ABSTRACT
London was at once the financial, commercial and political centre of the country as well as being major international entrepot. The benefits arising from this vibrant, expanding economy, however, were not shared by all, or even most, Londoners. While the metropolitan economy, unlike those of northern industrial towns, was broadly based, this did not guarantee stability, particularly for workers in number of trades in London. In exploring waged work, it is necessary to consider the effects of seasonality and the impact of the life cycle. In an age when plebeian Londoners walked to work, the location of family dwellings were determined by proximity to husband's employment, so it makes sense to concentrate on this in an exercise seeking in part to relate occupation and address. Andrew August has concluded late nineteenth-century plebeian women in London did remain in home while their children were young, but at other points in life course, almost all of these women engaged in waged work.
