Booth’s Poor Maps- Jack Merrywell

     I think Charles Booth was a remarkable scientist.  He took scientific research and applied it to the social sciences in a way that was very rare at the time.  Indeed, modern sociology was still a fledgling branch of science when Booth undertook his study of London’s poverty.  It is certainly unfair to think of Booth as anything but an intellectual and humanitarian pioneer.  His application of modern quantitative and qualitative research techniques (as opposed to the “best guess” methods of many of his peers) played an important role in shedding light on the truly mortifying situation that had beset what had once been the greatest city in the world.

The Poor Maps

I think it’s very fascinating to look at the patterns that appear on Booth’s Poor Maps. The majority of the destitue were clumped in one area, to the northeast of the river, and at the south end was where the most well-to-do people lived. Booth was very dedicated in his mission to show how the layout of the city in regards to the poor/rich was at the time, and it opened a lot of people’s eyes.

Charles Booth’s Poor Maps

I think that it was amazing that Booth was able to map the city of London by income, occupation, education, and other resources. He heard that the poverty rate was 25%, thought that it was lower, and went to seek answers for himself instead of just believing someone else. In that work, he determined that the poverty rate was actually much higher than previously thought. Just because Booth wouldnt believe anything he heard he embarked on a 12 year journey gathering data and trying to make a difference in East End London. He wanted to solve the problem where it began and not what it became. In looking at the maps, I am simply amazed that a man in 1888 was able to dedicate that much work and detail into mapping London. Simply astonishing!

Booth’s Poor Maps

It is pretty amazing to think that Charles Booth was one of the leading men to help get London out of poverty and change the way the people live forever. He seems to have been a very hard working and dedicated man to work non-stop and still want to help the poor who live just a few blocks away from him. The maps are also very interesting to look at and see the changes from then and now.

Booth’s Poor Maps

Charles Booth appears to have been very driven in his lifetime. It must have required an insane amount of work to personally oversee the collection of data for every street in London in addition to being a highly successful business man and maintaining successful personal relationships. It seems like it would take much longer than it should have to achieve a complete mapping like Booth did. One of the more interesting things I found in these readings was that Booth was originally interested in beginning this process because he felt that the estimate of people living under the poverty line was too high and ended up proving that it was even higher. Also that as time passed his data showed that the poverty rate was actually higher than his first thought. Another thing I found interesting was looking at the maps themselves and it being so easy to see how divided the city really was.

-Katelin Montag

my first thought

the first thought that jumps into my mind when i think of victorian england are the top hats and fancy dresses, i know about the poor people and about many of them starving to death, i didnt not know about them fighting over table scraps of the upper classes

Charles Booth and “London’s Labour and Poor”

I found Booth’s process to be very interesting. The way he researched was so very different than London’s “undercover” look at the poor of London. Booth looks at the entire picture of London. He finds the highs and lows and in between. In many ways his writings and maps are much more “accurate” than London’s, but he lacks the human interest and specific details that London seems to really embrace. They also looked for very different information in their research. London just sought to document misery and suffering, while Booth was looking for the root of the problems. Both are equally passionate, London just goes about it like an author and Booth looks at it like the business man that he was. Of course, Booth was also working with a very different end in mind. The goal of his writings and maps was to create a sort of database of information that the British government could use to improve the lives of it’s citizens. These maps would totally change how we take censuses and what we do with the information we gather within them.

When thinking of the massive scale that Booth worked with to compile all this information, it is fairly astounding. Just the leg work involved in getting the research was a titanic venture, and the fact that he managed to legible assemble into something accessible. It is an astonishing piece of work.

Jack the Ripper: What I Know

I have more or less known the basics about the Ripper murders since I was in elementary school. My friend and I read a lot, and we were interested in the supernatural and other things. We knew about Jack the Ripper, but we didn’t know specific things about the case. Which was good, considering we were only ten. Over the years I learned more and saw some of the photos of the victims. I also knew that he was the first “serial killer” who left letters, and that the Ripper is considered the “father” of the modern crime age. Also, people like to make movies/TV shows about him. I’ve always wondered why humans are so fascinated with murder and horror.

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Victorian Era
I never gave much thought to the Victorian Era except for what i read and saw in movies, with the little girls wearing big fluffy dresses and twirling umbrellas walking through the park. Then when i saw Sweeney Todd my entire view changed. All the sudden and the pleasant pictures went out the window and all i could think about was the beggar woman begging for money. It never connected in my immature mind that there were both but they were very unconnected

Jack
I always had heard about jack the ripper i always pictured him as more of a Mr. Hyde, Phantom, Sweeney Todd combination. I never really knew what he did, i just knew that he wasnt a good person. To me he was more of a story book figure, not a real person

People of the Abyss
I dont even really know where to begin on this. I think that the book was very well written and EXTREMELY detailed. What made me a little miffed was that london wasnt helping but that the people didnt seem to be helping themselves either. I commend him for going in there and actually living somewhat like the people there but i also think he was a little nuts

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What do I know about the Victorian Era?

Not much actually. It was during the reign of Queen Victoria. I think of Upper class women with the big fancy dresses and corsets on. I think of the fancy architecture that a lot of up scale houses were built around. I think of industry improvements, since this was the height of the British Industrial Revolution.

What do I know about the Jack the Ripper murders?

I know that he was the first known serial killer. I know that there were five victims, who were all women prostitutes. I know that his true identity has never been uncovered and that hundreds of suspects have been named. I know that he slit all his victims throats and took out some of his victims body parts. I think of a man in a long black coat with a big hat on, carrying a medical bag.

People of the Abyss

I was horrified after reading Jack London’s People of the Abyss . It was so disturbing how people could actually live that way. A poverty so hopeless that slow starvation was almost one’s assured demise. I just could not understand how people could live that way, almost 500,000 people, could live that way, and there not be a lot of things done to help those peoples situations.  There was nothing any of the people could do to escape their situations because of the tiny wages. I just felt so hopeless reading the book and astounded at what these people went through… No wonder the death rate was so high back then.