What were the main similarities and differences between the poor and rich people housing, work and childhood in Richmond between 1900 and 1930 By Nicholas Karkalas

Introduction

What was the housing of the poor citizens in Richmond in the early 1900’s? Very small houses with large families or even 2 or 3 families. Usually iron because they are cheaper and easier to build. They lived at the bottom of the hill because drainage wasn’t as good on the top of the hill. The houses were unsanitary and were too small.

What was the housing of the rich citizens in Richmond in the early 1900’s? Large houses of brick of wood at the top of hills and very sanitary and prestigious. Thought to be mansions and were relatively empty because of the amount of people living there. Houses can drain very easily up high on a hill so they are a lot more expensive.

What was the work of the poor citizens in Richmond in the early 1900’s? Poor citizens worked in the factories that were also situated in the slums of Richmond. Poor citizens would work long hours in order to earn a low income and their jobs often came with major health risks. In factory jobs of Richmond lots of people tried to get a limited amount of jobs and the unemployed workers often begged the factory manager to take them as a worker and would sometimes only be employed for a few days or a week. The employer has all the power.

What was the work of the poor citizens in Richmond in the early 1900’s? In factory jobs of Richmond lots of people tried to get a limited amount of jobs and the unemployed workers often begged the factory manager to take them as a worker and would sometimes only be employed for a few days or a week. The employer has all the power.

What was the work of the rich citizens in Richmond in the early 1900’s? Rich citizens worked as doctors, merchants, business managers and factory owners. They received a greater income then poor factory workers by doing less hours and less strenuous work. Rich factory owners and other successful people had more spare times and were often invited to “clubs”, most famously the “Melbourne Club”.

What was the childhood of poor people had in Richmond in early 1900’s? Childhood for the poor people of Richmond was very difficult. They had little schooling (up to year 6) if any. They often worked in factories at a very young age to help their families survive. They had very unhealthy lifestyle and were often sick. A few of them lost mothers at childbirth and that often affected their upbringing in a very negative way.

What was the childhood of the rich people of Richmond having in the early 1900’s? The childhood of rich people was much better than that of the poor but it still was quite bad compared to ours today. Their schooling was often longer and better quality of that of the poor kids. They often started work later and had easier work and worked less hours. They often had maids take care of them and their fathers were rarely home because of work and leisure. Rich families were usually smaller.

What was the childhood of the rich people of Richmond having in the early 1900’s? They often had maids take care of them and their fathers were rarely home because of work and leisure. Rich families were usually smaller.

How did the poor citizens treat the rich citizens? The poor citizens often treated the rich well because they were their employers and they relied very heavily on them. Essentially the poor relied on the rich for their work and in turn for their family to survive.

How did the rich citizens treat the poor citizens? The rich citizens of Richmond treated the poor citizens badly. They did this by giving them bad, unpredictable and dangerous jobs. Even though the rich relied heavily on the poor they still treated them badly.

How did the Rich and poor citizens interact? Rich and poor citizens interacted rarely at social levels but they interacted often on a work or business level. The poor often treated the rich well because they relied on them.

How did the Rich and poor citizens interact? Many poor people in the early 1900s in Richmond said they disliked their bosses for their disrespect towards them. The Rich didn’t like to be seen with “lower class” citizens in public places so they often mad clubs so they didn’t have to interact with them.

Did they live in the same areas? The rich and the poor may have only lived 100 metres away from each other but their lifestyles were completely different. The lower class citizens often lived at the bottom of hills which meant they flooded easily and sewerage was hard to get rid of.

Did they live in the same areas? The “higher class” of people often lived at the top of hills because it didn’t flood, sewerage was easily abolished and of course they had the best views.

What are the similarities between their housing? There were very few similarities between housing apart from both classes of people lived near the yarra for sewerage and they lived near shops to buy food and clothing. Apart from mansions (which were very rare) all kitchens were still outside because of the fire hazards and in the early 1900s the toilets were all outside.

What are the similarities between their works? Many rich and poor people worked in the same place like factories but they had different types of jobs. The rich would require less work physically but the poor require less mentally.

What is similar about their childhood? Very little is similar about their childhood apart from the areas they lived in and they sometimes even went to the same schools.