Journey to St. Giles Slum (The Worst Rookery in Victorian London)
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- Äas pĆidĂĄn 28. 08. 2021
- St. Giles slum was overcrowded with filthy hovels, gin shops and London's lower classes. We take a visit into perhaps the worst rookery in Victorian Britain with Henry Mayhew to hear his first-hand account of the wretched housing conditions and lives of its inhabitants. From costermongers to thieves and prostitutes these are the people of St. Giles, London.
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CC BY - Halfpenny dinners for poor children in East London; Jonathan Wild, the thief-taker, sitting on a cart, is pelted; Attic occupied by a family of ten persons; Illustration depicting cramped and squalid housing conditions; A scene in a beer shop with a young thief gambling; A scene in a dance hall; A Lodging House in Field Lane, Water tank in St.Giles in the Fields; Poor people having dinner in a workhouse by Wellcome Collection
CC BY-SA The Old Nichols 1890 and 2016 by Jason C. McDonald
#VictorianLondon #VictorianDocumentary #VictorianLondonDocumentary #VictorianEraDocumentary #FactFeast #VictorianLife #VictorianSlums #Victorian #19thCentury #StGilesSlum #StGilesRookery
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wots a Cadgger
@@francocosentino8514 I don't know about then, but in the 1960s when I first heard the word in London growing in up, a cadger is like a Ponce trying to get money or something for nothing or no service.
Like a begger, but with no intention of repaying money given to them, a scrounger prehaps!
My bedroom is 10x12 feet. I can't imagine having sixteen people in it for five minutes, let alone having that many *living* in this space.
I know! I had a University dorm that was 11x11 square feet with 4 girls and that was a tight fit!
It's nearly beyond belief that so many people lived in these conditions. That they survived and raised children gives me greater respect for the human immune system.
Wouldn't be ere would weđ
@@lovemesomepickles Sounds like YOU need to go, and have likely never been anywhere at all.
And I was lead to believe only certain people had it badđ„Žđ„Žđ
@@lovemesomepickles the slums of Industrial Age Europe were far filthier and disease ridden than any African swamp or jungle could ever hope to be. Millions of people flocked to the cities from the countryside bringing with them all of their disease and illness, then were forced to live in the most cramped conditions imaginable in houses with 1 toilet for 5 large families to share; the air they breathed was smog ridden and carried all kinds of horrific chemicals in it. Health and hygiene was very much in its infancy and only just starting to become understood. Tbh there probably wasn't a worst time to be alive than Industrial age Europe, it was beyond horrible.
@@keighlancoe5933 I don't know where u r from,but if u like history,then try to visit a place called The Black Country Museum.Its awesome.To think that families of ten or more crowded into those tiny little houses.Really incredible.
As much as the Victorian Era is one of my favorites, the plight of the poor is truly appalling. How they survived is a miracle
Life was very difficult for many then
The crawlers where the level beneath the street begets
@@dronespace as being recreated on the âundeserving poorâ
My Grandmother often went hungry as her father died when she was young. Her mother was an alcoholic and sold everything. She lost a sister and brother to Tuberculosis, which was rampant. She would strip a chicken until the bones were white, she never wasted a tiny bit. They have no idea of what real poverty is nowadays, if you had no money or job, you starved.
Thatâs a sobering and thought provoking story of the true meaning of poverty. Thank you for sharing.
My grandmother's father also died to tuberculosis when she was a baby and the mother got along by sewing. She had it rough too and lost some siblings. We tend to distance ourselves from their circumstances but if our grandmothers also died back then, we'd never be born. That's mindblowing that the possibility was so high.
I bet your Grandma is happy how its changed
You brought back memories. My mother would strip a chicken down just the same and then put what was left of the carcass in a pan of soup to get every last bit of food possible. Times were tough but i dont recall them being unhappy.
Who is they? I think you'll find that millions of people across the planet know exactly what 'real' poverty looks like.
Still plenty of innocent children dying of starvation daily.
Can you imagine feeling exhausted, hungry, cold and wet or too hot and sweaty, with filthy clothes and not having the facilities or energy to get washed very often.
Add to this, living in a city where working conditions and health and safety, decent wages, etc were shocking by today's standards.
Draconian laws and regulations, constant worry about having an accident and descending into a social class that very few managed to escape.
Stinking and damp, vermin infested and badly built and maintained housing conditions, full families crowded into a single room, lack of comfort and cleanliness and hygiene, the constant stench of coal smoke, tanneries, open sewers, abbatoirs, chemical factories and the like, railway lines and heavy industries built next to people's homes.
If you were lucky you might be in a courtyard where everyone is in the same boat and helps each other, but too many people who's only crime was bad luck and poverty could end up in a very dangerous area, where workmen were robbed with violence as they left the pub's on Saturday night's with their weekly wages and gangs of young men terrorised their weaker neighbours.
The reality of the slums of London and Leeds, Glasgow, Dublin, Manchester, Sheffield, Birmingham and Newcastle upon Tyne etc is almost incomprehensible to us, but we are not that many generations removed from those times.
If this guy doesn't narrate audio books professionally, he definitely should be! His voice draws you in and is very entertaining! I could certainly listen to an entire book narrated by him!
đđ
Iâd like to hear him read some of Edgar Allan Poeâs works.
He should be working for Disney doing voice work for the haunted. mansion or Pirates of the Caribbean.
My great great grandfather lived in St. Giles for a while when he came down from Scotland looking for work, he was a furniture maker, he moved out before the area was demolished to build a railway terminus.
As our government seeks to dismantle the NHS, let us not forget that workhouses existed as an only option until as recently as 1949...
Amazing, the history of London is absolutely amazing From Bedlam, the Great Fire of 1666, the great plague, the slums, Sherlock Holmes and everything else is absolutely amazing.
My family emigrated to London from Cork, Ireland and lived in St Giles and later settled in Clerkenwell which was another very poor area of London populated by Irish and Italian immigrants. Its heartbreaking to think that they left their homeland in search of a better life only to face more hardship and terrible poverty.
I agree, imagine leaving beautiful Cork and landing in St Giles in London back in those terrible times...the Brits have a lot to answer for in my opinion. Cheers from Donegal!
@@dannymcmince Does that include the Brits that they starved and struggled with when they moved to London who lived no better than they did? I ask this because it's the story of my own family who are both Irish and British and lived in these areas of London and suffered living in the same buildings and not eating the same food and struggling day to day for work, shelter and food.
La vie-one of my female ancestors living originally off Drury Lane chose to be buried in Clerkenwell. The woman leading her religious group was buried there- albeit in a better run cemetery- so I assume thatâs why Jane followed.
This is the very London that inspired Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist novel! Even his very characters like Bill Sykes with his dog Bullseye come to life in this video!
Yesss!
Bullseye! "Eee's as willin as a Christian, strike me blind if 'ee aint"
Angela's Ashes was one of my favorite books to read, as were his others, Teacher Man and Tis. It was heart breaking to read what those poor people of Ireland went through. I can only imagine how bad it was in England as well. People today have no understanding of how hard people had it at one time.
Sur ART EN A PARLER Q LES ANGLAIS ON LAISSER CREVER DE FAMINE EN IRLANDE
â@@youngyhasard3219 vrai
Renay: Well there were a lot of Irish immigrants in St Giles. Imagine leaving poverty behind and arriving for a new start- in St Giles. It was so tough that it inspired Marx to write on the value of labour- he was renting nearby & observed the slums I believe. The worst in Europe so itâs said. PS just listened again through to the end and the narrator concurs with my own research. Interesting times thatâs for sure
I loved this. As a student at the LSE in the 1990s, all of the street names were familiar - my halls was on Charlotte Street, I walked daily to class along New Oxford Street. Never had a clue of the history. Thank you, really.
Itâs interesting to know about your connection to the area and Iâm glad the video was useful. Thanks for watching!
@@FactFeast It is all Starbucks and McDonalds these days - I was there a few weeks ago. Amazing how it has developed in 150 years.
I also went to LSE in the mid 2000s. Such great history in the area! Did you ever get into that teeny old Dickensian shop near Russel Square?
@@tenthousanddaysofgratitude No... do you mean "The Old Curiosity Shop", just near the Peacock Theatre. What did you study? I did law... in the days before student fees đ
all my paternal family lived in that area over 300 years, my irish gt gt grandparents lived in maypole alley by the crossbones graveyard
This area of London has a really interesting history.
Boy, - would I enjoy talking with you !
Some landlords still believe we are living in the Victorian time. Tenants without rights but paying horrendous rents sharing a tiny space....
The drawing of the man seated on the bench with his Bull Terrier beside him was I believe, Bill Sykes and his dog from Oliver Twist.
In your dreamworld
Love the old pics ,and am fascinated with the Victorian times brilliant video đ
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it.
One of the best historical channels there is
Iâm glad you enjoy the content. Thank you!
It shouldn't be forgotten that whilst these people lived in abject poverty with much shortened lives due to high child mortality, disease and malnutrition there were many who lived at the same time in the height of luxury, some even in palaces. How could these people sleep at night knowing the terrible conditions their fellow human beings were enduring?
Either they didn't care or belived the poor were poor because they were lazy and if only they worked harder they wouldn't be poor.
@@richardcormack4232 And that the poor were "sinful."
The more things change, the more they stay the same. the elite didn't care then and they don't care now.
It's called psychopaths. They run the world. They are severely damaged individuals
Yes, the Monarchy and slave drivers.
Sir,I presume you have acted??..a marvelous and most interesting voice
It's incredible what people can survive when they have no other option. Thankyou for yet another great vid. I absolutely adore this channel.
Thatâs very kind of you to say and much appreciated, thank you!
I often wonder how half of us got here when our ancestors when through such hard and gruelling times.
Watching 3min after you posted! You're the best! loving your channel! You're so calming to listen to and I love that you get into the narrative with voices etc. You're a wonderful presenter!
Obligatory FIRST!
Thank you so much!!
I agree.
People then were so resilient.i have great admiration for them.this has been so interesting and the illustrations are great.
I'm glad you enjoyed the presentation and narration. Thanks for taking the time to comment!
I found the art work to be fantastic! It really shows what the narrator is talking about in these stories. Thank you FF!
Thank you! Iâm glad you enjoyed watching.
This is so interesting! I'm brazilian but I live in London for 7 years now in which 5 of them working in Russell Square... I've walked around St. Giles countless times...
Itâs great you found this interesting, thank you! I also have a video about the slums of Seven Dials, near St. Giles should you be interested.
Modern life today has poor also Most people turn their heads today. It's hard to grasp how these people servived and raised children
Think about it. Our ancestors came from these folks. It boggles my mind that somehow my DNA survived to 2021
Another outstanding and informative video!! Itâs difficult to imagine the sheer numbers of the impoverished in those days . We would consider that an epidemic or a societal disaster in our current times. Itâs absolutely shameful of the landlords who charged people so much in such a manner that they were unable to afford basic necessities after their rent was paid. I sure hope those landlords had to answer for their actions when they met their maker!!
Iâm really glad you found the video informative. Thank you so much!
"We would consider"..???? Seriously? Have you ever seen Skid Row, Afghanistan or Tent Cities around the world?
@Andrew Phillips As a homeowner, I wouldnât know; but I do hope the unscrupulous answer for their heinous behavior!
That's how two of the Ripper's victims met their fate.They had no money for their night's lodgings so had to risk walking the night streets to earn it.Awful.
@@crystallong9625 I have now seen both sides of the coin regarding housing.Bought & rental.In the latter u cannot call your soul your own.
Constantly blaming the prostitutes when they were down to the last thing they had to sell; themselves. How many times was it noted in this video?
And it hasn't changed much. I work with sex workers and have seen cops laughing when they are physically fighting with each other. They are the last ones anybody sees as their own loved ones. They are everyone's daughters and mothers and friends.
Yes.they did what they had to do.they had no choice
And men still suck
I don't like the tone he says the word in either.
Maybe sending up the ânaughtyâ feel once associated with these poor women.
I've always felt sad about the industrial revolution, even though it led to the smartphone I use today. ( age 70 ). I'm fascinated by the survival techniques of humans as we evolve at a rate of knots.
Myself being autistic would have been in a place like this if I had been born back then. I thank God for the people that He sent to help me, that give me comfort and support every day.
The Lord be with you, Simon. Years ago as a traveling teacher in an arts program, I encountered an autistic lad who blessed me by choosing to sit on my lap. Then he brushed my hairy upper lip and said "mustache." The few teachers present were flabbergasted. It's a gift I've carried within me all my life. as we say in the hallowed halls of ivy, "You da man."
@@jamesrobiscoe1174 thanks and God bless you.
This video is just proof that God doesn't exist, or if he does he's a massive prick who doesn't care about his subjects and likes to make people suffer
I have a grown daughter who is autistic. High functioning but unable to handle money or tell time or cook for herself and worry daily how well she will be cared for when I pass. Thank god her dad (we are divorced) is just as determined as I am to see she isnât treated badly. Her sisters both already assume they will âgetâ her when we both pass and donât consider it a burden. To me thatâs the best thing in the world knowing Iâve raised good caring kids!
I am looking for something as a hobby to interest her (less CZcams time lol) any ideas would be hugely helpful!
@@free2bme520 I'm high functioning, struggle with money and really struggle in social citations. I am fortunate that I can cook and I volunteer as a chef at the local soup kitchen, it's really helped me.
I think that the best thing you can do for her is to find something that she is good at and likes doing, then see if there's anywhere local to you with a support system that she can put her skill to good use.
Love the history and pics thanks đđ
Thatâs great! Iâm glad you enjoyed watching.
I'm feeling so sorry for the bull terrier and detest the picture of Bill Sykes and his cowering dog.
Right?!?! The dog was just doing what dogs do and he was murdered for it!
He would have asked for that picture. It brought him pride and he wanted to relive it.
I know
incredible that we 'pretend' that UK has always been a clean and civilised country - what absolute nonsense
Not every Brit pretends such clap trap
Very colourful tale, I can almost sense the smell...
Great that you enjoyed the Victorian atmosphere. Thanks for watching.
My family (both sides) came to London from Ireland in the1840s..They settled in the St Lukes area of Holborn...Lousy St Lukes as it was called.. There were many stays in the Shoreditch workhouse.
Great content and excellent narration. Though I would like to point out that we never had a famine here in Ireland, one crop was blighted, the potatoe, but we had plenty of other crops, most of which were exported by the British establishment, leaving our native people to starve, therefore it actually was genocide.
Breda- Swiftâs A Midest Proposal was a biting satire you might enjoy. Some people actually wrote to newspapers to support the ghastly âproposalâ, thus revealing the very attitudes Swift was addressing. Think he had to leave London until the fuss settled. Good on him.
As Australian, I can tell you unless one does some research, it remains said that it was a potato famine, not the English did to my Irish ancestors, lucky one came to Australia and survived.
If someone had shown these pictures to every indigenous tribe and nation in The UKs crosshair and told them this was what they called civilization I could only imagine how harder everyone would have fought against the Empire.
Fascinating stuff! Iâve heard of St Giles before but never in this amount of detail. God, how those people must have suffered.
@Fact Feast - Your videos are superb! I appreciate and thoroughly enjoy every moment of them! Your insights into the past and your stellar narration is what always keeps me coming back! Thank you kindly! I look forward to listening to each of your videos as they are some of my favorite on CZcams
Fantastic presentation. Thank you for your hard work ***
Youâre welcome. Iâm really glad you enjoyed watching!
Ironically St.Giles is now an incredibly expensive part of London, along with Covent Garden, formerly known as Seven Dials
The old rookeries of the West End were eventually demolished and gentrified. Not so much the later East End slums, though some of the ones near the City of London have expensive property now.
It's very grateful I am for having been born in this era!
Strange how there are no comments along the lines of "Ooh, look how much better it was back then, wish i could visit or live in that era." Yet watch a video of old London scenes such as Hyde Park showing rich Victorians and comment section is littered with such comments
Your videos make my day. Thank you.
You are so kind. Thank you!
Delightful channel, - choice of subjects to be sure.
Too many people are but wont to only imagine that such places truly existed.
They did - they did indeed !
I possess a very keen interest in St. Giles and the like.
Thank you so very much for a wonderful post.
Thank you! Iâm glad you like the content. I will look at more slums in future.
I can't get enough of your videos.
Your voice in amazing
A true art..
I pick up a bit of Irish in your voice
Thank you! Itâs great you enjoy the narration. Yes, you guessed correctly.
As usual your videos are brilliant! This time I was surprised by the mention of my 28th great grandmother Matilda.
Thatâs an interesting connection. Thanks for watching!
@@FactFeast It's always a pleasure to watch your videos!
Absolutely brilliant channel so glad I found it đ
Welcome to the channel!
Love your videos. I learn so much from them . This one however is very reminiscent of the times we still face today. Sad to think that in all this time we still havenât found a better way to house our indigent and low salaried fellow human beings. Itâs in every state and country and still made up of many different nationalities and personalities. Think we would have learned something by now . The saying âhistory repeats itself is so evident from watching this . Thanks for uploads and teachings.
Looks like where Fagan, from Oliver Twist, hung out.
Your videos are brilliant and informative đŻ
Thank you so much! Iâm glad you like them.
There is a crack up in the ceiling in the kitchen sink is leaking out of work and got no money a Sunday joint of bread & honey, what are we living for? A two roomed apartment on the second floorâ The Kinks, âDead End Streetâ to know that neighborhoods like this in London lasted into the swinging 60s and even into the 1970s is pretty eerie
I just love your video and so thankful for pluming
Thank you so much! Iâm glad you enjoy the history.
Fascinating. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you too.
I feel like this guy lived it tells the storyâs so well . Enjoy your documentaryâs chap
Glad you enjoy the narration!
Love these videos brother!!!
â€ïž
That's fantastic! Thank you for your support.
@@FactFeast
Kudos to you &
GREAT voice!!!
đđđŒ
Thanks for sharingâ€
Youâre very welcome! Nice to know you found the journey to St. Giles interesting.
I've not been watching them recently i will catch up give me something to good to watch tonight. đŹđ§đ
Welcome back!
Love your content â€
Thatâs fantastic! Thank you so much for watching.
Dostoevsky in his visit to London in the summer of 1862 exposed some of these scenes in his Winter Notes on Summer Impressions. And he got scolded as anti-English for his book.
Love your videos
That's great! Thank you.
Another superb informative video, it reminds me how lucky I am
Thank you! Iâm glad it was of interest. Another coming soon.
Love the halting delivery.
I'm glad you enjoyed the presentation!
So glad I found this channel. Come to think of it, pretty sure this channel found me.
Welcome! Hope you enjoy the content.
Now that WAS poverty.
đđđđđwell written & presented
I really appreciate your opinion. Thank you!
This study of George Mayhew of the poverty of London had to be as revolutionary as were the stories of journalist Jacob Riis on the poverty in New York City. From these studies hopefully the plight of the poor greatly improved.
Enlighten us!!! Do you think poverish slums are a thing of the past??
@@dianelove8147 no!
Imagine, finding a Medieval leprosarium below the rookery! It must still be there!
Thank you for another interesting video in the Georgian era st Giles was known for the gin epidemic due to it being really cheap the houses were also known to be falling apart and the hole era was known for drunks and crime but later on in the Victorian era just like Jacobs island another slum area st Giles rebuilt and in present looks completely different to before
I love these stories
Thank you! Lots more like this on my channel page.
Please do more đ
There will be another video soon!
It still exists today - it's called Blackpool
Ouch,that's hard dude!:)
How were there so many poor out of work people at a time with so much building and bridge construction amazes me
This video should be shown in London schools. Itâs education.
Those final few lines hit hard.
Thank you
Youâre welcome!
I dare not even think how badly the animals were treated đ„đ„
After seeing the drawing of the man with his dog, i also had the same thought
How awful ! I am happy to share with my dog !
A fair description of Portland Oregon now.
Future kid's please watch these videos and stay blessed for life
And treat others well as you would treat yourself...
Main health issue was not the absence of medical assistance but the absence of clean drinking water.
Still an issue in 3rd world today alas.
Nobody drank water. You drank ale (much lower than today) the alcohol sterilised it or in later times tea, which boiled up did the same thing!
The moment the journalists moved in the area lost what class and dignity it had, so the prostitutes and thieves moved away.
I'm grateful that I was born later - although I may have been there in a past life...... đ€
Genetic memories đ
@@christ-thekey3246 maybe. I walked home along dodgy streets after going to the theatre in Drury Lane. Very drawn to Drury Lane & the Strand. Also wanted to be married in Camden Town. Turned out, 30 years later after starting to research my family, these were all areas associated with them. Iâd been drawn to streets maybe 2 blocks from where theyâd lived.
What amazing drawings
Glad you enjoyed the presentation!
Before decent and available condoms AND anti-biotics against syphilis ... how reckless would one have to be to visit a lady of the night in St. Giles? D.A., NYC
Surely more desperate than reckless
They had pig intestine condoms back then, although I doubt they were used by the cheapest girls as they would of cost too much.
And how desperate the poor women driven to such degrading encounters, where they caught life threatening diseases from âclientsâ. Bad all round.
So even in the 18th century liquor stores were profitable.
28th century??
I'm fascinated by these hard long ago times of the 1800s
Itâs great that my content is interesting for you. Thank you!
Your voice hits different bro
Lol
Hard times
If CZcams wants me to help, by answering a question, they can pay me for picking my brain.
It's so unbelievable how poor people existed in those days my heart goes out to the people and animals of the time rich people should be ashamed of themselves there's a lot of practical help that could have been given x
The rich should still be ashamed of themselves. Too much money in too few hands. Greed is rife.
When Q Victoria spoke to Lord M about the terrible conditions children faced in the mines & wondered what could b done about it,he fobbed her off by saying the children wouldn't thank her for taking away their livelihood.So she accepted what he said & thought no more about it.
For some of us these stories put us in the picture of our ancestors times, dont know for sure if they were poverty or normal ok type but our ancestors need to be thanked and respected for living and surviving these times and bringing children into the world, thus we are here today.
10:24 Channeling your inner Matt Berry!
You're a lottery winner compared to these people !
Five points in nyc was a major slum for the poor
These people were considerably worse off than a tribe of people living a subsistence lifestyle in the more remote corners of the world. Hunter gatherers were much better fed. At least they weren't crammed together into such a small, filthy space together and have access to wild game and edible vegetables.
I know this sounds bad, but I used to jump out window to get away from my violent home and my German shepherd would lead me to the woods and dig a hole to sleep in. I would put my bare feet in his mouth and use his hip as a pillow. Best sleep I ever had as a child. I loved that dog. He was my world and protected me.