Mapping Poverty in Agar Town: Economic Conditions Prior to the Development of St. Pancras Station In 1866

In 1866, the Midland Railway Company demolished Agar Town,an area Victorian writers called the foulest slum in London, tomake way for the development of St Pancras railway station.Most Londoners lauded the action. But what kind of tenantsactually inhabited the area before it was destroyed, and werethey really as foul a populace as recorded? While it is impossibleto recreate the exact conditions under which the people of AgarTown lived, it can be shown that the households were morecomplex than earlier accounts suggest. This paper employscensus data and contemporary interviews to reconstruct theearnings and overall income available to households within thedisplaced area. This information is used to produce a visualrepresentation of economic conditions within the lost streets ofAgar Town, based upon Charles Booth’s 1889 Descriptive Map ofLondon Poverty.[...]