Rookeries of London

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By Listen TheBook Posted on May 31, 2023

In Category - *Non-fiction, Modern (19th C)

Authors: Thomas Beames In Year : 1850

Book Language: English

Audiobook: Rookeries of London

Preface & Section 1
Section 2
Section 3
Section 4
Section 5
Section 6 Part 1
Section 6 Part 2
Section 7
Section 8
Section 9
Section 10
Section 11
Section 12
Section 13
Section 14
Section 15
Section 16
Section 17
Section 18
Section 19
Section 20
Section 21
Section 22
Section 23
Section 24
Section 25
Section 26
Section 27
Section 28
Postscript

Rev. Thomas Beames (1815 – 1864) was a preacher at St. James, Westminster in London. He compiled his own eye-witness accounts of the most notorious of the slum areas, the Rookeries. In this essay, he passionately discusses the effects of poverty and the mistreatment of the poor and working classes. Much of what he says is still valid today; for example, in discussing over-population and emigration, he mentions the mis-use of land in Britain: "... large tracts of land, such as in Derbyshire, seem only valuable as grouse preserves. Such as in Scotland are parcelled out in deer forests, and the like . When the population is so superabundant, these things should not be ; it savours too much of feudal times, and in the neighbourhood of these hunting grounds, game laws are rigidly enforced ..." The author has added an interesting postscript about the effects of the Great Fire of London.(Summary by Peter Yearsley.)

Note: Section 7 of the recording consists only of some tables of data with regard to the use of public baths and laundries.