Outer London Inquiry

Papers of the Outer London Inquiry, 1890-1909, comprising material relating to life and labour in West Ham, notably correspondence and administrative papers, including correspondence and papers of the Inquiry Committee, the scheme of the Inquiry and related material regarding methodology, and records of visits to employers and factories; and financial material, 1905-1909, notably account books, papers concerning the financial appeal, and subscription lists. The material was published as West Ham: A Study in Social and Industrial Problems (J.M. Dent and Co, London, 1907), by Edward Goldie Howarth and Mona Wilson.

A report dealing with life and labour in West Ham, with particular emphasis on the problems of unemployment and casual labour. The 'Inquiry' was initially planned to extend to other areas of the East End once the West Ham survey was complete. However, funding was only just sufficient to produce the survey of West Ham. The findings were published as a book: West Ham: A Study in Social and Industrial Problems (J.M. Dent and Co, London, 1907), by Howarth and Wilson. Unlike Booth's investigation, there is no actual household survey. The inquiry relied upon rent books, obtained from house agents, and contains no actual survey data, being a collection of indirectly related material, including examples of analysis drawn from other surveys.

The collection is divided into two sections: correspondence and administrative papers, and financial material.

Open

Printed handlist and on-line catalogue available.

Sources: British Library of Political and Economic Science Archives catalogue. Compiled by Sarah Aitchison as part of the RSLP AIM25 project.

Copyright unknown

Unknown

The British Library of Political and Economic Science also holds the papers of Charles Booth's Survey of London (Ref: Booth).

Howarth and Wilson, West Ham: A Study in Social and Industrial Problems (J.M. Dent and Co, London, 1907).