'The car indispensable': The hidden influence of the car in inter-war suburban London

Journal of Historical Geography

Volumn 38, Issue 4, 2012, Pages 424-433

  Law, Michael John ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF WESTMINSTER   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Automobility; London; Suburbia

Indexed keywords

AUTOMOBILE; HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE; MOBILITY; PUBLIC TRANSPORT; SUBURBAN AREA;

ENGLAND; LONDON [ENGLAND]; UNITED KINGDOM;

EID: 84867334993     PISSN: 03057488     EISSN: 10958614     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhg.2012.04.005     Document Type: Article

References (89)

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3. G. Weightman and S. Humphries, The Making of Modern London 1914e1939, London, 1984.
4. London's suburbia is defined in this article as the area outside of the County of London recognised by Patrick Abercrombie as Greater London in L.P. Abercrombie, Greater London Plan 1944, London, 1945.
5. A.A. Jackson, Semi-detached London: Suburban Development, Life and Transport, 1900e39, London, 1973, 183.
6. Jackson, Semi-detached London (note 5), 183.
7. Jackson, Semi-detached London (note 5), index.
8. To place this point in its proper context, Jackson's motoring lacuna is one blind spot in an otherwise magisterial review of London's suburbia, and Semi-detached London has been used as a key source in the rest of this paper.
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14. P. Oliver, 'Great Expectations e Suburban Values and the Role of the Media', Dunroamin: The Suburban Semi and its Enemies, In: P. Oliver, I. Davis, I. Bentley London, 1981, 123.
15. Weightman and Humphries, The Making of Modern London, London, (note 3), 97. 1914e1939 1984
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48. That is cars producing less than 10HP, Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, The Motor Industry of Great Britain 1937, London, 1937.
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51. O'Connell, The Car and British Society (note 2), 24.
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54. Derived from Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, Motor Industry of Great Britain 1939, London and for official census data. 1939 www.visionofbritain.org.uk
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56. Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, Motor Industry of Great Britain 1939, London, 1939.
57. Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, Motor Industry of Great Britain 1939, London 1939 and for official census data. The figures assume that household size remained constant from 1931 to 1938. www.visionofbritain.org.uk
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62. It was stated that County estimates were arrived at as the results of grading each city and town street by street.
63. A formula that assumes 80% ownership in 'A' Class, 57% ownership in 'B' Class and 5% in 'C' class, produces an accurate prediction for each of the Home Counties in 1935 (Correlation = 0.93). The result is not sensitive to changes in ownership in 'A'. This percentage for 'A' needs to be set at a level that produces a lower result for 'B' but does not assume every wealthy house had a car. It could be set between 70% and 90% without much change to the result of 'B'. Although the ownership in 'C' could go as high as 10% before producing illogical results, (i.e. too many cars) this does not seem likely based on the definition of 'C' Class. The result is also not sensitive to a possible miscategorisation of houses between classes by Associated Newspapers.
64. 1936 survey of age of cars in Middlesex, Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, The Motor Industry of Great Britain 1937, London, 1937.
65. Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, Home Counties Registrations, London, 1934.
66. Oliver, Davis and Bentley, Dunroamin (note 11), 12. See Appendix for the calculation of this figure.
67. 1931 Census, Employment Tables.
68. A measure for the level of suburbanisation can be found in the national census, by calculating the relative increase in the number of households in each London borough between 1921 and 1938. A partial census taken in 1938 for the issue of identity cards provides overall population numbers, but not the number of households. This figure can be derived by assuming that average household size, (which would be fairly stable over an 8 year period) had not changed since 1931.
69. See calculation in Appendix.
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71. Jackson, Semi-detached London (note 5), 150.
72. The Homefinder Small Property Guide, January 1933.
73. The Homefinder Small Property Guide (note 64).
74. The Homefinder Small Property Guide, January 1936.
75. The Homefinder Small Property Guide, January 1939.
76. Jackson, Semi-detached London (note 5), 151.
77. Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames planning records from maps.kingston.gov.uk [accessed 1 November 2011].
78. There is a possibility that people might have built a garage without owning a car, or more likely, that some rash souls might have bought a car without building a garage, perhaps covering it with a tarpaulin.
79. O'Connell, The Car and British Society (note 2).
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81. The National Archives, TNA MT/44/16.
82. M.J. Law, 'Turning night into day: transgression and Americanization at the English inter-war roadhouse', Journal of Historical Geography 35 (2009).
83. H.F. Higgs brochure, London Metropolitan Archives, LMA/4430/04/02, Cinema and Theatre Construction (January 1937).
84. O'Connell, The Car and British Society (note 2).
85. Robinson and Browne, How to be a Motorist, London, 1939 (note 28), 7.
86. C. Pooley and J. Turnbull, 'Modal choice and modal change: the journey to work in Britain since 1890', Journal of Transport Geography 8:1 (2000) 11e24.
87. As has been shown, this is an area that was not in the vanguard of car adoption, but the survey is silent on where the vehicles originated.
88. TNA MT/44/16, A106 at Leyton, August 1938, Census point 1224.
89. C. Pooley and J. Turnbull, 'Coping with congestion: responses to urban traffic problems in British cities c1920e1960', Journal of Historical Geography 31:1 (2005) 78e93.