London Labour and the London Poor was written by Henry Mayhew as a series of articles for the Morning Chronicle. The articles were compiled into a three volume set of books in 1851, with a fourth volume being added in 1861, co-written by Bracebridge Hemyng, John Binny and Andrew Halliday. One of the co-founders of Punch magazine, Henry Mayhew was a journalist and a social researcher, born in London in 1812.
Mayhew’s articles about the street vendors of London so upset them that they formed a Protective Association to refute what they considered to be attacks on their profession.
After the meeting, which Mayhew did not attend, a lengthily letter to the editor written by George Martin, Secretary to the association appeared in Reynold’s Newspaper. The editor prefaced the letter with their own note:
Martin wrote in his letter of the association’s grievances with Mayhew’s work, saying that ‘…Mr. Mayhew has not generally obtained the information from “the people” themselves’ and that the language attributed to the costermongers he interviewed was fabricated or exaggerated, and that they were, as a profession, misrepresented entirely.
Despite the opposition to Mayhew’s work by the costermongers, the volumes about London’s Poor are a fascinating glimpse into mid-nineteenth century London. There are many digitized editions available wherever free ebooks can be found including Google Books.
London Labour and the London Poor, Volume One
London Labour and the London Poor, Volumes Two and Three
London Labour and the London Poor, Volume Four
Extract from London Labour and the London Poor, Volume 1
