Victorian Britain: 1837 - 1901

Family unit
1. "Spare the rod and spoil the child" is a saying that Victorian families believed in
2. Upper + Middle Class
  1. Father: "Master". head of family. Brought food to table. Had study space. Children weren't permitted in unless they were told to.
  2. Mother: "Mistress". Rarely worked. Would teach children home values.
  3. 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
    1. Nanny: taught children right from wrong.
    2. The daughters of the families spend the afternoon with their governors, perhaps playing the piano
  4. Servants: most important were cook and butler. Maids also worked in Victorian families
    1. Expected to know their place (they weren't to talk to anyone but to deliver messages)
3. Poor + Working Class
  1. Children: die of diseases from non-potable water and lack of sanitary tools
    1. All children worked, no matter the gender
  2. Fathers worked, but got payed very little.
  3. Parents had up to 10 - 12 children
  4. Some Victorians burned their doors to keep warm
Religion + attitudes towards Christmas
1. Christmas was hardly celebrated, and many busincesses didn't even consider it a holiday.
  1. By the end of the century it became the biggest annual celebration
2. 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
3. Christmas cards were made more and more by the children of England, so the commercialisation for Christmas was soon starting to spread.
4. Christmas crackers, invented by Tom Smith, were another way Christmas was more loved by all.
Industrial Revolution + consequences
1. The population increased due to increased food production, advances in medicine, better sanitation and an increased birthrate
2. 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.
3. 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
4. More jobs opened up for women in: the coal mines, textile factories, and piece work shops.
Poverty and Class Divide
1. Poor Laws
  1. The way the poor were helped in 1815- 'each parish had to look after its poor'
    1. If you were unable to work, you would have been given some money in order to survive
      1. This law was continued by raising taxes on the upper and middle class
      2. 1834 - the Poor Law Amendment Act was passed by Parliament. Now, the poor had to fend for themselves unless they were in critical health
2. Thomas Malthus
  1. He predicted that there wasn't enough food for the growing population
Education
1. In the early Victorian era only rich children went to school.
2. 1870- Education Act allowed all children aged 5 - 13 to go to school
  1. Schools were inspected, and if they failed, they weren't given any grants
  2. DAME schools- private elementary schools, where children were taught the basics
  3. PUBLIC schools- secondary education which prepared children for the future. Such schools followd Christian morals, and they focused on the edcation of all chidren
3. RAGGED schools- for the really poor. They offereplaes to stay for some + meals + clothes
4. Victorian teacher
  1. Mostly women, because men thought thpay was very little
  2. Slapped students' knuckles with canes
5. They were taught about 3 Rs: Reading, wRiting, and aRithmatic. Sometime, an etra R will sneak in: Religion
6. 1880- Education Act. Children aged 5-10 must go to school
7. 1891 - Board schools were made free and were run by the government (the board)
8. Boys normally had more lessons in maths, technoloy, and drawing
9. Governors taught rich girls more at-home lessons
  1. Some thought that education was being wasted on girls since they wer only looked at as stay at home people
Queen Victoria: 1837 - 1901
1. By the time of her death, she was the head of the greatest empire in the world
2. Loved being the emperress of India, and she ruled a quarter of the globe
3. When William IV died, she was 18 - she was a young queen
4. 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
5. ""They wished to treat me like a girl, but I will sow them that I am the queen of England
6. She had 4 sons and 5 daughters
7. They bought Osborne house for privacy and 'gemutlich' [cozy]
8. In December of 1861 Albert died of typhoid
  1. In March of 1861 her mother died

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Victorian Britain: 1837 - 1901

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	Created by Willti Ofei over 6 years ago