Employment

• The most famous factory in Whitechapel was Bell Foundry, where Big Ben was cast.
• However, many residents worked in ‘sweated’ trades like tailoring, shoe-making and making matches. The work premises were known as sweat shops and were small and dark. Hours were long (some sweatshop workers worked up to 20 hours a day), and wages were low.
• Others worked in railway construction or as labourers on the docks, but this work varied day by day and employment was not guaranteed.
• As the economy became severely depressed in the 1870s, unemployment spread.