I'm trying to avoid Whitechapel because that's where Jack the Ripper was doing his "dirty deeds" at the time, and I don't want people thinking he's involved in this story. The story is about a man trying to solve the mystery of what happened to this little boy. I want the kid to grow up in a impoverished area of the time, but I'm not sure where. I looked up places, and I really liked Devil's Acre, but from the looks of it, that place was taken care of by the time my story takes place (anyone has anymore knowledge on Devil's Acre, I'd highly appreciate it). I was thinking to maybe create a fictional area, but I'm really leaning towards I place that actually existed to give it a feel of authenticity, if you catch my drift. Anyone got any ideas or advice? I would sincerely appreciate it.
This is a sidestep but books and articles on the London cholera epidemic around 1850 offer a lot of insight into life in London at the time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1854_Broad_Street_cholera_outbreak The source of the cholera was a family dumping their sewage waste into their basement, a not so uncommon practice. That is where the cholera seeped into the water source for the Broad Street pump. One reason medical professionals at the time were convinced diseases like cholera were spreading via bad air (miasma) is the closer one got to the Thames, the thicker the stench was of sewage draining into the river. Rich people lived on higher ground. Closer to the river was closer to the sewage. And sewage spread disease. Dr Snow and the Broad St Pump is a fascinating story on many levels. Despite meticulous epidemiological evidence including finding the basement sewage source, medical professionals at the time were reluctant to change their beliefs. Dr Snow did convince other public officials though and they removed the handle of the Broad St Pump. The epidemic subsided. It was a decade more before the medical professionals at the time recognized the conclusions of Dr Snow.
