Children worked very long hours with little breaks and no fresh air. They often worked in very dangerous conditions resulting in injuries or even death. There was no education for the poor, so it was very unlikely they could get better paid jobs when they were older.
What was life like as a child in the Victorian times?
Life for Victorian children was very different from our lives today. Children in rich households had toys to play with and did not have to work, but children in poor households often had to work long hours in difficult, dangerous jobs. They didn’t have toys to play with but sometimes made their own.
How did Victorians view childhood?
Children were mostly raised by a nanny who would teach the child what was proper and what was not. Day to day living was nothing more than a lonely monotonous routine and very formal. Wealthy Victorian Children rarely communicated with their parents except for a specified time each day.
What happened to Victorian children?
Poor children who survived infancy were often put to work at an early age. In the 1830s and 40s, many children labored in textile mills and coal mines, where working conditions often proved deadly. Girls as young as five went into domestic service as nurses or maids to wealthy families.
How did Victorian children have fun?
Board games such as Snakes and Ladders, Ludo and Draughts were popular indoor games. Outdoors, Victorian children played with toys like hoops, marbles and skipping ropes, with friends in the street, or in the school playground. They played chasing games such as Tag, Blind Man’s Bluff, and played catch with balls.
What did a poor Victorian child wear?
The fabrics and materials used were different before the Victorian era. If you were poor you would wear linen or wool, spun and woven by yourself, or your family. The rich enjoyed silks and velvets, often brought from abroad at great expense.
What was life like for girls in the Victorian era?
Victorians believed that a woman’s proper and only place was to be within a household environment. The women were expected to marry, have children, and keep a nice household. Those were the only acceptable roles for women during that era.
Did Victorian children go to school?
In 1880, laws were enforced that meant every child between 5 to 10 had to go to school. For parents of large families who could barely afford enough food, paying a penny a week for their children to go to school was a great expense.
Did Victorians love their kids?
Parents Didn’t Show Affection
Victorian parents were not known for showing affection. In fact, they believed even minimal amounts of affection would spoil a child. Victorian parents were encouraged to never kiss or hug their children, only a peck on the forehead before bed if they really couldn’t help themselves.
How were Victorian children disciplined?
On the other hand, they believed firmly in stiff punishments. In 1854 Reformatory Schools were set up for offenders under 16 years old. These were very tough places, with stiff discipline enforced by frequent beatings. Young people were sent there for long sentences – usually several years.
How healthy were Victorian children?
How healthy were Victorian children? Many Londoners died from illnesses such as cholera, measles and scarlet fever. Babies in over-crowded and damp housing were the most at risk from diarrhoea and tuberculosis. Even those in rich families died because of poor medical knowledge.
How many hours did Victorian children work?
Many children worked 16 hour days under atrocious conditions, as their elders did. Ineffective parliamentary acts to regulate the work of workhouse children in factories and cotton mills to 12 hours per day had been passed as early as 1802 and 1819.
What did rich Victorian children wear?
Children tended to wear miniature versions of adult clothes. Boys wore dresses until they were about five years old. Once of school age they wore suits or short trousers and jackets with a cap. Sailor suits were also fashionable.
What jobs did a Victorian child do?
Children worked on farms, in homes as servants, and in factories. Children provided a variety of skills and would do jobs that were as varied as needing to be small and work as a scavenger in a cotton mill to having to push heavy coal trucks along tunnels in coal mines.
What did Victorian children do in their free time?
They still had plenty of ways to amuse themselves though. Most towns like Huddersfield had theatres and music halls, and many of the local churches held social events. Sports were popular – rugby, football, cycling – and the growth of the train network meant that it was much easier for people to travel.
Did you know facts about Victorian children?
Many poor Victorian children never went to school. Young children were forced to work as soon as they were old enough to earn money for their families.
Many children died of disease.
- usually well fed, clean and well clothed.
- didn’t need to work.
- went on holidays.
- had expensive toys.
- had pets such as ponies.
What age did girls start wearing a corset?
In the early 20th century, a young woman would typically have started wearing a corset at about 15 years old, and live at home until she married around age 18. After the war, more young women sought an education, and in the Western world, marriage was delayed until they reached their middle to late 20s.
Were Victorian boys dressed as girls?
Once upon a time, all little boys wore dresses
“Boys’ dresses were often made in brighter or darker colours and in plainer or stronger fabrics, and might have had chunky belts and trimmings and large metallic buttons, none of which were typical of girls’ dresses,” the V&A Museum of Childhood explains.
What would a Victorian girl wear?
The fashion of the 19th century is renowned for its corsets, bonnets, top hats, bustles and petticoats. Women’s fashion during the Victorian period was largely dominated by full skirts, which gradually moved to the back of the silhouette.
How were Victorian girls treated?
Women’s rights were extremely limited in this era, losing ownership of their wages, all of their physical property, excluding land property, and all other cash they generated once married. When a Victorian man and woman married, the rights of the woman were legally given over to her spouse.
What did Victorian girls do for fun?
Music and singing formed a large part of the Victorian woman’s entertainment. Young ladies were expected to perform at social gatherings and music evenings, whilst having a piano in your home was seen as a status symbol.