A Homeless 'Crawler' in Victorian London

This shocking image of a woman, probably in her 50s, known as a crawler was widely reproduced. It is taken on the steps of the workhouse on Short’s Gardens. Adolphe Smith says the woman earnt bread and a cup of tea by looking after the baby while the mother went to work. She was known as a crawler as these people were homeless and would ‘crawl’ from one area to another, sleeping outdoors or in casual wards.