Below is some genealogy information and websites about the history and social geography of London - Hackney.

North-East, North-West, South-East, South-West, Midlands, London, East Anglia

Description: Hackney is a borough in the north London and traditionally thought of as a working class area. It contained the areas of Stoke Newington, Homerton, Clapton and Stamford Hill which were surprisingly middle-class areas, and the large working-class area of Shoreditch. The poorer areas had bad housing conditions, health was low and working conditions usually meant long hours, poor pay and exposure to danger. Men in these poorer areas often had to take on casual work which was not stable. As a result, men were often unemployed so the children would have to work as well rather than gain an education. In contrast, the middle-class families usually owned their own business or worked professionally. Children went to school and help around the house was not uncommon. Hackney had a variety of industries in its area making everything from bricks to boots and chococlate. There were vinegar and perfume factories, as well as the Clarnico sweet and chocolate and the Berger Paint factories in Hackney Wick and Homerton, in Dalston they made glue and pencils and in Shoreditch many people made clothes and shoes, as well as those who worked with wood. Due to the many factories in Hackney Wick, it soon became heavily populated with 6,000 people living there in the 1870s. Housing was built on top of rubbish tips and the river that was used for water was heavily polluted by the factories causing a high death rate. Originally part of the parish of Hackney, it became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Hackney in 1900. In 1965 Hackney joined the London Borough of Hackney in Greater London.

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