Doorplate, chimney sweep's doorplate

This brass nameplate was hung outside the premises of C. Smith, chimney sweep & nightman based at 24 St Ann's Court, Soho. As well as being engraved with the name and address of C.Smith the nameplate also includes an embossed coat of arms and the inscription 'To the Union Club House Trafalgar Sqr & the Club Chambers Regent Street'. Presumably this refers to two significant clients of the sweep & nightman. The nameplate is mounted on a mahogany backboard.
The associated trades of chimney sweep and nightman played a key role in keeping London clean. Nightmen removed sewage from London's cess pools and public 'privy' pits. Working during the dead of night to cause least disruption they piled the sewage into carts and transported it away to the countryside where it was often spread on fields.

The nameplate dates from about the mid-19th century. By this time the employment of child chimney sweeps was illegal, an act of parliament in 1834 having raised the age of apprenticeship to 14 years.