The Poor & Destitute of London

It's likely that the majority of the destitute population of London in the 1840's and '50's stemmed from a staggering population growth in the early 19th century. Between 1840 and 1850 alone, the population grew by 23%. This caused obvious distress on the city of London itself as housing grew scarce and private residences became more and more valuable leading to gross amounts of people living on the streets and in slums in poor hygienic condition. The poor of 19th century London lived in overcrowded areas where their main source of drinking water often came from the ditches running through the streets. Starvation and disease were both leading factors in the death tolls of the destitute. British cities suffered outbreaks of cholera in 1831-32 and in 1848-49. The overwhelming attitude of the wealthy of the era often regarded the poor as being in the place that God put them;

(ex: a hymn published in 1848 by Cecil Frances Alexander:

The rich man in his castle,
The poor man at his gate,
God made them, high and lowly,
And order’d their estate )


However, it was in the later 19th century that groups of people began to realize the poor conditions in which people were living, and so started a more philanthropic era of London society. In addition to this, the workhouses to which people fell back on when they lost their jobs became more humane as the century progressed.