Books and reading -- Great Britain; Conduct of life; Social problems; Women
An inquiry was held on Friday by Mr. Richards, deputy coroner, at the
White Horse Tavern, Christ Church, Spitalfields, respecting the death
of Michael Collins, aged 58 years. Mary Collins, a miserable-looking
woman, said that she lived with the deceased and his son in a room at
2, Cobb’s Court, Christ Church. Deceased was a “translator” of
boots. Witness went out and bought old boots; deceased and his son
made them into good ones, and then witness sold them for what she
could get at the shops, which was very little indeed. Deceased and
his son used to work night and day to try and get a little bread and
tea, and pay for the room (2_s._ a week), so as to keep the home
together. On Friday-night-week deceased got up from his bench and
began to shiver. He threw down the boots, saying, “Somebody else
must finish them when I am gone, for I can do no more.” There was no
fire, and he said, “I would be better if I was warm.” Witness
therefore took two pairs of translated boots {18} to sell at the
shop, but she could only get 14_d._ for the two pairs, for the people
at the shop said, “We must have our profit.” Witness got 14lb. of
coal, and a little tea and bread. Her son sat up the whole night to
make the “translations,” to get money, but deceased died on Saturday
morning. The family never had enough to eat.—Coroner: “It seems to
me deplorable that you did not go into the workhouse.” Witness: “We
wanted the comforts of our little home.” A juror asked what the
comforts were, for he only saw a little straw in the corner of the
room, the windows of which were broken. The witness began to cry,
and said that they had a quilt and other little things. The deceased
said he never would go into the workhouse. In summer, when the
season was good, they sometimes made as much as 10_s._ profit in the
week. They then always saved towards the next week, which was
generally a bad one. In winter they made not half so much. For
three years they had been getting from bad to worse.—Cornelius
Collins said that he had assisted his father since 1847. They used
to work so far into the night that both nearly lost their eyesight.
Witness now had a film over his eyes. Five years ago deceased
applied to the parish for aid. The relieving officer gave him a 4lb.
loaf, and told him if he came again he should “get the stones.” {19}
That disgusted deceased, and he would have nothing to do with them
since. They got worse and worse until last Friday week, when they
had not even a half-penny to buy a candle. Deceased then lay down on
the straw, and said he could not live till morning.—A juror: “You are
dying of starvation yourself, and you ought to go into the house
until the summer.”—Witness: “If we went in we should die. When we
come out in the summer we should be like people dropped from the sky.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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