whitechapel - historical context

Question 1

what section of the 1829 met police were in charge of white chapel

Answer 1

H division

Question 2

beat constable

Answer 2

Constables who patrolled a set route to deter criminals from committing crimes.

Question 3

1878 CID

Answer 3

Criminal Investigations Department - set up in 1878 and was separate from the rest of the police. Quite ineffective at first.

Question 4

charles warren (1886-1888)

Answer 4

Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police between 1886 and 1888

Question 5

1887 bloody sunday

Answer 5

A protest in Trafalgar Square when Sir Charles Warren (1886-1888) deployed 1000 men from the army along with the police. many lives were lost

Question 6

2 examples of poor sanitation in whitechapel

Answer 6

Pollution from coal and gas fumes which caused a smog which severely disrupted visibility and breathing.

Poor sewage and unreliable drinking water that could cause typhus and cholera.

Question 7

what were lodging and doss houses

Answer 7

Where homeless people could sleep in 8 hour-shifts. UNHYGENIC. 200 HOUSES FOR 8,000 PEOPLE.

Question 8

What did the 1871 census say about Flower and Dean street?

Answer 8

902 lodgers in 31 doss houses.

Question 9

What were the conditions like on flower and dean street?

Answer 9

Narrow yards, dilapidated (run down) houses, cramped rooms, poor sewage.

Question 10

What were the crime rates like on flower and dean street?

Answer 10

High rate of theft, prostitution and violent crimes.

Question 11

What was the Peabody estate?

Answer 11

George Peabody funded clearance and created 286 flats. Rent only 3-6 shillings. Average income 22 shillings.

Question 12

What did the houses of the working class act do?

Answer 12

The Houses of the Working Classes Act, 1890 sought to replace slums

extra-
opened way for new London county council to begin housing development schemes to replace slums with mass low cost housing

Question 13

in 1881 how many people lived in how many houses

Answer 13

In 1881, Whitechapel’s 30,709 people lived in 4,069 houses - on average 7.5 in
each

Question 14

two issues with lodging houses

Answer 14

 Terrible unhygienic conditions including heat, rats and shared beds
(dirty, unhygienic bedding, etc.);

 200 lodging houses catering for 8,000 people.

Question 15

what was flower and dean street

Answer 15

Flower and Dean Street was one of the most overcrowded streets in Whitechapel; it had 31 lodging houses on one road. It was a place known to be frequented by criminals, prostitutes, and even Jack the Ripper

Question 16

what did the 1871 board of works report say about Whitechapel

Answer 16

1871 Board of Works Report: 38 houses, 143 rooms, 298 people including
evidence of overcrowding and buildings in dilapidated condition

Question 17

state 2 details of flower and dean street

Answer 17

Narrow yards, dilapidated houses, very cramped rooms, poor sewerage.

Terrible reputation for prostitution, thieves and violent crime.

Question 18

what did the 1875 Artisan’s Dwellings Act do

Answer 18

encouraged slum clearance.

Question 19

when were peabody estates built

Answer 19

1881, George Peabody funded slum clearance and the creation of 286 flats
in the Peabody Estate

Question 20

how much did a peabody estate cost

Answer 20

Rents were from 3 to 6 shillings for 1 and 3-room flats respectively (average
labourer income was 22 shillings

Question 21

when was the artisans dwellings act

Answer 21

1875

Question 22

when was The Houses of the Working Classes Act

Answer 22

1890

Question 23

what act in 1890 sought to replace the slums

Answer 23

The Houses of the Working Classes Act, 1890 sought to replace slums

Question 24

what act in 1875 encouraged slum clearance

Answer 24

the 1875 Artisan’s Dwellings Act

Question 25

what was the 1890 public health amendment act

Answer 25

The Public Health Amendment Act, 1890 aimed to improve sewerage and rubbish
collection

Question 26

when was the public health amendment act

Answer 26

1890

Question 27

what act in 1890 aimed to improve sewerage and rubbish collection

Answer 27

The Public Health Amendment Act, 1890 aimed to improve sewerage and rubbish
collection

Question 28

what were the two mail types of work in whitechapel

Answer 28

Much of the work in Whitechapel was casual or sweated labour:

Question 29

what was casual labour

Answer 29

Much of the work in Whitechapel was casual or sweated labour:

 Casual labour – such as in the docks or in construction – meant that workers
were employed a day at a time: no job or income security;

Question 30

what was sweated labour

Answer 30

Much of the work in Whitechapel was casual or sweated labour:

 Sweated labour meant work in cramped, dusty and unhealthy “sweatshops”
for low wages in “sweated trades”, e.g. tailoring, dress and shoe making.

Question 31

what were workhouses

Answer 31

Workhouses were large buildings where poor people who had no home or job lived. People would do jobs around the workhouse in order to stay there to have a roof over their heads.

o Conditions were deliberately made worse than those of labourers to keep costs
down and to dissuade people from using them;

many people saw them as a last resort

Question 32

what type of people usually stayed at workhouses

Answer 32

Inmates included the poor, old, sick, disabled, orphans, and unmarried mothers and
their child(ren);

Question 33

3 features of life in the workhouses

Answer 33

 Families – men, women and children – separated and forbidden from
communicating;

 Inmates wore a uniform; were expected to do tough manual labour;
received monotonous food; enjoyed little or no privacy including sleeping in
soulless dormitories.

o Vagrants – who stayed only one or two nights – were considered lazy and a bad
influence, and were kept separately

Question 34

when did thomas barnardo open his first orphanage

Answer 34

In 1870 Dr Thomas Barnardo set up his first orphanage

Question 35

how many barnardo homes were there by 1905? how many people were in them

Answer 35

By 1905, there were 100 Barnardo homes caring for 8,500 orphans.

Question 36

what were the ophanages called (1870)

Answer 36

barnardo homes

Question 37

who made the orphanages (1870)

Answer 37

thomas barnardo

Question 38

who were the two main groups of immigrants in whitechapel

Answer 38

the Irish and eastern European Jews

Question 39

irish stereotypes

Answer 39

The Irish had a reputation for drunkenness and violence;

 The Irish terrorist group, the Fenians, were involved in a series of
incidents from the 1860s to the 1880s and gained for the Irish a
further reputation as violent fanatics.

Question 40

jewish stereotypes

Answer 40

Jewish immigrants were unpopular for their business success and
business practices such as running sweatshops, paying low
wages and, therefore, being able to undercut British businesses;

 The Jews were also unpopular due to their supposed link to
radical socialist and anarchist political groups.

Question 41

how were jewish and irish immigrants treated

Answer 41

hostilely

Question 42

what were the two revolutionary political groups

Answer 42

anarchism and socialism

Question 43

what was anarchism and why was the government concerned

Answer 43

Anarchists wanted a revolution in which all laws and authority
would be swept away.

they were feared by the government due to the large amount of support they had (briefly took over france)

Question 44

what was socialism and why was the government concerned

Answer 44

Socialists wanted to bring down the existing capitalist system;

 There was evidence of growing working-class support – led by
parties such as the Social Democratic Federation - which
the authorities saw as dangerous;

Question 45

who was charles booth

Answer 45

Charles Booth’s map of Whitechapel showed that there was a great disparity of wealth in
Whitechapel. Some areas were very poor, others were relatively wealthy.