Street music in London in the nineteenth century: ‘Evidence’ from Charles Dickens, Charles Babbage and Lucy Broadwood

What evidence is there that street music was widespread, problematic and immoral in nineteenth century London? This article re-examines a substantial literature that has been used to build a case or argument of the pervasive notion that street music was a curse in nineteenth-century London. Looking at a variety of sources afresh the article argues that historical evidence has often been misunderstood, misread or misconstrued in establishing historical narratives about street music in nineteenth-century London.