Author: Eve Brewer

Posted on Eve Brewer

A Reflection on The Mangrove: An Investigation on the effects of McQueen’s cinematography on his presentation of 1960’s London

Steve McQueen’s film The Mangrove illustrates the violence faced not only by direct immigrants but by their descendants as well. As the son of first-generation immigrants, McQueen had firsthand experience with deeply ingrained racism towards immigrants widespread in the United Kingdom. The Mangrove centers around the “mangrove nine” who were wrongly accused of inciting a riot after months of being unfairly targeted by local police.[1]McQueen deftly moves the viewer through the film so as to paint a full picture of how the unique problems faced by the West Indie community in Notting Hill came to reflect the prevalence of racism in the justice system throughout the United Kingdom.[2]McQueen manipulates elements of film – such as camera angle, setting, and music – to offer different points of view on the Mangrove Nine’s story. His film tactics allow for an all-encompassing portrait of the underlying issues at play in the film – namely the desire of White authority figures to disallow the Black immigrant community from fostering any sense of community or self-sufficiency. Using the Notting Hill neighborhood as a microcosm of the greater United Kingdom, TheMangrovehighlights how pervasive corruption was in the 1960’s justice system that allowed for Black citizens to be terrorized.

                 The Mangrove uses setting to illustrate both sides of the war for survival. The black individuals centered throughout the film represent a desire of community and stability in the midst of constant and oftentimes random violence. On the other side, the White members of the justice system represent a desire to disallow the black immigrant population from establishing themselves in British culture, looking at them as an affront to British society and values.[3]Each location illuminates a different element of the immigrant experience and the fight for justice. The first half of the film bounces between The Mangrove restaurant, police quarters, and the streets as McQueen builds the tension.  The second half is almost entirely confined to the Old Bailey courtroom as the 11 weeklong trail unfolds.[4]Finally, the viewer is brought back to Notting Hill to celebrate a hard-earned win for the Black community. McQueen uses lighting, set, and sound to foster different feelings within the viewer as we move through the film while at the same time giving voice to a community that has been historically marginalized in British society.

At the start of the film, The Mangrove restaurant acts as a center of the Black community in Notting Hill. While The Mangrove’s owner, Frank, consistently asserts that his restaurant is “just like any other restaurant,” it is clear from the beginning of the film that that is not the case.[5]In the scene depicting the Mangrove’s opening night, the restaurant is filmed in warm light as the patrons are bathed in a homey orange glow. The camera pans around the restaurant as if you are viewing the scene as a patron yourself, showcasing the lively banter that fills the space. McQueen has the music of steel drums play over the lively sounds of conversation, bringing the sounds of the west indies to London. As the steel drums weave through the patrons and move outside, the characters flow into the street dancing and drinking around them in a festive ambiance. Through allowing his characters the space to flow freely from inside to outside the Mangrove, McQueen illustrates how the restaurant instilled a sense of safety in its patrons that extends outside of the its physical borders. All these elements work together to provide the viewer with a feeling of community and happiness, visually placing the Mangrove at the center of the film as McQueen uses the space to represent home and community.

McQueen consistently contrasts the happiness of The Mangrove with the sterile, dark environment of the police station and their patrol cars. In the viewers first introduction to PC Pulley, the sadist police officer who terrorizes Notting Hill’s Black community, he is shrouded in the darkness of a cop car looking out into the night as though stalking his prey. Pulley’s face is the sole focal point of the scene as he is illuminated by outside streetlight in an otherwise pitch-black car. In the first five seconds there is no noise apart from the muted music and chatter coming from The Mangrove. The silence is broken by Pulley when he says, “See the thing about the Black man is he has his place… He’s just gotta know his place. If he oversteps, he’s gotta be gently nudged back in.”[6]As he speaks, the camera angle switches and appears to enter his vision as McQueen shows a view of The Mangrove from inside the patrol car. Where the mangrove was bathed in orange hues in the prior scene, it is now slightly unfocused and illuminated primarily by its green sign – the community the viewer was watching just minutes ago now hidden from view. It appears as though this view of the Mangrove is colored by Pulley’s extremely overt hatred of the Black community as the viewer sees it from what appears to be his own eyes. In contrast to the fluid movement of the camera angles inside the Mangrove, the camera is stilled in this scene as it switches from Pulley’s profile, to Pulley’s view of the Mangrove from the police car, to Pulley’s partner. The ambiance of the scene is a polar opposite to the liveliness of the Mangrove that directly proceeded it. By juxtaposing the Mangrove’s opening scene and Pulley’s view of it with one another, McQueen visually introduces the tension that is to unfold throughout the rest of the film.

McQueen continues to use lighting and sound to portray the coldness of the police who calmly inflict pain and terrorize the Notting Hill community. He periodically moves the viewer to the police station and their patrol cars to illustrate the police officer’s apathy towards the community they are allegedly serving. For example, in the police station scene, the viewer is privy to a ‘behind the scenes’ picture of the police’s overt prejudice. The office is coldly lit with white light that creates a sense of ominous foreboding in the viewer. It is interesting to note that directly preceding this sterile scene the viewer was in the midst of a colorful street festival outside The Mangrove. Where the previous clip was filled with music and energy the viewer is now confronted with silence only interrupted by the sound of darts hitting the wall and PC Pulley’s unsettling comments. While the viewer already has a feeling that something is going to happen, the direction of the scene becomes clear when PC Royce says, “whoever draws the Ace of Spades has to go out and nick the first Black bastard they clap eyes on.” McQueen brings the viewer along for the insidious event, placing the camera inside the patrol car as if we are complicit in this crime of hate. The soundscape is, yet again, almost entirely silent apart from the rain and screeching of tires as the police chase the innocent man. The darkness of the scene gives it an ethereal feel and seems almost like a horror movie. Through these two scenes, McQueen illustrates the constant danger faced by the Black community on the streets that should be their own.

The streets, while a place of fear, also act as the setting for the beginning of justice as the tension between the Black community and the police culminates in a protest meant to call out the Police’s unjust harassment of the Mangrove. McQueen places Altheia at the center of the crowd as she acts as the voice of the people, calling attention to the fact that the oppression faced by the Mangrove is not an isolated event. A light rain persists throughout the scene, casting a grey light is over the demonstration. The use of rain draws a parallel between the protest and the earlier scene of the police chase as we watch Altheia’s reflection through a rain splattered window. As the group mobilizes and begins its march to the police station, McQueen highlights individual faces as they chant, “Black power,” humanizing the crowd. Conversely, the mass of police officers who encircle the protest are almost faceless as they dissolve into a swarming mass. McQueen only films the officers’ feet as they stream out of the police station towards the crowd, taking away their individuality as they hurl insults at the peaceful protestors. As the tension builds between the two groups, the camera angle begins to jostle between frames. This manipulation of angle and frame makes the viewer feel as though they are a part of the crowd, providing a sense of confusion and fear. The Black community uses this demonstration to give themselves a voice in the face of systemic injustice. Despite the protest being for The Mangrove, it also applies to the injustices faced by all Black citizens of the United Kingdom.

The second half of the film marks a moment of transition as what was a unique Notting Hill issue becomes a problem of national importance. Nearly the entire second half of The Mangrove takes place in the Old Bailey Courtroom, a place “normally reserved for only the most serious of crimes.” The setting itself does a lot of work for the film. Placing the proceedings for a decidedly peaceful crime in a building defined by violence represents an unequal playing field as well as the intimidation tactics employed by the government to silence Black voices. The physical nature of the court room serves to separate individuals from one another. Where the camera moved smoothly around the flowing tables of the Mangrove it now sits stagnant in the rows of the courtroom. McQueen places the viewer in various parts of the courtroom as the camera angle moves from the balcony to the witness stand to the jury to the prosecution. This manipulation of angle gives the viewer a sense of being inside the court with the defendants. When panning through the court room, McQueen stills the camera on the protest signs affixed to the witness stand. The signs are beacons in an otherwise antique looking room – illustrating the presence of a new energy in the court. Throughout the hour of the film spent in the Old Bailey, McQueen peppers in reggae music such as Skinhead Moonstop over the proceedings. Yet again, this stylistic choice inserts the Mangrove Nine’s west indie heritage into the stuffy, historical British building.

Two of the defendants, Howe and Altheia, decide to represent themselves in court allowing them to “take [their] message inside the building… and talk directly to the jury,” and transition from “victims to protagonists of their own stories.”[7]Throughout their time in court, the defendants find ways to work the court’s prejudice against itself, taking charge of the narrative. In the court’s final testimonies, McQueen presents Howe in soft light which illuminates him as he takes his stand. Unlike the rest of the defendants and prosecution who are clothed in dark colors, Howe is wearing white and blue. This stylistic choice places Howe apart from the courtroom, yet again illustrating a new energy that is asserting itself. As Howe’s speech progresses the camera angle pans upwards to show members of the Notting Hill community above him. The angle gives a sense of community as the audience lifts Howe’s words and project them through the court room. When the verdicts are finally given, instead of moving the camera through the room McQueen keeps it statically posed on Frank’s face. The scene conjured up Howe’s quote before the protests when he told Frank, “I see a man who has become a leader to his people… leaders who are rooted deeply in the people they lead.”[8]Frank took up the burden of leadership when all he wanted was peace. By centering the Mangrove Nine’s win on Frank, McQueen is affirming his position within the group and allowing Frank the space to savor the win for justice.

                 The Mangrove embodies McQueen’s ability to showcase the “interplay between the pleasures and frustrations of everyday life and the larger struggles around race, class and state power in post-imperial Britain.”[9]To end the film, McQueen brings the viewer back to Notting Hill where it all began. Finally free from the stress of the court room, the viewer is yet again placed in the homey Mangrove restaurant. The camera follows Frank as he flows through the patrons, a far cry from the mostly stilted camera angles of the courtroom. Outside the Mangrove, Frank talks to Dolston who says he is “going home,” to which Frank counters, “This we home Dol. The Mangrove.” This claim is powerful as the viewer knows just how arduous the journey to justice and homecoming was for Frank and the rest of the Mangrove Nine. As the scene closes, the soft tune of Toots and the Maytals’ “Pressure Drop” plays as a triumphant song about karmic justice.[10]The song is a fitting way to end the movie as it leaves us with lyrics promising those who do bad against he innocent will have a storm coming to them.

 

WORKS CITED

  1. Steve McQueen, The Mangrove, Small Axe Series,
  2. Nitish Pahwa, “What’s Fact and What’s Fiction in Steve McQueen’s Mangrove”, Slate, November 20, 2020.
  3. Professor Schor, London Literature Lecture Notes.
  4. AO Scott. ‘Mangrove’ Review: A restaurants Radicalism. November 19, 2020.https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/19/movies/mangrove-review-small-axe.html
  5. Catherine Baksi, Landmarks in law: When the Mangrove Nine beat the British State. November 10, 2020. https://www.theguardian.com/law/2020/nov/10/landmarks-in-law-when-the-mangrove-nine-beat-the-british-state
  6. Diane Pien, “Mangrove Nine Trial”, Black Past, July 2, 2018. https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/mangrove-nine-trial-1970-1972/
Posted on

Steve McQueen: A Life in Pictures

McQueen winning the Camera D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival for his movie “Hunger”.
McQueen on the set of the Small Axe series.
Chelsea School of Art and Design – the school McQueen attended from 1989 to 1990.
McQueen’s time at Drayton Manner High School was one of fun learning years, but it also opened his eyes to injustice in the British education system.
Steve McQueen at Goldsmiths University working on a project.
A portrait of McQueen directing on set.
The NYU Tisch School was where McQueen honed in on his love for film through rejecting the rigid standards he found there.
A still from McQueen’s 2002 short film Ashes.
Another still from McQueen’s first notable film work, Bear.
A photo of Caribs’ Leap. A memorial to the native people who committed suicide to avoid being killed by the French imperialists. This was influential to his understanding of his parents’ past.
A section of McQueen’s 2018 work “Year Three” that captured all year three students in London.
McQueen was the first black director to win a Golden Globe for his work on 12 Years a Slave.
McQueen on the set of 12 Years a Slave.
Posted on Eve Brewer

Steve McQueen: A Legend in the Making

Steve McQueen

Steve McQueen was born in Ealing London on October 9th, 1969. McQueen is the son of a Grenadian father and Trinidadian mother, both of whom immigrated to London before his birth. McQueen grew up in a working-class background as his father was a bricklayer and his mother worked at a maternity hospital. McQueen attended Drayton Manor High School in his early years and while he enjoyed school, he earned poor marks in all subjects aside from art. He faced institutionalized racism throughout his time at Drayton and in interviews he claims that his talent for art saved him from becoming a manual laborer for the rest of his life. Following his passion for the arts, McQueen went on to attend the Chelsea College of Art and Design, Goldsmiths University, and NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Despite originally being interested in the fine arts, he developed a love for photography and film which have been his primary pursuits throughout his adult life. His most notable works include: Hunger, Shame, and 12 Years a Slave,for which he won an Academy Award for best Motion Picture – the first black man to do so. His most recent work is Small Axe,a series of five films that depict what life was like for British West Indie immigrants following the Windrush Generation. His goal through projects such as this one is “to correct certain wrongs, to give a platform to [people who have been denied one]… I can’t stand injustice. I can’t stand it.” McQueen has consistently been said to be one of the top most influential directors in Britain, and we can all look forward to whatever his next project will be.

Posted on Eve Brewer

Historical and Geographical Context of Children of the Ghetto

The historical moment of the 19thcentury as well as the geographical of the east end is clearly presented through Zangwill’s soup kitchen scene. The passage comes from the first chapter of Children of the Ghetto, following a prologue which described life in the ghetto and the strong personal and religious community that was found there in the past. The contrast between the community seen in the prologue and in the first chapter is incredibly strong. In the past, rich individuals (the Takeefin) “gave charity unscrupulously” to the poorer members of their community but in the first chapter we see “the President addressed the meeting at considerable length, striving to impress upon the clergymen and other philanthropists present that charity was a virtue.” While not stated directly, in the passage above Zangwill appears to be mocking the new generation of Takeefin who seemingly need the poor to validate their charitable acts in order to perform it which undercuts the basis of their charity  I believe that the rich’s attitude towards charity was less condescending and came more from a genuine desire to help others in past generations as the community was congregated in closer proximity to one another and the rich felt a connection to the people that they were serving. In the passage I discussed above, the rich have transformed from a helpful neighbor to a semi-divine because the community is no longer as closely in touch spiritually or geographically. In the time period of the book, the rich lived “far away” in neighborhoods like Belgravia while the larger poor community was left in Spitalfields as opposed to when nearly all of the Jewish population of London was living in Whitechapel. The passage illustrates the effects that decentralizing the Jewish community has taken on the feeling of community and the spiritual reasons for upholding Jewish values.

This map shows where the original ghetto was located, where the soup kitchen described in the passage is, and where some of the rich Takeefin now reside (far from the majority of the Jewish community in Spitalfields).
Posted on Eve Brewer

Rhetoric in Children of the Ghetto

“They felt hungry, these picturesque people; their near and dear ones were hungering at home. Voluptuously savoring in imagination, the operation of the soup, they forgot its operation as a dole in aid of wages; were unconscious of the grave economical possibilities of pauperization and the rest, and quite willing to swallow their independence with the soup. Even Esther, who had read much, and was sensitive, accepted unquestioningly the theory of the universe that was held by most people about her, that human beings were distinguished from animals in having to toil terribly for a meagre crust, but that their lot was lightened by the existence of a small and semi-divine class called Takeefim, or rich people, who gave away what they didn’t want. How these rich people came to be, Esther did not inquire; they were as much a part of the constitution of things as clouds and horses. The semi-celestial variety was rarely to be met with. It lived far away from the Ghetto, and a small family of it was said to occupy a whole house. Representatives of it, clad in rustling silks or impressive broad-cloth, and radiating an indefinable aroma of superhumanity, sometimes came to the school, preceded by the beaming Head Mistress; and then all the little girls rose and curtseyed, and the best of them, passing as average members of the class, astonished the semi-divine persons by their intimate acquaintance with the topography of the Pyrenees and the disagreements of Saul and David, the intercourse of the two species ending in effusive smiles and general satisfaction. But the dullest of the girls was alive to the comedy, and had a good-humored contempt for the unworldliness of the semi-divine persons who spoke to them as if they were not going to recommence squabbling, and pulling one another’s hair, and copying one another’s sums, and stealing one another’s needles, the moment the semi-celestial backs were turned.” – Children of the Ghetto, Chapter 1

In Children of the Ghetto, Zangwill attempts to embody the voice of the Anglo-Jewry, displaying the realities of life in the poor Jewish neighborhoods of East London. From the prologue to his first chapter, he creates the foundation of his story; he investigates the liminal space that Jews of the 19th century occupied between the tight knit community of the ghetto and the modern attempt to mesh with British life while remaining true to their community and heritage. The passage above illustrates Zangwill’s use of realism tinged with irony and sarcasm. We can see all of these elements from the first line of the paragraph when the narrator describes the poor who gathered at the soup kitchen writing, “they’re hungry, these picturesque people.” There is a clear use of sarcasm here as the large impoverished crowd would look nothing but picturesque (as one can see in the photo 1). It is interesting to note where the narrator appears to be placed in relationship to Esther, the young poor girl we are following throughout the first chapter. By describing the crowd this way, Zangwill seems to be placing the narrator behind the eyes of the rich, philanthropic individuals serving at the soup kitchen, who look at the poor naively and seemingly condescendingly. The use of a third person narrator throughout the story allows the story to observe multiple entities at once to better showcase the wide range of perspectives and characters within the story. In this scene, the third person narrator allows us to see how the Takeefin have become separated from the greater Jewish community both emotionally and physically through the use of sarcasm.

Throughout the passage there are numerous mentions of “semi-divine” beings and superhumanity in reference to the Takeefin, or rich Jewish class, who become religious quasi-archetypes as we view them through Esther’s eyes. Yet despite her divine view of these individuals, she holds contempt for them for their lack of worldliness. The use of irony further flavors the scene as the narrator shows us how out of touch the Takeefin are with the poorer members of Jewish society – they are divine entities with little connection to those they are supposed to be serving. Zangwill dehumanizes the Takeefin by referring to the individuals as “it”, illustrating the lack of a relationship between  them and the poor, a drastic change from the days of the ghetto. This can be clearly seen when he writes, “The semi-celestial variety was rarely to be met with. It lived far away from the Ghetto, and a small family of it was said to occupy a whole house. Representatives of it, clad in rustling silks or impressive broad-cloth, and radiating an indefinable aroma of superhumanity, sometimes came to the school.”  The Takeefin are being dehumanized by the narrator, yet the continual use of sarcasm serves to illustrate how out of touch they are with the larger Jewish community as the narrator mocks them.

Zangwill also uses various methods of juxtaposition when describing the rich and poor members of community. We can see the tensions between the worldly and the semi-divine in the final two lines of the paragraph. Both lines are almost identical in structure and length and the juxtaposition between the façade and reality of interactions with the Takeefin illustrates the growing lack of true understanding within Anglo-Jewish community. The first line presents the façade saying, “then all the little girls rose and curtseyed, and the best of them, passing as average members of the class, astonished the semi-divine persons by their intimate acquaintance with the topography of the Pyrenees and the disagreements of Saul and David, the intercourse of the two species ending in effusive smiles and general satisfaction.” By calling the girls and the Takeefin “two species”, the narrator is emphasizing the cultural divide that has appeared between these different factions of Jewish life. The line also presents the performance that is required of the children in order to gain the grace of these divine beings, insinuating that the Takeefin need to be catered to in order to obtain their charity. The next line illustrates the worldly reality saying, “But the dullest of the girls was alive to the comedy, and had a good-humored contempt for the unworldliness of the semi-divine persons who spoke to them as if they were not going to recommence squabbling, and pulling one another’s hair, and copying one another’s sums, and stealing one another’s needles, the moment the semi-celestial backs were turned.” By substituting the worlds rich and poor with the divine and the worldly, Zangwill is able to starkly present how separated these two factions of Jewish society have become. The narrator illustrating how easily these “godly” individuals are able to be fooled by the earthly beings, using sarcasm to nullify their divinity by calling attention to their flaws.

These dualities present in Zangwill’s writing reflect the two sided lives that the individuals in the story live – one side Jewish and the other British, one side isolated and the other filled with community, and one side poor and the other rich. Children of the Ghetto produces pathos in its readers as we are shown a group of people who are in between two worlds – the modern British world and that of the Jewish ghetto.

Drawing of customers of the Jewish Soup Kitchen.
The outside of the soup kitchen referenced in this passage.
Posted on Eve Brewer

A Walk to Regent’s Park – Life in Marylebone

Background Investigation: Reagents Park is an important and central feature of St. Marylebone Vestry. While the park did not open to the public until the 1840’s, it was still a beautiful reprieve from the hustle and bustle of London City. In 1840, the park was opened 2 days a week to the public and hosted the London Zoo from 1847 which became a major tourist attraction in Victorian London.

The Zoo in Regent’s Park.

Your perspective: It is a beautiful summer day in 1843 and I’m planning on taking my kids to Regents Park to enjoy the summer air and see the new Elephants that Queen Victoria bought for the Zoo! I live in an apartment on Wigmore Street which is just one street over from the bustling Oxford Street, so on nice days such as today I can hear the faint commotion of street carriages and street sellers starting as early as the sunrise! Wigmore Street has all of the things I could want – there is the Knight Baker right across the street from me, a Linen and Outfitting warehouse, and G. Robinson’s Auctioneer studio for when my husband gives me a few extra shillings to spend. Another exciting location on Wigmore is The Royal Polytechnic Institute, which opened up in 1838 at the end of our street! It has brought in a lot of tourists from other boroughs to our neighborhood and has provided the public with so many innovative displays of England’s scientific discoveries. Our location is convenient for the children as well as it is just about a kilometer and a half walk to Regent’s Park.

The commotion of Oxford Street on full display.

Background investigation: Based on the Victorian London interactive map, the events hosted throughout St. Marylebone Vestry make the area appear as though it was relatively wealthy. When looking of a drawn map of the area around Wigmore Street and Baker Street, one can see numerous small block gardens, which are another indicator that those living in the area were on the wealthier side. In modern London, Marylebone is a “posh, wealthy borough that has a chic residential feel” according to London’s Financial Times.

A picture of modern day Marylebone – a “chic, residential neighborhood in London city”.

Your Perspective: As I walk the kids down Baker Street on our way to Regent’s Park, we pass the beautiful garden in Portman Square. While we appreciate our apartment on Wigmore Street, some of the houses here are much grander than our living space. We pass Portman Chapel a little farther up the street as we continue on our way. I love admiring the ladies beautiful summer frocks who pass by us on our walk I feel grateful that we live far enough from the city center to be able to walk around in fancier clothing without worrying about ruining our garments.

 

 

 

Posted on Eve Brewer

A Bustling Borough – Population in Marylebone

St. Marylebone Vestry had one of the highest population density boroughs between 1801 and 1810 with a population size of 63982. St. Marylebone Vestry remained one of the most inhabited boroughs in London throughout most of the 1800’s. The population saw a large increase in the years between 1810 and 1841 as it jumped to 138164, an almost 216% increase. The population increased yet again in the latter half of the 19thcentury when the population in Marylebone rose to 159254, another 115% increase from the original demographic. Interestingly, between 1871 and 1880 Marylebone’s population saw a decrease for the first time in a century transitioning from the 159254 in 1871 to 154910 in 1881.

There are two possible explanations for the decrease in population size. The first is that there was a surge in the quantity of hospitals, orphanages, and charitable organizations in the borough, which would have brought in a larger population of poorer individuals to an area that had previously had very few of these organization up until the late 1860s. The second explanation could be that Marylebone’s Vestry was on the outskirts of London and would have been an easy location for those traveling into the city to settle in to. As time progressed and more of these external boroughs became more developed, it is possible that some of the inhabitants of the area decided to move to other nearby boroughs such as St. Pancras Vestry, Paddington Vestry, and Hampstead Vestry which all saw population increases in the 1880’s.

It is interesting to note that St. Marylebone Vestry is relatively large geographically in comparison to many of the surrounding boroughs. It extends from the border of London to deep into the heart of the city. This proximity to the City of London (just a three mile walk as seen on the modern map of London) would make Marylebone an attractive location for individuals or families who would want to work but not live in the industrial section of the city. Also noteworthy is the fact that Marylebone Vestry remains heavily populated until the end of the 19tth century while almost all other districts near the heart of London become noticeably less populated every decade. I believe that Marylebone’s larger size and geographical proximity to both the countryside and City of London would lend themselves to a larger sustained population size.

Walking Distance from Marylebone to the City of London center.
Posted on Eve Brewer

A Multitude of Hospitals – Institutions in Marylebone

At the beginning of the 19thcentury, there were very few institutions in St. Marylebone Vestry; the primary institutes in the borough were hospitals and orphanages. There was very little change in the quantity and diversity of establishments in Marylebone up until the 1830’s when the Marylebone Workhouse and London Society for Teaching the Blind were created. Yet, the the overwhelming majority of establishments in the borough continued to be hospitals and other charitable institutions. It was only in the 1860s and 70s that the number of businesses and organizations grew in numbers, which is consistent with most of the other boroughs outside the center city of London.

A business that was particularly interesting to me was Middlesex Hospital, which was one of the largest buildings on Mortimer Street where it was located. When looking at this image and other ones I found on the internet, I was surprised with how sophisticated the hospital appeared from the outside. The structure of the hospital was impressive, and it looked as though it almost took up an entire block. I was hoping to compare the Middlesex Hospital with some of the other hospitals located in Marylebone, but there were no other street views of them.

The impressive Middlesex Hospital on Charles Street.

In the late 19thcentury, the kinds of institutions found throughout Marylebone remained predominately the same but increased in numbers. For example, a multitude of other hospitals were established in close proximity to one another just north of Middlesex Hospital. These hospitals catered to different issues such as the Wester Skin Hospital, The London Throat Hospital, and the Hospital for Epilepsy and Paralysis. Marylebone definitely housed more hospitals in a smaller square mileage than any of the other boroughs and I think this illustrates that it was prudent for people of similar professions to be located in the vicinity of one another so that they could be easily located by individuals seeking medical attention. I found it interesting that most of the hospitals at the time were specialized in a specific disease or body part as opposed to being combined under one umbrella hospital. The hospital I found most interesting was the Hospital for Gentlewomen During Temporary Illness. In order to go to this establishment, a woman would have to be of a certain class or the wife of a clergyman, professional, etc. I think that the presence of a hospital for higher class individuals possibly indicates that Marylebone was a relatively affluent location within the City of London.