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It was further contended in respect of several estates in the parish, the original
ground leases of which are now falling in, that in granting new leases the
houses are either thoroughly repaired or rebuilt.
The parish of Bethnal Green is situated in the east of London, and to the north
of the Thames, from which it is distant about a mile.
The soil, as shown by borings for wells, and by cuttings along the lines of sewers,
is a superficial deposit of made ground, brick earth, and gravel or sand, overlying
the London clay, and varying in depth from 6 to 25 feet or more.
The total area of the parish is 755 acres, of which about 17 are covered with
water, mostly situated in a part of Victoria Park, which occupies the north-east of
the district. The Parish of Bethnal Green is conterminous with the registration
district.
As usual with London suburbs, Bethnal Green was formerly the place of residence
of large numbers of the working classes, of whose occupation in the year 1842
information is given by the Registrar General. During that year the local registrars,
reporting on the localities in which deaths had been most prevalent, stated
that in certain parts of the Church sub-registration district of Bethnal Green, the
inhabitants were principally weavers; in the town sub-registration district
"labourers, mechanics, but principally weavers;" and in the Hackney Road subregistration
district, the greatest of number of deaths occurred in the areas occupied
by a population of which one-third were" weavers," the rest shoemakers, hawkers,
manufacturers of toys, medical boxes, turners, cabinet makers, &c.
The large number of hand-loom weavers thus inhabiting Bethnal Green, gave to
many of the houses a character which has lasted to the present time, for houses in
which they dwelt, and in which their work was carried on, were constructed to suit
their wants. But in 1842, there was already much depression in the trade of handloom
weavers. This industry has since fallen off so much, that at the last census of
1881, fewer than 300 " weavers " were found in the whole metropolis.
Overcrowding was, in 1842, constant in these localities, where deaths were numerous,
the same registrars reporting that in many cases six persons occupied a room
10 feet square and 8 feet high; that sometimes there were as many as 14 persons in
a room, but frequently from six to nine; and that a family usually occupied
a single room. At that time, too, the sanitary circumstances of these areas were
deplorable. They were dirty and either wanting in drainage, or with imperfect
drainage, and the houses were described as damp and unhealthy. Among the
streets which are mentioned as those in which deaths especially occurred, are many
to which reference will be hereafter made, as requiring at the present time special
attention of the Sanitary Authority.
The cessation of the weaving industry appears to have had its influence upon
house building in Bethnal Green, for in 1851 the inhabited houses had only increased,
since 1841, 2.9 per cent., while in London as a whole they had increased 16.4 per cent.
In the three decades, subsequent to that mentioned, houses in Bethnal Green increased
in the following proportions, 10.48, 18.62, and 4.4 per cent., the London
rates of increase being, during the same periods, 17.48, 16.23, 16.16 per cent.
The diminution in the rate of increase of house building in Bethnal Green, is
doubtless due to the fact that the area was already largely covered, but other causes
which led to house demolition must also have had their effect, thus, wo learn that
in 1867-68 Columbia Market and Square were constructed, that in 1876 the extension
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