London

The center of a vibrant new world of print (books were becoming a big deal) and coffee houses, of world trade and new manufactures, London in the early eighteenth century witnessed the beginnings of many of the phenomena that would later characterize and define the modern world. The rise of daily newspapers, a police force, and shop windows became a staple.

Crime, Jacobitism, and anti-Catholicism characterized the darker parts of the growing city of London. Periods of near stagnant population growth was due to high infant mortality rates as cramped quarters and unhygienic living conditions.

1715 London was composed of a series of contiguous communities spread along the Thames, each of which was within easy reach of open fields. The West End became a high-point for the aristocracy and good living spaces to rent out to borders. The Royal Exchange, the Bank of England and Lloyd’s Insurance Market, grew in prestige and popularity over the years. Most people worked in manufacturing, especially in silk.

Type

Capital

Population

630,000 in 1715

Inhabitant Demonym

Londoners

Owner/Ruler

George 1

Owning Organization

England

Characters in Location

• Lucy Pitt Stanhope