Odd Jobs of Old London You Won’t Believe Existed
When you walk through London today, it’s all glass skyscrapers, Pret coffees, and commuters rushing with AirPods in. But if you could rewind a couple of hundred years, the city would have looked and smelled very different. And with that came a whole set of jobs that are so bizarre by modern standards, you almost have to laugh (or cringe).
These weren’t fancy professions. These were gritty, sometimes downright gross, but absolutely essential to keeping the city moving. London, after all, was bursting at the seams during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries no clean running water, no proper sanitation, and streets filled with horses, mud, and a whole lot worse. Someone had to deal with it.
So, let’s step back in time and meet the people who kept old London ticking with jobs you won’t believe once existed.
1. The Pure Finders (Yes, They Collected Dog Poop)
Imagine your day starting with a bucket and a keen eye for… dog droppings. That was the life of a pure finder.
Their job was to scour the streets of London for animal faeces mostly dog poop which they would then sell to tanneries. Why? Because the enzymes in it were used in the leather tanning process.
It wasn’t glamorous, but it was steady work. A good “find” could mean a meal on the table. Next time you see someone walking their dog in Hyde Park, remember that in old London, that poop might’ve been worth money.
2. The Toshers (Treasure Hunters in Sewers)
Forget metal detecting on Hampstead Heath the toshers were the real urban treasure hunters.
Armed with a lantern and a long pole, these men waded into the Thames sewers looking for anything valuable that had been washed down: coins, bits of jewellery, even scraps of copper or lead.
It was dangerous, filthy work they risked disease, drowning, and sometimes methane explosions. But some toshers made a decent living, selling their “finds” at markets. It’s grim, but there’s something kind of thrilling about imagining these guys rummaging in the muck for a silver spoon.
3. The Night Soil Men (London’s Poop Collectors)
If you thought pure finders had it bad, wait until you meet the night soil men.
Back before indoor plumbing, Londoners relieved themselves in privies basically outdoor toilets. Once these filled up, someone had to empty them. That someone was the night soil man.
They worked overnight (hence the name), shovelling human waste into carts and hauling it outside the city to be dumped on fields. Imagine the smell on a hot summer night. Yet, without them, London would’ve drowned in its own filth.
4. The Leech Collectors
This one sounds like a scene from a horror movie. Leech collectors, often women, would wade into marshes, ponds, and streams with bare legs. The leeches would attach themselves, and once full of blood, they’d be scraped off and sold to apothecaries.
Leeches were considered a cure-all in medicine for centuries. Demand was so high that collectors could earn a steady wage though at the cost of infections and sometimes even permanent scarring.
5. The Resurrection Men (Grave Robbers for Science)
Medicine in the 18th and early 19th centuries was advancing quickly. Doctors needed cadavers to study anatomy, but legally supplied bodies were scarce. Enter the resurrection men.
These shady figures would sneak into graveyards at night and dig up freshly buried bodies, selling them to medical schools. The demand was huge, and though the work was illegal (and caused outrage when families discovered loved ones missing), it was a lucrative business.
The practice eventually led to the Anatomy Act of 1832, which allowed medical schools more access to cadavers legally, putting an end to the trade. But for decades, resurrection men kept London’s surgeons in business.
6. The Mudlarks
If you’ve ever walked along the Thames foreshore at low tide, you’ve probably seen modern mudlarkers hobbyists with permits searching for history in the mud. But in Victorian London, mudlarking was no quirky pastime.
Children as young as six would scour the Thames riverbanks, searching for anything that could be sold coal, wood, bits of rope, scraps of metal. It was dangerous work; the tides came in quickly, and the river was full of filth. But for many poor families, it was a matter of survival.
7. The Rat Catchers
With narrow streets, overflowing markets, and poor sanitation, London was crawling with rats. Enter the rat catchers men who made a living hunting them down.
They’d use terriers or ferrets to flush out rats from homes, taverns, and even sewers. Some rat catchers became minor celebrities, boasting about how many rodents they could kill in an hour. A few even kept live rats for “rat-baiting,” a grim sport where dogs competed to kill as many rats as possible.
8. The Knocker-Ups (Human Alarm Clocks)
Before alarm clocks were common, Londoners had to rely on knocker-ups to get out of bed on time.
Armed with long poles or pea-shooters, they’d tap on windows to wake up clients, often factory workers who needed to start at the crack of dawn. And yes, someone else was paid to make sure the knocker-up themselves woke up on time.
Why These Jobs Matter Today
They might sound laughable or downright disgusting now, but these odd jobs reveal how resourceful Londoners had to be. Every scrap, every drop, every bit of filth someone found a way to turn it into a living.
It also shows how much the city has transformed. Today we’ve got Uber drivers, Deliveroo cyclists, and TikTok creators but two centuries ago, the backbone of London was people trudging through muck, hunting rats, or knocking on windows at dawn.
Wrapping Up
London’s history isn’t just kings, queens, and grand buildings it’s also the everyday workers who did the dirtiest jobs imaginable to keep the city running. And while I wouldn’t trade my job for being a tosher or a night soil man, I can’t help but admire their grit.
What about you? Which of these odd jobs would you absolutely refuse to do and which one do you secretly think you could hack? Drop me a comment, I’d love to hear your take.
And if you enjoy these little time-travel dives into London’s past, make sure you follow @london.yaar on Instagram I’m always sharing quirky stories, hidden history, and offbeat London adventures.
Until next time, next time you walk along the Thames or pass by Camden’s canals, remember: somewhere in that mud or muck, someone once made a living.