Houses for the poor

• More people moved from the countryside to

the cities to find work in factories.
• Cities, especially London, were overcrowded.
• People crowded into already crowded houses.
• Rooms were rented to whole families or
perhaps several families. Each family would
have 4-5 children/
• Factory owners often built houses for their
workers but this didn’t make standards
better.
• There was no water, and no toilet. A whole
street (sometimes more) would have to share
a couple of toilets and a pump. The water
from the pump was frequently polluted. It
was no surprise that few children made it to
adulthood.
 Houses for the Rich
• Homes for the middle and the upper classes
were much better. They were better built,
larger and had most of the new gadgets
installed, such as flushing toilets, gas lighting,
and inside bathrooms.
• These houses were also decorated in the
latest styles. There would be heavy curtains,
flowery wallpaper, carpets and rugs,
ornaments, well-made furniture, paintings
and plants.
• Most rich people had servants and they would
live in the same house, frequently sleeping on
the top floor or the attic.
• The rich had water pumps in their kitchens or
sculleries and their waste was taken away
down into underground sewers
 Crime and Punishment
 A criminal was seen as the lowest of the low
and was right at the bottom in the social
structure of Victorian society.
 Some people believed that you could identify
a criminal by their facial features: a large
nose; sloping forehead; ears of an unusual
size; long arms.
 They feared such criminal men and believed
that they should be punished.
 Punishments included prison (although they
were usually small and poorly run), death or
transportation (some criminals were sent to
places like Australia!).
 Because of increasing crime rates, Britain
decided to increase the number of prisons
and make them bigger.
 Prisons were made very unpleasant places so
that people wouldn’t want to go back!
 Working in the Factories

• In 1833 the Government passed a Factory Act

to improve conditions for children working in
factories.
• Young children were working very long hours
in workplaces where conditions were often
terrible. The basic act was as follows:
• No child workers under 9 years of age
• Employers must have a medical or age
certificate for child workers
• Children between the ages of 9-13 to work no
more than 9 hours a day
• Children between 13-18 to work no more
than 12 hours a day
• Children are not to work at night
• Two hours schooling each day for children
 Education

• Many children were only educated if they

could afford it or if they attended Sunday
School
• In 1833 the Education Bill was passed
• In 1845 all factory workers and miners had to
attend schooling for three hours a day
• In 1870 education became free and
compulsory for all children under the age of
12
• Punishments for poor learning behavior were
ruthless; teachers handed out regular canings
(students would be hit with a wooden stick).
• Some teachers broke canes with their fury.
• Students could be caned for: rude conduct,
leaving the playground without permission,
sulkiness, answering back, missing Sunday
prayers, and being late.
 Transport

• The most common form of transport was the

horse (and cart)
• The steam engine had been invented and
trains connected towns for the first time
• The poor only travelled by foot!
 The Poor

• Those who were too infirm, old or young to

work went to the poor house and lived in
terribly cramped conditions.
• Those who were able to work were sent to
the work house and laboured for long hours in
dangerous conditions.
• Those were owed money were sent to
debtor’s prison.