] 2. Did the word "cheap" have the same connotation then as it does now? Is that what made Cheapside so abhorrent to the Superior Sisters?

The origin of Cheapside goes back to Anglo-Saxon times - a "cheap" was a market. It was a well known street because it was a main thoroughfare. However, by the 18th century, Cheapside was on the fringes of part the city of London which was considered respectable. To the west of St Pauls, the area around Ludgate Hill through to St Giles was a notorious rookery (no-go area) and well known for its houses of ill-repute. The Fleet debtors prison was here, and the Fleet itself (then a noxious smelling river).