London Lives 1690 to 1800 Crime, Poverty and Social Policy in the Metropolis
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A fascinating site which allows users to learn about the lives of the poor in London between 1690 and 1800. A large number of documents have been digitized and are available for online browsing. In addition, researchers have gone through the documents and compiled biographies of many people. Because many of the documents come from the criminal justice system, the biographies include quite a few criminals, but the biographies I read were not explicit. Intended for adults, but could be interesting for older homeschoolers.
A description of the project from the website:
London Lives makes available, in a fully digitised and searchable form, a wide range of primary sources about eighteenth-century London, with a particular focus on plebeian Londoners. This resource includes over 240,000 manuscript and printed pages from eight London archives and is supplemented by fifteen datasets created by other projects. It provides access to historical records containing over 3.35 million name instances. Facilities are provided to allow users to link together records relating to the same individual, and to compile biographies of the best documented individuals.
