Coffins and a twopenny suspension or where the homeless British slept

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

The problem of homelessness has been relevant at all times and in all countries. Only this issue was solved differently everywhere. Today, there are special shelters where people without a fixed place of residence can spend the night or eat, and earlier this could only be dreamed of. For example, in England of the XIX century, where the needy had a very hard time.

How the first shelters appeared and in what conditions the homeless spent the night.

Reasons for Homelessness in Victorian England

Queen Victoria's reign fell on the years 1837-1901. It was during this period that Great Britain became the first country where the industrial revolution took place. However, industrialization has brought not only positive changes, but also influenced the growth of the number of homeless people. To expand the railway, residential areas had to be demolished.

In London, the number of houses decreased and people had to move to other areas. Due to overpopulation, rental housing rose sharply, which was far from affordable for everyone. In addition, the number of jobs in the country began to decline, so more and more people moved to London, further exacerbating the situation. Yes, the workers found jobs and received salaries, but due to the next rise in prices, some were deprived of the opportunity to pay their bills.

Where the homeless slept

Until the middle of the 19th century, the authorities diligently ignored the problem of the homeless. People who had no housing went to the embankment in search of a place to sleep on a bench. However, London laws prohibited sleeping on the street. The patrol woke up the homeless and drove them out of their places on the pretext that they would not freeze.

In 1865, evangelical cleric William Booth founded the Christian Revival Association (later renamed The Salvation Army). The charitable organization, which still exists today, was the first place where the homeless were provided with a safe night in a warm place. At first, institutions were opened in London, and then in other cities of Great Britain. However, there was one "but": the shelters were paid and, by the standards of the homeless, they cost a fortune. Everything depended on what means the guest had.

Shelter rates

1. Services for 1 penny

For 1 penny, a person was fed a small slice of bread and tea, and was also allowed to sit in a warm room. However, sleeping on a bench or anywhere else was prohibited. The employees of the shelter strictly tracked the guilty ones, immediately woke them up and drove them out. Translated into modern money, 1 penny equals 60 cents or 44 rubles.

2. "Rope Beds" for 2p

For 2pence, the homeless were allowed to rest on a special suspension. People were seated on a long bench, and in front of them a strong rope was pulled to hang on it and sleep. It is difficult to judge whether it was possible to sleep well on such a suspension, but there were no other options. Someone tried to adapt a folded jacket or coat as a pillow, but often the homeless slept while standing or sitting, leaning over such a dubious "support". At 5 in the morning, an employee of the orphanage entered the room, waking people up and driving them out into the street.

By the way, there is a false assumption that the English word hangover, that is, hangover, is formed from the expression hang over in the meaning to hang. Allegedly, it was from the "rope beds" that the word, painfully familiar to many Englishmen, originated. But it turned out to be a fake, since hangover has a completely different story.

3. "Coffins" for 4p

The orphanage was popularly called the "fourpence coffin" because the bedrooms had beds that resembled oblong boxes for the dead. For this payment, the homeless were fed, given "coffins" and tarpaulins to hide. It was hard and cold to sleep in such conditions, plus bugs were teeming in the boxes. However, compared to the 2p 'hanging beds' this was a luxury option. At least here you could lie flat and sleep at least a little without fear of freezing, getting wet or falling.

4. Shelters for the "rich"

The lucky ones who managed to collect 7p were able to spend the night in a real bed. Narrow, with an incredibly hard mattress and a thin wrap instead of a blanket, but a bed. And for a shilling (12 pence, equal to 7 dollars or 500 rubles) in the shelters they gave out a "luxury" - a sleeping place - a fenced-off sleeping place, as well as the opportunity to swim in the bathroom.

Such shelters existed for almost 100 years, since only in the middle of the 20th century, Great Britain began to take care of the homeless and provided them with free shelter. And the shelters have ceased to exist.