Ask a librarian, Our stories, Victorian history:
Dudley Flats was a slum that emerged on the West Melbourne swamp during the early years of the Great Depression. Residents of the Flats were known for their resourcefulness, fashioning makeshift houses – known colloquially as ‘Dudley mansions’ – out of refuse scavenged from the nearby tip.
![Family group, ca. 1870 to 1880. Families of five or more children were common in the Victorian era. [H2005.34/2086]](https://blogs.slv.vic.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Groupconsistinhofmanwomanandfivechildrencrop-120x120.jpg)
Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights, Our stories:
Overpopulation was a huge social problem in 19th century Britain. Trailblazers like Annie Besant were tireless campaigners for the improvement of living conditions, birth control, and women’s rights. The Malthusian gives us a vivid lens into the living conditions of the poor, and a fascinating insight into the population issues from 1879 to 1921, which laid the groundwork for social reform in the twentieth century.
Buildings & streets, Social life & customs, Such was life:
Of all the slums in inner Melbourne, ‘Little Lon’ was the most notorious. But there was more to the precinct than met the eye…
Social life & customs, Such was life:
As far back as the 1850s, slums existed in inner city Melbourne. In the 1930s, Frederick Barnett began taking photos of the slums, using them in a push for social reform.
