Plymouthhistory

Demand for housing grew and workers’ housing was built to alleviate overcrowding in the older
sections. But these houses could only be built in the spaces unoccupied by the estates of wealthy
families in the district. The land required was found below both Stonehouse Lane and King Street
in the west, the Cobourg Street area in the north, and on the hill above Regent Street in the east.
The suburban villas of the previous decade were therefore swallowed up as large numbers of
streets were built around them. The poor flocked to these new areas, only to find that conditions
were only marginally better thanin the old town. For instance the newly built Claremont Street, just
off the North Road, averaged only one privy to sixty-six people.
Plymouth during the early nineteenth century was also not a safe
place for visitors. Opportunistic thieves hid in the ancient slums during
the day, but at night they ventured outside the confines of the town to
rob those making their way along the approaches. One notorious
gang, known as the Robinson Gang, robbed inns all over the district
and even attempted to rob banks in both Plymouth and Devonport
prior to their capture in 1829. An account of the social conditions at
the time, describes the north-western part of Plymouth (what was
known as the New Town district, around King Street and York Street)
as a place overrun by ‘[b]ullies and thieves, vagrants and youthful
depredators, united in the use of signs, marks and slang language.’
But the crime was a consequence of the economic situation; the town
simply did not have the resources to keep its natives in employment,
let alone the migrants who were adding to the population.
One particular set of migrants who lived in difficult conditions were the Irish. They arrived in
Plymouth to work on the railway lines and docks during the 1840s. The 1851 census indicates
that they were congregated, and effectively segregated, away from the English. The majority were
crammed into the “Irish ghetto” north of Stonehouse Lane, around Quarry Lane and Quarry
Court. These slums were the scene of many violent incidents. But social and sanitary conditions
did improve. Under the 1848 Public Health Act, which Plymouth finally adopted in 1854, streets
were widened, some older slums were demolished, and sewerage and proper paving were laid in
streets that previously contained neither. Despite the quality of life becoming slightly more
tolerable, certain crimes, particularly those associated with drinking and prostitution, were still rife
in the town. This is due to three primary reasons. Firstly, new housing was not adequately built to
accommodate those evicted by slum clearances, therefore overcrowding just moved locality.
Secondly the surge of migrants from the countryside and Ireland in the 1840s and 50s reduced
employment opportunities for both local men and women. Finally, military wives and widows were
not looked after by their husbands’ employers (or in some cases their husbands) financially, so
crime and prostitution were their only realistic choices to avoid the workhouse.