The Victorians
A brief summary by
Y5B
Queen Victoria
• Victoria was born in 24 May 1819 Kensington
palace, London. She died in 22 January 1901
(aged 81).
• Her Full name was Alexandrina Victoria .
Warmhearted and lively, Victoria had a gift for
drawing and painting; educated by a governess
at home, she was a natural diarist.
• She became Queen at the age of 18.
Queen Victoria Cont….
• The Queen loved singing. She loved to draw
and paint and kept a regular diary throughout
her life. As a girl Victoria had a fabulous
collection of dolls, while in later life she became
fond of the opera and the theatre.
• Queen Victoria published two books during her
lifetime, 'Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in
the Highlands' and 'More Leaves' in 1868 and
1884 respectively.
Queen Victoria
•
Queen Victoria ruled over one hundred and fifty
years ago.
• She started to rule the British Empire in 1837
and died in 1901, so she ruled for 64 years.
• Queen Victoria is associated with Britain's great
age of industrial expansion, economic progress
and, especially, empire. At her death, it was said,
Britain had a worldwide empire on which the sun
never set. In the early part of her reign, she was
influenced by two men: her first Prime Minister,
Lord Melbourne, and her husband, Prince Albert.
Victoria and Albert
• On the 10th of February 1840, she was married
to her cousin Prince Albert, the son of the Duke
of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.
• He was born in the Saxon duchy of SaxeCoburg-Saalfeld to a family connected to many
of Europe's ruling monarchs. At the age of 20 he
married his first cousin, Queen Victoria.
Prince Albert
• At first, Albert felt constrained by his
position as consort, which did not confer
any power or duties upon him. Over time,
he adopted many public causes, such as
the abolition of slavery and educational
reform, and took on the responsibilities of
running the Queen's household, estates
and office.
Princess
Victoria in
1824 11 years
old.
The Duchess of
Kent with
Victoria, aged 2
years.
At 20 years of
age.
At 18
years of
age
Victoria with her
husband and 9
Children.
Victoria getting
married to Prince
Albert her cousin.
In the age of
66.
• Queen Victoria had nine children with her husband Albert
called Alice, Alfred, Louise, Arthur, Leopold and Beatrice.
• The Royal Family today is related to many European
monarchies
because of the marriages of Queen Victoria's children.
• Eight of Victoria's children sat on the thrones of Europe,
those of Great Britain, Prussia, Greece, Romania, Russia,
Norway,
Sweden and Spain.
• Queen Victoria was survived by 6 children, 40 grandchildren
and 37 great-grandchildren, including four future sovereigns of
England: Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII and George VI.
Possibilities for Victorian children
• What was it like for children living in
Victorian Britain?
• In the 1830s children could wave at puffing
steam trains on the new railways. By the
1860s, they rode bicycles, watched airships,
ate tinned food, and talked excitedly of the
latest huge iron steamships. In the 1880s, lucky
children could speak on the telephone and in
the 1890s they could travel by motor car.
• Life however was not the same for all children
during the Victorian times. The kind of life a child
had in the Victorian times depended on his or
her family.
Dr Barnardo
• A house in Stepney
Causeway was to become
• the first of Thomas Barnardo’s homes for
children. It was opened in 1870 as a home for
boys.
• Bernard would go out every night looking for
homeless children. One night an 11 year old boy
was turned away as the home was full. Two
days later he was found dead. From that day on
the Home’s motto was ‘No Destitute Child Ever
Refused Admission.’
Girls’ Village Home
• A Girls’ Village Home in Barkingside was opened
in 1876. It housed over 1,500 girls at a time. This
was different to the boys home as it was set in its
own grounds; each cottage had its own front and
back gardens and there was also a steam laundry
on the grounds.
• The girls who stayed at the Village Home
received training as cooks and domestic service
maids. This meant that every child could find
employment once they had left the home.
Victorian era
• The Victorian era of the United Kingdom
was the period of Queen Victoria's rule.
• This was a long period of prosperity for the
British people, as profits gained from the
overseas British Empire, as well as from
industrial improvements at home, allowed
a large, educated middle class to develop.
‘The Well to do’ Victorians
• Dances and other group gatherings would happen on a
regular basis.
• "Well to do" Victorian Children enjoyed travel,
• with either trips to the seaside or to The Continent.
• Pocket change was available for any small personal
purchases.
• Victorian toys for these children were expensive.
• Rocking horses with real hair and doll's houses full of
beautiful furniture would occupy young girls for hours.
• Wax dolls and elegant tea sets would often be set up in a
corner of the bedroom.
Victorian times
• Life was not the same for all children during
Victorian times. The kind of life a child had
depended on it’s family.
• Children from working class families had few
luxuries, ate poor food, worked long hours, lived
in damp, filthy conditions and many children died
of disease.
• Children from rich families were usually well fed,
clean and well clothed, they didn’t need to work,
went on holidays and many other nice things.
Middle class Father
• The father was the head of the household. He
was often strict and was obeyed by all without
question. The children were taught to respect
their father and always spoke politely to him
calling him "Sir".
• Very few children would dare to be cheeky to
their father or answer him back. When he
wanted a little peace and quiet he would retire to
his study and the rest of the family were not
allowed to enter without his special permission.
The middle class mother
• The mother would often spend her time planning
dinner parties, visiting her dressmaker or calling
on friends, she did not do jobs like washing
clothes or cooking and cleaning. Both "papa and
mama saw the upbringing of their children as an
important responsibility. They believed a child
must be taught the difference between right and
wrong if he was to grow into a good and
thoughtful adult. If a child did something wrong
he would be punished for his own good. "Spare
the rod and spoil the child" was a saying
Victorians firmly believed in.
Poor Victorian Children
• In Victorian
times many poor
children had to
sleep and often
die on streets, or
were sent to the
notorious
workhouses.
Different Schools
• Middle class children
• Children from rich families
were taught at home by a
governess until they were 10
years old.
• Once a boy turned ten, he
went away to Public schools
• like Eton or Harrow.
• There were very few
• schools available for girls
however, until near the end of
the Victorian time.
• Until then wealthy girls were
mostly educated at home.
•Poor Children
•Poor children went to free
charity schools or 'Dame'
schools (so called because
they were run by women) for
young children.
•Ragged schools which tended
to be a little tougher and
violent.
• They also went to Sunday
Schools which were run by
churches. There they learnt
bible stories and were taught
to read a little.
Imposed Schooling
The poor conditions in schools
simply made their health even
worse. Sometimes, teachers were
attacked by angry parents.
They were angry that their children
should be at work earning money,
Rather than wasting time at school.
• Children were often scared of their teachers because
they were very strict.
• Children as young as thirteen helped the teacher to
control the class. These “pupil teachers” scribbled notes
for their lessons in books. They received certificates
which helped them qualify as teachers when they were
older.
• In schools before 1850 you might see a single teacher
instructing a class of over 100 children with help of pupils
called “monitors”. The head teacher quickly taught these
monitors, some of them as young as nine, who then tried
to teach their schoolmates.
• Salaries were low, and there were more women
teaching than men.
Schools
• In Victoria times
the teachers at
school were strict
and if you talked
they got out a
stick and whacked
you.
• The school times
were 9am to 5pm.
Writing slates
• Paper was expensive. Children
usually therefore wrote on slates
with slate pencils. After a lesson was
completed, and the teacher checked
their work, the students cleared their
slates for the next lesson.
Victorian Classrooms
• Here are some pictures
of Victorian
Classrooms.
Girl’s School 1900
The Victorian clothes
Victorian people dressed
appropriately to there age, and
position society.
Children were often dressed as
a miniature version of their
parents.
Victorian men
• Many of the Victorian gentlemen
wore a black top hat, black suit, a
waistcoat, black bottoms and a
sported walking stick, which very
often had an ornate handle.
• Poor men wore flea ridden rags
and cast offs.
What ladies wore
• It was unheard of to see the Victorian ladies
legs. Ladies wore long skirts or dresses. At the
beginning if the Victorian era, skirts went straight
down.
• It then became fashionable for women to wear
their skirts spread over hoops so that the shape
of the bottom could not be seen.
• By the end of the era the hoop disappeared and
it was back in the slimmer skirts, but now with a
bustle. The majority of a women wore a hat or a
bonnet
Factories
• Most people, including children
worked a twelve hour day.
They had mid-day break for
one hour and short break for
breakfast and tea.
Health and Safety
• Health and safety of their workers.
Children and young woman were
explored in terrible conditions in
textile mills and mines. Furnaces
were operated without proper safety
checks.
• Accidents were part of normal daily
life.
Employing young children
• The Victorian era became notorious for employing young
children in factories and mines and as chimney sweeps.
• Children were expected to help towards the family
budget, often working long hours in dangerous jobs and
low wages.
• Climbing boys were employed by the chimney sweeps;
small children were employed to scramble under
machinery to retrieve cotton bobbins; and children were
also employed to work in coal mines to crawl through
tunnels too narrow and low for adults. Children also
worked as errand boys, shoe blacks, or selling matches,
flowers and other cheap goods
Employing young children cont…
• Many children got stuck in the chimneys that
they were sweeping and eventually died. In
factories it was not uncommon for children to
lose limbs crawling under machinery to pick
things up.
• Several Factory Acts were passed to prevent the
exploitation of children in the workplace.
• Children of poor families would leave school at
the age of eight and were then forced to go to
work. School was not free at this time.
Factories and Mills
• The most dramatic social changes of the British
Industrial Revolution involved the development
of the factory system from the late 18th Century.
They were intensified when water-wheels gave
way to steam engines and factory work for most
people became an urban occupation. The
double transition from farm or rural cottage to
factory and mill in smoky towns, was a great
upheaval for many people seeking work.
Industrial Revolution
• The cotton factories of Lancashire are a
key symbol of the world's first Industrial
Revolution. Here, within about a 30-mile
radius of Manchester, is where the modern
world began. The factory system was well
established in preparing the raw cotton
and spinning it into yarn by the beginning
of Victoria's reign, but there were still
many hand-loom weavers who
manufactured cloth at home.
Lord Shaftsbury
• Anthony Ashley Cooper, the eldest son of the 6th Earl of
• Shaftsbury, was born on 28th April, 1801. He became the Earl of
Shaftsbury in 1851.
• Lord Shaftsbury was a politician who attempted to improve
children's lives during the Victorian times
At the age of 25, he became a member of Parliament, where he
began to take an interest in the plight of poor children after
reading newspaper reports about labor in industry.
1833 He proposed that children should work for a maximum of
10 hours a day
1834 the Factory Act was made law.
• It was now illegal for children under 9 to be employed in textile
factories
1833 Factory Act,
• Children banned from working in textile factories under
the age of nine.
• 9 - 13 year olds limited to work 9 hours a day and 48
hours a week.
• 13 - 18 year olds limited to work 12 hours a day and 69
hours a week.
• All children under eleven to have two hours education a
day.
• Government Factory Inspectors appointed to enforce the
law.
• As you can see, life in Victorians times as a child was
not good.
Shopping
• Before the Co-operative Movement started, people could
not be sure about the quality of the food they bought.
There might be plaster in the flour or wood shavings in
the tea. There were no laws about food additives or food
hygiene.
• Middle-class and wealthier people had their shopping
delivered - often by a boy on a bicycle. Everything was
wrapped in brown paper. There were no plastic bags in
those days!
Diet
• From the 1880s, newly developed refrigerated steam
ships brought meat, butter and fish, as well as exotic fruit
and vegetables, from abroad.
• For many poor families, meals consisted of bread,
potatoes, cheese and tea - and very occasionally a bit of
bacon.
• If they lived in the countryside they might catch a wild
rabbit or fish from the river.
Trams
• By the 1890s, electric trams had put
horse-drawn omnibuses out of a job.
• The tram could be driven from both ends.
When it came to the end of its route, the
controls were switched over. It was never
turned round as you would a bus or a car.
Steam trains
• Tanfield Railway was one of the first lines built in
England and was used for carrying coal until 1962. The
engine shed here was built in 1854 and is the oldest
working shed in Britain, possibly in the world.
• Building the railways was one of the great achievements
of Victorian times. By the turn of the century, Britain was
criss-crossed with more than 29,000 kilometres of rail
track.
Leisure
• Music halls were becoming popular as cheap and
cheerful entertainment. Shows featured singers,
dancers, comedians, acrobats and magicians.
• Bank Holidays began in 1871 when a law was passed to
allow banks to close. Very little business could be carried
out while the banks were shut so 'bank holidays' became
'public holidays' too!
Victorian Toys
Here are some
pictures of
Victorian toys
Victorian toys (Continued)
• Noah’s ark was one of the few toys
children were allowed to play with on a
Sunday, since it was based on a story
from the bible.
• Shoe dolls were made by Victorian
children. If you look closely at the picture
on the first toy slide you will see it is made
from the sole of a shoe.
• Victorian girls played with skipping ropes.
Poorer children just had bits of rope with
no handles.
Victorian houses
• Despite the availability of new products
and more modern housing, vast numbers
of the working population in the
countryside were still living in tiny
cottages, hovels and shacks well into the
20th century. In towns poor people lived in
back-to-back houses called terraced
houses.
Victorian Houses
• Middle class houses
• Middle class people were
able to afford there own
houses, so they didn’t
have to pay a rent. They
still went to work though
as managers and
professionals, where they
usually earned a great
deal of money for the
family.
• Poor people’s houses
• They usually rented
cottages and went to
work at the coal mine or
went to the workhouse.
They went to these poorly
paid and dangerous jobs
to pay the rent for just a
room or if they were lucky
a whole house.
Miners Houses
• If a miner lost his job, he would lose his
house too.
• If he was killed in an accident, or if he was
too badly injured to continue to work in the
mine, then he and his family would have to
find somewhere else to live.
Miners Wives
• The father and the older boys worked
shifts in the mine.
• The mother of the family had to be on
hand at all times to cook meals or boil
water for baths.
• She rarely managed more than two or
three hours sleep at a stretch.
Victorian back yards
• Victorian back yards were filthy,
overcrowded slums without
sanitation. The toilet was outside, so
if you needed the toilet in the night,
you would have to go outside in the
freezing cold weather. This was the
normal life of many British people
Victorian back yards
(Continued)
Gladstone’s back yards
The back yards were shared spaces, communal
yards with communal privies, cesspits, ash pits,
water, and gutters. Everything was shared. People
living there had no control over what happened in
there own back yards.
People tried to create more private areas with stacks
of saggars (the fireclay containers used to fire
pottery). Yards were not paved, and in the Potteries
broken waste pottery was used for used for surfacing.
Well Known Victorians
• Charles Dickens 1812-1870
• A great novelist of the Victorian age. His novels
were outstandingly popular in his time and are
still popular now.
• His books include stories about thieves, convicts
• and schoolboys.
• He wrote about ordinary people and how they
lived, about terrible prisons, bad schools and the
workhouse.
• His famous characters include Oliver Twist,
Scrooge and David Copperfield.
Well Known Victorians
• Florence Nightingale (1820-1910)
• "The lady with the lamp". The founder of
• modern nursing.
• In 1854 she took charge of nursing soldiers
wounded in the Crimean War.
• She organized the cleaning of the filthy rat
infested military hospital and organized proper
nursing.
• The death rate fell dramatically and modern
nursing was born.
Well Known Victorians
• David Livingstone (1813-1873)
A missionary who made three long
explorations of East Africa.
• He wrote the story of his amazing three
year journey across the African continent
from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean.
• He was the first European to see the
Victoria Falls.
Well Known Victorians
• George Stephenson
was the man who built
the first train to run on
tracks.
• The Rocket is the most
famous train in history.
• The first commercial train
ran between Stockton
and Darlington in the
north of England.
We enjoyed making this slide
show and hope you learned
something from it.
The End