CHANGES I N

FORTUNES
A s Islington grew there were more
opportunities for people to make or
spend money. Martha Freeman, who owned
twelve houses built by her late husband, was
typical of many property-owners who lived
off the rents of her tenants. New forms of
transport generated employment, as canals,
railways and the horse-drawn omnibus criss-
crossed the area.
While many residents worked as lawyers,
clerks, stockbrokers and surgeons, others
made money from trade which had a global
reach. Bertram Lespinasse spent his final
years living in Cloudesley Terrace, having
owned slaves in Demerara (modern Guyana).
There were always risks in investing wealth:
bankruptcy was common. Elizabeth Chick
was swindled out of £15,000 by the clerk
of St Mary’s, Robert Oldershaw, who killed
himself when he then faced ruin.
Life could be precarious for those without
fortune or prospects and many fell through
the cracks. Just north of Holy Trinity stood
the Liverpool Road workhouse, which was
home to 230 inmates by 1841.
Household servants were especially vulnerable
to change. Few were fortunate to have a steady
position as experienced by Eliza Judd, who
spent over 20 years in Dr William Harvey’s
household.

‘West Entrance to the Tunnel, Regent’s Canal, Islington’, 1822. Frederick Snee, of 26
Cloudesley Square, worked as a clerk at the Regent’s Canal Company, where his father,
Edmund Snee, was Secretary. Image: Islington Local History Centre

C.H. Matthews ‘Liverpool Road Workhouse’, watercolour, c. 1835

Image: Islington Local History Centre