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The Victorian Slum - S01E03
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00:00And as the country thrived, London, the beating heart of empire, became the world's richest city.
00:08But this was a city divided.
00:11For the first time, geographical lines were drawn between those enjoying the nation's wealth in the west
00:16and those who weren't in the east.
00:23This is the story of one poor community living in London's East End.
00:30In the heart of modern Stratford, a Victorian slum has been recreated.
00:36And a group of 21st century people are moving in.
00:41Oh, absolutely awful.
00:45I'm just a bit dumbstruck.
00:47To survive, they'll have to work to keep a roof over their heads.
00:51It's absolutely shattering.
00:55And put food on the table.
00:57I'm starving. It's making me a bit emotional.
01:00To be honest.
01:01And they'll learn first-hand what life was like.
01:04You will call me mum.
01:05For those at the bottom of the economic pile.
01:08They were disabled. They couldn't do it. They didn't eat. They didn't eat. They died.
01:12They'll live through five decades of turbulent history.
01:15Look at the newspaper!
01:17And seismic social change.
01:19I am proud to be an East End suffragette.
01:23Power to the people.
01:24This is the story of how a quarter of a million slum dwellers in the East End changed our attitude to poverty forever.
01:33This is the slum.
01:35Last time, the 1870s.
01:44I've always wanted one of these machines.
01:46The residents moved into mass production.
01:4822 pairs of trousers.
01:51Oh, my God.
01:52I think we're working late tonight.
01:53Oh, my God.
01:55Bread.
01:56That's now 97p.
01:57But an economic nosedive.
01:5930% reduction in prices is a big bombshell.
02:03Meant harder work.
02:04He treats us like employees, not family when we're working.
02:07Just about pass.
02:08What do you mean, just about?
02:10Just to scrape by.
02:12You know, being the only breadwinner, I've got to work twice as hard to earn money, and then still I have nothing, and I'm running out of options.
02:20Oh, wow.
02:21There were hopeful new arrivals.
02:23The Irish are moving up.
02:24Shh.
02:25We are packing.
02:26And a desperate departure.
02:28I don't know how these people did it.
02:29I mean, if I was a Victorian woman, I would rather take my chances elsewhere and start afresh.
02:34Well, she's just gone.
02:35Unbelievable.
02:40It's nearly touching at the back now.
02:44There was a big get before at the waist.
02:46Slum diet's working, eh?
02:49It's the residents' third week in the slum, and the start of a new decade, the 1880s.
02:56I don't know what's going to happen in the next decade.
02:59As a family, we just take it day by day.
03:02But there's always that worry.
03:05For slum dwellers like the Potters, it's an ongoing battle to make ends meet.
03:10Seems to be no end to the cycle.
03:12You know, you get up, you go out, look for work.
03:14There is no work.
03:15It's absolutely soul-destroying.
03:17Morning.
03:19Good morning.
03:19We've got some lovely bacon here.
03:2175 pence for the normal bread and marge.
03:24I think it's going to be normal bread and marge.
03:26Yeah, it's just bread and marge.
03:26Yeah?
03:27We'd worked so hard in the 1870s just to get by.
03:30My greatest fear for the 1880s is that it gets worse.
03:34In the 1870s, Britain was gripped by a dire economic depression.
03:39By the 1880s, things were reaching crisis point.
03:42There was an influx of cheap labour into the East End,
03:46which led to greater competition for jobs and drove down wages.
03:51Pressure was mounting on those who were already living on the edge.
03:55Russell, the big bit or the smaller bit?
03:58The smaller bit.
04:01I do whatever I can to pay my rent.
04:03It doesn't matter how hard we work.
04:04I don't care how little we sleep.
04:06I actually don't care how hungry we go.
04:07It's the main thing is we put as much money as we can away.
04:09As soon as you start getting behind here,
04:11you're never going to get back.
04:12In the 1870s, the Howarth family got by,
04:16working from home as sweated tailors finishing factory orders.
04:21In the 1880s, even with the economy in dire straits,
04:25London's population was still expanding by more than 40,000 a year.
04:30Oh, my God.
04:31Oh, my God, there's a singer.
04:32There's a singer.
04:33So this is a workshop, yeah?
04:35Yeah, it's definitely a workshop.
04:36High five.
04:37High five.
04:38Special.
04:38As the Depression worsened, factories cut costs,
04:42creating an opportunity for East End tailors
04:44to set up entire workshops,
04:46fulfilling factory orders by exploiting
04:48the cheap and unregulated workforce in the East End slums.
04:52Compared to working at home,
04:54this to me just feels like a palace.
04:57Last time, the Howarth were sweated workers.
04:59Now they will be the sweaters.
05:02But their new business means their weekly rent
05:04has almost doubled to £30 in today's money.
05:08So the pressure is on to make the workshop pay.
05:11We need to work really hard and get ourselves out of this.
05:14But we're going to be employing people
05:15who are not paying them fairly.
05:17So we're not going to be paying for a fair day's work, are we?
05:19No.
05:20Running a sweaters workshop is going to be tough, I think.
05:22If we don't deliver any work,
05:23then no manager will come in and we're paying them
05:25and we don't actually make any money,
05:27we actually lose money.
05:28We could be in the doss house
05:29if we don't get the work done.
05:31The success of a sweated workshop
05:35relied on a willingness to work others to the bone.
05:39And in an already saturated labour market,
05:42there was no shortage of people desperate for work.
05:45The 1880s saw a huge influx of Jewish immigrants
05:49fleeing from poverty and persecution
05:51in places like Russia and Eastern Europe.
05:53They came here to the East End
05:55despite the fact that a lot of them had relatives
05:57writing them letters saying,
05:58don't come, conditions here are truly dreadful.
06:01But what they were fleeing was even worse.
06:05In 1881 in Russia,
06:06Jews were blamed for the assassination of Tsar Alexander.
06:10Government-sponsored massacres known as pogroms followed.
06:13Thousands were killed.
06:15The pogroms spawned attacks and oppression that lasted decades
06:19and forced many to flee their homeland
06:21and seek refuge in cities like London.
06:24The number of Jewish immigrants almost doubled,
06:27around 30,000 arrived
06:28and this made them the second-largest immigrant population
06:31after the Irish.
06:35Tomas is a 21st-century Polish economic migrant.
06:39Not what I necessarily expected.
06:41So grey.
06:44Lee and Yasha are both descendants of European Jews
06:47who sought refuge in London.
06:53They seem smiley, don't they?
06:55Yeah.
06:55Oh, God, give it an hour.
06:5875-year-old Yasha's father fled Russia in the early 20th century.
07:04I'm just very grateful to have this amazing opportunity
07:07to experience the circumstances under which Jews arrived
07:10in the east end of London.
07:11They come to a new nation looking for something new,
07:14for new hope, new opportunities.
07:19Lee's grandfather was an Austrian child refugee,
07:22brought to England at the start of the Second World War.
07:24They came here just so that they could live,
07:28just so that they could be somewhere
07:30and it not be an offence to be Jewish.
07:33I reckon they've just come in, Russ,
07:35and they're going to be looking for work.
07:36I reckon these are the people we're going to have to look to employ.
07:39Oh, my God, this is so weird.
07:41In the 1880s, refugees arriving at London's docks
07:46were often greeted off the boat by sweating sharks,
07:49who promised them work
07:50and brought them to the sweater's dens of the east end.
07:53This is the workshop, OK.
07:57Russell is obviously in charge of the work,
07:58but I'm actually in charge of the workshop itself.
08:00So I'll be walking around
08:02making sure everybody is productive as they possibly can be.
08:04Sweaters' dens maximise the productivity of their workers
08:07by operating a strict set of rules.
08:10There is no slacking on the job,
08:12which includes stopping to eat, OK?
08:14There is no excessive talking, all right?
08:17The most serious one is any stealing
08:19or damaging any of the garments,
08:21because we have to replace it which comes out of our profit,
08:24which is going to feed my children.
08:25If only the rules are broken, then you will be fined,
08:27and that will be taken out of any wages
08:28that you could potentially earn.
08:31Like their forebears,
08:32the workers have arrived with no money for food and shelter.
08:36They won't be paid till the first order is complete.
08:39New orders could come at any time.
08:42New order, six men's pairs of trousers and six waistcoats.
08:45Turning them round quickly
08:47was the only way to make a sweatshop pay.
08:50We've got to do this by tomorrow.
08:51We need to work quickly.
08:53But new employees were unfamiliar with the process.
08:56I had a slight accident.
08:58You see the iron here?
09:00Really very, very hot.
09:01Wrap it.
09:02You've got it. Pick it up.
09:04Known as greeners...
09:05A little bit of water.
09:07..they were given the lowliest tasks,
09:09such as underpressing and basic machining.
09:11Just sell on the white chalk mark.
09:12Mandy and Russell will need to get their greeners up to speed fast
09:15if they're going to get their first order done today.
09:19Oh, no, I think my bobbin's gone.
09:22Never crank it towards you,
09:23because if you do, it'll break the cotton,
09:25which is really annoying.
09:27If anybody is struggling, could you let me know, please,
09:29cos I can call Russell over,
09:30rather than you just wait and wait and wait,
09:31cos time is money.
09:33Oh, God.
09:33You have to understand, they've got to work quickly.
09:36The idea is, is that they need to make us money.
09:39So they're lovely, lovely,
09:40but ultimately, they're not my friends.
09:43My mum, I've never seen her like that before.
09:45She, she's embracing the sweatshop thing.
09:48The fact that there was no laws whatsoever
09:50just blows my mind.
09:52To keep up the pace in the 1880s,
09:54sweated workers put in more than 18 hours a day,
09:57six days a week.
09:58Put one on.
09:59While that one's heating up, you're using one
10:00you can, when you go out and swap over.
10:02They were paid amongst the lowest wages in the slums,
10:05the equivalent of just 34 pence an hour.
10:07They'd need four times that to pay for a bed in the Doss house.
10:11This is where they sort of took advantage of the immigrants,
10:13who probably couldn't even speak English,
10:14or read, or write, or anything like that.
10:17These conditions are still round the world,
10:18in Bangladesh, in China.
10:20People get treated and taken advantage of.
10:23It was a dog-eat-dog world.
10:25They probably had the attitude,
10:26but I had to go through it, I had to do it,
10:27I had to survive it, and if it's strong enough,
10:29you will survive it, but that's not my problem.
10:31I'm in it to get out of this,
10:32so I will earn as much money out of you as I possibly can.
10:38Without a trade to rely on,
10:40the potters have struggled through the decades.
10:42But families like theirs could make a living from the streets.
10:48Known as costamongers or street peddlers,
10:50they bought cheap food to sell on.
10:54Let's cut down there.
10:55A staple of the East End diet,
10:58eels were an affordable source of protein,
11:00known as the meat of the poor.
11:03People usually prepared street food in their own homes,
11:06but the potters are borrowing the shop's kitchen.
11:09I think we've not done a bad job.
11:12Bought for five a penny,
11:14sheep's trotters could also be sold on the street
11:16for a small profit.
11:18We'll see if we can get enough
11:19so that we can make the rent
11:21and be able to feed us.
11:28The potters are heading to Spitalfields,
11:30in the heart of the East End,
11:31to try and make their £13 rent.
11:34Come and get your jelly deals.
11:36Jelly deals, 17 pence.
11:38Yeah, all right.
11:39Come and get your jelly deals.
11:43Spitalfields would have thronged
11:44with people plying their trade
11:45outside pubs like the Ten Bells,
11:48here since 1851,
11:50where people paid pennies for snacks
11:52to soak up their gin and beer.
11:54In the 1880s,
11:56the lack of other work
11:57meant the number of costamongers
11:58soared by almost 40%
12:00to more than 12,000.
12:02Come and get your potters, trotters.
12:06It's a little bit like Alkyfax.
12:10It's quite fatty, isn't it?
12:12Back then,
12:13around 80,000 sheep's trotters
12:14were consumed each week.
12:16Hello.
12:18Now, though,
12:19the potters will need to sell
12:2072 trotters or eels
12:22just to make their rent.
12:24Would you be interested
12:25in any sheep's trotters?
12:27Sorry, what is it?
12:28It's a sheep's trotter.
12:30Come on.
12:32What is the difference
12:33between a tube
12:34and a foolish Dutchman?
12:35One is a hollow cylinder
12:37and the other is a silly Hollander.
12:40As well as street selling,
12:42children found other ways
12:43to make money.
12:45Would you like to hear a joke
12:46at 8p?
12:48They performed acrobatics,
12:50sang ditties,
12:51or told the jokes of the day
12:52to passers-by,
12:53all to try and earn
12:54a few pennies.
12:56Ready?
12:57If all the seas were dried up,
12:59what would Neptune say?
13:00I don't know.
13:01I really haven't got a notion.
13:03Oh!
13:05When is a pretty girl
13:07like a ship?
13:08I don't know.
13:09Go on.
13:09When she's attached
13:10to a boy.
13:12Amazing!
13:13It's all right,
13:15it's quite embarrassing,
13:16but every penny counts
13:18when you're in Victorian times
13:19because it could be
13:20the one penny
13:21that gets you
13:22your meal.
13:23Trotters, trotters!
13:24What are you eating there?
13:28Fish and chips.
13:29That with fish and chips
13:30would be absolutely super.
13:31£17, just try it.
13:32Graham injured his back
13:34while working,
13:35shortly after his arrival
13:36at the slum.
13:37Now, he finally has
13:39a chance to earn.
13:40Do you eat fish?
13:42That's all it is.
13:42My parents were bought
13:44up on those.
13:45Is it nice?
13:46Yes, it is.
13:47Yes?
13:47£17.
13:50I think my dad's
13:52a natural salesman.
13:53It's what he's done
13:54all his life.
13:55He's going to cook them
13:56freshly this morning.
13:56He's enjoying it.
13:57I think it's probably
13:58done him the world
13:58of good to get out.
14:00So one to take away, yeah?
14:01Yes.
14:01With more people
14:02arriving all the time,
14:04the East End slums
14:04of the 1880s
14:05were filling up
14:06with unskilled men
14:07desperate to support
14:08their families.
14:10Unemployment rates
14:10were running at around
14:1110% for casual labourers,
14:13but the real problem
14:14was underemployment.
14:16If you were unskilled,
14:17then you would be lucky
14:18to get two weeks
14:19of poorly paid work
14:20a month,
14:21and that affected
14:22the lives of everyone.
14:23in the slum.
14:27Slum residents,
14:28John and Andy,
14:29are meeting social historian
14:30Carl Chin
14:31at the West India docks
14:33a few miles
14:34from the East End
14:34to find out
14:35about job opportunities
14:36in the 1880s.
14:40The dock would have been
14:41the first port of call
14:42for many casual labourers,
14:44but by the 1880s,
14:46everything was a fight.
14:47This is why we're here today,
14:49lads.
14:49This grand,
14:50imposing pillar.
14:51Its twin is across the street.
14:54This was the entrance
14:55to the West India docks.
14:56Between the pillars,
14:57there would have been
14:58great, big, heavy gates.
15:00In the 1880s,
15:01at gates like these,
15:04along the Thames in London,
15:06thousands upon thousands
15:08of desperate men
15:09would gather
15:09every morning
15:10looking for casual work.
15:12In the East End
15:13of London alone,
15:14over 10,000 men
15:16were trying to get dock work,
15:18which was sufficient
15:19for only 6,000.
15:21For centuries,
15:22the spoils of empire,
15:24tea, sugar, tobacco, spice,
15:26had passed
15:26through London's docks.
15:28In the 1860s,
15:29when the docks were thriving,
15:31it had offered
15:31casual labourers
15:32hard work,
15:33but decent pay.
15:34By the 1880s,
15:36the economic depression
15:37and competition
15:38from new docks downstream
15:39left the East End
15:40in crisis.
15:42Too poor to travel elsewhere,
15:44men still came
15:45desperate for work,
15:46often waiting hours
15:47for the chance of a job.
15:49When those gates opened,
15:50there's a mad rush
15:51for the men to get through
15:52and be the first
15:54to get called for work.
15:55Ben Tillett
15:56later founded
15:57the Dock Workers' Union
15:58and he wrote
15:59in his memoirs
16:00about a place
16:01called The Cage.
16:02As the men
16:03were driven
16:04through the gates,
16:05they were herded
16:06almost into a shed,
16:07as if they were cattle.
16:09And that shed
16:09had iron bars
16:10all around it.
16:12And around the iron bars,
16:13the foreman,
16:14looking out,
16:15deciding who they
16:16were going to choose
16:17to work that day,
16:19the younger men,
16:19were flinging them
16:20themselves across
16:21those in front.
16:23Men who were so
16:23enfeebled by hunger
16:25and weakness
16:26fell below,
16:27onto the ground,
16:28and they were trampled
16:29to death underfoot.
16:31Those are the conditions
16:32that the casuals
16:33had to put up with.
16:35I mean, it's horrific.
16:36It beggars belief
16:37that people,
16:38like you say,
16:38were treated like cattle,
16:39like commodities,
16:40like pieces of flesh,
16:41just to move items.
16:42To come here,
16:43you know,
16:44in the hope to be able
16:44to support their families
16:45and to come in
16:46and find yourself
16:47in the cage,
16:47it's...
16:48I can't imagine
16:49that desperation
16:49for work.
16:51It's...
16:51It's unbelievable.
16:53I can't even...
16:54And the job
16:58that you casuals
16:59would have had
16:59would have been
17:00at the bottom
17:00of the pile
17:01to unload
17:02the bales,
17:03the barrels,
17:03the crates,
17:04and, of course,
17:05the bags of sugar.
17:07This is what
17:08you've punched,
17:09pushed,
17:10shoved,
17:10fought for.
17:11And you know
17:12how much you're
17:12going to get for it?
17:13It'd be a pittance,
17:13isn't it?
17:14Five pence an hour.
17:16Five pence an hour?
17:17Five pence an hour.
17:18It's crazy.
17:19Andy,
17:20do you think
17:20you would have got work?
17:21To be honest,
17:21I can't see me
17:22even getting through the gate.
17:23Why would a foreman
17:23pick someone
17:24with quite an obvious disability?
17:26I'm older than John.
17:28I'm bottom of the pile,
17:29aren't I?
17:29You're on your way out then,
17:31John.
17:31Young,
17:32fitter.
17:33Probably would have been picked.
17:34Get cracking
17:35with your work, mate.
17:36Andy's got nothing
17:37from the dock,
17:38but for John,
17:39things aren't much better.
17:40In the 1860s,
17:41a docker's daily wage
17:42was equivalent
17:43to £22
17:44in today's money.
17:46But by the 1880s,
17:47fierce competition
17:48for fewer jobs
17:49had forced wages down,
17:51and they'd have been lucky
17:52to get two hours' work,
17:53earning them
17:54just £4.40.
17:56It's horrific,
17:57and you're just bringing it
17:57backwards and forwards
17:58all day long.
18:00Moving goods
18:01around the quays
18:02and warehouses
18:03was dangerous too.
18:04The sacks would rub
18:05the skin off their backs,
18:06and half of all workers
18:08sustained serious injuries.
18:12There are even accounts
18:14of men dying
18:14from exhaustion
18:15on their doorsteps,
18:16clutching their day's pay.
18:18It makes you kind of angry
18:20that somebody in those days
18:21was willing to go out
18:22and fight for this work,
18:24but nothing could secure it
18:25from one day to the next.
18:27It's ruthless.
18:28There's no security,
18:30and there's always somebody
18:31ready to take your place
18:32as soon as you can't do it.
18:38In the East End sweatshops,
18:40working conditions
18:41were just as bad.
18:43Sweated workers
18:44were fined for mistakes,
18:45for talking,
18:46and charged over the odds
18:48for bread and tea.
18:50Don't be too stingy
18:51with the sugar.
18:54With a list of rules
18:55to enforce,
18:5612-year-old James
18:57is getting a taste
18:58for being boss.
19:01Mm-hmm.
19:02You can't stop work
19:04to drink your tea.
19:06Or you get fined
19:07one pound,
19:07two pence.
19:09You need to work
19:09while you're drinking your tea.
19:11How are you supposed
19:12to be drinking
19:13while working?
19:17It's for you to sort out.
19:18It's not my problem,
19:19because I'm not drinking
19:20and working at the same time.
19:21It's your problem.
19:23I'm quite enjoying
19:24bossing people around.
19:26I feel like I'm quite a big
19:27person in the scheme of,
19:30like,
19:30my dad's at the top
19:32and I'm beneath him,
19:33and then all the workers
19:34are at the bottom.
19:35I stitched the wrong side first.
19:38That is a...
19:39It's a definite fine.
19:39...damaging.
19:40That's a £2.72.
19:43Fines meant bosses
19:44could get away
19:45with paying workers
19:46even less
19:47than their already
19:48meagre wage.
19:50There's an account
19:51of one young Jewish greener
19:53who worked 22 hours
19:54in every 24.
19:57Finally,
19:57despair led him
19:58to hang himself
19:59in the room
19:59he shared with his wife.
20:02The circumstances
20:03under which they were working
20:04were very uncomfortable
20:05and not very happy at all.
20:07There's no fairness
20:08in the mistreatment
20:09of people like that.
20:10These immigrants
20:11must have arrived here
20:12with lots of hope
20:13in their hearts.
20:14And I would have thought
20:15that once they found themselves
20:16in the slums
20:17being taken advantage
20:18of and being mistreated,
20:20you know,
20:20they must have become
20:21absolutely desperate.
20:22As the end of the day
20:24approaches,
20:24the order's still not finished,
20:26which means no pay
20:27for the house
20:27or their workers.
20:29Gentlemen.
20:30How's it going?
20:30Not so well.
20:31Not so well.
20:32We've come to you
20:33looking for help.
20:35What's happening,
20:35basically,
20:36is that we're really
20:36working hard.
20:38But unfortunately,
20:39the work has not been
20:39completed and our boss,
20:41Russell,
20:42is not getting paid
20:43so he's not paying us.
20:44We are absolutely starving.
20:46If you're really desperate,
20:48you would ask for credit
20:49and then we call that
20:50putting it on tick.
20:50But at the moment,
20:52I can't really
20:52extend any credit.
20:54We can only extend
20:55the credit if we know
20:56that you have a means
20:57of paying it back.
20:58What have you got?
20:58A reasonable,
20:59beautiful-looking
21:00bowler hat.
21:01It's got its bow tie.
21:02Everything is still there.
21:03Does that make his name,
21:04on it?
21:05Are you looking to pay
21:06until tomorrow, then?
21:07We should.
21:08Yes.
21:09All being well,
21:09we'll be paid tomorrow,
21:10yes.
21:11I'll give you $2.50 on it,
21:12right?
21:13The repay on that
21:14is 20% fee,
21:15so you'll owe us £3.
21:18It's extortionate.
21:19It seems like
21:19I haven't got another option.
21:21Immigrant workers
21:22arriving in the slums
21:23faced stark choices.
21:25Even after pawning
21:26their most treasured
21:27possessions,
21:28they still had to choose
21:29whether to spend
21:29a few pennies on eating
21:31or finding a place to sleep.
21:33When it comes to
21:34putting things on tick front,
21:35they are transient.
21:36It's got to be cash up front,
21:37I think,
21:38for anything they buy.
21:39If we just go now
21:40and say,
21:40just out of kindness,
21:41start giving stuff away,
21:42we're not going to be around
21:43for very long.
21:44No, we're not.
21:45And that lets everybody down.
21:46For the potters,
21:51it's been a profitable day.
21:54£9.92.
21:56Brilliant.
21:58They're well on the way
21:59to making this week's rent.
22:00Really, really pleased
22:03to be able to go out
22:05with an empty pot
22:07and come home
22:08with some money.
22:10So we've got to be
22:11really careful
22:11and budget whatever money
22:12we've got carefully.
22:14And the majority of that
22:16will go on food.
22:18It's been a really good day today.
22:20With your own enterprise,
22:22you're in more control.
22:23I'm really proud
22:24of our family.
22:29Yasha, Thomas and Lee
22:31have prioritised
22:32accommodation over food.
22:34Who knows you've got to come later?
22:36Sign your name there for me.
22:37Just write it and then sign.
22:38Using the money
22:39from Yasha's pawned hat
22:40to pay for a night shelter,
22:42their arrival brings
22:43DOS housekeeper Andy
22:44some badly needed income.
22:46It's fabulous news
22:47for me making money
22:48from our lovely immigrants.
22:51You two are going
22:52to settle down
22:52comfortably on the chair.
22:55Back in Tate,
22:56it had to be
22:57a horrible experience
22:58to having to trade
22:58in your own clothes
23:00in order to pay
23:00for your bed.
23:01I hope this is wide enough.
23:05My grandfather,
23:06he was a refugee.
23:07This is a lot like
23:08his experience
23:09because he would have
23:09come to England
23:10and not really
23:13speaking the language,
23:14not knowing
23:14what was going on.
23:16To imagine that people
23:17had to live
23:18in this environment
23:18for every day
23:20is absolutely terrifying.
23:22The very nature
23:23of it is so precarious.
23:25Everything's reduced
23:25to survival,
23:27isn't it?
23:32Well, what we know
23:33about tomorrow
23:33is that we're going
23:34to get paid
23:34for the work we did today.
23:36Yeah.
23:36At least we can use
23:37the money to eat
23:38properly.
23:50John's sister Maria
23:51is up early.
23:53I'm checking
23:53if you've got any
23:54laundry you want to do.
23:56With John
23:57only getting
23:57a couple of hours' work,
23:59she is trying
23:59to earn the rest
24:00of the money
24:00they need
24:01for food and rent.
24:02It's 30 pence
24:04for it
24:05because it's only
24:05undergarment.
24:06By offering
24:07to do her neighbour's
24:08washing.
24:08Thank you very much.
24:09Thanks.
24:1130p and you'll
24:12get that out, yeah?
24:12Yeah.
24:12You'll get that
24:13nice and clean?
24:13Yeah.
24:14You'll do a nice
24:14good job on that
24:15and I might have
24:16more for you.
24:17Oh, good.
24:17All right.
24:18See you later.
24:19See you later.
24:19These casual arrangements
24:21were common
24:21in the slums
24:22where you could
24:23scrape a living
24:23washing the clothes
24:24of workers
24:25doing long hours
24:26in the sweatshops.
24:27And we've got
24:32a pound
24:32for everything,
24:33yeah?
24:33OK.
24:34Put it there.
24:35Put it there,
24:36Tester.
24:42I think this
24:43is the worst part
24:44because you're
24:44over the fire
24:45and it blows
24:46so much smoke
24:47in your face
24:47that your eyes
24:48are watering.
24:50I hate doing this.
24:54After an
24:55uncomfortable night
24:56in the Dosses,
24:56Oh, my God.
24:58I hate this bench.
25:00Yasha,
25:01Thomas and Lee
25:01go straight back
25:02to work
25:03at the sweater's den.
25:07With rent day
25:08fast approaching,
25:09sweatshop owner
25:10Russell needs them
25:11to complete
25:12their delayed
25:12first order.
25:14A lot of pressure.
25:15Massive trouble
25:16getting it done.
25:17Speed and accuracy
25:18is vital.
25:22Trying to train
25:22new people
25:23how to do stuff.
25:25Keep it straight.
25:26You don't want it
25:27going wonky,
25:27otherwise the trousers
25:28would be no good.
25:29Trying to be the owner
25:31of a sweatshop
25:32is really tough.
25:34Russell is a trained
25:36tailor,
25:36but it's Mandy
25:37that has a generations-old
25:38connection with tailoring.
25:40She and daughter,
25:41Rebecca,
25:41are meeting historian
25:42Dr Anne Kirshen
25:43to find out more
25:44about their family history.
25:46Here's the census
25:47that shows
25:48your great-grandfather
25:50on your paternal side.
25:51That's my dad.
25:53So he was born
25:53in Odessa,
25:55in Russia,
25:56so he's Russian.
25:58For his occupation,
25:59he's got down here
25:59Taylor.
26:01He had...
26:02He had 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 children.
26:09Six children.
26:11Five were born in Kamenitz
26:13in Russia
26:14and one was born
26:15in London.
26:18There was a severe pogrom
26:21in Kizhnev
26:22where 50 people were killed.
26:25Kamenitz was not that far away.
26:27Many fled these massacres
26:30with no more
26:31than a bundle
26:31of precious possessions,
26:33spending everything they had
26:34to get as many family members
26:36out as they could.
26:38Those with money
26:38went to America.
26:40London was the cheaper destination.
26:42They sailed in steerage,
26:44enduring three days below decks
26:45in cramped conditions.
26:49Your paternal great-grandfather
26:51had the foresight,
26:53fortune whatever,
26:55to bring his entire family
26:57to get them out of there.
26:58Get them out of there
26:59and settle in the East End.
27:01Probably made quite
27:02an arduous journey
27:03so to do.
27:05Men often came first,
27:06hoping to secure employment
27:07so their family could follow.
27:09Most didn't speak English.
27:11Many couldn't read or write.
27:13What we have here
27:14is your grandfather's
27:15birth certificate,
27:17David Lenov.
27:19And there's something significant
27:20on the birth certificate.
27:21And I don't know
27:22whether you can notice it
27:23if you look at it carefully.
27:24His father couldn't write?
27:25No.
27:26Because he's got
27:27the mark of...
27:27He's got the cross.
27:29He may well have been able
27:30to read Hebrew
27:31sufficiently to be bar mitzvah,
27:34but he obviously
27:34couldn't read English
27:35and probably couldn't read,
27:37write Hebrew or Yiddish.
27:39Looking at the family tree,
27:43what's significant
27:43is the fact
27:45that all your ancestors
27:46were engaged
27:47in economic activities
27:49that were part
27:50of the sweating system,
27:51seamstress,
27:52tailor,
27:54tailor's presser,
27:55buttonhole hand,
27:56were sweated trades.
28:00Are you crying?
28:00I know, it's quite emotional,
28:06isn't it,
28:07when you see it for real?
28:08Sorry, it's very emotional.
28:14Mandy's ancestors
28:15would have done the jobs
28:16and worked in conditions
28:17similar to those
28:18in her own workshop.
28:21Knowing it's your own family
28:22that was treated like that,
28:23you know,
28:24is really upsetting.
28:25They were prisoners
28:26within their workplace.
28:28They couldn't answer back,
28:29they couldn't do anything
28:30because they'd lose their job.
28:32It doesn't sit right with me
28:33that I'm that person
28:34that's been,
28:35you know,
28:35really strict
28:36with what was
28:37my great-great-grandfather.
28:40It's wrong.
28:41Everywhere you look at it,
28:42it's just wrong.
28:43It's not comfortable.
28:46Gentlemen, wages.
28:49With their first order
28:50finished at last,
28:52the house are finally
28:53in a position
28:53to pay their workers.
28:55Lee, you've earned £3.60,
28:58Yasha, you've earned £3.60.
29:00It's hard cut of days work.
29:01Thank you very much.
29:02Thank you, gentlemen.
29:03It's not easy doing this.
29:04Thank you for working so hard.
29:07I've already pawned my hat,
29:08as you know.
29:08I'm going to get my hat back now.
29:12After paying out wages,
29:13the house are still short
29:15of the £30 weekly rent.
29:17They'll need their workforce
29:18to complete another order
29:19to stay afloat.
29:22But James' time
29:23as a sweatshop boss
29:24is over.
29:25Give me the book.
29:26No, I can't.
29:27Give me the book.
29:28Get a pencil.
29:32OK.
29:34I hate how the sweaters' den
29:36was run
29:36and everything it stood for.
29:38And to know that someone
29:39that's related to me
29:39and that's helped me
29:40be in the place
29:41that I am today
29:42might have been treated
29:43like immigrant workers.
29:45because it makes me
29:47feel a bit sick,
29:48to be honest.
29:55After a successful
29:57day of sales yesterday,
29:59the potters get ready
29:59to head out
30:00with another batch
30:01of street food.
30:03Whoops!
30:05Hey, what's all these chains
30:06on the cart?
30:07What's the hell?
30:09Well, I can't take her back,
30:10can we?
30:11Street traders,
30:13costamongers and storekeepers
30:14have been found
30:14to be obstructing
30:16the public highway
30:16and has been impounded.
30:18They're stopping
30:19his work and earning money,
30:20aren't they?
30:20Yeah, it's disgraceful.
30:21So far as soon
30:22as into starvation.
30:23That's all right.
30:25As the 1880s progressed,
30:26pressure on everyone
30:27in the East End
30:28was building.
30:29In Bethnal Green,
30:30shopkeepers,
30:31terrified that the surge
30:32in costamongers
30:33was affecting business,
30:34managed to get
30:35some street selling banned.
30:38Barrows were impounded,
30:40produce confiscated
30:41and fines imposed
30:42on anyone
30:43caught flouting the ban.
30:45They have no right
30:46to take our living
30:48away from us
30:48and that's what they've done.
30:49I'm 59.
30:50I, you know,
30:51I've had a bad back.
30:53You know, I'm done.
30:53That's me.
30:54If I can't sell my stuff
30:55on the streets,
30:57I'm completely
30:57without any income
30:58whatsoever.
31:00It's beyond comprehension
31:01actually that
31:02you can think
31:02that somebody
31:03can make
31:05up out of nowhere
31:07one rule like that
31:08that can destroy
31:09so many lives.
31:10And the only thing
31:11that I can think
31:12that they might have
31:13done it for
31:13was to push them
31:14down a notch further.
31:16Just keep pushing them down.
31:18Keep pushing the poor down.
31:21By the mid-1880s,
31:23there were more people
31:24out of work
31:25than ever before
31:26and the word
31:27unemployment
31:28enters the Oxford English
31:29dictionary
31:29for the first time.
31:31The poor relief system
31:31was stretched
31:32to its absolute limits.
31:34In the East End,
31:34there were 17,000 people
31:36living in workhouses
31:37or in hospitals.
31:39In Shoreditch,
31:40death rates
31:40were four times
31:41the city's average.
31:44Although most people
31:45thought the poor
31:46only had themselves
31:47to blame,
31:48there were philanthropists
31:49who, driven by a sense
31:50of religious duty,
31:51decided to do
31:52what they could
31:53to help.
31:54It was just a drop
31:54in the ocean,
31:55but it generated publicity
31:56and got people
31:57interested in life
31:59in the slums.
32:00But not all
32:01of the interest
32:02generated
32:02was philanthropic.
32:04We'd really like to see
32:06how you do.
32:07Can we do that?
32:09Right, well,
32:10welcome to the slum.
32:11Come on in.
32:12In the 1880s,
32:13it became fashionable
32:14for middle
32:15and upper-class Victorians
32:16to go on guided tours
32:18of the poorer parts
32:19of Britain.
32:20It was called
32:20slumming.
32:21Journalists were also
32:23drawn to the slums.
32:24Some wrote
32:25sensational stories.
32:27What evolved
32:28was a new genre
32:29of writing
32:29called slum fiction,
32:31which fuelled
32:31a fascination
32:32with the squalor
32:33and depravity
32:34of slum life.
32:35Here was a place
32:36where the normal rules
32:37of Victorian respectability
32:38seemed not to apply
32:39and the upper classes
32:41couldn't get enough of it.
32:43Poverty had become
32:44a form of entertainment.
32:47It's definitely
32:47a bit smelly.
32:49Obviously,
32:50watch your shoes.
32:50This is our courtyard.
32:53To lead a group
32:54of rich people
32:55just to see how
32:56the scum-slung dwellers
32:58live is...
33:00I mean,
33:00that's very, very
33:01distasteful
33:02by my modern mind.
33:03Our scraps.
33:05But I can certainly
33:06understand why
33:06in the 1880s
33:07someone in my position
33:08would do it
33:08to earn a few extra pennies.
33:11This is called a copper.
33:13This would be used
33:14communally
33:15to heat water,
33:17to cook.
33:18It's bad enough
33:19being here
33:20but being shown off
33:20as a sort of
33:21like entertainment.
33:22Zoo animals.
33:23Yeah.
33:23Well, if they buy
33:24something from us,
33:25it could make a couple
33:26of quid out of this
33:26to help with the rent.
33:27Absolutely.
33:28Well, anything would help
33:28at this point, wouldn't it?
33:29Nobody else is going
33:30to be buying anything.
33:31No.
33:32OK, so, obviously,
33:33our privy consists
33:34of a little wooden hut.
33:36This particular form of tourism
33:39came with slum tour operators
33:43and even guidebooks.
33:45Look at our place.
33:45They're standing up at our place.
33:47Hello?
33:47Yeah.
33:49I know.
33:49This is a tour group
33:54and they would like to come in,
33:57ask you a few questions.
33:59Is there anything good about it?
34:01The good about it is that it ends
34:02after about 20 hours of the day.
34:05It's very hard work.
34:07This is our space.
34:08When you come,
34:08it's like we're a show to you.
34:10Do you know what I mean?
34:10That's how it was.
34:12That's exactly it.
34:12So, for us,
34:13I feel really demeaned by that.
34:15So, I'm going to throw you out,
34:16I'm afraid.
34:17Come on, let me get on
34:17with our work.
34:20So, what was that?
34:22Freak show?
34:22What is the enjoyment
34:23about coming to see people struggle?
34:25Through history,
34:26you've got all these gross people,
34:27the elephant men
34:28who used to be put in a cage.
34:29That's exactly what it felt like.
34:30Yeah, the curiosity of people
34:31won't change with it.
34:32How much can these people take?
34:34They've got no money,
34:35they've got no food,
34:37they're working their butt off
34:40day in, day out,
34:41day in, day out,
34:42no day off,
34:43no time off.
34:44So, the only question is what option?
34:46And then they have people
34:47come in and stare at them
34:48whilst they're doing it.
34:50Our local shopkeeper
34:52and his wife
34:52called Mr and Mrs Bird.
34:54There we are.
34:55Very enlightening.
34:56We've got some delicacies here for you.
34:58What is that?
34:58You can purchase them if you want.
35:00Those are lamb's feet
35:00and jelly deal.
35:01Jelly deal.
35:01Jelly deal.
35:02Try it.
35:03See what you think.
35:04Give two.
35:04Okay, no fun.
35:06With street-selling banned,
35:08it's the shopkeepers
35:09who can cash in
35:10on the appetite
35:11for East End fare.
35:13Where's the car?
35:14Yeah.
35:15Oh, come on.
35:16I can't do it.
35:17I can't do it.
35:17What?
35:18It's a real tenement building,
35:22isn't it?
35:23Yeah, there's no lift.
35:26How do you guys?
35:27Come on in, chaps.
35:28I'm running a tour today.
35:30These guys have come
35:31to have a look
35:31and see how we live.
35:33This is a typical room
35:34that would be used
35:35for a family.
35:35There's five in here
35:36at the moment.
35:38Do you want to tell them
35:39a little bit about yesterday?
35:40No, I wouldn't.
35:41First of all,
35:41I'd like to know
35:42why you're here.
35:43Okay, well,
35:43I can explain that one.
35:45Apologies there.
35:45She didn't mean to be rude.
35:46I did.
35:47Okay, what this is called
35:48is called class tourism
35:49and basically people
35:50would like to come
35:51and see how
35:51the bottom of society live.
35:54I know you're being paid
35:55for this, Andy.
35:56It will be a paid position
35:58for myself, possibly, yes.
36:01What do you do?
36:02What do you work as?
36:04We are costumongers.
36:05We're street sellers.
36:06It sounds like you're
36:07quite entrepreneurial.
36:08Well, we're not stupid,
36:09but people do suggest
36:12that the poor are thick
36:12and stupid
36:13and they like to be poor
36:15and actually, we're not.
36:17Maybe we should get
36:17a photo in here.
36:19Excuse me.
36:20No.
36:24All right, well,
36:25it's about time
36:25we left the potters.
36:26If we can start filing out.
36:32The minute they walked
36:33in the door,
36:34my heart rate went off.
36:36The first time
36:36was when she took that photo
36:37I wanted to punch her.
36:39Thank you so much.
36:41Thank you very much.
36:42Thank you very much.
36:42Bless you.
36:44The Victorian upper class
36:46came to mock
36:47and Gia, the poor.
36:49It's just another nail
36:50in the coffin
36:50of saying
36:51you might as well be dead.
36:56Seriously,
36:57I don't know
36:57how they could possibly
36:58have carried on.
37:00Just finding it
37:01too hard to do.
37:09I think over the last
37:15three decades
37:16it's just got
37:18intolerably harder
37:20and harder.
37:25You cannot let it happen.
37:27Somebody has to do something.
37:29This morning
37:50I'm feeling the anger
37:52we felt yesterday
37:53and the fact
37:55that human beings
37:57aren't going to treat us
37:58like chattel
37:59and we are going
38:01to start fighting back.
38:071886 marks a turning point
38:09in the story
38:09of the East End poor.
38:11After years of falling wages
38:13and terrible working conditions,
38:15labourers like the Kostamungas
38:16began to get organised.
38:18West Enders
38:22had enjoyed
38:23their forays
38:23into the East End slums.
38:25Now it was time
38:27for the poor
38:27to pay the West End
38:28a visit.
38:30John and the Potters
38:31are meeting
38:32Dr Louise Rawr,
38:33a leading expert
38:34on British labour history,
38:36to find out
38:36what happened.
38:37Here we are
38:38in Trafalgar Square,
38:40the heart of London,
38:42the centre of London
38:43and also
38:44at this point
38:45in history
38:45the centre
38:46of a clash
38:47between the West End
38:49and the East End,
38:50between the rich
38:51and the poor.
38:53On the 8th of February
38:551886,
38:56John Burns,
38:57a member
38:57of the Socialist
38:58Democratic Foundation,
39:00one of the country's
39:01first socialist parties,
39:02hijacked a demonstration
39:04to highlight
39:04the plight
39:05of the unemployed.
39:07John Burns
39:08was literally
39:08up behind us
39:10on the plinth there
39:11and he was addressing
39:12a huge crowd
39:14of about 13,000,
39:15not just men
39:16but women
39:17and children too.
39:18He asked the crowds,
39:19show your hands
39:20how many of you
39:21are out of work.
39:22Almost every hand
39:24went up.
39:26He takes them
39:27through the poshest
39:29bits of London,
39:30through Pall Mall,
39:31St James's Street,
39:33where the gentleman
39:33clubs are.
39:34It's so unusual
39:35to see the poor
39:37out of their place,
39:39literally,
39:39and geographically.
39:40When the crowd
39:42gets to the Carlton
39:42club,
39:43the members
39:43pour out
39:44into the balconies
39:45and they hoosh
39:46at you,
39:46they cheer,
39:47they boo
39:48at the crowd
39:48going past.
39:49But in that situation,
39:51you're starving,
39:52you can't get work,
39:53you can't help
39:53your family,
39:54your children
39:54are starving,
39:55and all the well-to-do
39:56can do
39:56is laugh at you.
40:00There's a lot
40:00of anger
40:01from the crowd.
40:01They find some
40:02broken paving stones
40:03and they start
40:04chucking things back.
40:05I'd have all
40:08this anger
40:08inside me
40:09and the frustration
40:10of not doing
40:11anything,
40:11but so what?
40:12I don't care
40:13what happens
40:13to me now.
40:14I can't get
40:15any lower.
40:17So, yes,
40:18I would have
40:18thrown stones.
40:19Yeah, I think
40:19I would throw stones,
40:20definitely.
40:21I've probably
40:22been one of the
40:22first.
40:24The anger
40:24that you build up,
40:25you've got to go
40:26somewhere,
40:26and if there's
40:27broken paving stones
40:28there,
40:28they're going
40:29through windows.
40:29No, absolutely
40:30no doubt at all.
40:33What followed
40:34became known
40:35as the West End
40:36Riots.
40:37Windows were smashed
40:38and shops looted
40:39on Oxford Street
40:40and Piccadilly.
40:43This is the
40:44morning post
40:44the next day.
40:46Clubs and shops
40:47attacked,
40:48premises pillaged.
40:50The monster
40:50demonstration
40:51of the unemployed
40:51in London
40:52ended in a
40:53disgraceful riot
40:55and the sacking
40:56of many shops
40:57by these savage
40:58animals.
41:00There's no mention
41:01of the provocation
41:02that actually
41:02starts all this.
41:03The following
41:05summer,
41:05large numbers
41:06of the unemployed
41:07camped out
41:07in Trafalgar Square.
41:09This time,
41:10they were watched
41:10over by 2,000
41:12police.
41:13The upper-class
41:13fascination
41:14with the sordid
41:15lives of the poor
41:16had turned to a fear
41:17of bloody revolution.
41:19Posh London
41:20and the rest
41:20of the country
41:20is starting
41:21to really ramp
41:23up the fear,
41:24the fear of the East End.
41:25You're all immoral,
41:25you're criminals,
41:26you're lazy,
41:27you're feckless,
41:28you're drunk.
41:29Ramp up the fear
41:30of the poor.
41:31But instead
41:32of revolution,
41:33the next few years
41:34saw a growth
41:35in activism
41:35as membership
41:36of trade unions
41:37in Great Britain
41:38grew faster
41:39than any other
41:40point in history.
41:41That's it,
41:42now stop it.
41:42How do you stop it?
41:43Just like that?
41:44Now you put your foot on
41:45again.
41:46In 1888,
41:47the Costa Mungers
41:48and Stall Keepers
41:49Protection Society
41:50was formed.
41:51They set to work
41:52to try and overturn
41:52the ban on street selling,
41:54where possible,
41:55with the help
41:55of sympathetic printers
41:56and local activists
41:57to spread the word
41:59about their cause.
42:00Yeah, that's it.
42:01Absolutely fine.
42:03I mean,
42:03I can imagine
42:04that the people
42:05stood there
42:05using a machine
42:06like this.
42:07It would have seemed
42:08so high-tech
42:09and I'm sure
42:10it probably gave them
42:11a little bit of wind
42:11in their sails
42:12to go forth
42:13and spread the message
42:15that the lower classes,
42:16the poor,
42:17the have-nots
42:17will not be trodden on.
42:18In the East End
42:25in 1888,
42:26700 Costa Mungers
42:27took to the streets
42:28to petition the authorities
42:30against the street selling ban.
42:32People really starved.
42:34Here?
42:34And, yes,
42:36right on this street here.
42:37This is where the Costa Mungers
42:39used to sell their wares.
42:40So your name
42:41and then your signature
42:42on the other side there.
42:43This is the first time,
42:44really,
42:45that we've had that opportunity
42:45to get the support
42:47of the public.
42:47In the 1880s,
42:48when it happened,
42:49they got 10,000 signatures.
42:50If you could just sign it for us,
42:51that would be absolutely superb.
42:53Do you want me to hold the dog?
42:55Costa Mungers
42:55means nothing.
42:56You have to explain
42:57the term to start with,
42:58but we've got no income
42:59coming in whatsoever.
43:00And once you tell the people
43:02that, the general public,
43:03they're interested in that.
43:05We are street sellers.
43:06We've been told
43:07that we're not allowed
43:08to sell on the streets anymore.
43:10Thank you very much.
43:11I've got to understand
43:13what they were fighting for
43:14and what they actually did.
43:16And I wish to honour them.
43:19You've got a grant in self.
43:20Perfect.
43:21The common people
43:22on the street
43:22seem to support us.
43:23I mean, it shows
43:24that it's not just a problem
43:24from the 1880s.
43:25It's, you know,
43:26it's a problem
43:27that can be related to now.
43:28So, power to the people.
43:32Towards the end of the decade,
43:34London was hit
43:34by a series of strikes.
43:36In 1888,
43:37500 girls working
43:39at the local match factory
43:41walked out in protest
43:42at conditions.
43:43A year later,
43:44100,000 dockers
43:46marched through
43:47the streets of London
43:48demanding a pay rise
43:49of one penny an hour.
43:53After a succession
43:54of peaceful strikes,
43:55fears of revolution subsided
43:57and the workers
43:58gained widespread support
43:59from the public
44:00who'd lined the streets
44:01and cheered them
44:02as they passed.
44:03Great strike
44:05of London tailors
44:06and sweaters victims.
44:08In 1889,
44:09three Jewish tailors unions
44:11joined forces
44:11and launched
44:12a five-week strike
44:13in the East End.
44:15No more than two hours
44:16overtime to be working
44:17any one day.
44:18So no longer 20 hours
44:19working days,
44:20maximum of 14.
44:21They were supported
44:22by the dockers
44:23who gave them
44:23100 pounds
44:24towards their cause.
44:26It would have been terrifying
44:26because your work
44:27is so precarious.
44:28You don't really have
44:29the opportunity to complain
44:30when you complain
44:31and you get fined.
44:31And to think that
44:32you could lose your job,
44:33like, what would you do?
44:34It must have taken
44:34a lot of courage
44:35I would have thought
44:35to actually get it going.
44:38In the 1880s,
44:39with few workers' rights,
44:41striking meant risking
44:42what little livelihood
44:43you had
44:43and seeing your family starve.
44:48Got another older!
44:50Another one!
44:51Guys, we've got 16 pairs
44:53of trousers to make by tomorrow.
44:54So we need to work quickly, please.
44:56And this is the third day
44:58we've been working here
44:59and there's circumstances
45:00that are really ridiculous.
45:03It's difficult.
45:04It's very, very harsh.
45:06It is.
45:06This isn't right.
45:07If we all decide
45:08that we're not going
45:09to work with you,
45:09you're going to be in trouble.
45:11I think you should consider
45:12your terms and conditions.
45:13You're on the edge
45:13the whole time in some life.
45:15I strike in solidarity
45:17with all those men and women
45:18who did so in 1889.
45:21I hope you will follow me.
45:25Bye-bye.
45:33I absolutely understand
45:35why they wanted to strike
45:36because the hours
45:36that they're supposed to work
45:37and the conditions
45:38that they're expected
45:38to work in for the pay
45:40that they're getting
45:40is disgusting.
45:42So how they haven't
45:42walked out sooner,
45:44I have no idea, to be fair.
45:45Oh, I would have gone on a strike
45:46in a flash.
45:47I would have been gone.
45:49While Yasha, Lee and Tomas strike.
45:54Right, let's carry on, shall we?
45:55The hours have no choice
45:57but to work into the night.
45:58For decades,
46:10the upper classes
46:11had either believed
46:12those in poverty
46:13chose to live in squalor
46:14or just ignored
46:15the existence
46:16of the slums altogether.
46:20Now, the poor
46:21were no longer invisible.
46:23Over the course of the decade,
46:24they'd gone from
46:24entertaining spectacle
46:26to a force to be reckoned with.
46:28And in 1889,
46:30there was good news
46:30for some of the slum's inhabitants.
46:33First, two hours over time
46:34to be paid
46:35at ordering rate
46:35and then second hour,
46:37two hours to be paid
46:37at the rate of time and a half.
46:39Oh, this isn't a brace.
46:40This would have been
46:41a great improvement.
46:43The tailors' strike
46:44succeeded in securing
46:45a 12-hour working day
46:46and a proper lunch break
46:48for sweated workers.
46:49I think it makes me
46:50so happy to know
46:51that people did eventually
46:53come together
46:54and organise strikes.
46:57I didn't realise
46:58what it's like
46:59not having workers' rights
47:00till I went through
47:01this experience.
47:02There's no rules,
47:02there's no regulations
47:03and the systems are designed
47:04around the abuse of people.
47:06Let's go.
47:07Let's go.
47:08In the 1880s,
47:09winning a strike
47:10was no guarantee
47:10you'd keep your job.
47:12In some small workshops
47:13of the East End,
47:14bosses would often be unwilling
47:15to take striking workers back
47:17and they would have to move on.
47:19There's no question
47:20that the whole subject matter
47:22appears to be relevant
47:23to today's migrants.
47:25People seeking a better life
47:26than what they had,
47:28fleeing persecution
47:29and looking for fairness
47:31on the other end.
47:33And, of course,
47:34I'm sure there are elements
47:35of the exploitation
47:35that took place
47:37in the 1880s
47:38that is being repeated
47:38even today.
47:43For the Potters,
47:45there's news
47:45of the Costa Mungas' campaign.
47:47Oh, I've seen
47:49these posters.
47:50What does that say?
47:51Two Costa Mungas
47:52and stall keepers.
47:54That would have been
47:54a great victory.
47:56Montague Williams,
47:57the justice of the peace,
47:58found no cause
47:59for the Vester's
48:00complaint of obstruction.
48:01Yay!
48:03We won.
48:04Let's get the bars out.
48:05OK.
48:06After a long battle,
48:08public support
48:08for their cause
48:09meant the Costa Mungas'
48:10society finally won back
48:12the right to sell
48:13on Bethnal Green's streets.
48:15This victory did show
48:16that Victorian poor
48:18did have power
48:19if they spoke
48:20not just one voice
48:22but a mass of voices.
48:24Very big deal
48:25from feeling so
48:27demoralised
48:29and oppressed.
48:32This must have been
48:34a glorious victory.
48:35Potters, trotters,
48:36back in business.
48:37It means the potters
48:40can get back out
48:41and sell again.
48:49By working all night,
48:50the house have earned
48:51enough to pay their rent.
48:54How are we, Howard?
48:55I see the red book
48:56before I see Andy.
48:59How was it this week?
49:00Did you find it hard?
49:01It was hard.
49:01It's been hard this week.
49:03Really hard.
49:03I was trying to train up
49:04three unskilled guys
49:05in the workshop.
49:05You should pull up
49:07on your teeth.
49:08As a sweater's
49:10damn boss,
49:11you're glad you're
49:11doing better
49:12but you don't like
49:13taking advantage
49:13of these people.
49:14See you later on.
49:15Bye, thank you.
49:18There's Mr and Mrs Bird.
49:20£30.60.
49:22With their regulars
49:22struggling,
49:23the birds have
49:24the slum tour
49:25to thank
49:25for making their rent.
49:28I've been tight again
49:29this week
49:30to say the least,
49:30haven't I?
49:31The real hard things
49:32I've found mentally
49:32is that it just
49:33never seems to get
49:34any better.
49:35Come in.
49:36It's only me, Maria.
49:38How are you, darling?
49:38You all right?
49:39The weekly rent
49:40is £8.16.
49:42Maria's homegrown
49:43laundry business
49:44has earned enough
49:45to keep her
49:45in John's room.
49:46£1.17 from you.
49:48So I will let you
49:48get on with some work
49:49so you can make
49:50next week's rent money.
49:51All right.
49:52OK.
49:52All right, darling.
49:53Well, you take care.
49:54How you doing, guys?
49:55Do you remember
49:56what your rent is?
49:57£13.26, Andy.
49:58OK to do that today?
49:59Yeah.
49:59£13.25.
50:00And for the potters,
50:02paying up
50:02is a real victory.
50:03Absolutely perfect.
50:04That's a relief.
50:06However,
50:06the pressure is back on.
50:08Once you know
50:08you've got your rent,
50:09you can sort of
50:10relax a little bit.
50:11But then when you
50:12hand it over,
50:12you know that.
50:13It starts all over again.
50:17But with the ban
50:18on street trading lifted,
50:19it's time
50:20for a celebration.
50:23And there was no better way
50:25than the Costa Mungers derby.
50:30Traditionally,
50:31the Costas competed
50:32in basket-carrying races.
50:37With prizes
50:38for the fastest runner
50:40and the highest stack.
50:43Come on, Andy!
50:45Come on!
50:47They're closest here
50:48in a community
50:49that we built up
50:49very, very quickly
50:50and if that's anything
50:51like it was
50:51in the Victorian era,
50:53then actually
50:53the slums themselves
50:54weren't a necessarily
50:55unhappy place.
50:56It was a difficult place
50:56to live,
50:57but there's a huge heart here.
51:01Oh, that's lovely.
51:02I'll have a bit more, Andy.
51:03At the end
51:04of a gruelling week,
51:05it's a chance
51:05for the residents
51:06to come together
51:07and share.
51:09All we've really had
51:10since we got here
51:11was bread, butter,
51:12cheese,
51:13the occasional hot meal
51:14and cabbage.
51:15A lot of cabbage.
51:17Never had a trotter
51:17in my life
51:18and it isn't the best
51:19thing I've ever tasted
51:20but, like, living in a slum,
51:21it's lovely.
51:22With some good company,
51:23Jackie Potato
51:25and a trotter,
51:26it's the happiest
51:27I've been in two weeks.
51:29Proper food.
51:29It's not just, like,
51:31a quarter slice of bread.
51:33It's like a whole feast.
51:35The first one
51:36that we're going to award
51:37is to Heather.
51:38Yay!
51:39Pearl buttons
51:40had long been a feature
51:41of Costa Munga life.
51:42Well done, darling.
51:43Well done.
51:44Sewn onto their clothes,
51:46it signalled
51:46their selling talents
51:47and gave a sense
51:48of identity and pride.
51:49Does everyone agree
51:50it grabs you up on us?
51:51Yes!
51:53Costa Mungas,
51:54adorned in buttons,
51:55became known
51:55as the Costa Kings
51:56and Queens,
51:58the forerunners
51:58of the well-known
51:59pearly kings and queens
52:00the East End
52:01is famous for.
52:05Whoa!
52:06There is a feeling
52:07of solidarity
52:08between us
52:09as a community
52:09and also
52:10the people
52:11that we're trying
52:12to represent
52:12felt solidarity.
52:14They rose up together
52:15and I think
52:16that's wonderful
52:16that these people
52:17who had nothing
52:18were willing to risk it all
52:19just to make
52:19a better life
52:20for themselves
52:21and their families.
52:22Hope is everything, really.
52:25During those dark periods,
52:27I don't think
52:28there was much hope at all,
52:29but now it seems
52:30as though the sun
52:31has come out.
52:32It's time!
52:34There'll always be
52:35that feeling
52:37in the back of your mind
52:38that it could change
52:39so very quickly,
52:41but while the sunshine
52:44and the rays are there,
52:45we've got to make
52:45the most of it.
52:47Yay!
52:52Next time,
52:53the 1890s.
52:55Victorian social science
52:56puts the East End
52:57poor on the map.
52:59One in three
53:00was living in poverty
53:01and for the first time
53:02he gave a human face
53:04to the poor,
53:06ushering in a time
53:06of great change.
53:0763.
53:09If you do not work well,
53:11then you will be given
53:12the cane.
53:14But for most,
53:15life is still a struggle.
53:17A family in our position
53:18would never have been able
53:20to work their way
53:21out of the slum.
53:22On BBC Four now,
53:30Jeremy Paxman reveals
53:31in the final days
53:32of the Victorians,
53:33artists challenged
53:34morality with fantasy.
53:36But next here on BBC Two,
53:38could it be curtains
53:39for East End
53:39as Sonia,
53:40again at Robinson's
53:41agency to the rescue?
53:42arasient Herausforder
53:44family.
53:45Whoa!
53:45Whoa!
53:46Whoa!
53:46Whoa!
53:46Whoa!
53:46Whoa!
53:47What's gonna happen
53:48after you're
53:48being divorced?
53:49How was the
53:50問題?
53:50Who?
53:51Whoa!
53:51Hey there,
53:51young people,
53:52they said she
53:53had for alot of
53:54six days off.
53:56Here.
53:57Back to συν
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