The History Hub.

Victorian society was a class based society. There were four classes; these were the Upper Class, the Middle Class, the Working Class and the Lower Classes/Poor. To belong to a class meant that a person shared the characteristics of that class. This could be money, title, accent or job. 

 

The Upper Class was made up of people from the very high end of Victorian society. These were people who had 'old money'. That is to say money that had been in their family for generations. This meant they, more often than not, had a title or estates in their name. They would be Lords or Peers, serve in government, own large estates and often did not need to work for a living.

 

The Middle Class were also very well off. The upper middle class would often own their own businesses, be bankers or stock brokers becoming 'new money'. They would employ workers and generally have a very comfortable life. The lower middle class would be made up of small business owners and people who had good jobs. They would dress nicely and speak well, owning comfortable houses.

 

The Working Class would work for a living. They would do manual jobs, working with their hands and labouring for long hours. They were often on minimal wages and worked as Navi's on the railroads, or as miners and factory workers, bakers and builders. They did not have much, but had enough to eek out a living.

 

The Poor ot Lower Class did not live a comfortable life. They would scrape together what they could through odd jobs and sometimes crime. Due to industrial Revolution there were a lot poor homeless in the Victorian cities as they had arrived to find jobs in factories that were not always there.