 0 | 0 |
| Hackney | 5 | 89 | 445 | 3 & 4 | 6 & 7 | 222 | 10 | 0 |
| St. Giles’s and St. George’s, Bloomsbury | 11 | 172 | 860 | 3 & 4 | 6 & 7 | 430 | 0 | 0 |
| Strand | 4 | 30 | 150 | 3 | 6 | 75 | 0 | 0 |
| Holborn | 4 | 74 | 370 | 3 & 4 | 6 & 7 | 185 | 0 | 0 |
| Clerkenwell | 5 | 78 | 390 | 3 & 4 | 6 & 7 | 195 | 0 | 0 |
| St. Luke’s | 5 | 68 | 340 | 3 & 4 | 6 & 7 | 170 | 0 | 0 |
| East London | 6 | 92 | 460 | 3 & 4 | 6 & 7 | 230 | 0 | 0 |
| West London | 4 | 64 | 320 | 3 & 4 | 6 & 7 | 160 | 0 | 0 |
| London, City | 5 | 88 | 440 | 3 & 4 | 6 & 7 | 220 | 0 | 0 |
| Shoreditch | 7 | 95 | 475 | 3 & 4 | 6 | 237 | 10 | 0 |
| Bethnal-green | 5 | 68 | 340 | 3 & 4 | 6 | 170 | 0 | 0 |
| Whitechapel | 5 | 66 | 330 | 3 | 6 | 165 | 0 | 0 |
| St. George’s-in-the-East | 8 | 152 | 760 | 3 & 4 | 6 | 380 | 0 | 0 |
| Stepney | 6 | 80 | 400 | 3 | 6 | 200 | 0 | 0 |
| Poplar | 4 | 48 | 240 | 3 | 6 | 120 | 0 | 0 |
| St. Olave’s, St. Saviour’s, and St. George’s, Southwark | 16 | 157 | 785 | 3 | 6 | 392 | 10 | 0 |
| Bermondsey | 6 | 60 | 300 | 3 | 6 | 150 | 0 | 0 |
| Walworth and Newington | 8 | 71 | 355 | 3 | 6 | 177 | 10 | 0 |
| Lambeth | 10 | 91 | 455 | 3 & 4 | 6 & 7 | 227 | 10 | 0 |
| Christchurch, Lambeth | 6 | 58 | 290 | 3 | 6 | 145 | 0 | 0 |
| Wandsworth and Battersea | 5 | 43 | 215 | 3 | 6 | 107 | 10 | 0 |
| Rotherhithe | 5 | 54 | 270 | 3 & 4 | 6 | 135 | 0 | 0 |
| Greenwich and Deptford | 5 | 94 | 470 | 3 & 4 | 6 & 7 | 235 | 0 | 0 |
| Woolwich | 6 | 82 | 410 | 3 & 4 | 6 | 205 | 0 | 0 |
| Lewisham | 2 | 30 | 150 | 3 & 4 | 6 | 75 | 0 | 0 |
| Total for Sweeps employed as Nightmen | 214 | 2,992 | 14,960 | 3 & 4 | 6 & 7 | 7,480 | 0 | 0 |
| Total for Dust and other Contractors employed as Nightmen | 188 | 27,820 | 139,600 | 4 | 8 | 72,027 | 0 | 0 |
| Total for Bricklayers employed as Nightmen | 119 | 19,880 | 99,400 | 4 | 5s. a night | 52,185 | 0 | 0 |
| Gross Total | 521 | 50,692 | 253,960 | 3 & 4 | 6d. 7d. & 8d. per 1d. & 5s. per night. | 131,692 | 10 | 0 |
A TABLE SHOWING THE QUANTITY OF REFUSE BOUGHT, COLLECTED, OR FOUND, IN THE STREETS OF LONDON.
| Articles bought collected, or found. | Annual gross quantity. | Average Number of Buyers, and quantity sold Daily or Weekly. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Refuse Metal. | ||||||
| Copper | 291,600 | lbs. | 200 | buyers | ¼ | cwt. each weekly |
| Brass | 291,600 | „ | 200 | do. | ¼ | „ do. |
| Iron | 2,329,600 | „ | 200 | do. | 2 | „ do. |
| Steel | 62,400 | „ | 200 | do. | 6 | lbs. do. |
| Lead | 1,164,800 | „ | 200 | do. | 1 | cwt. do. |
| Pewter | 291,600 | „ | 200 | do. | ¼ | „ do. |
| Horse & Carriage Furniture. | ||||||
| Carriages | 120 | „ | 4 | do. | 30 | sets yearly |
| Wheels (4, from coach-builders) | 600 | sets | 100 | do. | 8 | do. |
| Wheels, in pairs for carts & trucks | 600 | pairs | 50 | do. | 12 | pairs yearly |
| Springs for trucks and small carts | 780 | „ | 5 | do. | 3 | „ weekly |
| Lace, from coach-builders | 1,344 | lbs. | 12 | do. | 112 | lbs. yearly |
| Fringe and tassels, from ditto | 2,688 | „ | 12 | do. | 224 | „ do. |
| Coach & carriage linings, singly | 156 | 12 | do. | 13 | yearly | |
| Harness (carriage pairs) | 60 | pairs | 10 | do. | 6 | pairs do. |
| Ditto (single sets) | 144 | sets | 12 | do. | 12 | sets do. |
| Ditto (sets of donkey and pony) | 41,600 | „ | 100 | do. | 8 | sets weekly |
| Saddles | 1,040 | „ | 10 | do. | 2 | „ do. |
| Collars | 2,080 | „ | 10 | do. | 4 | „ do. |
| Bridles | 4,160 | „ | 10 | do. | 6 | „ do. |
| Pads | 2,080 | „ | 10 | do. | 4 | „ do. |
| Bits | 4,160 | „ | 10 | do. | 3 | „ do. |
| Leather (new cuttings from coach-builders) | 58,136 | lbs. | 24 | do. | 22 | cwt. yearly |
| Ditto (morocco cuttings from do.) | 960 | „ | 20 | do. | 48 | „ do. |
| Old leather (waste from ditto) | 53,760 | „ | 12 | do. | 20 | „ do. |
| Refuse Linen, Cotton, &c. | ||||||
| Rags (woollen, consisting of tailors’ shreds, old flannel drugget, carpet, and moreen) | 4,659,200 | lbs. | 200 | do. | 4 | „ weekly |
| Ditto (coloured cotton) | 2,912,000 | „ | 200 | do. | 2½ | „ do. |
| Ditto (white) | 1,164,800 | „ | 200 | do. | 1 | „ do. |
| Canvas | 44,800 | „ | 200 | do. | 2 | „ yearly |
| Rope and sacking | 291,200 | „ | 200 | do. | ¼ | „ weekly |
| Paper. | ||||||
| Waste paper | 1,397,760 | „ | 60 | colls. | each disposing of 4 cwt. weekly | |
| Glass and Crockeryware. | ||||||
| Bottles (common and doctors’) | 62,400 | doz. | 200 | buyers, | 24 | weekly |
| Ditto (wine) | 31,200 | „ | 200 | do. | 12 | do. |
| Ditto (porter and stout) | 4,800 | „ | 200 | do. | 24 | dozen yearly |
| Flint glass | 15,600 | lbs. | 200 | do. | 1½ | lbs. weekly |
| Pickling jars | 7,200 | „ | 200 | do. | 36 | yearly |
| Gallipots | 20,800 | doz. | 200 | do. | 24 | weekly |
| Obtained of the Street Buyers. | Price per pound weight, &c. | Average Yearly Money Value. | Parties to whom sold. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £ | s. | d. | |||
| 1-500th | 6d. per lb. | 7,290 | 0 | 0 | Sold to brass-founders and pewterers. |
| „ | 4d. „ | 4,860 | 6 | 8 | Do. do. |
| 1-200th | ¼d. „ | 2,246 | 13 | 4 | Do. to iron-founders and manufacturers. |
| none | 1d. „ | 260 | 0 | 0 | Do. to manufacturers. |
| 1-500th | 1½d. „ | 7,280 | 0 | 0 | Do. to brass-founders and pewterers. |
| „ | 5d. „ | 6,075 | 13 | 4 | Do. do. |
| 28,182 | 13 | 4 | |||
| none | 11l. each | 1,320 | 0 | 0 | Sold to Jew dealers. |
| „ | 25s. a set | 750 | 0 | 0 | Do. to costers and small tradesmen. |
| „ | 7s. a pair | 210 | 0 | 0 | Do. do. |
| „ | 6s. per pair | 234 | 0 | 0 | Do. to costers and others. |
| „ | 1d. per lb. | 5 | 12 | 0 | Do. to cab-masters and to Jews. |
| „ | ½d. „ | 5 | 12 | 0 | Do. to Jews. |
| „ | 25s. each | 195 | 0 | 0 | Do. to cab-masters. |
| „ | 3l. per pair | 180 | 0 | 0 | Do. to omnibus proprietors. |
| „ | 30s. per set | 216 | 0 | 0 | Do. to cab-masters. |
| harness-makers | 4s. a set | 8,320 | 0 | 0 | Do. to little master harness-makers. |
| none | 4s. „ | 203 | 0 | 0 | Do. do. |
| „ | 9d. „ | 78 | 0 | 0 | Do. do. and marine stores. |
| „ | 9d. „ | 138 | 13 | 4 | Do. do. do. |
| „ | 6d. „ | 52 | 0 | 0 | Do. do. |
| „ | 2d. „ | 34 | 13 | 4 | Do. do. do. |
| „ | 4d. „ | 985 | 12 | 0 | Do. to Jews and also to gunsmiths. |
| „ | 1s. 6d. „ | 72 | 0 | 0 | Do. to tailors’ trimming-sellers. |
| „ | 2½d. „ | 560 | 0 | 0 | Do. to Jews. |
| 13,560 | 2 | 8 | |||
| 1-1000th | ½d. per lb. | 9,706 | 13 | 4 | Sold for manure and to nail up fruit-trees. |
| 1-500th | ½d. „ | 6,066 | 13 | 4 | Do. to paper-makers and for quilts. |
| 1-1000th | 2d. „ | 9,706 | 13 | 4 | Do. to paper-makers. |
| none | 1d. „ | 186 | 13 | 4 | Do. to chance customers. |
| 1-500th | ½d. „ | 606 | 13 | 4 | Do. for oakum and sacking to mend old sacks. |
| 36,898 | 13 | 4 | |||
| all | 18s. per cwt. | 11,232 | 0 | 0 | Do. to shopkeepers. |
| 1-100th | 2d. per doz. | 520 | 0 | 0 | Do. to doctors and chemists. |
| 1-200th | 6d. „ | 780 | 0 | 0 | Do. to Brit. wine merchants & ale stores. |
| none | 6d. „ | 120 | 0 | 0 | Do. to ale and porter stores. |
| 1-1000th | ¼d. per lb. | 16 | 5 | 0 | Do. to glass manufacturers. |
| none | ¾d. each | 22 | 10 | 0 | Do. to Italian warehouses, &c. |
| „ | 2d. per doz. | 173 | 6 | 8 | Do. do. |
| 1,632 | 1 | 8 | |||
| Refuse Apparel. | |||||||
| Coats | 624,000 | 300 | colls. | each purchasing | 8 | coats daily | |
| Trousers | 312,000 | pairs | 300 | do. | do. | 4 | pr. trousers do. |
| Waistcoats | 312,000 | 300 | do. | do. | 3 | waistcoats do. | |
| Under-waistcoats | 46,800 | 300 | do. | do. | 3 | weekly | |
| Breeches and gaiters | 15,600 | pairs | 300 | do. | do. | 1 | pair weekly |
| Dressing-gowns | 3,000 | 100 | do. | do. | 30 | yearly | |
| Cloaks (men’s) | 1,000 | 100 | do. | do. | 10 | cloaks yearly | |
| Boots and shoes | 1,560,000 | pairs | 100 | do. | do. | 60 | pairs daily |
| Boot and shoe soles | 648,000 | dz. pr | 100 | do. | each collecting | 30 | dz. pr. daily |
| Boot legs | 520,000 | „ „ | 200 | do. | do. | 50 | „ weekly |
| Hats | 1,879,000 | 300 | colls. | each purchasing | 24 | hats daily | |
| Boys’ suits | 3,600 | 300 | do. | do. | 12 | suits yearly | |
| Shirts and chemises | 626,400 | 300 | do. | do. | 8 | daily | |
| Stockings of all kinds | 783,000 | pairs | 100 | do. | do. | 30 | pair daily |
| Drawers (men’s and women’s) | 93,600 | „ | 300 | do. | do. | 6 | „ weekly |
| Women’s dresses of all kinds | 496,800 | 300 | do. | do. | 6 | dresses daily | |
| Petticoats | 939,600 | 300 | do. | do. | 12 | daily | |
| Women’s stays | 261,000 | pairs | 100 | do. | do. | 10 | pair do. |
| Children’s shirts | 187,920 | 60 | do. | do. | 12 | daily | |
| Ditto petticoats | 261,000 | 200 | do. | do. | 5 | do. | |
| Ditto frocks | 522,000 | 200 | do. | do. | 10 | do. | |
| Cloaks (women’s), capes, visites, &c. | 5,200 | 20 | do. | do. | 5 | cloaks weekly | |
| Bonnets | 1,409,400 | 150 | do. | do. | 3 | doz. daily | |
| Shawls of all kinds | 469,800 | 300 | do. | do. | 6 | daily | |
| Fur boas and victorines | 261,000 | 100 | do. | do. | 10 | do. | |
| Fur tippets and muffs | 130,500 | 100 | do. | do. | 5 | do. | |
| Umbrella and parasol frames | 518,400 | 200 | do., | each collecting | 12 | daily | |
| Household Refuse. | |||||||
| Tea-leaves | 78,000 | lbs. | ... | ... | ... | ... | |
| Fish-skins | 3,900 | „ | 25 | do. | do. | 2 | lbs. weekly for 6 months. |
| Hare-skins | 80,000 | 50 | do. | do. | 50 | weekly | |
| Kitchen-stuff | 62,400 | lbs. | 200 | do. | do. | 6 | lbs. weekly |
| Dripping | 52,000 | „ | 200 | do. | do. | 5 | „ do. |
| Bones | 3,494,400 | „ | 200 | buyers | 3 | cwt. weekly | |
| Hogwash | 2,504,000 | gals. | 200 | do., | each purchasing | 40 | gal. daily |
| Dust (from houses) | 900,000 | loads | ... | ... | ... | ... | |
| Soot | 800,000 | bush. | 800 | colls. | each collectg. | 19 | bush. weekly |
| Soil (from cesspools) | 750,000 | loads | ... | ... | ... | ... | |
| Street Refuse. | |||||||
| Street sweepings (scavengers’) | 140,983 | „ | 444 | do. | the whole „ | 452 | lds. daily |
| Ditto (street orderlies’) | 2,817 | „ | 546 | do. | do. „ | 9 | „ do. |
| Coal and coke (mudlarks’) | 64,656 | cwt. | 550 | do., | each collecting | 42 | lbs. do. |
| “Pure” | 52,000 | pails | 200 | do. | do. | 5 | pails weekly |
| Cigar ends | 2,240 | lbs. | 50 | do. | do. | 8½ | lbs. do. |
| bt. of old clo’men | 6s. each | 187,200 | 0 | 0 | Sold to old clo’men and wholesale dealers. |
| „ | 3s. 3d. per pr. | 50,700 | 0 | 0 | Do. do. |
| „ | 7d. each | 9,100 | 0 | 0 | Do. do. |
| „ | 2d. „ | 390 | 0 | 0 | Do. to wholesale and wardrobe dealers. |
| „ | 2s. per pair | 1,560 | 0 | 0 | Do. to old clo’men and wholesale dealers. |
| „ | 4s. 2d. each | 625 | 0 | 0 | Do. to wholesale and wardrobe dealers. |
| „ | 10s. „ | 500 | 0 | 0 | Do. to wholesale dealers. |
| „ | 7d. per pair | 45,500 | 0 | 0 | Do. to wardrobe dealers and second-hand boot and shoe makers. |
| none | 1s. per dz. pr. | 32,400 | 0 | 0 | Do. to Jews and gunsmiths to temper gun-barrels. |
| „ | 5s. „ | 130,000 | 0 | 0 | Do. to translators. |
| bt. of old clo’men | 4d. each | 31,200 | 0 | 0 | Do. to dealers and master hatters. |
| „ | 3s. a suit | 540 | 0 | 0 | Do. Jew dealers. |
| „ | 4d. each | 10,400 | 0 | 0 | Do. to old clo’men and wholesale dealers. |
| „ | 1d. per pair | 3,272 | 10 | 0 | Do. to wholesale and wardrobe dealers. |
| „ | 3d. „ | 1,170 | 0 | 0 | Do. do. |
| „ | 1s. 9d. each | 41,107 | 10 | 0 | Do. do. |
| „ | 7d. „ | 27,405 | 0 | 0 | Do. do. |
| „ | 5d. per pair | 5,437 | 10 | 0 | Do. do. |
| „ | 3d. a doz. | 195 | 15 | 0 | Do. do. |
| „ | 1½d. each | 1,639 | 11 | 8 | Do. do. |
| „ | 4d. „ | 8,700 | 0 | 0 | Do. do. |
| „ | 4s. „ | 1,040 | 0 | 0 | Do. to wholesale dealers. |
| „ | 6d. „ | 35,235 | 0 | 0 | Do. do. |
| „ | 1s. 2d. „ | 27,405 | 0 | 0 | Do. to wholesale and wardrobe dealers. |
| „ | 1s. 2d. „ | 15,220 | 0 | 0 | Do. do. |
| „ | 1s. 2d. „ | 7,612 | 10 | 0 | Do. do. |
| all | 5d. „ | 10,300 | 0 | 0 | Do. to Jews and old umbrella menders. |
| 675,555 | 6 | 8 | |||
| „ | 2½d. per lb. | 812 | 10 | 0 | Do. to merchants to re-make into tea. |
| costers and fishmongers | 1d. „ | 16 | 5 | 0 | Do. to brewers to fine their ale. |
| all | 1s. a doz. | 333 | 6 | 8 | Do. to Jews, hatters, and furriers. |
| none | 1½d. per lb. | 390 | 0 | 0 | Do. at marine stores. |
| „ | 3d. „ | 650 | 0 | 0 | Do. do. |
| 1-1000th | ¼d. „ | 105,625 | 0 | 0 | Do. for manure, knife-handles, &c. |
| all | 1d. per gallon | 10,433 | 6 | 8 | Do. to pig-dealers. |
| none | 2s. 6d. per ld. | 112,500 | 0 | 0 | Do. for manure and to brickmakers. |
| „ | 5d. per bushel | 16,666 | 13 | 4 | Do. to farmers, graziers, and gardeners. |
| „ | 10s. per load | 375,000 | 0 | 0 | Do. for manure. |
| 622,427 | 1 | 8 | |||
| „ | 3s. „ | 21,147 | 9 | 0 | Do. do. |
| „ | 2s. 6d. „ | 2,352 | 2 | 6 | Do. do. |
| „ | 8d. per cwt. | 2,151 | 17 | 4 | Do. to the poor. |
| „ | 1s. per pail | 2,600 | 0 | 0 | Do. to tanners and leather-dressers. |
| street-finders | 8d. per lb. | 74 | 13 | 4 | Do. to Jews in Rosemary-lane. |
| 28,326 | 2 | 2 | |||
| Gross Total | 1,406,592 | 1 | 6 |
Curious and ample as this Table of Refuse is—one, moreover, perfectly original—it is not sufficient, by the mere range of figures, to convey to the mind of the reader a full comprehension of the ramified vastness of the Second-Hand trade of the metropolis. Indeed tables are for reference more than for the current information to be yielded by a history or a narrative.
I will, therefore, offer a few explanations in elucidation, as it were, of the tabular return.
I must, as indeed I have done in the accompanying remarks, depart from the order of the details of the table to point out, in the first instance, the particulars of the greatest of the Second-Hand trades—that in Clothing. In this table the reader will find included every indispensable article of man’s, woman’s, and child’s apparel, as well as those articles which add to the ornament or comfort of the person of the wearer; such as boas and victorines for the use of one sex, and dressing-gowns for the use of the other. The articles used to protect us from the rain, or the too-powerful rays of the sun, are also included—umbrellas and parasols. The whole of these articles exceed, when taken in round numbers, twelve millions and a quarter, and that reckoning the “pairs,” as in boots and shoes, &c., as but one article. This, still pursuing the round-number system, would supply nearly five articles of refuse apparel to every man, woman, and child in this, the greatest metropolis of the world.
I will put this matter in another light. There are about 35,000 Jews in England, nearly half of whom reside in the metropolis. 12,000, it is further stated on good authority, reside within the City of London. Now at one time the trade in old clothes was almost entirely in the hands of the City Jews, the others prosecuting the same calling in different parts of London having been “Wardrobe Dealers,” chiefly women, (who had not unfrequently been the servants of the aristocracy); and even these wardrobe dealers sold much that was worn, and (as one old clothes-dealer told me) much that was “not, for their fine customers, because the fashion had gone by,” to the “Old Clo” Jews, or to those to whom the street-buyers carried their stock, and who were able to purchase on a larger scale than the general itinerants. Now, supposing that even one twelfth of these 12,000 Israelites were engaged in the old-clothes trade (which is far beyond the mark), each man would have twelve hundred and twenty-five articles to dispose of yearly, all second-hand!
Perhaps the most curious trade is that in waste paper, or as it is called by the street collectors, in “waste,” comprising every kind of used or useless periodical, and books in all tongues. I may call the attention of my readers, by way of illustrating the extent of this business in what is proverbially refuse “waste paper,” to their experience of the penny postage. Three or four sheets of note paper, according to the stouter or thinner texture, and an envelope with a seal or a glutinous and stamped fastening, will not exceed half-an-ounce, and is conveyed to the Orkneys and the further isles of Shetland, the Hebrides, the Scilly and Channel Islands, the isles of Achill and Cape Clear, off the western and southern coasts of Ireland, or indeed to and from the most extreme points of the United Kingdom, and no matter what distance, provided the letter be posted within the United Kingdom, for a penny. The weight of waste or refuse paper annually disposed of to the street collectors, or rather buyers, is 1,397,760 lbs. Were this tonnage, as I may call it, for it comprises 12,480 tons yearly, to be distributed in half-ounce letters, it would supply material, as respects weight, for forty-four millions, seven hundred and twenty-eight thousand, four hundred and thirty letters on business, love, or friendship.
I will next direct attention to what may be, by perhaps not over-straining a figure of speech, called “the crumbs which fall from the rich man’s table;” or, according to the quality of the commodity of refuse, of the tables of the comparatively rich, and that down to a low degree of the scale. These are not, however, unappropriated crumbs, to be swept away uncared for; but are objects of keen traffic and bargains between the possessors or their servants and the indefatigable street-folk. Among them are such things as champagne and other wine bottles, porter and ale bottles, and, including the establishments of all the rich and the comparative rich, kitchen-stuff, dripping, hog-wash, hare-skins, and tea-leaves. Lastly come the very lowest grades of the street-folk—the finders; men who will quarrel, and have been seen to quarrel, with a hungry cur for a street-found bone; not to pick or gnaw, although Eugène Sue has seen that done in Paris; and I once, very early on a summer’s morning, saw some apparently houseless Irish children contend with a dog and with each other for bones thrown out of a house in King William-street, City—as if after a very late supper—not to pick or gnaw, I was saying, but to sell for manure. Some of these finders have “seen better days;” others, in intellect, are little elevated above the animals whose bones they gather, or whose ordure (“pure”), they scrape into their baskets.
I do not know that the other articles in the arrangement of the table of street refuse, &c., require any further comment. Broken metal, &c., can only be disposed of according to its quality or weight, and I have lately shown the extent of the trade in such refuse as street-sweepings, soot and night-soil.
The gross total, or average yearly money value, is 1,406,592l. for the second-hand commodities I have described in the foregoing pages; or as something like a minimum is given, both as to the number of the goods and the price, we may fairly put this total at a million and a half of pounds sterling!
CROSSING-SWEEPERS.
That portion of the London street-folk who earn a scanty living by sweeping crossings constitute a large class of the Metropolitan poor. We can scarcely walk along a street of any extent, or pass through a square of the least pretensions to “gentility,” without meeting one or more of these private scavengers. Crossing-sweeping seems to be one of those occupations which are resorted to as an excuse for begging; and, indeed, as many expressed it to me, “it was the last chance left of obtaining an honest crust.”
The advantages of crossing-sweeping as a means of livelihood seem to be:
1st, the smallness of the capital required in order to commence the business;
2ndly, the excuse the apparent occupation it affords for soliciting gratuities without being considered in the light of a street-beggar;
And 3rdly, the benefits arising from being constantly seen in the same place, and thus exciting the sympathy of the neighbouring householders, till small weekly allowances or “pensions” are obtained.
The first curious point in connexion with this subject is what constitutes the “property,” so to speak, in a crossing, or the right to sweep a pathway across a certain thoroughfare. A nobleman, who has been one of her Majesty’s Ministers, whilst conversing with me on the subject of crossing-sweepers, expressed to me the curiosity he felt on the subject, saying that he had noticed some of the sweepers in the same place for years. “What were the rights of property,” he asked, “in such cases, and what constituted the title that such a man had to a particular crossing? Why did not the stronger sweeper supplant the weaker? Could a man bequeath a crossing to a son, or present it to a friend? How did he first obtain the spot?”
The answer is, that crossing-sweepers are, in a measure, under the protection of the police. If the accommodation afforded by a well-swept pathway is evident, the policeman on that district will protect the original sweeper of the crossing from the intrusion of a rival. I have, indeed, met with instances of men who, before taking to a crossing, have asked for and obtained permission of the police; and one sweeper, who gave me his statement, had even solicited the authority of the inhabitants before he applied to the inspector at the station-house.
If a crossing have been vacant for some time, another sweeper may take to it; but should the original proprietor again make his appearance, the officer on duty will generally re-establish him. One man to whom I spoke, had fixed himself on a crossing which for years another sweeper had kept clean on the Sunday morning only. A dispute ensued; the one claimant pleading his long Sabbath possession, and the other his continuous every-day service. The quarrel was referred to the police, who decided that he who was oftener on the ground was the rightful owner; and the option was given to the former possessor, that if he would sweep there every day the crossing should be his.
I believe there is only one crossing in London which is in the gift of a householder, and this proprietorship originated in a tradesman having, at his own expense, caused a paved footway to be laid down over the Macadamized road in front of his shop, so that his customers might run less chance of dirtying their boots when they crossed over to give their orders.
Some bankers, however, keep a crossing-sweeper, not only to sweep a clean path for the “clients” visiting their house, but to open and shut the doors of the carriages calling at the house.
Concerning the causes which lead or drive people to this occupation, they are various. People take to crossing-sweeping either on account of their bodily afflictions, depriving them of the power of performing ruder work, or because the occupation is the last resource left open to them of earning a living, and they considered even the scanty subsistence it yields preferable to that of the workhouse. The greater proportion of crossing-sweepers are those who, from some bodily infirmity or injury, are prevented from a more laborious mode of obtaining their living. Among the bodily infirmities the chief are old age, asthma, and rheumatism; and the injuries mostly consist of loss of limbs. Many of the rheumatic sweepers have been bricklayers’ labourers.
The classification of crossing-sweepers is not very complex. They may be divided into the casual and the regular.
By the casual I mean such as pursue the occupation only on certain days in the week, as, for instance, those who make their appearance on the Sunday morning, as well as the boys who, broom in hand, travel about the streets, sweeping before the foot-passengers or stopping an hour at one place, and then, if not fortunate, moving on to another.
The regular crossing-sweepers are those who have taken up their posts at the corners of streets or squares; and I have met with some who have kept to the same spot for more than forty years.
The crossing-sweepers in the squares may be reckoned among the most fortunate of the class. With them the crossing is a kind of stand, where any one requiring their services knows they may be found. These sweepers are often employed by the butlers and servants in the neighbouring mansions for running errands, posting letters, and occasionally helping in the packing-up and removal of furniture or boxes when the family goes out of town. I have met with other sweepers who, from being known for years to the inhabitants, have at last got to be regularly employed at some of the houses to clean knives, boots, windows, &c.
It is not at all an unfrequent circumstance, however, for a sweeper to be in receipt of a weekly sum from some of the inhabitants in the district. The crossing itself is in these cases but of little value for chance customers, for were it not for the regular charity of the householders, it would be deserted. Broken victuals and old clothes also form part of a sweeper’s means of living; nor are the clothes always old ones, for one or two of this class have for years been in the habit of having new suits presented to them by the neighbours at Christmas.
The irregular sweepers mostly consist of boys and girls who have formed themselves into a kind of company, and come to an agreement to work together on the same crossings. The principal resort of these is about Trafalgar-square, where they have seized upon some three or four crossings, which they visit from time to time in the course of the day.
One of these gangs I found had appointed its king and captain, though the titles were more honorary than privileged. They had framed their own laws respecting each one’s right to the money he took, and the obedience to these laws was enforced by the strength of the little fraternity.
One or two girls whom I questioned, told me that they mixed up ballad-singing or lace-selling with crossing-sweeping, taking to the broom only when the streets were wet and muddy. These children are usually sent out by their parents, and have to carry home at night their earnings. A few of them are orphans with a lodging-house for a home.
Taken as a class, crossing-sweepers are among the most honest of the London poor. They all tell you that, without a good character and “the respect of the neighbourhood,” there is not a living to be got out of the broom. Indeed, those whom I found best-to-do in the world were those who had been longest at their posts.
Among them are many who have been servants until sickness or accident deprived them of their situations, and nearly all of them have had their minds so subdued by affliction, that they have been tamed so as to be incapable of mischief.
The earnings, or rather “takings,” of crossing-sweepers are difficult to estimate—generally speaking—that is, to strike the average for the entire class. An erroneous idea prevails that crossing-sweeping is a lucrative employment. All whom I have spoken with agree in saying, that some thirty years back it was a good living; but they bewail piteously the spirit of the present generation. I have met with some who, in former days, took their 3l. weekly; and there are but few I have spoken to who would not, at one period, have considered fifteen shillings a bad week’s work. But now “the takings” are very much reduced. The man who was known to this class as having been the most prosperous of all—for from one nobleman alone he received an allowance of seven shillings and sixpence weekly—assured me that twelve shillings a-week was the average of his present gains, taking the year round; whilst the majority of the sweepers agree that a shilling is a good day’s earnings.
A shilling a-day is the very limit of the average incomes of the London sweepers, and this is rather an over than an under calculation; for, although a few of the more fortunate, who are to be found in the squares or main thoroughfares or opposite the public buildings, may earn their twelve or fifteen shillings a-week, yet there are hundreds who are daily to be found in the by-streets of the metropolis who assert that eightpence a-day is their average taking; and, indeed, in proof of their poverty, they refer you to the workhouse authorities, who allow them certain quartern-loaves weekly. The old stories of delicate suppers and stockings full of money have in the present day no foundation of truth.
The black crossing-sweeper, who bequeathed 500l. to Miss Waithman, would almost seem to be the last of the class whose earnings were above his positive necessities.
Lastly, concerning the numbers belonging to this large class, we may add that it is difficult to reckon up the number of crossing-sweepers in London. There are few squares without a couple of these pathway scavengers; and in the more respectable squares, such as Cavendish or Portman, every corner has been seized upon. Again, in the principal thoroughfares, nearly every street has its crossing and attendant.