My Heroes

Seeing that it is thick snow outside, I decided to re-acquaint myself with the family tree today and it got me thinking.
How did my Ancestor's cope with such cold weather?
Today, everyone has Central Heating or heating of some kind, at least. Back then, if someone had said 'Central Heating', can you imagine their faces? They would be baffled.
I honestly don't know how they coped, all huddled together in one room, cuddling each other to keep warm - which is why diseases were so rife. Then there are the ones that had to work outside - Grave Diggers (Can you imagine trying to dig solid, frozen ground with just a Spade? No digging equipment like today!), Hawkers (Street Sellers - up at 3 or 4am and selling right through to 10 or 11pm), Gardeners and such like, never being able to go home to a fully warmed property and most of the time, never being able to have a hot bath.
It's funny what we take for granted - I love being able to have a Bath, this would be a luxury to my Ancestor's though. Back then, they had the 'Public Baths' - but who would want to Bath in full view of everyone? Especially when the Baths were dirty, lice & Flea infested and diseased waters.
They were true Grafters though - and there were no such thing as State Benefits. Poor Law money was incredibly hard to claim, and the majority were below the poverty line.
But for as many that died, many more lived.
Suffering was undeniable, many women lost all of their children before they died (I read on the census for 1911 - one woman was widowed, had 16 children, lost 14 children and only 2 survived according to that census) due to lack of health care and poor living conditions Poverty was widespread. Disease was rife. Conditions were filthy. No one had anything. Yet somehow, they marched on with pride, never giving up - probably because they never knew anything different.

Undoubtedly, My Ancestor's are my Heroes.