Words in Progress: The Evolution of Soho

This week on my writing blog, I have the perfect excuse to natter about an aspect of social history that never fails to capture me.

It’s the final few days of the Spend Easter with Queer Romance in KU Bookfunnel Promo, highlighting lots of wonderful Kindle Unlimited books from fabulous authors.

My contribution for this promo is London in the Rain, my story set in mid-1930s London with my MCs Raymond and David meeting and falling in love amongst the emerging gay scene. When thinking about what I was going to write about this week on the blog, I couldn’t help comparing it with last week’s blog and the setting of my upcoming story An Unlikely Alliance, set in 1808.

I find it compelling how places developed or dwindled over the centuries. There’s so many examples of towns and villages that were prosperous during the medieval period and then remained untouched for some centuries or even disappeared altogether.

In terms of central London, charting how districts change over time is truly fascinating. In An Unlikely Alliance, one of my MCs, Abe Pengelly, lives in Soho’s Gerrard Street, a very respectable address in early 19th-century London. Roll on just over 100 years and Soho is a very different district as described in London in the Rain, multicultural, becoming the centre of London’s sex trade, thronging with new nightclubs and emerging (and often short-lived) gay clubs like Billie’s, on what was Little Denmark Street. I’ve discussed the vibrant gay scene of the era in previous blogs, but I just have to share this superb article from the National Archives again.

As a result of the Industrial Revolution, London grew out of all recognition during the 19^th century. In 1800 the population was roughly one million. By 1900 it had reached over six million and was continuing to grow at speed.

As you can see from my faithful 1806 Mogg Map, although Soho was a central suburb, it was also an easy walk to the edges of the city, where areas such as Paddington, Pancras and Camden Town were still villages, soon to swallowed up by the spreading conurbation. With the new railways, by the mid-nineteenth century, the middle classes were able to move out to greener suburbs.

From a relatively quiet residential district, Soho was transformed during the 19^th century. For much of the 20^th century (until gentrification, starting in the 1980s), Soho was a colourful melting pot from waves of immigration, known for its continental cuisine in restaurants, delicatessens, and markets. It was also known for its pubs, theatres, cinemas and clubs and was the base of artists, musicians and theatricals as well as the ubiquitous sex trade.

As always, when checking out relevant links for this blog, I came across a couple of excellent articles on aspects of Soho’s cultural heritage, from This is Soho and Hidden London. Well worth a read!