The cause and effect of poverty and crime is much debated even today, and treating vagrancy and begging as criminal acts only increases the problem. Many Londoners faced this vicious cycle and from our census research we have a brief biography of one such person.
The first UK Census was compiled in 1801 and has been undertaken at 10 yearly intervals ever since. Information includes anyone spending the Census night in an institution such as workhouses, prisons, hospitals and also police cells. What they reveal offers some reflection on the early 20th century morality.
