[-21-]
CHAPTER IV.
CAPTAIN HAY'S report "on the Operation of the Common
Lodging- House Act" in 1853, states that up to December, 1852, 3,300
persons keeping common lodging-houses, accommodating nearly 50,000 nightly
lodgers, were under police inspection; and the number is now very much greater.
The cases given serve to show over what a wide district the dreadful state of
things already set forth by us extends. In a small room in Rosemary-lane, near
the Tower, fourteen adults were sleeping on the floor without any partition or
regard to decency; and in an apartment in Church-lane, St. Giles's, not 15 feet
square, were thirty-seven men, women, and children, all huddled together on
the floor.
As Captain Hay truly says, "The efforts of parties well
inclined to promote the well-being of society will be of little avail whilst
there are such causes in operation, sufficient to counteract all the exertions
made to this end. Churches, schools, free libraries, and mechanics' institutes,
all excellent in themselves, will be found to have but small results, whilst
large masses of the population grow up so immersed in ignorance and vice as to
look on it with complacency, and to live in it without disgust."
What we have ourselves seen surpasses belief, and, moreover,
has features which prevent us from going into details of the worst portion.
Under the pressure of professional occupations which absorbed the day, we have,
during the night, under a sense of duty, penetrated some of the darkest recesses
of Whitechapel and its neighbourhood, and have seen men and women under
circumstances wherein virtue is impossible, and indulgence in vice or the
commission of crime seems scarcely other than natural.
O you! who, early taught what is right, and, out of reach of
want, are comparatively little tempted, - who are restrained as well by fear of
the opinion of your class as by your knowledge and religion, - view with charity
and mercy the errors of your less fortunate brethren.
Let these scenes, however, pass. We will not pain our readers
with the details, but will wait for the morning, and be statistical and cool.
The eastern portion of London, comprising the districts of
Bishopsgate-street, Whitechapel, Goodman's-fields, Radcliffe-highway, Wapping,
Commercial-road, Mile-end, Spitalflelds, and Bethnal-green, extending over a
large surface, and containing an immense population, is unknown land to many
thousands. To form an idea of its continued rows of lanes and streets, let our
readers refer to the map of London, and they will not fail to be struck with the
size of this large portion of the [-22-] metropolis,
which is to a sad extent benighted and neglected. We will take a very small part
of this space, viz., Bishopsgate-street and part of Whitechapel, and will
commence with New-court, Charles-row, near Whitechapel church, - a court
containing eight houses, with two rooms in each. This place has long been
inhabited by low Irish, and has been the plague of the whole district. The
condition of the houses is bad; and they contained, before the interference of
the police, not less than 300 men, women, and children. There was only one place
of convenience for 300 persons. The condition of the court at the time of our
visit was shocking. The water was served, or wasted rather, half an hour each
day, and this was almost the whole supply; for only a small cask was placed for
the permanent reception of water. This court has lately been purchased by a
neighbouring manufacturer, for the purpose of extending his premises; and by
this time, the whole of the tenants may have been dispersed to other places. An
Irishman, of pale and unhealthy countenance, evidently half fed, said, when he
left that place he did not know where to go; he would be obliged to "intrude
upon his friends." He had a wife and one child : two little children
had died of fever. The young child was bleached, and although fifteen months
old, did not look more than six or seven months. The face of the woman was
disfigured by disease. A middle-aged woman, who said she had been turned out of
the workhouse, was lying on the floor on a quantity of shavings. The charge for
a bed of shavings amongst this class of poor people is one penny a day and
night. The other inmates of this house had left, and the whole had to be turned
out next morning the week's rent of the two wretched rooms in this house was 2s.
6d.: the Irishman who kept the house works at Covent-garden market,-traversing
the long distance from this place to the market throughout the working days as
early as four o'clock in the morning: from December till the beginning or middle
of March (except Christmas week) his work is "very bad." He did not
think that during the months stated his average earnings amounted to more than
2s. 6d. or 3s. a week; some days he did not even get 3d. : he had been
obliged to live this distance from Covent-garden market in consequence of not
being able to meet the expense of rent nearer, or rather was not able to find a
place, for which he could help to pay by means of sub-letting. If obliged to
obtain shelter in a lodging-house, he would be charged 3d. a night for himself,
3d. for his wife, and 1½d. for the child: this would be 7½d. a night,
or 4s. 4½d. a week (much more than the man's present income.)
Serjeant Price, an officer of the metropolitan police force,
who had been intrusted with the direction of the lodging-houses in this
district, gave this account of the former condition of New-court :-.-House No 1.
ground-floor, Haslin and his wife, - with daughters aged 17, 14, and 8; visible
means of living, - by selling lucifer matches in the streets. Other floor,
Flinden, his wife, a boy 17, and a girl 15, who sold onions and lucifers: the
father had been out of work for three [-23-] years.
No. 2. John Collins paid 1s. 3d. per week for his room (ground-floor), occupied
by the keeper, John Collins, his wife, boys 16 and 10, and girl 17, sleeping on
the floor; no bedsteads, no bedding. Above, Bridget Horsam, a boy 10 years old,
and Joanna Collins, the keeper's sister, sleeping on the floor; in all, eight
persons in this house, the space of the two rooms sufficient for the
accommodation of three persons, allowing 30 superficial feet for each. The house
was dirty, dilapidated, and swarming with vermin: this was the condition of two
houses after they had been thinned by the police. The following is an
account of part of a house of ten rooms in this neighbourhood (Rosemary-lane)
let to the poor Irish at 1s. 8d. per week: one of these rooms, kept by
Daniel Jones, contained five beds, as they were called; but which, in fact, were
nothing but bundles of rags, similar to those described in Clerkenwell. In
"Bed" No. 1, Daniel Jones, the keeper, his wife, and children aged 8,
7, and 5 years.- "Bed" No. 2, occupied by Cornelius
Toomey (paid 6d. a week to the keeper), John and Peter Shea, in the same bed,
paid 6d. each: 1s. 6d. for this bed. -"Bed" No. 3, John Sullivan and
his wife, paying 7d. per week.- "Bed" No. 4, Cornelius
Haggerty, his wife, boy 13, and girl 11; pays 1s. per week.- "Bed" No.
5, Patrick Kelly and wife, paying 11d. : in all, 14 persons in one room ;
the original rent, 1s. 6d. The keeper received from lodgers 4s. per week.
At the time of Serjeant Price's visit (24th of August, 1852) the greater portion
of these persons were, in a state almost of nudity, huddled in this manner
together.
Charles-row, in which is situated the court above described,
is a narrow street of small houses, occupied at one end by poor Irish, and at
the other by German musicians, sugar-bakers, &c., who live very thickly
together.
In many streets adjoining are places over-populated and very
unwholesome; indeed, Whitechapel church may be considered to be the centre of an
immense mass of poverty, vice, and crime. Whitechapel is on the north and south
divided by many streets and narrow courts, which are inhabited by very poor
people, many of whom are weavers, Irish tailors, Jews, costermongers, dock
labourers, and thieves ; the great extent of destitution is alarming.
For an hour or more we traversed narrow alleys and places
which do not deserve the name of streets. Some of the courts were in decent
condition; but, although in most instances the places within the liberties of
the city are provided with main drains, many of them, owing to bad pavement and
the dirty habits of the people, were partly strewed with decaying matter and
stagnant water. In a narrow passage near "Rag-fair," there is a piece
of land in a close neighbourhood, covered with the refuse of fish, vegetables,
broken baskets, dead cats and dogs, piled up, enough to create a fever in any
neighbourhood. Before the summer weather sets in, a remedy for such abuses
should be found. In most of the small courts in this neighbourhood the landlord
obtains a rent of 3s., 3s. 6d., and even 4s. [-24-]
for two very small rooms, and surely ought to attend to the provision of
proper drainage and paving.
It seems difficult to discover the climax of London poverty
and destitution. In every depth there is a deeper still. The prices of various
kinds of provisions in these neighbourhoods give a forcible notion of the
condition of their swarming population. In most of these neighbourhoods you can
purchase a halfpenny worth of fish or a halfpenny worth of soup, and other
matters in proportion. The luxuries are singular in their price and character: a
farthing's worth of damaged oranges, for example, being hawked about the streets
and sold in shops. "Rag-fair," that well-known mart for every
description of second-hand clothing, will supply good habits at any price.
If some of our readers wish to judge for themselves,
Cutler-street, a turning in Houndsditch, will lead them to the district. It is a
curious scene : hundreds of people are assembled in the streets, which are so
thickly covered with merchandise, that it is difficult to step along without
treading on heaps of gowns, shawls, bonnets, shoes, and articles of men's
attire. "Here Greek meets Greek," and not without "the tug of
war." No person can form an idea of this anomalous multitude but by a
visit. All poor and squalid; the children pinched and bleached, not
"brought up," but, as Lamb says, "dragged up." Here may be
seen in one of the markets, formed by some of the pillars and covering of the
Hyde-park Exhibition, the great dealer, standing in his well-known place, and
purchasing many cart- loads of clothing for exportation to the colonies,
Ireland, and elsewhere; and other dealers of various grades, until we reach the
merchant whose capital is less than a shilling, and who daily gets a living by
the purchase of shoes, hats, and other matters, the uses of which, looking at
their condition, it would be difficult to guess. Interesting as is this phase of
London life, it would be foreign to our present purpose greatly to extend
particulars : we cannot, however, avoid saying something more, our object being
to show, by the provision of clothing made at "Rag-fair," the poverty
of a class.* (* There is another Rag-fair of ancient date, near the Tower, -
Rosemary-lane.)
One of the London missionaries (a body whose valuable
services can only be properly appreciated by those who understand the nature and
extent of the evil to which we are directing attention) says:-
"Persons who are accustomed to run up heavy bills at
fashionable tailors' and milliners', will scarcely believe the sums for which
the classes we are describing are able to purchase the same articles for their
own rank in life."
A missionary who recently explored Rag-fair, reported that a
man and his wife might be clothed from head to foot for from 10s. to 15s. Another
missionary stated that 8s. would buy every article of clothing required by
either a man or a woman, singly. In Pennant's time it was less. He says
(speaking of the other Rag-fair), that the dealer pointed out a man to him, and
said: "Look at him. I have clothed [-25-] him
for fourteen-pence. A third missionary reported : "There is as great a
variety of articles in pattern, and shape, and size, as I think could be found
in any draper's shop in London." The mother may go to "Rag-fair"
with the whole of her family, both boys and girls,- yes, and her husband, too,
and for a very few shillings deck them out from top to toe. I have no doubt that
for a man and his wife, and five or six children, £1 at their disposal,
judiciously laid out, would purchase them all an entire change. This may appear
to some an exaggeration: but I actually overheard a conversation in which two
women were trying to bargain for a child's frock; the sum asked for it was 1½d.
and the sum offered was a penny, and they parted on the difference.
The following is the copy of the
bill delivered by the dealer to one of the missionaries, who was requested to
supply a suit of clothes for a man and woman whom he had persuaded to get
married several years after the right time:-
"A full linen-fronted
shirt, very elegant . . . . . 6d.
A pair of warm worsted stockings . .
. . .1d
A pair of light-coloured trousers . .
. . . 6d
A black cloth waistcoat . . . . . 3d
A pair of white cotton braces . . . .
. 1d
A pair of low shoes . . . . .1d
A black silk velvet stock . . . . .
1d
A black beaver, fly-fronted,
double-breasted paletot coat, lined with silk, a very superior article . . . . .
1s. 6d
A cloth cap, bound with a figured
band . . . . . 1d
A pair of black cloth gloves . . . .
. 1d
[Total] 3s. 3d.
The man had been educated, and could speak no fewer than five
languages; by profession he was, then, however, nothing but a dust-hill raker.
The bill delivered for the bride's costume was as follows
"A shift . . . . . 1d
A pair of stays . . . . . 2d
A flannel petticoat . . . . . 4d
A black Orleans ditto . . . . . 4d
A pair of white cotton stockings . .
. . . 1d
A very good light-coloured cotton
gown . . . . . 10d
A pair of single-soled slippers, with
spring heels . . . . . 2d
A double-dyed bonnet, including a
neat cap . . . . . 2d
A pair of white cotton gloves . . . .
. 1d
A lady's green silk paletot, lined
with crimson silk, trimmed with black . . . . . 10d
[Total] 3s. 1d.
The goods were selected by the missionary, and at the bottom
of the bills the merchant marked:-
[-26-] "P.S.-Will be very happy
to supply as many as you can find at the same prices."
Petticoat-lane, not long before Strype wrote, had hedge-rows
and elm-trees on both sides, "with pleasant fields to walk in." Close
by, in Gravel-lane, till recently, stood the "Spanish Ambassador's
house." Many of the courts and alleys leading out of Petticoat-lane now are
in a miserable state. At each corner of the lane where
it opens into
Fig. 6. - The Dead and the Living : Bishopsgate-street
District
Whitechapel High-street, is a public-house Many of the courts
out of Bishopsgate-street are also very bad. Maitland, speaking of some of the
alleys, &c., in Bishopsgate-street ward, describes them as
"inconsiderable," "small and ordinary," " long and
mean," "narrow and ordinary," &c.
[-27-] Since the time of
Maitland's survey (1735), the condition of these numerous alleys and lanes has
become worse. Dtiring a visit at night of some hours' duration, we found in the
interior of these dwellings varied and painful scenes of poverty. Some of the
inmates of these houses are Irish tailors, who are much overcrowded, and a great
plague to the magistrates and the police. Generally speaking, the people of this
district, although struggling and very poor, have mostly some little stock of
furniture, and a desire to preserve appearances. In Half-moon-street, which
turns out of Bishopsgate-street, next the "Sir Paul Pindar," there are
courts of miserable character. The houses in "Thompson's-court" are in
a frightful condition, and in "Thompson's rents" they are even worse.
Order, cleanliness, or decency is out of the question.
Fig. 6. represents a scene which we have met with more than
once during our perambulations,-the coffin of a dead child in the midst of the
sleeping living. In a single room the family sleep, work, eat, and perform the
various duties of life in company with the dead, and the evil is increased by
the length of time the poverty of parties obliges them to retain the corpse
until what they consider proper preparations have been made for the funeral:
this seldom takes place in less than a week; instances have been known of the
interment having been put off for twelve days or a fortnight. This is a
difficult matter to deal with, for the prejudices of the uninstructed are strong
against the removal of the bodies until they are taken to the graveyard. It is
most desirable that the feeling should be overcome, and proper places be
provided for the reception and retention of the dead until the proper time for
interment.
The contemplation of the swarms of children which fill the
miserable dens we are describing is saddening in the extreme, reflecting, as one
naturally does, on what their career, with very few exceptions, must be,
and what it should and might be.
The friends of the poor child in its little coffin may
rejoice!