Thursday, June 27, 2013

The Dark Side of Edwardian England

From the Daily Mail:
The historical discovery was unearthed by family-tree website ancestry.co.uk. A spokesman said: 'In order to enforce the 1902 Sale of Liquor to Habitual Drunkard’s Licensing Act, the Watch Committee of the City of Birmingham provided licensed liquor sellers and clubs with photos and descriptions of people deemed "habitual drunkards", who were not to be sold liquor.  

'The 82 persons in the book were convicted of drunkenness between 1903 and 1906, typically at the Birmingham City Police Court.' Many of the women featured on the list bore physical deformities and tattoos, which would have marked them out from respectable Edwardian society. However, most of them managed to hold down jobs, working as charwomen, wood-choppers, polishers or grease merchants. (Read entire article.)
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