Kris Butler Author Talk • Drink Maps in Victorian Britain

Kris Butler is a lawyer, an exam-certified beer judge, past president of the Boston Wort Processors (a homebrew club) and the Boston Map Society, and is currently on the board of the Washington Map Society. She is an award-winning homebrewer and has judged beer competitions in the U.S. and Italy. In the field of maps, she has presented her research relating to the history of cartography in 10 countries. In spite of her love of maps, she has no sense of direction, especially after indulging in her love of beer.

Drink Maps in Victorian Britain explores how drink maps were published in cities such as Liverpool, Manchester, London, and Norwich to fight increasingly rampant alcohol consumption. Featuring red symbols to indicate where alcohol was sold, these street maps were posted in public places, submitted as evidence, sent to Members of Parliament, and published in newspapers to show just how inebriated a neighborhood could be. They promoted the message that having fewer places to buy alcohol was the answer to reducing widespread crime, poverty, and sickness. And they worked—at first. After consulting a drink map in one town, judges decided to close half the licensed shops because even then no one had to walk more than two minutes to buy a beer.

Illustrated with original maps, advertisements, and temperance propaganda, their brief history is told amidst a tangle of licensing laws, rogue magistrates, irate brewers, ardent temperance organizers, and accounts of the complex role alcohol played across all levels of Victorian society.