Questioning LondonThe Voices Alternative CensusLondon’s Voices is a three-year programme of exhibitions, activities and events, opening up the Museum of London’s rich oral history collection and involving Londoners from many different social and cultural backgrounds. It explores, reflects and celebrates London’s great diversity through the voices, memories and opinions of Londoners. Running from March 2001 until June 2004, London’s Voices is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. Between November 2001 and May 2002, a London’s Voices exhibition was displayed at the Museum of London. The exhibition was based entirely upon oral history, showcasing its value and exploring its potential, while examining the twentieth century history of London and particularly the experiences of newcomers to London. As part of the exhibition, to enable visitors to respond with their own stories and opinions, they were invited to complete a questionnaire, entitled The Voices Alternative Census It asked them about themselves, their past, present and future, and about their views on the city. More than 3,400 people completed the questionnaire, of whom 2,659 lived in London at the time. This report focuses on a selection of the questions and provides a summary of the responses given by Londoners.
Question: Are you male or female? 2656 people answered this question:
Question: When were you born? 2602 people answered this question: 2653 people answered this question: 2057 of them were aged 16 or over:
596 were aged under 16:
Of the 2653 people of all ages who answered, 537 people (20.2%) were born outside of Britain. 81 different countries were represented among the birthplaces of those people: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bosnia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Eritrea, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guinea, Guyana, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Somalia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad, Turkey, Uganda, United States of America, Uruguay, Venezuela, Vietnam, Western Sahara, Yugoslavia, Zambia, Zimbabwe. The most frequent countries of birth mentioned: [Note: due to the nature of the questionnaire, no guidelines were given as to what level of proficiency denoted ‘speaking’ a language, so this was open to the interpretation of the respondents. It is likely that a range of different proficiencies is therefore encompassed. ] 1134 people (42.6% of those completing the questionnaire) knew at least one language other than English:
81 different languages were known: Afrikaans, Albanian, Anglo Saxon, Arabic, Basque, Bengali, Berber, British Sign Language, Cantonese, Castellano, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Esperanto, Fanti, Farsi, Finnish, French, French Patois (Creole), Ga, Gaelic, German, Greek, Gujarati, Guyanese, Hakka, Hausa, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Igbo, Indonesian, Iranian, Italian, Japanese, Kernewek, Kikuyu, Kinyarwandan, Kiswahili, Korean, Kurdish, Latin, Lebanese, Macedonian, Malay, Maltese, Mandarin, Maori, Norwegian, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Scots Gaelic, Serbian, Sindhi, Sinhalese, Slovak, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Swissgerman, Taiwanese, Tamil, Thai, Tok Pisin, Tui, Turkish, Twi (Akan), Ukrainian, Urdu, Vietnamese, Welsh, Yiddish, Yoruba. The most frequent languages mentioned:
Question: How would you describe your ethnic background? Often when completing a form designed for what is sometimes described as ‘ethnic monitoring’, people are asked to describe their ethnic background by choosing from a limited and defined selection of options. However this questionnaire deliberately left the question entirely open, allowing people to describe their ‘ethnic background’ in anyway they chose. Many people gave more detailed replies than the standard one- or two-word descriptions usually permitted. Indeed although the question asked specifically about ‘ethnic background’, many people also or exclusively used other means of describing their identity. The following are a few examples of responses that were given to this question: “Mine is just as ‘ethnic’, but all Euro. With Irish name, Scottish mother, and Austrian American Polish elements in my father’s background.” “UK Black – mother Jamaican, father Barbadian.” “Asian (Pakistan) and English (mixed race).” “Culturally Jewish – religion atheist.” “My mother is Catholic mixed Venezuelan and grew up in Trinidad. My father is Jewish and grew up in LA and is of Eastern European descent.” “White, perhaps Scottish, with some old London. My great-grandfather was a butcher in Deptford.” “White, middle-class family. Standard 2 kids, dogs, house in country and 2 cars.” “I was brought up in South Africa and never answer this question voluntarily.” “Mixed – mother from Austria, father from Cyprus. Never sure what to label myself.” “Parents were born and brought up in Lebanon. So a very Mediterranean upbringing, although liberal.”
2247 people answered this question. In undertaking some analysis of their answers, the aim was not to fit them into limited categories; instead it was to look at the ways in which they chose to describe themselves. 60% of respondents did describe their ethnic background, but the great majority also used another means by which to describe themselves, often their nationality or that of their parents or grandparents. Indeed slightly more people described their nationality than their ethnicity. Some people mentioned other aspects of their identity, for example their religion or their class. A number described themselves as Jewish. And some even specifically mentioned London or being a Londoner.
This question was completely open, with people free to give any answer that they liked. The following are examples of responses given to this question: “Improve our public transport system – cheap, safe and reliable, like other major capitals.” “Traffic – do something drastic to make it flow.” “Stop people dropping litter and using the streets as toilets.” “The amount of cars and angry people, of which I am one from time to time.” “Provide more affordable housing – it would help relieve most of London’s problems.” “Rid the place of the heroin and crack cocaine addicts that have made London a scarier and seedier place to live.” “Eradicate homelessness – everyone should have a clean warm bed to sleep in.” “Create harmony and understanding among all the nationalities.” “The class system, the massive gap between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’, poor wages for basic jobs.” “Dirty pubs (dirty glasses, dirty upholstery, bad wine.” “Change Buckingham Palace into a theme park.” “Issue ID cards and remove undesirables.” “The lengthy legal process that Kosovans etc have to endure to determine their status.” “The boundaries and prejudice that surrounds people of different backgrounds.” “Oh, do not ask, I remember what we had and what we fought for.”
1554 people aged 16 or over answered this question (only the responses of those aged 16 or over were analysed for the purpose of this report). Perhaps inevitably given the openness of the question, some people made more than one comment about things that they would change. The answers provided were assigned to broad categories in order to identify the strongest themes:
Question: What would you like to do in the future? Do you have any unfulfilled ambitions? Again this question was completely open, with people free to answer in any way that they chose. The following are examples of responses given to this question: “Perhaps move back to Belfast – I love London but feel ‘in exile’, although when I go back I feel this (London) is my home; I’d like to visit Jamaica – it’s my ‘adopted’ place because I’ve lived in Brixton for so long.” “Publish my novel and win the lottery.” “Join my wife running a bed and breakfast place away from the rat race.” “Reach a stage in my career that I am fulfilled materially, socially and the work is interesting.” “Become a qualified reflexologist at the age of 61!” “Have children who want to take an active part in the world.” “Travel, make socially responsible art.” “I’d like to run my own business and learn as much as I can about the craft of bricklaying.” “Lots of naughty sex.” “I would like to become a Mercedes owner.” “Be able to legally marry my girlfriend.” “To leave a mark – improve inter-racial, inter-cultural understanding.” “Make a new and better friendship with my sisters.” “I’d love to be able to retrain for a different career but am unable to afford it, would be nice to have own home but also completely impossible.” “Same job but more time for hobbies.” “Be really good at something.” “My fantasy is to have my obituary in The Times.”
1380 people aged 16 or over answered this question (only the responses of those aged 16 or over were analysed for the purpose of this report), with some giving more than one answer. The answers provided were assigned to broad categories in order to identify the strongest themes:
Question: When and where were you most happy? As throughout the questionnaire, this question was entirely open. The following are examples of responses given to this question: “When I was in Mozambique playing with local kids on the beach – none of us spoke the same language but we had a great time.” “Usually around 9pm on Thursday night in the Market Porter in Middlesex Street en route to Brick Lane for a curry!” “Petticoat Lane on a Sunday, probably around 1967, eating honeycomb from a stall and looking at the puppies for sale.” “Swimming in the sea at Holkham Beach with no clothes on, two years ago on the last day of summer.” “Hillyfields SE4 when my daughter ran out of school with brilliant A-Level results – because she was so happy!” “Just at home with good telly and a sherbet fountain or two.” “When I obtained my first degree at university.” “When my boyfriend told me he loved me and wanted to spend the rest of his life with me.” “At the side of my best friend as she gave birth to her first child (my ‘oddson’ Ben).” “I can’t think of a particular situation, but I’m sure it was brief.” “1970s East London in political campaigns.” “Poole Park, 1978, a summer’s day, I forgot myself, I thought I was someone else, someone good.” “1979, aged 18, in London during ‘mod revival’ and singing in a group.” “As a 10 year old playing football, aged 21 living in Europe, kissing Sandra in Tesco’s.” “as an evacuee, as a retiree.”
1410 people aged 16 or over answered this question (only the responses of those aged 16 or over were analysed for the purpose of this report), with some giving more than one answer. The answers provided were assigned to broad categories in order to identify the strongest themes: Question: Which living person do you most admire? Very few people answering this question did more than simply name the living person that they most admired. However a few did give some reasons for their choices: “Nelson Mandela – to survive 27 years in prison and not be full of anger.” “My mum – she has the patience of a saint and is the backbone of our family.” “My wife for being strong willed.” “My husband, he inspires me.” “Living, hmm… Thatcher for her grit, Mandela for his policies.” “The Queen, I think – for doing a difficult job with dignity in spite of constant criticism.” “Is there anyone left to admire – we have no heroes any more!” “Tony Benn – politics; Judi Dench – perfection.” “Archbishop Desmond Tutu springs to mind as a role model and someone who lives his faith.” “My eldest daughter, for having the strength to leave a violent relationship and moving on with her life.” “The Burmese lady who stands against tyranny – Aung San Suu Kyi.” “My Polish grandmother who was taken from Poland in World War Two to Siberia in Russia by foot.” “Simon Weston – Falklands veteran, burnt, rebuilt his life, not bitter, etc, etc.” “Anyone who gives up their time to promote human rights causes, and Bob Taylor (West Bromwich Albion striker).”
1124 people aged 16 or over answered this question (only the responses of those aged 16 or over were analysed for the purpose of this report), with a few giving more than one answer. This question had the lowest per cent of people answering and therefore appears to have been the question that caused most difficulty.
Question: How would you like to be remembered? This question was completely open, with people free to answer in any way they chose. The following are examples of answers given to this question: “As quite a decent sort of bloke who always stood his round and opened doors for ladies.” “As a considerate person – I was going to say ‘good person’ but there is no market for good girls.” “Clever, zany, funny and good at baking.” “An eccentric woman with a heart of gold who died with a twinkle in her eye and contentment on her face.” “For shaking our society out of complacency and making people aware of the things they can do that make the world a better place to live in and raise the next generation.” “With love by my family and friends and for making some positive contribution to society by everyone else.” “As a good mother and a good solicitor who helped people gain justice and maybe as the first woman Labour Prime Minister!” “As a miserable old devil who was always right.” ”As an Evertonian and Marxist.” “As the father of the man who scored the winning goal for England in the 2022 World Cup.” “I always said my epitaph should read: ‘she always balanced her books’.” “I fought for my country.” “As a genius or a bastard.”
1404 people aged 16 or over answered this question (only the responses of people aged 16 or over were analysed for the purpose of this report). Many listed several characteristics for which they would like to be remembered. Analysing these responses required the highest degree of interpretation for any of these qualitative questions. Some particular characteristics did emerge:
The Museum of London would like to thank all of those people who took the time and the thought to complete a questionnaire. For further information about anything presented in this report or about the project as a whole, please visit the London’s Voices website at: www.museumoflondon.org.uk/archive/londonsvoices or contact: The Oral History Section
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