London Labour and the London Poor, Vol. 2

by Henry Mayhew

The capital of the trade is about 5000l.

The price charged by the “high master sweepers” for cleaning the flues of a house rented at 150l. a year and upwards, is from 1s. to 3s. 6d. (the higher price being paid for sweeping those chimneys which have a hot plate affixed). A small master, on the other hand, will charge from 1s. to 3s. for the same kind of work, while a single-handed man seldom gets above “a 2s. job,” and that not very often. The charge for sweeping the flues of a house rented at from 50l. to 150l. a year, is from 9d. to 2s. 6d. by a large master, and from 8d. to 2s. by a small master, while a single-handed man will take the job at from 6d. to 1s. 6d. The price charged per flue for a house rented at from 20l. a year up to 50l. a year, will average 6d. a flue, charged by large masters, 4d. by small masters, and from 2d. to 3d. by the single-handed sweepers in some cases; indeed, the poorest class will sweep a flue for the soot only. But the prices charged for sweeping chimneys differ in the different parts of the metropolis. I subjoin a list of the maximum and minimum charge for the several districts.

	d.	s.	d.
Kensington and Hammersmith	4 to	3	0
Westminster	3 „	2	0
Chelsea	4 „	2	6
St. George’s, Hanover-sq.	6 „	3	6
St. Martin’s and St. Ann’s	4 „	2	6
St. James’s, Westminster	3 „	2	6
Marylebone	4 „	2	6
Paddington	3 „	2	0
Hampstead	3 „	1	6
St. Pancras	4 „	3	0
Islington	3 „	1	6
Hackney and Homerton	3 „	2	0
St. Giles’s and St. George’s, Bloomsbury	3 „	3	0
Strand	4 „	2	6
Holborn	4 „	2	6
Clerkenwell	3 „	1	6
St. Luke’s	3 „	1	0
East London	3 „	1	6
West London	4 „	2	6
London City	6 „	2	6
Shoreditch	3 „	1	0
Bethnal Green	3 „	1	0
Whitechapel	4 „	1	6
St. George’s in the East and Limehouse	3 „	1	0
Stepney	3 „	1	6
Poplar	4 „	2	0
St. George’s, St. Olave’s, and St. Saviour’s, Southwark	3 „	1	6
Bermondsey	3 „	0	9
Walworth and Newington	4 „	1	6
Wandsworth	4 „	1	6
Lambeth	3 „	1	0
Camberwell	4 „	2	0
Clapham, Brixton, and Tooting	4 „	2	6
Rotherhithe	3 „	1	6
Greenwich	3 „	1	6
Woolwich	3 „	2	6
Lewisham	6 „	3	0
N.B.—The single-handed and the knullers generally charge a penny less than the prices above given.

There are three different kinds of soot:—the best is produced purely from coal; the next in value is that which proceeds from the combustion of vegetable refuse along with the coal, as in cases where potato peelings, cabbage leaves, and the like, are burnt in the fires of the poorer classes; while the soot produced from wood fires is, I am told, scarcely worth carriage. Wood-soot, however, is generally mixed with that from coal, and sold as the superior kind.

Not only is there a difference in value in the various kinds of soot, but there is also a vast difference in the weight. A bushel of pure coal soot will not weigh above four pounds; that produced from the combustion of coal and vegetable refuse will weigh nearly thrice as much; while that from wood fires is, I am assured, nearly ten times heavier than from coal.

I have not heard that the introduction of free trade has had any influence on the value of soot, or in reducing the wages of the operatives. The same wages are paid to the operatives whether soot sells at a high or low price.

Of the General Characteristics of the Working Chimney-Sweepers.

There are many reasons why the chimney-sweepers have ever been a distinct and peculiar class. They have long been looked down upon as the lowest order of workers, and treated with contumely by those who were but little better than themselves. The peculiar nature of their work giving them not only a filthy appearance, but an offensive smell, of itself, in a manner, prohibited them from associating with other working men; and the natural effect of such proscription has been to compel them to herd together apart from others, and to acquire habits and peculiarities of their own widely differing from the characteristics of the rest of the labouring classes.

A TABLE SHOWING THE NUMBER OF MASTER CHIMNEY SWEEPERS RESIDING IN THE SEVERAL DISTRICTS OF THE METROPOLIS, THE NUMBER OF FOREMEN, OF JOURNEYMEN, AND UNDER JOURNEYMEN EMPLOYED IN EACH DISTRICT DURING THE YEAR, AS WELL AS THE WEEKLY WAGES OF EACH CLASS.

Districts.	No. of Master Sweepers in each District.	No. of Foremen employed.	No. of Journeymen employed in the brisk season.	No. of Journeymen employed in the slack season.	No. of Under Journeymen, men, or boys, employed.	No. of Bushels of Soot collected Weekly.	Weekly Wages of each Foreman.	Weekly Wages of each Journeyman.		Weekly Wages of each Under Journeyman.
West Districts.
Kensington and Hammersmith	11	2	25	16	2	695	18s.	7 at 16s.		10s.
								6 „ 15s.
								10 „ 14s.
								1 „ 12s.
Westminster	13	1	26	18	1	735	14s.	5 at 18s.		3s. b
								10 „ 12s.
								3 „ 4s.	b
								4 „ 3s.
								4 „ 2s.
Chelsea	22	—	13	11	2	670	—	1 „ 16s.		1 at 2s. b
								3 „ 12s.		1 e
								4 „ 10s.
								3 „ 3s.	b
								1 „ 2s. 6d.
								1 „ 2s.
St. George’s, Hanover-sq.	10	5	27	25	—	890	4 at 18s.	5 at 18s.		—
							1 „ 16s.	3 „ 16s.
								2 „ 15s.
								9 „ 14s.
								7 „ 12s.
								1 „ 6s. b
St. Martin’s and St. Ann’s	9	—	16	15	1	415	—	7 at 6s.	b	2s. b
								6 „ 4s.
								2 „ 3s.
St. James’s, Westminster	7	1	9	6	—	355	14s.	5 at 12s.		—
								1 „ 10s.
								1 at 3s. 6d. b
North Districts.
Marylebone	18	—	21	16	—	775	—	18s.		—
Paddington	10	1	17	10	3	495	18s.	1 at 14s.		2 at 2s.	b
								1 „ 10s.		1 „ 1s. 6d.
								2 „ 4s.	b
								8 „ 3s. 6d.
								1 „ 2s. 6d.
								2 „ 1s.
Hampstead	2	—	2	2	2	60	—	1 at 3s.	b	1 at 1s. 6d.	b
								1 „ 2s.		1 „ 1s.
Islington	9	—	13	12	3	425	—	3 at 4s.	b	1s. 6d. b
								2 „ 3s.
St. Pancras	18	—	33	21	6	920	—	2 at 14s.		3 at 2s.	b
								6 „ 12s.		2 „ 1s. 6d.
								4 „ 10s.		1 „ 1s.
								6 „ 4s.	b
								3 „ 3s. 6d.
								11 „ 3s.
								3 „ 2s. 6d.
								1 „ 2s.
Hackney and Homerton	13	—	3	3	4	290	—	2s. b		1s. 6d. b
Central Districts.
St. Giles’s and St. George’s, Bloomsbury.	12	—	9	7	5	435	—	8 at 12s.		1s. b
								1 „ 3s. b
Strand	5	—	11	8	2	350	—	4s. b		1 at 2s.	b
										1 „ 1s.
Holborn	6	2	11	10	—	435	20s.	2 at 18s.		—
								3 „ 8s.	b
								4 „ 4s.
								2 „ 3s.
Clerkenwell	6	—	9	9	1	310	—	8 at 3s.	b	1s. b
								1 „ 2s. 6d.
St. Luke’s	6	—	4	3	2	175	—	2s. b		1s. b
East London	8	—	10	8	—	455	—	3s. b		—
West London	5	—	9	6	—	205	—	3 at 4s.	b	—
								6 „ 3s.
London City	6	—	12	10	2	415	—	6 at 6s.	b	2s. b
								6 „ 4s.
East Districts.
Shoreditch	13	—	6	5	1	380	—	2s. b		1s. b
Bethnal Green	6	—	2	2	—	150	—	1 at 5s.		—
								1 „ 2s. b
Whitechapel	11	—	1	1	3	330	—	2s. b		3s. e
St. George’s-in-the-East and Limehouse.	14	—	14	10	3	650	—	3 at 3s.	b	1 at 1s. 6d.	b
								4 „ 2s. 6d.		2 „ 1s.
								7 „ 2s.
Stepney	9	—	3	2	—	275	—	3s. b		—
Poplar	4	—	1	—	1	110	—	2s. b		1s. 6d. b
South Districts.
Southwark	17	—	—	—	—	385	—	—		—
Bermondsey	8	—	4	4	1	220	—	2s. b		1s. b
Walworth and Newington	9	—	6	4	4	330	—	2s. b		1s. b
Wandsworth	6	—	6	5	1	240	—	3 at 3s.	b	1s. b
								3 „ 2s. 6d.
Lambeth	16	—	9	9	5	560	—	3 at 3s.	b	1 at 1s. 6d.	b
								6 „ 2s. 6d.		4 „ 1s.
Camberwell	8	—	8	7	1	315	—	2s. 6d. b		1s. b
Clapton, Brixton, and Tooting	11	—	13	7	1	410	—	2s. 6d. b		1s. b
Rotherhithe	7	—	2	2	—	170	—	2s. b		—
Greenwich	6	—	4	4	1	195	—	1s. 6d. b		1s. b
Woolwich	7	—	17	12	3	515	—	13 at 2s. 6d.		2 at 1s.	b
								4 „ 1s. 6d.		1 „ 9d.
Lewisham	2	—	5	5	1	160	—	2s. b		1s. b
Ramoneur Company	—	—	18	18	18	450	—	18s.		—
Total	350	12	399	62	62	15350