McGill's Model Census 1861

G.H. McGill's Model Census 1861

The Revd George Henry McGill produced the following statistics on 6 February 1861, for the parish area of Christ Church Watney Street (covering 43 acres). It can be compared with the Statistical Society's survey a generation earlier, in 1848, of the adjoining area to the west (broadly overlapping with what became the parish of St John the Evangelist-in-the-East).

Number of:		Places of worship		Day Schools		Sunday Schools		Benevolent Societies
streets & courts	52	Christ Church, C of E	2,000	Christ Church, Boys	350	Christ Church, Boys	200	Penny Bank - depositors	3,000
houses	1,888	School Chapel	200	Christ Church, Girls	200	Christ Church, Girls	275	Dorcas Society	70
poor families	c4,575	Beulah Chapel [General Baptist]	600	Christ Church, Infants	400	Christ Church, Bible Class	25	Blanket & Rug Society	100
respectable families	c512	Ragged Schools Church, C of E	120	Middlesex, Boys	120	Beulah Chapel [Gen Baptist]	150	Christ Church Institute	120
persons	c13,300	Trinity, Methodist [1]	500	Middlesex, Girls	115	Trinity Methodist [1]	100	District Visitors	21
poor among them	c11,000	Primitive Methodists [2]	120	Adult School (Evening at Christ Church)	60	Watney-street [2]	30	Provident Society & Sick Club	100
		Watney Street, ditto [2]	50	School of Art [3]	50	Ranters	100	Mothers' Meeting	100
		Workhouse, C of E	500	Methodist Day School, Back-road [Cable Street]	c150			East London Savings Bank, with a very large number of depositors. Deposits now invested, about	£90,000

[1] does this refer to the former Trinity Episcopal Chapel in Cannon Street Road which had become a Methodist chapel (though not with this name), or to somewhere else?
[2] As explained here, the Primitive Methodist chapel in Sutton Street, but the Watney Street chapel (Bethesda) was New Connexion, not Primitive, Methodist.
[3] Where and what was this?

The following table gives much detailed information - how was it gathered? Many of the streets are shown on the 1868 map [right] and are linked to the relevant pages elsewhere on this site (not necessarily covering the same period).

	Number of Houses	Average Number of Families in Each House	Number of Rooms in Each House	Number of Poor Families in each Street	Height		Length		Width		Average Rental of Each Room per Week		Remarks
					ft.	in.	ft.	in.	ft.	in.	s.	d.
Albion-place	6	1	2	16	7	6	10	0	9	4	1	6	Costermongers, labourers, slop-workers, &c
Ann-street	44	4	4	176	7	3	9	4	8	7	1	9	Labourers and sailors
Anthony-street	48	3	4	144	6	11	9	10	8	9	1	10	Little tradesmen and lodging-houses
Buross-street	47	3	4 to 6	141	7	2	10	0	9	7	2	0	Employed on the docks and on the river
Browning's-court [Cannon Street Road]	4	4	4	16	6	5	8	7	8	4	1	6	Very poor
Cannon-st.-road (east side)	60	2	6 to 8		8	6	10	9	10	9			The principal street
Catherine-street & court [later Anthony Street / court in Jane Street]	68	3	4 to 6	150	9	0	7	6	8	6	2	0	Tradesmen and dock servants
Chapel-street [later Tait Street]	65	3	4	195	7	6	10	9	10	0	1	10	Small shops and labourers
Charles-street [later Watney Street]	44	4	4 to 6	176	7	8	10	0	9	5	1	10	Tradesmen, &c.
Church-road (west side) to Spencer-street [from Cable Street]	62	2	4	124	8	0	9	7	8	10	1	10	Small shops, sailors, and dock labourers
Chapman-place	11	2	4	22	7	3	9	3	8	4	1	10	Lodging-houses and sailors
Chapman-street, Lower	89	3	4 to 6	267	7	4	9	10	8	0	1	9	Dock servants and small shops
Chapman-street, Upper	46	3	4	150	7	6	10	0	9	5	1	9	Labourers and lodging-houses
Coburgh-court [near Charles Street]	4	3	4	12	6	6	7	9	8	0			Very low
Commercial-road (south side) from Cannon-street East to Sutton Street	93	2	8		8	1	11	3	12	2			Respectable tradesmen, &c.
Cornwall-street, Upper	61	3	4 to 6	183	8	6	10	0	9	0	1	9	Very poor
Cross-street (part)	29	2	4	58	6	1	9	9	8	5	1	9	Small shops
Dean-street [later Deancross Street]	24	2	6	48	7	5	8	6	7	7	3	6	Clerks and persons employed in city
Devonshire-street	60	4	4	240	8	0	8	4	8	2	1	9	In this street and Star-street there are living in 123 houses about 1,500 persons, including 300 children, many without shoes or stockings
Duke-street	38	4	4	140	7	3	9	0	8	7	1	9	Very low and poor
Fenton-street	29	3	5 to 6	87	8	2	10	0	9	6	2	0	Sailors and dock labourers
Fenton-street, Lower	13	2	4	26	7	6	9	7	7	10	1	10	Ditto ditto
Friendly-place	5	1	2	10	7	2	8	11	8	8	1	3	Low
Hungerford-street and court	41	4	4	164	7	2	9	1	8	9	1	9	Very poor
John-street, Lower [later Blakesley St]	33	2	6		7	8	8	7	7	9	3	6	Clerks and middle class
John-street, Upper [later Blakesley St]	25	2	6	7	6	8	7	7	0	3	6
Jones-row [Mary Street]	6	2	2	12	8	0	9	10	9	5	1	8	Very poor and miserable
Joseph-st., Cannon-st.-road	38	2	4	76	7	3	9	9	8	6	1	9	The worst street in the district morally
Kinder-street	46	2	4	92	7	0	10	0	9	3	1	9	Very low and immoral
Little Ann-street	8	4	4	32	7	6	9	11	8	7	1	9	Labourers, sailors, and families
Little Turner-street	29	4	4 to 6	116	7	8	9	2	8	3	1	9	Labourers
Mary-street and place	30	4	4	120	7	3	8	4	8	2	1	10	Sailors and warehousemen
New-road (north side)	79	3	4 to 6	79	8	1	10	8	9	5	2	3	Tradesmen and sailors
Richard-street	71	3	4 to 6	142	8	6	10	0	9	10	2	6	Warehousemen, &c.
St. George's-place [part of Cable Street]	20	2	8		8	10	8	7	7	4	3	0	Lodging-houses
Salter-street	10	3	4	30	7	10	10	0	8	11	1	9	Very low and poor
Smith's-place [later Agra Place]	10	3	4	30	6	8	9	8	8	10	1	6	Very poor
Short-street [location not identified]	3	2	4	6	8	0	10	0	9	10	1	10	Labourers in gas-works
Spencer-street (north side)	81	3	4	243	7	2	8	11	8	4	1	10	Sailors, labourers, and sugar refiners
Star-street	63	4	4	252	8	5	9	6	9	6	1	9	Very low and miserable
Sutton-street	29	2	4 to 6	58	7	9	8	9	7	11	4	0	A few respectable inhabitants and lodgers
Tarling-street	89	3	4	267	7	10	9	5	9	5	1	10	Labourers, sailors, and their families
Union-street and passage [aka Little Union Street - off Lower Chapman Street]	24	3	4	72	8	0	10	2	9	3	1	8	Hawkers, fishmongers, &c.
Upper John-street [later Blakesley St]	21	3	6	63	8	6	9	10	9	4	1	10	Clerks and respectable inhabitants
Virginia-court [location not identified]	3	3	4	12	6	7	9	4	8	5	1	6	Very poor
Walburgh-street	42	3	4 to 6	126	8	1	9	9	9	5	2	0	Persons engaged in slop work
Watney-street	45	2	6		8	6	14	0	10	0			Respectable inhabitants
White's-gardens [formerly Star Place]	6	2	4	12	8	2	9	6	9	6	1	9	Low and poor
York-place [Lower Chapman Street]	6	3	4		7	4	9	11	8	6	1	9	Poor but decent labourers
Totals	1818			4392

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