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Jack London’s Spectacular Photos Depict the Gritty Reality of London’s East End Life in 1902

American author and photographer Jack London visited his namesake city in 1902; at that time, it was the largest city in the world. He lived in the Whitechapel district sleeping in workhouses, so-called doss-houses, and even on the streets.

In his book ‘The People of the Abyss, Jack London has described that about half a million people lived in these awful and terrible conditions in London. The book was published in 1903, the same year as his novel Call of the Wild was serialized.

London was most disturbed by the number of old men, young men, all manner of men, and boys to boot, and all manner of boys, who had no other choice other than to sleep on the streets.

#1 Part of a room to let. A typical East End home where the people live, sleep, eat all in one room.

#3 An East End Slavey (a maidservant, especially a hard-worked one.)

#4 Homeless Women Spitalfields Garden (church yard of Christ Church)

#6 Spitalfields at the junction of Commercial Street and Brushfield Street.

Spitalfields at the junction of Commercial Street and Brushfield Street.

The building at the right is Spitalfields Market. To the left is a branch of the Pearce & Plenty cafe chain, with a sign for the General Gordon Temperance Hotel.

#8 Men working in casual ward of workhouse picking oakum – teasing out of fibres from old ropes and was very hard on the fingers.

#9 Inside the courtyard of Salvation Army barracks Sunday Morning.

#12 “Gigantic dosshouse” Rowton House, Fieldgate Street, Whitechapel

#13 Homeless men and women Spitifield Gardens (Christ Church churchyard).

#14 “A policeman shines a flashlight onto a young man sleeping on the sidewalk against a building.

“A policeman shines a flashlight onto a young man sleeping on the sidewalk against a building.

A sign displayed in a window to the left reads: “Truth The Weekly Newspaper.”

#15 Frying Pan Alley,(Situated close to Middlesex Street and Petticoat Lane market) Spitalfields

#16 A group of men stand out on the stoop of a four-story brick building, while a few women and children walk by on the sidewalk.

A group of men stand out on the stoop of a four-story brick building, while a few women and children walk by on the sidewalk.

A sign over the entrance reads: “No. 1 Victoria Home for Working Men.”

#17 Whitechapel Infirmary -Wide view along the front of a long, four-story building with arched windows on the first floor.

Whitechapel Infirmary -Wide view along the front of a long, four-story building with arched windows on the first floor.

Two horse-drawn carriages are on the street in the distance.

#19 Two relay system lodging, lodgers who have been on night work waiting till the beds of a doss house are vacated by men employed during the way.

#20 Casual ward of Whitechapel Workhouse above, beds rolled up on left and right

#23 Under the arches of the bridges that span the Thames

Under the arches of the bridges that span the Thames

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Written by Aung Budhh

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    • He visited the free library and browsed through the papers till he was weary, then he took out Stevenson’s New Arabian Nights, but he could not read the words. He continued to contemplate his helplessness. The persistence of his thoughts made his head ache because he kept on thinking the same thing all the time. A craving for fresh air compelled him to lay on the grass in Green Park. Because of his deformity, he was unable to participate in to fight. He dreamt he was suddenly on a horse out at the Cape in a regiment of yeomanry, based on your papers’ illustrations. He saw himself in khaki, sitting with others around a fire at night on the Veldt. Upon waking, he found that it was still relatively light, and he heard Big Ben strike seven. He had twelve hours of nothing to do. He dreaded the endless night. His sky was overcast, and he feared it would rain. He would have to stay in a lodging-house since there were lamps outside houses in Lambeth advertising Good Beds for sixpence, and he had never been inside one. If possible, he decided to stay in the open air. After the park closed, he began to wander around. He was exhausted. The thought crossed his mind that an accident would be a piece of luck. This is because he could be rushed to a hospital and lie there for weeks in a clean bed. In the middle of the night, he was starving, so he went to a coffee stall at Hyde Park Corner, ate a couple of potatoes, and had a cup of coffee. He then walked away. He couldn’t sleep because he was too restless, and he dreaded being evicted by the police. He noticed that he was looking at the constable differently from a new perspective. It was his third night out. Occasionally, he sat on the benches in Piccadilly, and in the morning, he strolled down to The Embankment. Big Ben struck every quarter-hour, and he calculated how long it would be till the city awoke again. He spent a few coppers on making himself neat and clean, bought a newspaper to read the ads, and set out once more on the hunt for work. This continued for several days. In addition to having scarce food, he was weak and ill, so that he had little energy to go searching for the work that seemed so difficult to find.

      • Jack London’s book (people of the abyss) is highly recommended! It was a daily occurrence because there wasn’t always enough space in the workhouses – long lines, or they couldn’t afford the doss houses (even sleeping on the string line). Therefore, they would sleep in the park, but the police would constantly wake them up, so they could never get a good night’s sleep. There was also a discussion of how people would do a circuit of the workhouses when there was no room, and I believe some parishes only allowed a certain amount of ‘relief.’ Then they would move on to another for a few days, then to another, and so on. I imagine that parks were the last resort for many.

          • That might be due to poverty. The first reason was that there simply wasn’t the consumer culture we have now: people couldn’t afford it, and the goods weren’t available. Secondly, what you see on the streets today is plastic trash. Plastic did not exist in 1902. In addition, the garbage there was much more recyclable (since there were lots of poor people eager to make use of every scrap they could find), or at least burnable. Additionally, if there are pieces of cloth on the roads, it will be much harder to spot them, as they are less likely to be printed in bright colors, more dirt and soil on the street, and the pictures aren’t always of excellent quality.

  1. Amazing! I feel most of what we see of London around this time is portrayed in Sherlock Holmes films, but this shows something decidedly less glamorous. I’m especially intrigued by the men sleeping in that park. That must have been the norm at the time for people without lodging.

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