Rural life in 1850. On the ground reporting in Victorian England - with personal accounts from the labouring poor. In this volume Alexander Mackay and Shirley Brooks investigate the rural districts, traversing the South Eastern, South Western, and Eastern counties of England. We enter the dilapidated homes of the agricultural labourers and descend the mines of Cornwall. We hear accounts from labourers ending their days in the workhouse and explore incendiarism in Suffolk. We visit the Herring fishermen of Yarmouth and expose the workings of the "death" clubs in Essex. This and much more. "Labour and the Poor", the acclaimed investigation into the poor of England and Wales, was undertaken from 1849 to 1851 by The Morning Chronicle, a leading London-based newspaper of the period. This remarkable series will take you into the cities, towns, and villages, into the mills, the factories, and the mines, hearing from the people themselves about their lives, their occupations, and their struggles for survival amidst the overwhelming poverty of the period. Brought to you in its entirety, for the very first time, this extraordinary and unsurpassed investigation will show what life was really like in the mid-19th century - on the ground reporting at its very best. In this series:Volume I: The Metropolitan Districts. Henry Mayhew. Volume II: The Metropolitan Districts. Henry Mayhew. Volume III: The Metropolitan Districts. Henry Mayhew. Volume IV: The Metropolitan Districts. Henry Mayhew. Volume V: The Manufacturing Districts. Angus B. Reach. Volume VI: The Rural Districts. Alexander Mackay and Shirley Brooks. Volume VII: The Rural Districts. Alexander Mackay and Shirley Brooks. Volume VIII: Wales. Special Correspondent. Volume IX: Birmingham. Charles Mackay. Volume X: Liverpool. Charles Mackay.