Victorian Era

The Victorian era of Great Britain is considered the height of the British industrial revolution and the apex of the British Empire. It is often defined as the years from 1837 to 1901, when Queen Victoria reigned, though many historians believe that the passage of the Reform Act 1832 marks the true inception of a new cultural era. The Victorian era was preceded by the Regency era and came before the Edwardian period.

Main events :

  • 1837 - Ascension of Queen Victoria to the throne.
  • 1840 - New Zealand becomes a British colony, through the Treaty of Waitangi.
  • 1840 - Queen Victoria marries Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield.
  • 1845 - The Irish famine begins. Within 5 years it would become the UK’s worst human disaster, with starvation and emigration reducing the population of Ireland itself by over 50%. The famine permanently changed Ireland’s and Scotland’s demographics and became a rallying point for nationalist sentiment that pervaded British politics for much of the following century.
  • 1848 - Death of around 2,000 people a week in a cholera epidemic.
  • 1850 - Restoration of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in Britain.
  • 1851 - The Great Exhibition (the first World’s Fair) is held at the Crystal Palace, with great success and international attention. The Victorian gold rush.
  • 1854 - Crimean War: The United Kingdom declares war on Russia.
  • 1857 - The Indian Mutiny, a widespread revolt in India against the rule of the British East India Company, is sparked by sepoys (native Indian soldiers) in the Company’s army. The rebellion, involving not just sepoys but many sectors of the Indian population as well, is largely quashed within a year. In response to the mutiny, the East India Company is abolished in August 1858 and India comes under the direct rule of the British crown, beginning the period of the British Raj. Prince Albert is given the title The Prince Consort
  • 1859 - Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species, which leads to various reactions.
  • 1861 - Death of Prince Albert; Queen Victoria refuses to go out in public for many years, and when she did she wore a widow’s bonnet instead of the crown.
  • 1867 - The Constitution Act, 1867 passes and British North America becomes Dominion of Canada.
  • 1878 - Treaty of Berlin. Cyprus becomes a Crown colony.
  • 1882 - British troops begin the occupation of Egypt by taking the Suez Canal, in order to secure the vital trade route and passage to India, and the country becomes a protectorate.
  • 1884 - The Fabian Society is founded in London by a group of middle class intellectuals, including Quaker Edward R. Pease, Havelock Ellis, and E. Nesbit, to promote socialism.
  • 1888 - The serial killer known as Jack the Ripper murders and mutilates five (and possibly more) women on the streets of London.
  • 1870 – 1891 - Under the Elementary Education Act 1870, basic State Education becomes free for every child under the age of 10.
  • 1901 - The death of Victoria sees the end of this era, and the ascension of her eldest son, Edward, began the Edwardian era.

Famous Victorians:

  • Queen Victoria was born in 1819 in Kensington Palace in London. She died on 22 January, 1901 at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. She was 81.
  • Florence Nightingale (1820-1910)  -  the founder of modern nursing. In 1854 she took charge of nursing soldiers wounded in the Crimean War. She organised the cleaning of the filthy rat infested military hospital and organised proper nursing. The death rate fell dramatically.
  • Elizabeth Garrett Anderson (1836-1917)  - the first woman to qualify as a doctor in Britain. She founded a hospital for poor women and children in London.
  • Joseph Lister (1827-1912)  - a scottish surgeon who realised the importance of keeping wounds and equipment clean and germ free during operations.
  • Michael Faraday (1791 – 1867)- his greatest contribution to science was in the field of electricity. In 1821 he began experimenting with electromagnetism and by demonstrating the conversion of electrical energy into motive force, invented the electric motor. In 1831 Faraday discovered the induction of electric currents and made the first dynamo. In 1837 he demonstrated that electrostatic force consists of a field of curved lines of force, and conceived a specific inductive capacity. This led to Faraday being able to develop his theories on light and gravitational systems.
  • Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922)  - inventor of the telephone.
  • Thomas Edison (1847-1931)  - he was the inventor of over a thousand ideas which transformed life in the late 19 th century. He invented his own phonograph, and developed with Swan the electirc carbon filament lamp, which eventually became the modern light bulb.
  • Charles Darwin (1809-1882)  - an english naturalist who was famous for his famous theory of “natural selection”. As a young scientist he set sail on the voyage of the Beagle in 1831 and came back with observations on the varieties of fossils and living animals which made him question the Bible’s story of creation. His findings were published in “The Origin of Species” in 1859. This theory caused a real stir and was sold out straight away.
  • Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859)  -  he was an engineer who specialised in railway traction,tunnels, steam ships and bridges. He designed the Clifton Suspension Bridge and was engineer to the Greta Western Railway. He built the SS Great eastern the largest 19th century ship.
  • Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930)  - he created the character Sherlock Holmes.
  • David Livingstone (1813-1873)  - a missionary who made three long explorations of East Africa. He wrote the story of his amazing three year journey across the African continent from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. He wasthe first European to see the Victoria Falls.
  • Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)  - a scottish author who wrote Treasure Island  and Kidnapped which are two of the most popular children’s stories ever written.
  • Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)  - the most famous Victorian poet who wrote many poems about major events such as The Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War.
  • Lewis Carroll (1832-1898)  - real name Charles L. Dodgson, he was the author of Alice in Wonderland.
  • Beatrix Potter (1866 – 1943) - was an English author, illustrator, mycologist and conservationist best known for children’s books featuring  characters such as in The Tale of Peter Rabbit which celebrated the British landscape and rural lifestyle.
  • Charles Dickens (1812 – 1870) - was the most popular English novelist of the Victorian era. He was a fierce critic of the poverty and social stratification of Victorian society. His experience of this period is reflected in two of his well known works:  ”David Copperfield” and “Great Expectations”.