environment

• what was the environment of whitechapel like?

  • high crime rate which police struggled to deal with
  • streets were narrow, unlit, dirty, noisy and overcrowded
  • suffered from thick smog and pollution
  • little clean drinking water and no sewage system
  • alleyways and streets were maze like with few street signs
• what was employment like in factories?

  men lined up each day in the hope of gaining a days work to feed themselves and their family
• what was the bell foundry?

  most famous workplace. it was where bells for most London churches, including Big Ben were made.
• what were sweatshops like?

  cramped, dirty homes which produced items of cheap clothing. 20 hour shifts for low pay were common.
• what were the docks?

  provided work for men working on or unloading ships. work was not always available.
• what were the railways?

  many Irish immigrants found work building railways or tunnels. locals felt in competition with them.
• what was unemployment like in Whitechapel?

  • economic depression which led to high unemployment
  • with no work men had little to do and boredom led to alcohol and then violence
  • many women without work turned to prostitution as the only way to earn money
• what were lodging houses?

  • offered a bed in a dirty overcrowded room
  • lodgers paid per night and sometimes slept in shifts so the bed could be used more than once
  • over 200 lodging houses with a quarter of Whitechapel's population having to use them
• what were coffin beds & hangovers?

  • poorest would rent a wooden coffin bed
  • would also lean over a rope to sleep called a two-penny hangover
• what were orphanages?

  • more orphanages were set up by Dr Thomas Barnado
  • conditions were more caring than the workhouse
  • Barnado opened 100 orphanages for boys and girls in London with the motto 'no destitute children ever refused admission'
• what was the peabody estate?

  • named after wealthy American, George Peabody
  • a housing project designed for the poor to live in better conditions
  • opened in 1881 providing 286 flats for 3 shillings per week
• what were rookeries?

  • filthy overcrowded slum areas
  • houses were divided up with up to 30 people sharing beds with one kitchen area
• what were workhouses?

  • for those with nothing this was the last resort
  • offered food and shelter in return for hard labour
  • most were elderly, sick, disabled or orphans
  • conditions were made deliberately hard as a deterrent to encourage people to seek employment