Gin · History · Short entry

Hogarth's Gin Lane (1751)

William Hogarth published the print Gin Lane, paired with Beer Street, in February 1751. Its picture of a London street ruined by gin became the defining image of the Gin Craze.

Location: St Giles and Bloomsbury, London, United Kingdom

1 February 1751

A satirical etching and engraving showing gin-crazed Londoners, a drunken mother letting her baby fall, an emaciated ballad-seller, pawnbroker's and undertaker's signs.

Why it mattered

Published in the year Parliament debated and passed the 1751 Gin Act, contrasting ruinous gin with healthy beer.

The print

The British Museum describes Gin Lane as "a scene of urban desolation with gin-crazed Londoners, notably a woman who lets her child fall to its death and an emaciated ballad-seller", with the tower of St George's Bloomsbury in the background, published as a pair to Beer Street in February 1751. The V&A's impression gives the publication date as 1 February 1751 and the verse beneath it begins "Gin cursed Fiend, with Fury fraught". Hanham places the pair in the campaign that led to the 1751 Act.

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