Victorian Era Research- Key
A Victorian Sunday
1. Why did people only eat meat on Sunday?
a. Couldn't afford it
2. Why did children attend Sunday School?
a. To learn to read
3. How did Sunday schools originate?
a. Most schools were “pay to attend” If churches wanted children to read the Bible,
they had to teach them how to read.
A Victorian Street Seller
1. What did children do rather than attend school?
a. Went to work in fields, factories, and shops
2. At what age did children begin working?
a. 6
3. To what did people attribute poverty?
a. It was a punishment from God for being bad
4. Why did lots of disease exist?
a. Cities were filthy, open sewers
5. What sometimes happened to kids who were in the streets?
a. They disappeared & washed up in the river days later, killed
6. How much did the cheapest funeral cost during this time?
a. About 5 pounds, 3 months wages
7. What was the maximum number of hours children could work beginning in 1886?
a. 74
8. Where did people acquire their meals? Why did they do this?
a. Street sellers, they had nowhere in their homes to cook
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A Victorian Christmas
1. In 1837, most people had not heard of what famous person?
a. Santa Claus
2. What two days were celebrated by the middle class by 1849?
a. Christmas & Boxing day
3. What happened in the Workhouse on Christmas?
a. Special food, small gift
4. By 1880, what made more people know about Christmas?
a. School
5. Why did they decorate with evergreens?
a. The people thought they were magical
6. What were musicians who visited houses at Christmas called?
a. “The Waits”
7. Why didn’t most people eat meat in Victorian Britain?
a. Too expensive
8. What was the significance of the Baker’s oven?
a. People used the baker’s oven because they didn’t have one of their own
9. What was the copper used for when not used for cooking?
a. Heating water for washing
10. Who brought Christmas trees to England?
a. Prince Albert, German
11. Why didn’t most poor children have toys?
a. Too expensive
12. Provide an example of what might be in the stocking of a poor child.
a. Apple, orange, penny, small toy
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13. Where did Santa Claus originate?
a. The Dutch
14. How does one play Blind Man’s Bluff?
a. Put on blindfold, catch someone, then that person puts on the blindfold
Victorian Toys and Games
1. How were toys made in 1837?
a. By hand, not by machine
2. Why did toys become cheaper after 1850?
a. They were easier to make (in factories)
3. Many toys were made from what material?
a. wood
4. How many hours a week did children work making toys?
a. 70
5. How much money did they earn?
a. 2 shillings, 10 pence
6. What law was passed in 1870?
a. A law that said all children need to go to school
7. What happened in 1891?
a. Schools were now free and more children went
8. Why did poor children in Victorian Britain have less time for playing?
a. They had to do chores around the house
9. How much time did rich children spend with their parents each day?
a. An hour
10. Why couldn’t kids play with toys on Sunday?
a. It was a day for church, sunday school, reading the bible, thinking about god
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Victorian Factory
1. What did the first factory make?
a. Cotton thread
2. What was a sweatshop?
a. A shop where employees worked long hours in small crowded rooms for very
little money
3. What is the difference between a cottage worker and a factory worker?
a. Cottage workers- could chat, take breaks, work on their own schedule
b. Factory workers- no talking, no breaks, owners decided when you worked
4. What were some of the rules for those who worked in factories?
a. No opening windows, no breaking tools, no whistling, no littering no swearing
5. What were the work hours for factory workers?
a. 12 hours a day
6. How were a woman’s wages different from a man’s?
a. Woman earned ½ what a man made
7. Who were the cheapest workers?
a. Orphans- no $, little food, and a dirty bed
8. What were the only holidays people did not have to work?
a. Good friday and christmas
9. What did workers do at home?
a. Eat & sleep
10. What was the only concern of factory owners?
a. Making money
11. What happened in 1884?
a. A law was passed to force cotton mill owners to put guards over some of the
moving parts of machines
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12. How were some workers punished?
a. Beatings, some get earlobes nailed to boards
13. What happened if a worker was sick?
a. No pay, no money from owners even if work was what made them sick
14. What happened to a worker who could no longer work?
a. Ended up in the workhouse unless their family could support them
15. What did Robert Owen do?
a. Tried to improve working conditions in Scotland. He built schools and villages so
his workers could live in healthy surroundings. He cut working hours and didn’t
hire anyone under 10 years of age.
16. What did John Colman do in 1857?
a. Set up a school for children of factory workers
17. What law was passed in 1833?
a. A law that set up factory inspectors, also a law that kept kids under 9 from woking
in textile mills
18. What were some ways to become educated?
a. Go to lessons in their spare time
b. Go to working men’s institute- schools for working adults
c. Go to bible classes in church
A Victorian Hospital
1. What are two or three reasons people lived in unhealthy conditions?
a. Houses were close to each other, no light or air, rubbish in the streets, used
waters from rivers
2. Name one major disease of the Victorian Era.
a. cholera
3. What are some other diseases?
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a. Tuberculosis, measles, whooping cough
4. How did people think disease spread?
a. Touching someone who had it & bad air
5. In 1880, what percent of children died before age 1?
a. 1 out of every 5 (20%)
6. What did they do with an infected body part?
a. amputated
7. Describe a hospital in Victorian times.
a. People with different diseases all in the same room, dirty and smelled bad,
buckets for toilets, patients wore the same clothes, beds change once a month,
no food
8. What made operations especially painful?
a. No drugs to relieve pain
9. What did Louis Pasteur prove in 1864?
a. That infections were caused by germs
10. What did they do with those who were mentally ill in Victorian times?
a. Put them in asylums, some chained up
Victorian Clothing
1. What was unusual about the clothing of children before age 5?
a. Boys wore same as girls
2. At what age were Victorian boys allowed to wear long pants?
a. 10
3. What was the most expensive item of clothing?
a. shoes
4. How did Victorians keep clothes clean?
a. Washed by hand (poor- once a week, middle class- every 2 weeks)
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5. Where did the average person acquire his or her clothes?
a. Second hand shops
6. How many outfits did the average Victorian have?
a. 2
Victorian Workhouse
1. What was seen as a major case of continued poverty during the Victorian Era?
a. Low wages
2. Why did the poor keep from complaining?
a. They’d be fired
3. What usually came before eviction?
a. The land was cleared
4. One of the consequences of the corn laws as explained in the text is?
a. Bread Riots
5. What is the major difference between indoor and outdoor relief?
a. Indoor- shelter built for poor
b. Outdoor- people stayed in their own homes
6. What first caused unrest?
a. People who had jobs couldn’t afford food
7. The destruction done by the laborers in 1830 shows what?
a. The workers didn’t want to be replaced
8. What does the picture on page 11 imply?
a. The rich were fat, the poor were thin
9. Why were the new workhouses as unpleasant as possible?
a. To keep everyone but the most desperate away
10. Who was Edwin Chadwick?
a. The guy in charge of poor law unions
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11. What caused the marches and demonstrations?
a. Opposition to the poor law- hunger
12. Who was Oliver Twist?
a. An orphan from a book by Charles Dickens
13. Why was picking oakum a dreadful job?
a. Tedious and hard on the fingers
14. Why were families separated?
a. Many emigrate to Canada, Australia, and New Zealand to seek a better life
15. What was a likely outcome for immigrants?
a. death
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