Victorian Britain I
Jasmin Göhrig
Joanna Morawska
Stefanie Milchsack
Julia Witsch
A G Z E P L N G A W P R I
H M H M I
N C E
N E S A C T R K J
A L B E R T N
Z H B G D O D V O
G Q A P M G H J O A F H U Y V D E W S L D C I
R U S I
I
Y D Y H D H S
H S Q D G X T
E X R Q H D V U D D U P F I I
F Z A F A Y I
P E I
O I
J
P I
E Z A G D Z A R H S B X S
F N K D E G I
H L M E J A Z R F
W V T B U O E A Q E D I
N I
Y L O K
A S X A C A B
H P C S S S I
O Q R H Y K H
N E T E E N T H C E N T U R Y I
O C E R I
T I
Z I
E L X
T T D W L Y E N M G Z G O T O E
X T D G H K P
G U L Z Z A O C K
Y O Q M B J
Y
V A G E A S S F W O R K E R Z A
N O F
O O Z N M F P S Q D H U D G H E
H R S I
P I
A L C P C Z E R W Z A P J I
S F F N F U T
S R H D F T R
B A L L R O O MT S D A P N K O A B F D F T G
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Contents
•
•
•
•
•
Introduction to the Victorian Era
Social History
Public Health and Welfare
Work and Workers’ Rights
Victorian London
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1. Introduction to the
Victorian Era
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Victorian Era
Height of the British industrial revolution
Peak of the British Empire
Years of reign of Queen Victoria (1837 – 1901)
BUT: first Reform Act (1832) marks the true
beginning of a new cultural era for some
historians
Preceded by Georgian era
Succeeded by Edwardian period
Connotations: prudish, repressed, old
fashioned
Complex, paradoxical age
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Why „Victorian“?
Victoria (daughter of Duke of Kent and
Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg) inherited
the throne of Great Britain at the age of 18
and reigned until her death at the age of 81
due to this long reign (and the long
influence on British society) Victoria
bestowed her name upon the entire age
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Life of Queen Victoria
1819: Alexandrina born on May 18
1837: inherited throne of Great Britain (upon
death of her uncle William IV)
1840: marriage with her mother‘s nephew
Albert, prince of Saxe-Coburg Gotha
1861: Albert dies
1876: Empress of India
1887: Golden Jubilee
1897: Diamond Jubilee
1901: Queen Victoria died on January 22
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Phases of her Life
Before Albert:
Brought up in an almost female and totally
German household (at Kensington Palace)
With Albert:
Greatly in love with him
Bore him nine children (1840 – 1857)
After Albert:
Ten years of self-imposed seclusion after his
death
Occupied by obsessive mourning for the rest
of her life
Few public appearances in Britain
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Queen Victoria I
Queen Victoria on the
morning of
her accession to the
throne
on June 20, 1837
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Queen Victoria II
1843
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Queen Victoria III
Queen
Victoria and
her family
in 1846
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Queen Victoria IV
Victoria
Queen of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland and Empress
of India (1877 – 1901)
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Major Events
1832: 1st Reform Act (2nd: 1867, 3rd: 1884)
1842: Mines Act
1844: Factory Act and Railway Act
1848: 1st Public Health Act (2nd: 1875)
1851: Great Exhibition
1852-55: Crimean War
1858: The „Great Stink“
1859: Charles Darwin The Origin of Species
1868: Sanitary Act
1899-1901: Boer War
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Prime Ministers
1841-46: Sir Robert Peel (Conservative)
1852-53: Earl of Derby (Conservative)
1858-59: Earl of Derby (Conservative)
1866-68: Earl of Derby/Benjamin Disraeli
(Conservative)
1875-80: Benjamin Disraeli (Conservative)
1886-92: Marquis of Salisbury (Conservative)
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Prime Ministers
1835-41: Viscount Melbourne/William Lamb (Liberal)
1841-46: Sir Robert Peel (Conservative)
1846-52: Lord John Russell (Liberal)
1852-53: Earl of Derby (Conservative)
1853-58: Earl of Aberdeen/Viscount Palmerston (Liberal)
1858-59: Earl of Derby (Conservative)
1859-66: Viscount Palmerston/Earl Russel (Liberal)
1866-68: Earl of Derby/Benjamin Disraeli (Conservative)
1868-75: William Gladstone (Liberal)
1875-80: Benjamin Disraeli (Conservative)
1880-86: William Gladstone (Liberal) (2x)
1886-92: Marquis of Salisbury (Conservative)
1892-95: William Gladstone/Earl of Rosebery (Liberal)
1895-1902: Marquis of Salisbury (Liberal)
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Victorianism II
cultural movement of the middle class
defined by what it was NOT: the debauchery which
the middle classes associated with traditional
aristocratic behavior, and the sordid and squalid ways
of life which the middle classes saw in the immigrant
poor's tenements.
glorification of "civilization," meaning white,
Western ways
Victorians saw themselves as the very essence of
civilization, and believed their rational and restrained
culture had a good deal to teach the rest of the world.
we are still the heirs of the Victorians and in some
ways still trying to overcome their prudish ways 16
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Victorian England
„By and large Victorian England was a tremendously
virile and very terrible affair. If we strip away the
gadgets and fashions, Victorian England was not unlike
the United States today. There was the same unblinking
worship of independence and of hard cash; there was
the same belief in institutions -- patriotism, democracy,
individualism, organized religion, philanthropy, sexual
morality, the family, capitalism and progress; the same
overwhelming self-confidence, with its concomitant – a
novel and adventurous architecture. And, at the core,
was the same tiny abscess -- the nagging guilt as to the
inherent contradiction between the morality and the
system.“
(George P. Landow)
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Impressions I
First class passengers
(Illustrated London News: May 22, 1847)
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Impressions II
Second class passengers (Illustrated London
News: May 22, 1847)
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Impressions III
Third class passengers (Illustrated London
News: May 22, 1847)
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Impressions IV
Young English boys move coal to the
surface (1850s)
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Impressions V
Crystal Palace (1850s)
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2. Social history
Social history
• The class system
• Education
• Leisure
• The Workhouses
The classes in Victorian Times
Upper class
Aristocracy, Nobility
Middle class
Company owners, Entrepreneurs, Professionals (e.g. teacher)
Working class
- Skilled labourer: Craftsmen (e.g. blacksmith)
- Unskilled labourer: Agricultural workers, Railway workers
- Poor (the so called “Under Class”)
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“Rising of the middle class”
Middle class: increasingly powerful
Influenced politics, education and the leisure
sector
Passage of the Reform Act in 1832
Abolition of the Corn Laws in 1846
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Education
Early Victorian Times: education mainly available for
the middle class
Sunday School: available for all classes
Board Schools: run by the state, small fee must be
paid
Ragged School: meant for the poor, teaching of the 4
R’s: Writing, Reading, Arithmetic and Religion
BUT: Poor children had to work and did not have
time to go to school
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Middle class education
Many children had private teachers
7 elite boarding schools (e.g. Eton, Westminster,
Rugby) were defined as “Public Schools”
Public schools were originally intended for the poor,
but they served for the middle class as upward
mobility to move their children into the aristocracy
Education enabled middle class to become more
powerful
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Elementary Education Act (1870)
Made school attendance to age 12 compulsory
BUT: It was just an Act; had no success
In fact, free and compulsory education for all classes
was not available until 1902
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Leisure
… before the Industrial Revolution:
Traditional ritualised leisure activities like markets,
fairs, festivals, etc.
Initiated and controlled by nobility
Working class: pubs
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Leisure in early Victorian Times
Working class: less time for leisure due to long
working hours; major activity remains the pub
Activities are bound to the season and rather
formless
Since towns are overcrowded: games and
entertainments have to be short and sparing in
their use of land
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“Leisure Revolution”
Mainly initiated by the middle class
- Wanted to reform classes above and below their own class by
creating new leisure activities
- Leisure had to be respectable, productive and rational
- Money was invested to build golf, cricket, rugby and tennis clubs
and establish town parks
-
Railways enabled travelling
In 1871 Bank Holidays were introduced:
British tradition of the day at the seaside began
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Football
Traditional rural leisure activity, but in Victorian
Times it was given proper rules for the first time
Meant to keep people healthy and encourage sense of
fair play
Middle class company owners and the churches
provided the play grounds and set up the clubs (Aston
Villa: church; Arsenal: employers)
First Football Association (FA) Cup was played in
1871
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The Poor Law
The Old Poor Law (1601)
- Made parishes legally responsible for looking after their own poor
- No clear way of providing help determined: Outdoor payments or
workhouses were both possible
- Emphasis on helping the aged and helpless
The New Poor Law (1834)
-
Nationwide uniformity in the treatment of paupers
Outdoor relief was prohibited (except for old or sick people)
“Workhouse test” and principle of “less eligibility”
Emphasis on distinguishing the deserving and the undeserving
poor in order to save money
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The Workhouse
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The Workhouse
Before the New Poor Law: simple houses were
rented; after: special large buildings were built
Living conditions were never to be better than these
of an independent labourer of the lowest class
Paupers worked in return for their food and lodging
Families were separated as soon as they entered the
workhouse and could be punished if they tried to
speak to one another
Strict rules had to be followed and disobedience was
punished
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The Daily Routine
Hour
of
rising
Interval for
breakfast
Time
Interfor
val for
setting dinner
to
work
Time
Interfor
val for
leavsupper
ing off
work
Time
for
going
to bed
25
6
6:30
7
March o‘clock till 7
o‘clock
to 29
o‘clock
Septe
mber
12
6
o‘clock o‘clock
till 1
o‘clock
6
8
o‘clock o‘clock
till 7
o‘clock
29
7
7:30
8
Septe o‘clock till 8
o‘clock
mber
o‘clock
to 25
March
12
6
o‘clock o‘clock
till 1
o‘clock
6
8
o‘clock o‘clock
till 7
o‘clock
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3. Public Health and Welfare
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General Living Conditions
of the Poor
Impact on health
Pollution
Contaminated water
Street Cleaning: Market places and main
roads
Smoke and dust
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General Living Conditions
of the Poor
Housing
Crowded living
Rubbish thrown into the street
No fresh water or sanitation in the
house
Outdoor pump for one street
Sometimes not working or
contaminated
Bathing: once a week
Hair washing: less often  lice
 Perfect conditions for diseases to
spread
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General Living Conditions
of the Poor
Nutrition
No adequate cooking appliances
Unhygienic conditions
Contaminated water
One fifth of the meat from diseased cattle
Very high food prices
Poor classes: underfed and less resistant to
diseases
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General Living Conditions of the
Poor
Working Conditions
Dangerous and unhealthy
Long working hours
Breathing dust
No health provision
Hospitals
One disease cured
Infected with another
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Life Expectancy
Life expectancy directly related to wealth
Rich lived longer
Poor died younger
Cause: hard work, bad nutrition, dirty houses
and cities
Facts and Figures
Between 1800 and 1850: up to half the
children died before they were 5 years old 
high infant mortality
8 of 9 persons died of diseases when younger
1 of 9 person died of old age or violence
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Life Expectancy
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Diseases - Cholera
Most devastating disease in the 19 th century
Came from Asia through Europe to Great
Britain
4 great cholera epidemics:
1st: 1831 – 1833  over 31,000 deaths
2nd: 1848
3rd: 1853
4th: 1866
new and unknown, no cure
Caused by contaminated water and food
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Diseases - Cholera
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Diseases - Typhus
Serious epidemics:
1836 – 1842: 16,000 deaths a year
1846: over 30,000 deaths
Caused by dirty water and food
Transmitted by lice
No effective cure
1861: Prince Albert died of it
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Diseases – Others
Influenza
Often fatal
Serious epidemics:
1833 and following
years
1847: 13,000 deaths
Others
Smallpox
Scarlet fever
Measles
Tuberculosis
 Many deaths
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Public Health Act 1848
One of the proudest achievements of the
time
attempt from the parliament to improve
sanitary conditions in urban areas
Central and Local Boards of Health
Main tasks: Supervise
Street cleaning
Refuse collection
Water supply
Sewage disposal
Sanitation
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Improvements
1829:
•police force
1850s:
•More money,
better equipment
for hospitals
•More people studied medicine
1860s:
•Public laundries and bath houses
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Improvements
Nutrition
Decrease in food prices
Greater variety of food available
Better transportation methods  better quality
End of 19th century:
Expanded street cleaning and better sewage disposal
Increase in wages
 cleaner cities
 epidemics were reduced
 slightly improved living conditions
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Public Health and Welfare in
Victorian Britain
Time of medical progress
Bad health conditions for poor people
Slight improvements
Change of attitude
 A beautiful and healthy body became more
important
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4. Work and Workers’ Rights
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Working Conditions
Long hours (6 a.m.- 9 p.m.)
dangerous work without any safety protection
Child labour
children often neglected and left unattended
Labour not regulated at all
Unemployment = economic disaster
no insurances
Improvements:
steam power in factories provided better ventilation
Changing of factory floors from wood to metal
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Workers’ Attitudes
Large majority: stoicism and acceptance
Resignation: workers were accustomed to
poverty, etc. for generations
Fatalist religious teaching:
the world as a “vale of tears”
happiness to come after death
Minority: resentment of misery and
exploitation, political or union involvement
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Capital and Labour (Punch Cartoon)
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Trade Unions
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Trade Unions
National Union of Mineworkers
National Union of Agricultural Workers
Association of Cotton Spinners
Operative Society of Bricklayers
Amalgamated Society of Engineers
National Union of Gasworkers &
General Labourers
National Union of Railwaymen
Transport and General Workers Union
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National Union of
Agricultural Workers
Founded in 1872 by
Joseph Arch
National Union of
Mineworkers
Founded in 1842
Leader James Keir Hardie
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Trade Unions & Political
Legislation I
1799 & 1800 Combination
Acts:
Unions made illegal
1817 Gagging Acts
1819 Six Acts
1824 Repeal of Combination
Acts
1825 Combination Act
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Trade Unions & Political
Legislation II
1834 “Toddpuddle Martyrs”
1842 Mines Act
1867 Masters & Servants Act
1868 Foundation of the Trade Union
Congress
1871 Trade Union Act
Unions legalized
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5. Victorian London –
a city of contrasts
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Victorian London I
Population growth:
1800: 1 mio inhabitants  1900: 6 mio
inhabitans
Rapid industrial progress
Big class differences  social problems
Development of suburbs (Middle and Upper
Classes: Hampstead, West End)
Emergence of slums (East End)
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Victorian London II
East End
Overcrowded slums
The Rookery: District of the poorest
High Crime rates
18 Dockers’ Strike
Pollution of the air
Disposal of rubbish and raw sewage into the Thames river
Improvements
1860s:Joseph Bazalgette : 2100 km of tunnels and
pipes to divert sewage outside the city
1829: Foundation of the Metropolitan Police Force
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Victorian London III
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Victorian London IV
Construction
John Nash :Regent St,Piccadilly Circus, Oxford
Circus, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square…
Large-scale public railway:
Railway, Underground (1863), tramway
Stations: Euston, Paddington, King’s Cross, …
Waterways, shipyards
1851: The Great Exhibition
- first world fair
Crystal Palace (Joseph Paxton)
200,000 attendants
1897: Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee
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“The Jubilee reign has been a phenomenal
period in the history of progress.”
(Answers, 1897)
Do you agree with the statement?
Do you consider the Victorian Era a rather
positive or negative period in British history?
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