Berners Street plays a large role in Evelyn Sharp’s “In Dull Brown.” It appears to have been a strange little area suiting for Jean’s run in with Tom. Actually, Jean’s run in with Tom appears to mirror a similar real life event from 1779. One victim named Thomas Harris Carzey recalls a man who, “when we got to the corner of Berners-street he catched hold of me by the collar, and asked if I knew who I had been talking to” (Old Bailey Proceedings Online). Still, it differs in that this court case ended in a violent robbery, while Jean appears merely played by a cunning man. Still, much of the crime that occurred on Berners Street during this time period appeared to be cases of theft. Scrolling through The Proceedings of the Old Bailey most cases that mention Berners Street are listed as some sort of theft whether it’s grand larceny or pickpocketing. This makes it appear to be an area one may wish to avoid traveling alone and talking to strangers on.

 

Also, in Charles Booth’s notebooks, he mentions how Berners Street is a bit of a “center for music establishments” (Booth). This would make sense for certain people who are more artistically inclined such as Jean to spend time in an area like this.

 

Upon further exploration, Berners street seems like a fairly standard street. There’s the Berners’ hotel, which is not listed in most sites besides the map of London. It is close to Middlesex hospital and various entertainment establishments. It appears to be relatively standard. Looking at more modern photos, it appears to have modernized pretty standardly while maintaining aspects of the Victorian architecture, except it is much cleaner looking.

The use of Berners Street in “In Dull Brown,” appears important to show Jean’s artistic lean, but also some of the sketchy individuals that Jean encounters seem fitting for some of the crimes that occurred on Berners Street at the time.

 

 

Works Cited

Booth, Charles. “B355.” Charles Booth Online Archive. London: London School of Economics and Political Science. 80-81. Print.

Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 7.2, 10 September 2015), October 1779, trial of JOHN STAPLES (t17791020-13).