ABOUT US
'Voices from Victorian London' portray fictional characters from the age of Dickens. Not the rich with their carriages, elegant houses and fine clothes, not shopkeepers, lawyers or those with a trade, but those at the bottom of the pile - the poor living in the squalor and filth of the rookeries in London in the 1840's. These unfortunates were compelled to do whatever they had to do in order to not only survive until the next day, but, if they had any sense, stay out of the terrible institution that was the workhouse.
We felt the best way of giving these people a voice would be to bring them alive again. Back to the drawing board and the writings of Henry Mayhew, from which we have created 'Navy', Polly and Eliza. We have found these characterisations bring fun and a fresh realism to our visitors, especially the young ones. Someone said it was 'edu-tainment' and we can't think of a better description. Our 'shebang' is rather impressive, even if we do say it ourselves and we are very proud of the invisible amount of hard work and effort that goes into putting it all together and creating it at an event. Although portraying the urban poor, makeshift shelters such as ours would have been cobbled together by those living under bridges and the exposed areas of London. And as poor as they were, just like the refugees of modern times, they still tried to keep their clothes clean .... so we added a washing line!
I started my association with living history in 1998 and Carole became involved a few years ago. I have had considerable experience at visiting schools and receive many invitations to be a 'guest speaker' on the subject. Carole is unfortunately 'less-abled' but we have incorporated that into her character for added authenticity, so she can still be a major part of the group.
Obviously we would look very silly and perhaps need medical treatment if we stayed at home and did 'our thing', but being based in Medway (not far from Dickens World), we try to limit ourselves to venues in Kent and the South East, with one or two possibilities lying further afield. We will welcome anyone who is genuinely interested in becoming a 'voice' and having a 'cool' thing to do occasionally but please be aware that travelling is involved and that personal arrangements would have to be made for this.
If you're over 18, think you would like to join us but have never done living history before or are unsure of whats involved, please contact us for more information giving a few details about yourself.
We have some 'spare to share' costume available which will get you dressed for the first time, and don't think you have to devote lots of time to be a 'voice' either. There is no obligation to be at every thing we do - you choose when you want to take part, not us! We only have a few events every year which are spread out. As much as we enjoy it, even we would get bored doing it all the time!
There's no need to know much about the period either. We can give you the basic knowledge and point you in the right direction to read up about things. We can even invent and develop a 'character' for you if you want us to. You can be as quiet or loud as you want … not everyone can be like 'Navy' (thank goodness). We're looking to have 'voices' with something different to say, so if Polly is talking about the workhouse, 'Navy' is on about prisons and transportation, you might develop an interest in the health of the poor, giving you a speciality subject to talk about.
Obviously we have to be sensible in our attitude and approach as we are dealing with the public, a very fickle audience indeed! For this reason we do insist on taking what we do seriously. However, we prefer to count the smiles on the people as they walk away, not the stitches that can't be seen! Most of all it has to be fun, which is why we call it 'edu-tainment.
See you in the past ... hopefully!