0:00:03 > 0:00:05150 years ago,
0:00:05 > 0:00:10Victorian Britain became the world's first industrial superpower and as
0:00:10 > 0:00:14the country thrived, London, the beating heart of empire,
0:00:14 > 0:00:15became the world's richest city.
0:00:18 > 0:00:19But this was a city divided.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22For the first time,
0:00:22 > 0:00:25geographical lines were drawn between those enjoying
0:00:25 > 0:00:27the nation's wealth in the west...
0:00:28 > 0:00:30..and those who weren't, in the east.
0:00:33 > 0:00:38This is the story of one poor community living in London's East End.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43In the heart of modern Stratford,
0:00:43 > 0:00:46a Victorian slum has been recreated,
0:00:48 > 0:00:52and a group of 21st-century people are moving in.
0:00:52 > 0:00:54Oh!
0:00:54 > 0:00:56Absolutely awful.
0:00:57 > 0:00:59I'm just a bit dumbstruck.
0:00:59 > 0:01:01To survive,
0:01:01 > 0:01:04they'll have to work to keep a roof over their heads...
0:01:04 > 0:01:06It's absolutely shattering.
0:01:09 > 0:01:11..and put food on the table.
0:01:11 > 0:01:14I'm starving. This is all making me a bit emotional, to be honest.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18And they'll learn first-hand what life was like...
0:01:18 > 0:01:19You will call me ma'am.
0:01:19 > 0:01:22..for those at the bottom of the social pile.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25If they were disabled, they couldn't do it, they didn't eat.
0:01:25 > 0:01:26They didn't eat, they died.
0:01:26 > 0:01:30They'll live through five decades of turbulent history...
0:01:30 > 0:01:31Look at the newspaper!
0:01:31 > 0:01:35..and seismic social change.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39I am proud to be an East End suffragette.
0:01:39 > 0:01:41Power to the people.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45This is the story of how a quarter of a million slum dwellers
0:01:45 > 0:01:48in the East End changed our attitude to poverty forever.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50Yes!
0:01:50 > 0:01:52This is The Slum.
0:02:00 > 0:02:02- Last time...- Oh.
0:02:02 > 0:02:04It looks like a dungeon.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07The residents experienced the 1860s.
0:02:07 > 0:02:08- Bleak,- isn't it? Yes.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10Very bleak.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13And Victorian living conditions...
0:02:13 > 0:02:15That is... It's disgusting.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17..proved almost too much to bear.
0:02:17 > 0:02:19How many people have to live like this all their lives?
0:02:19 > 0:02:22We're going to do all the caps first and then we'll start working on the
0:02:22 > 0:02:25- trousers.- They joined the East End workforce...
0:02:25 > 0:02:26Yes, boss.
0:02:27 > 0:02:31..and endured relentless and backbreaking labour.
0:02:31 > 0:02:33I've got to stand up, I'm sorry.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36Learning to live on credit, just to make ends meet.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38I don't want to get into too much debt.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40So it's making me a bit emotional, to be honest.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44For some, it was precarious, but possible.
0:02:44 > 0:02:45Yes!
0:02:46 > 0:02:47Rent's paid.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51While others struggled...
0:02:51 > 0:02:54We were looking for £8.16 today.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57- ..to pay their way.- I can pay £2.
0:02:57 > 0:02:58£2?
0:02:59 > 0:03:01It's just really grinding me down now.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03I couldn't imagine living like this forever.
0:03:05 > 0:03:06It's unliveable.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12Rock, paper, scissors.
0:03:12 > 0:03:13Yes!
0:03:16 > 0:03:18Kids, back up now.
0:03:18 > 0:03:24It's the second week and the slum dwellers have moved into a new decade, the 1870s.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29Ah! That's nice.
0:03:29 > 0:03:30That is nice.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35- Morning, Mr Bird. - Morning, how are you today?
0:03:35 > 0:03:37- All right, how you doing?- Good.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45After a week of hunger, dosshouse keeper Andy...
0:03:45 > 0:03:47Oh, what have we got here?
0:03:47 > 0:03:51- Eggs!- ..is taking advantage of some free food.
0:03:51 > 0:03:52Thank you, fellas.
0:03:54 > 0:03:55Oh, sorry, ladies!
0:03:57 > 0:04:00Breakfast, lunch, dinner,
0:04:00 > 0:04:04which means that today's food will cost me the sum total
0:04:04 > 0:04:05of one slice of bread.
0:04:05 > 0:04:07Yeah, today's a good day.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11In the 1860s, Britain was still
0:04:11 > 0:04:14riding high on the Industrial Revolution.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17But by the 1870s, things were changing.
0:04:17 > 0:04:21Abroad, the Americans and the Germans were competing in markets
0:04:21 > 0:04:25we had once dominated, like iron, steel and coal.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28At home, new and better enforced
0:04:28 > 0:04:31factory regulations meant the manufacturers
0:04:31 > 0:04:35were sending out more work than ever to the cheaper labour of the slums.
0:04:38 > 0:04:39Tailoring family the Howarths,
0:04:39 > 0:04:44paid for their two rooms in the 1860s by working in the rag trade,
0:04:44 > 0:04:46repairing and re-purposing old clothes.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50So what you think's going to happen next in the 1870s?
0:04:50 > 0:04:54It'll be ever so slightly more machinery.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56Instead of hand stitching everything,
0:04:56 > 0:04:58you might get a little sewing machine.
0:04:58 > 0:05:01If you're lucky. In the 1860s,
0:05:01 > 0:05:04it was quite liberating to make stuff and repair stuff just with
0:05:04 > 0:05:06the sewing skills that I've got.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10But by machine, we can maybe make more money doing more work quicker.
0:05:10 > 0:05:12It'll be really nice, having a sewing machine.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16- That will speed it up, no? - About five times.- Five times?- Yeah.
0:05:16 > 0:05:22By the 1870s, East End tailors were moving into mass production.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25Alongside the small-scale recycling of the rag trade,
0:05:25 > 0:05:29rags were being processed on an industrial scale.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32Mashed in machines to create a cheap material called shoddy.
0:05:33 > 0:05:38- OK, what have we got?- 'It was sent from factories in batches to tailors
0:05:38 > 0:05:41'like Russell to be made into clothing for the poor.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45'The Howarths have received a typical order for a family of four
0:05:45 > 0:05:49'workers. 12 pairs of trousers and 50 shirt collars.'
0:05:49 > 0:05:52So, how do you do these collars? Do you just, like, sew them...
0:05:52 > 0:05:56'The fabric would have arrived pre-cut, to be stitched together and returned.'
0:05:57 > 0:06:00Whoever cut these out, cut them with a knife and fork.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03'People like Russell were known as sweated tailors,
0:06:03 > 0:06:07'as they'd have to work at breakneck speed to keep up
0:06:07 > 0:06:09'with their employer's demands.'
0:06:09 > 0:06:12The last time we were working for ourselves which was lovely,
0:06:12 > 0:06:14cos you could do what you wanted to do when you wanted to do it,
0:06:14 > 0:06:17decide what you wanted. This time around, that's not the case.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19But that's life, that's what you have to do.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22We've got some work, that's better than not having anything to do at all.
0:06:22 > 0:06:27The money they earn and spend is based on Victorian wages and prices,
0:06:27 > 0:06:29converted to their modern equivalents.
0:06:29 > 0:06:34Paid per completed garments, it's in their interest to finish fast.
0:06:34 > 0:06:35The key to our success is going as
0:06:35 > 0:06:38fast as we can and making as many as we can.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42'At 77p each, they need to make at least 23 pairs of trousers to pay their rent.'
0:06:42 > 0:06:46- We're making ten a day, we'll try and do more.- We will do more.
0:06:48 > 0:06:53Families like the Howarths would at least have had new technology on their side.
0:06:53 > 0:06:55APPLAUSE
0:06:55 > 0:06:57- So, when you put it in...- Yeah, you've got to push it that way.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59- Push it down.- Yeah.- You just go...
0:07:01 > 0:07:02I've used an electric machine,
0:07:02 > 0:07:04but I've always wanted to use one of these machines,
0:07:04 > 0:07:07so I've done some research on them. So that's how I know how to use it.
0:07:09 > 0:07:11It feels so good to use one finally.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14A domestic sewing machine would have
0:07:14 > 0:07:18cost the equivalent of five months rent in the slums.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21So companies like Singer also offered them for hire purchase.
0:07:22 > 0:07:26Tailors like Russell would have paid fees equivalent to £13 a week,
0:07:26 > 0:07:30almost 2/3 of what they have to pay for their rooms.
0:07:30 > 0:07:31It's a big expense,
0:07:31 > 0:07:34but worth the risk for the potential increase in productivity.
0:07:37 > 0:07:39- How's it going, Russ?- Getting there.
0:07:39 > 0:07:40- Yeah?- Getting used to this machine.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45That one took quite a long time and I made a lot of mistakes,
0:07:45 > 0:07:49but gradually got there in the end. First pair done.
0:07:49 > 0:07:50Yay!
0:07:50 > 0:07:52Now I'm getting the others more involved,
0:07:52 > 0:07:54they can all do little jobs and hopefully,
0:07:54 > 0:07:56we'll streamline it a little bit.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59Then we'll get quicker and quicker, hopefully.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03It's not just the Howarths moving into mass production.
0:08:05 > 0:08:06- Hello.- Hello, good morning.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08Morning.
0:08:08 > 0:08:12In the 1870s, factories faced increased competition
0:08:12 > 0:08:16and farmed out more work than ever to the cheaper labour in the slums.
0:08:17 > 0:08:22There was more work, but also lower wages, so you had to work harder.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26Churning out quantity was the only way to make piecework pay.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29People often worked together, forming mini production lines.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32Last week, Graham injured his back.
0:08:32 > 0:08:34Still unable to work,
0:08:34 > 0:08:38the Potters have joined forces with single mum Shazeda and her children,
0:08:38 > 0:08:40Sadie and Saudi.
0:08:40 > 0:08:45The families have an order for 1,440 artificial flowers.
0:08:45 > 0:08:46- I think we'll do it. - I think it's doable.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49- Yeah, I think it's doable. - It's all about teamwork.
0:08:49 > 0:08:53They'll have to split the £23 they'll earn between them.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56It won't be enough to cover their weekly costs.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01What are you thinking, Shaz? Are you thinking of making one up and seeing
0:09:01 > 0:09:04- what it looks like?- Yeah. But this glue apparently needs heating up.
0:09:04 > 0:09:06We need glue, actually.
0:09:06 > 0:09:08Yeah, the tools have to be heated up to use as well.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11We can't do anything until we've got a fire.
0:09:13 > 0:09:18In the 1870s, artificial flowers were a common fashion accessory.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23Like today, where much clothing is produced using cheap labour abroad,
0:09:23 > 0:09:27the Victorian ladies who wore flowers on the hats and dresses
0:09:27 > 0:09:31most likely had no idea where or how they were made.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37We are making something that is pretty,
0:09:37 > 0:09:41which we haven't got in our room, so it just brightens up the room...
0:09:42 > 0:09:43..and that's amazing.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51They look good?
0:09:51 > 0:09:54Yeah, that's good enough. It'll pass quality control, hopefully.
0:09:54 > 0:09:58It's really nice working as a team and it's nice to be able to talk to
0:09:58 > 0:10:01other people and to encourage each other, motivate each other.
0:10:01 > 0:10:06Rather than sit in a room, on my own, with the children.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10- Nice, isn't it? Look.- I think they're beautiful, yeah, I do.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13I think they're lovely.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16If I had to make flowers, if I was in Victorian times,
0:10:16 > 0:10:19I'd do different things every day.
0:10:19 > 0:10:23So, like, one day, I do the petals and the other day I'd probably make it.
0:10:23 > 0:10:26Cos just dampening the petals all day is really boring.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31Children like Olivia and Heather Potter would have been
0:10:31 > 0:10:34an integral part of the East End workforce.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39The idea that childhood is a time when you should be cherished and
0:10:39 > 0:10:42indulged is a relatively modern one.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45If you were a Victorian child living in a slum,
0:10:45 > 0:10:47then your money was badly needed.
0:10:48 > 0:10:49By the 1870s,
0:10:49 > 0:10:53there were regulations to protect children from the harsh conditions
0:10:53 > 0:10:57and beatings often meted out by overseers in factories.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01They were banned from employing anyone under eight and older
0:11:01 > 0:11:03children could only work half days.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07But the rules didn't apply to work done at home.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11Parents often had no choice but to put their children to work for up to
0:11:11 > 0:11:1380 hours a week.
0:11:13 > 0:11:18It's a big adjustment for 21st-century kids like Heather.
0:11:18 > 0:11:24If I was at home, I'd probably be sat down watching YouTube on my TV,
0:11:24 > 0:11:26on my big massive TV in the front room.
0:11:27 > 0:11:29But we don't have that.
0:11:29 > 0:11:35Usually, it's Mum that makes the tea, it's Mum that gets us drinks,
0:11:35 > 0:11:38it's Mum that looks after us.
0:11:38 > 0:11:39So it's just, like,
0:11:39 > 0:11:45from doing absolutely nothing to doing absolutely everything.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50The children are struggling, because
0:11:50 > 0:11:52in our times, children don't work.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54Children don't work,
0:11:54 > 0:11:59so we set our children a task to do that a Victorian child would sit
0:11:59 > 0:12:03from 8am in the morning until 8pm at night,
0:12:03 > 0:12:06our children, they're bored after half an hour.
0:12:06 > 0:12:08And then they're getting under your feet, so,
0:12:08 > 0:12:13to be fair, we've not really got the help of the children for much of the
0:12:13 > 0:12:15time, so it's a tall order.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27It all got done a little bit early,
0:12:27 > 0:12:30so we can get some more work as well. Another order.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38Really hard by candlelight.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45- What do you need?- I can't see, I can't see. It's too dark now.
0:12:47 > 0:12:51It's late. While Shazeda leaves to put her children to bed,
0:12:52 > 0:12:55the Potters are keeping up production.
0:12:58 > 0:13:03We want to succeed. We don't want to fail, because we can't make enough flowers.
0:13:03 > 0:13:05It means working, it means working hard.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07And we are prepared to do that.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11We've always worked hard throughout our lives and this is no exception.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27It's almost hot. Almost.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33The Howarths are up early and already hard at work.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37It is relentless. Very, very hot. Very, very sweaty.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40So the word sweatshop is now coming to fruition, I now get it.
0:13:42 > 0:13:44But we have to get it done.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47- Get one of those... - So to are the Potters.
0:13:47 > 0:13:49We've got 400 roses to make today,
0:13:49 > 0:13:51so we need to get on with it, really.
0:13:52 > 0:13:56To complete their bulk flower order, they need all hands on deck.
0:13:58 > 0:14:00But Shazeda and the twins have yet to appear.
0:14:02 > 0:14:03Here you go, Saudi. Get up.
0:14:03 > 0:14:05Yay, breakfast.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07Come on, then, get up.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09This is all we eat.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12Bread. Just bread.
0:14:12 > 0:14:17You know, seriously, a single mum in a slum would have had to work hard.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20- Harder than us.- Yeah.- Because she's the only one earning the money.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22- Yeah.- The kids would have to work hard.- Yeah.- That's the only way
0:14:22 > 0:14:25- they're going to get money, isn't it, to work?- Yeah.- There's no other
0:14:25 > 0:14:26- way that we can get money.- Yeah.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29So it makes no difference whether you're single, a single mum,
0:14:29 > 0:14:32or five people.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35You've got to work. That's what you've got to do.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38- Morning.- Oh, I can't find my shawl.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41Dad! You're sitting on the bloody thing.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45- How's it going?- Yeah, all right.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48These have come on nicely, haven't they?
0:14:48 > 0:14:50Yeah. Where are the kids at the minute?
0:14:50 > 0:14:52- Are the kids...?- Oh, they're in their room.
0:14:52 > 0:14:54Oh, right.
0:14:58 > 0:15:02Although the economy had been slowing for some time, in 1873
0:15:02 > 0:15:04there was a global financial crisis.
0:15:04 > 0:15:10Foreign investment dried up, growth halved and unemployment soared.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13The effects of what would come to be known as the Long Depression would
0:15:13 > 0:15:16be felt for more than 20 years.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20This truly was the end of Britain's Industrial Golden Age.
0:15:22 > 0:15:26In the East End, this economic downturn would have had a direct
0:15:26 > 0:15:29impact on shopkeepers, like the Birds. Morning!
0:15:29 > 0:15:33Essentially, we are in a period of recession, depression, deflation.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36Your customers are now poorer, wages are coming down,
0:15:36 > 0:15:39people can no longer afford what they did before.
0:15:39 > 0:15:41So as they've become poorer, you become poorer.
0:15:41 > 0:15:42And at the same time,
0:15:42 > 0:15:46what's happening is the cost of imported goods is also coming down,
0:15:46 > 0:15:48which means your prices are going to have to come down by about 30%.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51- And the rents?- The rent is going to stay pretty much the same.
0:15:51 > 0:15:53Landlords are not generous in this age.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56So if they can maintain it, they will maintain it.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59So, essentially, you're going to be living in straitened times.
0:15:59 > 0:16:0330% reduction in prices is a big bombshell.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07In the 1860s, they only just managed to pay their rent.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11Now they'll need to sell a third more stock to earn the same amount.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14Bread... That's now 97p.
0:16:14 > 0:16:16- Uh?- Mmm.
0:16:16 > 0:16:18I was thinking, well, 1870s, let's see what that brings.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22You have an idea in your head that as time moves on, things improve.
0:16:22 > 0:16:24That's clearly not the case.
0:16:24 > 0:16:29- Margarine?- Was £2.72, it's now £2.09.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33I think what's harder is that we won't have the luxury of extending
0:16:33 > 0:16:36tick, at least as much as we have been.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38You know, we do need to look after ourselves now.
0:16:38 > 0:16:40I don't know how we can do this.
0:16:40 > 0:16:42Not good, is it?
0:16:42 > 0:16:46As bad as things were, the economic crisis didn't deter people from
0:16:46 > 0:16:48flooding into Britain's cities.
0:16:48 > 0:16:52During the 1870s, the population of London grew by over 800,000.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00The largest group of immigrants arriving into British cities were
0:17:00 > 0:17:02the Irish.
0:17:02 > 0:17:03Common lodging house.
0:17:03 > 0:17:05Here we go.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09Siblings John and Maria Barker are from rural Cork.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13Excuse me. We're just looking for a place to stay, to spend the night.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16Oh, right. You'll need to speak to Andy.
0:17:16 > 0:17:18If you just want to wait here, I'll see if I can find him for you.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21- Yeah, thank you.- OK. - Thanks a mill.
0:17:27 > 0:17:32At home in Ireland, 23-year-old John works in a cafe.
0:17:32 > 0:17:34My ancestors went to London,
0:17:34 > 0:17:37they had nothing, they started with nothing.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39They experienced the slum conditions,
0:17:39 > 0:17:43and it's something that I want to go back and see and find out how
0:17:43 > 0:17:45difficult it was for them.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49His sister, 21-year-old Maria works in a clothes shop.
0:17:51 > 0:17:54I want to know what the Irish people went through, how they survived,
0:17:54 > 0:17:57what was their motivation to, you know, get them through their days
0:17:57 > 0:18:00all the time? What did they live off? How did they live?
0:18:01 > 0:18:06It's the difficulties and the hardships that make you who you are
0:18:06 > 0:18:08and the slum is going to be that challenge.
0:18:10 > 0:18:12In the mid-19th century,
0:18:12 > 0:18:17a succession of potato famines decimated the Irish rural economy
0:18:17 > 0:18:20and failed harvests continued into the 1870s.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25People fled to Liverpool, Manchester, London,
0:18:27 > 0:18:31cities with established Irish communities, in search of work.
0:18:31 > 0:18:33By the 1870s, the Irish were Britain's
0:18:33 > 0:18:38largest immigrant population, with 91,000 in London alone.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43But like many immigrants today, they faced hardship and hostility.
0:18:43 > 0:18:45They were accused of taking jobs,
0:18:45 > 0:18:50treated appallingly and even depicted as the missing link
0:18:50 > 0:18:53between humans and chimpanzees.
0:18:53 > 0:18:54In you come.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57Most of them didn't find the better life they were hoping for.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00A little bit of a shock for you?
0:19:00 > 0:19:02- You're joking.- Just little bit.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06Their first port of call would have been a common lodging house.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09OK, well, there's two options in here. These are called coffin beds.
0:19:09 > 0:19:11- Mm-hm.- OK?
0:19:11 > 0:19:14They'll cost you four old pence for one night.
0:19:14 > 0:19:15Four old pence? Yeah?
0:19:15 > 0:19:19Each. Or you have what's called the hangover bench.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24If you're very clever, you would sleep...
0:19:24 > 0:19:27You're having a laugh. This isn't a right, is it?
0:19:27 > 0:19:29No, this is the common boarding house.
0:19:29 > 0:19:33I presume you've come over and you've got some money at the moment?
0:19:33 > 0:19:34No, we have no money.
0:19:34 > 0:19:36You have nothing? So you don't even
0:19:36 > 0:19:38have the money to be able to afford...
0:19:38 > 0:19:41- The bed.- ..to sleep in the dosshouse?- We have nothing.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47Many immigrants spent everything they had travelling to the cities.
0:19:48 > 0:19:52Right now, John and Maria can't even afford the hangover bench,
0:19:52 > 0:19:54so their first priority is finding work.
0:19:57 > 0:20:01Graham Potter's bad back means he's been unable to do manual labour for
0:20:01 > 0:20:03over a week.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07I feel like a right idiot making flowers.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10It's women's work. I should be out working,
0:20:10 > 0:20:15earning decent money to be able to put food on the table.
0:20:15 > 0:20:16It's embarrassing...
0:20:17 > 0:20:19..and degrading.
0:20:22 > 0:20:26Graham is like the hunter provider, and always has been,
0:20:26 > 0:20:32looked after me and the children and gets very frustrated and very angry
0:20:32 > 0:20:35with himself if he can't do that.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38- Right?- Right, I'll see what I can get.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41I need to get out and start earning.
0:20:41 > 0:20:43What we're doing at the moment, making flowers,
0:20:43 > 0:20:47is not going to bring in enough money to pay the rent or go anywhere
0:20:47 > 0:20:49near it. See you later, then.
0:20:49 > 0:20:50See you later!
0:20:50 > 0:20:53So, yeah, I'm forcing my body, really,
0:20:53 > 0:20:57to be doing something that in my normal life, I wouldn't be doing.
0:20:59 > 0:21:00As the depression deepened,
0:21:00 > 0:21:04the industry on which the East End workforce depended, suffered.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07Across the country by the middle of the decade,
0:21:07 > 0:21:10a million people were out of work.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14Which means increased competition for the few jobs there were.
0:21:15 > 0:21:19John and Graham are trying their luck at the building and timber yards of the East End.
0:21:20 > 0:21:22- Got any work today?- No, we haven't, at the moment, no.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25- We'll do anything.- No, we haven't got...- Nothing at all?
0:21:25 > 0:21:27- Nothing at all.- OK, thanks.
0:21:27 > 0:21:29- Thanks very much. - Thanks for your help.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32Wood was ubiquitous in Victorian times.
0:21:32 > 0:21:34Used for everything from furniture
0:21:34 > 0:21:38to paving and timber yards were a good bet for casual work.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41This one's been in business in Bethnal Green for generations.
0:21:43 > 0:21:44Hey, there.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46- Got any work today? - It's very hard work.
0:21:46 > 0:21:48- Is it?- Very heavy work.
0:21:48 > 0:21:50- Yeah, I could do it.- I don't know if you'll be up to it.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52The young fellow, I can take him. It's too heavy for you.
0:21:52 > 0:21:56- Oh, OK. All right.- OK. Sorry, pal. - All right.- All right.
0:21:58 > 0:22:02I think even in the 21st century, it's exactly the same.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05People are looked over for a job because of their age.
0:22:05 > 0:22:10It's wrong, there's laws in place now to stop it, but it's still done,
0:22:10 > 0:22:11because somebody is of their age,
0:22:11 > 0:22:14they'll be looked over for a younger person.
0:22:14 > 0:22:16It feels absolutely horrific that
0:22:16 > 0:22:17they could do it just because of that.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19- Terrible.- Whoops!
0:22:19 > 0:22:21- Toes, sorry!- It's all right.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26Every day, thousands of men like Graham were forced to walk
0:22:26 > 0:22:29the streets in search of work, known as tramping.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32During the Long Depression,
0:22:32 > 0:22:35the number of tramps tripled and the issue was raised in Parliament.
0:22:37 > 0:22:41But, the prevailing Victorian attitude was these men were
0:22:41 > 0:22:44essentially beggars and nothing was done to help.
0:22:44 > 0:22:49They were described by one MP as a race who has the very genius of not
0:22:49 > 0:22:51working in its bones.
0:22:52 > 0:22:56It's terrible news for me, because there's just nothing for me to do.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59I've been tramping the streets just to see if somebody would give me a
0:22:59 > 0:23:03couple of hour's work. No food, nothing to eat.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06It's frightening to think they used to live like that.
0:23:06 > 0:23:07It's terrible.
0:23:10 > 0:23:11Hello, grandad!
0:23:11 > 0:23:13- Hi, you all right?- Yeah.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16- How was work?- I haven't been to work, there wasn't any work.
0:23:16 > 0:23:21- Wasn't there?- Wasn't there?- No. None for an old man like me, they said.
0:23:21 > 0:23:24My dad's feeling demoralised, humiliated,
0:23:24 > 0:23:26because he was turned away for work.
0:23:26 > 0:23:31I think he's feeling as though he's let the family down.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34OK. Never mind.
0:23:34 > 0:23:35- Well...- How you doing?
0:23:35 > 0:23:39Onwards and upwards. You can join in with the production line.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42Heather's forebears were unskilled workers who lived in the East End
0:23:42 > 0:23:44during the Long Depression.
0:23:44 > 0:23:46I wanted to come here,
0:23:46 > 0:23:51because I wanted to experience what my ancestors went through.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53I'm certainly starting to get a
0:23:53 > 0:23:59picture of how hard their struggle must have been. They must have had
0:23:59 > 0:24:02enormous strength, enormous strength
0:24:02 > 0:24:05to be able to survive through this.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12Heather's great-grandparents are buried a few miles away in
0:24:12 > 0:24:14Manor Park Cemetery.
0:24:16 > 0:24:18She and Allison are with historian
0:24:18 > 0:24:21Carl Chinn to find out more about their family history.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25So we have James, your great-grandfather, dock labourer.
0:24:25 > 0:24:29- Yeah.- And his wife, your great granny, who was the matchbox maker.
0:24:29 > 0:24:31We obviously know they were the parents of your grandad.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34Do you know much more about how many children they had?
0:24:34 > 0:24:36I think it might have been about seven.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39It's actually... Would you hold that please, Sally.
0:24:39 > 0:24:41Here it is, we found them.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44She had eight. James, your grandad, was the oldest.
0:24:44 > 0:24:45- Yeah.- Then there was a Walter.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48- Yeah.- A Sophia, a William,
0:24:48 > 0:24:51an Ann Caroline, a John, a Sarah and a Rose.
0:24:51 > 0:24:53But why these two are in bold is
0:24:53 > 0:24:57because sadly, both of them died very, very young.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00Look, Sophia.
0:25:00 > 0:25:0321 months old, pneumonia.
0:25:04 > 0:25:06A disease of the poor.
0:25:06 > 0:25:08Bad housing. Damp.
0:25:08 > 0:25:09- Yeah.- Cold.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12Sophia died on the 12th of March.
0:25:13 > 0:25:19Her little brother, William, he dies on the 28th of March.
0:25:19 > 0:25:24She loses two of her kids, her precious children in the same month,
0:25:24 > 0:25:26- in the same year. - And how old was William?
0:25:26 > 0:25:28William...
0:25:28 > 0:25:31was seven months.
0:25:31 > 0:25:33How must she have coped?
0:25:33 > 0:25:35That would be awful, wouldn't it?
0:25:35 > 0:25:38- Imagine losing two of your babies... - Yeah.- ..in the same month and then
0:25:38 > 0:25:41- have to get up the next day and work.- Yeah.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47In the 1870s, the average life expectancy was 43.
0:25:47 > 0:25:52In the worst districts of the poorer cities, it was as low as 28.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57But in some slums, people were lucky to reach adulthood at all.
0:25:59 > 0:26:02Heather's ancestors lived on the worst streets of Bethnal Green,
0:26:02 > 0:26:05where fathers struggled to find work,
0:26:05 > 0:26:10mothers and children slaved for a pitiful wage and one in every four children died.
0:26:13 > 0:26:15Rich or poor, Victorians placed
0:26:15 > 0:26:18great importance on respectable burials.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22Funerals became increasingly elaborate for those who could afford them.
0:26:24 > 0:26:28Even destitute parents put away a penny a week for burial insurance,
0:26:28 > 0:26:30in case they lost a child.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35For those who couldn't pay for even a basic internment,
0:26:35 > 0:26:38the only choice was a pauper's funeral.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41The ultimate source of shame for a poor Victorian.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48Sophia and William, very sadly...
0:26:50 > 0:26:53..they are buried over their, somewhere by those trees
0:26:53 > 0:26:55in a public grave,
0:26:55 > 0:26:57as a pauper's burial.
0:27:00 > 0:27:06I don't think I quite understood "poor" until my experience of the
0:27:06 > 0:27:11last few days. I hadn't even considered having to save for your burial.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14For my great-grandmother,
0:27:14 > 0:27:22to have not been able to bury her children with dignity must have been
0:27:22 > 0:27:24just terrible. Absolutely terrible.
0:27:33 > 0:27:38Somewhere in this graveyard lie the remains of infants Sophia and William,
0:27:38 > 0:27:40Heather's great-aunt and uncle.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45Here you are, look, have pink one for Sophia.
0:27:47 > 0:27:49And a blue one for William.
0:27:49 > 0:27:53Sophia, God bless you.
0:27:53 > 0:27:55Here you go.
0:27:55 > 0:27:57And William.
0:27:57 > 0:27:59God bless you.
0:27:59 > 0:28:01You poor little things.
0:28:05 > 0:28:07I needed to be here.
0:28:07 > 0:28:10I needed to come here, I need to find these people.
0:28:10 > 0:28:12I need to...
0:28:13 > 0:28:16..know them, I need to walk beside them.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22Well, they look lovely, don't they?
0:28:22 > 0:28:23- Shall we go back?- Yeah.
0:28:30 > 0:28:34In the slums, everyone's fortunes were tied together.
0:28:35 > 0:28:38I want to pay £2 off our tick, please...
0:28:38 > 0:28:40- OK.- ..if that's all right?
0:28:40 > 0:28:42Let me find you. Here we go, you are at £4.04 at the moment.
0:28:42 > 0:28:44OK, so can I almost halve it?
0:28:44 > 0:28:46- Yes, absolutely.- £2.
0:28:46 > 0:28:49With many surviving on credit or tick until payday,
0:28:49 > 0:28:52shopkeepers were part grocer, part moneylender.
0:28:52 > 0:28:55I've come for some food. Have you got any tea going?
0:28:55 > 0:28:58A difficult balance to strike.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01What's your income potential looking like this next couple of days?
0:29:01 > 0:29:05Well, we're working with the Potters, making artificial flowers.
0:29:05 > 0:29:09And we've got an order of 1,400 flowers to do.
0:29:09 > 0:29:11- It is very slow?- Yeah.
0:29:11 > 0:29:13Are you guaranteed a salary from it?
0:29:13 > 0:29:15If we complete the order, then, yeah.
0:29:16 > 0:29:19We have people who have paid off consistently and are still...
0:29:19 > 0:29:21still have money on tick.
0:29:21 > 0:29:25And we have people who haven't paid consistently and also have tick,
0:29:25 > 0:29:27so those obviously are more risky.
0:29:27 > 0:29:31Shaz has £4.77 still on tick, so her situation is
0:29:31 > 0:29:33the most precarious.
0:29:33 > 0:29:36She depends the most on the flower production to be completed
0:29:36 > 0:29:38and get paid.
0:29:39 > 0:29:40In desperate times,
0:29:40 > 0:29:43shopkeepers like the Birds found inventive ways
0:29:43 > 0:29:45to squeeze profit from cheap food.
0:29:47 > 0:29:49Take half a pound of butter from here,
0:29:49 > 0:29:53then half a pint of milk and mix it in gradually and we should stretch
0:29:53 > 0:29:55the butter for us a long way.
0:29:55 > 0:29:58We're actually saving 38p a pound by doing this.
0:29:58 > 0:30:01But some adulteration was less palatable.
0:30:01 > 0:30:03Milk diluted with chalk and water,
0:30:03 > 0:30:08sugar mixed with sand and tea leaves bulked out with wax and ash.
0:30:08 > 0:30:11Much of what the East End poor ate would have been tampered with.
0:30:12 > 0:30:17We're getting there. We have nearly doubled the amount of butter we've got.
0:30:17 > 0:30:22So... But, it's two hours labour of my time and I'm still thinking we
0:30:22 > 0:30:25should just give them less butter on their bread.
0:30:27 > 0:30:29- Hiya!- Hiya, how are you doing?
0:30:29 > 0:30:31- Good, how are you? - All right, thank you. Welcome.
0:30:31 > 0:30:34- Thank you. How is it?- It's all right, it's all right.
0:30:34 > 0:30:36What are you working on, what are you doing?
0:30:36 > 0:30:39- We're tailoring.- Oh, nice.- And I've got a massive deadline though.
0:30:39 > 0:30:42- We have.- Under pressure.- So the kids are in there doing it as well.
0:30:44 > 0:30:46In desperate need of money,
0:30:46 > 0:30:49new arrival Maria has been given a task by the Birds.
0:30:51 > 0:30:52This is vile.
0:30:53 > 0:30:57Adrian has offered me to pluck two chickens.
0:30:57 > 0:31:00That doesn't get me money, but it gives me feathers to try and sell,
0:31:00 > 0:31:02so that's what I'm going to try and do.
0:31:02 > 0:31:04I've never plucked a chicken before,
0:31:04 > 0:31:07and I hope I'll never have to really do that again.
0:31:07 > 0:31:09Oh, my God, I just saw the other end of it.
0:31:09 > 0:31:13Sick. But I'm going to have to do it, because I have no money.
0:31:15 > 0:31:17Despite the economic downturn,
0:31:17 > 0:31:20there was still some work to be found in the slums,
0:31:20 > 0:31:24especially before the London season, between Easter and July.
0:31:25 > 0:31:29While the upper classes attended social events like Ascot,
0:31:29 > 0:31:32Henley Regatta and private balls,
0:31:32 > 0:31:36the women of the slums worked 18 hours or more a day making feathers
0:31:36 > 0:31:39and flowers to adorn their hats.
0:31:39 > 0:31:41Because it's so strong, the fumes
0:31:41 > 0:31:43from the powder they used to dye them,
0:31:43 > 0:31:45it does give you a little bit of a headache and stuff doing it.
0:31:46 > 0:31:50These guys are safe, but in a time before Health & Safety regulations,
0:31:50 > 0:31:52they often contained arsenic or
0:31:52 > 0:31:55aniline, now known to be carcinogenic.
0:31:55 > 0:31:57You get used to it. I'm getting used to it already.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04John is back after his first day of work.
0:32:06 > 0:32:10Maria's not going to believe that I was lifting timber on a site and
0:32:10 > 0:32:13then to be able to let her know that she's, you know,
0:32:13 > 0:32:20safe and she can sleep in the coffin bed and not have to take the hangover bench.
0:32:20 > 0:32:22Look, there's £4.34.
0:32:22 > 0:32:27I was thinking that if you take a bed and I take the bench...
0:32:27 > 0:32:30Why? When we have enough money to take two beds?
0:32:30 > 0:32:32But that... Well, we need money for food.
0:32:33 > 0:32:37And then I only got work in that place today,
0:32:37 > 0:32:39so I don't know if I'll work tomorrow.
0:32:39 > 0:32:44And if I don't get work tomorrow, then I'll have nothing.
0:32:44 > 0:32:46And back to square one.
0:32:46 > 0:32:48- Good evening, how are we? - Good, how are we doing?
0:32:48 > 0:32:51Not too bad. Did you get some work today?
0:32:51 > 0:32:54- We did.- I did.- One did, one did.
0:32:54 > 0:32:57- You didn't today, but...?- No. - You did?- Yes.
0:32:57 > 0:32:59- OK.- I've got some money.
0:32:59 > 0:33:02- Thank you very much.- Running the dosshouse is Andy's only source of
0:33:02 > 0:33:07income. Paying customers means he can settle his tick at the shop.
0:33:07 > 0:33:14So that means I am a 100% debt free, clean, clear.
0:33:14 > 0:33:16Yeah, it's a good day.
0:33:20 > 0:33:23I've found this order by the main entrance.
0:33:23 > 0:33:25Oh, my word. Thank you.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28Sweated slum tailors, working for a factory,
0:33:28 > 0:33:31could expect orders any time, day or night.
0:33:31 > 0:33:3422 pairs of trousers.
0:33:34 > 0:33:38- Oh, my God.- I think we'll be working late tonight.- Oh, my God!
0:33:38 > 0:33:42There'd be no way we'd be able to complete that many trousers in the
0:33:42 > 0:33:46space of two days. We've been able to do 12 in two, fine no problem.
0:33:46 > 0:33:49And 36 collars, we're well on our way, but 22?
0:33:49 > 0:33:53- It's just ridiculous.- Oh, my God. How are we going to do this?
0:33:54 > 0:33:56The Howaths need more hands.
0:33:56 > 0:33:58And in the slums, that meant picking
0:33:58 > 0:34:01on people prepared to work for little pay.
0:34:01 > 0:34:05Hello. I've come because we are really, really busy
0:34:05 > 0:34:07and we've got loads of work.
0:34:07 > 0:34:11- Right.- So, I wondered if you would
0:34:11 > 0:34:15be willing to let me have one
0:34:15 > 0:34:17of your daughters for a couple of hours.
0:34:17 > 0:34:22We are willing to pay her a penny in old money, which is 60p in new money.
0:34:22 > 0:34:24Yeah, I don't see any reason why not.
0:34:24 > 0:34:26- No.- Do you?- And I don't know if you wanted to...
0:34:26 > 0:34:29I'm happy for Sadie as well, if you wanted to come?
0:34:29 > 0:34:32- Mmm.- They'll lose some flower-making manpower,
0:34:32 > 0:34:36but they can't turn down the chance of slightly better paid work.
0:34:36 > 0:34:38We can't pay you until we get paid.
0:34:38 > 0:34:40- No, OK.- Our delivery's due on
0:34:40 > 0:34:43- Monday, then we'll absolutely pay you, if that's all right?- OK.
0:34:43 > 0:34:45But I need to take them now.
0:34:45 > 0:34:47Give us a kiss. Work hard.
0:34:47 > 0:34:48- Love you.- Bye-bye.
0:34:50 > 0:34:55- Hello! I've brought help, I've bought Sadie and Olivia.- Hi, girls.
0:34:55 > 0:35:00So, it sounds really simple, but it's a really important job.
0:35:00 > 0:35:04I think my mum will be pleased, because I can pay...
0:35:04 > 0:35:06Well, it'll help pay the rent.
0:35:06 > 0:35:08So that we're not short.
0:35:08 > 0:35:11I've learned something, and I really, really like it.
0:35:11 > 0:35:15I'm actually quite good at it as well. So...
0:35:15 > 0:35:17Child labour doesn't sit right with me.
0:35:17 > 0:35:20I don't believe children should be working.
0:35:20 > 0:35:25But the most astounding thing to me, out of all of this, was
0:35:25 > 0:35:29that they were so grateful, genuinely grateful
0:35:29 > 0:35:32for a few pennies. They worked as well as the parents.
0:35:32 > 0:35:35Obviously, there was no chance of them going to school,
0:35:35 > 0:35:37there was no chance of an education, they were stuck.
0:35:37 > 0:35:41They're stuck in the environment they were born in and that is tragic.
0:35:41 > 0:35:43It's really, really tragic.
0:35:43 > 0:35:46And to see the two little girls that are my neighbours at the moment,
0:35:46 > 0:35:50sitting on my floor, working, and happily working for a pittance,
0:35:50 > 0:35:54because they know it's going to help towards their family's paying rent
0:35:54 > 0:35:57this week, is heartbreaking.
0:36:02 > 0:36:04That's the one.
0:36:04 > 0:36:06CHURCH BELL TOLLS
0:36:10 > 0:36:11In the dosshouse...
0:36:13 > 0:36:16..John and Maria are settling in for the night.
0:36:16 > 0:36:18Well, the first day's down.
0:36:18 > 0:36:20I know.
0:36:20 > 0:36:23Thank God. Ready for a nice sleep in the bed.
0:36:24 > 0:36:26I just don't know what to expect in these kind of beds, John,
0:36:26 > 0:36:29because they're all hay and straw and whatnot.
0:36:31 > 0:36:32Um...
0:36:32 > 0:36:34Yeah. We'll see how it goes.
0:36:36 > 0:36:38It's scary. It's frightening.
0:36:38 > 0:36:39You feel alone. You're...
0:36:40 > 0:36:45..missing home and all those home comforts, and you've got nothing.
0:36:45 > 0:36:48You came with nothing and you still have nothing.
0:36:48 > 0:36:50Only that you've survived another
0:36:50 > 0:36:52day and when you have to take
0:36:52 > 0:36:56survival as something that you are grateful for, yeah,
0:36:56 > 0:36:59that's really upsetting to think that, you know,
0:36:59 > 0:37:02suddenly their dreams of making a lot of money became dreams of making
0:37:02 > 0:37:04enough money to see them through another day.
0:37:09 > 0:37:12During the Victorian era, they wouldn't have had the place to themselves.
0:37:13 > 0:37:17London had almost 5,000 dosshouses.
0:37:17 > 0:37:21Some crammed with dozens of beds, rented out in eight-hour shifts.
0:37:23 > 0:37:27It's exciting to be here in a new world, new town, new city.
0:37:28 > 0:37:31But my first night's sleep, I'm dreading it.
0:37:45 > 0:37:48Despite an uncomfortable night's sleep...
0:37:50 > 0:37:53..Maria and John are up early and working.
0:37:53 > 0:37:56And one more time, and then we're done.
0:37:56 > 0:38:00John's persuaded the Birds to let him do some odd jobs for a few pence.
0:38:01 > 0:38:06I've got the utmost respect for John for sleeping on that hangover bench
0:38:06 > 0:38:09and even though it's my dosshouse, I wouldn't sleep on that bench.
0:38:09 > 0:38:12I did actually look at the coffin beds this morning and there was only
0:38:12 > 0:38:16one that had any depression in it, so he didn't...
0:38:16 > 0:38:19He spent the whole night on that bench.
0:38:22 > 0:38:25Coming over as siblings and being the older sibling,
0:38:25 > 0:38:29gives you this real sense of responsibility that I feel that I
0:38:29 > 0:38:33could endure the two penny hangover,
0:38:33 > 0:38:36but I don't want to see my sister going through that and I was cold,
0:38:36 > 0:38:39I was shivering, I was uncomfortable,
0:38:39 > 0:38:41I was moving all night.
0:38:41 > 0:38:44I had to get up and walk around, because it was so uncomfortable,
0:38:44 > 0:38:46several times during the night.
0:38:46 > 0:38:48I don't want her to have to do that.
0:38:48 > 0:38:52And all the time I could see that she was at least kind of still and
0:38:52 > 0:38:55peaceful. Whether she was asleep or not, I don't know.
0:38:55 > 0:39:00Maria's doing what many women in the slums did, decorating cheap hats
0:39:00 > 0:39:03with feathers to sell on for a small profit.
0:39:06 > 0:39:08Oh, wow!
0:39:08 > 0:39:10- What do you think of these? - They look absolutely cracking!
0:39:10 > 0:39:12- Don't they?- Great job, yeah.
0:39:12 > 0:39:15- Like this one?- It's nice. - Twirl?- Yeah.
0:39:18 > 0:39:20With no dependents to take care of,
0:39:20 > 0:39:25young, healthy people like the Barkers could get by in the slums.
0:39:25 > 0:39:27Come on then, time to get up.
0:39:27 > 0:39:29Time to make the bed.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32But someone like Shazeda, with children to look after,
0:39:32 > 0:39:36would have had far less earning potential.
0:39:36 > 0:39:38I don't have a penny to my name.
0:39:38 > 0:39:39I feel under immense pressure.
0:39:41 > 0:39:43The rent is £8.16.
0:39:43 > 0:39:46We also have a food bill of £4.70.
0:39:46 > 0:39:49It's just constantly thinking about whether I'm going to have a roof
0:39:49 > 0:39:51over our head, where my next meal is going to come from.
0:39:51 > 0:39:56It's just really stressful and it makes me really anxious as well.
0:39:56 > 0:39:58It's making me anxious.
0:40:03 > 0:40:06I think we ought to really look at how we are going to split the money
0:40:06 > 0:40:09for this project again.
0:40:12 > 0:40:17Because I don't think dividing it by eight is particularly fair
0:40:17 > 0:40:20any more, because I feel that
0:40:20 > 0:40:24we've done a lot more work than you have, Shaz.
0:40:26 > 0:40:30Last week, Shazeda failed to pay the £8 for her room.
0:40:32 > 0:40:34This week, rent collector Andy is
0:40:34 > 0:40:36keeping a closer eye on her finances.
0:40:38 > 0:40:42I think that Shaz is being quite
0:40:42 > 0:40:47protected from what would have actually happened, because we used
0:40:47 > 0:40:53our modern mind to go, "Well, I can't put a single lady and two children into the dosshouse."
0:40:54 > 0:40:55KNOCK AT THE DOOR
0:40:55 > 0:40:58Hi, have you seen...? Ah! There you are, Shaz.
0:40:58 > 0:41:00Hello, Andy.
0:41:00 > 0:41:02Morning, morning. How are we all?
0:41:02 > 0:41:04Well, thanks.
0:41:04 > 0:41:08How are we doing? Have we got the rent or are we near the rent?
0:41:08 > 0:41:12Um, one of the children went out to work for the Howarths...
0:41:12 > 0:41:15- Oh, OK.- They owe me 60p, but we don't know yet...
0:41:15 > 0:41:19I don't know how much I'll get for my contribution
0:41:19 > 0:41:20- towards making flowers.- Flowers?
0:41:20 > 0:41:27- Yeah. In total, I've got 23p. - 23p?- Yeah.
0:41:27 > 0:41:28OK.
0:41:30 > 0:41:32- I'll come and see you tomorrow. - Mm-hm.
0:41:32 > 0:41:35See what the scenario is then. Cheerio, Potters!
0:41:35 > 0:41:38- Good to see you.- See you, Andy. - See you later, Andy.
0:41:38 > 0:41:42I'm feeling anxious, but I want to pay the rent.
0:41:42 > 0:41:44You know, I want to be on top of everything.
0:41:44 > 0:41:46But I'm in a bit of a financial crisis at the moment.
0:41:51 > 0:41:55I feel as if they are blaming me, because I'm not working hard enough.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58And that's why I'm poor. You know, being the only breadwinner,
0:41:58 > 0:42:03I've got work twice as hard to earn money and still, I have nothing.
0:42:03 > 0:42:05Nothing.
0:42:06 > 0:42:07And I'm running out of options.
0:42:11 > 0:42:13KNOCK AT THE DOOR
0:42:13 > 0:42:16- Come in.- Have you got the money for the work that Sadie did?
0:42:16 > 0:42:20I don't have all the money, because we have been paid ourselves yet.
0:42:20 > 0:42:23Right. It's just that I'm in a bit of a predicament.
0:42:23 > 0:42:26I could give you, like, 5p or 10p. But that would be it.
0:42:26 > 0:42:29- Right, OK.- There's no more than that that I could give you.
0:42:29 > 0:42:31- All right, I'll take that then, whatever you...- 5p?- Yeah.
0:42:31 > 0:42:34Yeah? OK. Let me get the money.
0:42:38 > 0:42:42- There you go.- OK. Great stuff. Thank you.- All right, OK.
0:42:42 > 0:42:45- All right then. Thanks a lot. - Thank you.- Bye.
0:42:46 > 0:42:47I mean, I'd have given her maybe half.
0:42:47 > 0:42:49No, I wasn't going to give her... We can't afford half.
0:42:49 > 0:42:52I'm not taking the food out of their mouths to feed her children.
0:42:52 > 0:42:55- My children come first. - No, I understand totally.
0:42:59 > 0:43:00When the money was tight,
0:43:00 > 0:43:03many in the slums resorted to pawning their possessions.
0:43:05 > 0:43:08For some, it was part of a weekly
0:43:08 > 0:43:11routine to try and raise cash for rent or food.
0:43:11 > 0:43:14I don't want to give their clothes away, because obviously,
0:43:14 > 0:43:17I don't want them to go cold, I don't want them to lose their shoes,
0:43:17 > 0:43:20because I don't want them walking barefoot.
0:43:20 > 0:43:23As for pawning...
0:43:23 > 0:43:26I suppose probably that teapot, because we don't use it.
0:43:28 > 0:43:31Pawnbrokers had to be licensed, but slum shops,
0:43:31 > 0:43:34like the one run by the Birds, would often offer an illicit,
0:43:34 > 0:43:36under-the-counter service.
0:43:36 > 0:43:38How much do you want?
0:43:38 > 0:43:40Um, a pound?
0:43:40 > 0:43:44- 75.- 90p.- OK.
0:43:44 > 0:43:48I think as a shopkeeper you probably have to make unpopular choices,
0:43:48 > 0:43:50but needs must.
0:43:50 > 0:43:52You know, you want to be as nice to the customers as you can,
0:43:52 > 0:43:56but when push comes to shove, we've got to pay our rent as well,
0:43:56 > 0:43:57so we've got to call in our debts.
0:43:57 > 0:44:00You've got £4.10 now, on your tick.
0:44:00 > 0:44:03- OK.- All right?- All right.- And when is payday for you guys?
0:44:03 > 0:44:05- When are you done?- I think it's tomorrow.
0:44:05 > 0:44:08- Tomorrow.- So, 90p. - We'll put that on Shaz's page then
0:44:08 > 0:44:11and then I'll offset some of your ticks.
0:44:11 > 0:44:15Pawning her possessions has reduced Shazeda's food debts,
0:44:15 > 0:44:18but she's still no closer to having her rent.
0:44:18 > 0:44:21I feel as if I've hit rock bottom.
0:44:21 > 0:44:26There's no light at the end of the tunnel and I can't see a way out.
0:44:26 > 0:44:30I can't escape this cycle of poverty that I'm in, you know?
0:44:30 > 0:44:33It's either rent or food bill or food bill or rent.
0:44:33 > 0:44:35It is just one thing or another, it is just relentless.
0:44:37 > 0:44:41When all else failed, the very poorest could appeal to the local
0:44:41 > 0:44:44board of guardians for assistance.
0:44:45 > 0:44:49The help offered by Victorian authorities was known as poor relief
0:44:49 > 0:44:52and it came in two forms. There was outdoor relief,
0:44:52 > 0:44:56which was the temporary hand-outs of food and clothing and then there was
0:44:56 > 0:44:59indoor relief, admission to the workhouse.
0:45:01 > 0:45:04No-one was sent to the workhouse.
0:45:04 > 0:45:05Instead, they had to plead their
0:45:05 > 0:45:07case in front of a group of middle-class men.
0:45:07 > 0:45:13The board of guardians asked probing questions about moral character
0:45:13 > 0:45:17as they divided the poor into the deserving and the undeserving.
0:45:17 > 0:45:19They would not have looked favourably on a
0:45:19 > 0:45:21single mother with two children.
0:45:23 > 0:45:27Though many Victorians felt a Christian duty to aid those in need,
0:45:27 > 0:45:31it was believed the poor needed incentives to help themselves.
0:45:31 > 0:45:34The workhouse was designed as a deterrent.
0:45:34 > 0:45:37Unmarried women were separated from their children and sometimes,
0:45:37 > 0:45:41forced to wear a yellow dress as a mark of shame.
0:45:44 > 0:45:49Hundreds of charitable donations were centralised in the 1870s under
0:45:49 > 0:45:52the Charity Organisation Society or COS,
0:45:52 > 0:45:57to ensure donations only went to the deserving poor.
0:45:57 > 0:46:00The belief that the poor have only themselves to blame was so
0:46:00 > 0:46:02strongly and widely held
0:46:02 > 0:46:06that during the 1870s, a campaign was mounted to cut poor relief.
0:46:06 > 0:46:08Led by the COS,
0:46:08 > 0:46:12the campaign was so successful that in some areas of the East End,
0:46:12 > 0:46:15out relief was discontinued altogether.
0:46:15 > 0:46:18Just at a time when they needed it most,
0:46:18 > 0:46:22the help available to the poor was being dramatically reduced.
0:46:22 > 0:46:24THUNDER RUMBLES
0:46:29 > 0:46:33Even if I do get paid, if I'm making these artificial flowers,
0:46:33 > 0:46:37I've got to share the wage with the Potters.
0:46:37 > 0:46:40I wouldn't actually have enough to even cover the rent.
0:46:40 > 0:46:42I don't think I would.
0:46:47 > 0:46:51Situations like this were all too common in the slums,
0:46:51 > 0:46:55where most were so poor they weren't able to help desperate neighbours.
0:46:55 > 0:47:00It's not like nowadays, where you get evicted or something happens,
0:47:00 > 0:47:02you've got housing associations, councils,
0:47:02 > 0:47:04you've got emergency housing.
0:47:04 > 0:47:06And we moan so much about now.
0:47:06 > 0:47:09I mean, this puts it into perspective.
0:47:09 > 0:47:14I thought I'd be able to, you know, yeah, struggle, face hardship,
0:47:14 > 0:47:16but I thought I'd be able to survive, you know?
0:47:16 > 0:47:19I never anticipated that I'd be in debt and that's one thing I
0:47:19 > 0:47:23don't like, being in debt.
0:47:23 > 0:47:27In the position that Shaz is in, being a single parent...
0:47:28 > 0:47:30Frowned upon.
0:47:30 > 0:47:32Very much frowned upon.
0:47:32 > 0:47:35And she would have been told to go into the workhouse,
0:47:35 > 0:47:38that that was the only thing available for her.
0:47:40 > 0:47:43Obviously, I've got the children to consider and I wouldn't want them in
0:47:43 > 0:47:46the workhouse and I haven't got a plan B.
0:47:47 > 0:47:49I'm in a bit of a predicament here.
0:47:50 > 0:47:52With rent day round the corner,
0:47:52 > 0:47:55Andy faces the fact he may have to evict Shazeda
0:47:55 > 0:47:57and the twins from their room.
0:47:57 > 0:47:59That actually makes me feel shocking,
0:47:59 > 0:48:02that I could put them into a position like that,
0:48:02 > 0:48:04where the long and short of it is they would be split up.
0:48:04 > 0:48:06And what if they didn't get into the workhouse?
0:48:06 > 0:48:09Which sounds horrific. What if they didn't get in?
0:48:09 > 0:48:11- What's after that?- They'd go on the streets.
0:48:11 > 0:48:12Begging on the streets.
0:48:12 > 0:48:16- Yeah.- I mean, almost anything is better than that.
0:48:17 > 0:48:21Someone in Shazeda's situation would have had one more option.
0:48:21 > 0:48:23Shh! We are packing.
0:48:23 > 0:48:26Put these in between so they don't make a racket.
0:48:26 > 0:48:28We are going to have to leave here.
0:48:28 > 0:48:30- We haven't paid!- I know, that's...
0:48:30 > 0:48:34Because we're struggling to pay the rent and he's coming tomorrow.
0:48:34 > 0:48:37A moonlit flit meant moving to another poor area of the city,
0:48:37 > 0:48:39- where no-one would have known you. - Shh! Keep it down.
0:48:39 > 0:48:41Escaping unpaid debts,
0:48:41 > 0:48:45only to begin the cycle of tick and rent day again.
0:48:45 > 0:48:48I don't know how these people did it. I mean, hats off to them.
0:48:49 > 0:48:50If I was a Victorian woman,
0:48:50 > 0:48:54I would rather take my chances elsewhere and start afresh.
0:48:54 > 0:48:59Find alternative accommodation, rather than go into the workhouse.
0:49:37 > 0:49:39Unbelievable.
0:49:44 > 0:49:48Well, to me, it looks like she's just gone.
0:49:48 > 0:49:51To me, it looks like she's done a flit.
0:49:51 > 0:49:55I mean, it does feel like she's escaped, because she's not also run out on me,
0:49:55 > 0:49:58but she's also run out on who I consider my friends now,
0:49:58 > 0:50:00which is the shopkeepers, the Birds.
0:50:00 > 0:50:01So...
0:50:01 > 0:50:05Yeah, I think that just shows the worst of our slum society,
0:50:05 > 0:50:09to be honest, and I thought she was made of stronger stuff.
0:50:09 > 0:50:12I really did. Disappointing.
0:50:14 > 0:50:17Andy's lost potential dosshouse customers and now it's his
0:50:17 > 0:50:19responsibility to re-let Shazeda's room.
0:50:20 > 0:50:22Shaz is meant to be helping us out.
0:50:22 > 0:50:25- Shaz and the children are supposed to be here.- Yeah.
0:50:25 > 0:50:29With flowers still to finish, the Potter family have another early start.
0:50:31 > 0:50:33Because if we've got another pair of hands, you know,
0:50:33 > 0:50:38if each can make 50 in a day, if Shaz is here, that's 200.
0:50:40 > 0:50:42Shaz?
0:50:43 > 0:50:45Shaz?
0:50:48 > 0:50:50Oh.
0:50:50 > 0:50:53- She's gone. - What do you mean she's gone?
0:50:53 > 0:50:56The room's empty. At the end of the day, it is not our problem, is it?
0:50:56 > 0:50:58We've just got to work faster.
0:50:58 > 0:51:02That means we are under more pressure now to get this done on our own.
0:51:02 > 0:51:05What it does mean, of course, is all the money that we do make on the...
0:51:05 > 0:51:07- ..will be ours.- Yeah.
0:51:07 > 0:51:08- So...- Yeah?
0:51:08 > 0:51:09- Guess.- What?
0:51:10 > 0:51:12Who's gone?
0:51:12 > 0:51:14Not just gone, but done a runner.
0:51:14 > 0:51:17Oh, I've got a rough idea who's done a runner!
0:51:17 > 0:51:21But, done a runner, they think in the middle of the night.
0:51:21 > 0:51:23- Yeah?- Right. Didn't pay any of her rent.
0:51:23 > 0:51:28- No?- No. And, didn't pay the Birds.
0:51:28 > 0:51:30Really?
0:51:30 > 0:51:32- How bad's that?- Terrible!
0:51:34 > 0:51:38Shazeda's departure is having a knock-on effect on the other
0:51:38 > 0:51:40residents of the slum.
0:51:40 > 0:51:44Shaz is at £4.10, so we're going to have to swallow that.
0:51:44 > 0:51:46Already having to cope with falling prices,
0:51:46 > 0:51:49the Birds will have to write off Shazeda's debt.
0:51:49 > 0:51:52Balancing their books will be even more difficult.
0:51:52 > 0:51:57It's really brought home to me that interconnectedness.
0:51:57 > 0:52:00You know, you come in and you think, "Oh, we're at the top of the heap."
0:52:00 > 0:52:04You know, things must be somewhat easier for us than for other people,
0:52:04 > 0:52:07because we have more in our room and that sort of thing.
0:52:07 > 0:52:10But actually, every single penny counts,
0:52:10 > 0:52:12even from the poorest of the poor.
0:52:12 > 0:52:17I mean, I think we're getting it right, but anything could happen.
0:52:17 > 0:52:20Our biggest worry was Shaz being able to pay off her tick.
0:52:20 > 0:52:23If she had paid it off, we would be fine.
0:52:23 > 0:52:25We wouldn't have to worry about it,
0:52:25 > 0:52:28that would have covered the rest that we needed to pay the rent.
0:52:28 > 0:52:30She hasn't, so going forward...
0:52:30 > 0:52:33Yeah. It's a learning experience.
0:52:33 > 0:52:36If we do come across someone who we don't know who is asking for credit,
0:52:36 > 0:52:38we are going to be more cautious.
0:52:46 > 0:52:49The Howarths have almost completed their second order.
0:52:51 > 0:52:53Don't get a tea break do we, Ross?
0:52:53 > 0:52:57- No. How many pairs you done?- Three.
0:52:57 > 0:52:59I'll do you four.
0:53:02 > 0:53:05He treats us like employees, not family, when we're working.
0:53:05 > 0:53:07It'll just about pass.
0:53:07 > 0:53:10- What you mean, "just about"? - It's not level.
0:53:11 > 0:53:14My hands are all calloused and everything, like...
0:53:14 > 0:53:18- Look at my hands. Look, they're all wrinkly.- Yeah, I know.
0:53:18 > 0:53:22It's really tiring. And it's like, you can't even think straight.
0:53:22 > 0:53:25- What do you think?- I've forgotten what the question was.
0:53:25 > 0:53:27Oh, Bubba, you're so tired. He's so tired!
0:53:29 > 0:53:33While Shazeda's departure has caused problems for some, for others,
0:53:33 > 0:53:35it presents an opportunity.
0:53:35 > 0:53:37- John!- Come on in, how're you doing?
0:53:37 > 0:53:39John is taking Sadie's job.
0:53:39 > 0:53:43Come on. Not bad. Right, what stitches do you know? Hand stitches?
0:53:43 > 0:53:48- Oof! It's basic. It is basic.- A backstitch?- I can do a backstitch.
0:53:48 > 0:53:51- A backstitch, yeah? That's the most important one.- Yes. Excellent.
0:53:51 > 0:53:53But I can learn anything.
0:53:53 > 0:53:55I can learn anything and fast, so...
0:53:55 > 0:53:57Push it. Push it with your thimble, through.
0:53:57 > 0:54:00And pull out with that... That's it. The thread needle is always in the
0:54:00 > 0:54:03- hand that you pull out, yeah?- Oh, OK. Then just in behind there?
0:54:03 > 0:54:06That's it, just in behind it. A little bit out in front.
0:54:08 > 0:54:11Things are looking up for the Barkers.
0:54:11 > 0:54:15Well, the news in the slum is that a room has become available.
0:54:15 > 0:54:18It is something that we have to consider seriously.
0:54:18 > 0:54:23It means that one of us, myself or Maria, will have to get regular work.
0:54:23 > 0:54:24But it will be lovely to get out of
0:54:24 > 0:54:27the dosshouse and to get into our own little place.
0:54:29 > 0:54:31Right, come on in, guys.
0:54:33 > 0:54:36- Lovely.- This will be your room. - Thanks a million, Andy.
0:54:36 > 0:54:39All right, take care, work hard and I'll see you in a few days.
0:54:39 > 0:54:41Home sweet home. Thank you.
0:54:41 > 0:54:45- All right. Cheerio.- See you later. - See you later.- Ta-ta.
0:54:45 > 0:54:48I'm just going to lie... fall straight into bed.
0:54:48 > 0:54:50Oh, God!
0:54:50 > 0:54:53We actually have a bed, finally.
0:54:53 > 0:54:57- We are winning.- It's great. The Irish are moving up.
0:54:58 > 0:55:02So we've got 202 roses,
0:55:02 > 0:55:05432 violets,
0:55:05 > 0:55:08600 forget-me-nots.
0:55:09 > 0:55:13The Potters have had to complete the order without the help of their
0:55:13 > 0:55:17neighbours. But they finished all 1,440 flowers.
0:55:17 > 0:55:23I think there's been more lows than highs, but I am just so pleased.
0:55:23 > 0:55:28It's such a relief that we have made some money out of the flowers after
0:55:28 > 0:55:30working so hard.
0:55:30 > 0:55:32Such a relief.
0:55:32 > 0:55:37And now they don't need to share the pay, it more than covers their week's costs.
0:55:38 > 0:55:41£19.23.
0:55:41 > 0:55:44- Yes.- Yes!
0:55:44 > 0:55:45Well done. Well done!
0:55:45 > 0:55:48- Well done, well done, well done, well done.- We have food!
0:55:52 > 0:55:56The 1870s have brought new levels of hardship to the slums.
0:55:56 > 0:56:00In five years, the number of people in the workhouse rose by 30%.
0:56:00 > 0:56:02Yet somehow, the urban poor were
0:56:02 > 0:56:06still clinging on and Victorian Britain would soon have to start
0:56:06 > 0:56:08paying attention to their plight.
0:56:11 > 0:56:14- How you doing? Good day? - Yeah, it was all right.
0:56:14 > 0:56:17- Good.- I thought, you know, the 1860s
0:56:17 > 0:56:21were bad enough, but the 1870s got a lot worse.
0:56:23 > 0:56:26You are so close to not just poverty, but abject poverty.
0:56:26 > 0:56:32It's not even funny. It's so close you can taste the workhouse.
0:56:32 > 0:56:34I'm going to come up and see you tomorrow,
0:56:34 > 0:56:37- because I've got Olivia's money. - Oh, lovely.- Oh, wonderful.
0:56:37 > 0:56:39I'll bring it up in the morning for you, thank you.
0:56:39 > 0:56:41- We got the order done as well. All the flowers.- Fantastic.
0:56:41 > 0:56:45- All there.- I'm very relieved that we've made the money that we have
0:56:45 > 0:56:51and we can pay our tick off and hopefully put some money towards the rent.
0:56:51 > 0:56:53- There you go, ladies.- Thank you.
0:56:53 > 0:56:57The situation with Shaz, she felt the need to have to leave the slum
0:56:57 > 0:57:01with her children and part of me can't blame her for that decision, to be honest.
0:57:02 > 0:57:05We're really living in luxury tonight, yeah!
0:57:05 > 0:57:08For us in the slum to finally be in
0:57:08 > 0:57:12our own room is a massive deal and in spite of everything that was
0:57:12 > 0:57:15against them, it gives us hope that, you know,
0:57:15 > 0:57:17the Irish, they could rise up.
0:57:17 > 0:57:21- It's been a great day, I think. - He's thrilled with our news.
0:57:21 > 0:57:22We are your best customers.
0:57:22 > 0:57:25And the most up-to-date, as well!
0:57:25 > 0:57:26Exactly, of course you are.
0:57:26 > 0:57:29Get out the way and we're bound to be up-to-date.
0:57:29 > 0:57:34There's no let-up to this. Whilst I'm feeling happily tired right now,
0:57:34 > 0:57:36I know that when my eyes open tomorrow,
0:57:36 > 0:57:38it's going to start all over again.
0:57:38 > 0:57:41But actually, this time I'm going to allow myself to enjoy the little bit
0:57:41 > 0:57:44of happiness and a little bit of quietness that I've got tonight,
0:57:44 > 0:57:47because I know, come tomorrow,
0:57:47 > 0:57:50it's going to start all over again and so it goes on
0:57:50 > 0:57:51and it goes on and it goes on.
0:57:57 > 0:58:00- Next time.- Look at the newspaper!
0:58:00 > 0:58:03The 1880s see tensions rise.
0:58:03 > 0:58:05I've got to work quickly. They need to make us money.
0:58:05 > 0:58:07They're not my friends.
0:58:07 > 0:58:09My mum, I've never seen her like that before.
0:58:09 > 0:58:12- Morning, chaps.- The slum dwellers endure humiliation...
0:58:12 > 0:58:13Maybe we should get a photo here.
0:58:13 > 0:58:15Er, excuse me. No!
0:58:15 > 0:58:18..and political struggle...
0:58:18 > 0:58:21- I strike. - ..as they find their voice...
0:58:21 > 0:58:24They have no right to take our living away from us.
0:58:24 > 0:58:26..and fight their corner.
0:58:26 > 0:58:28The poor will not be trodden on.
0:58:28 > 0:58:30Power to the people.