She was a widow of one William Christie Laing, a surgeon. Her late husband had subscribed to the Bengal Military Orphan Society for 23 years. So, presumably, he was part of the military, and as a surgeon, held a rank that would have yielded a sizable stipend.
According to the article, she received a £225 widow pension from the Bengal Military Fund. So, is this a sizable pension, or mere charity pushing her into "extreme penury" per her own assertion? One could assume that rank and years served by her late husband would have propped up her pension beyond what a widow of a common soldier would have received. Or even a common laborer who didn't came from wealth at all.
In that regard, rent wasn't her particular issue. Relinquishing her former lifestyle in order to maintain her 7 children was. Sure, the reduction of her income had a serious impact. But how does it compare to actual poverty levels at the time?
Just 3 years later, she had moved out to a different place and was living with 4 of her children. So, clearly, her financial situation did improve during that period of time. A dynamic that generally wasn't - and still isn't - all that self evident for someone who already belonged to the lower social classes.