Why did Victorians Sleep on Bridges? (Sleeping Rough in 1800s London)
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- Опубліковано 30 гру 2023
- London's bridges were like giant long beds in the 1800s. Poor Victorians found themselves without work and a roof over their head. There were so many homeless that they slept anywhere they could shelter from freezing temperatures and the attention of the police - often bridges. We accompany a Victorian journalist investigating the plight of London's homeless in 1885. He journeys through central London in the bitter cold of night to discover desperate scenes of people who, often drawn from the countryside in search of work and opportunity, found neither. You will find out that, to avoid the nightmare of a stay in a workhouse casual ward, they slept rough both on and under the city's bridges, becoming trapped in a life where the few hours work they might get occasionally in wharves and docks was never enough to pay for a roof over their head, or to return home and escape the vice-like grip that London had on the poor.
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▶️ Voice of a Victorian Vagabond: • Voice of a Victorian V...
▶️ Down-and-Out in Victorian London: • Down-and-Out in Victor...
▶️ Sleeping Rough in Victorian England: • Sleeping Rough in Vict...
▶️ Victorian documentaries (Playlist):
• Victorians
▶️ Edwardian Documentaries (Playlist): • Edwardians
▶️ Worst Jobs in Victorian History (Playlist): • Worst Jobs in Victoria...
▶️ Criminal Past (Playlist): • Criminal Past
▶️ Victorian workhouses (Playlist):
• Victorian Workhouses
▶️ American Slums and Tenements (Playlist):
• American Slums and Ten...
Credits: Narration - markmanningmedia.com
CC BY - Pedestrians walking across London Bridge with traffic by Videvo.com; Halfpenny dinners for poor children in East London, People queuing at Marylebone workhouse circa 1900, Policeman approaches a ragged woman with her baby in a London park, Poor children Croydon England, The Society of Friends soup kitchen Manchester by Wellcome Collection; Winter in London by Lucas Migliorelli
#VictorianLondon #VictorianDocumentary #VictorianLondonDocumentary #VictorianEraDocumentary #LondonSlums #VictorianLife #VictorianSlums #Victorian #19thCentury #VictorianEra #VictorianHomeless
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▶ Voice of a Victorian Vagabond: ua-cam.com/video/y5L2cWNOWm8/v-deo.html
▶ Down-and-Out in Victorian London: ua-cam.com/video/PX0d0sX4MoM/v-deo.html
▶ Sleeping Rough in Victorian England: ua-cam.com/video/uUl1Cuwvu_A/v-deo.html
🎄👍
Happy New Year! 🎊
Thanks again for uploading to UA-cam and happy New Year to you!
Your content is world-class and of a unique perspective. It's really a privilege to be able to see it, to learn, and to place my own life in context
It’s illegal to be homeless but not a real estate crook
I like it. How about this: "Give a man a gun and he can rob a bank. Give a man a bank and he can rob the world."
@@randymillhouse791 YEARGH!!! 💰💰
@@randymillhouse791 that is a very interesting saying . I’m so glad you shared .
We're starting to see this again..the numbers of 'working homeless' has risen tenfold in the last few years. I myself am facing this..got the job and work but the cost of bills and running a house now is too much. Unfortunately I think this will be the fate of many more before my times up. We may have phones and cars and designer brands etc now but we really havnt come that far since not in attitude nor in societies eyes.
What line of work are you in?
Occasionally someone asks me,a working class Brit about reparations because my ancestors obviously financially benefitted from the British Empire. I just send them to this channel so they can see how my working class British ancestors lived during the height of Empire.
Indeed so. The average Brit was crushed under by the elite few.
That is not relevant to the British government paying reparations to whoever it stole from.( Including reparations the descendents of homeless tramps for that matter.). It has nothing to do with anyone's ancestors benefitting. It has to do with the government laws of that time preventing x y or z from their rightful resources. Even if no one benefitted from it but the Queen.
Reparations is for descendants of plantations owners not ordinary folk, why you came up with this comparison boggles the mind!
@@TheAnonyy Sins of the fathers, eh?
Incredible how desperate those people were. Puts things into perspective, and makes it clear how far society can plunge when we don't take care of each other.
Really makes you appreciate how much you truly have 👍✨
And it is also a fact that a lot of people are only a payday away from homelessness. There are quite a few homeless people living in the centre of my town. And that only happened in recent years. Tbh. I believe it could happen to any of us
Not really that much different today. Abysmal people by Mick Glasgow!
It's not healthy to expect society to take care of you. This is exactly what happens to people who expect that society will take care of them.
Just like now.
I'm glad some people helped. I know there was more to do by far, but it's heartening to know that some people did help.
Bridges are still a good place to sleep if you are homeless. 35 years ago when I had no home, I would sleep at the top of an overpass as it was out of the wind and not as damp as on the ground. Luckily I got a boost out of the situation from a charity that helped me to get back to work. But I have not forgotten; it's not easy to get out of the situation as everyone assumes you are on drugs or alcohol and the situation is your fault.
A lot of bridges now have anti-homeless spikes on them.
Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell as well as The road to Wigan Pier (same author). Well researched books and worth a read. I didn't realise Tramps or Tramping got it's name from the homeless shelters policy of being 20 miles apart and requiring users to tramp between them - one night stay limits.
Great reads
I have read the former, will check out the latter. It's nice to know others are reading them too. It's uncommon where I live to find others who read similar classics.
so few went as far as Orwell , he lived thrpough the experiences in many of his books its almost autobiographical , yes down and out an road to are brilliant my fave is homage to , but of those two down and out
Read the people of the abyss by Jack London
Trampoline put their bounce back.
Happy new year mate! I’ll be watching this one after my family’s NYE party - just wanted to wish you all th best for 2024 and to tell you how much your content means to me. It’s really helped me through some rough patches in my life.
Seasons greetings, old chap ✨
Thank you very much The Birthday Skeleton! Happy New Year and have a great party 😀🎉
@@FactFeast 🥂🙏✨
NGL, I slept near a bridge a few years ago (2020), and guess what, there was somebody else there who didn't look local. Things haven't changed as much as we like to think. Also a bridge is great for cover against the rain etc.
Nothing has changed in over 100 years 😢
Nowadays the doorways are spiked, the benches divided into separate seats.☹
Great idea. “Let’s solve homelessness by writing on a piece a paper called a law that it’s not allowed”
Bureaucrats and most politicians have the same level of IQ as those back then, apparently.
Their problem solving skills are on par.
George Orwell critiques the treatment of homeless people in Down and Out in Paris and London...great book....and Morrissey 'haves cannot stand have nots"
As a splatterpunk author, people are oft surprised when I say that Orwell's "Down and Out..." is the most disturbing book I've ever read. After they've read it for themselves, they tend to understand. I still get a quiver when anyone mentions "true love".
Today, it's hard to imagine how hard it was for the poor at the turn of the 20th century.
Wow nothing has changed. Just history repeating itself over and over.
The Empire of Britain and all their wealth didn't manage her homeless and detitute... Greedy bastards reminds me of this Country in a way. Plenty of money for the military but none for the needy...SAD...
Thank you. I have decided not to go back in time
It's going to come back to you-to all of us.
@@SunglassSenseigoing to? Honey- it's here!!
Heartbreaking. It might not be as bad as back then, but it's getting that way today.. Human beings are denied the basic needs, of shelter, employment, and the basic necessities, many of us take for granted. In today's economic breakdown, anyone can become homeless, nothing is guaranteed in life. And they call us a civilized society?. Once in poverty, it's difficult to get off, hence the ''poverty trap''. The governments are not going to spend money to solve the situation, back then, or now. Nice and cosy warm mansions. It seems a global problem today, in America, it is so bad, and getting worse, it's estimated, around 20,,000 people, are living in Vaga's storm drains. New York and LA, in the richest country in the world,,are living on the streets, in the woods, in cars, and even in Walmart car parks in campers vans. underground train stations.
Poor people used to go into pubs, and fish shops just to keep warm and dry. now it's shopping malls. I often think about people on the streets, especially when it's cold.
In Victorian times, the only option was the Madeline charity houses and workhouses,or prison. you could if lucky to afford it, spend the night in a crowded, Hall , there were ones full of boxes like coffins packed together, and you could at least lay down.
Much cheaper, were places where, a long rope was stretched, for people to sleep against.
Gin was cheap and for many, antimony escape from a hellish life.
You were considered old at just forty, and lucky to be alive.
Today I learned about Australia's homeless people. It's getting bad. On the other hand, Finland has solved the problem, with affordable accommodation.
The government in the UK, are bragging of all the new houses they have built, but only the rich can afford them. If you think of all the empty houses, factories, and old warehouses, they could utilise, But the government won't spend money unless there is something in it for themselves.
We now have a subculture, and the same old story, the rich get richer, the poor get poorer.
The truth is, the authorities and powers that be, don't want them, and turn a blind eye, but as soon as there is a money-making war, then they want these same people to fight, and die for them.
What a excellent presentation. Thank you so much.
How can anyone be homeless unless it is voluntary? Have they no friends? No family? What kind of horrible person has no friends or family willing to help them?
@@ohsweetmysteryA lot of homeless people grew up in care and/or have severe mental health issues.
History is repeating itself 😢😞
There are more people so very very close to poverty now then bk in the 1800. Yet the government lets more and more people into this country who don’t have jobs. This country is headed for ruin. But that’s what the democrats want
The people causing history to repeat know the history.
Narrated in a mesmerizing way ,very strong voice ,superbly done.
Complements to the video compiler for making the excellent commentary match up with the contemporary illustrations! A good deal of work was demanded in this process and it is appreciated! Happy New Year to all involved!!!
Great video. Visuals, content and presentation are all top notch. Thank you
Much appreciated! Glad your interested in the history and like the presentation.
And then there are people who believe that homelessness is a lifestyle choice. Unfortunately I believe that that view is widely held amongst certain groups of people, who also think that they are immune to ever being down on their luck
And then there are people who don’t understand the difference between being homeless in 1885 because you couldn’t find work and there were literally no resources, to homeless people in 2023 😂
Hint- There are plenty of available jobs and resources for homeless people in 2023. It would require giving up hard drugs though.
Well said, I have worked with young men that slept outdoors due to necessity. I'm tired of armchair critics, sitting in their homes
@@MomentsInTrading hard drugs are a tory excuse to not help people they don't like.
@@lunaxquinn So you believe drug and alcohol addiction is not the main issue when it comes to homelessness. Or that drug and alcohol addiction is easy to give up if it weren't for the Tories?
I have a close friend with drink problem he used to be my pt also, when he was sober he says it is. He chooses to be on the street because shelters are either unsafer or have rules on drugs/drink.
There was a time, not very long ago, when we understood that poverty of this kind was the direct result of the greed of the few and the legal and social systems evolved to maintain it. There has also never been a time when the same greedy people (and the fools who always back them) haven't always blamed it on personal failings and, more recently, the paltry liberal policies put in place to try to help alleviate the worst of it.
The creatures in the media, govt etc support the rich for their own gain. The pushed narrative is that we fight each other, blame each other so we don't see them.
If you wanna see the future look into the past.
Liberalism creates more poverty
Sadly a lot of people who support the greedy and repeat their punching down propaganda are in these comments.
That's basically the way I live today and I have no family.
Thank you for the work you do for your content. This is the best channel I have found for this type of content. Happy New Year!
Thank you so much! Happy New Year! 😊
Queen Victoria allowed this go on.
One is rather amused 🤣
She was no different to the ruling classes of every nation. Even now the homeless, including many Armed Force veterans, are sleeping rough & uncared for. Sadly the same laws that provide for refugees & asylum seekers, do not extend to poor & homeless citizens in most Western countries.
@@theseeker4642 "Don't blame a privileged and indifferent monarchy, blame them immigants!"
Yeah, she should have installed spikes and put separators on the benches like the councils of today do.
Megaliving,,, queen Victoria,, could of had them women safe, in 1888,, while the ripper was on the prawl,,, 4 pence a night for a bed,,, but nothing was done,, and London at the time, was mega rich.
Happy New Year to a fab channel 👍
It’s amazing that these poor folk back then literally owned what they wore and had absolutely nothing else. The winters must have taken a good few poor souls but the warmer weather must have been welcomed. Strange to think this is happening in the modern world in the USA now.
Thank you! Happy New Year!
It's no different now!
If one cannot make a good life for themself in the USA then that is on them. PERIOD!
Thank you .nothing changes alas .
Thanks bc happy new year
Happy New Year!
@@FactFeastyour excellent,, fair play to you,, I've subscribed.
Thank you. Welcome to the channel!
Happy New Year Sir.
Thank you! You too!
The introduction describes what is going on in the UK in 2023 pretty well.
Canada also.
We still sleep under bridges wtf you talking about 🙄
👍 thanks
Homeless will never stop I do not see a problem with sleeping on a bridge high up it offers safety and a place to sleep away from danger also the majority of the homeless have animals as a safety blanket but also as a friend thank you Sir for this is information to make people aware of homelessness
I myself have been homeless and what I went through in a year it’s just haunting
denise , i was nfa for 17 years , it can end , not only for me and you , any govt can pass a law stating no property empty 9boarded up) if society needs it , at present uk empties = 250,000 properties , we have about 140,000 homeless
really easy to end homelesness , im glad it ended for you , keep warm keep well , ps i am no longer homeless
@@tomfinney3416Exactly!
It's very easy to end homelessness and the government even did it during the first Covid-19 lockdown!
Sleep in the rain, or under a bridge? No brainer people.🤐🍻
Happy new year .thank you for your wonderful cultural documentary channel. As always iam gathering main information about topics you mentioned briefly here it’s. First of all I looked up for meaning sleep rough to sleep out side at night , usually because one has no home or shelter. Many persons sleep rough especially uk and Australia . I read article date back in 2015 . Geoffrey museum called homes of homeless, museum dedicated to charting development of home is statement isn’t itself . Poor souls spent their au moving from parks to churchyards or sleeping by air vents for warmth or under arches to get some shelter. Sleeping on streets , where homeless shelters, by 1994 Salvation Armytan nine night shelter for example ( some slept in some very basic boxed in wooden beds which laid outlines) . Homelessness in Britain hasn’t been eradicated. Nowadays railway stations that some detective londoners today call home . Best wishes for you your loved ones.
Happy New Year Khatoon! Thank you for your support for my channel. It’s much appreciated.
See you all in 2024 stay safe and have fun
Happy 2024 to you too mate! :)
That's good someone was trying to help.
At lot of these people were the victims of misconceptions, fairytales about how easy it is in London to make their fortunes and go back home with pockets full of money. And when they found out that this was not the case they were trapped with no money to finance their journey back home.
At least there were charities that offered these poor souls help and support, but that often came with a caveat, they belonged to religious organisations looking to bag prospective followers.
My friend David Cisneros lives in London,works 6 days a week.still can’t make ends meet,he now lives in ft.worth Texas
Wow. Looks like Australia 2024.
The more some things never change the more they stay the same.... 🙄
Homeless people still sleep under or on bridges.
And here is a commercial for some fabulously expensive (for the poor) makeup.
What’s changed ? The cost of rent horrendous. We let our own sleep rough still but put up immigrants who hate us in 5 star hotels
Those dastardly immigrants, stealing hotel rooms from our homeless! Though it's easier to blame them than the millionaires, billionaires & corporations that exploit people daily and refuse to pay tax I guess.
The absence of god. Now these places are a literal hell
You speak TRUTH
Nothing has changed. Go to bridges currently- many are occupied to this very day. In fact this strange voice doesn't say anything that doesn't apply to today. Sad.
"our own" are given the same places to stay. Some people cause trouble over and over again and have more difficulties finding shelter. They end up moving from town to town, getting banned from more places. Don't know about immigrants hating us, but there sure is a lot of xenophobia and racism here, so maybe.
A fing descrace, that don't even appreciate it 1little bit
I need to know more about the image @7:00 in this video. Please.
The people of Western Europe live in Houses who cost far to much for the wages we earn. And refugees get a better income and help our own people. It's time for change....!
Huge increases in population ( either by net immigration or movement from rural to urban areas ) plus inevitable shortage of housing , plus virtually unrestricted controls on landlords - is a sure way ti create poverty , misery and homelessness.
And now we sleep under the bridge 🤣
I think you could use images from today's abysmal people of homelessness and it would be the same story!
It's like the court cells
They’ve been resting beautifully in heaven since ❤
Great Britain, the zenith of human civilization.
I know a homeless man who works i asked him why he does not get himself a room he said he was not going to spend his money on a room instead he sent so much of his money back home over seas to his Mum.
I job on a Thames barge would have been perfect back then. At least you would have a home!
I was once looking at a lobster in a tank floating staring at me and i asked it, i wonder what it is you might think about are different worlds? The lobster took a moment and looked at me kinda sideways and said "Human beings
are the only creatures on Earth "that claim a God. "And the only living thing that behaves like it hasn't got one. "Does the world belong to no one but you?"
And when he said it, I was taken back. Not because of who was doing the talking, but because I finally understood the connection
between children scavenging for food and shiny brass plates on the front doors of banks.
That's where we're heading now. That's where they want us.
My god
..14 years of tory rule...1885 is back
Clothing in those days was completely different. Really, really thick cloth for coats but also very expensive and not available for everyone. £1500 for a suit that was not even made to measure, but just straight off the rack. 😮 (translated into today's currency).
What's that, £4 - £6?
The second hand shmatter business was an important part of society, enabling people to clothe themselves inexpensively. I've bought from thrift shops since I was a teenager.
And we keep getting told everything was better before 1948😅
What with Londons homeless problem I think not much has changed in 200 years :-(
You equate your existence to theirs?? Too many people don't live a day in Thankfulness.
Sad.
Such a sorry life Having no end in sight sad still we still see this today being the start of a new year and a deep winter I pray for them with no where to go Have we turn are back on them i thank my God for a warm home and food Have yare just ou ever giving money to the ones standing on the corner asking for change to get along when me and the wife see them we give to them Just not knowing what there life is like I have heard people ask why we do this There may be on drugs are just not right in there mind all i can do is ask our Lord to helpthem along
Sounds like parts of California
London's not changed much it seems.
All ripper victims were sleeping rough when murdered apparently!
cant create what is borrowred from
Probably because poor people of the Victorian age had no where else to sleep…kinda like life under unregulated capitalism.
😳
So Queen Vicky was another Marie Antoinette
..
Haven't really improved much on this recently, have we! I hope it wasn't you that showed this to the present cabinet in number 10! 😅
These are some very good drawings of the Victorian poor…today cameras capture our poor. I’m not what some folks would consider religious, but Christ was right about feeding the poor and not putting your faith in the kings of this world.
Fact Feast, Victorian London was never a nice place for the destitute, not much has changed in the year of 2023 Will 2024 be any better? I think we both know the answer. Take care of yourself & remember that love is always here.
Thank you so much for your support bobcosmic!
We do have the welfare state now which at least provides a safety net. We don't have children sleeping on our streets.
@@talex1625We don't?? Yes we do have children sleeping on our streets!! Where do you live?? I know some people who'd like to go there.
Brazilians still do it.
Blooming heck sounds like the uk 2024
Right Wing Capitalism is Back......
I'm a British Veteran that spent 7 years on the streets recently, due to arson on my home....
I still have friends on the streets.....
Tory Britain !!!!
do you mean due to not having insurance?
Jay,, if I had the money,, I'd help you in a flash,, hope 2024, is your year.
A veteran? What job did you do?
I love capitalism
I’m sorry but when rich people are buying gold toilets, Gold necklaces that are doing damage to there bodies , then you have poor people that can’t feed there babies or put a roof over there heads & clothes on there backs ! . I’m sorry but we lives in a selfish cruel world !
It made sense to bring in the benefits system.
Today MPs are landlords and they want to keep the rents high , then MPs were landlords and wanted to keep the rents high. The common people formed the Labour Party and took on the government today the Labour Party has been infiltrated by the greed of the Tory party, we need to form a party and take on the system again .
Here in the US,most of our large cities are home to the countless poor and homeless.
And now with all of these migrants swarming into our country,we have no place to put them!
All across these large cities,are growing tent cities.And the way many of these tent cities are built,you can see they’ve been there quite a while,and no intention of leaving. Where else are they suppose go? They can’t afford the rents of flats or houses any more. Perhaps,They lost their jobs for one reason or another,or are on Drugs and alcohol,or they’re mentally ill in some way.
There are a few people here on YT that devote their channels to driving around large cities showing how the other half lives. Unfortunately,the US is quickly becoming a country of the rich on one hand and the poor on the other. There’s very little middle America anymore. We need to get the Republicans back in control of the country.
Y'all need George Carlin.
It has nothing to do with migrants 'swarming in' as you say.
It's everything to do with politics, the economy and house prices.
If new homes were built for the homeless then average house prices would fall and greedy people would complain and vote against such policies.
"what grip london had, on the poor" Still does.... you think we can afford 1200 a month for a room under a staircase? No, I'm not exagerating there really is a "famous room" amongst rich idiot uni students in london that is just a room, under a flight of stairs...its a bed, a TV on the wall and thats it. I say again, STILL HAS.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thank you! Happy New Year Miji.
@@FactFeast same to you *Fact Feast* may we have more to feast on in 2024
You do not “sleep rough” in a city. You are simply homeless. Sleeping rough refers to living in the wilderness. I love how Red Dead Redemption comes out and everyone suddenly uses this term not used for a long time as if it never left. YOU DO NOT SLEEP ROUGH IN THE CITY 😂
Sleeping rough - to sleep (formerly also live, lie) rough: to sleep or live in uncomfortable conditions, now typically out of doors.
- Oxford English Dictionary
How is sleeping on a park bench not rough?
It's not in the "rough" like a Bramble Bush 😂
never vote tory
Short answer: capitalism and a lack of socialism.
😂😂😂
i bet they didnt know how privillaged they were according to sjws