 The retail trade was largely serviced by itinerant street sellers or costermongers.In central London, costermongers worked along designated routes, selling door-to-door or by trading from some 36 unauthorised, but highly organised markets situated along major thoroughfares or meeting places such as Whitecross Street, Covent Garden and Leather Lane.In an attempt to regulate street trading, a number of authorised retail markets were built during the 19th century with limited success.