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the said rooms to be re-measured, and the number of lodgers to be so
reduced as to allow, as nearly as possible, 300 cubic feet of space to
each lodger.
We failed to learn (although we made inquiries at every lodginghouse)
that any respectable mechanic, with his wife and family,
ever applied at these houses for lodging accommodation.
The class of persons occupying these houses are chiefly dock
and wharf labourers, street hawkers, and prostitutes.
Very few children were found in these houses, and, so far as we
could learn, a birth was of rare occurrence in them; but when
women were near their confinement, they went into the workhouse to
be confined, and afterwards they returned to their lodgings.
In conclusion, we think it right to state that the houses are in a
much better condition now than they were in 1876.
We are, Gentlemen,
Your obedient Servants,
ISAAC BATTRAM,
RICHARD SKIDMORE WRACK, Inspectors.
9th Sept., 1880.
Board of works,
Whitechapel District,
Inspectors Department.
To the Committee of Works.
Gentlemen,—In continuation of the report submitted to your
Committee on the 9th September instant, on the condition of the
Registered Common Lodging Houses in Spitalfields, signed by myself
and Mr. Wrack, I have to state that I have made an inspection of all
the private houses, or houses let in apartments, in the undermentioned
streets, namely—Flower and Dean Street, Upper Keate
Street, and Lower Keate Street. The houses, 38 in number, contain
143 rooms, and are occupied by 298 persons; 210 adults and 88
children. I discovered 4 cases of overcrowding only, 2 in Flower
and Dean Street, and 2 in Lower Keate Street.
The interior condition of these houses is not good, they are worn
out, and many of the walls and ceilings are dirty and dilapidated.
The greater portion of these houses have been condemned under the
Artizans and Labourers Dwellings Act, and three of their number, 5,
7, and 8, Lower Keate Street, should either be taken down, or at once
closed, as they are in such a dirty and dilapidated condition. The
houses in Keate Court and Wilson's Place, are in a similar state, and
should also be taken down at once.