AD 1750-1900 The Industrial Age

Population and towns grew in south-east England during this period, particularly seaports and dockyard towns like Chatham. Property owners from the burgeoning middle classes increased their influence over government when they gained the vote in the 19th century. Travel and trade were encouraged by a network of new turnpike (toll) roads in the 18th century, and the coming of the railways in the 19th.

In the 1760s the Westminster Paving Commissioners transformed large areas of London, laying sewers and water mains, cobbling or paving roads. From 1811, the Prince Regent (later George IV) employed the architect John Nash to create grand schemes including Regent’s Park, Regent’s Street, Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace. The Prince also made Brighton, already popular for sea-bathing, a centre of fashion. Spas at Epsom, Dulwich and Sydenham Wells catered for middle-class Londoners seeking fresh air and mineral waters.

Rural poverty increased during the Napoleonic wars in the 1790s, when the price of bread rocketed. The Speenhamland system, introduced by justices in the Berkshire village, provided ‘outdoor relief’ for poor families. It pauperised recipients and rate-payers hated it. In London, extreme poverty continued to coexist with great wealth. Systematic investigations like Charles Booth’s Life and Labour of the People in London(1889-1903), eventually led to social welfare legislation in the next century.