London - Urban explorers and commentators

The East End and urban poverty

Introduction

English journalist, novelist, poet, and dramatist George Robert Sims was born in Kennington, south London, in 1847. His lively and satirical style helped draw attention to the plight of the poor in London’s slums. How the Poor Live, published in 1883, mimics the popular style of travel or missionary literature to reveal a less salubrious side to Victorian society. Sims died in London in 1922. Sims also wrote on social ills such as the white slave trade and the abuse of children, as well as campaigning for the opening of museums and galleries on Sundays. More problematically for his progressive contemporaries, he also argued that the lower middle-classes were overtaxed in a social order that saw them caught between the state, big business, and organized labour.

Please select below to view scanned pages from 'How the Poor Live':

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