Slumming It! Interpreting Child Poverty in Victorian Scotland

Ideas about children changed dramatically over the nineteenth century, with historians arguing that the concept of childhood was 'invented' by the Victorians. The urban street child - characterised by independence and apparent self-sufficiency - was at odds with the broader depictions of a protected and innocent childhood that are now so familiar. This talk by Dr Laura Mair focuses on both the depiction of and responses to child poverty in urban centres and highlights the crucial role Scottish figures played in calls for greater legislative protection for children.