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 at home?
Many worked with their parents at home or in workshops, making matchboxes or sewing. Children could also earn a bit of money as chimney-sweeps, messengers or crossing sweepers like the boy in this picture.
What did rich Victorian children do?
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.
What was life like for a child in a Victorian factory?
The Factory Act of 1833 stated that children aged 9 to 13 could work no more than 9 hours per day. Working families would have had little money to spend on food and their poor diets meant that children didn’t grow properly, were weak or developed rickets.
What did Victorian school children do?
The most important lessons were the ‘three Rs’ – reading, writing and arithmetic (maths). Pupils had to chant things (the times-table facts, for example) out loud until they could do it without making a mistake. Victorian pupils also received lessons in history and geography. Some lessons were called ‘object lessons’.
What did Victorian children do in their spare 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.
What jobs did children do in the 1800s?
In cities and towns, children would typically have to work in factories or mills. In more rural areas, farm work was more common. Children would sometimes be employed to scare birds away from crops.
What jobs did girls do in Victorian times?
Women and work in the 19th century
Most working class women in Victorian England had no choice but to work in order to help support their families. They worked either in factories, or in domestic service for richer households or in family businesses.
What was life like as a poor Victorian child?
The children of the poor were not thought to be a blessing, but often a burden on the family. With no laws to protect children, this meant they had few rights and were badly treated. Seen as simply the property of their parents, many children were abandoned, abused and even bought and sold.
What age did Victorian children start work?
Research has shown that the average age at which children started work in early 19th-century Britain was 10 years old, but that this varied widely between regions. In industrial areas, children started work on average at eight and a half years old.
What age did Victorian children work?
Before this act children as young as 4 years old were being used as Victorian child labor. Children as young as six were still being use to sweep chimneys.
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.
How many hours a day would a Victorian child work?
The Children’s Act was passed, and inspections were made to check that the law was being followed. This said that children younger than 12 years old were not allowed to work, and those that were older were not allowed to work during school hours or for more than 2 hours a day.
What did Victorian girls do at school?
Boys and girls were segregated for some subjects: girls would study needlework while boys studied woodwork. Children used a slate to write on, which could be wiped clean. They might also use a quill pen (like a feather), which was dipped in ink from an ink well on the desk.
What time did Victorian children wake up?
Did you know… Morning lessons began at 9:00am until 12:00. Children often went home for their lunchtime meal and then returned for afternoon classes from 2pm-5pm. If pupils were unable to answer a question, they were made to sit in the corner and wear a dunces’ hat.
What did Victorian children do on Sunday?
Wealthy families could be very strict about what their children were, and were not, allowed to do. All amusements, as well as work, were forbidden. Even drawing and painting were often forbidden. Therefore reading was the main pastime on a Sunday afternoon.
What jobs did poor Victorians have?
Poor people could work in mines, in mills and factories, or in workhouses. Whole families would sometimes have to work so they’d all have enough money to buy food. Children in poor families would have jobs that were best done by people who weren’t very tall.
What were children’s jobs in workhouses?
Instead, the education the children did receive was vocational, and completely dependent on their gender, age and ability. Furthermore, children were made to work, often doing manual labour and occasionally ‘hired out’ to factories and mines.
What kids did for fun in the 1800s?
The major pastime for kids in the 1800s was sports! In the winter they would be out on the ice curling or playing hockey. Summers had lacrosse games, as well as hunting and fishing. If you were lucky enough to live near a city, you might have the circus come by.
What did kids do on a daily basis in the 1800s?
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.
How much were Victorian children paid?
In 1830, a child working in a cotton mill earned just one tenth of an adult’s wages. Most factory owners and businessmen were very happy to employ children as they did not have to pay them very much, so they could make more profit. Click here to find out more about Victorian jobs!