Victorian Britain was filled with hazardous things. Things that will make your skin crawl. Let’s do the Not-So-Romantic Blog thing and look at the most dangerous Victorian jobs.
Table of Contents
Now I’ve started researching dangerous jobs, I think I’m going to branch out to make this a “dangerous and disgusting” jobs blog. I’ll keep the title as dangerous as it’s more clickbaity… mwhaha.
Chimney Sweep
Let’s kick things off with a dangerous job you’ll probably be aware of. The chimney sweep.
The chimney sweep was a job for young children… some as young as just four years old! They had no safety equipment and weren’t even paid well. They have to crawl up the inside of a chimney to clear it of soot and ash.
They’d be at risk of permanent lung damage, getting stuck, infection, broken bones, bruises, cuts… oh, and some entitled homeowners would sometimes light a fire under the chimney sweeps so they would do the job quicker.
Tosher
I’m going to go out on a limp and say that this might actually be the worst job I’ve discovered during my research. This one is not for those with a weak stomach. If you’ve just eaten… maybe skip this bit and come back in an hour or so.
A Tosher was someone who went into the sewers – quite often in London- and rummaged through the raw sewage looking for valuables. The sewers would be filled with… well poo, and dangerous tunnels that could collapse at any moment, rats, poisonous fumes and out-of-nowhere waves of fresh sewage… also known as a poo wave.
Did I mention they didn’t have any safety equipment?
If you want to make the job sound slightly cooler, you could call it a sewer hunter- but I’m not sure that’s going to help.
There were other alternatives to the Tosher job, there was a Mudlark who travelled down the banks of rivers looking for valuables. Which one would you prefer?
Pure Finding
On the topic of poo. Another not-so-pleasant job was that of the pure finder. The good news about this job is that you wouldn’t have to go into the sewers and could enjoy the fresh air whilst you worked.
This job involved going around and picking up people’s dog poo. I’m hoping they did this with a shovel rather than their bare hands.
You’d then take this dog poo and sell it to the leather tanners who used the poo to make the tough leather more flexible. Yes, those shops would have stunk. Maybe the tanner job should be on this list as well.
Piercer
Piercers may sound like people who gave ear piercings but they were actually young children who worked in the textile factories where they’d make clothes and other such things that needed cotton. Textile production was one of the main kickstarters of the Industrial Revolution.
In this incredibly dangerous Victorian job. Young children – around 9 years old- would be responsible for fixing broken threads by tying the two broken ends back together. This meant getting extremely up close and personal with the huge machines that were used in the factories.
This meant they were likely to get their body parts cut off- particularly fingers as the machines wouldn’t be turned off whilst they tied the thread back together.
Leech Collector
When it came to Victorian doctors, leeches were never far away from some sort of medical treatment. These leeches didn’t just appear in their jars… someone had to collect them.
To collect them poor workers would have to wade through dirty ponds. As they did leeches would attach themselves to their legs. The workers would then peel them off and pop them into jars to be sent to the doctors.
What’s the risk? Just infectious disease from the dirty ponds and blood loss as the leeches would do a great vampire impression and “suck your blood”
Rat Catcher
Rats were a major issue for everyone in Victorian Britain. Queen Victoria actually employed a rat catcher called Jack Black to keep her palaces free of rats.
A rat catcher would come and fix people’s rat problems. They would also be bitten by the rats and would catch all sorts of diseases… would it not just be easier to get a cat?
Matchstick Maker
A matchstick maker is a job that is exactly what it sounds like. Someone who makes matchsticks. This job was mostly reserved for teenage girls.
They’d occasionally have to work 14-hour days, chopping the wood into thin sticks that you’d expect a matchstick to look like. I bet you’re wondering why this Victorian job was so dangerous… don’t worry, I’m getting to it.
The ends of the matches would need to be dipped into the highly toxic phosphorous. This stuff can eventually make your jawbone rot away if top-notch safety isn’t observed… which it wasn’t. They called it “Phossy jaw”.
What to read next
Hopefully, you’ve enjoyed this Not-So-Romantic Blog… which for a change I think was actually not very romantic. If you would like to keep reading, then here are some more I think you’ll like as well.
Let me know in the comments which Victorian job you’d like!