Trades and handy labour: occupations in London s growing eastern suburb, 1590 to 1710 Gill Newton Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure
New industries in London s East End, 1500-1700 Gunmaking (first half of 16 th century) blacksmiths gunmakers Brewing (second half of 16 th century) brewers coopers draymen Silk manufacture (first half of 17 th century) throsters weavers Outfitting ships (second half of 17 th century) victuallers, butchers, bakers, brewers carpenters gunners
Aldgate and environs
Number of baptisms Population growth: London suburbs and City 600 Eastern suburb (Aldgate) 500 Northern suburb (Clerkenwell) City Centre (Cheapside) 400 300 200 100 0 1558 1568 1578 1588 1598 1608 1618 1628 1638 1648 1658 1668 1678 1688 1698 1708 Year
Persistence in the parish Baptising children in the parish 1560-1710 (n=27096) 5-10 years 10% >10 years 5% 2-5 years 14% 1-2 years 6% < 1 year 65% Among childbearing couples, relatively invariant over time
Aliens in the East end In the 16 th to 18 th centuries many Dutch and Flemish moved to London, impelled by religious persecution and conflict Their skills are strongly associated with the formation of silk manufacture and brewing industries 1 in 20 surnames in our Eastern dockside parish of Aldgate appear crudely Dutch (ie begin with van) From the registers of the Dutch church in London, we know that 1 in 7 Dutch persons have a surname beginning van Using that to inflate the numbers of persons with Dutch surnames, a minimum of 2.3 % of Aldgate s population were of Dutch origin But away from the river Thames in the Northern suburb of Clerkenwell only 0.3% people are of Dutch origin
Recording of father s occupations in Aldgate 1580-89 1590-99 1600-09 1610-19 1620-29 1630-39 1640-49 1650-59 1660-69 all baptisms 1669 1955 2410 2866 3074 4393 4368 3307 4419 with father occupation 340 1701 1254 1332 2919 3996 4085 591 561 % baptisms with father occupation 20 87 52 46 95 91 94 18 13 Almost no mothers are ascribed an occupation Women almost certainly were involved in some industries The burials register also records occupation, but primarily for fathers
Are all fathers equal? 1590-9 1620-49 baptised distinct fathers ratio baptised distinct fathers ratio brewing 51 39 0.8 420 208 0.50 silk industry 66 39 0.6 439 207 0.47 carpentry 35 22 0.6 290 129 0.44
St Katherine by the Tower: Age at first marriage 1690-1708 The effect of occupation on bachelors' age at marriage 25 20 craftsmen (n=130) sailors (n=334) % 15 10 5 0 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 Age in years
% baps with father occupation Male occupations by category and decade 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% unknown administration comfort transport and military construction, manufacture and selling on food, drink, housekeeping and hospitality raw materials 0% 1580 1590 1600 1610 1620 1630 1640 1650 1660 decade beginning
The proportion of males in PST sectors by decade 100 90 80 Secondary Tertiary Primary 70 60 % 50 40 30 20 10 0 1590-99 1600-09 1610-19 1620-29 1630-39 1640-49 1650 1660 decade
Residence of occupied grooms in St Katherine by the Tower, 1687 to 1712 % London Suburbs East 1034 51 London City 158 8 London South of the Thames 163 8 Kent 124 6 London Suburbs West 99 5 London Suburbs North 58 3 London Westminster 49 2 Essex 46 2 Surrey 34 2 Middlesex 33 2 Other English counties 81 4 Unknown 163 8 total 2035 8% (168) from Aldgate 4 times as many sailors as before 1650 Naval expansion or sailors overstated because of proximity to docks?
The proportion of males in PST sectors by decade continued to 1712, excluding sailors 100 90 80 Secondary Tertiary Primary 70 60 % 50 40 30 20 10 0 1590-99 1600-09 1610-19 1620-29 1630-39 1640-49 1650-59 1660-69 1687-1712 decade
Major occupational groups: importance and change over time 10 9 8 1590-99 1640-49 7 6 % 5 4 3 2 1 0 mariner/seaman carman/drayman porter labourer beer brewer butcher cooper carpenter/joiner gunmaker blacksmith shoemaker tailor silk thread maker weaver
Major occupational groups: growth rates by period 100 80 1590-9 and 1620-9 1620-9 and 1630-9 1630-9 and 1640-9 % 60 40 20 0-20 -40-60 weaver carpenter/joiner mariner/seaman blacksmith gunmaker butcher silk thread maker beer brewer labourer porter tailor shoemaker carman/drayman cooper
A contemporary (1618) view of occupational change the best Inhabitants & most antients being dead & decaied & manie verie pore come in there places, most of them having neither trades nor meanes to live on, but by their handy labour, as porters carrmen waterbearers, chymney sweepers, servants in silk mylls bruers servants lyving for ye most part in allies having wyves, & most of them many children, the rest carpenters bricklaiers, plaisterers coopers, smiths butchers, Chandlers keep[er]s of sylk mylls, Priests schoolmrs, victulers brokers & Diuers officers to ye Kinges Matie, & ye Cittie wch either cannot or els challendg & will not paie such duities as are imposed vpon them towards ye maintenance of ye pore Source: Francis Parke s Parish Clerk s memoranda book for St Botolph without Aldgate (BOD MS RAWL D796B lib: B fol. 12.a.), citing earlier clerk Wm Carpenter