little_details

The main character of my novel will be spending some time with an Iroquois Tribe from Ontario. There he will find a gay Japanese-Canadian (he is 16 at the current date in the story) is going to end up living with this particular Iroquois tribe. He met them a few times as a young child for single night events. He moved to stay with them permanently when he is twelve.  The setting is current day, but the Iroquois tribe was displaced from time and space before the arrival of the Europeans. Kind of like in the Star Trek The Original Series season 3 episode “The Paradise syndrome”. So this particular tribe never had to deal with the death and disease, or anything else that came with the Europeans. They have however met their neighbours in this new universe some of which are European, Asian, and Canadian etc. But it has always been a peaceful relationship.

 So I have a lot of questions about celebrations, travel, visitors, adoptions, and life, that needs detailed answers.

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I am currently planning/writing an urban fantasy novel set in 19th century Victorian London, and I have been wrecking my head over what may or may not be a small detail for weeks.

I have a young female character (she's about fifteen) coming to London looking for work. For reasons that aren't important at this juncture, I need her to find work in a factory. Which is kind of where I've hit a dead end, because I can't seem to find anything on factories in Victorian London. (Did they even exist? I'm beginning to think no.)

What I found on female workers in Victorian Britain suggested that most of them worked either in service as maids, governesses etc., or in the textile industry, which at that point was centered in Lancashire and Yorkshire. Some women apparently worked in the metal industry as well, but those factories were mostly located in the area of Birmingham. I also know that some women worked as seamstresses from home, but that's not really what I had in mind for my character. Also, prostitution is not an option.

In a nutshell: my female character needs to find work in a factory in Victorian London--where could I place her? Were there any factories at all in London, or were they all centered in the heavily industrialised area such as Liverpool, Birmingham etc.?

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It would be great if you could help me or even nudge me in the right direction for more research material. Thank you!