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Where the Poor Live

Where the Poor Live.jpg The Old Lychgate, PenshurstThumbnailsHackney Coaches in London, 1637The Old Lychgate, PenshurstThumbnailsHackney Coaches in London, 1637The Old Lychgate, PenshurstThumbnailsHackney Coaches in London, 1637The Old Lychgate, PenshurstThumbnailsHackney Coaches in London, 1637The Old Lychgate, PenshurstThumbnailsHackney Coaches in London, 1637The Old Lychgate, PenshurstThumbnailsHackney Coaches in London, 1637The Old Lychgate, PenshurstThumbnailsHackney Coaches in London, 1637

The presence of aliens and their competition also lowers the already sufficiently low rate of wages. Houses, therefore, in these localities—once tenanted by a single family—are let off at exorbitant rates to as many as can be crammed into them. Lucky, indeed, is the married labourer who can anywhere secure a single room for{281} 4s. to 6s. a week. And such a room! No means of preparing a real meal, the family fare generally consisting of tea, “two-eyed steaks” (herrings), and a “couple of doorsteps” (two slices of bread) per head.