Condemed Houses in Watergate Street, late 1890's

The lease holder of the two houses ctr. (not the shop) is Mr C. J. Young, 70 years of age. He had a crippled wife and a 12 year old daughter who where dependent upon him. Mr Young had put the whole of his life's savings into these two houses anticipating some revenue in his old age. Now they were included in an order for demolition by the London County Council who paid £5!! compensation for the loss of his two houses!! It was proposed and carried out to build flats where these houses once stood. 

This photo also shows the west side of Watergate street which was pulled down to build flats. The shop was owned by a long standing resident of the area, a Mr Henry Wells, who ran a thriving Bakery business from the premises