[1] It seems likely that street trading established itself on Leather Lane at this time to cater to the needs of those refugees and to provide employment for the traders who had lost their normal pitches.

From his, the earliest examinations of street markets, food that could be consumed on the spot formed an important part of their offer with fried fish, pies, and (from the 1830s) baked potatoes feeding factory and office workers.

Mayhew describes a, short-lived, attempt by some of the shopkeepers to have the street traders removed that took place shortly before his survey: “Leather-lane,” I was told, “looked like a desert compared to what it was.

[3]: 99–100  The, brief, closure of Leather Lane inspired a contemporary ballad: A rummy saintly lot is there, A domineering crew, A Butcher, and a Baker, And an Undertaker too, Besides a cove who deals in wood, And makes his bundles small, And looks as black on Sunday As the Undertaker's pall.

[5] In 1893 the London County Council’s Public Control Committee states that the Market “has existed since time immemorial” and describes 148 stalls selling: fish and meat, flowers, fruit & veg, sweets, drapery, earthenware, old clothes, old books, ironware, and footwear.

In the mid-1930s Mary Benedetta found the market still a mix of fresh and ready-to-eat food, flowers and plants, and household goods.

The licensing system led to issues with subletting of stalls where due to a sixteen-year waiting list for licences, people on the waiting list would rent their pitch to actual traders whilst remaining the technical licensee.

Middle Eastern food proliferated on the market in both shops and stalls leading to competitions to determine the best falafel available.