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the history of Leyton and Leytonstone
from . dot to … dots – with plenty of spaces
the later Victorian and Edwardian times 1890 to 1919
The Leyton Ratepayers’ Association
The first generations to move into Leyton as a new area of mass housing had a strong interest in the installation of services such as sewerage pipes and disposal, and many must have sympathised with the wish to mark the new community with a grand Town Hall. On the other hand there was more than usual dislike of taxation. The Leyton Ratepayers Association was formed in 1903 and its early life was dominated by a campaign, in conjunction with like-minded people in West Ham, to reduce expenditure by the West Ham Poor Law Union Guardians, including exposure of corruption. One of the 40 West Ham Poor Law Union Guardians killed himself and 5 were sentenced to penal servitude in 1907. The Leyton Ratepayers Association had 2 candidates elected to the Urban District Council in 1904. It undertook directly or through representation on committees a range of activities that included encouraging the planting of street trees, using unemployed men to extend Hollow Ponds, removing children from the West Ham Union Workhouse to small homes, and persuading the Post Office, the Metropolitan Police and the Great Eastern Railway Company to upgrade local services.
