Victorian Values: Survival of the Fittest? They were people not animals (London Labour and the London Poor - Henry Mayhew)

Member Name: pearlydewdrop

Product:	London Labour and the London Poor - Henry Mayhew
Date:	01/05/08 (141 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Amazing book. Insightful and a real eye-opener

Disadvantages: Quite sad and poignant

I dont know about you guys, but I love a bit of social history; and being a bit of a genealogy fanatic, I really enjoy padding out my background knowledge of my ancestors by reading relevant materials. The Victorian period, in my family tree (maiden name), is quite colourful since my ancestor was a Cabmaster in Whitechapel at the time of Jack the Ripper! Other family members were based in Bloomsbury and Hackney in the mid 1800's, and so London features quite prominantly in my past. As a result, I was interested to stumble across 'London Labour and the London Poor' by Henry Mayhew, as it gives detailed accounts of not only the sites and sounds of London around the 1840s, but also the diverse character of the Victorian Cockney- albeit, the impoverished native!

This beautifully written journal of Londons social ills and material/moral deprivation is a compulsive read for anyone who enjoys reading genuine dialogue of people long since buried. If you would avidly study the workhouse portraits of the Victorian era, maybe to gauge the character and disposition of the sitter, then this is the book for you. It is deeply sad and moving in parts; touching upon emotive subjects such as child poverty, the limbless Crimean war veterans begging on the capitals streets, and the physical devastation felt by the aged poor in low-lodging houses (if ever a time needed benefits and State assistance, the Victorian age is it!). However, this book is also hugely inspirational in that it shows the hardiness of the human spirit and will to live in abominable conditions. I must say, I particularly enjoyed reading the section that deals with the artisans and street performers of London; the little scams that they mastered and the levels of talent that they displayed. Its wonderful to read a bit about our English cultural past regarding entertainment, ie 'Punch and Judy', the 'Menagerie of Animals', and the street clown.

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~Who Was Henry Mayhew?~

Born in 1812, Henry Mayhew was first and foremost a journalist, writing at the height of his career for the Morning Chronicle. In time he directed his attention towards reporting on the social ills of London, and the rampant immorality that pervaded its streets. As a member of the privaledged upper-middle class, he chose not to ignore the degradation around him, but rather to act as a social 'commentator' to enlighten others. Mayhew wasnt strictly a philanthropist, since he didnt personally act to alleviate poverty or bring about social change, but he was sufficiently moved and indeed disturbed by the state of Londons poor community, their educational and material neglect, to wish to write at length on their 'subculture'.

Mayhew (1812-1887) was, effectively, a predecessor of the renowned Charles Booth (1840-1917) whose work 'Life and Labour of the People of London' was an extensive analysis of Londons social condition.


~What is Mayhew's Book About Fundamentally?~

Mayhew interviewed Londoners from many walks of life, but concentrated on those largely unskilled individuals who were forced to sell their labour on the streets. Some people were misfortunates who had, after the Industrial Revolution, abandoned farm labouring jobs in the countryside to seek work in the 'Gold Paved City'. Others were victims of the injustice of war, being veterans cast out with little pension and thus made to seek alms at the workhouse. Many children were orphans left to fend for themselves, whilst other littles would scavenge for things to sell to support their sick or invalided parents. Alcohol was the prime social ill of this period, and a strong cause of deprivation; Mayhew endeavoured to highlight this vice by interviewing those people reduced to living in the Workhouse, or the jail. It staggers me that the Victorian period is regarded as a time moral 'superiority' when it was responsible for one of the vilest and most debauched periods of history- frankly, the privaledged in society chose to 'turn the other cheek' whilst still claiming to be good Christians. Thats the paradox of Victorian society, in my view.

Mayhew's book primarilly focused on the issues of poverty, moral degradation, the absense of formal education, and widespread ignorance of spiritual existance and even basic geography! He was at times at a loss to comprehend the sheer level of want in this class of people, and deeply troubled at the plight of little children living a 'hand to mouth' existance. This quote says it all:

'The Watercress Girl' (A child of no more than eight years selling icy watercress on the London streets)

"There was something cruelly pathetic in hearing this infant....talking of the bitterest struggles of life with the calm earnestness of one who had endured them all....The poor child, although the weather was severe, was dressed in a thick cotton gown, with a threadbare shawl wrapped around it...When she walked she shuffled along, for fear that the large carpet slippers that served her for shoes should slip off".


~How is the Book Laid Out?~


The book is divided into 4 volumes, which are dedicated to different subject matters, as follows:


VOLUME I: Of the Street Folk.

An in depth study of the richly diverse jobs undertaken by Londons poor contingent. This volume is in various sections, ie-

-Street Sellers
-Street Buyers
-Street Finders (Scavengers, Mud-Larks)
-Street Performers
-Street Artisans
-Street Labourers

There is a particular focus on the class of people known as Costermongers; an urban trader with no fixed premises to do business, and for whom education is limited. These people largely had to live on their wits, and procure what work they could; struggling all the while to keep a family in low-lodging (cheap rented rooms in rundown, districts of London). Low-lodging houses, Mayhew asserts are 'dens of iniquity', exposing young children to the vices of theiving, protistitution, begging, and drinking.



VOLUME II: Of the Street Jews,and Scavengers and Cleaners

This volume concentrates on the Jewish community in London, and perpetutates the 'traditional' view of the Jew as industrious, profiteering, and a smarter tradesman than the average Englishman.

It also examines the scavenging community (the Mudlarks who would scour the Thames for scrap metal etc to sell on for melting), predominantly consisting of young uneducated boys desperate to supplement their families paltry income. Dustmen and chimney-sweeps are analysed here too.



VOLUME III: Our Street Folk (Street Entertainment, Cabmen, and the Workhouse Inmates/Vagrant Population)


This volume I found to be both entertaining and desperately sad. It is fascinating reading about the street clown and the things that would make the average Victorian gent laugh. However, it was heart-breaking to read the hell such an artisan would go through to make a living- humiliation, long hours for poor returns, awful weather. This extract really moved me:

"He (the clown) was a melancholy-looking man, with the sunken eyes of semi-starvation...and premature age.....'You cant imagine sir what a curse the street business becomes, with its insults and starvations...Frequently when I am playing the fool in the streets , I feel very sad at heart.I cant help thinking of the bare cupboards at home; but whats that to the world?'".

Mayhew goes on to study the conditions in the workhouse and the reasons why some individuals have had to end up on parish relief.


VOLUME IV: Those that Will Not Work

This volume is about the criminal element in Londons poor community, and the phenomenon of banishment to the colonies.


This is an incredible book that will move you to tears, but at the same time impress upon you the importance of the benevolent state in todays society. Yes, we have a benefits culture which is way beyond that which Beverage envisaged as a 'Safety net' from the 'cradle to the grave'. We are too permissive today, and allow people to become idle, but who would wish to return to the shame of Victorian England and the grossly inhumane treatment of its people. The Victorians, in my view, were expert hypocrites preaching from the bible that one should help the poor etc, and yet they turned a blind eye and even inflicted pain and humiliation on their fellow man- men who, by and large had been thrown out of the safety of the feudal age into uncharted Capitalist territory (and told to 'sink or swim'). Enjoy and feel yourself humbled by these people plight.


This book can be bought from Amazon for as little as £3.95 (used) and £9.09 new. This includes free delivery.

Published by: Penguin Classics

Summary: Mayhew examines the plight and resilience of Londons poor