What was it like for children living in Victorian Britain? History Unit11 Years 5/6

Who were the Victorians and when did they live? The Victorians lived during the reign of Queen Victoria. She was on the throne from 1837 to

Look at this timeline to see where they fitted into British history.

Look at this picture of Queen Victoria and her family. What sort of life do you think they enjoyed?

Look at this picture of some other Victorian children. Do you think they had the same privileges as Queen Victoria’s children?

Here is yet another child from Victorian times. Do you think he was as privileged?

What was it like for poor children in Victorian times? Charles Dickens wrote about a boy called Oliver Twist who was an orphan. It gives us a good insight as to what life was like for poor children in Victorian times.

Working Children What sort of jobs would working children do? Sweep chimneys Go down the mines Sell matches in the street Work in factories Sweep the streets Shine shoes

It was not an easy life for most children. Here is a story about two orphan children in Victorian times. See what you think…...

We’ve heard about all the terrible jobs that children have to do, and we don’t want to have to do any of them. My name is Harry. I am nine years old.I have a sister called Beth. She is eight. Both our parents are dead and we have nowhere to live. Yesterday when we were begging in the street, we bumped into this man. He said he could get us a job. We didn’t like the look of him so we ran away.

I’ll tell you why…..

My friend was a chimney sweep and somebody lit a fire under him and he got badly burnt. I don’t want to be a chimney sweep because I don’t want to have to climb up into those dark twisted chimneys. I would be afraid.

Some children have to crawl under the machines to clean and oil them. Sometimes they get their fingers crushed in the machines. I don’t want to work in a factory because they work long hours, often up to 18 hours a day.

I don’t want to sweep streets because it is a very dirty job. And I don’t want to shine shoes either. I don’t want to have to stand in the street selling matches. The streets are very cold and dark and dangerous.

Sometimes the mines cave in and the children are killed. I don’t want to go down into the mines. It’s cold and dark down there. I would have to open and close trapdoors all day or pull a heavy coal cart.

What would you rather do? I would rather go to school and learn, so that when I grow up, I will be able to get a good job that I enjoy doing.

Somebody had to help these children. BUT Did anybody care enough?

Who helped these poor Victorian children? Dr. Barnardo set up children’s homes for orphans. Lord Shaftesbury changed the laws regarding working children.

Now you are going to find the answers to some of these questions by doing some research of your own. You will be using the Internet. Follow the instructions carefully and see how much you can find out.