Victorian Society in the Black Country.
WORK
The Earl of Dudley. Upper class.
Managers, Shopkeepers, preachers, and teachers. Middle class.
Working class work (jobs). Chain makers. (skilled) Boiler makers. (skilled) Lock smiths. (skilled) Coal miners. (semi skilled) Nail makers. (semi skilled) Boatmen (bargees). (semi skilled) Labourers. (unskilled)
Boiler, anchor and chains.
Chain maker.
Forge. Steam hammer.
Anchors
Locksmith
Brass screws, nuts, bolts etc.
Nail maker’s workshop
Cobbler
Coal mine.
Coal miner.
Homes
What to look for in homes? Number of bedrooms. How many people lived here? Do they have a parlour? Furniture – upholstered or plain wood? Decoration – wallpaper or limewash? Tin or brass? Pictures on walls? Lighting – gas or candles?
Chain maker’s house
Parlour.
Fireplace in the parlour
Bessie’s kitchen
The range was for cooking and heating.
Fuel
Bath time.
Earth closet. Bucket and chuck it! Middle class people had flush toilets.
Wash house. Water boiled in a copper. Clothes washed in the dolly tub. Mangle for getting water out of clothes
Scrubbing the clothes using a washboard.
Mine clerk’s house. Lower middle class.
Parlour
Range.
Pantry
Bedroom.
Pitt’s cottage. Wash house and scullery
Living area.
Bedroom
Back yard for growing vegetables and maybe keeping chickens and pigs.
Back to back house. One up and one down.
Bedroom. Toll House.
Leisure
Leisure. The Pub.
Why was the Pub so important to the community? It was probably warmer and brighter than many homes. Social life. A place to find work. Public bar for the men. Saloon bar for couples. Back room parlour for meetings e.g. sports clubs, friendly societies (insurance). The Pub Landlady was an important person in peoples’ lives. She was very strict. Sometimes she supported wives whose husbands had mistreated them.
Back room of pub.
Leisure. The Fair.
Leisure. The Chapel.
Why was the Chapel so important to the community? Almost everyone went there (three times on Sundays). Sunday School enabled children to learn to read and write using the Bible. Choir. Football team. Chapel outings in the summer. You were baptised, married and buried by the Chapel. The Chapel supported families who were in financial trouble.
Methodist Chapel.
Shopping
General Store
Sweets, crockery and cotton underwear.
Drapery. Cotton and linen. Haberdashery. Needles, thread, buttons etc. Clogs and shoes.
Tea, coffee, sugar, flour, lentils etc.
Bacon slicer.
Hot water bottles, soap, treacle, OXO etc.
DAIRY. Milk, butter, cheese, eggs etc.
Hardware shop.
Cast iron pots and pans. Brushes. Potato mashers. Rope.
Zinc buckets, churns, sieves.
Tin baths. Dolly tubs.
Tools.
Chemists
Medicines made to order.
Pawnbroker
Pawnbroker for when times were hard.
Sweet shop
Diet
Education
School. Education was compulsory after Ages 5 to 10. Three ‘R’s: Reading. Writing. Arithmetic.
Queuing for school.
Boys and girls separated.
Jezebels. (shameless women)
Writing on slates
Bell monitor.
Pounds, shillings and pence.
Ink pots for older children.
Rote learning. E.g. chanting tables.
Teacher’s desk on a dais.
The cane.
Women
Banner of NFWW. Women chain makers went on strike in 1910.
Transport
Horses.
Trams
Canal tunnel
Narrow boats (barges)
Towpath.
Steam locomotives for longer journeys.
Railway travel.
Gas light