Non-fiction on Victorian/Edwardian poor

[seaweedseven]

I'm looking for recommendations for non-fiction books about the everyday lives of working class people in Victorian and Edwardian times, especially about workhouses, factory life, being a servant, women's lives, family life, etc. I've been researching my family tree and have got interested in finding out more about everyday lives in this era.

Jack London wrote about his experience of living in the east end of London in the Victorian era. It's called People of the Abyss

“Death, dissection, and the destitute” by Ruth Richardson is an equal parts fascinating and horrifying look at the trade in corpses for medical schools. A bit off-topic, but it describes how poverty made the decent burial of family members so difficult. It’s an excellent, if disturbing, book.

A bit later than the period you’re looking at, but how about Servants: A Downstairs View of 20th Century Britain by Lucy Lethbridge?

Thanks for all of these suggestions. Chessie I've read Servants, but thanks anyway - it's exactly the sort of book I like. I've added everything I haven't already read to my Goodreads 'want to read' list and I'll work though them all.

This isn't specifically about the poor, but how about New Grub Street, by George Gissing? It's technically about writing, but there's quite a bit of poor in it.

Slightly later but George Orwell Down and out in Paris and London is a great read

@Puppylucky

It's a bit left field, but I found The Five about the Jack the Ripper victims absolutely fascinating in its social history detail - who knew that Trafalgar Square was one massive homeless shelter?

I was going to suggest this. The social history is very detailed. There isn’t any salacious gruesome detail, it is about the women, not the man who murdered them.

I came on to recommend around about a pound a week but can see you already have it . Such a thought provoking book.

I also found some of the books by Asa Briggs very good in terms of their detail and the different themes they explored

I'd be interested in anything about Birmingham and the Black Country if anyone had a lead.

The Call the Midwife series is really interesting. They're set in the 1950s of course but there's a significant section about an old man and his life story, being brought up in poverty and joining the army in the 1890s. That gives the history of the tenement housing that was being replaced in the 50s. There's a lot about workhouses too.

I was about to say Round About a Pound a Week, too - it's very readable, and it's based on a survey of families in Lambeth from 1909 so just within your time frame. Very good on why people were poor, and why they stayed poor.

Lark rise to candleford. Akenfeld. Tea by the nursery fire. Below Stairs. The housekeeper’s tale. The road to Wigan pier. The making of a marchioness. The small house at allington (Anthony Trollope). The Victorian governess (Kathryn Hughes). Just a few, not all may be your taste!

Also, George Gissing's The Odd Women

Sorry, I see you said non-fiction - but I still stand by Gissing!

I like fiction too!

@PetuniaPot have you read Her People by Kathleen Dayus? It's a memoir of her poor Edwardian childhood in Birmingham.

No but thank you for the recommendation!

Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree's studies of poverty in York are interesting. First one is 1899, then second in1930s. The third was 1951 - almost within living memory for some of us.

He was a Quaker, chocolate manufacturer and was inspired by Charles Booth's study on London life.

How to be a Victorian by Ruth Goodman

The Victorian City by Judith Flanders.

Not just about the poor but a really interesting book about Victorian London. She's also written on called The Victorian House.

Have you read The Wicked Boy by Kate Summerscale? Apologies if it's already been mentioned. It's non fiction, about a poor working class family in London, and a murder that caused huge shockwaves in their community. It's about the late Victorian period but follows through to Edwardian & beyond.

Growing up Poor, by Anna Davin, might fit your brief: www.waterstones.com/book/growing-up-poor/anna-davin/9781854890634

@lomaamina Growing Up Poor is mu aunt's book. I wasn't sure whether to mention it because I wasn't sure it was in print. Plus I didn't realise that it's available for £15 - not cheap to me but much less than a lot of academic books.

That’s amazing, @elkiedee! And yes, I realised the link takes you to a site where it’s unavailable, but it’s definitely around secondhand via Bookfinder.

Two by Judith Flanders

The Victorian House
The Victorian City