The Moral Mapping of Victorian and Edwardian London: Charles Booth, Christian Charity, and the Poor-but-Respectable, by Thomas R.C. Gibson-Brydon

Abstract

Charles Booth’s Life and Labour of the London Poor is a much turned-to source for historians of Victorian poverty and the working classes of modern London. In this book, Thomas R.C. Gibson-Brydon turns to Booth’s lesser-studied ‘Religious Influences’ series within the survey to better understand what he calls Booth’s moral-religious sensibility in his approach to London poverty. Gibson-Brydon asserts that the consistent thread in Booth’s work was dependent on two elements: ‘commitment to the moral division of working people and an overriding concern for improperly selective charity’. Beginning with Booth’s character, the importance of religion in Booth’s personal life and world-view is examined: his belief in the self-improvement afforded by appropriately practised religion and his uncompromising stance on charity. This provides the backdrop to the urgent question at the heart of the book: ‘who hierarchized poor London?’, with the corresponding call to decide who did, or did not, deserve charity. The answer, persuasively detailed in this engaging and illuminating text, outlines the nuance of the relationships between Booth and his surveyors and those whom they surveyed. Not only did charities and philanthropists use Booth’s maps as a scientific tool to decide to whom they gave assistance, but charitable workers and members of the working classes influenced and confirmed the poverty maps’ designations.