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Humbug and a ‘Welsh Hindoo’: A Small History of Begging, Race and Language in Mid-nineteenth Century Liverpool

Martin Johnes Orcid Logo

Journal of Victorian Culture, Volume: 27, Issue: 3, Pages: 387 - 404

Swansea University Author: Martin Johnes Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1093/jvcult/vcac033

Abstract

In 1849, a Liverpool newspaper printed a letter about an encounter with a lascar who was selling hymn sheets. The same newspaper had recently reported the arrest of someone similar for drunkenness and the letter writer, a migrant from Wales, confronted the hymn seller angrily in Welsh. To his surpri...

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Published in: Journal of Victorian Culture
ISSN: 1355-5502 1750-0133
Published: Oxford University Press (OUP) 2022
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa58949
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first_indexed 2021-12-07T12:40:25Z
last_indexed 2023-01-11T14:39:53Z
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spelling v2 58949 2021-12-07 Humbug and a ‘Welsh Hindoo’: A Small History of Begging, Race and Language in Mid-nineteenth Century Liverpool 8aa6d8da22a168889f76c9a5a6e5fa84 0000-0001-9700-5120 Martin Johnes Martin Johnes true false 2021-12-07 CACS In 1849, a Liverpool newspaper printed a letter about an encounter with a lascar who was selling hymn sheets. The same newspaper had recently reported the arrest of someone similar for drunkenness and the letter writer, a migrant from Wales, confronted the hymn seller angrily in Welsh. To his surprise, the man responded in the same language and eventually confessed to being from Anglesey rather than Bombay. Much about the incident is unclear. Had the hymn seller coloured his skin? Why did he regard passing as an Indian as a useful sales technique? Why was the letter writer angry and why did he confront the man in Welsh? Did it even happen? Attempting to answer such questions can provide pointers to much wider historical issues. A ‘small history’ of this incident offers an opportunity to explore the dynamics of class, language and race in the middle of the nineteenth century. The incident reveals the anxieties the middle classes had around their position and whether their goodwill was being exploited by the poor. It points towards the impact of racism on people of colour and the significance of ethnicity for white migrants too. The incident also illustrates how the working classes and people of colour were not without agency, however they were thought about by those whose attitudes and power shaped their lives. Yet all these interpretations rest on a degree of supposition and the article concludes that historians too can engage in a degree of deception in their writings. Journal Article Journal of Victorian Culture 27 3 387 404 Oxford University Press (OUP) 1355-5502 1750-0133 13 7 2022 2022-07-13 10.1093/jvcult/vcac033 COLLEGE NANME Culture and Communications School COLLEGE CODE CACS Swansea University 2024-07-29T15:02:16.4614969 2021-12-07T12:37:43.9559092 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Culture and Communication - History Martin Johnes 0000-0001-9700-5120 1 58949__21963__9674448e40c84f799902cdf005b723e5.pdf 58949.pdf 2021-12-30T12:54:39.4523677 Output 274585 application/pdf Accepted Manuscript true 2024-05-27T00:00:00.0000000 true eng
title Humbug and a ‘Welsh Hindoo’: A Small History of Begging, Race and Language in Mid-nineteenth Century Liverpool
spellingShingle Humbug and a ‘Welsh Hindoo’: A Small History of Begging, Race and Language in Mid-nineteenth Century Liverpool
Martin Johnes
title_short Humbug and a ‘Welsh Hindoo’: A Small History of Begging, Race and Language in Mid-nineteenth Century Liverpool
title_full Humbug and a ‘Welsh Hindoo’: A Small History of Begging, Race and Language in Mid-nineteenth Century Liverpool
title_fullStr Humbug and a ‘Welsh Hindoo’: A Small History of Begging, Race and Language in Mid-nineteenth Century Liverpool
title_full_unstemmed Humbug and a ‘Welsh Hindoo’: A Small History of Begging, Race and Language in Mid-nineteenth Century Liverpool
title_sort Humbug and a ‘Welsh Hindoo’: A Small History of Begging, Race and Language in Mid-nineteenth Century Liverpool
author_id_str_mv 8aa6d8da22a168889f76c9a5a6e5fa84
author_id_fullname_str_mv 8aa6d8da22a168889f76c9a5a6e5fa84_***_Martin Johnes
author Martin Johnes
author2 Martin Johnes
format Journal article
container_title Journal of Victorian Culture
container_volume 27
container_issue 3
container_start_page 387
publishDate 2022
institution Swansea University
issn 1355-5502
1750-0133
doi_str_mv 10.1093/jvcult/vcac033
publisher Oxford University Press (OUP)
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Culture and Communication - History{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Culture and Communication - History
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description In 1849, a Liverpool newspaper printed a letter about an encounter with a lascar who was selling hymn sheets. The same newspaper had recently reported the arrest of someone similar for drunkenness and the letter writer, a migrant from Wales, confronted the hymn seller angrily in Welsh. To his surprise, the man responded in the same language and eventually confessed to being from Anglesey rather than Bombay. Much about the incident is unclear. Had the hymn seller coloured his skin? Why did he regard passing as an Indian as a useful sales technique? Why was the letter writer angry and why did he confront the man in Welsh? Did it even happen? Attempting to answer such questions can provide pointers to much wider historical issues. A ‘small history’ of this incident offers an opportunity to explore the dynamics of class, language and race in the middle of the nineteenth century. The incident reveals the anxieties the middle classes had around their position and whether their goodwill was being exploited by the poor. It points towards the impact of racism on people of colour and the significance of ethnicity for white migrants too. The incident also illustrates how the working classes and people of colour were not without agency, however they were thought about by those whose attitudes and power shaped their lives. Yet all these interpretations rest on a degree of supposition and the article concludes that historians too can engage in a degree of deception in their writings.
published_date 2022-07-13T15:02:15Z
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