Victorian Britain: 1837 - 1901

Victorian Britain: 1837 - 1901

1. Family unit

   • "Spare the rod and spoil the child" is a saying that Victorian families believed in
   • Upper + Middle Class
     • Father: "Master". head of family. Brought food to table. Had study space. Children weren't permitted in unless they were told to.
     • Mother: "Mistress". Rarely worked. Would teach children home values.
     • Children: would hang with nanny rather than with parents. When boys were old enough, they would be sent off to work, whilst the girls ("Lady ---") stayed at home and were expected to marry as soon as possible
       • Nanny: taught children right from wrong.
       • The daughters of the families spend the afternoon with their governors, perhaps playing the piano
     • Servants: most important were cook and butler. Maids also worked in Victorian families
       • Expected to know their place (they weren't to talk to anyone but to deliver messages)
   • Poor + Working Class
     • Children: die of diseases from non-potable water and lack of sanitary tools
       • All children worked, no matter the gender
     • Fathers worked, but got payed very little.
     • Parents had up to 10 - 12 children
     • Some Victorians burned their doors to keep warm

2. Religion + attitudes towards Christmas

   • Christmas was hardly celebrated, and many busincesses didn't even consider it a holiday.
     • By the end of the century it became the biggest annual celebration
   • Queen Victoria's marriage may have been one of the reason of the quick spread of love for Christmas due to Prince Albert celebrating Christmas in his childhood
   • Christmas cards were made more and more by the children of England, so the commercialisation for Christmas was soon starting to spread.
   • Christmas crackers, invented by Tom Smith, were another way Christmas was more loved by all.

3. Industrial Revolution + consequences

   • The population increased due to increased food production, advances in medicine, better sanitation and an increased birthrate
   • All of the coal used for power became smoke afterwards, therefore there couldn't have been much cleanliness in the streets or in the factories.
   • Machines would have been used to take over human labour so production was thrice as fast, as well as it opening up jobs for the people
   • More jobs opened up for women in: the coal mines, textile factories, and piece work shops.

4. Poverty and Class Divide

   • Poor Laws
     • The way the poor were helped in 1815- 'each parish had to look after its poor'
       • If you were unable to work, you would have been given some money in order to survive
         • This law was continued by raising taxes on the upper and middle class
         • 1834 - the Poor Law Amendment Act was passed by Parliament. Now, the poor had to fend for themselves unless they were in critical health
   • Thomas Malthus
     • He predicted that there wasn't enough food for the growing population

5. Education

   • In the early Victorian era only rich children went to school.
   • 1870- Education Act allowed all children aged 5 - 13 to go to school
     • Schools were inspected, and if they failed, they weren't given any grants
     • DAME schools- private elementary schools, where children were taught the basics
     • PUBLIC schools- secondary education which prepared children for the future. Such schools followd Christian morals, and they focused on the edcation of all chidren
   • RAGGED schools- for the really poor. They offereplaes to stay for some + meals + clothes
   • Victorian teacher
     • Mostly women, because men thought thpay was very little
     • Slapped students' knuckles with canes
   • They were taught about 3 Rs: Reading, wRiting, and aRithmatic. Sometime, an etra R will sneak in: Religion
   • 1880- Education Act. Children aged 5-10 must go to school
   • 1891 - Board schools were made free and were run by the government (the board)
   • Boys normally had more lessons in maths, technoloy, and drawing
   • Governors taught rich girls more at-home lessons
     • Some thought that education was being wasted on girls since they wer only looked at as stay at home people

6. Queen Victoria: 1837 - 1901

   • By the time of her death, she was the head of the greatest empire in the world
   • Loved being the emperress of India, and she ruled a quarter of the globe
   • When William IV died, she was 18 - she was a young queen
   • Prince Albert of Sax was Victoria's first cousin- they first met in 1836 she liked his manner but claimed him to be rather dull. They married in 1840
   • ""They wished to treat me like a girl, but I will sow them that I am the queen of England
   • She had 4 sons and 5 daughters
   • They bought Osborne house for privacy and 'gemutlich' [cozy]
   • In December of 1861 Albert died of typhoid
     • In March of 1861 her mother died