Women and children in

Victorian era

TheVictorian eraof British

historywas the period
ofQueen Victorias reign
from 20 June 1837 until her
death, on 22 January 1901.
It was a long period of
peace, prosperity, refined
sensibilities and national
self-confidence for Britain.

Women in Victorian era

During the reign of Queen Victoria,
a woman's place was in the
home, as domesticity and
motherhood were considered by
society at large to be a sufficient
emotional fulfilment for females.

Women classes
Lower class
The lower class women were not treated very
fairly. It wasvery likely for unmarried women to
be classified as a pauper. After having a father
or a husband die, barely any money or land was
left in the will to the daughter or wife; it was
mostly given to the oldest son or another close
male relative.
Other jobs for the lower class women were
barmaids, chambermaids, waitresses, and
workers in factories.
Working in factories was better than working
in the domestic service business.

Women classes
Middle class
Middle class women can almost be
considered guides to the lowerclass
women.
During
their
free
time,
theywent and helped the paupers.
The goal of these middle class women
was to marry into a wealthy relationship.
This allowed the women to get more
respect from the upper class society and
get more goods.

Women classes
Upper class
Wealthy women in society did not
have a very difficult life. Their day
consisted of activities like sewing,
visiting
family/friends/paupers,
reading, writing letters, entertaining
visitors, and dancing.

Women rights

Many womens rights had been

obtained by 1900.
1839. If parents separated
children under 7 should stay with
their mother.
1857. Wives could divorce
husbands who were cruel or left
them.
1870. Wives were allowed to
keep money they earned.
1891. Wives could not be forced
to live with husbands unless they
wished.

Victorian Fashion

The main feature of the Victorian era

was the mix of the best of other
styles. Victorian Era was a lively style
of ornamentation.
Clothes on the Victorian Era were
very elaborated and restrictived on
the bodies of those who wore them.

Children in Victorian era

Life for Victorian Children in Victorian
times (1830 to 1900) was nothing like
childhood in todays world. For the wealthy
there was an overwhelming sense of
boredom and the constant prodding to be
proper and polite with very little parent to
child communication. For the poor
Victorian Children life was much different.
The poor children had to work public jobs
for their families to survive.

Wealthy Victorian children

While the wealthy children may have been
spoiled and had a much better life than the
poor children, they also had what would seem
to be a sad, redundant and affection-less
existence.
Children were mostly raised by a nanny who
would teach the child what was proper and
what was not. Day to day living was nothing
more than a lonely monotonous routine and
very formal.
Wealthy Victorian Children rarely
communicated with their parents except for a
specified time each day.

Poor Victorian children

They lived in much smaller houses or even
single rooms. Living in these tight quarters
caused the family to be much closer.
Without the presence of a nanny the
parents raised the children and were the
guiding force in their lives. This did not
always translate to a more loving
atmosphere though. Since a large part of
the poor children had to work public jobs to
help support their families many parents
thought of children as income, and having
more children who worked raised the
income of the home.

Poor Victorian children

Victorian children would be made
to go to work at a very young age. As
unbelievable as it sounds, sometimes
even 4 or 5 years old. Actually this
was not unique only to the Victorian
age, children had been expected to
work for centuries before this.

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