A Night in a Freezing Victorian Asylum in 1800s London (Beggars Hotel for the Poor)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 มิ.ย. 2023
- Victorian London's asylum for the poor was a cold, desperate place to shelter, where people went only because the workhouse was even worse. Known as the 'Beggar's Hotel,' this was where the hungry and homeless in the 1800s would receive charity of bread and a place to sleep for the night. But, these were coffin-like beds where you had to sleep with a mass of coughing residents, use tarpaulin to keep out rats and do your best to stay warm in winter from the heat of a single stove. Find out what it was like to spend a night here in the 1840s with a genuine account of the asylum and its residents told by Henry Mayhew, a Victorian journalist.
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▶️ A Night in a Stinking Victorian Doss House in 19th Century London: • A Night in a Stinking ...
▶️ A Hard Night in Glasgow's Stinking Rat Pit (1900s Cheap Lodging House): • A Hard Night in Glasgo...
▶️ Brutal and Filthy Edwardian Doss House (Common Lodging House in Edwardian Era Manchester): • Brutal and Filthy Edwa...
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▶️ Edwardian Documentaries (Playlist): • Edwardians
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▶️ Criminal Past (Playlist): • Criminal Past
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Credits: Narration - markmanningmedia.com
CC BY - Part of St. Marylebone Workhouse prior to reconstruction, The Society of Friends soup kitchen, Distributing soup at the Stranger's House Limehouse, poor people coming to a workhouse for food, New ward for the casual poor at Marylebone workhouse, The Field Lane refuge by Wellcome Collection; The organ grinder by JoJan
CC BY-SA - Street signs at the corner of Whitecross Street and Banner Street, London by osde8info; Blue plaque erected in 1953 by London County Council at 55 Albany Street, Regent's Park, London NW1 4BT by Spudgun67
#VictorianLondon #VictorianDocumentary #VictorianLondonDocumentary #VictorianEraDocumentary #LondonSlums #VictorianLife #VictorianSlums #Victorian #19thCentury #VictorianEra #VictorianHomeless
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▶ A Night in a Stinking Victorian Doss House in 19th Century London: th-cam.com/video/sHKNhLpuryA/w-d-xo.html
▶ A Hard Night in Glasgow's Stinking Rat Pit (1900s Cheap Lodging House): th-cam.com/video/qb8oBKbXhmo/w-d-xo.html
▶ Brutal and Filthy Edwardian Doss House (Common Lodging House in Edwardian Era Manchester): th-cam.com/video/Zq3iEWCWrOs/w-d-xo.html
There will always be poverty and homelessness Look at the homeless now in 2023
Imagine living in a climate with so much cold, and rain, with nary a raincoat, or coat at all!!! Food so sparse that your body was in constant survival mode. Nothing to give you hope, lift your spirit, or ease your mental/physical/emotional pain. Thank you for reminding me of how good my life truly is, that my perceived problems aren't really problems at all.
I'd go hunting I. Woods of royal forest
You are so right we do not release how good life is for the poor people today in comparison to the 1800.
There is no excuse that people have no good clothes to were when there are so many Charity shops around with good quality clothing. I know because I work in one as a volunteer. As for food many shops sell food very cheap at the end of the day. But people now a days want meat and are not prepared to eat the same type of food for 3 or 4 days. When I went to school one of my friends had bread and condensed milk every day at lunch time. I was lucky enough to have school meals which cost 1 shilling a day.
Agreed but don’t gaslight yourselves to not take your problems seriously just because life was so much harder in the past
@@wepsychoit2002you would need to know how to hunt in order to hunt
This is so sad. Makes you appreciate what you have
However poor we may feel in this day and age, it must have been hell on earth for these people. I did my Family History and many of my ancestors lived in this area of London. They died of terrible diseases that are recorded on their death certificates.
I love this channel. It's both fascinating and horrifying to hear how truly terrible life was for those who had nothing. Poverty was a painful trap
I really appreciate that. Thank you for being here!
was and still is a painful trap.
I've learned a lot about my Victorian English roots due to the great information provided in these articles. I only wish I could do more to support the channel as I'm very grateful. 🙏
steve29roses - thank you, that's really appreciated! It's a big help just to watch, comment and share - that helps the videos with TH-cam and the sharing part is great for reaching more people.
@@FactFeast
Maybe you can find us some fun Calcutta street stories...or other Victoria India.
I live 960 metres from Whitecross Street. It's crazy to hear about quite how it was, when now it's the home of a trendy, boujee and expensive food market for nearby city workers.
Interesting how it's changed!
I enjoy listening to these as I sit here in my middle class house, in the heartland of America, surrounded by comforts and high-tech toys and thinking about what I want to invest my (admittedly small) savings in next. I listen to these sorts of things, because I never want to forget just how far one can fall, and what the bottom looks like. Helps me appreciate what I have.
As someone who's been poor and ate regularly at McDonalds because I could get a burger for a $1.15, I don't intend on ever returning there, by any means necessary.
Ditto. I am from near Oxford 🇬🇧. I have worked my way out of near poverty and don't want to repeat the experience at all.
@@Soundpjno one knows what's it like to have nothing unless you were there yourself. So be happy with what you have
$1.50 THATS A GOOD PRICE. NOT NOW
Me too I really enjoy listening to how people survived in the Victorian era. My Grandad was born in 1892 and told me a little bit about the how his Father used to drive around Manchester England in a horse and carriage. My Mother said every morning a man used to go round all the streets knocking on people's doors to wake them up. He also used to light all the gas lights in the streets.
I remember how shire horses use to pull coal wagons delivering coal to peoples houses.
In my house we had a meat safe outside as no one had fridges and how my mother had a mangle outside for the washing. No washing machines and no TV and having to have a bath in a tin bath in front of the coal fire. Getting up in the morning to go to school with frost on the inside of the windows . But in those days people were safe the doors were never locked even if you were away the whole day. And No Drugs were around. When I was a teenager people had so many jobs to work at. If you had a new job on Monday and didn't like it by Wednesday you had another one to go to. Yes it was a bit hard but most people were happy and made do with what they had. Nothing was thrown away all food had to be eaten and everything was repaired. I still live like that now and so do my Spanish nabours. The other day they made a meal of fried tomatoes Peppers garlic and bread. Water was then added and cooked a bit more. It was delicious and so cheap to make no excuse people have no money to eat if you want to eat cheaply you can but everyone wants meat or chicken or fish for every meal. Fast food is expensive and to get it delivered even more.
Thank you fact feast for another dip into our history. Life was cheap then and if you were down on your luck or too ill to work then God help you.
Exactly! Thanks for writing.
I may currently be monetarily poor but I will not be bitter, feel sorry for myself, nor place blame. I shall be rich in spirit and warm of heart ♥
This place gets a bad name but it sure is better than the alternative which is freezing to death. I'm sure it was thought of by some philanthropic and caring person.😊
Thanks F.F.❤
You're very kind!
The narrative read like a Jane Austen novel, a bit.
Since it's 35°C out here, this video is actually refreshing. In an unfortunately vicarious way. This channel never disappoints. Bravo!
Cold comfort in the winter asylum 🥶
From what I’ve seen on your channel, the poor and destitute back in the day would have been lucky to be deported to Australia for petty theft. Once the trip ( apparently really bad ) was behind them, and despite the backbreaking labour expected of them, they would still be better off than the dirt poor of London in the 19th and previous centuries. I think I’d rather be on the bottom rung of society in the heat of a virtually unknown foreign
land 🥵 than than freeze and starve in Britain, back in the day. 🥶
the way the cost of living crisis keeps on rising we plebs will once again be living like this.
AHH, just like home...
I am every day happy for what I have.
I also 😅
Excellently narrated, fantastic channel!
Thank you kindly! I’m happy you enjoy the content.
Your final comments in the video were beautiful.
Henry Mayhew tells a good story.
And not much difference for homeless now except there is even less places for them to stay
And what made it worst was the “little ice age” , still a thing in 1840
Whitecross Street?!?! That's a 15-20 min walk from my place. Oddly enough they have a food kiosks market theree nowadays and you can buy various foods from around the world rather cheaply. Theres also the head office for the homeless charity Shelter. Right off that road which used to be a salvation army shelter, you can see the fading painted sign on the building.
How times change! Interesting you're so close to the location.
great video as always! historical streetlife is such an elucidating (and tragic) topic - you present it so well.
id be interested to hear your opinion on George Orwell's _Down and Out in Paris and London_ ?
a video on street life/rough-sleeping in the Edwardian Era to the post/inter-war years in Britian would be amazing!
Hello again and thank you! I always welcome suggestions. Orwell’s work is definitely on the list to have a look at some time in future. I really appreciate you taking the time to watch and comment.
@@FactFeast and in kind i appreciate you’re work and replies greatly!
Would love to hear your take on Orwell and you deserve so many more subs considering the quality of the content you put out
All the best
- M M
I love Mayhew
His work is like a time machine to the past!
@@FactFeast and he made "invisible" people's lives visible even for people of his own time.
WOW! Stunningly real, and the the ending was soul stirring. Thank You.
Thanks for listening!
Amazing stuff. I’m always looking to dig a bit deeper when it comes to the details of living in this time period. Thank you for putting these videos together!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for writing.
These stories will humble you and if not then you've never had a reality check. 😢 I'd rather be dead than deal with this. I guess they are now. These historical accounts are so atmospheric and this guy's an amazing storyteller.
Excellent video 👍.
Thank you very much! I’m glad you find the history interesting.
Not a lot of difference then for todays homeLess 😤😤🥴🥴
EXCELLENT EPISODE FACT FEAST!!!🙏🤔👌❣️
Thank you! I really appreciate it.
The Mogg, Gove and people of their ilk are going to bring these palaces/times back. Hooray
Hiya Fact Feast, what an enjoyable vlog, I like your voice.
Hello! Thank you so much 🙂 I’m pleased you like it.
The indigenous English people are no different than any other indigenous... There should be compensation for the indigenous English People ..
Stay off the drugs
Agreed 👍
And people think they’ve got it bad today
At this time remember we had the biggest Empire the world had ever seen we were top dog.
Thank you.
You're welcome!
Thank you
You're welcome. Have you changed your name a few times?
💚love this channel
Thank you for being here 😊
I love your channel you really are educating us 😊
Thank you so much! I appreciate your support.
@@FactFeast your welcome.
As a white man from a coal mining family, I feel very privileged. Privileged because my family are strong people who don’t complain and just get on with life and are all now University educated. Could you imagine the current naval gazing then? You would be either in the poor house or floating in the Thames. Privilege is earned.
Oh wow 😳😯there was different types of level of folks back 1800
How we've made it this far with the period of time where there was nothing but disease and misery and destruction...I'll never understand lol 🙏
Isn't it the same today our homeless sleep and die of the cold in winter while illegal immigrants are put up in hotels
I totally agree with you 100% 😢
Pretty much, it's a disgrace
We could house both groups if y'all had any political will to demand it. In my experience, people who complain about immigrants are just using homeless people as a crutch for their bigotry. Same way that people who want to ban abortion don't care about kids.
You actually have no idea of what you're talking about.
@@Brainbaskitpersonally, I agree with them. Imo, aborting a fetus that is doomed for a miserable life is far better than banning abortion and letting them live out that miserable life. With the plus that some mothers aren't ready or financially stable enough to raise children, leading to possible abuse and neglect of said child
How are you doing sir thank you for your wonderful cultural documentary channel. As always iam gathering main information about topics you mentioned briefly here it’s definition of asylum word means “ retreat “ or “ sanctuary “ and these institutions were originally built to protect mental patients. Asylums were used as way to keep mentally ill out of public eye , so many were tied up and treated like animals. Victorian word for mental illness lunatics. Asylums during victorian era were overcrowding, poor sanitation were serious issues In asylums, which led to movement to improve care quality and awareness at medical practitioners often treated mental illness with physical methods . This approach led to use of brutal practices like ice bathing and restraint . David j rothman who have discovery of asylums 25 years , later office of justice programs . Depression therapy in Victorian era have various methods and drugs were recommended and used in 19 th century such as baths , massage,ferrous, antidepressants have been known only for approximately 30 years . In 1880s asylums were institution were mentally ill were held , these facilities witnessed much ineffective, cruel treatment of those who hospitalized with them in both America and Europe these facilities were in need of reform . Thank you for giving us chance to read learn new information improve our English as none native speakers. Good luck to you your dearest ones .
Thank you for your comment Khatoon. Though the name was used for places to house ill people, the asylum here was a place of refuge for the homeless.
Why are people so obsessed with the past? Now we don't even have asylume or places where homeless people can go. We have millions of Americans living on the streets in squalor.
This is a Night in an Asylum in Victorian London, it's part of my country's history. This is what my gt grandmother , grandmother and her brothers would have gone through had it not been for her eldest brothers wife's intervention. My great grandmother was left destitute on the doorstep of a workhouse with her 3 children after her husband died - she had no money her husband drunk it all every night and beat her. Auntie Lilly came and collected them , she couldn't turn her back on them knowing the life they would have lead . Lilly and Arthur were newly married at the time , they welcomed 4 people into their home and took care of them.
@@pearlsaminger9544❤
Seeing this is so sad,most people lost there dignity and didn't feel human anymore,they became a burden on society 😢
Great voice
Gosh now Islington London is a posh place...!!
Dude where did you find these amazing interesting historical information ? Is there is any more books with these kind of historical facts in it ?
This is Henry Mayhew's writings and interviews with people in 1840s London. There are lots of journalists and writers of the era who did similar work (though not on such a scale).
Maybe the queen could have sold some of her jewels to help.
Yes definitely same now let Charles open Buckingham Palace as a homeless shelter
They don’t operate that way sadly. If they did, they wouldn’t insisted on that huge display of entitlement, privilege and wealth we saw that was Charles’ and Camilla’s Coronation. The last person in the world I would look
up to is Camilla Parker - Bowles. ( I don’t care that it’s not her name anymore either ). The sight of Charles sitting outside of the Abbey in his Coach complaining about having to wait a few minutes, resembled a spoilt brat getting ready to throw their toys out of the pram in a tantrum, and again whilst sitting on the throne wearing his accoutrements, waiting for the crown 👑 to be placed on his head as he gazed around him with glee, was sickening given the state his country is in, and the number of poor and homeless people there are today. 🇬🇧
They're all just a bunch of self entitled scum. 😡
The quality of the writing is my favorite thing about this. Some of those lines were brutal...
The nightmare b side of the good old days
Yet people claim poverty these days. How would they have coped back then.
Why did they build them so big then if they couldn't heat them. Something just doesn't add up.
The building wasn't purpose built as a homeless shelter. The society that ran the asylum was a charity and they were offered the cloth warehouse for use as a refuge.
Still there I bet
I always watch these videos when i'm cold and hungry and imagine i'm a victorian.
Michael Elnner correctly said there isn't enough work for everyone. I think this has mostly always been the case, at least since industrialisation.
Wow.
So very interesting, such priceless insights.
Thank you.
The author had great skill in describing the scenes he saw, and used pathos in perfect measure.
His conclusion arose from the Judeo-Christian foundation our culture is built on, and which perspective we do well to hold onto. It could be paraphrased thusly "there, but for the grace of God, go I".
Jettisoning this perspective will render us ungrateful and entitled, and much the poorer for it.🇦🇺
How incredibly exhausted they must have been to be able to sleep in those conditions.
Hardly any help for the homeless and hungry in 2023 to. Some things never change. 😂
I love the poetic narration, very unique, reminds me of Charles Dickens or another classic writer.
What kept lingering in my mind is how dangerous this could be for children and women. The potential violence and robbery. Not everyone staying there would be of good character.
Similar things can be dangerous today. Imagine back then when issues were less adressed.
They should at least separate by gender.
So poor, they could insist on dragging along 4 kids instead of adopting them to good families
This is both history and prediction
Thank goodness kindly philanthropists like Ebenezer Scrooge invested heavily in the workhouses to help these poor inmates. God bless us all.
I'm pretty sure Scrooge was an entirely fictional character...probably based on a real person that most definitely did NOT give to charity. If you have more info on that and I'm wrong please share!
Scrooge is a character from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens 😂 ... he was a skinflint , a miser , characters of his ilk wouldn't give you anything , he'd probably charge you if you caught a cold from him 😂😂😂 mean in heart, mean in spirit and mean in the wallet
I hope you’re joking 😂
Loved the picture from Sherlock Holmes!
Interestingly, cold temperatures are very effective in calming the agitated mentally ill. At our local jail, a suicidal or violent inmate is placed in the padded cell naked with only a paper towel safety blanket, then the A/C is set on max. After some hours of shivering, the inmate is completely cured, and can be returned to general population.
Um sorry but that's complete torture ; you don't treat a human being like that
Cool!😂😂
Interesting. If only they had employment insurance through the government like we have today for seasonal workers and more. Horrible.
There is a lot of moaners around today. It was terrible in those times.
And still people will say “ god never gives you more than you can cope with “ some Psycho god that! and they worship him?
And no toilet paper!
😂🎉😂 that's some of my kin folks ❤
Makes one laugh at the anguishes of today for those who are ungrateful
How come?
Facts.
Shush
Exactly the opposite. Makes me sad knowing why there are still such desperate disparities between birthrights, Good and Evil, Non-Corrupt and Corrupt, Those who are crushed by laws and the ones that aren't affected by the same laws, etc and etc.
There are plenty who suffer from poverty these days. You just don't recognize them as much unless they are homeless and begging on the streets. I know a guy whose sister and brother hooked him on drugs when he was 12. Mom died,they took everything of what little there was and he's literally living under a bridge til this day...38 years later. I know a family...the Mozbes...they would kick their kids out of the house when they hit the old age of 13. They had to fend for themselves...find cars or garages that weren't locked to sneak in and sleep there for the night. My friend Mary from high-school,her mom gave up custody of her to a grown man and she was happy to leave her shitty family. Emmett her new "father" was her new boyfriend...he was almost 40. Hooked her on drugs,made her clean house and wait upon his kids like she was a servant,which I guess she was tbh...brought in new girlfriends to bang not caring how Mary felt about that and she accepted all of it because she needed the drugs and had nowhere else to go and even THAT shitty life was better than dealing with her own terrible family. None of the above stories would have happened if it weren't for poverty.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Thank you Miji 😊
At least the homeless had some were to sleep un like today
This and Jack the Ripper how bad can it get.
Aborigines in Australia's tribes are currently treated this badly. Diseases that haven't been in this world since Victorian times. 🥺😡
I wish this was covered more. Up until very recently, very overt hatred and vitriol toward native people in Australia was not only allowed, but shown to tourists as a thing always done by taxi drivers, valets, police, etc. So awful.
Bs, that was standard breakfast for most people. Particularly in the country-side. Don’t overdramatise, it demolishes your watchability
Imagine todays isylum seekers putting up with this luxury.and todays british generations
What a great time to live people use to be free in these times
I sure am glad it's not wrong to procreate. 😏
What makes me mad is the royalty of the time turned a blind eye to all this and continued to eat off the fat of the their land, never to want of anything. They had it all whilst the normal Britian in London usually went around hungry, thirsty, and begging. The same thing happens today, the current occupant and dare i say even the former occupant before she died cared little for the common folk around the street.
GOD BLESS ☦️ US ALL
PHILADELPHIA USA❤
TEMPLE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL 🏥🌃😘🪞🕶️🪦
There were score and scores of civic organisations just like now to offer free education and labour opportunities.
I suspect that life in the past even for the poorest was not even close to as unremittingly grim as historians simply love to describe it. We don't need a time machine to suspect that our past is betrayed as more awful than it actually was and mainly for more modern-day political reasons. We can know this because we have very poor people living in this world today. many millions of them. They could also be said to have horrendously short and hopelessly unhappy lives but they DON'T. When you get behind the surface their lives may be grim looking by our own Western standards but they don't see it this way.
They have birthdays, births, joyous family events like religious festivals, and weddings every few weeks. They eat better than we may think and are also much cleaner than we may think. Many of them believe that life in the West is some kind of paradise on Earth when they watch Western TV, but when they come here they are often disappointed, to say the least. Human beings can't miss what they either never had or never knew existed. They are inherently adaptable and optimistic. They take great pride in their communities, children, and families and in what little material possessions they may have accumulated. They tend to treat others with respect and dignity, most especially guests. I strongly suspect that poor people living in European countries 200 or many more years ago also purported themselves with similar dignity as well as they could.
Insulting your ancestors is also regarded as undignified as without their courage and fortitude they would not have received the blessing of life at all. We do ourselves no favors by denigrating our own past or our ancestors in this way. In 100 years' time, future historians will no doubt look back and wonder how we managed to survive such degradation. However, we will not be around to defend ourselves, now will we?
My grandmother came from a background of horrendous poverty by modern, indeed any standards, yet she remained cheerful and positive right up the when she died at the age of 103.
There I go but for the grace of God
Orphanages helped
When did this fashion start to call the 19th century the 18 hundreds?
Language is fluid.
It's less confusing.
Is this 2023?
Maybe Rich Americans were as selfish as Europeans 100 or 2 years ago but I've never heard any stories of it.
Wow, the roots of the American republican party, bless their greedy hearts.
Ironic how many millions and millions of cry babies today take their status for granted, even homeless in the USA today live and eat better than these poor wretched souls.
Thank you for bringing the awareness of harsh yesteryear into the light for the world to see. 🫡
Only a MAGA Trump lover could write this.
Of course the nobility (noble for what) needed to keep the poor down so aristocrats (rats) could make money off their slavery. Early death was all they were guaranteed of
But these wretches were good for fodder for the wars these monarchs fought constantly with only a brief reprieve.
War provides spoils to the King or Queens guarded chest of diamonds, emeralds pearls and more booty from the wars.
Has always been this way no matter the country and will always be the way scoundrels can sponge off those not born into such fortunate families.
But the rich have had their reward and the meek shall inherit the earth in judgement day.
I don't think this type of mitigation really helps anyone. People are still homeless nowadays, despite it not being as terrible as back then, it's still terrible to endure.
So watching this inspires you to insult and ridicule today's homeless? Sounds like the message went way over your head.
What exactly is ironic about it?
You do know it's the same people and same things? This was all the help they had and they took it. You think they didn't complain? Why do you only cherry pick what parts you think are the same?
Still, what exactly is ironic about it?
The question is why capitalism is still allowed. In principle no billionaire earned their wealth in a fair way.
Keep it up.
Already subscribed. Would do again
Thank you so much! It’s nice of you to say.
Thank you