Pawnbrokers in Victorian Era England

by Edwina Kiernan

As industrialization took hold of Victorian society, so did economic disparities. Pawn shops soon became vital in providing a financial lifeline, especially to those struggling in the shadows of the Victorian class structure.

It was mostly the poverty-stricken lower classes and the struggling middle class who found most use of their services. But, occasionally, higher class men in need of ready cash would dare to grace their premises, too. After all, times were hard, and the need for short-term financial relief was a constant reality. Thus, pawnbrokers soon became the go-to solution for individuals struggling with economic hardship.

Not only could clients pawn their personal possessions for some quick cash, but those excluded from traditional financial institutions could almost use pawn shops as a makeshift bank.

Transactions were simple: individuals could bring in valuables such as jewelry, watches, or household items, and receive a loan based on the estimated value of the collateral. The pawned items would then be held as security until the borrower repaid the loan with interest.

Victorian engagement ring, made of Burmese pink sapphires arranged as a double heart

Owing to the era’s radical industrialization, the working class often held unstable employment, and sudden economic downturns were not uncommon. Pawnbrokers offered a safety net, allowing individuals to secure funds swiftly without the added stress of dealing with the bureaucratic hurdles of traditional banking.

But while pawn shops were a welcome lifeline for many Victorians, many others placed a stigma on those who frequented them. The higher classes often viewed pawnbrokers as the last resort for the desperate and destitute, even though the reality was more nuanced, as middle-class families made frequent use of their services when times grew increasingly more difficult.

Victorian pawn shops were often dimly lit, cramped spaces adorned with an eclectic array of items – from pocket watches to family heirlooms. The process of pawning an item involved negotiation, assessment of value, and the inevitable exchange of collateral for cash. The pawnbroker's keen eye for appraising goods became a skill in itself, as the pawnbrokers themselves needed to discern the true worth of such diverse items.

As the prominence of pawnbrokers increased, so did the need for regulation. The Pawnbrokers Act of 1872 in the United Kingdom laid the foundation for governing these establishments. The legislation aimed to protect both pawnbrokers and borrowers by establishing guidelines for fair transactions, interest rates, and the duration of loans. This legal framework contributed to the legitimization of pawnbroking as a respected financial service.

The Victorian era left an indelible mark on literature and culture, and pawn shops found their way into various works of fiction. Charles Dickens, a keen observer of societal injustices, often depicted pawnbrokers in his novels. In David Copperfield, for instance, the protagonist pawns his coat to survive, highlighting the ubiquity of pawn shops as a means of financial survival. In A Christmas Carol, a few of Scrooge’s acquaintances are eager to pawn his possessions in his vision of Christmas Yet To Come. And in my own novel, Restoring Miss Hastings, high-class gentleman Edmund Derringer reluctantly makes use of the local pawnbroker’s services as he tries to build back the family wealth he lost in an ill-chosen speculation.

From A Chistmas Carol, by Charles Dickens. Fred Barnard's illustration shows Scrooge's charlady and laundrywoman joining the undertaker's man to pawn his belongings, in the process revealing how they really felt about him.

Today, the legacy of Victorian pawn shops extends beyond the nineteenth century. These establishments laid the groundwork for modern pawnbroking, adapting to societal changes and technological advancements. While the stereotype of pawn shops as havens for the desperate persists, contemporary pawnbrokers continue to provide the same valuable financial services to a new generation of those who need them. Yet again, a Victorian legacy lives on, serving as a testament to the resilience of those who, in times of need, sought solace and financial relief within the walls of the pawnbroker’s premises.

Did You Know?

A pawnbroker's shop features in my novel, Restoring Miss Hastings... and you can grab a free copy by clicking the link or graphic below! :)

Penniless and alone, a stranger takes her in. But will her presence ruin his plans to restore all he’s lost? Get your FREE copy here: Restoring Miss Hastings

About The Author:

Edwina Kiernan is an award-winning author of Christian Historical Romance. She lives in rainy Ireland with her husband and son, and uses her pen to point people to Jesus - the Living Word. She also drinks more types of tea than most people realize even exist. Find out more at EdwinaKiernan.com, and sign up for her weekly newsletter for lots of fun, fiction, freebies and faith.

Solving The Mystery of Cholera in Victorian London

 by Edwina Kiernan

During the Victorian era, against the backdrop of industrial revolution and urbanization, a sinister adversary emerged: cholera. 

This deadly disease claimed countless lives, fostering a growing atmosphere of fear and confusion. The quest to understand cholera and its mode of transmission would become a pivotal chapter in the history of public health. 

This article explores the Victorian struggle to comprehend and combat the cholera epidemic.

The Menace

Cholera, a bacterial infection, wreaked havoc throughout Victorian England. Characterized by severe diarrhea and vomiting, cholera led to rapid dehydration and, in many cases, death within hours. This deadly disease struck fear into the hearts of Victorians as its mode of transmission was, as yet, unknown.

Initially, the prevailing belief was that cholera spread through miasma — noxious fumes arising from decomposing organic matter. This misconception hindered efforts made to grasp the true nature of the disease and devise effective preventive measures.

Patients suffering from cholera, 1854

The Mastermind

One of the key figures in unraveling the mystery of cholera transmission was Dr. John Snow, a British physician. Snow challenged the prevailing miasma theory, proposing an alternative hypothesis: cholera’s transmission was waterborne. 

Through meticulous investigation and mapping of cholera cases in London, Snow identified a striking correlation between incidences of the disease and contaminated water sources. His famous map of the 1854 Broad Street cholera outbreak highlighted a cluster of cases centered around a contaminated public water pump. 

Snow's work laid the foundation for understanding that cholera was not airborne as previously believed, but waterborne — a revolutionary concept that reshaped public health strategies.

John Snow, physician

The Mystery Solved

The Broad Street cholera outbreak, also known as the Golden Square outbreak, was a watershed moment in the history of epidemiology. In the summer of 1854, a densely populated area in London experienced a sudden surge in cholera cases. 

Dr. John Snow's meticulous investigation during this outbreak provided crucial evidence supporting his waterborne transmission theory. By interviewing affected individuals and plotting cases on a map, Snow pinpointed the Broad Street water pump as the epicenter of the outbreak. 

Despite initial skepticism, the local authorities, persuaded by Snow's evidence, removed the pump handle, effectively curbing the spread of the disease. This event marked a turning point in understanding cholera, paving the way for modern epidemiology.

John Snow's cholera outbreak map

The Microbiological Proof

While Snow's epidemiological insights were groundbreaking, confirmation of the waterborne transmission theory came with later advances in microbiology. 

In the late 19th century, scientists like Robert Koch and Louis Pasteur made significant strides in understanding bacteria and their role in infectious diseases. The identification and isolation of the bacterium Vibrio cholerae provided concrete evidence linking contaminated water to the transmission of cholera. 

This microbiological confirmation not only solidified Snow's findings but also paved the way for the development of water sanitation measures that proved critical in controlling the spread of the disease.

The Measures Undertaken:

Armed with the knowledge of cholera's waterborne transmission, Victorian society initiated significant public health reforms. Sanitary measures, such as the improvement of sewage systems and the establishment of clean water supplies, became paramount in preventing cholera outbreaks. 

Legislation and policies aimed at ensuring the purity of public water sources gained prominence, transforming the urban landscape and reducing the prevalence of waterborne diseases. 

The Victorian era's battle against cholera not only revolutionized public health practices but also laid the groundwork for future advancements in understanding and combating infectious diseases.

Cupo-what?

A cupola (kyo͞o-pə-lə) is the little dome or square-shaped addition that we see today atop a house, barn, or gazebo. It can also be a larger windowed area accessed from inside an Italianate-style home popular in the Victorian era.

None of this sounds very Western in the 1800s American-West sense of the word. But that’s exactly what my character Elizabeth Beaumont (An Unexpected Redemption) saw on her way home from the train station in 1881—the cupola rising romantically from the top of Maggie Snowfield’s boarding house.

When Elizabeth and her friend Sophie Price were growing up, they imagined what it would be like to secretly meet their sweethearts in a cupola, high above the town with a panoramic view and unparalleled privacy. At least they thought there would be a view. Young girls imagine all sorts of things, you know.

The term cupola comes from an Italian word derived from Latin for little tub. Italianate-style homes sprang up all over the United States during the mid- to late nineteenth century, other than in the South due to the Civil War and economic devastation of southern states.

American architects redesigned creations of British architects, who creatively recreated ideas from Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio of the 16th century. Clearly, imitation was the purist form of flattery.

Cupola ceiling in the Synagogue of Gyor, Hungary.
Emmanuel Dyan, Wikimedia.

The cupola is an integral part of that design and can be traced even farther back to 8th-century Islamic architecture on minarets, often with balconies. It later appeared in ancient Roman architecture. The dome-shaped styles were also found in India.

Cupolas were used to provide natural light and ventilation to space just below the roof, particularly in more humid regions. Those on barns often supported a weather vane from their highest point. The square-shaped style was sometimes referred to as “lantern.”

Old barn at Brookwood Farm, Canton, Massachusetts.
Jameslwoodward, Wikimedia Commons

But the larger, windowed cupola is what I envisioned atop Maggie Snowfield’s opulent home. Often, such a space is accessed via a stairway inside the house, as it was in Maggie’s. A very romantic hideaway, indeed, for a certain couple in my book.

The image below of John Muir’s home in Martinez, California, is close to what I envisioned as the Snowfield Boarding House in An Unexpected Redemption. Without the palm trees, of course. 

John Muir National Historic Site in Martinez, California.
Victorian residence of scientist, philosopher and conservationist Muir
from 1890 till his death 1914. National Park Service photo.Wikimedia.

Historians tell us that Italianate architecture was favored for new Victorian construction because technology of the time made reproduction of cast-iron and metal decorations quite affordable. Not only homes employed the style, but also rooming houses, train stations, town halls, and libraries.

However, homes, barns, public buildings, and gazebos were not the only place cupolas made an appearance. Cabooses had them as well.

History lovers will know that trains once pulled a caboose with an “angel seat” from where workers had a clear view of the track and the rest of the train.

A former Milwaukee Road cupola caboose on display at the
National Railroad Museum in Green Bay. Photo by Sean Lamb, Wikimedia.

When my family and I first moved to Colorado, an open pasture bordering our property held a deserted train caboose left beneath a giant cottonwood tree. My son often went there to play and explore with a neighbor boy. We always supposed it had served as a line shack or cow camp, though it was not the typical shelter for cowboys.

To this day I regret not going out with my camera and photographing the old “dinosaur.” When the property owners got rid of the caboose, I felt as if a little bit of untold history went with it. Especially its angel-seat cupola.

~

An Unexpected Redemption

From the shelter of the cupola, Elizabeth could see the whole of Olin Springs. The railroad twisted away into the foothills, a silvery ribbon in the moon’s thin light, and to the north, the Big Dipper stood on its handle, spilling countless stars across the sky.

Tears spilled across her cheeks.

She hated Garrett Wilson. She hated him for stealing her heart when she wasn’t looking, for making her want to love again. For making her wonder what life could be like with a man like him.

But she hated him most for being right.

Davalynn Spencer can’t stop #lovingthecowboy. As the wife and mother of professional rodeo bullfighters, she writes romance for those who enjoy a Western tale with a rugged hero, both historical and contemporary. She holds the Will Rogers Gold Medallion for Inspirational Western Fiction, teaches writing workshops, and plays the keyboard on her church worship team. When she’s not writing, teaching, or playing, she’s wrangling Blue the Cowdog and mouse detectors Annie and Oakley. Learn more about Davalynn and her books at www.davalynnspencer.com.

May all that you read be uplifting.

Famine in Ireland, and a Wee Bit o' Irish Trivia

by Kathleen L. Maher

The potato. A pivotal figure to the history of Ireland. But not quite the way you might think. First of all, it is not a native plant to the Old World, but originated in South America, and only made its way to Europe during the Sixteenth Century. Secondly, it is not that the Irish were born with a natural and insatiable love for the taste of potatoes, forsaking all other culinary fare, as lore or bad jokes would suggest. Potatoes simply fit into a system of subsistence tenant farmers who needed a food crop that would grow abundantly in the harshest conditions and poorest plots. Any good land in Ireland, where barley and oats grew, or where cattle might graze, would have been farmed for cash crops to enable a tenant to pay exorbitant rent to wealthy landowners. Potatoes, as it turned out, would grow in Ireland in such abundance that half an acre could produce enough to feed a family of two adults and four children for a year. Easily stored and preserved over winter, the starchy wonder offered sustenance long after harvest. And so it would seem that the potato was sent as a miraculous provision into this time and place. 

one of the many four-leaf clovers I find

The population of Ireland increased markedly with the cultivation of the tuber, along with dependence upon it as a staple. Intertwined among the social classes, from the very poor who ate potatoes almost exclusively, to the upper classes who filled out their menu of pork or mutton and fresh vegetables with daily portions of potato, the crop became ubiquitous to Irish life. Variety was the spice of the potato life, with different ways of preparing it such as colcannon--boiled/mashed cabbage and potato, boxty--a fried mixture of potato pancake and hash brown, Irish stew--the poorer cuts of meat mixed with potatoes and vegetables, and finally, champ mash--a spud mashed and served with spring onion, butter and/or milk. Milk typically would be skimmed for making butter or curds, and the remaining and less nutritious whey used by the peasant farmers to "make do".

So with a plentiful source of nutrition so easily adapted to their climate and needs, what could possibly go wrong?

Exhibit A) Britain's complex political climate leading up to and including the Victorian Age. Landowners held great influence, even if they were absentee landlords with holdings in Ireland. The poor held little power to influence law or policy. Irish tenant farmers had about as much political voice as the stones they tilled out of their rented fields. 

Exhibit B) English Corn Laws
A system of protecting the financial interests of these wealthy landowners evolved into high tariffs on imported grains into the British Isles. British corn and grain sold at an artificially high price because the more plentiful foreign grain was taxed too heavily to be profitable. The poor simply could not afford to pay for the luxury of eating grain.

Exhibit C) A blight of fungi on the potato crop in Europe
All of Europe began to experience a blight of dry brown rot on potatoes, but nowhere was it more keenly felt than in Ireland, where roughly half the population was utterly dependent upon the food source. From 1845-1852 the blight led to a failed crop which led to famine and death and mass emigration. One million would die of starvation, and two million would emigrate, ravaging Ireland's population to lows that have never fully recovered even to modern day.

Exhibit D) Protestant versus Catholic, and other prejudices alive and well at the time
History does indeed repeat itself. In every society where one group subjugates another, it can only do so if the common belief regarding the subjugated is one of inferiority, or even dehumanization. The Third Reich did this to Jews, Slavic peoples, Russians, and any of non-Aryan genetics. The American settlers regarded the indigenous people as savages. They sold Africans as slaves and decided by law they were only three-fifths of a human. The Egyptians enslaved the Israelites and enacted extermination policies when their number exceeded Egyptian ability to control them. Age-old sins of greed and pride cloud the vision of entire people groups at such sad times in history. And so it was for the Irish Catholic peasants. They were regarded as lazy, ignorant papists, somehow responsible or deserving of the disaster which had befallen them. And so relief efforts were virtually non-existent.

For a brief time, Queen Victoria and the British Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel worked to repeal the Corn Laws in order to alleviate some of the suffering and starvation, but Peel's success in subsidizing grain for Irish consumption had limited effect at best. His successor overturned much of what he accomplished, and what began as a crop failure became a politically engineered famine. 

Some good came out of the ashes of this fiery trial for the Irish people. For one, Ireland has always led the world in famine relief efforts ever since. In addition, Irish culture has spread far and abroad because of the mass emigration during this time. And of note, the exact blight which caused the potato crop ravages is now widely considered to be extinct. 

If you have Irish ancestry, I would love to hear any stories you have of great (great) grandparents who escaped the Potato Famine. Share in the comments below any thoughts or stories or remarks for a random chance to win a $15 Amazon gift card. I will draw the winner with the help of random.org and post one week from today on the sidebar. The luck of the Irish go with ye!

mom and Grandpa Cronin

I'll start by sharing of my great grandfather, John Cronin. He was born in Ireland, I believe in County Cork, in 1849. I'm not certain exactly what year he and his family emigrated to America, but it was during the Great Famine. He grew up in New York City, and enlisted at the age of fifteen in the NY Fighting Irish 69th regiment in the Civil War. He served in the Color Guard, and saw action at the Siege of St. Petersburg, and was present at Appomattox and at the Grand Review in Washington D.C. after the war. He helped organize the St Patrick's Day parade in later years in Manhattan. Family legend has it that it was during his last participation in that parade that he contracted pneumonia and subsequently died. My grandfather, Vincent Cronin, was his seventh son. Vincent's youngest child was my mother, Alicia Cronin (Talvi). I am her youngest. So that is how I have only four generations separating me from that tumultuous time in Irish and American history.

I am roughly half Irish. I married a good Irishman, as my married surname says. And I have to admit, I not only love Irish history, but I actually love potatoes, too. As a kiss from heaven, our only daughter was born on Saint Patrick's Day. Katie Megan Maher, in fifth grade, dressing up to present her biographical report on on Saint Patrick.

Slainte! (Good Health)

 Post Script from last month's post about dogs: Meet the Maher's newest addition, "Bailey", AKC Bailey's Irish Cream. She is a brown and white Landseer Newfoundland. 

Kathleen L. Maher’s first literary crush was Peter Rabbit, and she’s had an infatuation with books and fictional heroes ever since. She has a novella releasing with Barbour in the 2018 Victorian Christmas Brides collection, featuring her hometown of Elmira, NY. Her debut historical “Bachelor Buttons” was released in 2013, and incorporates her Irish heritage and love of the American Civil War. She won the American Christian Fiction Writers' Genesis Contest for unpublished writers, historical category, in 2012.

Kathleen and her husband raised their three children in an old farmhouse in upstate NY, along with a small zoo of rescued dogs, cats, and birds. They run an art business in their spare time and enjoy spoiling their grandchildren on the weekends.

Find Kathleen on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mahereenie
And on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/kathleenlmaher

The Story of a Woman Writer: Charlotte Bronte and Jane Eyre

Charlotte Bronte, Painted by Evert A. Duyckinick, based on a 
drawing by George Richmond
- University of Texas: Public Domain, Wikimedia Commons

Ever since its first publication in 1847, readers have loved Charlotte Bronte's novel of Victorian young womanhood, self-realization, triumph over adversity, and romance-with-a-dash of intrigue: Jane Eyre. I teach this novel every year to my tenth grade class, and it tends to be one of those students remember longest, even for kids for whom reading a 500-page novel doesn't come easily. I even had an 11th grader choose to do her research paper this year on Charlotte Bronte and Jane Eyre, such was the impact the story made on her the year before.



So who was this mysterious little woman behind what is now considered one of the greatest Victorian novels? I always enjoy learning the "story behind the story," so I thought you might too!



Charlotte Bronte was born in 1816, the third of what would be six children. Her younger siblings Patrick, Emily, and Anne soon followed. After their mother died, the older girls were sent by their ailing clergyman father to a school similar to the horrifying Lowood described in Jane Eyre. After the two oldest sisters, Maria and Elizabeth, died of tuberculosis at school, Emily and Charlotte were thankfully brought home.



Anne, Emily, and Charlotte Bronte. National Portrait Gallery, {{PD-1923}}


Now with their sibling circle reduced to Charlotte, Emily, little Anne, and their brother Patrick, a season began that would eventually lead to literary fame for three of the four: they developed imaginary worlds called Angria and Gondal, wherein countless stories were acted out courtesy of Patrick's toy soldiers. It was these imaginative dramas that sparked the idea of novel-writing for the three girls, whom we now know as famous novelists Anne, Emily, and Charlotte Bronte.



It wasn’t easy to be a woman writer in early Victorian England, however. In fact, the Bronte sisters published their first successful novels—Emily’s Wuthering Heights, Anne’s Agnes Grey, and Charlotte’s Jane Eyre—under the gender-neutral pen names Ellis, Acton, and Currer Bell, to avoid the prejudice female authors faced.



Jane Eyre original title page; transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons.;
University of Leeds Library, Public Domain


Jane Eyre was an instant success, though controversy also abounded, both as to the identity (and gender) of the author and because of the novel’s “radical” themes. While it might not seem at all radical to us today, Jane’s insistence on standing up for herself against ill-treatment and stance for the human equality of women rubbed some readers the wrong way, as did her biting satire of hypocritical Christians such as the Rev. Brocklehurst.



Charlotte responded to the latter criticism in her preface to the second edition, where she wrote,



“Conventionality is not morality. Self-righteousness is not religion. To attack the first is not to assail the last. To pluck the mask from the face of the Pharisee, is not to lift an impious hand to the Crown of Thorns…narrow human doctrines, that only tend to elate and magnify a few, should not be substituted for the world-redeeming creed of Christ.”



And indeed, Jane Eyre herself has a strong faith in God, though her temper, impulsive spirit, and craving for human love keep her delightfully relateable and human, in contrast to some more “proper” heroines of the day. And no doubt that is why she has been beloved for so many generations.



Just as Jane refused St. John Rivers and waited for the love of her Mr. Rochester, Charlotte Bronte refused several suitors throughout her young womanhood. At last, at age thirty-eight, Charlotte married Arthur Bell Nicholls, despite the objections of her brother, Patrick. We can only assume she truly loved him. Tragically, Charlotte died less than a year later, due to complications in early pregnancy. But the story she left the world of one young woman’s love, hope, and perseverance continues to touch lives and inspire hearts today.






Kiersti Giron holds a life-long passion for history and historical fiction. She loves to write stories that show the intersection of past and present, explore relationships that bridge cultural divides, and probe the healing Jesus can bring out of brokenness. Kiersti has been published in several magazines and won the 2013 ACFW Genesis Award - Historical for her manuscript Beneath a Turquoise Sky. A high school teacher and member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Kiersti loves learning and growing with other writers penning God's story into theirs, as well as blogging at www.kierstigiron.com. She lives in California with her wonderful husband, Anthony.