What was it like for children living in Victorian Britain

1
What was it like for children living in Victorian
Britain?
History Unit11 Years 5/6
2
Who were the Victorians and when did they live?
The Victorians lived during the reign of Queen
Victoria. She was on the throne from 1837 to
1901. .
3
Look at this timeline to see where they fitted
into British history.
4
Look at this picture of Queen Victoria and her
family.
What sort of life do you think they enjoyed?
5
Look at this picture of some other Victorian
children.
Do you think they had the same privileges as
Queen Victorias children?
6
Here is yet another child from Victorian times.
Do you think he was as privileged?
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What was it like for poor children in Victorian
times?
Charles Dickens wrote about a boy called Oliver
Twist who was an orphan.
It gives us a good insight as to what life was
like for poor children in Victorian times.
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Working Children
What sort of jobs would working children do?
Sweep chimneys
Work in factories
Go down the mines
Sweep the streets
Sell matches in the street
Shine shoes
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It was not an easy life for most children.
Here is a story about two orphan children in
Victorian times.
See what you think...
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My name is Harry. I am nine years old.I have a
sister called Beth. She is eight. Both our
parents are dead and we have nowhere to live.
Yesterday when we were begging in the street, we
bumped into this man. He said he could get us a
job. We didnt like the look of him so we ran
away.
Weve heard about all the terrible jobs that
children have to do, and we dont want to have to
do any of them.
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Ill tell you why..
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I dont want to be a chimney sweep because I
dont want to have to climb up into those dark
twisted chimneys. I would be afraid.
My friend was a chimney sweep and somebody lit a
fire under him and he got badly burnt.
13
I dont want to work in a factory because they
work long hours, often up to 18 hours a day.
Some children have to crawl under the machines to
clean and oil them. Sometimes they get their
fingers crushed in the machines.
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I dont want to have to stand in the street
selling matches. The streets are very cold and
dark and dangerous.
I dont want to sweep streets because it is a
very dirty job. And I dont want to shine shoes
either.
15
I dont want to go down into the mines. Its cold
and dark down there.
I would have to open and close trapdoors all day
or pull a heavy coal cart.
Sometimes the mines cave in and the children are
killed.
16
I would rather go to school and learn, so that
when I grow up, I will be able to get a good job
that I enjoy doing.
What would you rather do?
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Somebody had to help these children.
BUT
Did anybody care enough?
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Who helped these poor Victorian children?
Dr. Barnardo set up childrens homes for orphans.
Lord Shaftesbury changed the laws regarding
working children.
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Now you are going to find the answers to some of
these questions by doing some research of your
own.
You will be using the Internet.
Follow the instructions carefully and see how
much you can find out.