2. Queen Victoria
Queen Victoria’s reign 1837-1901
Marked the beginning of the modern
age in England
Advances made in engineering,
medicine, discovery, and science, in
turn made Britain the World’s
workshop
3. What happen in the 19th
century
The image of the 19th century as a period of great
opportunity for men of energy and skill is one that
has been long establish.
in the past, historians have argued that middle-class.
But the middle-class people became more aware of
the conditions in which the poor worked and lived.
They become more scared
4. Middle Class
The middle class really came to the fore in Victorian
England
What distinguished middle class people from the
aristocracy was that they did not have titles, though
they might be very rich, therefore, they were not
aristocracy
The aristocracy looked down on anyone “in trade”
regardless of whether that person owned a large
company and was richer than any aristocrat
5. A junior clerk in a city firm might have earned less
than
6. The workhouse
Before the Victorians period, each parish had dto
look after its own poor.
No one could leave their own parish to seek wor
elsewhere without the written permission of the
local Justice of the Peace.
Those who could not work were give small sums of
money
People who were fit to work were
given either
‘indoor relief’ or ‘outdoor relief’
7. Middle class men
Middle class men did mental or “clean” work.
Men who practiced a profession were naturally
middle class; doctors, lawyers, architects, etc, were
middle class
Some people made further distinctions and classed
head teacher, journalist, shopkeepers is low middle
class, but generally these and clerks counted as
middle class
8. Most middle class people earned a salary, monthly
or annually
But the working class who
earned weekly wages
9. Middle class woman
Middle class women whose husband’s were
shopkeeper's might work in the family business
But if the woman is married, she did not work and
that is part of the rule
The only suitable work for a single middle class
single woman was a governess schoolmistress, or
lady’s companion
If a woman is married all of her property will
become her husband property
10. The wife could not make a will, buy property, or
sign a contract
She had no right to any money.
Married Woman’s Property in 1870 altered their
position somewhat, although it was not until the
late the twentieth century that it
was made illegal.
