How dangerous was Victorian London?

Victorian Britain: An Encyclopaedia. Ed. Sally Mitchell. New York and London: Garland, 1988. 435-38. Walkowitz, Judith R. City of Dreadful Delight: Narratives of Sexual Danger in Late-Victorian London. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992. White, Jerry. read more

Assuming you’re referring to violent crime, then for rich and poor alike, Victorian London was generally more dangerous than present day London. read more

London has ceased to be a city which one can traverse at night with mind at rest and the hands in the pockets" (329). As Charles Dickens Jr's advice suggests, home wasn't much of a refuge either, with large rises in housebreaking recorded towards the end of the century (White 335). read more

But not everything was wonderful during the Victorian Era. There were also many dangers Victorians faced and among these dangers were ship travel, crinoline, boracic acid, hydrophobia, and the air. Emigrant Ship, Author’s Collection. Ship travel was dangerous for emigrants who were poor and primarily English, Irish, or Scottish. read more