THE VICTORIAN AGE: A
GOLDEN AGE OR AN AGE OF
MISERY?
THE VICTORIAN TOWNS
“A perfect wilderness of foulness”
Why were towns so unhealthy?
'Dudley Street, Seven Dials', 1872; showing a Victorian slum in the City of Westminster, London.
Broadwater School
History Department
Urbanization During the
Industrial Revolution
Why Look at the
Social Impact?
• Industrialization brought
about profound changes
in the societies of Europe,
the USA and the rest
of the world
www.bized.ac.uk/stafsup/
options/notes/eu2.htm
• Not all changes were beneficial!
• State of living conditions for ordinary people has
been the subject of much debate amongst historians
(social history)
Cities Grow and Change
The Industrial City
Industrial Cities
• Before Industrial Age most
cities served trade, political,
military, religious functions
• Lowell, Massachusetts, one of
first industrial cities
• In industrial city, new
functions arose centered
around manufacturing,
distributing goods
• Industrial city needed
factories, workforce, reliable
transportation, warehouses,
stores, offices
• Textile factories there
employed young women from
surrounding countryside
• Chicago’s meat-packing
industries lured workers there
• Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
attracted workers to the steel
industry
POSITIVE ASPECTS OF THE
VICTORIAN AGE:
• Industrial revolution: the industrial revolution
started with the introduction of capitalism.
• Technological advances: introduction of steam
hammers, locomotives…
• Economical progress: Britain was the first
economical power in the world till 1901, as the Usa
became the leader, but it remained the first in
manufacturing.
1820 Writers spoke about the “machine
age” with a positive tone
–BUT ON THE OTHER HAND it
implied a high social and
environmental cost.
Negative Aspects of the Victorian Age:
• Pollution in the towns due to factory activity:
in fact life in the countryside was much
healthier.
• Hygienic conditions (cities were too densely
populated, most people lived in miserable
conditions; most houses shared water
supplies)
• Epidemics (cholera,typhoid), with a consistant
increase of death in the cities.
“A perfect wilderness of foulness”
Why were towns so unhealthy?
Industrial Yards Privy Night soil Epidemic Cholera Tuberculosis Typhus -
to do with how people make things
an enclosed courtyard
a toilet
toilet waste
a disease that is spreading out of control
an disease of the intestine, causing diarrhoea
and vomiting and then death within 48 hours
a lung disease that prevents you breathing
a killer disease caught from flea and lice bites
Broadwater School
History Department
Living Conditions
Population Growth
• Statistics show that from
1760 to 1820 there was
little improvement in living
conditions
• Population growth meant:
– Oversupply of workers
– Low wages
– Rising food prices
– Growing numbers of
people in poverty
• So the IR actually
lowered living
conditions at first
Unemployed Rail Workers - London
•
List all the
threats to public
health p140
Was the
countryside any
safer?
• Prior to the nineteenth
century, cities were a drain on
the rural economy
Urbanization
• After the nineteenth century, they
became centers of industrial output
• New factories of industry
attracted huge numbers of
people to cities
• Britain:
– 1850: 60% of the population
lived in rural areas
– 1900: 75% lived in cities,
20% of total population in
London
– 1900: 30 million lived in cities
– Manchester: 1770-1830: 27000
to 180000
© UK Rail, 2003, http://www.ukrail.com
Urbanization
• Urbanization- the movement of people into the
cities from the country
• In 1800, London was England’s only city with
more than 100,000
• By 1850, 5 out of 10 English people lived in
country ,when in 1750, 8 out 10 people lived in
the country.
• By 1914:
•
•
•
•
80% of the British population lived in cities
60% of the German population lived in cities
50% of the American population lived in cities
45% of the French population lived in cities
Crowded British Cities
Workers Laying Pipes, Hampstead Heath, London
Ford Maddox Brown,
englishwww.hu
Manchester City Art Gallery
mnet.ucla.edu/
freespace.virgin.net/k,peart
marathonreadi
/Victorian/brownwork
ng/mr1997
A London Slum, by Gustav Dore
Lively, fast-paced cities
• Constant stream of pedestrians, electric streetcars,
horse-drawn carriages all competed for space on
streets
• Merchants shouted prices from doorways
• Construction crews constantly at work on banks, office
buildings, homes
Health concerns
• Health of many residents suffered due to high population density
• Smoky air from coal running steam engines and warming homes
• London had problem with smoke combined with fog, term smog
coined
• 1873 smog episode caused 268 deaths
Industrial Staffordshire
Urban Life
Effects of Urbanization
• As people began to move into cities they
started to marry younger
• Children could increase a family’s income by
working in factories
• Because of this, people started having more
children to work for the family
“A perfect wilderness of foulness”
Why were towns so unhealthy?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
What peoples’ houses were like
Houses often shared a privy
Houses had no running water
Houses were built back to back
Most houses did not have sewers
Houses were built close to factories
Houses were built of the cheapest materials
Some rooms did not have any light or ventilation
Sometimes a whole family lived in a cellar or a single room
Broadwater School
History Department
Housing
• The growth of cities was so rapid that
there was not enough housing available
• Building codes were not common
• Building materials used was the
cheapest a builder could find.
• Houses were built close together in
rows
• Fire was always a constant danger
• Workers would gather in damp, cold,
unsanitary rooms
• The poor had only a basement or an out
house to live in and the orphans and the
unemployed lived on the streets.
• Because of the poor living conditions
diseases like typhoid, measles and
cholera spread very quickly.
Housing cont’d.
• None of these homes were built with a bathroom,
toilet, or running water
• Toilets would have been nothing more than cesspits.
• When these were filled they had to be emptied and
what was collected was loaded onto a cart before
being dumped in a local river. This contributed to the
different diseases.
• A block in the city would have 40 houses and would
only have 6 toilets for all persons. About 9 people
lived in one house so there were 6 toilets for about 360
people.
• Because of the poor housing, bad working conditions
and diseases, the life expectancy for city dwellers was
much shorter at about 17 years.
Housing Cont.
• Workers lived in apartment style buildings
provided by mill owners
• Many of these complexes were built back to back
with a common wall and were dismal and
overcrowded
• Water was only available for an hour a day at a
pipe far from their homes
• Sometimes as many as 40 families shared a toilet
or outhouse
• There was no street lighting and smoke from the
coal burning furnaces and covered everything with
gray soot.
Housing Continued
• Houses were built back-to-back in the newer
mining towns along narrow alleys or around
enclosed courtyards which could be accessed
through a tunnel.
• Most tenements did not have running water
and relied on water carriers who sold water by
the pail
• Lack of ventilation intensified the stench of
garbage and excrement
• Those who could not afford or find a room
lived in cellars or courtyards
Housing Statistics
• In 1850 Manchester cellars house 15,000
people
• Liverpool had 39,000 people living in
7,800 cellars
• Also in Liverpool about 86,000 inhabited
the 2,400 courtyards that were there
• In Lille, France 15,000 people shared 3,000
cellars with damp, leaky walls.
Housing Statistics
• A working class family in London often lived in a
single room with one bed sleeping from 3 to 8
people
• Sheets if any were changed at most 3 times a
year
• The room would be crammed with bits of
furniture and the tools and materials used by the
father and mother in their trade
• It was impossible to sweep or dust
• Cracks in the doors and walls would be stuffed
with rags
• There would be a heavy smell from an open
drain
Worker Housing in Manchester
•
In 1842 a farmer in a rural area
was going to live about 38
years.
• In 1842 in a city a person was
only expected to live about 17
years.
“A perfect wilderness of foulness”
'Dudley Street, Seven Dials', 1872; showing a Victorian slum in the City of Westminster, London.
Factory Workers at Home
The New Industrial City
Housing Primary Source
• “Shepherd’s Buildings comprise two rows of houses
with a street of seven yards wide between them.
Each row consists of two lines of houses back-toback…There is one outside toilet for each row…Each
house contains two rooms, a common room, and a
bedroom above it; each room is three yards square.
In a typical house there are nine people belonging
to the same family, and the mother about to give
birth to a tenth. There are 44 houses in the two
rows and 22 cellars all the same size.”
Excerpt from Charles Dickens’ “Hard
Times”
• “It was a town of red brick, or of brick that would have been
red if the smoke and the ashes allowed it; but as matters
stood, it was a town of unnatural red and black like the
painted face of a savage. It was a town of machinery and tall
chimneys, out of which interminable serpents of smoke
trailed themselves forever and ever, and never got uncoiled. It
had a black canal in it, and a river that ran purple with ill
smelling dye, and vast piles of buildings full of windows
where there was a rattling and trembling all day long, and
where the piston of the steam engine worked monotonously
up and down like the head of an elephant in a state of
melancholy madness. It contained several large streets, all
very like one another, and many small streets still more like
one another, and inhabited by people equally like one
another, who all went in and out at the same hours…”
The Life of the New Urban Poor: A
Dickensian Nightmare!
• Conditions in Manchester
• . . . Here, as in most of the working-men's quarters of Manchester,
the pork-raisers rent the courts and build pig-pens in them. In almost
every court one or even several such pens may be found, into which
the inhabitants of the court throw all refuse and offal, whence the
swine grow fat; and the atmosphere, confined on all four sides, is
utterly corrupted by putrefying animal and vegetable substances....
• Such is the Old Town of Manchester, and on re-reading my
description, I am forced to admit that instead of being exaggerated, it
is far from black enough to convey a true impression of the filth, ruin,
and uninhabitableness, the defiance of all considerations of
cleanliness, ventilation, and health which characterise the
construction of this single district, containing at least twenty to thirty
thousand inhabitants. And such a district exists in the heart of the
second city of England, the first manufacturing city of the world. If
any one wishes to see in how little space a human being can move,
how little air - and such air! - he can breathe, how little of civilisation
he may share and yet live, it is only necessary to travel hither.
• From Friedrich Engels, The Condition of the Working-Class in England
in 1844
Desire to Go Back in Time
• It was this sort of nostalgia for a rapidly disappearing
rural past which led William Morris to found the
Society for the Preservation of Ancient Buildings, and
led him, as well, to begin his The Earthly Paradise with
the following lines:
• Forget six counties overhung with smoke,
Forget the snorting steam and piston stroke,
Forget the spreading of the hideous town;
Think rather of the pack-horse on the down,
And dream of London, small, and white, and clean,
The clear Thames bordered by its gardens green. . .
While nigh the thronged wharf Geoffrey Chaucer's pen
Moves over bills of lading. . .
Poverty
• Studies estimate that between one third to
one half of men lived in poverty, but poverty
affected women more as the men drank away
the money in the pubs.
• A nurse who knew the London poor said that,
“many a man gave his wife a small sum and
expected that she ought to be able to feed
four children, dress them and herself, and pay
rent.”
Private Charities: Soup Kitchens
Poverty Primary Source
• An official report on the death of a woman living in
one room with her husband and son, shows the
suffering of those living in slums.
• “She lay dead beside her son upon a heap of
feathers which were scattered over her naked body,
there being neither sheet nor coverlet. The
feathers stuck so fast over the whole body that the
physician could not examine the body until it was
cleansed. Even then he found it starved and scarred
from bites of vermin. Part of the floor of the room
was torn up and the hole used by the family as a
privy (toilet).”
Young
carers, c.
1890
Private Charities: The “Lady Bountifuls”
The cartoons
The first cartoon
appeared in 1850.
Cartoons were used
to emphasise the
importance of
industry during the
Victorian Age.
CITY SMOG
• Because of the industry in the cities, their
pollution caused city smog
• “As a child I found the fanlights a bit depressing
because the world outside was so dark.”
• Called “London fog”
• The Smoke, another nickname for London, was
also a great industrial city in its own right. Even
the rain, at times, was black, while smuts could
fall from a clear sky if the wind were right.
Smog…
• As early as 1814, a German traveler
reported that in Manchester, “…there is
no sun and no dusk. Here there is always
a dense cloud of smoke to cover the sun
while the light rain turns the dust into
paste…”
• In 1842, an official report said…”The
rainwater is frequently like ink.”
London through the haze
Romanticized Version of London’s Smog by
the Impressionist painter Monet
Smog
• Smog — a deadly mix of fog and smoke otherwise
known as a “London Particular” or a “Pea-Souper”--because it was a strange yellowy green color and
almost as opaque as pea soup.
• The deaths of over a thousand people in the last
great smog led to the Clean Air Act of 1952, and the
unintended end of blackened buildings.
• Most of the stained glass has gone as well, along
with tiled porches and fireplaces.
LONDON FOG
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
D
THESE PICTURES WERE
TAKEN DURING THE DAY
TIME!!!!!
London aka The Smoke by Monet
Darkness, Smog, and a Little Light in
Victorian Cities
• Even the rain, at times, was black, while smuts could
fall from a clear sky if the wind were right.
• The great Victorian public buildings were unimaginably
blackened.
• St Paul's, built of fine pale stone from quarries
overlooking the sea on Portland Bill, was black as coal
throughout Queen Victoria's reign.
• Side streets were gas-lit.
• If lit is not too strong a word for the faint pools of light
around each lamp post.
• At dusk a lamp lighter ran from post to post carrying a
long pole with a flame and a hook on top; the hook
opened the tap, the flame lit the jet
The “Great Stink”
• This expression is used to describe the terrible
smell in London, coming from the Thames.
• The “Miasmas”, exhalations from decaying
matter, poisoned the air.
“A perfect wilderness of foulness”
Why were towns so unhealthy?
Reasons why there was poor water supply and sewage
• Town Councils did not think it was their job to make sure
that houses had piped water and to clean up the sewage,
because it cost money.
• Town councils had no powers to force houses to be built
with proper water supply, drains and sewage.
• Builders did not think it was their job to make sure that
houses had piped water because they cost money.
• Nobody knew about the connection between dirt and
disease.
Broadwater School
History Department
Infrastructure
• Infrastructure rarely kept up
with rapid growth
• Some well-intentioned
improvements actually made
things worse
– E.g. the ‘Great Stink’ of
1847: Parliament closed
for a week
– Introduction of Water
Closets s causes cesspits
to overflow into the
Thames
– Thames only source of
drinking water for
Londoners
Early flush toilet
– 1848-1849: 6,000
people died from
cholera
Houses of Parliament in the Smog: (Monet)
•Henry Mayhew was an investigative journalist who wrote a series of articles for the
Morning Chronicle about the way the poor of London lived and worked.
•In an article published on 24th September 1849 he described a London Street with a
tidal ditch running through it, into which drains and sewers emptied.
• The ditch contained the only water the people in the street had to drink, and it was
‘the colour of strong green tea’, in fact it was ‘more like watery mud than muddy
water’.
•This is the report he gave: ‘As we gazed in horror at it, we saw drains and sewers
emptying their filthy contents into it; we saw a whole tier of doorless privies in the
open road, common to men and women built over it; we heard bucket after bucket
of filth splash into it’ (2).
•Mayhew’s articles were later published in a book called London Labour and the
London Poor and in the introduction he wrote:
•‘…the condition of a class of people whose misery, ignorance, and vice, amidst all
the immense wealth and great knowledge of “the first city in the world”, is, to say
the very least, a national disgrace to us’ (3).
Sanitation cont’d.
• The people had no way to get fresh air, the
cities had no parks or other grounds were the
people could go.
• A housing row would be badly drained, the
streets filled with holes and stagnant water
and would be filled with dead cats and dogs.
Sanitation cont’d.
• The Victorian poor were known as “the Great
Unwashed”; this was because there was little water
available in the poorer areas of London.
• There was barely enough to cook with, so they
went without washing
• Drainage was not introduced in London until 1865.
• Until then, water from sinks and makeshift toilets
ran down old sewers into the Thames or drained
into huge cesspools under houses.
Edwin Chadwick: Report on the sanitary
conditions of the laboring population
• Chadwick was asked by the government to draw up a report on
living conditions in Britain's towns and cities.
• This official report, 'The Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring
Population,' published in 1842 was of great importance in terms of
forcing change.
• In it, Chadwick made a link between poverty, squalor and disease.
• As a result the body 'the health of Towns Association' was formed
which pressured Parliament into making changes.
• These came some 6 years later in 1848 as a newly elected Liberal
Government accepted some of Chadwick's proposals and
implemented the First Public Health Act.:
• Based upon his studies, he proposed:
• Ridding the city of open sewers and exposed rotting corpses
• Pointed out the issues of the polluted air and overcrowded
housing
• From Chadwick's Sanitary Report
• “The cottages in the neighbourhood were of the most
wretched kind, mere hovels, built of rough stones and
covered with ragged thatch. The wife's face was dirty,
and her tangled hair hung over her eyes. Her cap was ill
washed and slovenly put on. Her whole dress was very
untidy, and looked dirty and slatternly; everything
about her seemed wretched and neglected and she
seemed very discontented. She immediately began to
complain of her house. The wet came in at the door of
the only room, and when it rained, through every part
of the roof also: large drops fell on her as she lay in her
bed: in short she had found it impossible to keep things
in order, so she had gradually ceased to make any
exertions. Her condition had been borne down by the
conditions of the house. “
Edwin Chadwick
• Unfortunately many people found Chadwick rather
rude and he often provoked opposition.
• In 1854 he was forced to retire. This letter was sent
to 'The Times' to explain why he was unpopular.
• ' We prefer to take our chance with cholera than
be bullied into health. There is nothing a man
hates so much as being cleansed against his will or
having his floor swept, his hall whitewashed, his
dung heaps cleared away and his thatch forced to
give way to slate. It is a fact that many people have
died from a good washing.'
Polluted Rivers
• “At the bottom flows, or rather stagnates, the Irk, a
narrow, coal black, foul smelling stream, full of debris
and refuse, which it deposits on the shallower right
bank. In dry weather, a long string of the most
disgusting, blackish green, slime pools are left standing
on this bank, from the depths of which bubbles of
miasmatic gas constantly arise and give forth a stench
unendurable even on the bridge forty or fifty feet
above the surface of the stream….Above the bridge are
tanneries, bonemills, and gasworks, from which all
drains and refuse find their way into the Irk, which
receives further the contents of all the neighboring
sewers and privies.”
• Engels
Polluted Rivers Cont’d.
• Industrial poisons were dumped into the
rivers such as: chlorine, coal tar, mercury,
lead, sulphuric acid, copper sulfate, and tannic
acid
• Joined with dead human and animal bodies,
human waste, and garbage that turned the
rivers into gray-black slimes where only algae
could grow
• Fish were driven from the waterways
Polluted Thames
• London’s drains carried sewage and germs
straight into the river – 200 sewers emptied into
the river
• Raw sewage could be seen coming out of stand
pipes into the streets of London and out of
kitchen taps and the houses of the rich the water
healthy “brown color”
• The river water was used for cooking, washing
clothes, and drinking
• In the summer of 1858, the blinds of the House
of Parliament had to be soaked in chloride of
lime so that the MPs could meet without choking
on the smell
Lack of Proper Sewers
• A correspondent of the Times illustrates exactly
how bad the drainage system was in one part of
London:
• “. . . the main sewer, from Coventry-street to
Pantonstreet, is more than two feet above the
level of the basement floor, consequently the
houses on both sides of the street are below the
drainage.”
• This statement enables the reader to imagine
houses in which the basements were
permanently flooded with sewage water.
• It was up to the city to rectify such problems.
Polluted Thames cont.
• In 1847, an inspector wrote of the sewage, “the filth
was lying scattered around the rooms vaults, cellers
and yards so thick and so deep that it was hardly
possible to move through.”
• Some men were given the job of clearing rubbish
from the rivers and recovering dead bodies
• There was a reward for finding dead bodies and
stripping the dead bodies of their valuables
• Dickens wrote in Our Mutual Friend, “has a dead
body any use of money? Is it possible for a dead
man to have money? Can a corpse own it? Want it?
Spend it? Claim it? Miss it?”
Polluted Thames
Observations on the Filth of the Thames:
Letter to the Editor of the Times of London
July 7, 1855
• Sir: I traversed this day by steam-boat the space between London
and Hangerford Bridges between half-past one and two o’clock; it
was low water, and I think the tide must have been near the turn.
The appearance and smell of water forced themselves at once to my
attention. The whole of the river was an opaque pale brown fluid.
In order to test the degree of opacity, I tore up some white cards
into pieces, moistened them so as to make them sink easily below
the surface, and then dropped some of these pieces into the water
at every pier that the boat came to; before they had sunk an inch
below the surface they were indistinguishable, though the sun
shone brightly at the time;
Observations on the Filth of the Thames
Continued
And when the pieces fell edgeways the lower part was hidden from
sight before the upper part was under water. This happened at St.
Paul’s Wharf, Blackfriars Bridge, Temple Wharf, Southwark Bridge,
and Hungerford; and I have no doubt would have occurred further
up and down the river. Near the bridges the feculence rolled up in
clouds so dense that they were visible at the surface, even in water
this kind.
The smell was very bad and common to the whole of the water; it was
the same as that which now comes up from gully-holes in the
streets; the whole river was for the time a real sewer. Having just
returned from out of the country air, I was, perhaps, more affected
by it than others; but I do not think I could have gone on to
Lambeth or Chelsea, and I was glad to enter the streets for an
atmosphere which, except near the sink-holes, I found much
sweeter than that on the river.
Observations on the Filth of the
Thames Continued
• I have thought it a duty to record these facts, that they may be
brought to the attention of those who exercise power or have
responsibility in relation to the condition of our river, there is
nothing figurative in the words I have employed, or any approach to
exaggeration; they are the simple truth. If there be sufficient
authority to remove a putrescent pond from the neighbourhood of
a few simple dwellings, surely the river which flows for so many
miles through London ought not to be allowed to become a
fermenting sewer. The condition in which I saw the Thames may
perhaps be considered as exceptional, but it ought to be an
impossible state, instead of which I fear it is rapidly becoming the
general condition. If we neglect this subject, we cannot expect to
do so with impunity; nor ought we to be surprised if, ere many
years are over, a hot season give us sad proof of the folly of our
carelessness.”
DISEASE
Unsanitary conditions spread
epidemics of cholera,
typhoid, smallpox and
typhus to spread
throughout the city.
As early as 1808, Southey - later to become
Poet Laureate - was warning of the dangers
inherent in Manchester's disgraceful
housing situation.
Writing of the cellar dwellings which were
mushrooming all over the working class
areas of the city, he said: "These places are
so many hotbeds of infection; and the poor
in large towns are rarely or never without
an infectious fever among them, a plague of
their own which leaves the habitations of
the rich unvisited."
• Little Ireland, on a site now occupied by Oxford Road Station,
featured cellar dwellings that lay below the level of the
neighbouring River Medlock, which flooded the homes whenever it
rose more tha a few inches.
• Venedey explains: "Little Ireland was discovered during the period
of the cholera epidemic. Until then, all the inhabitants of
Manchester hurried past the place and turned their gaze away.
Cholera chose these dwellings of misery and came as a
compassionate visitor to put an end to them.
• "The authorities ordered that these dwellings should be examined,
emptied and cleaned. It was then that the world first discovered
this hideous hole of misery.
• "Hundreds were evicted from these cellars. Hundreds rotted alive
next to the unburied dead. And the endless pestilence that was
raging there had taken such a grip that all fumigation and cleaning
were useless and the decision had to be made to brick up many of
these pits.
• When the epidemic was over, the cellars were broken open and the
inhabitants allowed back. But some cellars were found to be
already inhabited again. The poor wretches ... emptied every
morning, through the windows, with their eating and cooking
vessels, the water which had flooded in overnight from the river."
“A perfect wilderness of foulness”
Why were towns so unhealthy?
Reasons why disease was so common
• Doctors did not know that germs and bacteria existed.
• Doctors believed in the “miasma” theory. This meant that
they thought that diseases were caused by bad smells.
• When some doctors showed the connection between dirty
drinking water and cholera, nothing was done because it
would have cost money to solve the problems.
• Local councils did not have the powers to clean up the
towns and they didn’t think is was their job.
• The government did not believe that it was its job to do
anything about public health.
Broadwater School
History Department
How healthy were people?
• Medicine & hygiene very primitive
• Killer diseases – pneumonia, bronchitis,
diphtheria, tuberculosis, cholera & smallpox
• Average life expectancy 30 yrs for a British
citizen....combined urban and rural
• 15 in every 100 children died before 1st birthday
• 1 in 5 mothers died
Bacteria
The Theories on Disease
• Microbes were only discovered in 1864 by Louis
Pasteur---who developed the pasteurization
process, and the vaccines for anthrax, rabies, and
chicken cholera
• A common belief - and one that dated back to
Medieval England – was that disease was spread by
bad smells and invisible poisonous clouds
(miasmas).
• The majority of deaths were in the industrial cities.
• Therefore, doctors concluded, the two went
together: death and bad smells/gasses
Typhoid Fever
• Is one of those unpleasant diseases that spread
when food or water becomes contaminated with
human feces.
• Typhoid can be fatal in about 10 to 20 percent of
cases.
• People were getting this horrible disease during the
industrial revolution because they would dump
their feces out the window and pour sanitation.
• This horrible disease was the cause of Prince
Albert’s death.
• Typhoid was discovered by a
German scientist when William
Budd suspected the Great Stink
was not causing the disease, but
something was in the water.
DISEASE: TYPHOID
• Typhoid was caused by infected
water and Typhus was carried by
lice---two separate diseases
• Caused by the bacterium
Salmonella enterica serovar typhi.
• Transmitted by the ingestion of
food or water contaminated with
feces from an infected person.
• Symptoms- fever, sweating,
gastroenteritis and diarrhea.
Symptoms
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Early symptoms include fever, general ill-feeling, and abdominal pain. A high (over 103
degrees) fever and severe diarrhea occur as the disease gets worse.
Some people with typhoid fever develop a rash called "rose spots," which are small red
spots on the belly and chest.
Other symptoms that occur include:
Abdominal tenderness
Agitation
Bloody stools
Chills
Confusion
Difficulty paying attention (attention deficit)
Delirium
Fluctuating mood
Hallucinations
Nosebleeds
Severe fatigue
Slow, sluggish, lethargic feeling
Weakness
Disease: Smallpox
• Made a major re-occurrence in industrial
cities even after Edward Jenner’s
vaccine.
• Reason- very many in the industrial
cities were ignorant of the fact that
Jenner had developed a vaccine.
• Overcrowded tenements of the cities
were a perfect breeding ground for
smallpox.
Tuberculosis---Used to be called
Consumption
• Is a chronic bacterial
infection that has
probably plagued
humankind since
antiquity.
• It can be transferred from
humans and cattle.
• The White Death/
Pulmonary Tuberculosis
became one of the
greatest scourges of the
industrial towns and cities
in the 19th and 20th
century.
Disease: Tuberculosis, also known as “Consumption”---The #1 KILLER
• The disease caused a wasting of the body with the lungs being
attacked.
• The lungs attempt to defend themselves by producing what are
called tubercles.
• The disease causes these tubercles to become yellow and spongy
and coughing fits causes them to be spat out by the sufferer.
• TB affected those who had been poorly fed and were under
nourished and lived in dirty and damp conditions.
• TB can be spread by a person breathing in the exhaled sputum of
someone who already has the disease.
• In the overcrowded tenements of the industrial cities, one infected
person could spread the disease very easily.
• It is believed that TB killed 1/3 of all those who died in Britain
between 1800 and 1850.
Symptoms of TB
• The primary stage of the disease usually doesn't have
symptoms. When symptoms do occur, they may include:
– Cough (sometimes producing phlegm)
– Coughing up blood
– Excessive sweating, especially at night
– Fatigue
– Fever
– Unintentional weight loss
– Other symptoms that may occur with this disease:
– Breathing difficulty
– Chest pain
– Wheezing
• In Croydon, typhoid swept through the town
in 1852.
• The local Board of Health went about looking
for a smell that caused the disease but found
nothing.
• In fact, sewage had seeped into the town’s
water supplies and contaminated the water.
• It did not occur to the health officials that the
water could be the cause of the disease as
medical wisdom of the time dictated another
cause.
• Mary Mallon, known as Typhoid Mary, was the first healthy
person in the United States to be identified as a carrier of
typhoid fever. Mary worked as a cook and unknowingly
infected 53 different people: three of whom died from
typhoid.
• She became famous, partly because she was the first healthy
carrier of typhoid, but mostly because she adamantly refused
to admit her role in spreading the disease and would not take
the necessary precautions to prevent its spread.
• It is now known that typhoid fever can be spread by food or
water that has been handled by a carrier.
• Carriers are generally healthy people who have survived
typhoid and have no further symptoms, but continue to have
the typhoid bacteria surviving in their body.
• In Typhoid Mary's case, she may have actually been born
with typhoid, as her mother was infected. Carriers can pass
the bacteria along by poor hygiene when handling food and
drink.
• Typhoid Fever Immunization on wiseGEEK:
• One is taken orally in pill form over eight to ten days.
• A total of four pills are taken to provide some typhoid
fever protection, although protection is not 100%.
• The oral typhoid vaccine is a live attenuated version of
Salmonella Typhi and the pill is not recommended for
people who are under the age of six, or for those with
any type of autoimmune disease or compromised
immune system.
• The typhoid germs are carried on the hands to
everything an infected person touches, such as food or
water, and are then ingested by the next person.
• You should get a typhoid immunization before visiting
several countries. These include Africa, Asia, and Latin
America.
Cholera
- Disease:
especially Cholera
(caused by feces
contamination of water
supply)
- Acute infection of the
intestines; death by loss of
bodily fluids through
vomiting and diarrhea
- In 1840: nearly 60% of
children died before the
age of five
Vibrio cholerae
Musee de la Medicine, Paris
Cholera
• Cholera is an extremely unpleasant and potentially fatal disease
caused by the bacterium Vibrio Cholerae.
• Cholera is the spread when food or water becomes contaminated
with fecal matter containing cholera bacteria.
• Cholera originated in India.
• It quickly spread into Asia and Russia, and eventually reached
Europe.
• The first case of cholera in Britain was recorded in the northern
port of Sunderland in October 1831.
• Although immediate quarantine precautions were taken, cholera
had spread to London by February 1832.
• The disease was greatly feared by everyone because it spread
very quickly and was not confined to any one social class.
• It could strike anyone, from the poorest to the wealthiest and the
noble.
Disease: Cholera
• The cholera epidemic of 1831-1832 struck rural
as well as urban areas
• This took a heavy toll on the mining towns
where housing conditions and sanitation were
particularly bad
– 1,400 deaths in Berlin
– 6,700 deaths in London
– 18,600 deaths in Paris
• The poor people of Paris accused the authorities
of poisoning them in order to reduce their
swelling numbers
Disease: Cholera “King Cholera”
• Cholera was a greatly feared disease. It was caused by
contaminated water.
• Cholera caused violent diarrhea, vomiting, and rapid
dehydration of the body
• Industrial Britain was hit by an outbreak of cholera in 183132, 1848-49, 1854 and 1867.
• They approximate 140,000 died from Cholera between all of
those epidemics.
• Because many people used river water as their source of
drinking water, the disease spread with ease.
• 50% of the people who caught cholera died which caused
15,000 deaths in London
• The disease usually affected those in poorer areas, but the
rich did not escape the diseases
• An attack of cholera is sudden and painful though not
necessarily fatal.
• It was only in 1849, when an epidemic killed over
70000 people, that Dr. John Snow discovered that the
cholera bacteria were contracted from polluted water.
• Robert Koch was a German Scientist.
• He used Pasteur's findings of the late 1860's to begin
his own study into the cause of disease.
• Koch had the advantage of being a Doctor, so he could
apply medical knowledge to his experimentation.
• By 1875 he had successfully identified the microbe
that caused Anthrax.
• A link was now made between germs and diseases,
which allowed for Jenner's earlier work to now be
more fully understood and used. (Pasteur found the
vaccine for Anthrax in 1881).
• Koch used this new knowledge to begin a study of the
causes of blood poisoning, or septicemia.
• King Cholera
• Cholera was one of the most feared infectious diseases of the
Industrial age.
• Indeed, it is still a major killer in the Third World and in areas
where sanitation is poor.
• Cholera first struck England in 1831, killing some 30,000 people in
an outbreak lasting the best part of a year.
• The vast majority of these deaths were of people living in
overcrowded slums with poor housing and little, if any, provision
of clean water.
• The rate of death prompted several enquiries into the cause of the
disease, including
• John Snow's breakthrough in the 1850's.
• Known as 'King Cholera' due to the way in which the disease
mastered, controlled and decided the fate the people it struck on
several further occasions in the 19th century.
• Pasteur's germ theory and the subsequent identification of the
cholera germ provided the scientific evidence required to force
through change, and by the turn of the century, Cholera was no
longer king.
• ‘a sick stomach…vomiting or purging of a
liquid like rice-water…the face becomes
sharp and shrunken, the eyes sink and
look wild, the lips, face and …whole
surface of the body a leaden, blue, purple,
or black.’
-Newspaper reporter in October 1831
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Symptoms of Cholera
Abdominal cramps
Dry mucus membranes or mouth
Dry skin
Excessive thirst
Glassy or sunken eyes
Lack of tears
Lethargy
Low urine output
Nausea
Rapid dehydration
Rapid pulse (heart rate)
Sunken "soft spots" (fontanelles) in infants
Unusual sleepiness or tiredness
Vomiting
Watery diarrhea that starts suddenly
– Diarrhea has a "fishy" odor
– Stool looks like water with flecks of rice in it
Failed Treatment for Cholera
• One of the first forms of treatment for cholera was the practice of blood-letting.
• Many times this practice was simply ill-fated in that many patients, being so
dehydrated from the disease that their blood became localized in the core of
their body.
• One physician, a Dr. Kennedy, wrote the Times stating,
• “The character of venesection has been libelled in a peculiar manner. At an
early period, during the process of this singular malady, the blood deserts the
superficial vessels of the body, for the deep seated and internal parts even
before the period has arrived in which loss of blood could be injurious, ... not a
drop of that fluid can in general be procured, after the opening of both veins
and arteries. In 99 cases out of 100, where patients are said to have died despite
blood-letting, no blood flowed from the incised veins, or that it came away in
drops, or in a small broken stream rarely exceeding a few ounces in quantity.
<15>”
• Even a great reformer like Edwin Chadwick was
convinced that disease was carried in the
atmosphere which had been poisoned by foul
smells.
• In 1849, he persuaded the authorities in London to
clean up the sewers in their districts.
• This, so Chadwick believed, would get rid of the bad
smells and therefore disease.
• Each week an estimated 6000 cubic yards of filth
was swept into the River Thames – London’s main
source of water.
• Cholera was given a chance to spread and 30,000
Londoners got the disease in 1849 with 15,000
dying as a result.
• Koch used this new knowledge to begin a study of the
causes of blood poisoning, or septicemia.
• He knew that a Microbe must be responsible for causing the
spread of the disease, but at first couldn't see the microbe,
even with the aid of the most powerful microscopes.
• Industrialization however led to the development of dyes
that could be used to stain microbes.
• Koch created a liquid that contained just one germ, and
dyed it.
• Through testing on mice he could show that this specific
microbe, or germ, was responsible for the spread of the
disease. (Koch photographed the spread of the dye, the
start of the disease and it's spread to prove his theory).
• Koch later developed a solid culture to grow germs on. this
meant that germ theory could be done much more reliably
than with liquid cultures such as those by Pasteur.
• Koch's work led him to discover the germs that caused
tuberculosis and cholera.
John Snow
• Snow's great breakthrough theory was that cholera spreads
through means of an impure water supply.
• He outlined his ideas in an essay about the communication of
cholera which was published in 1849, and awarded a prize by the
Institute of France.
• In 1855 a second edition was published, with a much more
detailed investigation into the water supply in certain districts of
South London during in the epidemic of 1854.
• Snow was also interested in the properties of ether, then newly
adopted in America as an anesthetic.
• He made great improvements in the method of giving patients the
drug.
• He obtained permission to demonstrate his results in the dental
out-patient room at St. George's Hospital surgery which was highly
successful.
• Nevertheless, Snow appreciated the value of other anaesthetizing
drugs, notably chloroform.
Cholera Primary Source
• “Sir, we live in muck and filth. We ain’t
got no privies, no dust bins, no water
supply, and no drain or sewer in the
whole place. If the Cholera comes Lord
help us.”
• From The Times newspaper
• The Cholera in Bradford; by October 420 deaths had
occurred in the borough.
• "....that dreadful scourge brought many facts before the
Council to demonstrate the insufficiency of its powers
in dealing with the sanitary condition of the town. The
scourge in question was most destructive of life" in
districts which "abounded with places presenting
unmistakable evidences of the violation of the laws of
health and common decency, and were the certain and
prolific sources of pestilence. Notwithstanding this, the
Council found their endeavours towards improvement
retarded on all sides: on the one hand by the
indisposition of private owners to effect any
improvement" not forced on them by law;" and again,
by the slow and tortuous process of the law"
Typhus
• Typhus: an acute infectious disease that is transmitted by
body louse (lice).
• Was prevalent where there was overcrowding and poor
standards of hygiene, causing horrible suffering and
innumerable deaths.
• It is now relatively uncommon, but does still occur in parts
of Asia, Africa, and Central and South Africa.
Typhus/Lice
• Typhus is a disease that we now know is spread by
body lice or their infected feces.
• Lice live and lay their eggs in the warm clothes of
humans. They do not jump, hop, or fly.
• If the lice sucks the blood of an infected person they
will die, leaving the dead body to be picked up from
someone else to catch the disease.
• It is possible to get the disease by sniffing in lice
feces or touching the wound of a person with
typhus.
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Symptoms of Typhus
Symptoms of murine typhus may include:
Abdominal pain
Backache
Dull red rash that begins on the middle of the
body and spreads
Extremely high fever (105 - 106 degrees
Fahrenheit), which may last up to 2 weeks
Hacking, dry cough
Headache
Joint pain (arthralgia)
Nausea
Vomiting
Typhus and Napoleon
• During 1812, Napoleon marched to Russia with
more than a half a million men in the summer time.
• By mid-September he had lost 90,000 by the time
he reaches Moscow.
• Napoleon retreated back to France because they
had no chance against Russia.
• Russian winter was coming and the hospitals were
awful!
– Crowded, filthy, smelly, starving, and diseased
• Breeding ground for Typhus
• After the winter, 30,000 men died out of the
600,000 left and only 1,000 were fit for battle!
Typhus during Irish Potato Famine
• In 1845-9 the ‘Great Hunger’ occurred in Ireland.
– Around a million people died from famine related
diseases such as typhus, relapsing fever, scurvy, and
dysentery.
• Typhus was quickly spread because of the beggars
in the street.
• Many of the sick migrated to England and North
American, but dying on the ships. Leaving them to
be called ‘coffin ships’.
• The population of Ireland dropped from 9 million to
6.5 million.
• “ Swords and lances, arrows,
machine guns, and even high
explosives have had far less
power over the fates of nations
than the typhus louse, the plague
flea, and the yellow-fever
mosquito.”
- Hans Zinsser
• There was little improvement in this dire, unhealthy milieu until the mid- to late
nineteenth century when the advances of the aforementioned Industrial
Revolution and the discovery of the germ theory of disease brought about public
health measures that, building upon the importance of good hygiene and
sanitation, culminated in the rise of the scientific era of medicine.
o The heroes and heroines of this age included such notable medical figures as:
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Edward Jenner (1749-1823),
Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809-1894),
Florence Nightingale (1820-1910),
Clara Barton (1821-1912),
Louis Pasteur (1822-1895),
Joseph Lister (1827-1912),
Robert Koch (1843-1910).
• In the words of the surgeons and medical writers Nathan Hiatt and Jonathan R.
Hiatt, "The industrial revolution, however, also brought a raised standard of
living, with higher wages, improved nutrition, cheap soap, and inexpensive
cotton clothing. Cotton clothing, unlike the louse-ridden woolens worn in the
past, could be and had to be washed, thus dispossessing lice and helping to end
typhus epidemics. By 1900, improved nutrition, better sanitation, and, especially,
contributions from bacteriologists increased life expectancy at birth by almost six
years (to age 47.3)..."
Florence Nightingale
• Florence Nightingale would challenge the
ideas of Public Health within the armed
forces.
• The Army and Navy had got used to losing
more soldiers and sailors from disease than
from warfare.
• Nightingale would change that idea
Florence Nightingale
• Returned to England in
1821
• Taught at home with her
older sister
• Mathematics
• Felt a ‘calling’ to help the
sick and needy
• Stipend from father
One of Florence Nightingale’s childhood homes – Lea Hurst, Derbyshire
The Nightingales spent part of the year here and part of the year in Hampshire
Kaiserwerth
• A newly built German institution to help the sick
Florence Nightingale
• In 1854 the Crimean War broke out –
England was at war with Russia
• Communications advances taught the
British Public about the harsh
conditions for the soldiers
– William Russell – The Times
• Public outcry – the government had to
respond
– Florence was invited to take a group of 38
female nurses to work in hospitals in the
Crimea.
Scutari
Scutari
Polar Area
Diagram
The blue wedges measured from the centre of the circle
represent area for area the deaths from Preventable or
Mitigable diseases, the red wedges measured from the
centre the deaths from wounds, & the black wedges
measured from the centre the deaths from all other
causes.
Royal Commission, 1857
• To investigate the disasters of the
Crimean War. This was an
independent, high-level committee
appointed to look into a problem
and recommend changes.
• Women were not allowed to be on
the commission or testify so she
writes and compiles facts about the
war and sends it all to the
commission
School for Nurses,
1860
• Turned nursing into a respected profession with proper
training for well motivated individuals
• Student nurses would learn:
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The role of Hygiene
Caring for the sick
Fresh air, ventilation
Organisation
• Students would be sent to hospitals and war zones all over
the world.
Public Health Acts
• In 1848, said about the city and providing clean water
created a Central General Board of Health.
• Some of the things this did:
– Collected statistics and made maps of the cities
– Experimented with different pipes sizes and clays
– Led to the development Metropolitan Board of Works in
1855: Chief Engineer Joseph Bazalgette “The Sewer King”
developed a plan for improving London’s drainage and
waste removal
– Involved large trunk sewers running either side of the
Thames River and carrying waste to points well below the
city into the tidal estuary. With this, large pumping engines
maintained the flow in these sewers
– Between 1858-1865 1300 miles of sewage pipes were laid
and used over 300 million bricks
Public Health Acts cont.
• They built great reservoirs in the upland districts to
collect fresh water and then pipe it to the city centers
• Public bath houses for washing clothes were built and
they no longer taxed soap---considered a necessity in
fighting disease!
• Volunteer organizations distributed soap and
disinfecting powder as educated women taught the
lower class about the importance of washing clothes,
covering food against flies, and proper nutrition of
infants
• As a result of these measures, Cholera epidemics were
eliminated
• Additional public health acts were passed in 1858,
1866, 1872, and 1875
“A policy of sewage” - Why did politicians
pass the Public Health Act in 1875?
Three key facts to show that ideas about power were changing.
•For most of the 19th richer people controlled Parliament. They
believed in “laissez-faire”. This meant ... that they did not think
it was their job to spend rich people’s money cleaning up the
poorer areas of towns.
•Cholera epidemics changed attitudes to laissez-faire. Many
town councils had to be forced to... do something about the
poor state of their towns.
•The 1867 Reform Act gave the vote to working class men in the
towns. Town councillors and politicians had to start doing
things that would please to poorer voters, like improving public
health.
“A policy of sewage” - Why did politicians
pass the Public Health Act in 1875?
Three key facts to show that fear of disease was growing by 1875.
•Diseases like tuberculosis and typhoid are... killing thousands of poor
people every year. We are the only people with the powers to bring
about improvements.
•Britain has been struck by a new epidemic disease called ... cholera.
•This is killing both the rich and to poor.
•Rich people want us to ... spend money cleaning up the slums where
the disease comes from. Prince Albert died from ... typhoid, caught
from the sewers at Windsor Castle.
•Britain needs a healthy workforce if ... we are to be able to compete
with France and Germany.
1875 Public Health Act
• All local authorities must appoint a
medical officer
• Local authorities must be responsible
for public services like sewers, water
supplies & rubbish
• All new houses must have piped water
and proper toilets, drains & sewers
Crime
• Prostitution became a way
for many women to make
money.
• Prostitution was called the
“Great Social Evil”
• In 1857 there were 8,600
prostitute in London alone.
• Crime was a big problem
because of the cities lack of
an official police force.
Maintenance of Law and Order before
1829
• Authorities had few resources to cope with riot,
crime and disorder.
• Country parishes and smaller market towns had
constables and the local watch and ward.
• Troops were used to keep order.
• Local militias were used for local problems.
• Spies were used to track down those who were
suspected of disaffection.
Law and Order cont’d.
• Industrial Revolution put new pressures on
society, leading to violence.
• Collective living led to collective organization
and this led to large scale social disorder
• Robert Peel, the Home Secretary, made a
large-scale reform of the penal code
• Peel created the first bureaucratic police
force in England
Law and Order cont’d.
• Peel’s Metropolitan Police Act
• 1829
• All of London’s police were the responsibility of one
authority, which was under the direction of the Home
Secretary, with its headquarters at Scotland Yard
• 1,000 men were recruited to supplement the existing
400 police
• Being a policeman became a full-time occupation
• Funds came from a special Parish Rate levied by the
overseers of the poor
• Police were responsible only for the detection and
prevention of crime
Law and Order cont’d.
• Police also:
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Lit lamplights
Called out the time
Watched for fires
And provided other public services
• The police were not immediately accepted and were
often jeered at by the common people
• They faced battles against the Chartists in Birmingham
and London and came away victorious in all.
• This proved their ability to handle major disorders and
street riots
• Despite the early success of the police in the city their
expansion to the suburbs was very gradual
Law and Order cont’d.
• The Municipal Corporations Act of 1835
– Ordered all incorporated boroughs to set up
police forces under the control of the watch
committee
• 1839 Rural Constabulary Act
– Direct result of the Royal Commission on
Constabulary Forces of the same year
– Cause some boroughs to panic and reorganize
their own police forces to avoid the heavy
expense of being involved with county forces.
Law and Order cont’d.
• In 1856, they created the inspector of
Constabulary with the power to enforce
a standard of police protection
• Police officers became well trained and
the public began to respect them
• In 1868, there were only 8500 police
officers in London; by 1886, there were
15,000
Law and Order cont’d.
• Provinces were slow to implement the Constabulary
Act because:
– They saw the new police as a means of executing the
new Poor Law, which was largely unpopular
– There was opposition to the idea of the police, as a
challenge to the liberties of England
– The expense was deemed too great
– Local government inertia
– Difficulty in getting advice from London
– Lack of cooperation between the borough and the
counties
– No provision was made until 1856 for government
inspection, audit, or regulation
JACK THE RIPPER
By Miss Boughey
www.SchoolHistory.co.uk
Who was Jack the Ripper?
• “Jack the Ripper" is the popular name given to a serial
killer who murdered several prostitutes in the East
End of London in 1888.
• The name came from a letter written and published in
the local paper by an individual claiming to be the
killer.
• The killings took place within a mile area and involved
the districts of Whitechapel, Spitalfields, Aldgate, and
the City of London.
• He was also called the Whitechapel Murderer and
"Leather Apron."
London in 1888
• London in 1888 was a
divided city.
• Just like today, the
West End was the
wealthiest area, and
the East End was
much poorer.
• Jack the Ripper
operated in the East
End, for a variety of
reasons.
.
•Charles Cross walked through Whitechapel just before four in the
morning in August 1888.
• The street was dark and looked deserted.
•It was chilly and damp, typical for London in the summer.
• He saw something that looked like tarpaulin lying on the ground
before the entrance to a stable.
• He walked closer, and saw a woman lying on her back, skirts lifted
almost to her waist.
•He saw another man walking the same way.
•"Come and look over here," he asked the man, assuming that the
woman was drunk or a victim of an assault.
•They tried to help her in the darkened street, neither saw the
awful wounds that had nearly decapitated her.
•They fixed her skirt for modesty's sake and went to look for a
policeman.
Victim One
•A few minutes later, Police Constable John Neil found the body whilst walking
his beat.
•From the light of his lantern, he saw that blood was oozing from her throat
which had been slashed from ear to ear.
•Her eyes were wide open. Even though her hands and wrists were cold, Neil felt
warmth in her arms.
•The wounds to the victim’s throat had been fatal.
•Since parts of her body were still warm, a local doctor felt she had been dead
no longer than half-hour.
•Her neck had been slashed twice, cutting through her windpipe.
• She had been killed where she was found, but there was very little blood on
the ground.
•Most of the lost blood had soaked into her clothing.
•The body was taken to the local mortuary, which was part of the workhouse
there.
•When the body was stripped, Inspector Spratling discovered that her
abdomen had been mutilated.
Louis Diemschutz was driving his cart to Dutfield Yard in
Whitechapel on Sunday, September 30, 1888. As he did so, he saw
an object on the ground near the wall of a building. He lit a match
and saw it was a woman. He rushed into a nearby building and
asked a man for help. When they saw that the object was a
woman with a stream of blood running from her body, the two men
ran screaming for a policeman. The police arrived and discovered
that her neck was warm, as were the legs and face. The hands
were cold. The right hand was open on the chest and smeared with
blood. The left hand was lying on the ground. The face was
peaceful. The mouth was slightly open. In the neck there was a
long cut which started on the left side below the angle of the jaw,
and almost in a direct line with it, severing the vessels on that
side, cutting the windpipe completely in two, and stopping on the
opposite side.
Why Prostitutes?
• In the poorer areas of the city such as
Whitechapel the housing was poor.
• There was no sanitation and sewage ran
openly through the overcrowded, maze-like
streets.
• There was little work available for women,
and no help for those women who were
unemployed other than the workhouse.
• Many were forced to become prostitutes to
survive.
Trapped in this Lifestyle
• For many such women, their only
escape from their terrible lives was
drink, and they quickly became
helpless alcoholics.
• The Whitechapel area had a large
amount of Pubs and Inns to profit
from the poverty and depression of
the people.
•Prostitution in those days was
dependent upon the
circumstances of the women.
•Some worked in brothels –
houses where prostitutes were
employed.
•The other type of prostitute
was more common.
•These were women forced to
go on the streets to make ends
meet.
•All the victims that Jack
killed were these type of
prostitutes.
•There were no identifying marks on the body.
•The victim was approximately five feet two inches
tall with brown hair, brown eyes and several missing
front teeth.
•As news of the murder spread around Whitechapel,
the police learned of a woman named "Polly," who
lived in a local lodging house.
•Eventually a woman from the Lambeth Workhouse
identified the victim as Mary Ann Nichols, age 42.
•The next day her family identified the body. Polly
had been a heavy drinker.
•Mostly, Polly had been living off her small earnings
as a prostitute.
• Every once in awhile, she would try to get her life
back together, but it never worked out.
•She was a sad, destitute woman, but one that most
people liked and pitied.
• Her death upset many people.
Who were Jack-the-Ripper’s Victims?
• It is generally agreed that the Ripper killed 5 women, but
many believe the true # to be closer to 9.
1. Mary Ann (Polly) Nichols, murdered Friday, August 31,
1888.
2. Annie Chapman, murdered Saturday, September 8, 1888.
3. Elizabeth Stride, murdered Sunday, September 30, 1888.
4. Catharine Eddowes, also murdered that same date.
5. Mary Jane Kelly, murdered Friday, November 9, 1888.
•
All 5 victims were prostitutes killed between August &
November 1888.
• It was thought each of the victims was drunk at the time
of their murders.
Mary Ann Nichols
•August 31, 1888
•Incisions in the lower abdomen
•Cuts in neck
•Dead of loss of blood.
Annie Chapman
• September 8, 1888
• Sliced Throat
• Cuts in abdomen
Elizabeth Stride
• September 30, 1888
• Throat gashed
Catharine Eddows
• September 30, 1888
• Deep cut over bridge of
nose.
• Cut throat
• Mutilations
• Cut from the throat to an
inch from the genitals
• Bruises, cuts, and
stabbing
Mary Jane Kelly
• November 9, 1888
• Abdomen and thighs was
removed
• Uterus, kidney and one
breast under head.
• Other breast by foot
• Liver between feet
• Intestines on one side and
spleen on other side.
• She was gutted
Possible Victims
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Fairy Fay, December 26, 1887
Annie Millwood, February 25, 1888
Ada Wilson, March 28, 1888
Emma Smith, April 3, 1888
Martha Tabram, August 7,1888
The White Hall Mystery, October 3, 1888
Annie Farmer, November 20, 1888
Rose Mylett, December 20, 1888
Elizabeth Jackson, June 1889
Alice Mackenize, July 17, 1889
Pinchen St. Murder, September 10, 1889
Frances Coles, February 13, 1891
Carrie Brown, April 24, 1891
How did the Ripper murder his victims?
• He strangled them until they died or were unconscious.
Autopsies of the victims support this cause of death.
• The Ripper then lowered his victims to the ground, their
heads to his left.
• The victims’ throats were cut on the ground as evidenced
by the blood splatter patterns (pooled beside neck & head,
rather than in front if body if victim had been standing).
• Ripper cut the victims’ throats from left to right, suggesting
he was right handed & could flee the scene blood free
(blood flow would be in direction opposite the killer).
Why is Jack-the-Ripper so infamous?
•
Although not the first serial killer in history, the Ripper’s crimes are
legendary for several reasons:
• 1. The Ripper was the first serial killer in a major city with an
educated populace. Hence, his crimes were well documented by
the police and the press.
• 2. The Ripper appeared during a time of political turmoil.
• 3. The Ripper terrified a city by leaving his grossly mutilated victims
in plain sight.
• 4. Finally, the Ripper was never caught adding to the mystery.
Ripper’s Modus Operandi:
• The Ripper mutilated his victims’ in numerous ways following the
throat slashing (cutting out their internal organs, cutting their
genitalia, face, extremities, etc.).
• There was NO forensic evidence of rape or masturbation (lack of
semen fluid/stains; no physical evidence of forced vaginal/anal
penetration). Note: they didn’t have DNA tests in 1888 so there
still could have been sexual activity that was undetected.
• The Ripper took usually took a piece of the victim’s viscera (gut
lining) as a memento of the murder.
• It should be noted that the killer had extensive knowledge of
human anatomy & may have been a surgeon or butcher.
The Ripper Letters
• It is now generally agreed by experts on this case, that
none of the letters thought to have been written by the
Ripper were in fact actually written by him.
• A letter dated September 25 & received on the twentyseventh by the Central News agency was the first to be
signed "Jack the Ripper".
• A postcard post marked October 1st followed. Since it
referred to a "double event" the police thought it might
be from the killer since it was posted the day after the
Ripper killed two women.
Letters contd.
• The post card also referred to the letter & must
have come from the same source as the letter
had not been released to the public yet.
• If the post card had been sent on September 30,
the day of the "double event", instead of
October 1, the likelihood that it was really
written by the murderer would be significantly
greater.
• The police were convinced the letters were the
work of a journalist.
Letters (contd.)
• One other letter was sent by the suspected killer. In mid-October, a
small package was sent to the authorities.
• Inside this parcel was half of a human kidney that the killer claimed
he had removed from the 4th victim, Catharine Eddowes. Eddowes
suffered from a disease that would deform the kidneys, and the
kidney looked deformed (consistent with her diagnosis).
• However, because DNA wasn’t available, there is no way to know
for sure, if it was her kidney.
• In addition, even if it was Eddowes’s kidney, that wouldn’t prove
Jack the Ripper himself, sent the parcel & kidney. to know for sure if
the Ripper really did send it
• Most of the arguments in favor of it being from Jack have been
based on inaccurate information and the myths rather than the
facts surrounding the case.
• However, Eddowes did suffer from Bright's disease and the
description of the kidney does match what a Bright's disease kidney
would look like.
Michael Ostrog, a
Russian doctor, and
convict, who was held
in a lunatic asylum as
a homicidal maniac.
His whereabouts at
the time of the
murders could never
be discovered.
A Mr. Druitt, was a
doctor in a good
family, who
disappeared at the
time of the Miller's
Court murder, &
whose body was
found in the
Thames on 31st
December.
In 1992 Michael
Barrett, from
Liverpool, found a
diary reputedly
written by James
Maybrick who died
in 1889. In this
diary, Maybrick
confessed to being
Jack the Ripper.
A well known
theory is that
Prince Albert was
the Ripper
because he liked
to slum it in the
East End and he
had the influence
to cover up
murders
Other Suspects
• M.J. Druitt—a barrister turned teacher committed suicide in
December 1888.
• It was argued by the Chief Constable, Sir Melville Macnaghten,
that Druitt was the main suspect in the murders.
• He argued that Druitt was a 41-year-old doctor who committed
suicide immediately after Mary Kelly’s murder and was the most
likely to kill the women.
• However, his theory was not supported by others and he was
wrong about some of the details.
• Druitt was actually a 31 year-old man who killed himself a month
after the Kelly murder. He was not a doctor.
• As of today, most researchers do not believe he committed the
murders.
James Maybrick
•Seriously ill from
overdose
•He was in a insane
asylum
•He had a diary that
was signed Jack the
Ripper.
Prince Albert Victor
•One of the most famous suspects
•Had a reputation of a ladies man
•He suffered from syphilis that he
contracted at a shore party in the
West Indies.
•The infection drove him insane and
compelled him to commit the
murders.
Jill the Ripper
•Mad Midwife
•London would be looking
for a man so it would allow
a woman to walk the
streets
•Midwife would have
anatomy knowledge
Walter Sickert
•DNA evidence on
Ripper’s letter
Aaron Kosminski
•Violet Tendencies
•A witness testified but
it was a Jew man so no
charges
Other Suspects
• Severin Klosowski (aka George Chapman), a
poisoned multiple wives , was thought to be
the Ripper.
• However, there was little support for this
theory from other officers.
• Modern profiling rejects Klosowski as the
murderer.
Why do the Ripper cases remain unsolved?
• 1. Its always hard to catch a serial killer. In the 1880’s
with primitive technology & no real forensic science, even
the basics of criminology (finger printing, blood typing,
DNA) are unavailable to the investigators.
• 2. The Ripper attacked at times when the streets were
largely deserted & chose victims who were usually drunk
& defenseless.
• 3. The Ripper attacked swiftly leaving little time for him
to be caught & he didn’t get much of the victim’s blood on
him, thereby making him hard to detect.
Legacy of Jack the Ripper
• Jack the Ripper was and still is, the most wellknown and notorious serial killer in history.
• His reign of terror in the streets of East London,
England was short but brutal.
• The case was never solved, and the murderer
never identified.
• Over a hundred years later, his crimes have
inspired books, films, songs and sadly, copycat
killers across the world.
Despite Government Intervention,
Inequalities Remained
Victorian London
– 1889, 1/3 of
the
population of
London lived
in conditions
of extreme
want
– 1901 census:
10% houses
dangerously
overcrowded
Education, Leisure, and Arts
With the growth of cities in the 1800s, new educational
opportunities developed. In addition, new sports, other leisure
activities, and changes in the arts world affected society.
Education
•Industrialization
created need for
more educated
workforce
•Military leaders
wanted officers
who knew more
about the world
Support
•People supported
public education
to develop
informed,
patriotic citizens
•Governments
passed laws
requiring
education for all
children
Not All Equal
•Lower class
children in school
only as long as law
required
•Vocational and
technical training
schools offered
opportunities for
working class
Education, Leisure, and Arts
Education lagged behind for girls as it did for the
lower classes
• Some countries did not require girls go beyond
elementary school grades
• Few girls in high schools took science and math
• Few colleges allowed women to enroll
• Some educators thought women should have
more opportunities, founded colleges just for
women
Educational Improvements
• More people can read and write
• Higher Education
– Universities
• More modern and relevant subjects taught
–Less RE and Classics
• Medical training available
• Scientific Specialisation
• Mathematics and Statistics used to aid research and
understanding of spread of diseases
Education, Leisure, and Arts
With a more educated populace, more cities began printing
newspapers.
Expanded Coverage
• Included not only current events,
but arts and sciences
• Weekly installments of stories to
keep readers coming back
• Political cartoons poked fun at
public figures
• Newspapers had specific
viewpoints
• Readers could find one which
identified with their views
New Technology
• Innovations, linotype and
electric press
• Improved newspaper
printing process
• Reporting of foreign affairs
improved with telegraph
• Journalism profession
began to grow
Education, Leisure, and Arts
Leisure time
• More time to play, watch sports
• British football, American football,
rugby developed
• Baseball became popular during Civil
War
Cultural activities
• New concert halls and theaters built
by governments
• More orchestras, bands, choral groups
evolved
• Public funding lowered ticket prices
Railroads
• Growth meant sports fans could travel
to see teams play
• Allowed more families to enjoy range
of activities
• Traveled to vacation spots
Art
• Moved from private homes
• Museums made great works available
to all
• Public libraries also opened
Leisure Time
• Leisure time was expanded for the middle
classes and working classes
• Newspapers made people interested in
places and events outside of their own
communities
• 1700’s the fine arts was available to the
upper class
• City governments built concert halls and
opera houses to hold concerts for upper
class, middle class, and working class
people in the city
• Activities such as visiting museums,
libraries, and amusement parks became
very popular
• So did sports such as rugby, soccer,
archery, lawn tennis, and cricket
Royal Albert Hall in
London (erected in1871)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Leisure Time Cont.
Enjoying the Fine Arts
Parks and open spaces
Parties and social occasions
Clubs and pubs
The seaside
Sports-The Victorian development of sport as individual activity
and mass entertainment: — bathing (i.e. swimming),
boxing,
cricket,
football,
golf,
horse racing,
mountain climbing,
rowing,
rugby,
track and field
Leisure Time Cont.
• The railway separated classes and encouraged
vacation time
• The steam press caused an increase in consumption
of pulp fiction and cheap newspapers
• The bicycle had a big effect on women and freed
them from wearing restrictive clothing and
encouraged building better roads
• Commercialisation of leisure by the latter quarter
of the nineteenth century became an increasingly
influential factor.
London Coffee Houses
• Coffee was introduced to London by Turkey.
• It was brought by David Saunders in 1652
• It promoted conversation, lent itself to social
gatherings, and afforded opportunities for
gambling
• People went to coffee houses not so much
for the coffee but for the conversation
• Conversations were mostly about business or
public affairs
The Clubs
• The clubs had their
origin in the coffee
houses, but they
contributed to
increase the
difference between
social classes.
• In fact only people
belonging to high
classes could be
members of a club.
London Clubs
• Clubs were houses for the chosen few who
were of common tastes and social class to
meet together
• The clubs were very exclusive and most of
the time were only open to intellectuals,
nobles, and high ranking government officials
• Whigs would gather at St. James’s Coffee
House
• Tories gathered at Ozinda’s
• Jacobites gathered at the Cocoa Tree
The Victorian Novel
• The novel was the dominant form in
•
•
•
•
•
•
Victorian literature.
Victorian novels seek to
represent a large and
comprehensive social world,
with a variety of classes.
Victorian novels are realistic.
Major theme is the place of
the individual in society, the
aspiration of the hero or
heroine for love or social
position.
The protagonist’s search for
fulfillment is emblematic of
the human condition.
For the first time, women were
major writers: the Brontes,
Elizabeth Gaskell, George Eliot.
The Victorian novel was a
principal form of
entertainment.
Victorian Poetry
• Victorian poetry developed in the
context of the novel.
• Poets sought new ways of telling
stories in verse
• All of the Victorian poets show the
strong influence of the Romantics,
but they cannot sustain the
confidence the Romantics felt in the
power of the imagination.
• Victorian poets often rewrite
Romantic poems with a sense of
belatedness.
• Dramatic monologue – the idea of
creating a lyric poem in the voice of a
speaker ironically distinct from the
poet is the great achievement of
Victorian poetry.
• Victorian poetry is pictorial; poets
use detail to construct visual images
that represent the emotion or
situation the poem concerns.
• Conflict t between private poetic self
and public social role.
Victorian Drama
• The theater was a
flourishing and popular
institution during the
Victorian period.
• The popularity of theater
influenced other genres.
• Bernard Shaw and Oscar
Wilde transformed British
theater with their comic
masterpieces.
Images of the Victorian Period
Liverpool
• Liverpool is a port on the north bank of the
estuary of the Mersey.
Liverpool cont’d.
• Liverpool replaced London as the principal
cotton port
• After the formation of the Liverpool and
Manchester Railway Liverpool became an
important trading center
• The major industries were marine
engineering, clothing manufacturing, and
food processing
• They traded with the American colonies
Liverpool: Primary Source
• “There is no town in England, London
excepted, that can equal Liverpool for
the fineness of the streets, the
beauty of the buildings; many of the
houses are all of stone and the rest
are brick.”
• Daniel Defoe 1724
Liverpool: Primary Source
• “Her importance is derived from her situation as a
seaport; her life is purely commercial, and her
wealth is derived from handling the produce of
other towns and countries. Her docks are crowded
with ships from all parts of the world. And the city,
with its population with six-hundred-thousand
souls, is one of the most prosperous in the United
Kingdom.”
• Ida Wells 1894
London
London
• The city became a true capital under Edward III, who
placed the royal administrative center at Westminster
during his reign in the fourteenth century.
• London was the only British city in medieval times
which was comparable in size to the great cities of
Europe.
• The urbanization of London continued and intensified
during the Industrial Revolution, and on through the
nineteenth century.
• By 1750 one tenth of the population of England
resided in London, and it was the undisputed cultural,
economic, religious, educational, and political center of
the nation.
• London was Britain's artistic and literary capital.
London: Primary Source
• “That great foul city of London, - rattling,
growling, smoking, stink – ghastly heap of
fermenting brickwork, pouring out poison at
every pore…”
• John Ruskin, 1860s
• “When a man is tired of London, he is tired
of life; for there is in London all that life can
afford.”
• Johnson
London: Primary Source
• “Nothing here is natural: everything is
transformed, violently changed, from the
earth and man himself, to the very light and
air. But the hugeness of this accumulation of
man-made things takes off the attention
from this deformity and this artifice; in
default of a wholesome and noble beauty,
there is life, teeming and grandiose.”
• Hippolyte Taine
London: Primary Source
• “On a Saturday night, butchers, bakers, greengrocers,
clothiers, furniture dealers, all the caterers for the
wants of the populace, are open till a late hour; there
are hundreds of them trading around and about, but
the whole lot do not take as much money as three
publicans – that is a fact ghastly enough in all
conscience. Enter the public-houses, and you will see
them crammed. Here are artisans and laborers
drinking away the wages that ought to clothe their
little ones. Here are the women squandering the
money that would purchase food, for the lack of which
the children are dying.”
• George Sims, 1889
Manchester
Manchester
• The transformation from a market town to a major city began
in 1761 when the Duke of Bridgewater canal began to bring
cheap coal to Manchester.
• By the end of the 18th century Manchester had established
itself as the centre of the cotton industry in Lancashire.
• Manchester experienced a 6 times increase in population
between 1771-1831
• Manchester became the obvious place to build textile
factories.
• Large warehouses were also built to store and display the
spun yarn and finished cloth.
• The town's population grew rapidly.
• With neighbouring Salford, Manchester had about 25,000
inhabitants in 1772.
• By 1800 the population had grown to 95,000.
Manchester Cont’d.
• Manchester is famous for its libraries. The library
founded by Humphrey Chetham (1580-1653) was
the first free public library in Britain.
• The Liverpool & Manchester Railway was opened
on 15th September, 1830.
• The prime minister, the Duke of Wellington, and a
large number of important people attended the
opening ceremony that included a procession of
eight locomotives.
Manchester
Manchester Primary Source
• “Manchester has no Building Act, and hence,
with the exception of certain central
streets,…each proprietor [owner] builds as he
pleases. New cottages, with or without
cellars, huddled together row behind row,
may be seen springing up in many parts…A
cottage row may be badly drained, the streets
may be full of pits, brimful of stagnant water,
the receptacle [holder] of dead cats and
dogs…”
Manchester Primary Source cont’d.
• “The number of cellar residences…is very great in
all quarters of town…That it is an evil must be
obvious…, for how can a whole 12 to 15 feet square
admit of [let in] ventilation so as to fit it for a
human habitation?...Food is dear, labor [work] is
scarce, and wages…very low; consequently…disease
and death are making unusual havoc
[destruction]…Unpaved and badly sewered streets,
narrow alleys, close, unventilated courts and
cellars…exhibit their malign [evil] influence in
augmenting [adding to] the suffering which that
greatest of all physical evils, want of sufficient food,
inflicts on young and old…”