Transcriber's Note
Superscript text is indicated by caret signs, e.g. "Adm^l".
Large tables have been refactored for display on smaller screens.
Illustrations have been moved to paragraph breaks and/or placed next to the text which they illustrate, and may not match the locations give in the List of Illustrations.
The text (enclosed in ~swung dashes~) beginning "Removing any goods off" on p. 444 was printed as vertical text.
On p. xxii, the figures "2,721,73" and "54,00" were each printed without the final digit.
Corrected errata are listed at the end of the text.
LONDON LABOUR AND THE LONDON POOR
A Cyclopædia of the Condition and Earnings
OF
THOSE THAT WILL WORK THOSE THAT CANNOT WORK, AND THOSE THAT WILL NOT WORK
BY HENRY MAYHEW
THOSE THAT WILL NOT WORK COMPRISING PROSTITUTES · THIEVES · SWINDLERS · BEGGARS BY SEVERAL CONTRIBUTORS
With an Introductory Essay on the Agencies at Present in Operation in the Metropolis for the Suppression of Vice and Crime
by
THE REV. WILLIAM TUCKNISS, B.A. CHAPLAIN TO THE SOCIETY FOR THE RESCUE OF YOUNG WOMEN AND CHILDREN
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
VOLUME FOUR
First edition 1851 (Volume One only and parts of Volumes Two and Three) Enlarged edition (Four volumes) 1861-62 New impression 1865
ADVERTISEMENT.
It would be a work of supererogation to extol the utility of such a publication as “London Labour and the London Poor,” so apparent must be its value to all classes of society. It stands alone as a photograph of life as actually spent by the lower classes of the Metropolis. That one half of the world does not know how the other half lives is an axiom of antiquity, but the truthful revelations and descriptions of the London street folk, workers and non-workers, and the means by which they exist, will go a great way to enlighten the educated classes respecting matters which have hitherto been involved in mystery and uncertainty.
The class of individuals treated of in this volume are the Non-Workers, or in other words, the Dangerous Classes of the Metropolis; and every endeavour has been made to obtain correct information, not only through the assistance of the police authorities, but by an expenditure of much time and research among the unfortunates themselves. Their favourite haunts, and the localities in London wherein they chiefly congregate, as well as their modes of existence, are accurately described; in addition to which have been inserted very many deeply interesting autobiographies, faithfully transcribed from their own lips, which go far to unveil the intricate schemes of villany and crime that abound in the Metropolis, and prove how much more rational and effective are preventive measures than such as are merely correctional.
Every phase of vice has been investigated and treated of, in order that all possible information that can prove interesting to the moralist, the philanthropist, and the statist, as well as to the general public, might be afforded. In a word the veil has been raised, and the skeleton exposed to the view of the public.
In order to inspire hope and confidence in those who would shudder and lose heart in the perusal of such a record of crime and misery, the volume is prefaced by a comprehensive account of the agencies in operation within the Metropolis for the suppression of crime and vice, in which is detailed the aim and scope of the numerous religious and philanthropic associations now actively following the footsteps of that Divine Saviour, Whose chief mission was to the poor and guilty.
These brave workers now abound in all the dark places of the Metropolis, and the fruits of their labours, particularly in the case of youthful criminals, are becoming, through the blessing of Providence, abundantly apparent.
A vast amount of statistical information, compiled from authentic records, is contained in the body of the work, and in the Appendix, and a few illustrations are introduced, graphically showing the extremes of vice and crime.
The publishers have to thank Sir Richard Mayne and the authorities at Scotland Yard, as well as the Secretaries of the various charitable societies, for much valuable information and assistance.
Stationers’ Hall Court; December, 1861.
CONTENTS.
THE AGENCIES AT PRESENT IN OPERATION WITHIN THE METROPOLIS, FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF VICE AND CRIME.
BY THE REV. WILLIAM TUCKNISS, B.A.
PAGE
UNIVERSAL DESIRE FOR INVESTIGATION xi
MERE PALLIATIVES INSUFFICIENT TO CHECK THE GROWTH OF CRIME xi
DECREASE OF CRIME DOUBTFUL xii
GENERAL DESIRE TO ALLEVIATE MISERY xiii
GUTHRIE ON GREAT CITIES xiv
SOCIAL POSITION OF LONDON xv
AGENCIES AT WORK IN LONDON xvii Their Number and Income xvii
CURATIVE AGENCIES xviii British and Foreign Bible Society xix Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge xix Institution for Reading the Word of God in the Open Air xix Theatre Services xix London City Mission, xx Church of England Scripture Readers’ Society xxii Religious Tract Society xxiii Pure Literature Society xxiii
PREVENTIVE AGENCIES xxiv National Temperance Society xxiv United Kingdom Alliance xxiv Free Drinking Fountain Association xxv Ragged School Union xxv Society for Improving the Condition of the Labouring Classes xxv Female Servants’ Home Society xxvi Female Aid Society xxvii Training Institutions for Servants xxvii Field Lane Night Refuges xxvii Dudley Stuart Night Refuge xxvii Houseless Poor Asylum xxviii House of Charity xxviii Foundling Hospital xxviii Society for the Suppression of Mendicity xxviii Association for Promoting the Relief of Destitution xxviii Association for the Aid and Benefit of Dressmakers and Milliners xxix Young Women’s Christian Association and West-end Home xxix Society for Promoting the Employment of Women xxx Metropolitan Early Closing Association, &c. xxx
REPRESSIVE AND PUNITIVE AGENCIES xxx Society for the Suppression of Vice xxxi The Associate Institution xxxi Society for Promoting the Observance of the Lord’s Day xxxiv Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals xxxiv
REFORMATIVE AGENCIES xxxiv Reformatory and Refuge Union xxxiv Reformative Agencies for Fallen Women xxxv Magdalen Hospital xxxvi London by Moonlight Mission xxxvii Society for the Rescue of Young Women and Children xxxvii London Female Preventive and Reformatory Institution xxxvii
CONCLUDING REMARKS xxxviii