ABSTRACT

The late nineteenth-and early twentieth-century expansion of London's residential and industrial boundaries transformed the physical and socio-economic character of many of the districts of south-west Essex by the 1930s. Many of these districts, more accessible due to improved transport facilities, would acquire a 'suburban' character, becoming a predominantly dormitory area for London's expanding urban working population. The inner Essex districts of Walthamstow, Leyton, West Ham, and East Ham were the first areas to experience the important demographic changes associated with this development.