Constantly at war within itself, Victorian London embodied a stark contrast of housing extreme wealth as well as extreme poverty. Outward signs of this dichotomy can be seen from looking at something as simple as the Thames River, both a flourishing facet of London in terms of transportation and commerce. Frederick Engels in his cry against the rise of industrialization and capitalism The Condition of the Working Class in England in 1844 describes the view of the Thames River as “…so impressive, that a man cannot collect himself, but is lost in the marvel of England’s greatness before he sets foot upon English soil” (Engels). While large factories, warehouses, ships, and wharves inhabited a part of the Thames River, simultaneously there existed huts, homeless populations, and extreme poverty. It was a place of great wealth, but the workers on the Thames were subject to floods, poor wages, and long hours. Richard Jones, esteemed London tour guide notes just the appearance of the Thames serves as a “stark reminder of the deep inequalities that plagued Victorian society” (Jones). A destitute population of workers carrying the burden of a few wealthy is the picture the river painted.

Not only did this marked river carry a wide range of goods and people, but it in and of itself was disjunct. Once described by Charles Dickens as having “tawny lights” and “shimmering stars” the river was severely polluted by sewage and factory waste. It caused a scandal dubbed “The Great Stink” in which members of parliament had to be evacuated due to the rising stench and lack of cleanliness in the river. This later led to the first sewage system established in London. A hotbed of commerce and a symbol of wealth, the Thames River served as a reminder of the economic gains of the industrial revolution as well as the cost of sanitation, the pains of the working class, and overall great divide in Victorian London.

Article: Jones, Richard. “The 19th Century River Thames.”

Image: 

Caricature: Faraday Giving His Card to Father Thames. “And We Hope the Dirty Fellow Will Consult the Learned Professor.” Wellcome Collection, JSTOR, https://jstor.org/stable/community.24801758. Accessed 8 Sept. 2023.

Additional Articles/ Books: 

Allen, Michelle Elizabeth. Cleansing the City : Sanitary Geographies in Victorian London. Ohio University Press, 2008.

Doran, Susan, et al. Royal River : Power, Pageantry and the Thames. Scala Books with the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, 2012.

Russell, Malcolm, and Matthew Williams-Ellis. Mudlark'd. : Hidden Histories from the River Thames. Princeton University Press, 2022

 Mentor Text: 

ENGELS, FREDERICK. Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844. DOUBLE 9 BOOKS, 2023.