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Who
were the Victorians?
The
Victorians lived over one hundred and fifty years ago during
the reign of Queen Victoria (1837
to 1901) and was
a time of enormous change in this country. In 1837 most people
lived in villages and worked on the land; by 1901, most lived
in towns and worked in offices, shops and factories.
Who
was Queen Victoria?
Queen Alexandrine Victoria was born on the
24th of May in 1819. Her father died eight months after she
was born.
When did Victoria become Queen?
Queen Victoria came
to the throne when she was only 18 years of age in 1837. She was Queen of England for 64 years, making her our longest ever serving monarch.
Who did she marry?
At the age of 21, Victoria
married Prince Albert, a German Prince, on the 10th February 1840
and they had
nine children.
Why
are they so famous?
The Victorian period was a time
of tremendous change in the lives of British people. During
Queen Victoria's reign:
- Britain became the most powerful country in the world, with the largest empire that had ever existed, ruling a quarter of the world's population.
- The
number of people living in Britain more than doubled, causing
a huge demand
for food, clothes and housing.
- Factories and
machines were built to meet this demand and new towns grew up,
changing the
landscape and the ways people lived and worked.
- Railways,
originally built to transport goods, meant people could travel
easily
around the country for the first time.
How can we find out what life was like during the Victorian times?
We can learn about the Victorians in various ways:
- We can still see some of their buildings.
- Enormous railway stations remind us that rail was new and important form of transport.
- We can study Victorian maps and documents, such as the forms that
were filled in during the census.
- Photography was invented
during Victoria's reign, so people could now record on film what
daily life was like.
What
was life like living during the Victorian times?
The quality of life depended on whether
you were rich or poor. If you were rich you could have a good and easy
life. But if you were poor you
could have a rough and hard life, often ending up in the workhouse or
early death.
What was Family life like during the Victorian times?
Families
and family structure were very important to Victorians. They were
usually large, in 1870 the many families had five
or six children.Each
member of the family had their own role and children were taught
to "know
their place" and "be seen and not heard". All households
except the very poorest had servants to do their everyday work. |
