Dr Kat and East London 1888

hello and welcome back to the channel if you're new here hi you're very welcome this is reading the past and I'm dr. cat now because I am encouraged ibly rude at the start of my last video I didn't wish you all a Happy New Year so I'm going to remedy that now happy 2019 I do hope you had a really wonderful and restful festive period and that you're enjoying everything that 2019 has brought you so far and that you will have a great year ahead we have some changes coming up my husband and I are going to be moving we're leaving East London so you're going to be seeing us in a new filming location very soon but I suppose in order of the place that we pulled our home for these last few years I wanted to do a little piece on the history of the area which I've been living and the area that I've kind of fallen in love with East London has an incredibly rich history particularly interesting for me is the women's history that's represented here so with that in mind that's what I'd like to make a video about today [Music] [Music] for the last four years my husband and I have been incredibly proud and happy to call the East End of London home specifically Bo and just around the corner from where we live is an incredible location for the history of this particular place and that is the old Bryant and may match Factory it's now known as Bo quarter and you probably wouldn't know its historical significance unless you were able to see the blue badges that were above the doorway I've got some pictures of those to show you it's now of course a suite of luxury flats as much of the property in East London is becoming or is already but in 1888 this was the site of something truly extraordinary in June of 1888 the journalist and political visionary annie besant heard word of the terrible pay and working conditions that were being injured by the women of the Bryant and main match Factory which is just around the corner from where I am sitting now she heard of their plight and was determined to at least investigate and hopefully make a difference so she went to the Bryant's and may match Factory on Fairfield Road in BO and she begins to talk to the women what she discovered was truly appalling these women were being asked to work 14-hour days and they were paid just five shillings a week these five shillings would be docked for potentially minor indiscretions talking dropping the matches or going to the toilet would see their wages already very low for the extraordinary number of hours they worked being further decreased on top of this they will make he matches using a substance known as white phosphorus they were forced to eat at their workstation without any recourse to cleaning themselves or the area in which they would be eating now trust me when I say white phosphorus is nothing that you would want near your food it's certainly nobody's food seasoning of choice some of the side effects from white phosphorus include the yellowing of the skin hair loss and most devastatingly and seriously a bone cancer which is now known as phossy jaw essentially the bone of the jaw would be eaten away and pustules would form that would deform the skin and the bone itself eventually the woman would potentially lose whole parts of their jaw and subsequently would of course die a painful death annie was determined that this would not pass and so on the 23rd of June 1888 she published an expose in the link newspaper the people in charge of Brian and Mae were of course none too pleased and they demanded that the match women that they employed signed a statement saying that the writings of Annie Besant were completely false and that any woman who had spoken to her was lying a group of the matram banded together and determined they would not sign this letter in fact they wrote to Annie telling her that they were being forced to sign this thing coming out against her Brian may act swiftly they located who they term to be the ringleaders of this group and fired them on the spot what I think they didn't expect was the response from the other much women the rest of the 1,400 women came out in strike in support of their sacked colleagues they stayed out on strike for three weeks and by the end of it Bryant may were forced to concede to the vast majority of their demands they would see better pay and working conditions but most importantly Bryant amay were forced to recognize the union they had formed and this was called the union of women matchmakers by the end of the year the name had changed to simply the matchmakers Union to recognize the fact that now male employees were also incorporated under this wide Urbana following year in 1889 this matchmakers union sent their own delegate to the trade union Congress in doing so and in their successful strike these women essentially paved the way for Union strength and activity it has been suggested that this was perhaps the first time that what is known as the better class of people the oppressions of society the people that run factories and build empires were somewhat unaware that the people they saw as being the poor underclass were in fact bright enough to unionize in such a strong and effective way but as we all know they were and following on from the example of these maps women we then see the strikes of dock workers and the growing unionization of people in the East End and across the rest of the country these matchgirls were groundbreaking in their activities and they are integral to the history of the trade unions movement in this country so much so that Henry Snell writing in 1936 said the following these courageous girls had neither funds organizations nor leaders the number affected was quite small but the matchgirls strike had an influence upon the minds of workers which entitles it to be regarded as one of the most important events in the history of labor organization in any country the courage and fight shown by the matchgirls of the Bryant ma Factory in BO maybe not even a footnote for some people in their understanding of history but for some people in BO that's clearly not the case and that is evidenced by this statue of William Gladstone that sits just around the corner from the Bryant and May factory in fact it was funded by one of the owners of the factory as you can see by this dedication what's particularly interesting is the fact that Gladstone's hands have been painted red now this seems to have come about from a rumor that the matchgirls were forced to hand over some of their wages for Bryant and May to fund the building and erection of this statue there seems to be absolutely no evidence that this is the case however for the people who support the matchgirls and want to keep their memory alive this rumor holds true and they continue to paint Gladstone's hands red because they are awash in the blood of the matchgirls so much so that during the Olympics the local council washed the hand clean as they have done many times in the past and within a couple of days as with every other time they've attempted to wash Gladstone's hands clean somebody an unknown somebody repaints the hands red now I am NOT encouraging vandalism but this to me is a really beautiful reflection of the history of bo and the struggles of the women of bo to make for a fairer kinder east London if you do happen to know who's responsible for painting Gladstone's hands red or if you yourself are and you'd like to come and talk to me completely anonymously I'd love to hear why you are keeping this tradition alive because it's something that I find truly fascinating and incredibly evocative in addition to their foundational role in the trade unions movement and its success and also the way in which they remembered on the blood-soaked hands at the Gladstone statue these match women or match girls were also a vital part in women's history particularly in the fight for female emancipation and enfranchisement within the democratic system at the time and many years after annie besant was accused of essentially rabble-rousing of collecting together these poor disadvantaged girls and making them into kind of a militia to act against the social injustice and I think this is desperately unfair all evidence points fact that the matchgirls or match women organized themselves and they reached out to Annie to use her platform to tell their story which she did now granted she is elected as their secretary when their union is formed but there is nothing to me that says that she is their leader she may be their mouthpiece but she isn't the one organizing them she isn't the upper-middle class privilege woman reaching out a hand to those less fortunate and making them into essentially martyrs for her cause these are young women who have the nouse and gut and gumption to stand up for what they know is right and to take back their rights and ensure that they are safe and well paid in the job that they are doing that isn't to say that Annie wasn't politically motivated and a key proponent in arguing for the full emancipation and enfranchisement of all people within the democratic system of this country in a time when very few women and not all men either had the right to vote Annie Besant stood for the London school board and she was elected to this borough of Tower Hamlets so Annie is able to rouse an electorate to support her when that electorate really has nothing to gain from the work that she's been doing I find that particularly fascinating now perhaps when I talks about the year of 1888 and the East End and the history of women there was another event or rather series of events that may have sprung to mind I'm talking about events that took place between August to November 1888 the Whitechapel murders also known as the crimes of Jack the Ripper now I'm about to get up on my soapbox and talk about some things that may make some people uncomfortable so if you do not wish to hear me on my soapbox please feel free to like subscribe click the bell icon and click away now if you're still here buckle up I have tried on my channel to always present a measured balanced argument for things to read history in as unbiased away as possible as an individual with thoughts feelings emotions and politics I own the fact that I am a feminist I own the fact that I think that politically and socially our country could do more to help those most in need I try as much as possible to keep that out of the videos that I make and to prevent this channel from essentially becoming a propaganda piece not that I think that's a bad thing but it's just not what I do but as I am leaving the East End a place that I love I feel that one other thing that I need to talk about is something that has happened to us in July 2014 a planning application was put in to change a building 12 cable street to be specific into a Women's History Museum excitement abounded of course the East End is a perfect place for just such a museum in fact the people write the application for this change of address and change of use for 12 cable street actually listed among other things the example of the match women and their strike as evidence of the rich history of women and women of the East End so imagine our dismay disgust surprise when in August 2015 what actually opens in 12:00 Cable Street is a Jack the Ripper Museum now I am a self-confessed murderer Eno if you listen to my favorite murder hello if you don't check it out it's great in fact if you look at my phone or many of my books you will see a strong interest in true crime I do find it fascinating I have books on Jack the Ripper for our wedding anniversary my husband took us on a Jack the Ripper walk which isn't as creepy as it sounds I really enjoyed it so why do I find this museum as offensive and disgusting as I do I'm interested by Jack the Ripper well firstly it's offensive because of what was promised and what was received but also I wonder how much this can be a museum from the rooms that I've seen on their website they seem to have essentially rebuilt crime scenes and mortuaries with some objects that have a putative connection to the crimes of Jack the Ripper I think it's quite hard to have a museum dedicated to a person whose identity is unknown in fact the very name Jack the Ripper we now think comes from a fraudulent letter produced by a journalist in the attempts to profit from the crimes sound familiar Jack through her museum with that being said I haven't gone to the museum so I cannot speak to what it's like inside and I won't be going I don't require that level of research and to fund this with my money to know that I don't want to go I did hear from numerous sources that one Halloween the jack through museum offered people who paid their money to go in the chance to have their photograph taken with an actress dressed up as one of the victims all the while there was a soundscape of women's screaming in a nation where two women a week are killed by a partner or an ex-partner is this glorification of violence misogynistic violence against women really something that we want to be supporting do we really want to glorify the brutal murder of women who were completely vulnerable and discarded by a one cooler society than the one we live in now what's his being celebrated and remembered here why are we remembering Jack why aren't we remembering the women why is it called the Jack the Ripper Museum when actually surely the stories we should be telling is of his victims or in fact any other woman of the East End's who has an interesting story to tell and who is so much more than the blood spatter at the feet of an unknown misogynistic psychopath of course the museum came under incredible scrutiny and was the recipient of a lot of anger and perhaps this wasn't helped by the fact that on the first August 2015 the museum owner mark Palmer Edgecomb ICU who apparently was the diversity officer for Google at one point excellent news was interviewed by the London East and he said and I'm going to quote directly because I don't want to get it wrong that well Jack the Ripper is the most influential person of the East End mark in your own application for 12 capable streets you talk about the match women and other women in history when it was supposed to be women's museum you did have a list of stories that would be completely fit to fill the walls of your museum you don't mean that Jack the Ripper is the most influential person of the East End you mean he's the most profitable let's call a spade a spade of course anger abounded bricks went through windows paint went on shutters people were verbally abused eggs were thrown now I am not in support of that I understand the anger I do think it's better that we put it in a more positive direction and fortunately that is what has happened now I am NOT going to be linking anything to the jack River Museum at all I recommend that you don't go there or put your money where his mouth is instead I recommend you support the actual East End women's museum it's currently being housed in the Tower Hamlets records archive and library and they are doing amazing things they do really cool events so I went down there and I sewed a rosette the Suffragette rosette I went and heard lots of people speak some poetry being read and they also have a full cost restaurant there so essentially it's a pay what you can to eat in the restaurant so people can afford more they essentially fund other people who can afford less they also really exciting Lee are going to be moving to a permanent home embarking either this year or next year so check out their website find a way to support them whether it's signing up to be their trustee or finding a way to fund their endeavors or just turn up when they open and show your support it's a great initiative and it's yeah a shame that it took the Jaffa Museum opening for this museum to actually open but I'm really glad that these people stepped up and went not on our watch it also allowed me to find other people who are interested in this history and because of going to the east a woman's museum and its current home the Tower Hamlets records archive and library I found out about match fest and I went there to match fest 2018 so we heard from historians and fiction writers and people who are involved in political activity and politicians themselves it was an incredibly invigorating day and a day for change I'm really looking forward to match fest 2019 I will be coming back to Bo to take part in that and to enjoy whatever is going to be put on it and I'm shortly brilliant I hope you have enjoyed this video outbursts decide or perhaps included let me know in the comment section down below what you think if you did enjoy the video please let me know by giving it a like please also subscribe to my channel and click the bell icon so that YouTube tells you when I've next uploaded I look forward to speaking to all in my next video I hope you're gonna have a great day and I hope that you're enjoying 2019 so far and I hope you take care of yourself I'll see you all next time the vibe for now [Music] [Music]

Channel: undefined

Views: 24,298

Rating: 4.974885 out of 5

Keywords: Education, Literature, Culture, History, Women’s History, East London, Jack the Ripper Museum, East End Women’s Museum, Matchgirls, Matchwomen, 1888, Victorian London, Trade Union History, Suffrage

Id: DgjH5JrYs84

Length: 21min 41sec (1301 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 11 2019