Cities were dirty, noisy, and overcrowded. London had about 600,000 people around 1700 and almost a million residents in 1800. The rich, only a tiny minority of the population, lived luxuriously in lavish, elegant mansions and country houses, which they furnished with comfortable, upholstered furniture.
What was life like in London in the 1800s?
London’s population grew rapidly during the 19th century. This lead to major problems with overcrowding and poverty. Disease and early death were common for both rich and poor people. Victorian children did not have as many toys and clothes as children do today and many of them were homemade.
What was it like living in the 1800s?
Many lived a hand-to-mouth existence, working long hours in often harsh conditions. There was no electricity, running water or central heating. With no electric lighting (or gas) the rhythm of life revolved around the hours of daylight, and therefore would have varied with the seasons.
What was happening in London in the 1800s?
During this period, London became a global political, financial, and trading capital. While the city grew wealthy as Britain’s holdings expanded, 19th century London was also a city of poverty, where millions lived in overcrowded and unsanitary slums.
What was it like to be poor in London in the 1800s?
The Victorian period was a miserable time to be poor. Assistance was only awarded to people who could earn a living, however meagre that living might be. Those who would not or could not work were treated as an ‘underclass’ whose impoverished state was akin to a criminal offence.
What was life like for a woman in the 1800s?
Women did not have the power to make contracts, own property or vote. A woman was seen merely as a servant to her husband. By the 1830s and 1840s, however, that began to change when many bold, outspoken women championed social reforms of prisons, war, alcohol and slavery.
How were children treated in the 1800s?
Children of the time, were either forced to abandon their education to maintain a full time job, or balance school along with work. When kids were not in school their day to day lives were extremely harsh. Their day to day lives were determined by there social status, how much money they had.
What was life like for a child in the 1800?
Life in the 1800s
Before the Victorian era, children as young as 6 or 8 years old might work in a mill or factory, they might run errands and make deliveries for a store keeper, they may be apprenticed to a skilled craftsman or woman, or they could be hired out as a servant.
What was a typical family like in the 1800s?
In general, men were the breadwinners, providing income for the family, whereas the mothers were in charge of the household. This role grew more prominent with more wealth, as with that came more estate to manage. Marriage was also very closely tied to social class; women were seldom married into lower social rungs.
What did kids do in the 1800s for fun?
For fun, children would make rag dolls and corn husk dolls to play with, wrap rocks in yarn to make balls, and even use vines or seaweed strips for jump ropes. They played games such as hide-and-seek and tug-of-war. Foot races, hopscotch, marbles, and spinning tops were also popular.
What did London smell like in the 1800s?
In the 19th century, London was the capital of the largest empire the world had ever known — and it was infamously filthy. It had choking, sooty fogs; the Thames River was thick with human sewage; and the streets were covered with mud.
Why did London grow so fast in the 1800s?
Railways were driven into the heart of the city allowing for a rapid urban sprawl; and London was knitted together by an ever-growing system of underground and overground transportation. Servicing two great masters – trade and governance – the city also witnessed the creation of a new infrastructure.
What were the conditions in London in 1888?
Victorian London was not a happy place to be, and the facts speak for themselves. Prostitution was rife, poverty and crime were prevalent and 19th-century housing was barely habitable. Finding work in 1888 was extremely difficult for the residents of Whitechapel, feeding into the cycle of destitution and depravity.
Where did the poor live in London in the 1800s?
Whitechapel
Home to many of London’s poor, from the working classes right down to the destitute, Whitechapel was plagued by overcrowding, crime and deprivation.
How were the poor treated in the 1800s?
For the first half of the 19th century the rural and urban poor had much in common: unsanitary and overcrowded housing, low wages, poor diet, insecure employment and the dreaded effects of sickness and old age.
How did poor people live in the 1800?
A poor Victorian family would have lived in a very small house with only a couple of rooms on each floor. The very poorest families had to make do with even less – some houses were home to two, three or even four families. The houses would share toilets and water, which they could get from a pump or a well.
How old were wives in the 1800s?
At the end of the 18th century, the average age of first marriage was 28 years old for men and 26 years old for women. During the 19th century, the average age fell for English women, but it didn’t drop any lower than 22.
What age did girls come out in society in the 1800s?
By the 1890s and into the Edwardian era a young lady reaching the age of eighteen of any particular year could have their “coming out” presentation.
What did wives do in the 1800s?
The 19th century American woman was expected to cook, clean, and take care of other household duties. Chaos seemed to reign in the early 1800s. Cities swelled with immigrants and farmers’ sons and daughters seeking their fortunes.
What were parents called in the 1800s?
The words can be traced back to the 1500s for “dad” and the 1800s for “mom”. As with so many etymologies, where these words were first uttered and by whom is a mystery. Even the Oxford English Dictionary has admitted that they have “no evidence” on where the word “dad” originated.
How did Victorians punish kids?
Boys were usually caned on their backsides and girls were either beaten on their bare legs or across their hands. A pupil could receive a caning for a whole range of different reasons, including: rudeness, leaving a room without permission, laziness, not telling the truth and playing truant (missing school).