The History Hub.

The Victorian era gets its name from the period of time that Queen Victoria was the Queen of England.

 

She was appointed queen in 1837 and married her husband, Prince Albert in 1840; together they had a family. In all she and Albert had 9 children, most of which grew up to join other royal families around Europe. This earned her the nickname the 'Grandmother of Europe'. The Victorian Era ended with Queen Victoria's death in 1901.

 

Victoria ruled over England at a time in which the United Kingdom was known as the British Empire. The British Empire included the home countries, but also other countries throughout the world that the Brtish conqured and then ruled. For example in 1876 Victoria added the title 'Empress of India' to her name as India was brought into the empire.

 

Overall the Victorian Era was a time of change. It was a time of great paradox. There were both the very rich and the very poor. There was opportunity across the empire yet the poor were very much stuck in their position in society. It was a time when children were treated very poorly. They were expected to work long hours in many jobs that today we might find quite unbeleivable; jobs such as Mining, Chimney Sweeping, Herring Calling and working in Textile Factories were all done by children often requiring long hours for low pay. School and the importance of literacy was something that grew through out the Era; therefore we can track the development of school as we know it through studying the Victorian Era.

 

The Victorian Era also saw many new inventions, the Type Writer, the Light Bulb, Dynamite, the Penny Farthing and even the Telephone were all products of the years between 1837 and 1901. These inventions were a product of the Industrial Revolution which saw many people move from the country into town to work in the factories. This saw a huge increase in the numbers of people working in the cities but also an increase in the numbers of the poor who lived in the cities.This is in turn saw a rise in the amount of crime. This led the development of a police force.

 

As you can see, the Victorian Era was a time of change!