{"id":4680,"date":"2019-07-22T16:24:28","date_gmt":"2019-07-22T15:24:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/?p=4680"},"modified":"2025-09-23T15:18:02","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T14:18:02","slug":"6-dreadful-jobs-in-victorian-london","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/blog\/6-dreadful-jobs-in-victorian-london\/","title":{"rendered":"6 dreadful jobs in Victorian London"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>How often do you complain about your desk job? Long hours, lost weekends, boredom, and stress can take their toll. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But before you think your career is so bad, you should take a moment to think about how the working-class labourers of Victorian London used to make a living.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From the disgusting to the downright dangerous, here are <strong>some of the worst jobs you might have had if you were born just over a century ago:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Pure Finder<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tosher<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Leech Collector<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Matchstick Maker<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Chimney Sweep<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hysteria Doctor<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Don&#8217;t worry; we won&#8217;t make you try them out on any of our <a href=\"https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/tours\/london-tours\/?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=article&amp;utm_campaign=dreadful_jobs_victorian_london\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">London tours<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Pure Finder<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/teachers.ucsc.edu\/files\/2019\/03\/24-1dev840.jpg\" alt=\"\" style=\"width:418px;height:620px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/teachers.ucsc.edu\/project\/great-expectations-slides\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">UCSC<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Walk your dog in the streets of Victorian London, and you\u2019ll be expected to pick up its mess. Going back to the Victorian era, though, you could\u2019ve made some money in the process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pure finders used to meander the dirty streets of 19th-century London, scooping up dog poo to sell to leather tanners. It might not have been the most hygienic way to survive, but living is a living!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tosher<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/2\/23\/The_Sewer-hunter_or_%E2%80%98Tosher%E2%80%99%2C_1851.jpg\" alt=\"\" style=\"width:497px;height:651px\"\/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>If picking up dog mess all day makes you feel squeamish, you\u2019re probably not going to like the sound of this career. Toshers earned a living by sifting through raw sewage for valuable items in London\u2019s sewer network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The job was just as dangerous as it was disgusting \u2013 rats, noxious fumes, crumbling tunnels and sudden tides of filthy water were all threats to toshers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Leech Collector<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/iiif.wellcomecollection.org\/image\/L0005159.jpg\/full\/800%2C\/0\/default.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong>Source:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/wellcomecollection.org\/works\/rkwqm294?wellcomeImagesUrl=\/indexplus\/image\/L0005159.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wellcome Collection<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Leeches were a useful commodity for doctors in Victorian London. Our quacks used leeches to treat ailments ranging from \u2018hysteria\u2019 to headaches. Useful or not, the leeches had to be collected by somebody, and the job usually fell to poor countrywomen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These poor souls would wade through dirty ponds hoping that the critters would latch onto their legs. Then, the lucky employees would prise them off and store them in a pot. Infectious diseases and excess blood loss were serious dangers to leech collectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Matchstick Makers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You can probably hazard a guess at what a matchstick maker did. It\u2019s how they did it that made the job truly terrible. Matchstick makers were usually teenage girls. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They cut the wood into thin sticks and dip the ends into highly toxic phosphorus. If ingested, phosphorus can lead to an awful condition called <em>\u2018phossy jaw&#8217;<\/em>, which eventually causes the jawbone to rot away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many of these girls worked 12 to 16 hours daily with few breaks. How do you feel about your 40-hour work week now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Chimney Sweep<\/h2>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/8\/80\/Bub_und_Meister.JPG\/800px-Bub_und_Meister.JPG\" alt=\"\" style=\"width:479px;height:651px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Chimney_sweep\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Wikipedia<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Chimney sweeping was usually reserved for small children to climb up the chimneys of London. Some workers were ten years old, but many were as young as four. The poor children often developed calluses on their elbows and knees. Some suffered from irreversible lung damage after inhaling dust and smoke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rumour has it that some cruel bosses would force unwilling kids up chimneys by lighting a fire underneath them. Think about that the next time you\u2019re getting grilled at work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Hysteria Doctor<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The UK changed dramatically during the Victorian era. Unfortunately, the equal rights movement was still nowhere in sight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2018Difficult\u2019 women were often diagnosed with \u2018hysteria,\u2019 which isn\u2019t a real ailment. In many cases, doctors used lurid machines and devices to \u2018cure\u2019 hysterical women while ensuring they didn\u2019t enjoy themselves too much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Join us on one of our <a href=\"https:\/\/evanevanstours.com\/tours\/london-tours\/?utm_source=blog&amp;utm_medium=article&amp;utm_campaign=dreadful_jobs_victorian_london\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">fascinating London tours<\/a> to learn more fascinating and bizarre facts about London&#8217;s history. Our expert guides will tell you all about the weird and wonderful world of London through the ages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Take a moment to think about how the working-class labourers of Victorian London used to make a living&#8230; we tell you all about the most dreadful jobs in this era!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4682,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1330,1329,1836],"tags":[781,778,1128,1129],"class_list":{"0":"post-4680","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-british-culture","8":"category-british-history","9":"category-london-history","10":"tag-british-culture","11":"tag-british-history","12":"tag-british-jobs","13":"tag-british-workforce"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>6 dreadful jobs in Victorian London | Evan Evans Tours<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Fed up with the 9 to 5? 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