1. In the Bible, John said:
In the Bible, John said that the water he gives will give eternal life. Punch are playing on this and saying that if John used the Thames water, he would end lives
The cartoon says that the Thames is dirty but nothing is done because the companies causing the pollution are making profit, therefore people turn a blind eye
“The water that John drinks”, a cartoon from Punch magazine, October 1849

2. “The water that John drinks”, a cartoon from Punch magazine, October 1849

3. Punch cartoon on 1909 budget to increase tax to fund Old Age Pensions
Punch cartoon on 1909 budget to increase tax to fund Old Age Pensions. House of Lords tried to stop it but failed
Lloyd George was from a working class background and the rich believed that is why he taxed them so much
Lloyd George is shown as committing armed robbery in broad daylight – i.e. he is getting away with it/no-on is stopping him
Lloyd George is shown as a highwayman. Highwayman used to steal from the rich. The 1909 budget taxed the rich in order to support the pensions of the poor
Lloyd George had already increased taxes on tobacco, alcohol and cars. A car can be seen in the background. Lloyd George is using a horse – this suggests he is using old methods i.e. taxing the rich to help the poor. This is a negative view

4. Lloyd George in 1911 – having introduced the National Insurance Act
This was a tax on everyone, including the poor/workers
Everyone had to pay towards sick pay and unemployment pay
Very, very unpopular
Rich taxed AGAIN
Workers taxed for first time and insist that they cannot afford it and that they do not want to pay for something that they may never use
Lloyd George had been happy with his tax and presented it like a magic trick - “ta-dah”, hence the hat and hoop
Everyone has fired arrows at Lloyd George to “shoot him down” and show how unhappy they are – he is longer the working class hero

5. Socialism – looking out for all
Punch cartoon, 1909
Old Liberalism = helping the poor a bit but not too much
Working class man is called “suspicious looking party”. He asks if he can join the rich man and says that he is going his way and further – this suggests that he is moving up in the world due to the Liberal Reforms
Under Liberal Reforms, rich and poor must now share company
The working man looks threatening to the rich man and the rich man is worried. This shows that he is not used to sharing power or having to consider the interests of others
The rich man (Old Liberalism) is trying to get away from socialism but it/people from it are following him – he cannot get away – this is the future

6. Cholera cartoons like this one highlighted the disagreement between doctors on the diagnosis and treatment of cholera, public mistrust of the medical profession and their ineffective treatment, and political attacks on government policies
Made in 1832 – time of the first Cholera outbreak. It attacks the medical profession and its response to Cholera
The creature under the table is the inevitable doom of the patient
Blue pills were a purgative containing mercury. The emetic would make the patient sick
Humour used as a coping mechanism to stop fear during Cholera phobia
The starvation stool refers to the hardship and poverty of patients
It might also refer to the Day of Fasting and Humiliation 1832 – a day dedicated to repenting sins and asking God’s forgiveness. Victorians were religious and thought it would help them

7. Made in 1832 – time of the first Cholera outbreak
The wealthy medical profession does well out of Cholera
The artist exaggerates the public’s mistrust in doctors and the belief that they were dragging out the illness in order to make profit
The Times newspaper supported the criticism of the medical profession and the Board of Health (set up 1831 to deal with Cholera) and even suggested that the medical profession had made the whole thing up in order to get money – calling them the ‘Board of Wealth’

8. A Drop of Thames Water", as seen by Punch (1850)
The image shows a cartoonist's impression of a drop of water, from the River Thames, under a microscope. It reveals what 'creatures' might live there and, in turn, what Londoners could be swallowing on a daily basis.
People living near the Thames could see with their own eyes that the water was corrupted/polluted
They believed it was polluted with miasma
People living far away from the source of the water had no idea what state it was in

9. 1855, Punch
Punch magazine formed part of a campaign against food adulteration
A chemist called John Mitchell investigated food adulteration and found:
Flour containing chalk, clay and flint
Beer containing sulphate
The rich could afford to buy from decent suppliers but the poor were forced to use adulterated food products, due to costs. This made sellers a lot of profit
1860 Food and Drugs Act meant that food could be inspected if a complaint was received
1872 Adulteration of Food, Drink and Drugs act meant food could be inspected even without a complaint

10. The Thames was like an open sewer
Dirty Father Thames", is picking out filth to give to people – this represents that he will give them disease
Dirty Father Thames", (1848) Filthy river, filthy river, Foul from London to the Nore, What art thou but one vast gutter, One tremendous common shore?
He is mud larking and finding dirt. He is gather it up. He needs to fill his sack and the Thames is enabling him to do so

11. Michael Faraday giving his card to Father Thames in 1855
Michael Faraday giving his card to Father Thames in Michael Faraday’s Letter to the Editor on Pollution of the River Thames
In the mid-19th century, before the great engineering scheme by Sir Joseph Bazalgette provided sewers across the city of London, increasing amounts of raw sewage and waste had been dumped into the River Thames, causing extreme pollution
Finally the politicians in the Houses of Parliament, built beside the River, suffered a stench that made the building uninhabitable. They finally took action in 1858, and authorized Bazelgette to fix the “The Great Stink.” The problem had been growing for years, and the newspapers had carried editorials and columns of indignant correspondence from men of influence. The respected scientist, Michael Faraday, wrote this letter in 1855 describing the serious pollution, which was republished in various periodicals