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At the time of the Industrial Revolution, London was significantly divided. In the Westend, the wealthy classes lived, with good, well paying and respectable occupations which resulted in them having enough money to be able to afford a nice home and other luxuries. On the other hand, the East end was home to the working class and below. The working classes had jobs which were usually harmful and for the majority of the time, did not pay enough for a sanitary abode and the necessary nutritious amount of food.  Victorian Westend One of the reasons why London was known as 'Two Cities', although geographically, they were just one, was because of the clothing. The people in the Westend could afford multiple bright and unique outfits because it was (and still is) considered to be an awful thing to be wearing the same garments as your peers. However, the people in the East end could only afford one outfit, poor of quality- normally second hand- and in quite dark, dull and c...

Throughout Queen Victoria's reign, the country suffered from several epidemics of cholera, the first occurring in Sunderland in 1831. It attacked because a ship had recently docked which carried sailors who were carrying the contagious disease from Hamburg. London experienced their first case in 1832 but it only claimed 800 East end lives and in that year, a child born at Bethnal Green was expected to live up to sixteen years at the most! Also in this year, tuberculosis was a bigger killer than cholera. Cholera is a horrible virus which is passed through water and food contaminated with the disease. It causes dehydration, vomiting and severe diarrhoea. The faeces come out ridiculously quick and cause extreme loss of bodily fluids. Because of the lack of medicine and no NHS (For those who dwell in England), there was a near 100% chance of death for one of it's victims! In Lewis Square, Nottingham in 1856, a census recorded that 616 people were killed by cholera.  To ad...

A Workhouse The Poor Law Act of 1834 was a legal act that completely stopped the poor from getting assistance unless they were in dire need of it. It labeled the poor as 'lazy' as well as saying that it was their own faults for becoming poor. Before the act, the poor had received charity from the wealthy but after the government passed this act, the rich began viewing the poor as lazy and dirty scum. From 1834 to the early 1900s, more and more people were being forced into various Workhouses.  Charles Dickens writes negatively about Workhouses, saying that they are awful places run by greedy masters who starve the residents. In his book "Oliver Twist" he describes the fictional orphan- Oliver- pleading the the master for more food but receiving nothing but a harsh punishments. However James Howard, a resident of Swansea's cottage homes (a branch of the Workhouse), went on from the home with a scholarship, attended Cardiff University, later becoming a ch...

During the 1800s, this cake was extremely popular. In fact, Charlotte Brontë describes Jane Eyre and her childhood friend Helen Burns eating seed cake in Miss Temple's room in her popular novel: Jane Eyre! Ingredients: 450g butter at room temperature 450g plain flour 350g sugar 20g caraway seeds 6 whisked eggs 200ml milk grated nutmeg to taste ground mace to taste Equipment: Scales Whisk Measuring Jug Large Cake Tin Grease Proof Paper Wooden Spoon Mixing Bowl Grater Wire Cooling Rack WASH YOUR HANDS FOR HYGIENE PURPOSES!!! Method: Preheat the oven to 170°C. Grease the baking tin and/or lay greaseproof paper on the bottom to prevent the cake from sticking. Using the wooden spoon, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy in a mixing bowl. Stir in the plain flour. Add the seeds, nut meg and mace to the mixture. Into another bowl, break the eggs and whisk together. Gradually adding the whisked eggs, mix the concoction unti...

The Birth of Charles Dickens On 7th February 1812, Charles Dickens was born to Elizabeth and John Dickens. Charles Dickens is a famous author, who wrote books such as: Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, The Tale of Two Cities and A Christmas Carol. 

The infamous picture of that woman on the English £5 note is Elizabeth Fry, a Quaker from Norwich.  She is famous for being a Victorian philanthropist because she changed the system of prison life in England.  Elizabeth was born on 21st April 1780 in Norwich to John Gurney, banker and owner of a factory, and Catherine Bell. As a child, Elizabeth was brought up with her mother's faith- a denomination of Christianity called Quaker. Part of a large family, she lived in Earlham Hall, built in 1642, with her ten siblings: Joseph, Samuel, Louisa, Daniel, Priscilla, Rachel, John, Hannah, Catherine and Richenda and their parents. At the age of twelve, Elizabeth's beloved mother died and so she had to assist in the bringing up of her brothers and sisters. As a youth, she embraced bright colours and wore French style hats in support of the French Revolution!  When Elizabeth was twenty, in 1800, she married a fellow Quaker- Joseph Fry. Together they had eleven children and m...

During the reign of Queen Victoria (1837- 1901), the fashion trends were changing rapidly. And for those who could afford new outfits regularly, this was a way to show off their wealth. 1830s The ideal body for a lady in the 1830s was a long, slender torso, accompanied by wide hips. The slimness of the torso was achieved by wearing tightly laced corsets made out of whale bone or iron. Some women laced themselves so tightly that many fainted and some women even broke a few of their ribs. Over the corset, they would wear a tight fitting bodice with a low waist. Women would have a long flowing skirt to emphasise their hips, worn over a horsehair petticoats to create the fullness of the skirts.  1840s Low necklines, V shaped bodices and fuller skirts was popular along with dropped sleeves. The bodice stopped at the waist line ending in a V. The sleeves wear tied tightly at the top but they then expanded at the wrist and/ or elbow. Because this restricted movement, the mid- ...

Mary had a little lamb, Little lamb, little lamb, Mary had a little lamb, It's fleece as white as snow,  And everywhere that Mary went, Mary went, The lamb was sure to go.  That is the first verse of a traditional nursery rhyme. In 1812 Mary Sawyer, an 11 year old girl from Boston, supposedly had a lamb that she took her to school one day on the suggestion of her brother! In 1863 Mary was raising money for her parish church when she found a pair of old stockings that had been made from the infamous lamb's wool, unraveled them and sold bits of the wool on little cards; these were priced at ten cents per souvenir!  Sarah Josepha Hale of Philadelphia is said to have written the original poem in 1823 but it was published in an American children's magazine in 1830. However, Mary claimed that a man named John Roulstone had actually written the rhyme. As a result a plaque was laid commentating the first three verses to Roulstone and the rest to Hale. The m...

Jack the Ripper is the best name suited to the infamous unidentified killer who roamed the dark streets of Whitechapel London in Victorian England. Between August and November 1888 five prostitutes were found very dead and brutally disembowelled. The killer remains to this day unknown although they have been dubbed 'Jack the Ripper'. The first victim was Mary Ann Nicholls who was murdered on 31st August 1888. Her barbaric death was followed by Annie Chapman on 8th September, Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowesson both on 30th September and Mary Jane Kelly on 9th November.  The fact the killer was and is unknown, there is a theory that he or she may have been someone of the medical profession or a butcher because the mutilations were so expertly done showing clear knowledge of the human anatomy. Also the suspected weapons have links to a surgeon's tools...  A quarter of a mile from the scene of Catherine Eddowesson's death, the words: 'The Juwes are n...

A Victorian Christmas Attitudes to Christmas changed during the 19 th centaury. The Germans had a massive influence on the modern British Christmas due to the British royal family descending from German roots and Queen Victoria being married to a German prince. The Germans introduced Christmas trees and the queen made putting presents under the tree popular and they also introduced Christmas card. As well as that Father Christmas/ Santa Claus/ Santa was introduced as a marketing advertisement. For most Victorians, Christmas was an enjoyable time to be spent with the family. However most employers would not allow holidays for the Christmas season. Therefore Scrooge not allowing Bob Pritchett and his fellow employees time off work to celebrate Christmas would not actually been an unusual circumstance.  A British confectioner called Tom Smith visited Paris in the Christmas period and saw sugared almonds wrapped up in paper. From that experience sprung the idea o...