Smart’s land tax evidence shows clearly enough the disparities across the City.
He revealed that the proportion of houses in each ward assessed at an annual
Policing the Night Streets 195Table4.2.Numbers of watchmen, City of London, 1737Ward 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Aldersgate Within
and Without 25 0 1,035 41.4 74.9 21 17 =
Aldgate 31 24.0 1,089 35.1 68.9 20 21
Bassishaw 6 0 142 23.7 89.4 12 11
Billingsgate 20 4.8 398 19.9 97.0 6 4
Bishopsgate Within
and Without 49 58.1 2,038 41.6 44.3 22 24
Bread Street 12 (–20.0) 331 27.6 91.5 16 9
Bridge 22 10.0 385 17.5 96.0 4 6
Broad Street 38 58.3 785 20.7 88.7 7 12
Candlewick 16 33.3 286 17.9 94.3 5 7
Castle Baynard 24 0 784 32.7 70.8 19 20
Cheap 26 30.0 367 14.1 98.6 2 2
Coleman Street 24 33.3 611 25.5 74.9 14 17 =
Cordwainer 16 14.3 367 22.8 91.8 9 8
Cornhill 18 80.0a 180 10.0 96.9 1 5
Cripplegate Within 26 8.3 748 28.8 81.0 18 14
Cripplegate Without 28 0 1,946 69.5 31.2 26 26
Dowgate 16 14.3 369 23.1 77.3 11 15
Farringdon Within 49 36.1 1,368 27.9 75.8 17 16
Farringdon Without 89 45.9 4,278 48.1 64.4 23 22
Langbourn 23 0 530 23.0 97.2 10 3
Lime Street 10 25.0 209 20.9 89.6 8 10
Portsoken 28 5.6 1,385 49.5 35.4 25 25
Queenhithe 10 0 488 48.8 61.1 24 23
Tower 32 14.3 782 24.4 83.3 13 13
Vintry 16 14.3 418 26.1 71.5 15 19
Walbrook 18 28.6 293 16.3 99.7 3 1
Total 672 22.0 21,625 32.2 67.4
(ave.) (ave.)
Columns:
1 = Numbers of watchmen by 1737 act. Source: CLRO, Misc. MSS 141.9
2 = % increase from 1705 act
3 = Number of houses (Source: John Smart, A Short Account of the Several Wards, Precincts, Parishes, etc. in
London( 1741 ) [see note 89 ]
4 = Number of houses per watchman
5 = % houses rated above £ 10 per annum (Source: CLRO, Misc. MSS291.1)
6 = Rank order of 4 (ascending)
7 = Rank order of 5 (descending)
Note:
aCornhill had sixteen watchmen on the establishment, six of whom had been paid by the
Exchange. Those were almost certainly now paid for by the ward: hence this apparent large increase.
The effective number was two, an increase of 12.5%.