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<DIV>Last night there was the last of an excellent series, “looking at how
London has changed since Charles Booth's survey recording social conditions in
1886, returning to six archetypal London streets”, on BBC2 – this one on Arnold
Circus.</DIV>
<DIV><A title=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01jt9zh
href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01jt9zh">http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01jt9zh</A></DIV>
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<DIV>I had never heard of Arnold Circus, but when I heard that it replaced “Old
Nichol” I was shocked, yes shocked, that there was no mention of Arthur
Morrison’s “A Child of the Jago”. When the Prince of Wales “opened” Arnold
Circus in 1900, he referred to the book (<A
href="http://foac.org.uk/history">http://foac.org.uk/history</A>) and to the
Rev. Osborne Jay who had invited Morrison to visit the appalling slums that were
there before and which inspired the book.</DIV>
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<DIV>Now I discover from the ODNB (1) that Jay’s father “was presented to the
rectory of Elvedon, Suffolk, by the maharaja Duleep Singh” (cue “The Waves”);
and (2) re “Ernest Aves's report on district IX [presumably inc. Old Nichol],
Booth Collection)”: “In the interview upon which Aves's report was based, George
Duckworth described Jay as ‘a voluble and discursive talker’ and described how
he had roused considerable opposition in the neighbouring parishes. | Jay never
married and, when interviewed by Duckworth, admitted that he did not get on well
with women.”</DIV>
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<DIV>Stuart</DIV>
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