Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the Georgian era and preceded the Edwardian era, and its later half overlaps with the first part of the Belle Époque era of continental Europe.
"Victorian society" redirects here. For the UK amenity society, see The Victorian Society.
Various liberalising political reforms took place in the UK, including expanding the electoral franchise. The Great Famine caused mass death in Ireland early in the period. The British Empire had relatively peaceful relations with the other great powers. It participated in various military conflicts mainly against minor powers. The British Empire expanded during this period and was the predominant power in the world.
Victorian society valued a high standard of personal conduct across all sections of society. The emphasis on morality gave impetus to social reform but also placed restrictions on certain groups' liberty. Prosperity rose during the period, but debilitating undernutrition persisted. Literacy and childhood education became near universal in Great Britain for the first time. Whilst some attempts were made to improve living conditions, slum housing and disease remained a severe problem.
The period saw significant scientific and technological development. Britain was advanced in industry and engineering in particular, but somewhat undeveloped in art and education. Great Britain's population increased rapidly, while Ireland's fell sharply.
The Victorian era saw a rapidly growing middle class who became an important cultural influence, to a significant extent replacing the aristocracy as British society's dominant class.[21][22] A distinctive middle-class lifestyle developed that influenced what society valued as a whole.[21][23] Increased importance was placed on the value of the family, and the idea that marriage should be based on romantic love gained popularity.[24][25] A clear separation was established between the home and the workplace, which had often not been the case before.[23] The home was seen as a private environment,[23] where housewives provided their husbands with a respite from the troubles of the outside world.[24] Within this ideal, women were expected to focus on domestic matters and to rely on men as breadwinners.[26][27] Women had limited legal rights in most areas of life, and a feminist movement developed.[27][28] Parental authority was seen as important, but children were given legal protections against abuse and neglect for the first time.[29] Access to education increased rapidly during the 19th century. State-funded schools were established in England and Wales for the first time. Education became compulsory for pre-teenaged children in England, Scotland and Wales. Literacy rates increased rapidly, and had become nearly universal by the end of the century.[30][31] Private education for wealthier children, boys and more gradually girls, became more formalised over the course of the century.[30]
The growing middle class and strong evangelical movement placed great emphasis on a respectable and moral code of behaviour. This included features such as charity, personal responsibility, controlled habits,[note 4] child discipline and self-criticism.[22][32] As well as personal improvement, importance was given to social reform.[33] Utilitarianism was another philosophy that saw itself as based on science rather than on morality, but also emphasised social progress.[34][35] An alliance formed between these two ideological strands.[36] The reformers emphasised causes such as improving the conditions of women and children, giving police reform priority over harsh punishment to prevent crime, religious equality, and political reform in order to establish a democracy.[37] The political legacy of the reform movement was to link the nonconformists (part of the evangelical movement) in England and Wales with the Liberal Party.[38] This continued until the First World War.[39] The Presbyterians played a similar role as a religious voice for reform in Scotland.[40]
Religion was politically controversial during this era, with Nonconformists pushing for the disestablishment of the Church of England.[41] Nonconformists comprised about half of church attendees in England in 1851,[note 5][42] and gradually the legal discrimination that had been established against them outside of Scotland was removed.[43][44][45][46] Legal restrictions on Roman Catholics were also largely removed. The number of Catholics grew in Great Britain due to conversions and immigration from Ireland.[41] Secularism and doubts about the accuracy of the Old Testament grew among people with higher levels of education.[47] Northern English and Scottish academics tended to be more religiously conservative, whilst agnosticism and even atheism (though its promotion was illegal)[48] gained appeal among academics in the south.[49] Historians refer to a 'Victorian Crisis of Faith', a period when religious views had to readjust to accommodate new scientific knowledge and criticism of the Bible.[50]
A variety of reading materials grew in popularity during the period, including novels,[51] women's magazines,[52] children's literature,[53] and newspapers.[54] Much literature, including chapbooks, was distributed on the street.[55][56] Music was also very popular, with genres such as folk music, broadsides, music halls, brass bands, theater music and choral music having mass appeal. What is now called classical music was somewhat undeveloped compared to parts of Europe but did have significant support.[57] Many sports were introduced or popularised during the Victorian era.[58] They became important to male identity.[59] Examples included cricket,[60] football,[61] rugby,[62] tennis[63] and cycling.[64] The idea of women participating in sport did not fit well with the Victorian view of femininity, but their involvement did increase as the period progressed.[65] For the middle classes, many leisure activities such as table games could be done in the home while domestic holidays to rural locations such as the Lake District and Scottish Highlands were increasingly practical.[66] The working classes had their own culture separate from that of their richer counterparts, various cheaper forms of entertainment and recreational activities provided by philanthropy. Trips to resorts such as Blackpool were increasingly popular towards the end of period.[67] Initially the industrial revolution increased working hours, but over the course of the 19th century a variety of political and economic changes caused them to fall back down to and in some cases below pre-industrial levels, creating more time for leisure.[68]
Buildings originally built as Llanfyllin workhouse, a state-funded home for the destitute which operated from 1838 to 1930.[92][93]
![Buildings originally built as Llanfyllin workhouse, a state-funded home for the destitute which operated from 1838 to 1930.[92][93]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/67/Llanfyllin_Workhouse_-_geograph.org.uk_-_3098623.jpg/400px-Llanfyllin_Workhouse_-_geograph.org.uk_-_3098623.jpg)
19th-century Britain saw a huge population increase accompanied by rapid urbanisation stimulated by the Industrial Revolution.[79] In the 1901 census, more than three out of every four people were classified as living in an urban area, compared to one in five a century earlier.[80] Historian Richard A. Soloway wrote that "Great Britain had become the most urbanized country in the West."[81] The rapid growth in the urban population included the new industrial and manufacturing cities, as well as service centres such as Edinburgh and London.[80][82] Private renting from housing landlords was the dominant tenure. P. Kemp says this was usually of advantage to tenants.[83] Overcrowding was a major problem with seven or eight people frequently sleeping in a single room. Until at least the 1880s, sanitation was inadequate in areas such as water supply and disposal of sewage. This all had a negative effect on health, especially that of the impoverished young. For instance, of the babies born in Liverpool in 1851, only 45 per cent survived to age 20.[84] Conditions were particularly bad in London, where the population rose sharply and poorly maintained, overcrowded dwellings became slum housing. Kellow Chesney wrote of the situation:[85]
Hunger and poor diet was a common aspect of life across the UK in the Victorian period, especially in the 1840s, but the mass starvation seen in the Great Famine in Ireland was unique.[86][84] Levels of poverty fell significantly during the 19th century from as much as two thirds of the population in 1800 to less than a third by 1901. However, 1890s studies suggested that almost 10% of the urban population lived in a state of desperation lacking the food necessary to maintain basic physical functions. Attitudes towards the poor were often unsympathetic and they were frequently blamed for their situation. In that spirit, the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 had been deliberately designed to punish them and would remain the basis for welfare provision into the 20th century. While many people were prone to vices, not least alcoholism, historian Bernard A. Cook argues that the main reason for 19th century poverty was that typical wages for much of the population were simply too low. Barely enough to provide a subsistence living in good times, let alone save up for bad.[84]
Improvements were made over time to housing along with the management of sewage and water eventually giving the UK the most advanced system of public health protection anywhere in the world.[87] The quality and safety of household lighting improved over the period with oil lamps becoming the norm in the early 1860s, gas lighting in the 1890s and electric lights beginning to appear in the homes of the richest by the end of the period.[88] Medicine advanced rapidly during the 19th century and germ theory was developed for the first time. Doctors became more specialised and the number of hospitals grew.[87] The overall number of deaths fell by about 20%. The life expectancy of women increased from around 42 to 55 and 40 to 56 for men.[note 6][81] In spite of this, the mortality rate fell only marginally, from 20.8 per thousand in 1850 to 18.2 by the end of the century. Urbanisation aided the spread of diseases and squalid living conditions in many places exacerbated the problem.[87] The population of England, Scotland and Wales grew rapidly during the 19th century.[89] Various factors are considered contributary to this, including a rising fertility rate (though it was falling by the end of the period),[81] the lack of a catastrophic pandemic or famine in the island of Great Britain during the 19th century for the first time in history,[90] improved nutrition,[90] and a lower overall mortality rate.[90] Ireland's population shrank significantly, mostly due to emigration and the Great Famine.[91]
