What were the slums in London like?

Answer 1

Like most slums in other major cities around the world, they were not very nice. Depending on which time in history you want to look at, a resident was liable to die a gruesome death by his or her mid-30s from things like the Black Death (Bubonic Plague), dysentery, tuberculosis, or actually almost any other medical ailment, since medicine was primitive at best, and you could easily die from about anything other than a little sniffle.

Sanitation was almost non-existent. People threw their garbage and 'night soil' out on the street, which was already ankle-deep in horse manure in many areas. Smoke and fog from cooking fires clogged the air. It was not a very pleasant thing, but you'd never know it from your typical mass entertainment. I watched "A Christmas Carol" on TV and didn't see one single pile of horse crap.

Nutrition was hit and miss. You might get 'organic' food, but it was often spoiled and rotten. You ate it anyway. There was no refrigeration. There were no nice grocery stores with shelves and shelves full of food. There were no Twinkies.