In working-class districts of all British industrial cities row housing was the most common form of dwelling. Originally built with two rooms upstairs and two rooms downstairs as single family residences, such buildings were often subdivided in poorer districts to accommodate three or more families, each living in a single room. The population of London in 1911 when this photograph was taken was seven and one quarter million. The population of Ontario was two and one half million. Children growing up in the slums did not have yards or parks in which to play but their environment was not ordinarily the violent disorderly place middle-class visitors described. In this photograph the youngsters all appear to be warmly dressed. Older brothers and sisters are looking after younger children. The mother in each household has whitewashed her front steps and the low brick by her door in order to define the boundary between her clean household and the grime of the streets.
