Most Unusual Victorian Era Jobs
Queen Victoria ruled England from 1837 to 1901, presiding over an era of unprecedented technological and social change, as well as an era of unrelenting horrors and human cruelty.
Sure, your hipsters and your steampunks may love cribbing Victorian style, choosing to remember the pennyfarthings and top hats that look so fun on a Pinterest page, but let’s face it: in those days if you weren’t a member of the aristocracy, your life was probably unremittingly awful from start to all-too-brief finish. Disease, filth, and poverty were the norm, with people turning to whatever means of support that they could find – even if those means ended up being totally nasty. Victorian occupations usually tended to involve doing something that no human should have to do, for unreasonable hours, until it killed you.
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@garycarpenter6433
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
I don't think 🤔 I'd have that kind of Job during Queen 👑 Victoria's reign not even a rat catcher, chimney sweep,pure collector or coal miner…no I'd rather have been a rich person who didn't have to do anything
@pederdavisson9124
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
Leeches are still used in medicine. Obviously not for “blood letting” or “balancing humors” but particularly with surgeries where blood can pool and cause bad swelling, they are very effective.
@ABeautfulMess
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
My son lost his finger when a kid, they reattached and used leeches to get the blood flowing. I thought it was gross, he thought it was cool and even took it home..it stayed a day.gross
@y_fam_goeglyd
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
You're completely wrong about leeches having no medicinal use whatsoever. There is a company in the UK which breeds sterile (as in not diseased) leeches. They're invaluable in certain plastic surgery procedures (not the facelift type, but things like skin grafting).
Also sterile maggots are used for getting rid of necrotic tissue more accurately than any surgeon can do. My daughter was a volunteer for her professor in the maggot lab, doing experiments in how they should best be used, along with breeding them for when they were required by hospitals. Neither creature is commonly used, it's often a last resort, but it's very much a positive in medicine!
@Ducayneau
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
I'm trying to imagine what job I would have actually wanted to do in Victorian times. I'm guessing something like a reporter would be alright.
@Susieq26754
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
Funeral homes still sell organs and other things too.
@russelljones9137
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
Us lower-middle class kids couldn't afford the price tag. But L.A. Gear had their own, called "Regulators."
Sometimes we didn't have 2 pennies to rub together, but we could still pump up our kicks
@irighterotica
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
I remember reading a Dickensian-inspired novel by Terry Pratchett about a tosher. Can't remember the name or what, exactly, it was about, but I recall enjoying it, although it was far from his best work, IMO.
@Merylstreep1949
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
Only topped by Victorian butt wiper and vomit catcher
@Merylstreep1949
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
Definitely want a video on Victorian prossies and sex trade
@MrsShocoTaco
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
As "shitty" as some of the other jobs were, I have to go with chimney sweep as the worst due to its literal use of toddlers to do the literal dirty work.
@ladyhonor822
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
LITHIUM BATTERIES !!!
@ladyhonor822
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
Yeah absolutely
Philadelphia USA 🇺🇲 AMEN ☦️🙏😇❤️💋
KENSINGTON & ALLEGHENY AVE
TEMPLE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL 🏥
RN CCRN THAT'S ALL.
@stevenbrown7042
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
There were child labor laws then, just nobody payed attention to them.
@Song-eb4gm
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
How is this age restricted
@Nya9999
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
I would love to see a video about the Victorian era weapons history! 😀
@garycarpenter2980
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
It's too bad that they don't use chimney sweeps like they used in Mary Poppins
@justinsander7654
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
My wife who I did not know was listening looks over from her computer and says " Ah, yes minecraft shows children still crave the mines" 🤣😂
@shawnjoseph7522
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
if i was a pure collector…why not just empty your own pot every week and make money
@binzy698
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
so the chimney sweeps stuck up there and they just light the fire? mad
@charbelibrahim3792
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
Two fellow men with a shovel and a shortage of decency 😂
@Mr2greys
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
For those who are going to "um actually" about leeches being used he said there is no "medicinal" benefit. There IS a "medical" benefit with leeches just like maggots.
There is a difference between the words even though some use them interchangably (don't get me started on the use of decimated)
@AzuriSully
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
POV; yk the match job because of Enola 2
@dona62851
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
Wierd.
@natalielopes4159
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
Can you please feature an episode on Ladies in Waiting
@purplemanatee
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
I have a phobia of getting stuck in small spaces so being a chimney sweep sounds like an absolute nightmare.
@danieln6700
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
This channel has some really interesting videos. Only found it a few days ago
@doyoulikedinosaurs
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
pure collectors collected human shit too…
@EmoryStudy
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
Leeches DO have medicinal benefits and are used by board certified doctors to this day. They're often used to assist in reattaching severed fingers.
@macua7258
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
Nymphomania was a thing in Victorian era to require a "cure" for it…???
@AreUmygrandson
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
Tosher….. absolutely not. Not for me. I rather eat all the phosphorus
@dianeward6161
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
Leeches actually have some medical benefits! We still use them (albeit in rare cases) in hospitals to this day. And many anticoagulants were developed by studying their saliva.
@DebiSmithPouliot
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
I probably shouldn't have watched this while eating breakfast.
@whilykitt
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
leaches are still used today medicinally as a way to treat polycythemia as well as other conditions.
@absatwell8163
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
Thought the term, “light a fire under his ass”, came from the boys in chimneys as they would have no problem getting back up if there was indeed a fire lit. 😮
@Christensen_Custom_Guitars
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
"…and most doctors believe that blood is best left inside the body…"
I hope I never have to visit the doc who's not part of that "most" group.
@christinewilson1538
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
The information is great but I stopped watching half way…very upsetting.
@Quiet_Ease
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
Can you do a episode on the MADRAS Famine of 1877.
@Christopher-rk6gl
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
This should be good 👍
@skug9bob
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
Also, if a tosher was busy in the sewer and a heavy rain started overhead, he might not become aware of this in time to avoid being, shall we say, flushed.
@BELCAN57
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
Hence the term "Little Nipper" for a small kid.
@mrsbluesky8415
March 4, 2026 at 10:14 pm
I remember swimming in a quarry / reservoir in Virginia as a teen and finding about 20 leeches on my body when I got out ! Yuck. Never went swimming in still water again !
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