Look Who it Was Random video

British working class - O'Hanlon Heroes (Season 2)

2,558 views · Published 22 March 2018 · 50:47 · Indexed 19 October 2026

Channel: vpro world stories · 2018 · Travel & Events

Watch on YouTube

In the fourth episode of the second season, O'Hanlon travels further behind Sir Henry Alexander Wickham (part 2). He is an almost forgotten and somewhat dubious hero from nineteenth-century Britain.

Henry Alexander Wickham, who returned from Brazil with a wealth of stolen rubber seeds, awaited a cold shower in England. As a working class boy he was kindly thanked for his efforts and then put aside. Redmond O'Hanlon firmly believes that the British Empire would never have become so powerful without the class system.

In Victorian England a laborer remained a laborer, regardless of his abilities or ambition, unless he, like Henry Wickham, stepped on a boat and moved to a British colony. Because as a Brit you suddenly represented something, regardless of your social class. Thus thousands of workers boys fled their fate in the dribble England and tried their luck beyond the equator. And more than half of them lost their lives. One hundred and fifty years later, O'Hanlon is still angry about this inequality. And that is why it is high time for him to introduce his greatest hero Richard Francis Burton. Because this explorer has always resigned himself against the narrow-mindedness and prudence of Victorian England.

As a brilliant polyglot, Burton translated erotic works such as the Kamasutra and the Arabian Nights into English and with that alone he laid a bomb under English chastity. Redmond re-reads with red ears Burton's work and dives with renewed energy into the life of Ruffian Dick as he was called - the Brute Burton.

Original title: Working class heroes

O'Hanlon's Heroes is a series of documentaries in which the British writer Redmond O'Hanlon follows in the footsteps of his heroes: naturalists, explorers and adventurers from the 19th century.

Presented by: Redmond O'Hanlon
Camera: Jackó van 't Hof
Research: Adelheid Kapteijn
Production: Nicole Frints en Nina Huisman
Direction: Roel van Broekhoven
© VPRO December 2013

On VPRO broadcast you will find nonfiction videos with English subtitles, French subtitles and Spanish subtitles, such as documentaries, short interviews and documentary series.

This channel offers some of the best travel series from the Dutch broadcaster VPRO. Our series explore cultures from all over the world. VPRO storytellers have lived abroad for years with an open mind and endless curiosity, allowing them to become one with their new country. Thanks to these qualities, they are the perfect guides to let you experience a place and culture through the eyes of a local. Uncovering the soul of a country, through an intrinsic and  honest connection, is what VPRO and its presenters do best.

So subscribe to our channel and we will be delighted to share our adventures with you!
more information at www.VPRObroadcast.com 

Visit additional youtube channels bij VPRO broadcast:
VPRO Broadcast: https://www.youtube.com/VPRObroadcast
VPRO Metropolis: https://www.youtube.com/user/VPROmetropolis
VPRO Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/VPROdocumentary
VPRO World Stories: https://www.youtube.com/VPROworldstories
VPRO Extra: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTLrhK07g6LP-JtT0VVE56A
VPRO VG (world music): https://www.youtube.com/vrijegeluiden
VPRO 3voor12 (alternative music): https://www.youtube.com/3voor12
VPRO 3voor12 extra (music stories): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtgVYRLGraeL9rGMiM3rBHA
www.VPRObroadcast.com

English, French and Spanish subtitles by Ericsson and co-funded by the European Union.

More from this channel