I chose the Waterloo Train Station which appears in “The Adventure of the Speckled Band.”

Using the Charles Booth Online Archive, I found the poverty map for the area surrounding the Waterloo Station. The levels of poverty are shown by color. The color red is what’s seen mostly around the immediate area, which according to the archive, means “Middle-class, well to do” (Booth Poverty). The more pinkish color, according to the archive, represents “Fairly comfortable. Good ordinary earnings” (Booth Poverty). Finally, there is some blue seen in the outer area, which represents more poorer people (Booth Poverty). However, these are not in the immediate vicinity of the station. Obviously, the only people who would use trains at the time would be the ones who had the funds to do so, making it natural that those kinds of people would live next door.

Using Old Bailey Online, I came across many hits on the Waterloo Train Station.  The most interesting example I found was a case in which a counterfeit shilling was involved. The person who tried to use it as payment claimed he received it at the Waterloo Train Station (Old Bailey). This is a perfect example that since there are in fact poorer people nearby, crime did exist at the station, even if only people with money used the trains.

In “Speckled Band,” Helen Stoner said she used the Waterloo Train Station and Holmes and Watson did so during the story. Those three characters are certainly “well to do.” All of this information I found helps paint a clearer picture of the surrounding neighborhood by the station.  Even though it is mostly middle class in the area, there are still instances of crime at the station.

Works Cited

“Booth Poverty Map.” Booth Poverty Map (Charles Booth Online Archive). London School of Economics & Political Science, n.d. Web. 09 Nov. 2014.

Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 7.0, 10 November 2014), December 1852, trial of MICHAEL CARROLL (t18521213-150).