Victorian Drunkeness

[Richard]

I was investigating today my 4xgreat grandads trade, coal whipper. Apparantly this profession had a notoriously high rate of drunkeness, because the conditions, the heat and coal dust on the throat, meant the men had to constantly drink beer to stave off dehydration and exhaustion, apparantly they were not alowed water due to cholera, and were actually paid a portion of their wages in beer.

Anyway I came across this table drawn up by Henry Mayhew in 1881 of 'Average levels of drunkeness, in the different trades in London' compiled from "official returns of the Metropolitan Police".




Button makers, (1 individual in every) 7.2
Tool-makers 10.1
Surveyors 11.8
Paper makers and stainers 12.1
Brass-founders 12.4
Gold-beaters 14.5
Millers 16.6
French-polishers 17.3
Cutlers 18.2
Cork-cutters 19.7
Musicians 22.0
Opticians 22.3
Bricklayers 22.6
Labourers 22.8
Gen. & mar.store-dealers 23.2
Brush-makers 24.4
Fishmongers 28.2
Coach and cabmen 28.7
Glovers 29.4
Smiths 29.5
Sweeps 32.2
Hairdressers 42.3
Tailors 43.7
Tinkers and tinmen 45.7
Saddlers 49.3
Masons 49.6
Glassmakers, &c. 50.5
Curriers 50.6
Printers 52.4
Hatters and trimmers 53.1
Carpenters 53.8
Ironmongers 56.0
Dyers 56.7
Sawyers 58.4
Engineers 59.7
Turners 59.3
Butchers 63.7
Laundresses 63.8
Painters 66.l
Brokers 67.7
Medical men 68.0
Brewers 70.2
Clerks 73.4
Shopkeepers 71.1
Shoemakers 78.0
Coachmakers 78.8
Milliners 81.4
Bakers 82.0
Pawnbrokers 84.7
Gardeners 97.6
Weavers 99.3
Drapers 102.3
Tobacconists 103.4
Jewellers 104.5
Artists 106.3
Publicans 108.0

Average 113.8


(Below the Average Drunkenness)
Carvers and gilders 125.2
Artificial flower-makers 128.1
Bookbinders 148.6
Greengrocers 157.4
Watchmakers 204.2
Grocers 226.6
Clockmakers 286.0
Parish officers 373.0
Clergymen 417.0
Servants 585.7

It's quite an eye opener isn't it, especially surveyors and tool makers being so high up and well above even the labourers, its a wonder any Victorian building in London is still standing!

[Phoenix]

I'm impressed there was so little drunkenness amongst brewers and publicans.

I wonder who collected the statistics and how?

[Richard]

Pheonix it is from the Met Police so should be reliable (my first thoughts was there must be some mistake, sober publicans and drunken surveyors! lol). Mayhew declined to comment on the possible reasons behind the statistics preferring to leave others to speculate as to that. What I did find interesting was despite the drunkeness in my 4xg grandfathers trade, some of the men had taken the pledge, and would drink cold tea instead, but most of the others believed that if you didn't drink beer whilst hauling coal it was actually dangerous enough to cause death...bizarre, different times and all that!

[Merry Monty Montgomery]

I wonder if it was this Henry Mayhew who tabulated the figures from the Met?

John H.E. CLUTTERBUCK Head M 52 Decorator b Nailsworth, Gloucester
Grace CLUTTERBUCK Wife M 51 b Devon
Susannah CLUTTERBUCK Daur 14 Dressmaker b Marylebone, Middlesex
Alexander MCCOURT Lodg U 23 Printer Compositor b Scotland
Edward L. GRIFFIN Lodg U 24 Officer Mercantile Marine b Gt Easton, Leicester
Henry MAYHEW Lodg W 69 Journalist b Westminster, Middlesex <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Francis BUTLER Lodg U 48 Bankers Clerk b Romford, Essex
Fanny BROWN Lodg U 34 Surveyor b London, Middlesex
Lizzie AOZER Lodger U 37 Dressmaker b Braintree, Essex
Mary SIRKET Serv U 17 Household Servant St Pancras, Middlesex

Living at 37 Store St, St Giles in the Fields, London.

[keldon]

Certainly was that Henry Mayhew. Here’s more of the article.
The curiosities of drunkenness (1881)

I enjoy Henry Mayhew, especially his 'London Labour and the London Poor'. Well worth a read if you're interested in social history and how some of our ancestors may have lived.
Henry Mayhew - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

London Labour and the London Poor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Merry Monty Montgomery]

That's very interesting, Phil, thanks

[Little Nell]

Until we had clean water supplies, drinking unboiled water was a great risk. Cholera was only one of the many water-borne diseases that could be caught.

"Small beer" was weak beer drunk by everyone (including children) for centuries. This "lager lout/binge drinking culture" everyone goes on about isn't anything new.

Hogarth's drawings of "Gin Lane" are an example of how drunkenness was rife in times of cheap gin and the slogan was "drunk for a ha'penny, dead drunk for tuppence, straw free".

Many working class men (and women) faced arduous physical labour that we can't imagine today. Drink was a way to anaesthetise physical and emotional pain, to relax and to socialise.

[Jean and Tonic]

I can't see any farmers in the list ...... one of mine fell off his horse and cart and was killed when his horse trampled him, the newspaper report said 'worse for liquor' ......... and his family were Quakers .......???.
Jean

[Val and George]

Thanks Phil, that is an interesting addition for family historians.
I love Henry Mayhew's observations and keep his website in my favourites so I can often refer to it. Hadn't come across that info before though. Makes you think hey?
Val

[jenoco]

Thanks Phil, that's very interesting. I have a "coal whipper" on my tree and not surprisingly I suppose, he died at a relatively young age.

[Merry Monty Montgomery]

I can't see any farmers in the list ...... one of mine fell off his horse and cart and was killed when his horse trampled him, the newspaper report said 'worse for liquor' ......... and his family were Quakers .......???.
Jean

Jean, I have a Quaker in my tree who fell from his horse the worse for drink and was killed from a head injury. The newspaper report also mentioned it was only 10am! lol

[keldon]

Re Mayhew. Here's my favourite one: Jack Black, Her Majesty the Queen's rat catcher and mole destroyer.
London Labour and the London Poor: A ... - Google Book Search

[Kit]

Publicans wouldn't have had that much to drink, it would be drinking their profits.