Sergeant French is not giving legal facts, they're not reviewing the deeds to see who owns the land or leases. Sergeant French is providing police attitudes and opinion.
The police attitude Sergeant French provided in 1898 was:
Source: https://booth.lse.ac.uk/notebooks/b3...63%2C1905.3564
By the Dorset Street district belongs to a dweller in it 'MacCarthy' what is meant is not that McCarthy owns every house in the district, merely that those streets are under his control.
The police attitude Sergeant French provided in 1898 was:
As the Dorset Street district belongs to a dweller in it 'MacCarthy' so this belongs to 'Geringer' inhabitant of Little Pearl Street.
By the Dorset Street district belongs to a dweller in it 'MacCarthy' what is meant is not that McCarthy owns every house in the district, merely that those streets are under his control.
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