VICTORIAN-era Bolton was just like most other towns and cities at the times- filled with poverty, disease and despair.

The life expectancy was incredibly low for most people and around half of all newborns died before the age of four.

The average age of death for all classes in the town was 22, and in some central areas, only 18.

Most of the jobs held by those in the town were tough, gruelling and manual. We have looked at some of the deadliest jobs for Boltonians in the Victorian-era:

1. The Workhouse

People unfortunate enough to work in workhouses endured awful conditions.

The work spaces were cramped, dirty and unsafe, leaving many workers sick and injured.

One such place was the Bolton Poor Law Union workhouse, which was originally situated in Fletcher Street in 1837, before being replaced in September 1861 by a second building in the area of Fishpool in Farnworth.

It is thought at least 1,000 people are buried close to the site of the old workhouse, off Minerva Road close to Mount St Joseph school.

While there was no mass grave like other towns, Bolton's Board of Guardians would buy common graves with space for six bodies if people died without any family.

When a headstone was used, if at all, it would be made of cheap limestone and deteriorate as years went by.

Many families lived in hovels or were crammed into cellars, food was bad, water contaminated, and sewage was simply put outside or into the River Croal in the hope that it would wash away

It's no wonder tradesmen lived on average only until they were 27, while for 'operatives' (mechanics, servants and labourers), it was only 19.

2. Chimney sweepers

Mary Poppins may have made it look sweeter than it actually is- as the profession was a very deadly trade for youngsters.

As the industrial revolution exploded across the north, factories and cheap housing sprung up everywhere, providing ample chimneys for unfortunate cleaners.

Children were selected as they were small and could easily fit into the chimneys, but this was no positive.

Many cleaners would get stuck in chimneys or injure themselves during the hazardous clean.

The soot from the filthy chimneys also provided another danger, as the fumes and particles could cause long-term respiratory problems.

3. Prostitution

Sex work has long been a dangerous occupation, as the clients that they entertain can be anything from abusive to downright murderous.

The Victorian-era often conjures up images of the notorious Jack the Ripper, who killed prostitutes in London in 1888.

Local Bolton archives reveal documents that shows the regard in which prostitution was held, with the occupation being viewed as a "great evil."

The documents even name some of those who were helped, including 21-year-old Ellen Loftus who had been a prostitute for five years, but was afraid of her boyfriend who threatened to kill her if she stopped.

Help included a policy of moving "the poor creatures" out of the town and out of reach of "disreputable places" of which, according to the records, there were 78 in Bolton.

Prostitutes were often desperate and therefore able to be exploited- leaving many abused, attacked or killed.

4. Handloom weavers

Nobody was well-paid in the Victorian-era, but the less of it you had, the less chance you had of living a full life.

Handloom weavers were workers who saw their wages tail from 33s 6d (£1.67) a week in 1795 to 5s 6d (27p) in 1834, all at a time when the price of bread was rising.

In 1848 John Entwistle wrote to the Mayor of Bolton that in Gaffers Ginnel, a back street between Deansgate and Bridge Street, he had seen 70 residents of one building living in squalor beside a tobacco factory and a cesspool.

More than one in five deaths, he said, resulted from epidemic infections 'encouraged by the lack of space, sun, nutrition and hygiene'.

The inability to buy food was a killer- and being chronically underpaid meant you often had next to nothing to be able to get the resources you needed.

5. Male cotton spinners

The cramped life of a cotton spinner often led to serious growth stunts and problems.

Male cotton spinners were so stunted in growth, that a random 100 of them averaged less than 5ft. 5in. in height.

Such was the misery of many workers, drinking of spirits was a common pastime for adults and children, and liver cirrhosis was not unknown to occur before puberty.

Even worse, youngsters frequently died of convulsions brought on, it seemed, by parents who administered gin and opiates in the form of cordials to their children.