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The Blackest Streets: The Life and Death of a Victorian Slum

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I have been a fan of Sarah Wise since I read her first book, The Italian Boy. I was interested to see her treat with the subject of the Victorian Slum, Nichol, which is next to Bethnal Green. In her first book, the story of a murder of a boy, by resurrectionist providing bodies to medical anatomy theatres, she provided a forensic type description of the crime, the system of oversight, police, forms of justice and the trials of three men who murdered the fourteen year old boy, for the money. They were found out and the deed brought the attrocious conditions of the trade in bodies and the collusion of the doctors and hospitals involved to the public's attention. Shining a light on such things brought about change then. If we thought about these things, we might see changes as well.
In the Blackest streets, she looks at a section, this slum, seemingly set up by sloppy workmanship, isolation and treatment like the unwanted step-child. The conditions of poverty and corruption and daily life were the responsibility of the parish (bethnal green) to manage. But the plans for poor houses, work houses and casual wards (a place where vagrants could spend a night in exchange for a little work in the morning) were not provided, even though mandated by law. One after another circumstance, of crime, neglect, poverty and poor education came together with shiftless political leadership to guarantee the ignominy suffered there. Perhaps the conditions would be better if compassion was considered over the austere frugality of local officials and the owners of tenements, unwilling to maintain them. There was a danger from the start, even to live in the buildings. Sarah treats her subjects in a forensic style, with ample facts and citations to back her work. She brought in thoughts about the time from Henry Mayhew who wrote London Labour and the London Poor and the works of Charles Booth who wrote another extensive treatise on the subject of the poor and their needs. I am interested in the book from a writer's standpoint, to understand the times and people. I think she succeeds in her premise. I look forward to see what she will do in the future. It is an interesting read for anyone who cares about the poor and what to do about them. the conditions now aren't so far removed from that time, and people are people, no matter what time they fill. The more I understand them, the more I understand myself. Isn't that what we all should be about?

Dennis Haley
Chico, California

Sarah Wise's "The Blackest Streets: The Life and Death of a Victorian Slum" is a fantastic read, well-researched, and well-organized. This is a complex topic, with facets one might not link to the issues faced by the poor of the Old Nicol slum. This book is for anyone, really; the casual history buff, the genealogist, the Londoner, and the professional historian.

Sarah Wise's book addresses the poverty in the Bethnal Green slum, now known as the Boundary Estate. While the level of poverty was shocking, the author's attitude is upbeat: The community developed a durable social fabric, and people found enjoyment in life despite their poverty. Simply put, they endured the unendurable.

Three individuals receive detailed attention: A great deal of historical information exists about a man named Arthur Harding (1886-1981) who grew up in this slum and became a career criminal. Charles Booth (1840-1916) was a philanthropist best known for his color-coded maps showing patterns of poverty. "Father" Arthur Osborne Jay (1858-1945) was an Anglican clergyman-activist who receives an inordinate emphasis of about forty pages.

This book is as much about the reformers as it is about the poor themselves. For many affluent people, charity work was something of a lark -- a way for do-gooders to salve their conscience without really making a material difference. (Has that ever changed?) For Charles Booth and Father Jay, whose dedication was far more serious, their proposals for reform are downright scary. Both men proposed that the poorest people be sent to sex-segregated work camps for the rest of their lives, where they would die without passing their bad genes to a new generation. Such proposed "reforms" have a fascist tone to them, and yet these were the ideas emanating from sincere reformers on the Left. Those on the Right simply didn't care.

Eventually the area became the site of one of the earliest government-funded housing projects, but the apartments were too expensive for the neighborhood's inhabitants, who moved on to adjoining slum areas. This book has approximately forty photos or drawings, and two color maps from the period.