Money in the east end.

[madcyryl]

Thanks for the info, I agree with your thoughts limehouse regarding the short life expectancy and living conditions. Who would have dared deny them a drink!

[Limehouse]

Hi Madcyryl,

Many east end workers were casual labourers and not in regular work. For example, they may have secured a few days work at the docks by turning up early each day and being selected for work. Others found casual work in the street markets or the sweatshops and slaughter houses. Others were hawkers of various sorts.

There are some wonderful descriptions of east end workers and the pay they earned in Henry Mayhews London Labour and the London Poor. Mayhew goes into great detail concerning the work people did, how much they earned, how much they spent on rent, food and drink, the language they spoke and other interesting information.

I suppose some of the reasons why poor east enders drank, used protitutes and spent their money as they earned it was that they realised life really was 'nasty, brutish and short' (Tom Paine? Or was it Hobbs?). As Rumbelow points out, labouring work was hard and made men build up a hunger and a thirst so the money didn't last long. Poor people often died young so there prevailed an attitude of 'live now and enjoy what you can'. Most of them realised their position was hopeless - they were born poor and were likely to remain poor - why not blot it all out with a few tots of gin?

[cappuccina]

http://www.victorianlondon.org/finance/money.htm

[madcyryl]

Does anyone have an idea how much the average worker in the east end would have been earning? I'm thinking of a general laborer, It would also be interesting to know how much the average drink would have cost in the pub?

I am asking this as quite a few of the locals at the time of the killings (although subject to terrible poverty and living conditions) seemed to find the money to have a good drink and presumably find money for lodgings.
I would imagine that most of the locals living in and around the slums lived hand to mouth on a daily basis but always seemed to have a bit of cash for drinking and dare i say, the odd prostitute (judging by the large number of whores)
I can fully understand why they would turn to drink looking at the conditions!