The Peabody estate was established by the Anglophile American philanthropist George Peabody (1795-1869). The charity he set up was part of an enlightened impulse to combat the insanitary slums and chronic disease in industrialised London through improvements in public health and model housing. This model housing however was only available to industrious artisans who were a couple of rungs up the ladder from less skiiled, poorer workers.