London Labour and the London Poor

work by Mayhew

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June 30, 2026

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Henry Mayhew was an English journalist and sociologist, best known for his work London Labour and the London Poor. This four-volume series, published between 1851 and 1862, was based on letters he wrote to the London Morning Chronicle detailing the lives of the city's working class and poor. Mayhew's vivid reporting captured the sights and sounds of London, influencing writers like Charles Dickens. His work provided a detailed social and economic analysis of the era, offering trustworthy information on the significant social issues of the time.1

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Henry Mayhew
…voluminous writer best known for London Labour and the London Poor, 4 vol. (1851–62). His evocation of the sights and sounds of London in this work influenced Charles Dickens and other writers.
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…voluminous writer best known for London Labour and the London Poor, 4 vol. (1851–62). His evocation of the sights and sounds of London in this work influenced Charles Dickens and other writers.
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history of photography
Social documentation
…by Henry Mayhew in 1851, London Labour and the London Poor, although this was illustrated with drawings partly copied from daguerreotypes by Richard Beard and not actual photos. A later effort, Street Life in London (1877), by Adolphe Smith and John Thomson, included facsimile reproductions of Thomson’s photographs and produced…
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…by Henry Mayhew in 1851, London Labour and the London Poor, although this was illustrated with drawings partly copied from daguerreotypes by Richard Beard and not actual photos. A later effort, Street Life in London (1877), by Adolphe Smith and John Thomson, included facsimile reproductions of Thomson’s photographs and produced…
Read More