THE VICTORIANS

1
THE VICTORIANS
1837-1901
2
All children go to school Many children in early
Victorian England never went to school at all and
more than half of them grew up unable even to
read or write. Although some did go to Sunday
schools which were run by churches. Children from
rich families were luckier than poor children.
Nannies looked after them, and they had toys and
books. A governess would  teach the children at
home. Then, when the boys were old enough, they
were sent away to a public school such as Eton or
Rugby. The daughters were kept at home and taught
singing, piano playing and sewing. Slowly, things
changed for poorer children too. By the end of
the Victorian age all children under 12 had to go
to school. Now everybody could learn how to read
and write, and how to count properly.
3
School
There were several kinds of school for poorer
children. The youngest might go to a "Dame"
school, run by a local woman in a room of her
house. The older ones went to a day school. Other
schools were organised by churches and charities.
Among these were the "ragged" schools which were
for orphans and very poor children.
Dunce's Cap
Punishment did not end with caning. Students had
to stand on a stool at the back of the class,
wearing an arm band with DUNCE written on it. The
teacher then took a tall, cone-shaped hat
decorated with a large D, and placed it on the
boys head. Today we know that some children learn
more slowly than others. Victorian teachers
believed that all children could learn at the
same speed, and if some fell behind then they
should be punished for not trying hard enough.  
4
Victoria
Victoria was born in 1819 in Kensington Palace in
London. Her name was Alexandrina Victoria. When
Princess Victoria was 18 years old her uncle King
William died and she became queen. She was
crowned at Westminster Abbey in 1838.  Victoria
married her handsome cousin Albert a young prince
from Germany. (She had proposed to him). Albert
didn't speak English very well and lots of people
didn't like him.
Her marriage to Prince Albert brought nine
children between 1840 and 1857. Most of her
children married into other Royal families of
Europe.
5
Queen Victoria
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, whom she married in 1840. Both men taught
her much about how to be a ruler in a
'constitutional monarchy' where the monarch had
very few powers but could use much influence.
In the early part of her reign, she was
influenced by two men her first Prime Minister,
Lord Melbourne, and her husband, Prince Albert,
whom she married in 1840. Both men taught her
much about how to be a ruler in a 'constitutional
monarchy' where the monarch had very few powers
but could use much influence.
6
Victorian Timelines
Important Dates in Victoria's Life 1.Victoria's
coronation. 2. Victoria married Albert. 3. Prince
Albert died. 4. Victoria became Empress of
India. 5. Victoria's Golden Jubilee (50 years) 6.
Victoria's Diamond Jubilee (60 years) 7. Victoria
died.
7
Families
Families were very important to Victorians. They
were usually large, in 1870 the average family
had five or six children. Most upper and middle
class families lived in big, comfortable houses.
Each member of the family had its own place and
children were taught to "know their place". The
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.
8
Families
The 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.  
9
Families
The Children Most days middle class children saw
very little of their parents. The children in a
middle class family would spend most of their
time in the nursery and would be brought up by
their nanny. Victorian children were expected to
rise early, because lying in bed was thought to
be lazy and sinful. The nanny would-be paid about
25 a year to wash, dress and watch over them,
amuse them, dose them, take them out and teach
them how to behave. Some would only see their
parents once a day. In the evening, clean and
tidy the children were allowed downstairs for an
hour before they went to bed. Some mothers taught
their children to read and write and sometimes
fathers taught their sons Latin. As the children
grew older, tutors and governesses were often
employed and boys were sometimes sent away to
school When the children grew up, only the boys
were expected to work, the daughters stayed at
home with their mother. They were expected only
to marry as soon as possible
10
Workhouses
In 1834, just 3 years before Victoria became
Queen, an Act of Parliament was passed called the
Poor Law Amendment Act.As a result of this many
workhouses were built to accommodate poor people.
They were intended to be so harsh and hostile
that only the truly destitute would seek refuge
in them.                                 It was
hoped that the workhouses would solve the problem
of poverty as many rich people believed people
were poor because they were lazy. They called
them the "undeserving poor". Many families, and
the old and sick were so poor they were classed
as paupers. Pauperism was a term used to describe
people who had no means to support themselves.
Poverty was not caused by laziness as wealthier
people thought but by unemployment, population
increase and high food prices.
By the end of Queen Victorias reign in 1901
workhouses had changed a great deal. In the last
decades of the nineteenth century people began to
realise how terrible the workhouses were and
finally conditions within them began to
change. Orphaned children were fostered out to
local families and the old and sick were given
proper medical treatment. Many workhouses later
became hospitals.
11
Child Labour The Industrial Revolution During
the 1800s the Industrial Revolution spread
throughout Britain. The use of steam-powered
machines, led to a massive increase in the number
of factories (particularly in textile factories
or mills).
As the number of factories grew people from the
countryside began to move into the towns looking
for better paid work. The wages of a farm worker
were very low and there were less jobs working on
farms because of the invention and use of new
machines such as threshers. Also thousands of new
workers were needed to work machines in mills and
foundries and the factory owners built houses for
them. Cities filled to overflowing and London was
particularly bad. At the start of the 19th
Century about 1/5 of Britains population lived
there, but by 1851 half the population of the
country had set up home in London. London, like
most cities, was not prepared for this great
increase in people. People crowded into already
crowded houses. Rooms were rented to whole
families or perhaps several families. If there
was no rooms to rent, people stayed in lodging
houses.
Click here to go next
12
Child Labour The Industrial Revolution
The worker's houses were usually near to the
factories so that people could walk to work. They
were built really quickly and cheaply. The houses
were cheap, most had between 2-4 rooms - one or
two rooms downstairs, and one or two rooms
upstairs. Victorian families were big with 4 or 5
children. There was no running water or toilet. A
whole street would have to share an outdoor pump
and a couple of outside toilets. Most houses in
the North of England were "back to backs" (built
in double rows) with no windows at the front, no
backyards and a sewer down the middle of the
street. The houses were built crammed close
together, with very narrow streets between them.
Most of the houses were crowded with five or more
people possibly crammed into a single room. Even
the cellars were full.  Most of the new towns
were dirty and unhealthy. The household rubbish
was thrown out into the streets. Housing
conditions like these were a perfect breeding
grounds for diseases. More than 31,000 people
died during an outbreak of cholera in 1832 and
lots more were killed by typhus, smallpox and
dysentery.
Click here to go next
13
Factories and Brick Works Children often worked
long and gruelling hours in factories and had to
carry out some hazardous jobs. In match factories
children were employed to dip matches into a
chemical called phosphorous. This phosphorous
could cause their teeth to rot and some died from
the effect of breathing it into their lungs.
Chimney Sweeps Although in 1832 the use of boys
for sweeping chimneys was forbidden by law, boys
continued to be forced through the narrow winding
passages of chimneys in large houses. When they
first started at between five and ten years old,
children suffered many cuts, grazes and bruises
on their knees, elbows and thighs however after
months of suffering their skin became hardened.
Street Children Hordes of dirty, ragged
children roamed the streets with no regular money
and no home to got to. The children of the
streets were often orphans with no-one to care
for them. They stole or picked pockets to buy
food and slept in outhouses or doorways. Charles
Dickens wrote about these children in his book
"Oliver Twist".     Some street children did
jobs to earn money. They could work as
crossing-sweepers, sweeping a way through the mud
and horse dung of the main paths to make way for
ladies and gentlemen. Others sold lace, flowers,
matches or muffins etc out in the streets.
Click here to go next
14
Pollution Chimneys, bridges and factory smoke
blocked out most of the light in the towns. A
layer of dirty smoke often covered the streets
like a blanket. This came from the factories that
used steam to power their machines. The steam was
made by burning coal to heat water. Burning coal
produces a lot of dirty, black smoke.
Improvements Gradually, improvements for the
poor were made. In 1848, Parliament passed laws
that allowed city councils to clean up the
streets. One of the first cities to become a
healthier place was Birmingham. Proper sewers and
drains were built. Land owners had to build
houses to a set standard. Streets were paved and
lighting was put up. Over time slums were
knocked down and new houses built. However, these
changes did not take place overnight. When slums
were knocked down in 1875 the poor people had
little choice but to move to another slum, making
that one worse. Few could afford new housing.
15
Wordsearch
Child family Albert
Victoria slate school cane
needle
16
Answers for Wordsearch
Child Family Albert Victoria Slate
School Cane Needle Work
17
Quiz

• What was Prince Albert to Queen Victoria?
• Was it tough or easy for poor people?
• When did Victoria die?
• How many years did reign?
• Did the girls like to do housework and
  needlework?
• Did the children like staying in a workhouse when
  their parents were not around?
• When did Victoria become Queen?

Would you like to know how many you got right? If
so click here!
18
Answers for Quiz
1.Husband 2.Tough 3.1901 4.64 5.No 6.No 7.1837
19
By Nichole Marie
Thanks for Watching
Bye