Victorian Wedding Invitation

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Victorian WeddingInvitation
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This is Topsfield Hall that used to be in Crouch
End, built in 1791. The year is 1879 and one of
the daughters of the house, Clementina, is
getting married here! What do you think the
wedding will be like? Talk to your partner about
it.
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What can you tell about Victorian weddings from
these pictures?
Images from http//www.victoriana.com
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YOU are invited to the wedding
Mr and Mrs Henry Weston Elder request the
pleasure of your company at the wedding of their
daughter Miss Clementina Elder of Topsfield Hall,
Crouche End to Mr Frank May of Elstree at St
Mary's Church, Hornsey at 12pm, on 4th June, in
this year of 1879 We would be delighted to
receive you at Topsfield Hall for a wedding
breakfast immediately after the ceremony. RSVP
The household would be grateful if you could
make clear your intention as to whether you will
be able to attend this fine day. Please reply to
Topsfield Hall, in the manor of CroucheEnd,
Middlesex God Save the Queen
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Can you send your reply to the wedding
invite. How did they do that in 1879 in Crouch
End?
?
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Discuss which methods of communication you could
use from the list below
by electric telegraph?
in person?
NO. Bell's telephone was invented in 1876 but
would have only been available for the very, very
wealthy at this time.
by telephone?
MAYBE! The first public telegraph lines were laid
in 1845 so you may well have replied by
telegraph. However, Crouch End was only a small
village in 1879 and may not have had a line.
YES! neighbours would have had a servant hand
deliver their reply
by post?
NO! the first email was sent in 1971 in America
from a computer to the computer next to it!
Would you have replied ...
YES! The Penny Post was invented in 1840. This
was the first postage stamp and was known as the
'penny black'. It made posting letters much
cheaper and easier, as did the introduction of
the post box in 1855.
by email?
NO! Guests would have been unlikely to have used
pigeon, though it was a very reliable form of
post for many years. The ancient Greeks used
pigeons to tell of the Olympic victors and the
British army used pigeons in the Second World War.
by pigeon?
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Activity Write your reply

• YOU ARE
• You have chosen to reply by postcard and post it.
• You are from a successful business family in
  Hackney. Though you are of the right class to be
  invited 'carriage folk', you are not incredibly
  wealthy, and you are careful with your money.
• You wish to reply that you can come and you want
  to tell your friends in Topsfield Hall some news
  about how you and the family have been - any
  ideas?
• You want to make the most of your space on the
  card so write both ways to make the most of the
  space, like in the example shown.

Design a stamp! The Penny stamp must have Queen
Victoria's head on it but will not say Great
Britain. Bonus point - do you know who invented
the Penny Black and where he lived? It's a local
CASTLE
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resources
postcard template for reply
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How was the letter delivered?
by stagecoach?
by the horse drawn mail coaches?
by car?
by train?