Victorian children
lived very different lives to children today
. Poor children often had to work to earn money for their family. … 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 school like for a Victorian child?
Children in Victorian times
School was not free
and only richer families could send their children to school. Some rich children would be taught at home by a governess. With no school to go to, many children hung around the streets. Some ended up in jail for begging or causing trouble.
Did the Victorians love their children?
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.
What was the worst punishment in Victorian schools?
When children at Victorian schools behaved badly, they were often punished by
being hit on the hands with the teacher's cane
. Many teachers were very strict and most schools kept a “Punishment Book” to record the names of the bad ones and the details of their offences.
What was life like for a poor Victorian child?
The poor Victorian Children lived a very different life than the children of wealthier families. They didn't have the nice houses to live in or the extravagant toys, clothes or fine foods that the rich kids had. They
lived in much smaller houses or even single rooms
.
What did a poor Victorian child wear?
Poorer children often wore
patched and mended clothes
that had been bought second-hand or passed down through the family. Boots and shoes were the most expensive items and some children were forced to go barefoot, even in winter.
What did Victorians wear to bed?
Sleepwear during the Victorian age was usually referred to as ‘night clothes' and often consisted of
ankle-length nightshirts or nightgowns and floor-length robes
. Almost everything was white, especially when the style was first adopted (eventually colors and patterns became fashionable).
How much did Victorian chimney sweeps get paid?
Powerless children were made apprentice chimney sweeps
From 1773, master chimney sweeps regularly kept anywhere from 2 to 20 children, depending on how many they could use for their business. For each child, the
master sweep was paid 3-4 pounds
by the government when the apprenticeship agreement was signed.
What punishments did the Victorians have?
Hard labour
was a common punishment. Many Victorians believed that having to work very hard would prevent criminals committing crime in the future. The crank and the treadmill: Prisons often made prisoners do pointless tasks such as turn a crank up to 10,000 times a day. Or walk for hours on giant circular tread mills.
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 were the punishments in Victorian prisons?
There were prisons, but they were mostly small, old and badly-run. Common punishments included
transportation – sending the offender to America, Australia or Van Diemens Land (Tasmania) or execution
– hundreds of offences carried the death penalty. By the 1830s people were having doubts about both these punishments.
What percentage of Victorians were poor?
That is the sort of poverty that
25%
of Britons suffered in Victorian times. We can check this with Angus Maddison's numbers (which are also inflation and PPP adjusted) and we can see that per capita GDP in 1890 was $4,000 a year.
What was a typical Victorian school day like?
The school days in Victorian times were structured slightly different to those of today with the
morning introduction session consisting of prayers and religious instructions
. This was commonly followed by morning lessons running from 9am until 12pm. Following this was a lunch period when children usually went home.
What did rich Victorians do for fun?
Rich children had
train sets, toy soldiers, rocking horses, dolls and doll houses, tea-sets
, and toy shops with toy fruit.
What did a poor Victorian child eat?
For many poor people across Britain,
white bread made from bolted wheat flour
was the staple component of the diet. When they could afford it, people would supplement this with vegetables, fruit and animal-derived foods such as meat, fish, milk, cheese and eggs – a Mediterranean-style diet.
What would a rich Victorian girl wear?
Rich women wore
corsets under their dresses
. At the beginning of Victoria's reign it was fashionable to wear a crinoline under a skirt. These hoops and petticoats made skirts very wide. Later in the period skirts were narrower with a shape at the back called a bustle.
