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Lost in London. Breaking down brick walls in London research. Why is London such a problem?. "Hell is a city much like London - A populous and smoky city." Shelley Size Scale Range of repositories Range of sources Difficult research period. Why are Londoners such a problem?.
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Lost in London Breaking down brick walls in London research
Why is London such a problem? "Hell is a city much like London - A populous and smoky city." Shelley • Size • Scale • Range of repositories • Range of sources • Difficult research period
Why are Londoners such a problem? "There are two places in the world where men can most effectively disappear—the city of London and the South Seas." Herman Melville • Extreme poverty • Extreme mobility • Fragmented families • Social breakdown • Official anonymity
General strategies • Keep an open mind • Use all available sources • Research related lines • Use the Internet • Share your research
London strategies • Learn the geography • Understand the society • Remember the history
Learn the geography "Mr Weller's knowledge of London was extensive and peculiar". Dickens • Administrative structure • Administrative changes • 19th century growth • Street name changes • Maps • Migration routes
Understand the society "London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are irresistibly drained." Conan Doyle • Read Ackroyd, Dickens, Engels, Mayhew • Booth poverty maps and notebooks
Remember the history "If men could learn from history, what lessons it might teach us!" Coleridge • Missing from the 1901 census? • Came to London in the 1840s?
Helpful Websites • Access to Archives • Black Sheep Index • Docklands Ancestors • Google • London Gazette • Proceedings of the Old Bailey • Times Digital Archive
17a Fetter Lane, London • Home of John Dryden in the 17th century • Between 1871 and 1887, home of Julius & Mary Ann Fritz and their 14 children • Often sketched by Victorian artists • Several pictures found on the Internet through a Google search