Great Britain Historical Geographical Information System (GBHGIS)

1. domestic service in london

London has always had huge variations in wealth; the map below shows Registration District level employment data from the 1861 census. It shows the percentage of women of working age working as domestic service, the gulf between east and west London is clear: The west has very high rates with most areas having over a quarter of women of working age working as servants,while the east has the lowest rates with north and south London lying in between. The 1861 census data used on this map were supplied by David Gatley of the University of Staffordshire.

The next map shows something slightly different. It is taken from the 1911 census but is based on London's local government districts, Metropolitan Boroughs. The data it shows are different as well, here we are mapping the numbers of domestic servants as a proportion of the number of household in an area. The pattern to the east is very similar with almost the same areas being in the lowest class.

The west however is different with only the area to the north of the Thames being in the highest class and Battersea in particular having surprisingly low values when compared to the 1861 map. There are four possible reasons for this; it could be a result of the different variables measured, it could be a result of the different reporting areas used as these are noticeably different in the west, it could be a result of class intervals although both maps use the same system, or it could be due to real change over time.