London Labour and the London Poor, Vol. 2 - Henry Mayhew

The next point in the inquiry is, What is the value of the street dirt annually collected?

The price I have adduced for the dirt gained from the streets is 3s. per load, which is a very reasonable average. If the load be dung, or even chiefly dung, it is worth 5s. or 6s. With the proportion of dung and street refuse to be found in such a thoroughfare as the Haymarket, in dry, or comparatively dry weather, a load, weighing about a ton, is worth about 3s. in the purchaser’s own cart. On the other hand, as I have shown that quantities of mixed or slop “mac” have to be wasted, that some is sold at a nominal price, and a good deal at 1s. the load, 3s. is certainly a fair average.

A TABLE SHOWING THE NUMBER OF MEN AND CARTS EMPLOYED IN COLLECTING DUST, IN SCAVENGERY, AND AT RUBBISH CARTING, AS WELL AS THE NUMBER OF MEN, WOMEN, AND BOYS WORKING IN THE DUST-YARDS OF THE SEVERAL METROPOLITAN CONTRACTORS.

Contractors (Large).	Dust.		Scavengery.		Rubbish Carting.		Working in the Yard.
Contractors (Large).	Number of Men employed.	Number of Carts used.	Number of Men employed.	Number of Carts, Waggons, or Machines used.	Number of Men employed.	Number of Carts used.	Number of Men employed.	Number of Women employed.	Number of Boys working.
Mr. Dodd	20	10	26	13	20	20	9	12	4
„ Gould	20	10	28	11	11	11	5	15	4
„ Redding	32	16	41	18	22	22	5	12	4
„ Gore	32	16	18	7	none.	none.	4	20	6
„ Rooke	16	8	16	6	16	16	2	6	3
„ Stapleton & Holdsworth	10	5	11	8	10	10	4	8	2
„ Tame	20	10	5	1	12	12	4	8	2
„ Starkey	10	5	22	8	none.	none.	4	12	3
„ Newman	8	4	23	10	8	8	4	8	2
„ Pratt and Sewell	10	5	4	2	20	20	2	6	2
„ W. Sinnott, Sen.	28	14	5	2	none.	none.	5	15	5
„ J. Sinnott	8	4	16	6	ditto.	ditto.	none.	none.	none.
„ Westley	10	5	18	9	ditto.	ditto.	3	9	2
„ Parsons	10	5	18	3	ditto.	ditto.	2	6	1
„ Hearne	18	9	7	2	20	20	3	9	3
„ Humphries	20	10	4	1	6	6	3	9	3
„ Calvert	6	3	none.	none.	7	7	2	6	2
	278	139	262	107	152	152	61	161	48
Contractors (Small).
Mr. North	4	2	2	1	4	4	1	2	1
„ Milton	6	3	none.	none.	none.	none.	3	6	2
„ Jenkins	2	1	5	1	ditto.	ditto.	1	2	1
„ Stroud	10	5	none.	none.	ditto.	ditto.	4	9	3
„ Martin	2	1	6	3	ditto.	ditto.	1	2	1
„ Clutterbuck	4	2	none.	none.	5	5	1	3	1
„ W. Sinnott, Jun.	4	2	ditto.	ditto.	6	6	1	2	1
	32	16	13	5	15	15	12	26	10
Contractors, but not having any contract at present, only carting rubbish, &c.
Mr. Darke	...	...	...	...	36	36
„ Tomkins	...	...	...	...	6	6
„ J. Cooper	...	...	...	...	8	8
„ T. Cooper, Sen.	...	...	...	...	12	12
„ Athill	...	...	...	...	6	6
„ Barnett (lately sold off)
„ Brown	...	...	...	...	4	4
„ Ellis	...	...	...	...	6	6
„ Limpus	...	...	...	...	10	10
„ Emmerson	...	...	...	...	6	6
					94	94

Contractors (Large).	Dust.		Scavengery.		Rubbish Carting.
Contractors (Large).	Number of Men employed.	Number of Carts used.	Number of Men employed.	Number of Carts, Waggons, or Machines used.	Number of Men employed.	Number of Carts used.
Mr. Dodd	20	10	26	13	20	20
„ Gould	20	10	28	11	11	11
„ Redding	32	16	41	18	22	22
„ Gore	32	16	18	7	none.	none.
„ Rooke	16	8	16	6	16	16
„ Stapleton & Holdsworth	10	5	11	8	10	10
„ Tame	20	10	5	1	12	12
„ Starkey	10	5	22	8	none.	none.
„ Newman	8	4	23	10	8	8
„ Pratt and Sewell	10	5	4	2	20	20
„ W. Sinnott, Sen.	28	14	5	2	none.	none.
„ J. Sinnott	8	4	16	6	ditto.	ditto.
„ Westley	10	5	18	9	ditto.	ditto.
„ Parsons	10	5	18	3	ditto.	ditto.
„ Hearne	18	9	7	2	20	20
„ Humphries	20	10	4	1	6	6
„ Calvert	6	3	none.	none.	7	7
	278	139	262	107	152	152
Contractors (Small).
Mr. North	4	2	2	1	4	4
„ Milton	6	3	none.	none.	none.	none.
„ Jenkins	2	1	5	1	ditto.	ditto.
„ Stroud	10	5	none.	none.	ditto.	ditto.
„ Martin	2	1	6	3	ditto.	ditto.
„ Clutterbuck	4	2	none.	none.	5	5
„ W. Sinnott, Jun.	4	2	ditto.	ditto.	6	6
	32	16	13	5	15	15
Contractors (Large).	Working in the Yard.
Contractors (Large).	Number of Men employed.	Number of Women employed.	Number of Boys working.
Mr. Dodd	9	12	4
„ Gould	5	15	4
„ Redding	5	12	4
„ Gore	4	20	6
„ Rooke	2	6	3
„ Stapleton & Holdsworth	4	8	2
„ Tame	4	8	2
„ Starkey	4	12	3
„ Newman	4	8	2
„ Pratt and Sewell	2	6	2
„ W. Sinnott, Sen.	5	15	5
„ J. Sinnott	none.	none.	none.
„ Westley	3	9	2
„ Parsons	2	6	1
„ Hearne	3	9	3
„ Humphries	3	9	3
„ Calvert	2	6	2
	61	161	48
Contractors (Small).
Mr. North	1	2	1
„ Milton	3	6	2
„ Jenkins	1	2	1
„ Stroud	4	9	3
„ Martin	1	2	1
„ Clutterbuck	1	3	1
„ W. Sinnott, Jun.	1	2	1
	12	26	10
Contractors, but not having any contract at present, only carting rubbish, &c.
Mr. Darke	...	...	...	...	36	36
„ Tomkins	...	...	...	...	6	6
„ J. Cooper	...	...	...	...	8	8
„ T. Cooper, Sen.	...	...	...	...	12	12
„ Athill	...	...	...	...	6	6
„ Barnett (lately sold off)
„ Brown	...	...	...	...	4	4
„ Ellis	...	...	...	...	6	6
„ Limpus	...	...	...	...	10	10
„ Emmerson	...	...	...	...	6	6
					94	94

Machines.	Dust.		Scavengers.			Rubbish.		Employed in Yard.
Machines.	Men.	Carts.	Men.	Carts.		Men.	Carts.	Men.	Women.	Children.
Woods and Forests	none.	none.	4	2	machines.	none.	none.	none.	none.	none.
Regent-street and Pall-mall	ditto.	ditto.	12	2	„	ditto.	ditto.	ditto.	ditto.	ditto.
St. Martin’s	ditto.	ditto.	9	4	„	ditto.	ditto.	ditto.	ditto.	ditto.
			25	8	„
Parishes.
Kensington [16]	...	...	5	2
Chelsea[16]	...	...	5	2
St. George’s, Hanover-sq.[16]	...	...	5	1
St. Margaret’s, Westminster[16]	...	...	7	3
Piccadilly[16]	...	...	28	2
St. Ann’s, Soho[16]	...	...	4	2
Paddington[16]	...	...	6	2
St. Marylebone[16] (5 Districts)	...	...	35	4
St. James’s, Westminster	...	...	2	1
Hampstead	No parochial removal of dust.		4	1
Highgate	ditto.		4	1
Islington[16]	...	...	8	1
Hackney	8	4	7	1		...	...	2	6	2
St. Clement Danes[16]	...	...	7	3	waggons.
Commercial-road, East[16]	...	...	6	3	carts.
Poplar	4	2	4	1		...	...	2	4	1
Bermondsey	6	3	6	3		...	...	3	6	2
Newington	8	4	6	2		...	...	2	6	2
Lambeth[16]	...	...	16	3
Ditto (Christchurch)	4	2	20	3		...	...	1	4	1
Wandsworth	4	2	4	1		...	...	1	4	1
Camberwell and Walworth	8	4	6	2		...	...	2	5	3
Rotherhithe	6	3	5	2		...	...	1	5	2
Greenwich	4	2	5	2		...	...	1	3	1
Deptford	4	2	4	2		...	...	1	3	1
Woolwich	none.	none.	5	2
Lewisham	ditto.	ditto.	4	1
Total for Parishes	56	28	218	50	carts.			16	46	16
				3	waggons.
Total for large contractors	278	139	262	107		152	152	61	161	48
Total for small contractors	32	16	13	5		15	15	12	26	10
Total for machines	...	...	25	8	machines.
Total for street orderlies	...	...	60	9
Gross total	366	183	578	179	carts.	167	167	89	233	74
				3	waggons.

						Men.	Carts.
Total employed at dust						366	183
„ „ scavenging						578	179
„ „ rubbish carting						167	167
„ (men, women, and children), in yard						396
Total employed in the removal of house and street refuse						1507	529

Thus the annual sum of the street-dirt, as regards the quantity collected by the contracting scavengers (as shown in the table given at page [186]), is, in round numbers, 89,000 cart-loads; that collected by parish labour, with or without the aid of the street-sweeping machines, at 52,000 cart-loads, or a total (I do not include what is collected by the orderlies) of 141,000 loads.

This result shows, then, that the contractors yearly collect by scavenging the streets with their own paid labourers, and receive as the produce of pauper labour, as follows:—

	Loads of Street Dirt.	Per Load.	Total.
By Contractors	89,000	3s.	£13,350
By Parishes	52,000	3s.	7,800
Total	141,000		£21,150

or a value of rather more than 1113l. as the return to each individual contractor in the table, or about 255l. as the average on each contract. As, however, the whole of the parish-collected manure does not come into the hands of the contractors, it will be fair, I am assured, to compute the total at 19,000l., a sum of 1000l. to each contractor, or nearly 229l. on each contract.