Criminals, drifters, beggars, the homeless, immigrants, prostitutes, tramping artisans, street entertainers, abandoned children, navvies, and families fallen on hard times a whole underclass of people on the margins of society passed through Victorian lodging houses. These places were to be found in almost every city and town and they were central to working class life.
The Jack the Ripper murders of 1888 brought lodging houses to the attention...