Name: Tara Shokouhi

Student Number: 635693

Tutorial Day/Time: Monday, 10am

Tutor: Claire Miller

Reading: ‘The railway as an agent of internal change in Victorian Cities: the inner districts and the suburbs’ - John Kellett

Topic Week: 3A - Transportation and its impact on cities

BLAMING VICTORIAN RAILWAYS

John R. Kellett (1969) discusses numerous surfacing aspects to the introduction of railway systems in British cities in his piece The railway as an agent of internal change in Victorian cities: the inner districts and the suburbs. The two parts of the chapter focus primarily on the initial conception of the railways, the districts of the time and the effect this caused within the cities and its people, before continuing onto analysing the industrial effects of such on the transportation of supplies between factories and businesses. The text forms a strong analysis of both arguments present during the initial introduction of the railways, as Kellett begins by blaming the railways for the faults of the city, before challenging this theory and delving into the antithesis of such. His ability to intricately lace together both alternate views and their evidence is the basis for his strongly supported text.

Figure 1: A photograph of one of the first railway trains in Victorian Cities in the early 1800’s. Source:  http://northwesthistoryexpress.com/timeline/transportation1800/PennsylvaniaTrain.jpg

Kellett commences the chapter by immediately presenting the introduction of railway developments in a negative light during the British cities. Through his tone of complete disdain he aims to exhibit and demonstrate that the railways’ intent to ‘compress the areas which were within walking range of the city centre, to interrupt communications between them, to stabilise their land values for residential uses and their improvement prospects.’ (Kellett 1969, p. 337). Developing his argument, Kellett’s inclusion of surveys and evidence to support the notion that transportation brought along with it, significant issues for the spaces in which they were constructed. British cities experienced rapid population growth, and the lower class citizens found it difficult to afford a better living. While focusing primarily on the accusations placed on the introduction of railways and their negative impacts on towns and districts, Kellett does not fail to reveal the alternative theory behind such accusations, eventually drawing conclusions and exclaiming that such faults did not lie with the railway companies.

One of the most notable aspects of this text as predominant in the first section of the chapter, perhaps, is the rapid manner in which Kellett’s  contention and arguments alter. While this appears as a crucial flaw in the structure of the writing, it eventually allows for a complete and rounded understanding of the topic. Commencing with a strong stance and negative perception on the issue at hand, Kellett highlights the accusations and continues to expose the realities behind these. Eventually he acknowledges that railways were not the primal source and basis of the impairments, he denotes that the introduction of such transportation ‘worsened the situation’ (Kellett 1969, p. 342) for already ‘densely occupied and makeshift inner suburbs’. However, the most consequential outcome of their injection into society was that of their specific placement into inner districts that halted their ability to improve residential placements, where they were secured in a state of rejection. The strength of this text lies within Kellett’s ability to demonstrate the manner in which the railways cemented the already divided distracts and classes within the Victorian era, providing an almost impossible scenario for positive development. However, the single flaw would be that of the lacking statistical evidence where it would appear beneficial. While numerous sources are provided, quotes and experiment results, the exclusion of statistical datum where necessary provides lacking support to his arguments. 

The importance of planning and preparation before the execution of transportation becomes strictly eminent within Kellett’s text, as larger portions of the amplified faults caused by the railways could have been avoided. While the railways did not contribute and assist with the diminishing value of the land, the over-populated and crowded spaces and the environmental state of the city, numerous aspects could have been avoided had the planning been done with more intricate and detailed attention being paid to the placement of the railways.  This resulting placement of railways exposed the harsh realities of the lower-class districts to travellers of the railways behind the safety of the railway glass windows, a notion emphasised by Kellett and demonstrated further by authors of the time such has Charles Dickens. Literature set within the victorian era often included scenes at the railways, as the phenomena was a new concept all together. In addition to Dickens and his passage in Dombey and Son presented by Kellett, other authors such as Thomas Hardy and George Eliot introduced railways within their novels of Jude the Obscure (1895) and Middlemarch (1874), respectively. Hardy’s depiction of the community’s response to the railways was that of a positive one as he portrayed the victorians as associating the notion of modernity and progress with that the railways. Where Dickens reveals the realities often masked by the beauty of a progressing city, Hardy demonstrates the blinded viewpoint of victorians whom were blissfully unaware of the negative results of the railways. Alternatively, Eliot portrays the victorian’s directly influenced by the introduction of such a dramatic change and development.

The introduction of the railways did not only effect the city and the people within it, but also played a part in the industrial aspect of the cities, as Kellett continues to discuss in the second part of the chapter. The industrial sector in Victorian times was either in the ‘inner districts, to the river side or to more distant suburbs’ (Kellett 1969, p.346) and due to their prominence at the time, it became increasingly difficult to differentiate and assign credible blame to whether railways or the industry were more to blame for continuing negative issues presented.Kellett discusses the decision by thriving businesses, to continue using canals after concluding that  the use of railways for transportation of their goods was ‘slow and uneconomic’, a fact depicted in the constant congestion of the Victorian Manufacturing crescent.  Despite producing supplies in support of railways such as engines and rolling stock, effective transportation methods were essential, and for this reason, canals were preferred. Presenting an alternate means of transporting goods, Kellett introduces the use of canals that were constructed 25 years before railways and continued to be a better fit for transportation long after their introduction and while canals harboured their own problems (Mukerji 2013), they dimmed in significance and were more practical when placed by railways.

Discussing and presenting issues associated with that of the establishment of railways, Kellett’s text introduces the flaws of the system and the varying issues that ameliorated the introduction of modern transportation. From this reading it can be deduced that the development of cities needs to be conducted with careful consideration and intricate planning to ensure that the transition is a positive change that reduces issues as opposed to created more.

References:

Dickens, C 1848, Dombey and Son, Bradley & Evans, England.

Elliot, G 1874, Middlemarch, England, Oxford University Press.

Hardy, T 1895, Jude the Obscure, Osgood, Mcllvaine, & Co..

Kellett, J.R 1969, The Impact of Railways on Victorian Cities, Oxon, Routledge, pp. 337 - 353.

Mukerji, C 2013, ‘Cartography, Entrepreneurialism, and Power in the Reign of Louis XIV. The Case of the Canal du Midi’, in P Smith & P Findlen, Merchants and Marvels: Commerce Science and Art in Early Modern Europe, Hoobken:Taylor and Francis, pp. 248 - 276.