E X T E N S I O N LIFE IN THE 18 TH CENTURY At the beginning of the 18 century, England was a land of villages. The majority of the population was still rural and lived in the south. In 1714, it was probably about 5.5 million. The population of London was about half a million, in Bristol it was about 50,000 and then there were Manchester, Liverpool and Cock fighting (W. Hogarth, 1735). Birmingham each with less than 40,000 people. Now let s go and have a virtual walk in London in the middle of the 18th century! The first thing we notice is the stench1, because there was no sewage2 system.The houses of the poor had one or two rooms where people, pigs and poultry3 lived. The tradesmen4 used the streets as their dustbin5. Butchers6, for example, threw the remains of dead animals in the streets. Almost all the houses were overcrowded7: up to ten people could live in one room and often the rooms did not have any furniture, even any beds! Many people got ill, especially children. Violence was very common in towns, because people had just two kinds of entertainment: drinking and gambling8. Sports such as cock fighting9 and bear baiting10 were common, too. At night, the streets were completely dark because there was no street lighting. In 1734, a new system of lamps in the streets was introduced in London. th 5. dustbin: a place where you put rubbish. 6. butcher: a person who sells meat in a shop. 7. overcrowded: with too many people. 8. gambling: playing games for money. 9. cock fighting: organized fights between two cocks. 10. bear baiting: a cruel game in which dogs attacked bears. 1. stench: unpleasant smell. 2. sewage: used water and waste substances produced by human bodies which are carried away from houses through special pipes. 3. poultry: 4. tradesmen: people that sell goods, especially in shops. 48