The Victorians

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The Victorians 1837-1901
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School
The school could be quite a grim building. The
rooms were warmed by a single stove or open fire.
The walls of a Victorian schoolroom were quite
bare, except perhaps for an embroidered text.
Curtains were used to divide the schoolhouse into
classrooms. The shouts of several classes
competed as they were taught side by side. There
was little fresh air  because the windows were
built high in the walls, to stop pupils looking
outside and being distracted from their work.
Many schools were built in the Victorian era,
between 1837 and 1901. In the country you would
see barns being converted into schoolrooms.
Increasing numbers of children began to attend,
and they became more and more crowded. But
because school managers didnt like to spend
money on repairs, buildings were allowed to rot
and broken equipment was not replaced.
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Slates and copybooks
Children learned to write on slates, they
scratched letters on them with sharpened pieces
of slate. Paper was expensive, but slates could
be used again and again. Children were supposed
to bring sponges to clean them. Most just spat on
the slates, and rubbed them clean with their
sleeves. Older children learned to use pen and
ink by writing in copybooks. Each morning the
ink monitor filled up little, clay ink wells and
handed them round from a tray. Pens were fitted
with scratchy, leaking nibs, and children were
punished for spilling ink which blotted their
copybooks. Teaches also gave dictation, reading
out strange poems which the children had to spell
out correctly.
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Dunces cap
Punishment did not end with caning. Students had
to stand on a stool at the back of the class,
wearing an arm band with DUNCE written on it. The
teacher then took a tall, cone-shaped hat
decorated with a large D, and placed it on the
boys head. Today we know that some children learn
more slowly than others. Victorian teachers
believed that all children could learn at the
same speed, and if some fell behind then they
should be punished for not trying hard enough.  
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Drill and playtime
When its time for PE or drill, a pupil
teacher starts playing an out-of-tune piano . The
children jog, stretch and lift  weights in time
to the awful music. It is like a Victorian
aerobics class! Even when the teacher rings a
heavy , brass bell to announce the end of school,
the pupils march out to the playground in perfect
time.
Outside the classroom is a small yard crowded
with shrieking schoolmates. Games of blind mans
buff, snakes and ladders, hide-and-seek and
hopscotch are in full swing. Some boys would beg
a pigs bladder from the butcher, which they would
blow up to use as a football. Others drilled hob
nails through cotton reels to make spinning tops.
   
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The children
Most days middle class children saw very little
of their parents. The children in a middle class
family would spend most of their time in the
nursery and would be brought up by their nanny.
Victorian children were expected to rise early,
because lying in bed was thought to be lazy and
sinful. The nanny would-be paid about 25 a year
to wash, dress and watch over them, amuse them,
dose them, take them out and teach them how to
behave. Some would only see their parents once a
day. In the evening, clean and tidy the children
were allowed downstairs for an hour before they
went to bed. Some mothers taught their children
to read and write and sometimes fathers taught
their sons Latin. As the children grew older,
tutors and governesses were often employed and
boys were sometimes sent away to school When the
children grew up, only the boys were expected to
work, the daughters stayed at home with their
mother. They were expected only to marry as soon
as possible.
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Victorian Timeline
Victoria married Albert. Prince Albert died.
Victoria became Empress of India. Victoria's
Golden Jubilee (50 years) Victoria's Diamond
Jubilee (60 years). Victoria died.
Victoria was born at Kensington Palace, London,
on 24 May 1819. She was the only daughter of
Edward, Duke of Kent, fourth son of George III.
Her father died shortly after her birth and she
became heir to the throne because the three
uncles who were ahead of her in succession -
George IV, Frederick Duke of York, and William IV
- had no legitimate children who survived. On
William IV's death in 1837, she became Queen at
the age of 18.
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Families
The father was the head of the household. He was
often strict and was obeyed by all without
question. The children were taught to respect
their father and always spoke politely to him
calling him "Sir". Very few children would dare
to be cheeky to their father or answer him back.
When he wanted a little peace and quiet he would
retire to his study and the rest of the family
were not allowed to enter without his special
permission. The Mother The mother would often
spend her time planning dinner parties, visiting
her dressmaker or calling on friends, she did not
do jobs like washing clothes or cooking and
cleaning. Both "papa and mama saw the upbringing
of their children as an important responsibility.
They believed a child must be taught the
difference between right and wrong if he was to
grow into a good and thoughtful adult. If a child
did something wrong he would be punished for his
own good. "Spare the rod and spoil the child" was
a saying Victorians firmly believed in.
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Poor families
For poorer families their greatest fear was
ending up in the workhouse, where thousands of
homeless and penniless families were forced to
live. If your family was taken into the workhouse
you would  be split up dressed in uniform and
have your hair cut short. This could happen to a
family if father were taken ill and unable to
work. Lots of children in poor families died of
diseases like scarlet fever, measles, polio and
TB which are curable today. These were spread by
foul drinking water, open drains and lack of
proper toilets. In overcrowded rooms if one
person caught a disease it spread quickly through
the rest.
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Coal mines
The coal mines were dangerous places where roofs
sometimes caved in, explosions happened and
workers got all sorts of injuries. There were
very few safety rules. Cutting and moving coal
which machines do nowadays was done by men, women
and children.     The younger children often
worked as "trappers" who worked trap doors. They
sat in a hole hollowed out for them and held a
string which was fastened to the door. When they
heard the coal wagons coming they had to open the
door by pulling a string. This job was one of the
easiest down the mine but it was very lonely and
the place were they sat was usually damp and
draughty.     Older children might be employed
as "coal bearers" carrying loads of coal on their
backs in big baskets. The Mines Act was passed
by the Government in 1842 forbidding the
employment of women and girls and all boys under
the age of teen down mines. Later it became
illegal for a boy under 12 to work down a mine.
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Working in the mills
While thousands of children worked down the mine,
thousands of others worked in the cotton mills.
The mill owners often took in orphans to their
workhouses, they lived at the mill and were
worked as hard as possible. They spent most of
their working hours at the machines with little
time for fresh air or exercise. Even part of
Sunday was spent cleaning machines. There were
some serious accidents, some children were
scalped when their hair was caught in the
machine, hands were crushed and some children
were killed when they went to sleep and fell into
the machine.
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Factories and the mills
Children often worked long and gruelling hours in
factories and had to carry out some hazardous
jobs. In match factories children were employed
to dip matches into a chemical called
phosphorous. This phosphorous could cause their
teeth to rot and some died from the effect of
breathing it into their lungs.
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Although in 1832 the use of boys for
sweeping chimneys was forbidden by law, boys
continued to be forced through the narrow winding
passages of chimneys in large houses. When they
first started at between five and ten years old,
children suffered many cuts, grazes and bruises
on their knees, elbows and thighs however after
months of suffering their skin became hardened.
Chimney sweeps
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Street children
Hordes of dirty, ragged children roamed the
streets with no regular money and no home to got
to. The children of the streets were often
orphans with no-one to care for them. They stole
or picked pockets to buy food and slept in
outhouses or doorways.     Some street children
did jobs to earn money. They could work as
crossing-sweepers, sweeping a way through the mud
and horse dung of the main paths to make way for
ladies and gentlemen. Others sold lace, flowers,
matches or muffins etc out in the streets.
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Wordsearch
Slate Victoria Albert needle workhouse
cane factories school clothes
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Quiz

• How is Prince Albert related to Queen Victoria?
  3. When did Queen Victoria become queen?
• a) Cousin
  a)1853
• b) Niece
  b)1837
• C) Brother
  c)1975
• How long did queen Victoria reign till?
  4. Was it tough for poor people?
• a)1845
  a) no
• B)1923
  b) yes
• c)1901
  c) Dont know

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