Descriptive Map of London Poverty Kings Roads - Walham Green - Battersea circa 1889

Charles Booth's Descriptive map of London Poverty first published circa 1889
The streets are coloured according to the general condition of the inhabitants (as the key).
Black - Lower class. Vicious, semi criminal
Dark Blue - Very poor, casual. Chronic want.
Light Blue - Poor. 18s - 21s. a week for a moderate family.
Purple -Mixed. Some comfortable, others poor.
Pink - Fairly comfortable. Good ordinary earnings.
Red - Well-to-do. Middle class.
Yellow - Upper-middle and upper classes. Wealthy.

Life expectancy in Victorian London was low. Middle-classes could expect to reach their 40’s, but for labourers and lower classes it was still only in the mid 20’s. The insanitary conditions and overcrowding meant that disease was rife. The first Cholera epidemic in London killed 7,000 in 1832. In 1871 50,000 people died from small pox in Britain and Ireland. Infant mortality rate was high - reaching a peak of 163 per 1,000 live births in 1899. It was not a legal requirement to register a birth until 1874, and women were often continually pregnant until menopause because each child would be lucky to survive past their fifth birthday. Chloroform was discovered to have anaesthetic properties and was used during labour. A total disregard for personal hygiene and the squalor of 19th century London meant that waterborne diseases were rife. Diarrhoea killed thousands of children every year. The Burial Acts of 1852 & 1853 addressed the problem of the overcrowding of bodies in urban churchyards by introducing more public cemeteries, and the first cremation in the UK was in 1885.

When this map was published:

Section detail of Imperial Gas Works Workers (predominately men) endured horrendous conditions within the gas works of Victorian London. 10–14-hour days, surrounded by huge furnaces fifty feet tall, the heat, and the poisonous atmosphere meant that many workers would inevitably be killed after only a few years. The filth and the stench created by the production of coal gas caused "depression of the spirits, frightful nightmares, dreams, nausea, and sickness". It was not just the workers who suffered; the air surrounding the gas works was affected and caused chest diseases and death in the general population.