Henry Mayhew was an English social researcher, journalist, playwright and advocate of reform. He was one of
the co-founders of the satirical and humorous magazine Punch in 1841, and was the magazine's joint-editor, with Mark Lemon, in its early days.
He is also known for his work as a social researcher, publishing an extensive series of newspaper articles in the Morning Chronicle that was
later compiled into the book series London Labour and the London Poor (1851), a groundbreaking and influential survey of the city's poor.
In the Preface to this monumental work, Mayhew described his work as 'the first attempt to publish the history of the people, from the lips of the people themselves--giving a literal description of their labour, their earnings, their trials and their sufferings in their own unvarnished language.'
. . . Mayhew's intention was to create a documentary record, educating his middle class readers about the lives of the poor to encourage social change . . . Henry Mayhew bears witness not only to the suffering of outcasts in nineteenth century London, but also to the resourcefulness and courage demonstrated by those who found ways of carving out lives in such uncompromising circumstances . . .
The Gentle Author's Cries! of London (p. 24)
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