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

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.
West Districts.
Kensington and Hammersmith	11	2	25	16	2
Westminster	13	1	26	18	1
Chelsea	22	—	13	11	2
St. George’s, Hanover-sq.	10	5	27	25	—
St. Martin’s and St. Ann’s	9	—	16	15	1
St. James’s, Westminster	7	1	9	6	—
North Districts.
Marylebone	18	—	21	16	—
Paddington	10	1	17	10	3
Hampstead	2	—	2	2	2
Islington	9	—	13	12	3
St. Pancras	18	—	33	21	6
Hackney and Homerton	13	—	3	3	4
Central Districts.
St. Giles’s and St. George’s, Bloomsbury.	12	—	9	7	5
Strand	5	—	11	8	2
Holborn	6	2	11	10	—
Clerkenwell	6	—	9	9	1
St. Luke’s	6	—	4	3	2
East London	8	—	10	8	—
West London	5	—	9	6	—
London City	6	—	12	10	2
East Districts.
Shoreditch	13	—	6	5	1
Bethnal Green	6	—	2	2	—
Whitechapel	11	—	1	1	3
St. George’s-in-the-East and Limehouse.	14	—	14	10	3
Stepney	9	—	3	2	—
Poplar	4	—	1	—	1
South Districts.
Southwark	17	—	—	—	—
Bermondsey	8	—	4	4	1
Walworth and Newington	9	—	6	4	4
Wandsworth	6	—	6	5	1
Lambeth	16	—	9	9	5
Camberwell	8	—	8	7	1
Clapton, Brixton, and Tooting	11	—	13	7	1
Rotherhithe	7	—	2	2	—
Greenwich	6	—	4	4	1
Woolwich	7	—	17	12	3
Lewisham	2	—	5	5	1
Ramoneur Company	—	—	18	18	18
Total	350	12	399	62	62

Districts.	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	695	18s.	7 at 16s.		10s.
			6 „ 15s.
			10 „ 14s.
			1 „ 12s.
Westminster	735	14s.	5 at 18s.		3s. b
			10 „ 12s.
			3 „ 4s.	b
			4 „ 3s.
			4 „ 2s.
Chelsea	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.	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	415	—	7 at 6s.	b	2s. b
			6 „ 4s.
			2 „ 3s.
St. James’s, Westminster	355	14s.	5 at 12s.		—
			1 „ 10s.
			1 at 3s. 6d. b
North Districts.
Marylebone	775	—	18s.		—
Paddington	495	18s.	1 at 14s.		2 at 2s.	b
			1 „ 10s.		1 „ 1s. 6d.	b
			2 „ 4s.	b
			8 „ 3s. 6d.
			1 „ 2s. 6d.
			2 „ 1s.
Hampstead	60	—	1 at 3s.	b	1 at 1s. 6d.	b
Hampstead			1 „ 2s.	b	1 „ 1s.	b
Islington	425	—	3 at 4s.	b	1s. 6d. b
Islington			2 „ 3s.	b
St. Pancras	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	290	—	2s. b		1s. 6d. b
Central Districts.
St. Giles’s and St. George’s, Bloomsbury.	435	—	8 at 12s.		1s. b
St. Giles’s and St. George’s, Bloomsbury.			1 „ 3s. b
Strand	350	—	4s. b		1 at 2s.	b
Strand					1 „ 1s.	b
Holborn	435	20s.	2 at 18s.		—
			3 „ 8s.	b
			4 „ 4s.
			2 „ 3s.
Clerkenwell	310	—	8 at 3s.	b	1s. b
Clerkenwell			1 „ 2s. 6d.	b
St. Luke’s	175	—	2s. b		1s. b
East London	455	—	3s. b		—
West London	205	—	3 at 4s.	b	—
West London			6 „ 3s.	b
London City	415	—	6 at 6s.	b	2s. b
London City			6 „ 4s.	b
East Districts.
Shoreditch	380	—	2s. b		1s. b
Bethnal Green	150	—	1 at 5s.		—
Bethnal Green			1 „ 2s. b
Whitechapel	330	—	2s. b		3s. e
St. George’s-in-the-East and Limehouse.	650	—	3 at 3s.	b	1 at 1s. 6d.	b
			4 „ 2s. 6d.		2 „ 1s.	b
			7 „ 2s.
Stepney	275	—	3s. b		—
Poplar	110	—	2s. b		1s. 6d. b
South Districts.
Southwark	385	—	—		—
Bermondsey	220	—	2s. b		1s. b
Walworth and Newington	330	—	2s. b		1s. b
Wandsworth	240	—	3 at 3s.	b	1s. b
Wandsworth			3 „ 2s. 6d.	b
Lambeth	560	—	3 at 3s.	b	1 at 1s. 6d.	b
Lambeth			6 „ 2s. 6d.	b	4 „ 1s.	b
Camberwell	315	—	2s. 6d. b		1s. b
Clapton, Brixton, and Tooting	410	—	2s. 6d. b		1s. b
Rotherhithe	170	—	2s. b		—
Greenwich	195	—	1s. 6d. b		1s. b
Woolwich	515	—	13 at 2s. 6d.		2 at 1s.	b
Woolwich			4 „ 1s. 6d.		1 „ 9d.	b
Lewisham	160	—	2s. b		1s. b
Ramoneur Company	450	—	18s.		—
Total	15350

Note.—b means board and lodging as well as money, or part money and part kind; e stands for everything found or paid all in kind.

These returns have been collected by personal visits to each district:—the name of each master throughout London, together with the number of Foremen, Journeymen, and Under Journeymen employed, and the Wages received by each, as well as the quantity of soot collected, have been likewise obtained; but the names of the masters are here omitted for want of space, and the results alone are given.

Sweepers, however, have not from this cause generally been an hereditary race—that is, they have not become sweepers from father to son for many generations. Their numbers were, in the days of the climbing boys, in most instances increased by parish apprentices, the parishes usually adopting that mode as the cheapest and easiest of freeing themselves from a part of the burden of juvenile pauperism. The climbing boys, but more especially the unfortunate parish apprentices, were almost always cruelly used, starved, beaten, and over-worked by their masters, and treated as outcasts by all with whom they came in contact: there can be no wonder, then, that, driven in this manner from all other society, they gladly availed themselves of the companionship of their fellow-sufferers; quickly imbibed all their habits and peculiarities; and, perhaps, ended by becoming themselves the most tyrannical masters to those who might happen to be placed under their charge.

Notwithstanding the disrepute in which sweepers have ever been held, there are many classes of workers beneath them in intelligence. All the tribe of finders and collectors (with the exception of the dredgermen, who are an observant race, and the sewer-hunters, who, from the danger of their employment, are compelled to exercise their intellects) are far inferior to them in this respect; and they are clever fellows compared to many of the dustmen and scavagers. The great mass of the agricultural labourers are known to be almost as ignorant as the beasts they drive; but the sweepers, from whatever cause it may arise, are known, in many instances, to be shrewd, intelligent, and active.

But there is much room for improvement among the operative chimney-sweepers. Speaking of the men generally, I am assured that there is scarcely one out of ten who can either read or write. One man in Chelsea informed me that some ladies, in connection with the Rev. Mr. Cadman’s church, made an attempt to instruct the sweepers of the neighbourhood in reading and writing; but the master sweepers grew jealous, and became afraid lest their men should get too knowing for them. When the time came, therefore, for the men to prepare for the school, the masters always managed to find out some job which prevented them from attending at the appointed time, and the consequence was that the benevolent designs of the ladies were frustrated.

The sweepers, as a class, in almost all their habits, bear a strong resemblance to the costermongers. The habit of going about in search of their employment has, of itself, implanted in many of them the wandering propensity peculiar to street people. Many of the better-class costermongers have risen into coal-shed men and greengrocers, and become settled in life; in like manner the better-class sweepers have risen to be masters, and, becoming settled in a locality, have gradually obtained the trade of the neighbourhood; then, as their circumstances improved, they have been able to get horses and carts, and become nightmen; and there are many of them at this moment men of wealth, comparatively speaking. The great body of them, however, retain in all their force their original characteristics; the masters themselves, although shrewd and sensible men, often betray their want of education, and are in no way particular as to their expressions, their language being made up, in a great measure, of the terms peculiar to the costermongers, especially the denominations of the various sorts of money. I met with some sweepers, however, whose language was that in ordinary use, and their manners not vulgar. I might specify one, who, although a workhouse orphan and apprentice, a harshly-treated climbing-boy, is now prospering as a sweeper and nightman, is a regular attendant at all meetings to promote the good of the poor, and a zealous ragged-school teacher, and teetotaller.

When such men are met with, perhaps the class cannot be looked upon as utterly cast away, although the need of reformation in the habits of the working sweepers is extreme, and especially in respect of drinking, gambling, and dirt. The journeymen (who have often a good deal of leisure) and the single-handed men are—in the great majority of cases at least—addicted to drinking, beer being their favourite beverage, either because it is the cheapest or that they fancy it the most suitable for washing away the sooty particles which find their way to their throats. These men gamble also, but with this proviso—they seldom play for money; but when they meet in their usual houses of resort—two famous ones are in Back C—— lane and S—— street, Whitechapel—they spend their time and what money they may have in tossing for beer, till they are either drunk or penniless. Such men present the appearance of having just come out of a chimney. There seems never to have been any attempt made by them to wash the soot off their faces. I am informed that there is scarcely one of them who has a second shirt or any change of clothes, and that they wear their garments night and day till they literally rot, and drop in fragments from their backs. Those who are not employed as journeymen by the masters are frequently whole days without food, especially in summer, when the work is slack; and it usually happens that those who are what is called “knocking about on their own account” seldom or never have a farthing in their pockets in the morning, and may, perhaps, have to travel till evening before they get a threepenny or sixpenny chimney to sweep. When night comes, and they meet their companions, the tossing and drinking again commences; they again get drunk; roll home to wherever it may be, to go through the same routine on the morrow; and this is the usual tenour of their lives, whether earning 5s. or 20s. a week.

The chimney-sweepers generally are fond of drink; indeed their calling, like that of dustmen, is one of those which naturally lead to it. The men declare they are ordered to drink gin and smoke as much as they can, in order to rid the stomach of the soot they may have swallowed during their work.