THE MARKET PLACE AND THE MARKET'S PLACE IN LONDON, c. 1660 -1840 CoHn Stephen Smith Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON 1999 2 Abstract THE MARKET PLACE AND THE MARKET'S PLACE IN LONDON, c. 1660 - 1840 This study explores the contemporary collective significance of over seventy London markets in the 'long' eighteenth century. Markets are loosely defined as those institutions which were publicly recognized as places of regular trade in basic commodities: meat and livestock, fish and corn, fruit and vegetables, hay and straw, cloth, coal and animal skins. Their characteristics and development were shaped by a range of factors: principally 'market forces', but also political concerns and the growth and modernization of the metropolis. This thesis represents the first attempt to consider the markets of London during this period collectively and eclectically. One of its principal elements, therefore, is the classification of markets according to various criteria (e.g. size, ownership, location) over time (Chapter Two). One key trend is the apparent rise and fall of food market retailing, which is explained by various economic and cultural factors (Chapter Three). The economics of wholesaling demonstrate that formal market mechanisms generally adapted to changing times and performed the task of distribution with reasonable efficiency (Chapters Four and Five). Political influences on the geography and development of the markets - the role of market rights and regulations - highlight the distinctive and complex political economy of the metropolis (Chapter Six). A final dimension of inquiry concerns the relationship between markets and the city environment, and the extent to which metropolitan growth and 'improvement' impinged on the traditionally focal and symbolic status of markets (Chapter Seven). In general, markets' collective identity was fragmenting: some prospered whilst others declined; wholesale-retail distinctions established themselves; the boundaries between formal marketing and other forms of exchange became increasingly blurred. Nevertheless, the market place was not made obsolete by the process of metropolitan modernization. The abiding impression of the study is one of London's commercial, topographical and political complexity and diversity. 3 Acknowledgements Thankfulness and praise are due to all kinds of people when one finally completes a thesis. The research for this study was made possible by a three-year award from the British Academy. The generosity of the History Department of University College London last year provided welcome financial support to my impending family and enabled me to complete within my fourth year. My daily bread of archival research over much of the last four years has been made more palatable by the helpful and efficient staff of the Corporation of London Records Office, London Metropolitan Archives, the Guildhall Library and Westminster City Archives. I would also like to put on record my thanks to the appropriate custodians for permission to reproduce various prints and pictures: to the Guildhall Library, Corporation of London (Figures 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11), the Guildhall Art Gallery, Corporation of London (Figure 13), the Governor and Company of the Bank of England (Figure 9), Borough Market Trustees (Figure 12) and Westminster City Archives (Figure 4). The custodians of Figure 3 are unknown. My warmest thanks also go to Tom Horwood for technical help with the map (Figure 1) and the visual reproductions. The steady hand, laconic wisdom and incisive intellect of Dr. Julian Hoppit have guided me unerringly throughout the last four years. What weight one can put on a few pencilled queries scribbled in the margins of drafts! His commonsense approach to historical methodology buoyed me up at times when I risked being taken along with the postmodern current. His repeated call to generalize where possible also made a deep impression on me. Failures to apply that wisdom in this study rest solely with me. My second supervisor, Mr. Negley Harte, has never failed to be a source of knowledge, encouragement and humour. His keen interest in local and architectural history in particular have sustained my enthusiasm with this subject. I am also indebted to those who have enabled me to present papers to seminars at the Institute of Historical Research and the 1998 Economic History Society Conference at Leeds. The probing questions and encouraging feedback on such occasions have been particularly valuable in shaping the structure and content of this thesis. I brim with affection for London, past and present, warts and all. That is why I have researched it and written about one aspect of its life. My historical imagination has been kept aflame by its pervading topographical eccentricities, and particularly by those few traces of eighteenth century market places which remain. In the same breath I must thank all those friends and relatives who have never failed to remind me that there is a world beyond the archive and the study. Last autumn I finally crossed that threshold. My new profession as economist in the Ministry of Agriculture has, I think, made its own contribution to this thesis. My greatest debt is to my dear wife Vikki, who demands so little and gives so much. Our little daughter Laura, by contrast, demands everything - I thank her for her forbearance for the times I have thrown her out of my study. Whilst I have trodden the solitary pursuit of historical inquiry, they have been living reminders of the unspeakably delightful obligations of a family life anchored in the One through whom all good things come. July 1999 4 CONTENTS 2 Abstract 3 Acknowledgements 6 List of tables 6 List of figures List of abbreviations 7 Notes on the text 8 I INTRODUCTION: HISTORIOGRAPHY AND METHOD 10 10 The place of the market place 14 Documents and difficulties Definitions 16 2 THEMES, TYPES AND DEVELOPMENTS 24 The dimensions of market trade 24 33 Produce sold Market types and sites 36 39 Authorization, ownership and management 44 Market users Interpreting the variables 47 3 THE RISE AND FALL OF MARKET RETAILING? 51 51 Market creation and the building of London Population growth and market numbering 52 54 Why markets were established 61 The parameters of consumer preference 61 Transaction costs 63 Income 65 Environment and hygiene 69 Competition 72 Retailers, developers and market decline 76 Markets and costermongers 78 The continuity of market retailing Conclusion 81 4 THE RISE OF MARKET WHOLESALING 85 The expansion of trade and of market wholesaling 85 91 Alternatives to the wholesale market 91 Fairs 93 Forestalling, contracting and warehousing 96 Inns 98 The economics of wholesale markets 98 Accommodating the wholesale trade 100 Flexibility 103 Convenience 105 Blurred boundaries Conclusion 108 5 THE GREAT MARKETS OF GEORGIAN LONDON 110 110 Smithfield and the meat trade 118 Billingsgate and the fish trade Mark Lane and the corn trade 124 The fruit and vegetable trade 131 Conclusion 138 6 THE ROLE OF THE AUTHORITIES 139 The political geography of London's markets 139 City opposition to new markets 140 The impact of Crown and Parliament 147 Guilds, docks and markets 152 Managing the markets 153 Regulating the markets 159 Reasons and motivations 161 The incidence of regulation 162 The impact of regulation 168 Conclusion 170 7 SPACE, PLACE AND STATUS: MARKETS IN THE TOWNSCAPE 171 Locating the markets 172 New improvements, new criticisms 179 The social role of the market place 186 Sights, scenes and symbols 192 The Garden of London 199 Conclusion 204 8 CONCLUSION 206 APPENDICES 210 Appendix I Chronology, 1650-1851 211 Appendix 2 Sources for the existence of individual markets 215 Markets in 1660 215 Markets in 1700 216 Markets in 1760 217 Markets in 1840 218 Retail markets in 1800 included in Table 17 219 Other markets not appearing in above lists 219 Appendix 3 Details of the formal markets of London, 1660 - 1840 220 London markets in 1660 221 London markets in 1700 222 London markets in 1760 223 London markets in 1840 224 The turnover of London markets, 1660-1840 225 Appendix 4 Parliamentary legislation concerning markets, 1657-1 851 226 Appendix 5 Street markets in London listed by Henry Mayhew, 1851 228 BIBLIOGRAPHY 229 A Primary Sources 229 B Secondary Sources 237 6 List of tables Table I The formal markets of London, 1 660-1840 20 Table 2 Other known marketing institutions, 1660-1840 22 Table 3 Numbers of markets, 1660-1840 24 Table 4 Markets publicly proposed in and around London not materializing, 1660-1840 25 Table 5 Official market days of selected London markets, 1660-1833 27 Table 6 Ground sizes of selected markets 29 Table 7 Relative ages of London 's markets, 1660-1840 30 Table 8 The turnover of London markets, 1660-1840 30 Table 9 Average revenues ( p. a.) of selected markets, 1680-1839 32 Table 10 Trends in market accommodation, 1660-1840 37 Table 11 A topographical typology of markets, 1660-1840 38 Table 12 Types of market authorization, 1660-1840 39 Table 13 Types of market ownership, 1660-1840 40 Table 14 The construction costs of selected markets, 1671-1855 42 Table 15 Acts of Parliament relating to London markets and marketing, 1661-1840 43 Table 16 Estimated population figures for London, 1600 - 1860 48 Table 17 The retailing markets of London, c. 1660 - c. 1840 52 Table 18 London 's retail markets compared with London's population, c. 1660-1840 52 Table 19 The building cycle in London, 1710-1848 55 Table 20 Food retailing markets created or proposed in London outside the City, 1657-1837 56 Table 21 Supplying the demandfor distribution offood to consumers 75 Table 22 Probable wholesaling markets in London, 1660-1840 86 Table 23 Sales of cattle and sheep in Smithfield market, 1732-1846 87 Table 24 Improvements to London's wholesale markets, 1748-1841 90 Table 25 Acreage of market gardens within ten miles of London, from D.