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Documentary, The Victorian Slum S01E02- 1870s

The Victorian Slum
The Victorian Slum is a historical reenactment reality television series produced by Wall to Wall Media for the BBC, first broadcast in 2016.
The series, narrated by Michael Mosley, recreates the harsh living and working conditions of the Victorian poor in London's East End.
A group of 21st-century participants move into a meticulously reconstructed Victorian tenement in Bethnal Green, experiencing life from the 1860s through to the 1900s.
The show is structured as a social experiment, with participants living in a recreated slum environment featuring sparse rooms, a shared water pump, and outdoor privies, while attempting to survive through traditional trades like tailoring, candle-making, and wood-turning.
The series explores different decades, including the economic boom of the 1860s, the depression of the 1870s, the turbulent 1880s, the recovery of the 1890s, and the social changes of the early 20th century, such as the rise of the co-operative movement.
The show has been aired on BBC Two in the UK, PBS in America, and SBS in Australia.
It has received a 7.9 rating on IMDb based on 219 reviews.
The series is part of a broader genre of living history programs, similar in concept to The 1900 House, and aims to provide insight into the complex history of poverty in Britain

#Documentary #TheVictorianSlum #VictorianSlum
Transcript
00:00150 years ago, Victorian Britain became the world's first industrial superpower.
00:09And as the country thrived, London, the beating heart of empire, became the world's richest city.
00:16But this was a city divided.
00:20For the first time, geographical lines were drawn between those enjoying the nation's wealth in the west
00:27and those who weren't in the east.
00:33This is the story of one poor community living in London's East End.
00:40In the heart of modern Stratford, a Victorian slum has been recreated.
00:48And a group of 21st century people are moving in.
00:53Oh, absolutely awful.
00:57I'm just a bit dumbstruck.
00:59To survive, they'll have to work to keep a roof over their heads.
01:04It's absolutely shattering.
01:08And put food on the table.
01:10I'm starving.
01:11This was making me a bit emotional, to be honest.
01:15And they'll learn firsthand what life was like.
01:18You will call me mum.
01:19For those at the bottom of the social pile.
01:21If they were disabled, they couldn't do it. They didn't eat. They didn't eat. They died.
01:25They'll live through five decades of turbulent history.
01:30Look at the newspaper!
01:32And seismic social change.
01:35I am proud to be an East End suffragette.
01:39Power to the people.
01:40This is the story of how a quarter of a million slum dwellers in the East End changed our attitude to poverty forever.
01:50This is the slum.
01:52Last time.
02:02It looks like a dungeon.
02:04The residents experienced the 1860s.
02:07Bleak, isn't it?
02:08Yeah.
02:09Very bleak.
02:10And Victorian living conditions.
02:12That is disgusting.
02:14Proved almost too much to bear.
02:17How many people have to live like this all their life?
02:20We're going to do all the cats first.
02:21Then we'll start working on the trousers.
02:23They joined the East End workforce.
02:25Yes, boss.
02:27And endured relentless and back-breaking labour.
02:31I've got to stand up, I'm sorry.
02:33Learning to live on credit just to make ends meet.
02:36I don't want to get into too much debt.
02:38That's what's making me a bit emotional, to be honest.
02:40For some, it was precarious but possible.
02:44Yes!
02:45Yes!
02:46The rent's paid.
02:49While others struggled.
02:51We were looking for £8.16 today.
02:53To pay their way.
02:55Now I can pay £2?
02:56£2.
02:58It's just really grinding me down now.
03:01I couldn't imagine living like this forever.
03:05It's unlivable.
03:10Rub, paper, scissors.
03:12Yes!
03:13Ah!
03:14It's mine!
03:16Kids, back up now.
03:18It's the second week.
03:19And the slum dwellers have moved into a new decade.
03:23The 1870s.
03:27Ah, that's nice.
03:29That is nice.
03:32Morning, Mr Bird.
03:33Morning.
03:34How are you today?
03:35Alright, how are you doing?
03:36Pretty good.
03:37Morning.
03:42After a week of hunger, DOS housekeeper Andy...
03:46Oh, what have we got here? Eggs.
03:48..is taking advantage of some free food.
03:51Thank you, fellas.
03:54Oh, sorry.
03:55Ladies.
03:57Breakfast.
03:58Lunch.
03:59Dinner.
04:00Which means that today's food would cost me the sum total of one slice of bread.
04:05Yeah, today's a good day.
04:09In the 1860s, Britain was still riding high on the Industrial Revolution.
04:14But by the 1870s, things were changing.
04:17Abroad, the Americans and the Germans were competing in markets we had once dominated.
04:22Like iron, steel and coal.
04:26At home, new and better enforced factory regulations meant the manufacturers were sending out more work than ever to the cheaper labour of the slums.
04:38Tailoring family the Howas paid for their two rooms in the 1860s by working in the rag trade, repairing and repurposing old clothes.
04:47So what do you think is going to happen next in the 1870s?
04:51There will be ever so slightly more machinery.
04:54Instead of hand-stitching everything, might get a little sewing machine thing.
04:59In the 1860s, it was quite liberating about make stuff and repair stuff just with the sewing skills that I've got.
05:06But by machine, we can maybe make more money, do more work quicker.
05:09We can do more work quicker.
05:11That would speed it up, no?
05:13About five times.
05:14Five times?
05:15Yes.
05:17By the 1870s, East End tailors were moving into mass production.
05:22Alongside the small-scale recycling of the rag trade, rags were being processed on an industrial scale, mashed in machines to create a cheap material called shoddy.
05:33OK, what have we got?
05:35It was sent from factories in batches to tailors like Russell to be made into clothing for the poor.
05:41The Howas have received a typical order for a family of four workers, 12 pairs of trousers and 50 shirt collars.
05:48So how do you do these collars? You just like sew them?
05:52The fabric would have arrived pre-cut to be stitched together and returned.
05:56If you ever cut these out, cut them in half and full.
05:59People like Russell were known as sweated tailors, as they'd have to work at breakneck speed to keep up with their employer's demands.
06:08Last time we were working for ourselves, which is lovely, because you could do what you wanted to do when you wanted to do it, decide what you wanted.
06:14This time around that's not the case, but that's life, that's what you have to do, we've got some work, that's better than not having anything to do at all.
06:22The money they earn and spend is based on Victorian wages and prices, converted to their modern equivalent.
06:29Paid per completed garment, it's in their interest to finish fast.
06:34The key to our success is going as fast as we can and making as many as we can.
06:37At 77 pence each, they need to make at least 23 pairs of trousers to pay their rent.
06:43Make ten a day, we'll try and do more.
06:45We will do more.
06:48Families like the house would at least have had new technology on their side.
06:52So when you put it in...
06:55Yeah, you've got to push it that way.
06:56Push it down.
06:57Yeah.
06:58Let's go.
07:00I've used an electric machine, but I've always wanted one of these machines, so I've done a bit of research on them, so that's how I know how to use it.
07:08It feels so good to use one, finally.
07:10A domestic sewing machine would have cost the equivalent of five months' rent in the slums, so companies like Singer also offered them for higher purchase.
07:22Tailors like Russell would have paid fees equivalent to £13 a week, almost two-thirds of what they have to pay for their rooms.
07:30It's a big expense, but worth the risk for the potential increase in productivity.
07:34How's it going, Russ?
07:38Getting there.
07:39Yeah?
07:40Getting used to this machine.
07:42That took quite a long time, made a lot of mistakes, but sort of got there in the end.
07:47First pair done.
07:49Yay!
07:51Now getting the others more involved, they can all do have little jobs and hopefully we'll streamline it a little bit.
07:56We'll get quicker and quicker, hopefully.
08:01It's not just the howest moving into mass production.
08:04Hello.
08:05Hello.
08:06Good morning.
08:07Good morning.
08:09In the 1870s, factories faced increased competition and farmed out more work than ever to the cheap labour in the slums.
08:17There was more work, but also lower wages, so you had to work harder.
08:22Churning out quantity was the only way to make piecework pay.
08:26People often worked together, forming mini production lines.
08:29Last week Graham injured his back.
08:32Still unable to work, the potters had joined forces with single mum Shazida and her children Sadie and Saudi.
08:40The families have an order for 1,440 artificial flowers.
08:44I think we'll do it.
08:45I think it's doable.
08:46Yeah.
08:47It's all about teamwork.
08:49They'll have to split the £23 they'll earn between them.
08:53It won't be enough to cover their weekly costs.
08:56What are you thinking Shazida? Are you thinking of making one up and seeing what it looks like?
09:02Yeah, but this glue apparently needs heating up.
09:05We need glue actually.
09:06The tools have to be heated up to use as well.
09:09We can't do anything until we've got a fire.
09:14In the 1870s, artificial flowers were a common fashion accessory.
09:19Like today, where much clothing is produced using cheap labour abroad,
09:24the Victorian ladies who wore flowers on their hats and dresses most likely had no idea where or how they were made.
09:31We're making something that is pretty, which we haven't got in our room, so it just brightens up the room.
09:42And that's amazing.
09:49Is that good?
09:50Yeah, that's good enough.
09:52It'll pass quality control, hopefully.
09:55It's really nice working as a team, and it's nice to be able to talk to other people
09:58and encourage each other, motivate each other.
10:02Rather than sitting in a room on my own with the children.
10:06It's nice, isn't it? Look.
10:08I think they're beautiful. Yeah, I do. I think they're lovely.
10:12If I had to make flowers, if I was in the Victorian times, I'd do different things every day.
10:19So, like, one day I'd do the petals and then the other day I'd probably make it.
10:23Cos just dampening the petals all day is really boring.
10:26Children like Olivia and Heather Potter would have been an integral part of the East End workforce.
10:34The idea that childhood is a time when you should be cherished and indulged is a relatively modern one.
10:42If you were a Victorian child living in a slum, then your money was badly needed.
10:46By the 1870s, there were regulations to protect children from the harsh conditions and beatings,
10:54often meted out by overseers in factories.
10:58They were banned from employing anyone under eight, and older children could only work half days.
11:03But the rules didn't apply to work done at home.
11:07Parents often had no choice but to put their children to work for up to 80 hours a week.
11:13It's a big adjustment for 21st century kids like Heather.
11:17If I was at home, I'd probably sat down watching YouTube on my TV, on my big massive TV in the front room.
11:26But we don't have that.
11:29Usually it's mum that makes the tea, it's mum that gets us drinks, it's mum that looks after us.
11:38So it's just like from doing absolutely nothing to doing absolutely everything.
11:44Children are struggling because in our times, children don't work.
11:53Children don't work.
11:55So we set our children a task to do that a Victorian child would sit from 8am in the morning till 8pm at night.
12:03Our children, they're bored after half an hour, and then they're getting under your feet.
12:07So, to be fair, you know, we've not really got the help of the children for much of the time.
12:13So, it's a tall order.
12:24We just have to get this order done a little bit early, so I can get some more work as well.
12:28Another order.
12:29Another order.
12:36Really horrible candlelight.
12:42What do you know, Jack?
12:43You can't see it, you can't see it. It's too dark now.
12:47It's late.
12:49While Shazida leaves to put her children to bed, the potters are keeping up production.
12:55We want to succeed. We don't want to fail because we can't make enough flowers.
13:03You know, and it means working, and it means working hard, and we're prepared to do that.
13:07We've always worked hard throughout our lives, and this is no exception.
13:10It's almost hot. Almost.
13:29The house are up early and already hard at work.
13:32It is relentless. Very, very hot. Very, very sweaty. So, the word sweatshop is now coming to fruition. I now get it.
13:41But we have to get it done.
13:43So, you get one of those.
13:45So, two are the potters.
13:47We've got 400 roses to meet today, so we need to get on with it, really.
13:52To complete their bulk flower order, they need all hands on deck.
13:56But Shazida and the twins have yet to appear.
14:01Here you go, Saudi. Get off.
14:03Yay! Breakfast!
14:05Come on, get off.
14:07This is all we eat.
14:09Bread. Just bread.
14:12You know, seriously, a single mum in the slum would have had to work hard.
14:17Harder than us. Yeah.
14:18Because she's the only one earning the money. Yeah.
14:20You know, the kids would have to work harder. Yeah.
14:22That's the only way they're going to get money, isn't it, to work. Yeah.
14:24There's no other way that we can get money. Yeah.
14:26So, it makes no difference whether a single mum or five people.
14:32You've got to work. That's what you've got to do.
14:34Oh, I can't find my shawl. Dad, you're sitting on the bloody thing.
14:41How's it going? Yeah, all right.
14:45These have come on nicely, haven't they? Yeah.
14:49Where are the kids at the minute? Are the kids...?
14:51Oh, they're in the room. All right.
14:53Let's go.
14:58Although the economy had been slowing for some time,
15:01in 1873 there was a global financial crisis.
15:05Foreign investment dried up, growth halved, and unemployment soared.
15:10The effects of what would come to be known as the Long Depression
15:13would be felt for more than 20 years.
15:16This truly was the end of Britain's industrial golden age.
15:20In the East End, this economic downturn would have had a direct impact
15:26on shopkeepers, like the birds.
15:29Essentially, we're in a period of recession, depression, deflation.
15:34Your customers are now poorer. Wages are coming down.
15:36People can no longer afford what they did before.
15:39So, as they become poorer, you become poorer.
15:41And, at the same time, what's happening is the cost of imported goods
15:45also coming down, which means your price is going to have to come down by about 30%.
15:48And the rents?
15:50The rent is going to stay pretty much the same.
15:52Landlords are not generous in this age.
15:53So, if they can maintain it, they will maintain it.
15:56So, essentially, you're going to be living in straightened times.
15:5930% reduction in prices is a big bombshell.
16:03In the 1860s, they only just managed to pay their rent.
16:07Now they'll need to sell a third more stock to earn the same amount.
16:11Bread.
16:12That's now 97p.
16:16I was thinking, well, 1870s, let's see what that brings.
16:19You have an idea in your head that as time moves on, things improve.
16:22And that's clearly not the case.
16:25Margarine?
16:27It was 272. It's now 209.
16:30I think what's harder is that we won't have the luxury of extending tick
16:34at least as much as we have been.
16:36You know, we do need to look after ourselves now.
16:38I don't know how we can do this.
16:40Not good, is it?
16:42As bad as things were, the economic crisis didn't deter people
16:46from flooding into Britain's cities.
16:48During the 1870s, the population of London grew by over 800,000.
16:57The largest group of immigrants arriving into British cities
17:00were the Irish.
17:02Common lodging house.
17:04Here we go.
17:05Siblings John and Maria Barker are from rural Cork.
17:09Excuse me. We're just looking for a place to stay to spend the night.
17:13Ah, right. You'll need to speak to Andy.
17:16If you just want to wait here, I'll see if I can find him for you.
17:18Yeah, thank you.
17:20Thanks, Emil.
17:21At home in Ireland, 23-year-old John works in a cafe.
17:32My ancestors went to London.
17:35They had nothing. They started with nothing.
17:37They experienced the slum conditions.
17:40And it's something that I want to go back and see
17:43and find out how difficult it was for them.
17:45His sister, 21-year-old Maria, works in a clothes shop.
17:50I want to know what the Irish people went through,
17:53how they survived, what was their motivation.
17:56To, you know, get them through their days all the time.
17:58What did they live off? How did they live?
18:01It's the difficulties and the hardships that make you who you are.
18:05And the slum is going to be that challenge.
18:09In the mid-19th century, a succession of potato famines
18:14decimated the Irish rural economy,
18:17and failed harvests continued into the 1870s.
18:21People fled to Liverpool, Manchester, London.
18:25Cities with established Irish communities, in search of work.
18:31By the 1870s, the Irish were Britain's largest immigrant population,
18:36with 91,000 in London alone.
18:38But like many immigrants today, they faced hardship and hostility.
18:43They were accused of taking jobs, treated appallingly,
18:47and even depicted as the missing link between humans and chimpanzees.
18:51In you come.
18:54Most of them didn't find the better life they were hoping for.
18:58A little bit of a shock for you?
19:00Just a little bit.
19:02Their first port of call would have been a common lodging house.
19:06OK, well, there's two options in here.
19:08These are called coffin beds, OK?
19:11They cost you four old pence for one night each.
19:14Yeah.
19:16Or you have what's called the hangover bench.
19:20And if you're very clever, you would sleep.
19:24You're having a laugh. This isn't right, is it?
19:27No, this is the common boarding house.
19:29I presume you've come over and you've got some money at the moment.
19:33No, we have no money.
19:35You have nothing, so you don't even have the money to be able to afford...
19:39A bed. ...to sleep in the DOS house.
19:41We have nothing.
19:42Many immigrants spent everything they had travelling to the cities.
19:48Right now John and Maria can't even afford the hangover bench.
19:52So their first priority is finding work.
19:57Graham Potter's bad back means he's been unable to do manual labour for over a week.
20:02I feel like a bright idiot making flowers.
20:07It's women's work.
20:09I should be out working, earning decent money to be able to put food on the table.
20:15It's embarrassing.
20:17And degrading.
20:18Graham is like the hunter provider and always has been looked after me and the children and gets very frustrated and very angry with himself if he can't do that.
20:34Right?
20:36Right, I'll see what I can get.
20:38I need to get out and start earning what we're doing at the moment, making the flowers.
20:43He's not going to bring in enough money to pay the rent or go anywhere near it.
20:47See you later then.
20:49See you later.
20:51So yeah, I'm really forcing my body really to be doing something that in my normal life I wouldn't be doing.
20:58As the depression deepened, the industry on which the East End workforce depended, suffered.
21:04Across the country by the middle of the decade, a million people were out of work.
21:10Which means increased competition for the few jobs there were.
21:14John and Graham are trying their luck at the building in timber yards of the East End.
21:19You haven't got any work today?
21:21Not that we haven't at the moment, no.
21:22Do anything?
21:23No, we haven't got no labour work.
21:24Nothing at all?
21:25Nothing at all.
21:26OK, thanks.
21:27Thanks very much.
21:28Thanks for your help.
21:29Wood was ubiquitous in Victorian times, used for everything from furniture to paving.
21:35And timber yards were a good bet for casual work.
21:38This one's been in business in Bethnal Green for generations.
21:43Hey there.
21:44Hiya.
21:45You got any work today?
21:46It's very hard work.
21:47Is it?
21:48Very heavy work.
21:49Yeah, I could do it.
21:50I don't know if you'll be up to it.
21:51A young fellow, I want to take him.
21:52It's too heavy for you, pal.
21:53OK.
21:54All right?
21:55OK.
21:57I think even in the 21st century, it's exactly the same.
22:02People are looked over for a job because of their age.
22:05It's wrong.
22:06There's laws in place now to stop it, but it's still done.
22:09Because somebody's of their age, they'll be looked over for a younger person.
22:14It feels absolutely horrific that they could do it just because of that.
22:17Terrible.
22:18Oh, sorry.
22:19It's all right.
22:20Every day, thousands of men like Graham were forced to walk the streets in search of work,
22:28known as tramping.
22:30During the Long Depression, the number of tramps tripled, and the issue was raised in Parliament.
22:37But the prevailing Victorian attitude was these men were essentially beggars and nothing was done to help.
22:44They were described by one MP as a race who has the very genius of not working in its bones.
22:50It's terrible news for me because there's just nothing for me to do.
22:56I'll be tramping the streets just looking to see if somebody will give me a couple of hours' work.
23:01No food, nothing to eat.
23:03It's frightening to think they used to live like that.
23:06Terrible.
23:10Hello, Grandad.
23:11Hi.
23:12You all right?
23:13Yeah.
23:14How was work?
23:15I haven't been to work.
23:16There wasn't any work.
23:17Wasn't there?
23:18No.
23:19None for an old man like me, they said.
23:21My dad's feeling demoralised, humiliated because he was turned away for work.
23:27I think he's feeling as though he's let the family down.
23:31OK.
23:32Never mind.
23:33Well...
23:34How are you doing?
23:35Are you doing all right?
23:36Words or not words, you can join in with the production line.
23:39Heather's forebears were unskilled workers who lived in the East End during the Long Depression.
23:45I wanted to come here because I wanted to experience what my ancestors went through.
23:51I'm certainly starting to get a picture of how hard their struggle must have been.
23:58They must have had enormous strength, enormous strength to be able to survive through this.
24:09Heather's great-grandparents are buried a few miles away in Manor Park Cemetery.
24:16She and Alison are with historian Carl Chin to find out more about their family history.
24:22So we have James, your great-grandfather, Doc Labourer.
24:25Yeah.
24:26And his wife, your great-granny, who was the matchbox maker.
24:29We obviously know they were the parents of your granddad.
24:31Do you know much more about how many children they had?
24:34I think it might have been about seven.
24:36It's actually...
24:37Would you hold that please, Ali?
24:39Here it is, we found them.
24:40Oh!
24:41She had eight.
24:42James, your granddad was the oldest.
24:44Yeah.
24:45A Sophia, a William, an Aunt Caroline, a Janet, a Sarah and a Rose.
24:51But why these two are in bold is because, sadly, both of them died very, very young.
24:58Look, Sophia, 21 months old.
25:02Pneumonia.
25:03Pneumonia.
25:04A disease of the poor.
25:06Bad housing.
25:07Dank.
25:08Yeah.
25:09Sophia died on the 12th of March.
25:12Her little brother, William, he dies on the 28th of March.
25:19She loses two of her kids, her precious children, in the same month, in the same year.
25:25And how old was William?
25:27William was seven months.
25:30Is it seven months?
25:31How must she have coped?
25:33And that would be awful, wouldn't it?
25:35Imagine losing two of your babies in the same month.
25:38And then have to get up the next day and work.
25:40Yeah.
25:43In the 1870s, the average life expectancy was 43.
25:47In the worst districts of the poorer cities, it was as low as 28.
25:53But in some slums, people were lucky to reach adulthood at all.
25:59Heather's ancestors lived on the worst streets of Bethnal Green,
26:02where fathers struggled to find work, mothers and children slaved for a pitiful wage.
26:07And one in every four children died.
26:10Rich or poor, Victorians placed great importance on respectable burials.
26:17Funerals became increasingly elaborate for those who could afford them.
26:22Even destitute parents put away a penny a week for burial insurance, in case they lost a child.
26:29For those who couldn't pay for even a basic internment, the only choice was a pauper's funeral.
26:38The ultimate source of shame for a poor Victorian.
26:41Sophia and William, very sadly, they're buried over there, somewhere by those trees, in a public grave, as a pauper's burial.
26:56I don't think I'd quite understood poor until my experience of the last few days.
27:06I hadn't even considered having to save for your burial.
27:11For my great-grandmother, to have not been able to bury her children with dignity, must have been just terrible.
27:23Absolutely terrible.
27:24Somewhere in this graveyard lie the remains of infants Sophia and William, Heather's great-aunt and uncle.
27:40Here, Lord, have a big one for Sophia and a blue one for William.
27:50Sophia, God bless you.
27:53Here you go.
27:55And William, God bless you.
27:59You poor little things.
28:02God bless you.
28:05I needed to be here.
28:07I needed to come here.
28:08I need to find these people.
28:11I need to know them.
28:14I need to walk beside them.
28:20Oh, they look lovely, don't they?
28:22Shall we go back?
28:23Yeah.
28:30In the slums, everyone's fortunes were tied together.
28:35I want to pay £2 off our ticket.
28:37I'll tick the keys.
28:38OK.
28:39That's all right.
28:40We find you.
28:41Here you go.
28:42You're at 404 at the moment.
28:43OK, so that's with the dinner.
28:44Almost hearted.
28:45Yes, absolutely.
28:46£2.
28:47With many surviving on credit or tick till payday, shopkeepers were part grocer, part moneylender.
28:52I've come for some food.
28:53Have you got any tea going?
28:55A difficult balance to strike.
28:57What's your income potential looking like this next couple of days?
29:00Well, we're working with the potters, making artificial flowers and we've got an order of 1,400 flowers to do.
29:09But it's very slow.
29:10Yeah.
29:11So you're guaranteed a salary from it?
29:13If we complete the order, then yeah.
29:16We have people who have paid off consistently and still have money on tick.
29:21And we have people who haven't paid consistently and also have tick.
29:26So those obviously are more risky.
29:28Shaz has £4.77 still on tick.
29:31So her situation is the most precarious.
29:33She depends the most on the flower production to be completed and get paid.
29:38In desperate times, shopkeepers like the birds found inventive ways to squeeze profit from cheap food.
29:47Take half a pound of butter from here and half a pint of milk and mix it in gradually and we should stretch the butter quite a long way.
29:55We're actually saving 38 pence a pound by doing this.
29:58But some adulteration was less palatable.
30:01Milk diluted with chalk and water.
30:03Sugar mixed with sand.
30:05And tea leaves bulked out with wax and ash.
30:08Much of what the East End poor ate would have been tampered with.
30:12We're getting there.
30:13We have nearly doubled the amount of butter we've got.
30:16So, but, I mean, it's two hours' labour of my time.
30:21And I'm still thinking we should just give them less butter on their bread.
30:27Hiya.
30:28Hiya.
30:29How you doing?
30:30How are you?
30:31All right.
30:33Welcome.
30:35How is it?
30:36It's all right.
30:37It's all right.
30:38What are you working on?
30:39What are you doing?
30:40We're tailoring now.
30:41Oh, nice.
30:42And I've got a massive deadline though.
30:43We have, so it's pretty busy.
30:44So the kids are in there doing it as well.
30:45In desperate need of money, new arrival Maria has been given a task by the birds.
30:51This is vile.
30:53Adrian and Veepke have offered me to pluck two chickens.
30:57That doesn't get me money but it gives me feathers to try and sell.
31:00So that's what I'm going to try and do.
31:02I've never plucked a chicken before and I hope I'll never have to really do that again.
31:07Oh my God, I just saw the other end of it. Sick.
31:10But I'm going to have to do it because I have no money.
31:15Despite the economic downturn, there was still some work to be found in the slums, especially
31:21before the London season between Easter and July.
31:25While the upper classes attended social events like Ascot, Henley regatta and private balls,
31:31the women of the slums worked 18 hours and more a day making feathers and flowers to adorn their hats.
31:39Because it's so strong, the fume from the powder they use to dye them, it does give you a little bit of a headache and stuff doing it.
31:46These dyes are safe, but in a time before health and safety regulations, they often contained arsenic or aniline,
31:53now known to be carcinogenic.
31:55You get used to it. I'm getting used to it already.
32:01John is back after his first day of work.
32:05Maria's not going to believe that I was lifting timber on her site.
32:09And then to be able to let her know that she's, you know, safe and she has,
32:14she can sleep in the coffin bed and not have to take the hangover bench.
32:19Look, there's £4.34.
32:22I was thinking that if you take a bed and I take the bench...
32:27Why?
32:28We have enough money to take two beds.
32:30But that...
32:31Yeah, but we need money for food.
32:33And then I only got work in that place today, so I don't know if I'll work tomorrow.
32:39And if I don't get work tomorrow, then I'll have nothing.
32:44I'm back to square one.
32:46Evening, evening. How are we?
32:47Good. How are we doing?
32:48Not too bad. Did you get some work today?
32:51We did.
32:52I did.
32:53Well, one did. One did. One didn't.
32:54You didn't today, but...
32:55No.
32:56You did?
32:57Yes.
32:58OK, so you got some money.
32:59Thank you very much.
33:00Running the DOS house is Andy's only source of income.
33:04Paying customers means he can settle his tick at the shop.
33:07So that means I am 100% debt-free, clean, clear. Yeah. Yeah, it's a good day.
33:20I found this order by the main entrance.
33:23Oh, my word. Thank you.
33:25Sweated slum tailors, working for a factory, could expect orders any time, day or night.
33:3222 pairs of trousers.
33:34When did you? Oh, my God.
33:35I think we're working late tonight.
33:36Oh, my God.
33:38There'd be no way we'd be able to complete that many trousers in the space of two days.
33:43We've been able to do 12 in two, fine, no problem.
33:46And 36 collars, like, we're well on our way.
33:49But 22, it's just ridiculous.
33:51Oh, my God. How are we going to do this?
33:53The house need more hands.
33:55And in the slums, that meant taking on people prepared to work for little pay.
34:01Hello.
34:03I've come because we're really, really busy.
34:06We've got loads of work.
34:07Right.
34:08So I wondered if you would be willing to let me have one of your daughters for a couple of hours.
34:17We're willing to pay her a penny in old money, which is 60p in new money.
34:22Yeah.
34:23I don't know if there's any reason why not.
34:24I'm happy.
34:25And I don't know if you wanted to.
34:26I'm happy for Sadie as well, if you wanted to come.
34:29They'll lose some flower-making manpower, but they can't turn down the chance of slightly better paid work.
34:36We can't pay you until we get paid.
34:38And our delivery's due on Monday, then we'll absolutely pay you if that's all right.
34:43But I need to take them now.
34:45Give us a kiss.
34:46Work hard.
34:47Love you.
34:48Bye-bye.
34:50Hello.
34:51Hello.
34:52I brought help.
34:53I brought help.
34:54Hey, girls.
34:55Hi.
34:56And Olivia.
34:57So it sounds really simple, but it's a really important job.
35:00I think my mum would be pleased because I can pay more.
35:04That'll help pay the rent so that we're not short.
35:09I've learned sewing and I really, really like it.
35:11I'm actually quite good at it as well.
35:13So...
35:14Child labour doesn't sit right for me.
35:15Child labour doesn't sit right for me.
35:17I don't believe children should be working.
35:20But the most astounding thing to me out of all of this was that they were so grateful, genuinely grateful for a few pennies.
35:30They worked as well as the parents.
35:31They worked as well as the parents.
35:32So obviously there was no chance of them going to school, there was no chance of an education.
35:35They were stuck.
35:36They're stuck in the environment that they were born in.
35:39And that's tragic.
35:41It's really, really tragic.
35:43And to see the two little girls that are my neighbours at the moment, you know, sitting on my floor, working and happily working for pittance,
35:50because they know that it's going to help towards their families paying rent this week, is heartbreaking.
36:03Last one.
36:09In the Doss house, John and Maria are settling in for the night.
36:17Well, the first day is down.
36:18I know.
36:20Thank God.
36:21A nice sleep in the bed.
36:24I just don't know what to expect in these kind of beds, John, because they're all hay and straw and whatnot.
36:31Um...
36:33Yeah.
36:34We'll see how it goes.
36:36It's scary.
36:37It's frightening.
36:38It's frightening.
36:39You feel alone.
36:40You're missing home.
36:41And all those home comforts.
36:44And you've got nothing.
36:45You came with nothing and you still have nothing.
36:48Only that you've survived another day.
36:50And when you have to take survival as, you know, something that you are grateful for,
36:56yeah, that's really upsetting to think that, you know, suddenly their dreams of making a lot of money became dreams of making enough money to see them through another day.
37:04During the Victorian era, they wouldn't have had the place to themselves.
37:10London had almost 5,000 Doss houses, some crammed with dozens of beds rented out in eight-hour shifts.
37:20It's exciting to be here in a new world, new town, new city.
37:27For my first night's sleep, I'm dreading it.
37:30Despite an uncomfortable night's sleep, Maria and John are up early and working.
37:51And one more time, and then we're done.
37:56John's persuaded the birds to let him do some odd jobs for a few pence.
38:01I've got the utmost respect for John for sleeping on that hangover bench.
38:06And even though it's my Doss house, I wouldn't sleep on that bench.
38:09I did actually look at the coffin beds this morning and there was only one that had any depression in it.
38:14So he, he didn't, he spent the whole night on that bench.
38:21Coming over as siblings and being the older sibling gives you this real sense of responsibility that I feel that I could endure, you know, the two penny hangover.
38:31But I don't want to see my sister going through that and I was cold, I was shivering, I was uncomfortable, I was moving all night.
38:41I had to get up and walk around because it was so uncomfortable several times during the night.
38:46And I don't want her to have to do that.
38:48And all the time I could see that she was at least kind of still and peaceful, whether she was asleep or not, I don't know.
38:54Maria's doing what many women in the slums did, decorating cheap hats with feathers to sell on for a small profit.
39:02Well, well, well.
39:05Oh, wow.
39:07What do you think it is?
39:09They look absolutely cracking.
39:10Don't they?
39:11Great job, yeah.
39:13It's nice.
39:1412?
39:15Yeah.
39:17With no dependents to take care of, young, healthy people like the Barkers could get by in the slums.
39:25Come on, let's have to get up, please.
39:27Time to make the red.
39:29But someone like Shazida, with children to look after, would have had far less earning potential.
39:35I don't have a penny to my name.
39:38I feel it under immense pressure.
39:40The rent is £8.16.
39:43We also have a food bill of £4.70.
39:46It's just constantly thinking about whether I'm going to have a roof over our head, where my next meal is going to come from.
39:51It's just really stressful.
39:54And it makes me really anxious as well.
39:57It's making me anxious.
40:03I think we ought to re-look at how we're going to split the money for this project again.
40:09Because I don't think dividing it by eight is particularly fair anymore.
40:18Because I feel that we've done a lot more work than you have, Shaz.
40:24Last week, Shazida failed to pay the £8 for her room.
40:30This week, rent collector Andy is keeping a closer eye on her finances.
40:35I think that Shaz has been quite protected from what would have actually happened.
40:46Because we used our modern mind to go, well, I can't put a single lady and two children into the DOS house.
40:52Hi, have you seen... Ah, there you are, Shaz.
40:59Hi, Andy.
41:00Morning, morning.
41:01How are we all?
41:02Well, thanks. You?
41:03Good.
41:04How are we doing?
41:05Have we got the rent or are we near the rent?
41:08I've got...
41:09One of the children went out to work for the Howarths and they owe me 60p.
41:13OK, good.
41:14But we don't know yet how much...
41:16I don't know how much I'll get for my contribution towards making the flowers.
41:20For the flowers?
41:21Yeah.
41:23In total, I've got 23 pence.
41:2623 pence?
41:27Yeah.
41:28OK.
41:29I'll come and see you tomorrow.
41:31Mm-hm.
41:32See what the scenario is then.
41:34Cheerio, Potters.
41:35Good to see you.
41:36See you later, Andy.
41:37Bye.
41:38I'm feeling anxious.
41:40I want to pay the rent.
41:42You know, I want to be on top of everything.
41:44But I'm in a bit of a financial crisis at the moment.
41:51I feel as if they're blaming me because I'm not working hard enough.
41:55And that's why I'm poor.
41:57You know, being the only breadwinner, I've got to work twice as hard to earn money.
42:01And then still, I have nothing.
42:04Nothing.
42:06And I'm running out of options.
42:12I mean?
42:13Have you got the money for the work that Sadie did?
42:16I don't have all the money because we haven't been paid ourselves yet.
42:20Right, OK.
42:21It's just that I'm in a bit of a predicament.
42:23I could give you, like, five pence or ten pence, but that would be it.
42:26All right, OK.
42:27There's no more than that that I could give you.
42:29All right, I'll take that then, whatever you've got.
42:30Five pence.
42:31Yeah?
42:32Yeah, OK.
42:33Let me get the money.
42:39There you go.
42:40Great stuff.
42:41OK.
42:42All right, then.
42:43Thanks a lot.
42:45Bye.
42:46I mean, I'll give her maybe half.
42:48No, I wasn't going to give her.
42:49We can't afford half, Russell.
42:50I'm not taking the food out of their mouths to feed her children.
42:52No.
42:53My children come first.
42:54No, I understand.
42:55Totally.
42:56When money was tight, many in the slums resorted to pawning their possessions.
43:05For some, it was part of a weekly routine to try and raise cash for rent or food.
43:11I don't want to give their clothes away because, obviously, I don't want them to go cold.
43:15I don't want them to lose their shoes because I don't want them walking barefoot.
43:20As for pawning, I suppose probably that teapot because we don't use it.
43:27Pawnbrokers had to be licensed, but slum shops, like the one run by the birds, would often offer an illicit under-the-counter service.
43:36How much do you want?
43:38A pound.
43:39A pound.
43:4075.
43:4190 pence.
43:42I think, as a shopkeeper, you probably have to make unpopular choices, but needs must.
43:49You know, you want to be as nice to the customers as you can, but when push comes to shove, we've got to pay our rent as well.
43:55So we've got to call in our debts.
43:57You've got, um, £4.10 now on your ticket.
44:00Right, okay.
44:01All right.
44:02And when is payday for you guys?
44:03When are you done?
44:04I think it's tomorrow.
44:05Tomorrow.
44:06Nightly.
44:07We'll put that on Chesa's beach then, and then I'll offset some of your tickets.
44:11Pawning her possessions has reduced Shazida's food debt, but she's still no closer to having her rent.
44:18I feel as if I've hit rock bottom.
44:21There's no light at the end of the tunnel, and I can't see a way out.
44:25It's like I can't escape this cycle of poverty that I'm in.
44:29You know, it's either rent or food bill or food bill or rent.
44:33It's just one thing or another.
44:35It's just relentless.
44:37When all else failed, the very poorest could appeal to their local board of guardians for assistance.
44:44The help offered by Victorian authorities was known as poor relief, and it came in two forms.
44:50There was outdoor relief, which was the temporary handouts of food and clothing.
44:55And then there was indoor relief, admission to the workhouse.
44:59No one was sent to the workhouse. Instead, they had to plead their case in front of a group of middle-class men.
45:08The board of guardians asked probing questions about moral character as they divided the poor into the deserving and the undeserving.
45:17They would not have looked favourably on a single mother with two children.
45:20Though many Victorians felt a Christian duty to aid those in need, it was believed the poor needed incentives to help themselves.
45:30The workhouse was designed as a deterrent.
45:33Unmarried women were separated from their children and sometimes forced to wear a yellow dress as a mark of shame.
45:41Hundreds of charitable donations were centralised in the 1870s,
45:47under the Charity Organisation Society, or COS,
45:52to ensure donations only went to the deserving poor.
45:56The belief that the poor have only themselves to blame was so strongly and widely held
46:01that during the 1870s a campaign was mounted to cut poor relief.
46:06Led by the COS, the campaign was so successful that in some areas of the East End,
46:11out relief was discontinued altogether.
46:15Just at a time when they needed it most, the help available to the poor was being dramatically reduced.
46:29Even if I do get paid for making these artificial flowers,
46:33I've got to share the wage with the potters.
46:37I won't actually have enough to even cover the rent. I don't think I would.
46:41I don't think I would.
46:47Situations like this were all too common in the slums,
46:50where most were so poor they weren't able to help desperate neighbours.
46:55It's not like nowadays where you get evicted or something happens,
46:59you've got housing associations, you've got councils, you've got emergency housing.
47:04We moan so much about now. I mean, this puts it into perspective.
47:08I thought I'd be able to, you know, struggle, face hardship, but I thought I'd be able to survive.
47:15You know, I never anticipated that I'd be in debt.
47:18And that's one thing that I don't like, being in debt.
47:22In the position that Shaz is in, being a single parent, um...
47:28Frowned upon?
47:29Mm.
47:30Very much frowned upon, and she would have been told to go into the workhouse,
47:35that that was the only thing available for her.
47:40Obviously, I've got the children to consider, and I wouldn't want them in the workhouse.
47:44And I haven't got a plan B.
47:47I'm in a bit of a predicament here.
47:49Yeah.
47:50With rent day round the corner, Andy faces the fact
47:53he may have to evict Shazida and the twins from their room.
47:57That actually makes me feel shocking that I could put them into a position like that,
48:01where the long and short of it is they would be split up.
48:04What if they didn't get into the workhouse, which sounds horrific,
48:07but what if they didn't get in?
48:08What's after that?
48:09They'd go on the streets.
48:10Back in?
48:11On the streets, yeah.
48:12Alternative.
48:13I mean, almost anything is better than that.
48:16Someone in Shazida's situation would have had one more option.
48:21Shhh.
48:22We are packing.
48:23Put all these in between so they don't make a racket.
48:26We're going to have to leave here.
48:28We haven't paid.
48:29I know, that's what we're...
48:30Because we're struggling to pay the rent, and it's coming tomorrow.
48:33A moonlit flit meant moving to another poor area of the city,
48:37where no-one would have known you.
48:39Escaping unpaid debts only to begin the cycle of tick and rent day again.
48:45I don't know how these people did it. I mean, hats off to them.
48:48If I was a Victorian woman, I would rather take my chances elsewhere
48:52and start afresh, find alternative accommodation
48:56rather than go into the workhouse.
48:59.
49:03.
49:27Unbelievable.
49:44Well, to me, it looks like she's just gone.
49:48To me, it looks like she's done a flip.
49:51I mean, it does feel like she's escaped,
49:53because she's not also run out on me,
49:54but she's also run out on who I consider my friends now,
49:58which is the shopkeepers, the birds.
50:00So, yeah, I mean, I think that just shows the worst
50:04of our slum society, to be honest.
50:06And I thought she was made of stronger stuff.
50:09I really did. Disappointing.
50:13Andy's lost potential Doss House customers,
50:16and now it's his responsibility to re-let Shazida's room.
50:20Shaz is meant to be helping us out.
50:22Shaz and her children are supposed to be here.
50:25With flowers still to finish,
50:27the Potter family have another early start.
50:30Because if we've got another pair of hands,
50:33you know, if each can make 50 in a day,
50:36if Shaz is here, that's 200.
50:40Shaz?
50:43Shaz?
50:44She's gone.
50:51What do you mean, she's gone?
50:52The room's empty.
50:54No, at the end of the day, it's not our problem, is it?
50:56We've just got to work faster.
50:58That means we're under more pressure now to get this done on our own.
51:02Well, it does mean, of course,
51:03there's all the money that we do make on the all-be hours.
51:05Yeah.
51:06So, guess.
51:08What?
51:09Who's gone?
51:11Not just gone, but done a runner.
51:14I've got a rough idea who's done a runner.
51:17But, done a runner, they think, in the middle of the night.
51:20Yeah.
51:21Right?
51:21Didn't pay any of her rent.
51:23No?
51:23No.
51:25And didn't pay the birds.
51:28Really?
51:29How bad's that?
51:30Ah, it's terrible.
51:34Shazida's departure is having a knock-on effect
51:37on the other residents of the slum.
51:39Shaz is at £4.10, so we're going to have to swallow that.
51:43Already having to cope with falling prices,
51:46the birds will have to write off Shazida's debt.
51:49Balancing their books will be even more difficult.
51:52It's really brought home to me that interconnectedness.
51:56You know, you come in and you think,
51:57oh, we're at the top of the heap.
51:59You know, things must be somewhat easier for us
52:01than for other people,
52:03because we have more in our room and that sort of thing.
52:07But, actually, every single penny counts,
52:10even from the poorest of the poor.
52:12I mean, I think we're getting it right,
52:14but anything could happen.
52:17Our biggest worry was Shaz being able to pay off her tick.
52:20If she had paid it off, we would be fine.
52:23We wouldn't have to worry about it.
52:24That would have covered the rest that we needed to pay the rent.
52:28She hasn't.
52:29So, going forward, yeah, it's a learning experience.
52:32If we do come across someone who we don't know
52:35who's asking for credit, we are going to be more cautious.
52:38The Halas have almost completed their second order.
52:51Don't get a tea break, do we, Russ?
52:53No.
52:55Any pay you've done?
52:56Three.
52:57How long do you, four?
52:58He treats us like employees, not family, when we're working.
53:05Just about pass.
53:07What do you mean, just about?
53:09Not level.
53:11My hands are all calloused and everything, like,
53:13oh, what's that called?
53:15I have to get there all the day.
53:15Yeah, I know.
53:18It's just really tiring.
53:20And it's like, you can't even think straight.
53:22What do you think?
53:23I forgot what the question was.
53:24Oh, but you're so tired.
53:26He's so tired.
53:29While Shazida's departure has caused problems for some,
53:33for others, it presents an opportunity.
53:35John!
53:36Martin, how are you doing?
53:37John is taking Sadie's job.
53:39Not bad.
53:40Right.
53:41What stitches do you know?
53:42Hand stitches?
53:43Oof.
53:44It's basic.
53:46Backstitch?
53:46It is basic.
53:47I can do a backstitch.
53:47You can do a backstitch, yes?
53:48The most important one.
53:49Yes.
53:50Excellent.
53:51But I can learn anything.
53:53I can learn anything and fast, so.
53:55Push it, push it with your thimble through.
53:57And pull out with that, that's it.
53:58Always, the needle's always in the hand that you go in.
54:00Right, OK.
54:01You pull out, yeah?
54:01And then, just in behind that again?
54:03That's it, just in behind it.
54:05A little bit out in front.
54:07Things are looking up for the Barkers.
54:10Well, the news in the salome is that a room has become available.
54:15It's something that we have to kind of consider seriously.
54:18It means that one of us, myself or Maria,
54:21we'll have to get regular work.
54:23But it would be lovely to get out of the Das House
54:25and to get into our own little place.
54:28Right.
54:29Good morning, guys.
54:32Lovely.
54:33This will be your room.
54:34Thanks, Willie and Andy.
54:36All right.
54:36Take care.
54:37Work hard.
54:38And I'll see you in a few days.
54:39Home sweet home.
54:41All right.
54:41See you later.
54:42See you later.
54:42Ta-ra.
54:45I'm just going to, like, fall straight to the bed.
54:48Oh, God.
54:51You actually have a bed.
54:52Finally.
54:53We're winning.
54:54It's great.
54:55The Irish are moving up.
54:56So we've got 202 roses, 432 violets, 600 forget-me-nots.
55:09The potters have had to complete the order without the help of their neighbours,
55:13but they've finished all 1,440 flowers.
55:17I think there's been more lows than highs, but I am just so pleased.
55:23Such a relief that we have made some money out of the flowers after working so hard.
55:30Such a relief.
55:32And now they don't need to share the pay in more than covers their week's costs.
55:3819 pound 23 pence.
55:42Yes.
55:42Yes.
55:43Well done.
55:44Well done.
55:45Well done.
55:45Well done.
55:46We have food!
55:51The 1870s have brought new levels of hardship to the slums.
55:56In five years, the number of people in the workhouse rose by 30%.
56:00Yet somehow the urban poor were still clinging on,
56:04and Victorian Britain would soon have to start paying attention to their plight.
56:11How are you doing?
56:12Good day?
56:13Yeah, it was all right.
56:14Good.
56:14I thought, you know, the 1860s were bad enough, but the 1870s got a lot worse.
56:21You're so close to not just poverty, but abject poverty. It's not even funny. It's so close, you can taste the workhouse.
56:32I'm going to come up and see you tomorrow because I've got Olivia's money.
56:35Oh, lovely.
56:35Oh, wonderful.
56:36So I'll bring that out in the morning.
56:37We've got the order done as well. All the flowers. All there.
56:41I'm very relieved that we've got the money that we can pay our tick-off and hopefully put some money towards the rent.
56:50Good old ladies.
56:51Good old ladies.
56:51Good old lady.
56:52Good old lady.
56:53The situation with Shad, she felt the need to have to leave the slum with her children. And part of me can't blame her for that decision, to be honest.
57:01We're really living in luxury now tonight. Yeah. For us in the slum to finally be in our own room is a massive deal. And in spite of everything that was against them, it gives us hope that, you know, the Irish, they could rise up. It's been a great day, I think.
57:18He's thrilled with our news. And we're your best customers. And most up-to-date as well. Exactly. Of course you are.
57:26We'll get out of the way and we'll be able to be up-to-date. Come on.
57:29There's no let-up to this. Whilst I'm feeling happily tired right now, I know when my eyes open tomorrow, it's going to start all over again.
57:37But I'm actually this time going to allow myself to enjoy the little bit of happiness and a little bit of quietness that I've got tonight because I know come tomorrow, it's going to start all over again.
57:48And so it goes on and it goes on and it goes on.
57:58Look at the newspaper!
58:00The 1880s see tensions rise.
58:03They've got to work quickly. They need to make us money. They're not my friends.
58:07My mum, I've never seen her like that before.
58:09Come on in, chums.
58:09The slum dwellers endure humiliation.
58:12Maybe we should get a photo here.
58:13Er, excuse me. No.
58:16And political struggle.
58:17I strike.
58:19As they find their voice.
58:20They have no right to take our living away from us.
58:24And fight their corner.
58:26The poor will not be trodden on.
58:28Power to the people.
58:29It was the era when Britain appeared to be having it all.
58:37Join Jeremy Paxman as we stay with the Victorians over on BBC4.
58:42Here on BBC2 next, comedy with your favourite star celebrities in Morgana Robinson's The Agency.
58:48MUSIC
58:58.
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