Photo by DAVID ILIFF. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0
Welcome to Mrs Browns' Victorian Experience.
On this site you can find out how the Victorians lived, watch a video about the workhouse, find out about school life and some famous Victorians. You can also play some games! On the Storybook page we can create our own Victorian story. I have started it for you. Add one paragraph to the story and then let someone else continue. It could be interesting! |
Victorian Britain
The period between 1837 and 1901 was known as the Victorian Era as it was named after the ruling monarch, Queen Victoria.
Life was very different in the Victorian era than today. For example, the first car was built in Germany in 1888 by Karl Benz. Before this horse drawn carriages or carts were used but a lot of people used to walk everywhere. There were no day trips to London in those days, it would take you a few days to get there!
Houses did not have electricity, it was first introduced to UK in 1882 - imagine life with no lights, no TV, no computers, no internet and X-box or Playstation! I wonder what children did for fun? Maybe you could find out!
Lots of children did not go to school, they went out to work as soon as they were able. Many people were poor in Victorian times so ended in the workhouse, not somewhere you would like to be!
This is the beginning of your Victorian journey. You can use the information here as a starting point to discover more about how people lived and life has changed over the last 170 years.
Life was very different in the Victorian era than today. For example, the first car was built in Germany in 1888 by Karl Benz. Before this horse drawn carriages or carts were used but a lot of people used to walk everywhere. There were no day trips to London in those days, it would take you a few days to get there!
Houses did not have electricity, it was first introduced to UK in 1882 - imagine life with no lights, no TV, no computers, no internet and X-box or Playstation! I wonder what children did for fun? Maybe you could find out!
Lots of children did not go to school, they went out to work as soon as they were able. Many people were poor in Victorian times so ended in the workhouse, not somewhere you would like to be!
This is the beginning of your Victorian journey. You can use the information here as a starting point to discover more about how people lived and life has changed over the last 170 years.
Important Victorian Facts
- The first postage stamp was used in 1840.
- Up until 1842, children used to work underground in the coal mines. The introduction of the Mines Act 1842 stopped children under 10 doing this.
- There were no benefits during the Victorian times. If you could not afford housing or food you might end up in the workhouse!
- 1844 saw the passing of the Factory Act which limited the working hours of children between 8 and 13 (yes, 8 and 13!) to 6 and a half hours a day!
- Christmas trees became popular with British people after a family picture of Queen Victoria was published in a newspaper in 1846.
- 1856 - every town had its own police force.
- 1864 saw the ban of using children under 10 as chimney sweeps.
- The first Sainsburys shop opened in 1869.
- 1872 primary education became compulsory.
- 1872 saw the first FA Cup final between Wanderers and Royal Engineers. with Wanderers winning 1 - 0.
- Another Scot, Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone 1n 1876.
- The first electric light bulb, patented by Thomas Edison, was publicly demonstrated in 1879.
The London Underground has just celebrated its 150th birthday, opening in 1863. The first section (the Metropolitan Line) took 3 years and cost an estimated £1 million, which at today's value is approximately £800,000,000!
These are just some things that happened during Queen Victoria's reign. There are many more!!! These are facts to get you started on your Victorian research.