Editing Henry Mayhew (section)

===Formative work===
In 1842, Mayhew contributed to the pioneering ''[[Illustrated London News]]''. By this time, he had become reasonably secure financially, had settled his debts, and married Jane Jerrold, the daughter of his friend [[Douglas Jerrold]].<ref>Taithe (1996), p. 11</ref> She lived until 1880.

====''London Labour and the London Poor''====
{{Main|London Labour and the London Poor}}
The articles comprising ''London Labour and the London Poor'' were initially collected into three volumes in 1851; the 1861 edition included a fourth volume, co-written with Bracebridge Hemyng, John Binny, and [[Andrew Halliday (journalist)|Andrew Halliday]], on the lives of prostitutes, thieves, and beggars. This extra volume took a more general and statistical approach to its subject than volumes one to three.

Mayhew wrote in volume one: "I shall consider the whole of the metropolitan poor under three separate phases, according as they ''will'' work, they ''can't'' work, and they ''won't'' work".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nils.lib.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A4000.01.0140 |title= &#124; DCA|website=nils.lib.tufts.edu |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050322222303/http://nils.lib.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A4000.01.0140 |archive-date=22 March 2005}}</ref> He interviewed everyone – beggars, street-entertainers (such as Punch and Judy men), market traders, prostitutes, labourers, [[sweatshop]] workers, even down to the "[[mudlark]]s" who searched the stinking mud on the banks of the [[River Thames]] for wood, metal, rope, and coal from passing ships, and the "pure-finders" who gathered dog faeces to sell to [[tanner (occupation)|tanner]]s. He described their clothes, how and where they lived, their entertainments and customs, and made detailed estimates of the numbers and incomes of those practising each trade. The books show how marginal and precarious many people's lives were, in what, at that time, was the richest city in the world.{{citation needed|date=November 2012}}

Mayhew's richly detailed descriptions give an impression of what the street markets of his day were like. An example from volume one:

{{blockquote|The pavement and the road are crowded with purchasers and street-sellers. The housewife in her thick shawl, with the market-basket on her arm, walks slowly on, stopping now to look at the stall of caps, and now to cheapen a bunch of greens. Little boys, holding three or four onions in their hand, creep between the people, wriggling their way through every interstice, and asking for custom in whining tones, as if seeking charity. Then the tumult of the thousand different cries of the eager dealers, all shouting at the top of their voices, at one and the same time, is almost bewildering. "So-old again," roars one. "Chestnuts all'ot, a penny a score," bawls another. "An 'aypenny a skin, blacking," squeaks a boy. "Buy, buy, buy, buy, buy– bu-u-uy!" cries the butcher. "[[Paper quire#Quire|Half-quire]] of paper for a penny," bellows the street stationer. "An 'aypenny a lot ing-uns." “Twopence a pound grapes." “Three a penny Yarmouth bloaters." “Who'll buy a bonnet for fourpence?" “Pick 'em out cheap here! three pair for a halfpenny, bootlaces." “Now's your time! beautiful whelks, a penny a lot." “Here's ha'p‘orths," shouts the perambulating confectioner. "Come and look at 'em! here's toasters!" bellows one with a Yarmouth bloater stuck on a [[toasting fork]]. "Penny a lot, fine russets," calls the apple woman: and so the Babel goes on.<ref>Mayhew, Henry 1851–1861. ''London Labour and the London Poor''. Researched and written, variously, with J. Binny, B. Hemyng and A. Halliday.</ref>}}

Some of the London street traders did not like the way Mayhew wrote about them. In spring/summer 1851, they established a Street Trader's Protection Association to guard themselves against the journalist.<ref>Münch (2017)</ref>