View report page

49
no money. While the family were in these straits, "the lady in
the room underneath went hopping," and allowed the mother to
pawn her husband's 2 best shirts for 4s. 3d. on condition that the
mother redeemed them within 4 weeks when the hopping ceased.
The mother bought for dinner mutton pieces 2d., potatoes 2d.,
green peas 2d., to do for the parents and their six children.
2. The baby was 3 months old and clothed in a cotton shirt, a
flannel binder, and a cotton frock. There were 2 other children.
The family occupied 2 rooms. The mother and the baby were
found in the rain wet through. She had been pawning some of
the baby's clothes. The tenement was almost bare. One room
contained only an old wooden box. The other room had a double
bed in which the father, mother, and the children slept. This
bed was verminous, dirty, and soaked with urine. The cupboards
were empty. This room had a table made up of 2 boxes placed
one on top of the other. There were no chairs.
3. The baby was 13 weeks old and the ninth child. All the
children were living. The family occupied three very small rooms.
The baby was well cared lor, fat and breast-fed. The home was
clean but overcrowded. The father, mother, baby and a child 15
months slept in one bed in a very small room. Five girls, the
eldest of whom was 15 years, slept in one bed in another small
room. Two boys slept in the kitchen. The father was a packer.
The mother made watchbags at home. Two girls were working
and earned 6s. and 4s. per week respectively.
4. The baby was 6 weeks old and the fifth child. All the
children were living. The family occupied two rooms. The baby
had bronchitis. The father was a porter earning 18s. a week and
gave the mother 16s. The weekly rent was 4s. 6d. The family
really lived in what had been one room, but from which ore their
arrival a second small room had been partitioned off. This small
room was six feet long and six feet broad, and contained a bed in
which the three eldest children slept. It had no firepiace and one
small window, with a superficial area of one square foot, as the
only means of ventilation.