Victoriana

1. Victoriana www.misterconnor.org

2. This was the age in which Queen Victoria ruled Great Britain and the Empire. • June 1837 until her death on the 22nd of January 1901. • Britain built a huge empire during the Victorian period becoming the richest and most powerful country in the world. • Britain grew to become the most powerful nation on earth • The Empire included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Africa, Kenya, and India. When was the “Victorian” period?

3. It was a period of extraordinary invention and discovery. • Ice-cream, the telephone, the bicycle, petrol, chocolate Easter eggs, audio-recording (phonograph), the light-bulb, electric railway, camera, hydro-electricity, comic books, X-rays, type-writer, jelly-babies, underground railway, pasteurisation, safety matches, sewing machines, concrete… Inventions!

4. Britain became industrialised. Factories were built so more things could be made, faster. • Britain was the first country to become industrialised, so it got richer faster than anywhere else. • Because of all this money, British cities were radically rebuilt to show how fantastic Britain was. • An increase in mechanised production put thousands of workers out of work. What happened?

5. If you were lucky enough to be rich, you could live in a very posh house, have servants, eat the best food, have a doctor, travel… • The richest members of society were called the aristocracy. Affluence

6. Women could not vote. • Until 1857, women could not get a divorce without an act of parliament. • Women could not become doctors until 1874. • Until 1840, money earned by women was the property of their husband. Women’s Rights

7. Epidemics of disease were common, especially in the cities. • This is because the cities had no sanitation. • Before this period, there was no successful form of anaesthetic – surgery was done while the patient was awake… • An explosion in medical advances. • Child mortality was extraordinarily high – approx. 150 in every 1,000 babies died. Medicine

8. Many criminals were transported. • Between 1800 and 1900, 3,524 people were hanged. • Prisons were severe and many people died because of the terrible conditions. • Jack the Ripper (1888) became the first mass-media murderer. Crime and Punishment

9. Most people were Protestant Christians by faith. • This was taken extremely seriously, and many tried to live their lives by the Bible. • However, low literacy rates, and scant education, meant that the poor relied on ministers to interpret the scriptures for them. • In most rural communities, Christianity existed alongside local superstitions. Religion

10. As farming became mechanised, thousands of workers were made unemployed. • Consequently, poverty increased while the wealthy became richer. • It was common for people to travel great distances for work. • Many unemployed farm labourers migrated to the cities in search of employment. • Because the workers were so desperate for work, employers could afford to pay them even less. Rural England