Dear Listers Does anyone have, at their finger-tips, the percentage of different occupations of Londoners (including those living in what is now Greater London) in the 18/19th and early years of the 20th centuries. My reason for asking this is that I am looking at my father's family who, for the most part, came from the East End. I have got to the point where I am going to have to begin to look at my 4 x great grandfather who lived in Bethnal Green in 1801. I think that it's most likely that he would have been involved in shipping of some sort as were all the rest of that line, bar one. The exception has a fascinating story to tell but, in order to compare him to his father and his only son, I would like to have some idea of how their neighbours might have earned their livings. Audrey

Hi Audrey, I can't help with numbers but I've had a quick look in The London Encyclopaedia, Weinreb & Hibbert, for information on Bethnal Green. "The urban invasion from the south-western corner began towards the end of the seventeenth century with the spread of the silk-weaving industry from Spitalfields. In 1743, when Bethnal Green became a separate parish from Stepney, "it was claimed that the 'hamlet contains above eighteen hundred houses, and is computed to have more than fifteen thousand inhabitants ...consisting chiefly of weavers, dyers and other dependents ... crowded into narrow streets and courts ... three or four families in a house. In 1777 John Wesley recorded in his Journal, 'I began visiting those of our Society who lived in Bethnal Green. Many of these I found in such poverty as few can conceive without seeing it.' By 1840 it was estimated that six times as many looms were employed in Bethnal Green as in the former weaving centres of Spitalfields and Mile End New Town. The decline of the industry at this time aggravated distress in the area, although other industries soon developed in its place. These were also based on the home and small workshop, and included furniture, clothes and boot and shoe manufacture." So there is nothing specific to 1801 but it givews a bit of an insight into the few decades before and after. I couldn't see any specific Phillimore publications on Bethnal Green - a pity because the several local histories I have purchased from them have been fascinating and provide excellent background to "ancestral life". Perhaps a library would be some help. Cheers, Liz in Melbourne > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:old-english- > [email protected]] On Behalf Of Norman Lee > Sent: Saturday, 7 October 2006 6:28 PM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [OEL] mariners > > Dear Listers > > Does anyone have, at their finger-tips, the percentage of different > occupations of Londoners (including those living in what is now Greater > London) in the 18/19th and early years of the 20th centuries. My reason > for asking this is that I am looking at my father's family who, for the > most part, came from the East End. I have got to the point where I am > going to have to begin to look at my 4 x great grandfather who lived in > Bethnal Green in 1801. I think that it's most likely that he would have > been involved in shipping of some sort as were all the rest of that line, > bar one. The exception has a fascinating story to tell but, in order to > compare him to his father and his only son, I would like to have some idea > of how their neighbours might have earned their livings. > > Audrey >