Comments on: Portraits Of Working Lads Of Whitechapel

By: Catherine Moris

Catherine Moris — Tue, 14 Jul 2020 11:53:38 +0000

For the ones who survived the war, the training would have provided them with a good chance to earn a living and bring up families of their own, maybe to immigrate to a better life.

By: Gary Barnett

Gary Barnett — Mon, 29 Jun 2020 22:11:47 +0000

Are there any names on the photos. These lads were of my granddad’s generation. He was born in Spitalfields in 1882.

By: Pamela Traves

Pamela Traves — Tue, 23 Jun 2020 22:19:05 +0000

What Amazing Vintage Pictures of these People. Thank You So Very Much!!???????

By: Susan

Susan — Tue, 23 Jun 2020 20:38:09 +0000

So many faces of poverty. The lad with the checked scarf looks especially young, but was probably 14 or 15 – the result of a lifetime of limited, poor quality food.

By: jennifer prior

jennifer prior — Tue, 23 Jun 2020 12:20:29 +0000

Some of the saddest photos I have ever seen. Young men that look like old men, obvious extreme poverty, hopelessness in some of their eyes. Thank God for the work of this mission. I hope some of them had some happiness in their lives.

By: paul loften

paul loften — Tue, 23 Jun 2020 11:22:50 +0000

Thank you for the photos. They are a stark reminder that any of us can go through hard times in life yet the story remains forever untold.

By: Roger Gaess

Roger Gaess — Tue, 23 Jun 2020 11:22:27 +0000

Really splendid portraits, with depth of life evident in so many of the faces!

By: Linda Granfield

Linda Granfield — Tue, 23 Jun 2020 11:19:47 +0000

What moving photographs.

That white sheet backdrop in the hallway is about the cleanest thing to be found, other than the snow on the rooftop.
Such dignity as they stand in probably all they own, ill-fitting, stretched-out woolen suits that never had a pressing, only harsh water washings, if that.

Even with the layers of clothing, some of these lads are thin. Some cheeks are hollow.

Those who went on to enlist in the First World War, if they survived, would later say the army years were the first time they had their own clothes, their own bed, and three meals a day.

My father, born two months before the Great War ended, said that after he served in the Second World War.

By: Helen Breen

Helen Breen — Tue, 23 Jun 2020 11:19:19 +0000

Greetings from Boston,

GA, what an interesting gallery of young men being given the chance for a step up in life by the Whitechapel Mission. I am sure that a warm bed and the support of the Institute was really appreciated by those in need. Let’s hope that at least most succeeded.

By: Richard Smith

Richard Smith — Tue, 23 Jun 2020 09:55:55 +0000

Fascinating. I wonder how they fared in life, their life stories would no doubt be interesting. Thank you.