It must have felt to Wilfred like avery long fall from the comfortable surroundings of...
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It must have felt to Wilfred like a
very long fall from the comfortable surroundings of Falkner Street to the harsh confines
of Lancaster gaol. And anyone sent to a debtors' prison
in Victorian times would have had to stay there until
they'd cleared their debts, or reached a deal
to have them wiped out. Wilfred Steele suffered this
terrible reversal of fortunes. I imagine he's feeling sorry for
himself, and I think he has reason to. A Victorian debtors' prison
is an appalling place. I really wish I could feel sorry
for Wilfred Steele, but I don't. The cotton bales
that land in Liverpool, the last hand to have loaded them
on a ship in New Orleans is that of a black person
who is a slave
very long fall from the comfortable surroundings of Falkner Street to the harsh confines
of Lancaster gaol. And anyone sent to a debtors' prison
in Victorian times would have had to stay there until
they'd cleared their debts, or reached a deal
to have them wiped out. Wilfred Steele suffered this
terrible reversal of fortunes. I imagine he's feeling sorry for
himself, and I think he has reason to. A Victorian debtors' prison
is an appalling place. I really wish I could feel sorry
for Wilfred Steele, but I don't. The cotton bales
that land in Liverpool, the last hand to have loaded them
on a ship in New Orleans is that of a black person
who is a slave
Full Transcript
00:00:01.000 --> 00:00:05.008
It must have felt to Wilfred like a
very long fall from the comfortable
00:00:05.008 --> 00:00:07.024
surroundings of Falkner Street
00:00:07.024 --> 00:00:10.000
to the harsh confines
of Lancaster gaol.
00:00:11.008 --> 00:00:15.000
And anyone sent to a debtors' prison
in Victorian times
00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:18.006
would have had to stay there until
they'd cleared their debts,
00:00:18.006 --> 00:00:21.056
or reached a deal
to have them wiped out.
00:00:22.096 --> 00:00:26.048
Wilfred Steele suffered this
terrible reversal of fortunes.
00:00:26.048 --> 00:00:28.072
I imagine he's feeling sorry for
himself,
00:00:28.072 --> 00:00:30.016
and I think he has reason to.
00:00:30.016 --> 00:00:32.008
A Victorian debtors' prison
is an appalling place.
00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:37.012
I really wish I could feel sorry
for Wilfred Steele, but I don't.
00:00:38.036 --> 00:00:40.998
The cotton bales
that land in Liverpool,
00:00:40.998 --> 00:00:43.088
the last hand to have loaded them
on a ship in New Orleans
00:00:43.088 --> 00:00:46.006
is that of a black person
who is a slave.
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Movie Summary
Historian David Olusoga charts 180 years of British history as lived by the successive inhabitants of a single home in a British city - from its construction to the present day.
