King Street, in Ramsgate, had courts of small, tightly-packed cottages where occupants lived in overcrowded and insanitary conditions.

The village of Pegwell Bay was well known for its abundant shrimps...

The horse trader made his money by acquiring and fattening up skinny horses and selling them on at a profit.

Hawkers supplied wares which were otherwise unavailable locally. They walked the streets calling out what they had for sale.

A low lodging house was distinguishable by its dirty exterior and its windows, containing more paper than glass.

Travellers gambled thousands of pounds on fights, which were held in various places to avoid the police.

Social Darwinism was being defined by scholars in the 1870s.

The term horse doctor could mean a lot of things in the nineteenth-century.

Pseudosciences which influenced Victorian writers included electrical cures, magnetism, spiritualism and physiognomy.

In the 1870s, itinerant violin players were a common sight in public spaces. As street performers, they were a traditional part of society and a source of local news and popular music. They generally came from less affluent backgrounds. For many in working-class communities, playing a musical instrument was a potential route out of poverty. Their living could be precarious, however. As well as collecting donations from passersby, they might make money from selling ballads and

The Great Eastern, launched in 1858, was more than just a ship. She was the largest ship ever built, by some margin.

The Goodwin Sands were notorious for treacherous tides and quicksands, causing frequent wrecks and heroic rescues by the Ramsgate lifeboat.

In the early 1870s, a policeman had absolute power over any woman's freedom, reputation and body.

The Victorians were right about the benefits of sea air.

Ramsgate was a tourist destination in the 1870s and its Sands werea chief attraction.

There was no help coming from the Relieving Officer, just intrusive and demeaning enquiries or a ticket for the Workhouse.

The marine store dealt in junk. Dickens says it was inconceivable that anyone would want to buy the sort of junk found there.

In the late nineteenth-century, the poor would pawn belongings such as clothes and shoes just to pay for food.