Hello,
I’m Dean Kirby – a historian, journalist, author and genealogist from Manchester, UK.
Welcome to the website for my debut book Angel Meadow: Victorian Britain’s Most Savage Slum. The book tells the story of the nineteenth century underworld of Angel Meadow in Manchester, the vilest and most dangerous slum of the Industrial Revolution. In the shadow of the world’s first cotton mill, 30,000 souls trapped by poverty fought for survival there as the British Empire was built upon their backs.
Thieves and prostitutes kept company with rats in overcrowded lodging houses and deep cellars on the banks of a black river, the Irk. Gangs of ‘scuttlers’ stalked the streets in pointed, brass-tripped clogs. Those who evaded their clutches were hunted down by cholera, typhoid and tuberculosis. Lawless drinking dens and a cold slab in the dead house provided the only relief from this filthy and frightening world.
Enter Angel Meadow if you dare.
NEW FOR 2024: ANGEL MEADOW WALKING TOURS
Why not join me for a guided tour around the Manchester district of Angel Meadow? In this new tour by me, historian and writer Dean Kirby, you will hear the hidden story of how the district and its people shaped one of the world’s greatest cities. Whether, like me, you are a descendant of Angel Meadow ancestors or have a burning passion to explore the history of Manchester, this tour is for you. The price of your ticket includes a 90 minute guided walk through the streets of Angel Meadow with with Dean Kirby, the leading authority on the area’s history, as we walk alongside the River Irk, through the tree-lined Angel Meadow park and along streets where new apartments rub shoulders with former ragged schools. To book tickets now, click here to visit my Angel Meadow tours page.
NEW: PROFESSION GENEALOGY SERVICES
Happy New Year! To kick of 2024, I’ve begun I’m offering a professional family history research service to support families who are searching for their Mancunian and Northern England ancestors. As an associate of the professional genealogy body AGRA, and using all my skills as a journalist, PhD historian, genealogist and Manchester history author, I can help you research your family tree, do look ups for you in the Manchester archives and offer bespoke services such as mapping your Victorian ancestor’s home or tracing the journeys made by First World War soldiers in France and Belgium. For details, visit my dedicated genealogy website www.manchesterfamilyhistory.com where there’s a form you can use to contact me about what you you need.
NEW: FREE MANCHESTER HISTORY NEWSLETTER
Why not subscribe to my new newsletter, which tells stories from the backstreets of Victorian Manchester including Angel Meadow? It’s called Once Upon a Time in Manchester and it’s free to subscribe and drops straight into your email inbox. There’s also a free chat group for subscribers, where we chat about Manchester family history. You can join for free at www.manchesterhistory.uk.
BUY MY BOOK
Click here to buy the book on Amazon (affiliate link). You can also buy Angel Meadow through other book retailers.
MERCH
Follow this link to visit my new shop for clothing and accessories related to the history of Manchester
Angel Meadow 
Can’t wait to read your book. My graddad Jake Winter lived in the ‘Meadow’ when he was a small child. His stories about that time stuck with him his whole life.
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I too am looking forward to reading your book. My father was born in “the Medda” and I was born only a stones throw away. Researching my family history I found many fascinating pieces about my great grandparents.
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When we found our family had lived there in the 1890s it opened up a chapter of social history that we never dreamed we were part of. Our family history census tells of families living apart in cellar dwellings, tramping around the country rocking up in the slumiest parts of major cities, eventually settling in the Angel Meadow part of Manchester. Thanks to a late life marriage, and an escape to Sheffield in the late 19th century (which was probably only successful because of the early death of a man who we think was tricked into marrying our great-great-great-grandma and was possibly driven to an early and suspicious death (there was a post mortem)), our ancestors travelled over the Pennines into the relative luxury of the Sheffield crofts where they ran doss houses and sold coal.
It’s an unimaginable way of life and one which fills me with gratitude that they survived it.
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My great great great grandfather lived in Angel Meadow, along with my great great grandfather and great great grandmother. They were of Irish descent.
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My Great Grandfather and my Grandfather b.1875 lived in Charter Street for some years. My great Grandfather died there in 1906 and he was a Beer Retailer. I went to see the excavations and could not believe my eyes at what sort of property they had to live in. Angel Meadow today is a wonderful place to sit and quietly contemplate all of the work everyone has done to make such a beautiful place in the middle of our city – a wonderful tribute to everyone concerned and a big thank you to the ‘Friends of Angel Meadow’.
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My Grandmother Mary Anne Flynn was born in back style st angel meadow
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Jim: just seen your message regarding Angel Meadow. My mother Marian Matthews had relatives with the Flynn surname (Jim). In fact she was named after Mary Ann. I wonder if we are related?
PS. She had a father John Matthews ex Army and 3 brothers John, Bill and Jim. They lived in the flats at Kenneth House, Smedley Lane.
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Battles, Silks, Morgans. All my ancestors who arrived in AM in the 1830s from Ireland.
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I would be very interested if anyone has come across any of the Miller family who lived on Canal St in the late 1800s. They were of Irish descent. Coming from Dublin via Liverpool.
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I found out about Angel Meadow after researching my family tree. What a different place it all was back in those dark industrial times. Fascinating History all round. Can’t wait to read your book.
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My g.grandfather was a lodging house keeper..william powner..24st michaels square..the end of angel st..he lived with his wife elizabeth..sons/family lived on angel street..lodging houses…
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I thoroughly enjoyed reading Angel Meadow, what an eye opener, the survival of the fittest it’s a credit to the author,we’ll done. John Flaherty.
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My grandmother was a domestic servant at that address in 1924
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He was my grandfather’s brother.. my grandfather was James Powner, married to Lily who ran the other 2 lodging houses
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I was born in 52,PILLING STREET, Collyhurst, on the edge of Angel Meadow, in 1939. My mother, Grandmother and Great-grandmother were all from the same area, and I recall those slum areas very well from my childhood. The women in my family were obviously made of strong stuff to survive such hard lives.
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I live in Australia now but was born at Crumpsall Hospital, trained as a nurse at Wythenshawe Hospital and love social history. I never heard of Angel Meadow, I do remember Mum driving down Oldham Rd seeing the depressing red brick slums of Ancoats that faced the road.
Thank you for all your research!
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My Gt Gt Grandfather Junius Brutus Booth was born in 1841 at Back Style Street. Son of a Cordwainer.
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Quite surprised to find out about the area where my Gt Gt Grandfather was born (1841). Family lived in 36 Back Style St from around 1836 to the mid 1840’s . I presume this to be overlooking the burial ground in back to back houses?
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