Henry Mayhew – Leeds's Singing Organ-Grinder

Mechanical musical instrument invented for the 1851 London Great Exhibition by Henry Mayhew

He also coined “flaxen Saxon.” With other absurdities.

The Kelston Turnpike

Bonus: Haile Selassie did NOT keep his lions in the basement of Fairfield House, Bath.

The invisible ethnicity of Inspector Richard Tanner of the Met

The British-Jewish detective who hung the German murderer of a London banker. With photos of his tombstone in Winchester’s West Hill cemetery.

Richard Tanner, late Inspector in the Metropolitan Detective Police Force. Born October 30th 1831, died October 19th 1873. [Also wife and mother-in-law.]

Since both Spanish prostitution and Henry Mayhew came up yesterday, I thought it would be interesting to combine them and copy-paste from the excellent (though slow) Perseus database at Tufts the latter’s view of the former. I assume his street prostitutes who “traffic for the bare means of subsistence and submit to any and every…

Pajillera/tosser

At the beginning of the last century one Professor Max-Bembo published La mala vida en Barcelona: anormalidad, miseria y vicio, which in authentic Daily Mail style vaguely enjoined the government to do something about the social and sexual degradation he profited from in such loving and lascivious detail. Here’s the section on wankworkers, copy-pasted from…

Tag: Henry Mayhew

Mechanical musical instrument invented for the 1851 London Great Exhibition by Henry Mayhew

The Kelston Turnpike

The invisible ethnicity of Inspector Richard Tanner of the Met

Link sink for 28/05/2009

Of prostitution in Spain

Pajillera/tosser