Month: July 2016

The worst slum in London

In Victorian London most of the poor lived in what would be called slum housing. During the 18th century many ramshackle ‘courts’ had been built as a result of speculative infilling behind street frontages. However, the reputation of one court stands out. For at least 40 years, from the 1830s, there was an enclave in The Royal Borough… Continue reading The worst slum in London

‘The Foulest Place of Mine Arse is Fairer than thy Face’

Reblogged from The Social Historian, an inestimably irreverent yet academically impeccable site from an Oxford associate profesor of social history, Jonathan Healey. Give him an award, somebody… By the way, for American readers, Boots equals Walgreens. On Michaelmas Eve, 1544, two women came to blows in the open street in Winchester. We know who they… Continue reading ‘The Foulest Place of Mine Arse is Fairer than thy Face’