Working-Class Fashions in London, Early 1800s
An illustrated look at some of the common occupations of London and their apparel c. 1820.
From: 1800 C.E. To: 1820 C.E.
Location: London, England, United Kingdom
London in the Early 1800s
In the early 1800s, London sat at the center of what would become the largest empire in world history. Despite the recent loss of 13 colonies to the United States, the British Crown still held sway over modern England, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, Australia, as well as parts of West Africa, the Caribbean, India, and China. These holdings generated immense wealth for England itself, at the expense of millions of colonized people.
But even at home, this prosperity was far from widespread. The city of London, home to over a million souls, was home to both lavish excess and desperate poverty. For the majority of Londoners, life was a constant struggle to secure safe shelter, a stable income, and a decent life to raise a family. Failure could mean a short slide into poverty, public shame, and an early death.
These plates, illustrated by the prolific cartoonist Thomas Lord Busby, capture slices of life for the average working classes of London at this time. Although probably exaggerated in some aspects (Busby was fond of caricature,) they also offer a useful look at what people were doing and what they wore on a daily basis. Regular people, so frequently ignored by those documenting history, often have the most to tell us about a specific place and time.
Best dressed of the bunch is this fireman, already a well established profession in London. After several disastrous fires, European inventors in the 17th century developed rudimentary fire hoses and pumps, which made it possible to save buildings or at least halt the fire’s progress. Firemen already had engines, drawn by horses, though they were not yet a public, regulated service as they are today.
Chimney sweepers, meanwhile, had one of the least enviable jobs in the city. Business was always booming—with every home heated by fire, chimneys were a constant fire hazard. But the work itself meant crawling up a dark, narrow chute to scrub creosote—a difficult and dangerous task. Suffocation, falls, and burns were all common hazards. Often, older sweepers, or master chimney sweeps, hired poor children from workhouses to do this job. Regulations only put a halt to these young workers in 1875.
While boys might end up in the chimneys, poor girls in London didn’t have it much better. Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Match Girl” popularized the image of an impoverished girl selling matches in the street. Young women also worked in matchstick factories, where they were exposed to unsafe chemicals and working conditions. This led to a major strike in 1888, known as the Matchgirls’ Strike.
Of course, life wasn’t abysmal for everyone in London at the time. The city was constantly changing, and for many it offered a better living than rural farming alone. Some came flocking to London as new arrivals, while others lived on its outskirts to bring food and other supplies to its massive market.
All that commerce also required a complex transport system. Draymen were those who drove drays, a type of broad, flat wagon used to carry goods in bulk. They were especially associated with breweries, giving them a reputation for heavy drinking.
Postmen were just as important, ferrying both business and personal letters from around the world.
And, to emphasize an earlier point, life was not all gloom and industry, even during London’s Industrial Revolution. May Day celebrations like the one above highlight some of the more light-hearted events that punctuated the daily grind. As today, London society in the 1800s was a swirling mass of highs and lows, marked by both extreme wealth and poverty but providing at least the basics of a living for most.
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