Education

At the start of the 19th century very few children went to school.There were some good schools for boys, for example, grammar schools and public schools. Only richer families could afford to paythe school fees, though some schools gave free places to poor boys. Poor girls did not go to school when the Victorian age began meaning they had little education. Girls from wealthy families would usually be taught at home by a governess.

Types of schools:• 'Dame' schools were usually run by

one woman. The 'dame' often did her best, but she was a child-minder not a trained teacher. Most of the time, the children amused themselves and did not learn very much.

• Sunday schools were run by churches, • to teach children about the Christian

faith.• Ragged Schools were schools for poor

children. Older children helped to teach younger

ones. Ragged Schools were often in one room of

a house, or in an old barns.

Educational law• In 1870 Parliament said there had to be a school in every

town and village. Families paid a few pennies a week to send their children, though not all children went to school.

• By 1880, the law said that all children aged 5 to 10 must go to primary school, so every child would receive at least a basic education.

Child labour• In Victorian times, many families had 10 or more children. Sadly, many

children died as babies, or from diseases such as smallpox and diphtheria.• Many Victorian children were poor and worked to help their families. The

Industrial Revolution created new jobs, in factories and mines. Many of these jobs were at first done by children, because children were cheap - a child was paid less than adults.

• Many children started work at the age of 5. Older brothers and sisters took small children to work, perhaps to a factory at the end of the street. Other children worked at home, doing jobs such as washing, sewing, sticking labels on bottles or making brushes.

• Children worked on farms, in homes as servants, and in factories. Children often did jobs that required small size and nimble fingers. But they also pushed heavy coal trucks along tunnels in coal mines. Boys went to sea, as boy-sailors, and girls went 'into service' as housemaids. Children worked on city streets, selling things such as flowers, matches and ribbons.

Medicine

• Two great discoveries in medicine were made in the nineteenth century - anaesthesia and the antiseptic method of surgery. Being able to put patients to sleep allowed surgeons to remove or repair troublesome bits inside. Antiseptics gave patients a better chance of surviving surgery.

The beginings of psychiatry- it was in an embryonic state. The ‘mad doctors’, or ‘alienists’, who in the main represented psychiatry worked in low-status lunatic asylums and were rarely to be seen or heard outside their institutions.

Florence Nightingale- the Lady of the Lamp

In an attempt to improve the vile conditions for wounded soldiers, Florence Nightingale (in the picture) laid the foundations for nursing to become a properly trained profession. The emphasis Miss Nightingale put on hygiene had great effect on a soldier's chances of living, and established cleanliness as essential in care of the sick.

Army

• During the Victorian times, men were expected to fight for their country. Some soldiers were volunteers whilst others were forced to join the army by the government. They were expected to serve in the army for a fixed time before going back to their ordinary jobs and also could be called up to fight for their country at any time. The army was needed to protect the British Empire, an empire that ranged, at times, from the American colonies in the West, Australia and New Zealand in the East, Canada and her dominions in the North and huge chunks of Africa in the South, including Egypt and Rhodesia.

• The Royal Navy and the army were used to support the establishment of colonies, protect trading posts and fight against rivals such as the Dutch and Spanish.

• Britain had many factories which needed sources of raw materials and markets for finished goods. It also needed more room for population expansion. The colonies was the answer to Britain's needs.