1.
History at Key Stage 2
Unit 11:
What was it like for children living in Victorian Britain?

2. Unit 11: What was it like for children living in Victorian Britain?
Who were the Victorians? When did they live?
The Victorian Era is the name given to the
period in history when Queen Victoria was
on the throne.
She was Queen from 1837 to 1901.
That’s more than 63 years, which is longer
than any other British monarch so far.
Victoria had 9 children, of which 4 would
later become monarchs: Edward VII,
George V, Edward VIII and George VI.
As well as English, Queen Victoria could speak German, French, Italian and Latin.
Unit 11: What was it like for children living in Victorian Britain?

3. Who were the Victorians? When did they live?
Unit 11: What was it like for children living in Victorian Britain?
Who were the Victorians? When did they live?
1450
1500
1550
1600
1650
1700
1750
1800
1850
1900
1950
2000
1666: The Great Fire of London
:The Victorian Era
1850s: Florence Nightingale
: Second World War
Unit 6b: Why have people invaded and settled in Britain in the past? An Anglo Saxon Case Study

4. Unit 11: What was it like for children living in Victorian Britain?
What was life like for a poor child in the 1840s?
selling things
on the street
working in
factories
working in
textile mills
working on
farms
Unit 11: What was it like for children living in Victorian Britain?

5. Unit 11: What was it like for children living in Victorian Britain?
Mills and factories employ children because they are small and can get in between machinery to fix things while the machines are still running.
This is very dangerous work and many children get injured or sometimes killed.
Children are also employed because they are cheap. They don’t get paid as much as adult workers
Other dangerous jobs include working in coal mines, climbing up chimneys to clean them, working outside on farms or on the streets in freezing weather
The working hours are long, sometimes 12 hours a day.
This means that children don’t have time to go to school or play with their friends.
Unit 11: What was it like for children living in Victorian Britain?

6. Unit 11: What was it like for children living in Victorian Britain?
Who helped to improve the lives of Victorian children?
This is Lord Shaftesbury.
He was a politician who was interested in
helping factory workers, including children.
He was involved in passing the Factory
Acts of 1847 and 1850.
These were laws which reduced the amount
of hours which children were allowed to work.
He also helped to set up ‘Ragged Schools’ which were schools for very poor children who would otherwise be unable to get an education.
Unit 11: What was it like for children living in Victorian Britain?

7. Unit 11: What was it like for children living in Victorian Britain?
Who helped to improve the lives of Victorian children?
This is Dr. Thomas Barnardo.
While he was working in East London during the
cholera outbreak of the 1860s, he realised how
many homeless children there were living on the
streets.
In 1870 he opened a home for homeless boys, and in 1873 opened a similar home for girls.
By the time of his death in 1905, he had opened 66 homes, and rescued an estimated 60,000 homeless children.
There is a children’s charity called Barnardo’s which carries on this work today.
Unit 11: What was it like for children living in Victorian Britain?

8. What was it like going to school at the end of the nineteenth century?
Unit 11: What was it like for children living in Victorian Britain?
What was it like going to school at the end of the nineteenth century?
Schools were often crowded, with as many as 40 or 50 pupils in a class.
The school buildings were usually draughty and got very cold in the winter.
The teachers were very strict and used caning as a punishment for bad behaviour.
Until 1891, parents had to pay for their children to go to school!
There were no school dinners. Children had to walk home at lunchtime to get something to eat.
Lessons usually involved chanting or learning facts by heart.
Unit 11: What was it like for children living in Victorian Britain?

9. Unit 11: What was it like for children living in Victorian Britain?
What was it like going to school at the end of the nineteenth century?
inkwell
& pen
school bell
slate
If children misbehaved they could be caned. They might also have to stand in the corner and wear the dunce’s cap. A dunce was a word for a stupid person.
dunce’s
cap
cane
Unit 11: What was it like for children living in Victorian Britain?

10. Unit 11: What was it like for children living in Victorian Britain?
How did different Victorian children use their spare time?
hoop and stick
dolls’ house
spinning top
marbles
jack in the box
building blocks
Are any of these toys still used today?
Unit 11: What was it like for children living in Victorian Britain?

11. Unit 11: What was it like for children living in Victorian Britain?
How did different Victorian children use their spare time?
Toys which used optical illusions were popular among rich families in the Victorian era.
This toy is called a thaumatrope. It is a cardboard disc with a picture on the front and another picture on the back.
If you spin the disc the pictures seem to combine.
front
back
Unit 11: What was it like for children living in Victorian Britain?

12. Unit 11: What was it like for children living in Victorian Britain?
How did life change for children living in Victorian Britain?
1833: Children could work no more than 10 hours a day
1842: It becomes illegal for children to work underground
1874: It becomes illegal to employ children under 10, and children under 14 can only work part-time.
1881: It becomes compulsory for 5-10 year-olds to go to school
1891: Primary schools become free of charge
Unit 11: What was it like for children living in Victorian Britain?

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