Outer London Inquiry

A report dealing with life and labour in West Ham, with particular emphasis on the problems of unemployment and casual labour. The 'Inquiry' was initially planned to extend to other areas of the East End once the West Ham survey was complete. However, funding was only just sufficient to produce the survey of West Ham. The findings were published as a book: West Ham: A Study in Social and Industrial Problems (J.M. Dent and Co, London, 1907), by Howarth and Wilson. Unlike Booth's investigation, there is no actual household survey. The inquiry relied upon rent books, obtained from house agents, and contains no actual survey data, being a collection of indirectly related material, including examples of analysis drawn from other surveys.

From the guide to the Outer London Inquiry, 1890-1909, (British Library of Political and Economic Science)