me.] I 43? 3 



PROCEEDINGS OF PUBLIC SOCIETIES, 



SBPoRTANT evidence given before a 



COMMITTEE of the HOUSE <jf COMMONS 

 &II EDUCATION. 



Edunrd Wnkefield, esq. 



DID joii survey, witli Mr. Biggs, 

 part of the "Covcnt-gardcn dis- 

 frict nieiitioiied in yesterday's evidence? 

 — I went tlirmitfh two sections. 



Have you that report here? — 1 have.* 



I liegan at tiie comer of New Betton- 

 strept, in Sliort's-f;avdeiis, nearly the whole 

 of which we fomid occupied by poor room- 

 keepers, generally with families, livina; in 

 •pparent wretcliedness, nnhealtliy, tilthy 

 in their persons, their rooms, and tlicir bed- 

 ding; the staii-eases of the lioiises, of 

 course common to the numerous families 

 which occupied them, and being common 

 to all, appeared to be cleaned by none; 

 the rooms in want of ventilation and wliitc- 

 washini;,t two objects which would con- 

 duce more to the comfoit of tlie occupier* 

 of these mansions of misery than any other 

 which I can point out, objects attainable 

 by those who let out the houses in rooms. 

 It frequently happened, that more than 

 one liouse, sometimes as many as four, had 

 been hired of their owner by an imlividiial, 

 u-lio let the house oat in rooms, in some 

 eases with furniture, but iu all with the 

 I'ent paid weekly. 



The men wore generally absent, being 

 labourers, and many of the women, (paiti- 

 cularly widows) occupied in making sol- 

 diers' clothii)2, for which they stated being 

 paid five-pence for a pair of frowsers, they 

 findin<» the thread. The very ffre;tl majo- 

 rity of the children were ignoriuit, and 

 witiiout the means uf education; but it 

 Would be <loln;; the parents great injustice, 

 were I to omit stating, that they seemed 

 'Anxiously desirous that their ciiiUhen 

 tiionld receive this blessing. I cannot 

 I>ass by the tilthy state of the street, and 

 the alleys and yards in .Shori's-fjardens, 

 which is of a fair width, and requires no- 

 thing but the attendance of the scavenger, 

 to be as clean as any other part of the 

 town; on the lOth of Septeuibcr, at the 

 ends towards Drury-lane, tlieru was a 

 quantity of human ordure floating down 

 the kinnel, apj)arentiy the eniptyitigs of 

 niany privies, and causing a stench suffi- 

 cient to breed a pestilences 



In the cour.-.e of my visits I witncs3.?d 

 great mi'^^ery; wretchedness, which appear- 

 ed to me to lie very permanent, since, 



• Wc have printed only a' few extracTj 

 Irom this interesting paper. 



t These observations induce us to refer 

 to the paper signed Common Sense, in 

 June liill, on the means of cleaiibiiij; the 

 ■ictropoljs. 



Mo.NTULY M.\e. No. 301. 



though I met but with one person in a fi- 

 ver, but one child in the small-pox, but 

 one woman lying-in, one child blind, and 

 one deaf and dumb, yet the unhealthy ap» 

 pearance of the majority of the cliiidrcn 

 was too apparent. It would seem that 

 they came into the world to exi.st during a 

 few years in a state of torture, since by n» 

 other name can I call sickness, and dirt, 

 and ignorance. 



In this section I have fount), 

 Si;4 Houses. 

 47-i Families. 

 150 Educated Children. 

 679 Uneducated Children. 

 4 Schools, containing 110 Children, 

 d Mamifactories. 

 9 I'ublic houses. 

 Would it be desirable to unite all 

 sects of religion in supjjorting day- 

 schools, leaving such to adopt their own 

 methods of conveying leligiotLs instruc- 

 tion in Sunday-schools? — My opinion de^ 

 ridedly is in favour of mixing the chil- 

 dren of the different sects, and whosa 

 parents come from diKcrent countries, 

 and the bringing them up in terms of in- 

 timacy and afl'cction, miderlhc roof of a 

 common sclyiol-room. 



Suppose governmcut were to assist the 

 dillerent societies with money, do yoii 

 apprehend lliat the cS'cct would be to 

 slacken the subscription.' — I think tJiat 

 might depend upon how the money was 

 applied; it strikes me, that all that could 

 be expected from government, would be 

 the providing the school-rooms, and that 

 afterwards the schools might be main- 

 tained by being clieap pay .sclibols. 



Thou you (io not apprehend that if 

 government were merely to assist iu tli« 

 iirst outlay of the money, and then 

 wholly to vvitlidraw tlieir supplies, that 

 jiart of the y^^arly funds which arise* 

 tiom subscription would be materially 

 affected? — I think lltat, if government 

 were to provide the school-rooms, it 

 wouhl be so gniat an cnoouragemont to 

 the system, that subscriptions wo'ild in- 

 crease, and not diminish by any means; 

 and I he genera! zeal for superinlendence 

 Would alsogrcatly increase, which 1 con- 

 sider very iinj)orlant. 



James Palmer, fs(/. Treasurer of C/in'st's 



HdSjriial; and Richard Coi-p, esq. 



chief clerk to the hospital. 



When was tlic hospital foundcil? — In 

 l.-yi^, another j)art in 1G73. 



It is incorporated by two royal char- 

 ters, is it not? — Yes, one from jKing i^d- 



