While the city grew wealthy as Britain’s holdings expanded, 19th century London was also a city of poverty, where millions lived in overcrowded and unsanitary slums. Life for the poor was immortalized by Charles Dickens in such novels as Oliver Twist.
What was it like to live in London in the 1800s?
London in the 1800s was a compact city where most people worked within walking distance of home. The narrow winding streets were often crowded with people, horses and carts,with only wealthy people able to travel by private carriage.
How would you describe London in the 1800s?
In the 19th century, London was the capital of the largest empire the world had ever known — and it was infamously filthy. It had choking, sooty fogs; the Thames River was thick with human sewage; and the streets were covered with mud.
What was it like to live in England in the 1800s?
Cities were dirty, noisy, and overcrowded. London had about 600,000 people around 1700 and almost a million residents in 1800. The rich, only a tiny minority of the population, lived luxuriously in lavish, elegant mansions and country houses, which they furnished with comfortable, upholstered furniture.
What was it like to live in the 1800s?
Working Class Living Standards
Many lived a hand-to-mouth existence, working long hours in often harsh conditions. There was no electricity, running water or central heating. With no electric lighting (or gas) the rhythm of life revolved around the hours of daylight, and therefore would have varied with the seasons.
What did Victorians smell like?
By the middle of the Victorian era, bergamot and lemon oil had surpassed Eau de Cologne to become the most popular fragrance for women. According to Goodman: “Bergamot and lemon oil, sometimes employed separately but more often used in combination, was the signature smell of the middle years of the century.
What was it like to be poor in London in the 1800s?
The Victorian period was a miserable time to be poor. Assistance was only awarded to people who could earn a living, however meagre that living might be. Those who would not or could not work were treated as an ‘underclass’ whose impoverished state was akin to a criminal offence.
How clean were Victorians?
Showers were not yet en vogue and everyone bathed to keep clean. Poorer families would have boiled water on the stove then added it along with cool water to a wooden or metal tub, usually in the kitchen area, when it was time for a deep scrub down.
What was life like for the poor in Victorian London?
Poor people – even children – had to work hard in factories, mines or workhouses. They didn’t get paid very much money. By the end of the Victorian era, all children could go to school for free. Victorian schools were very strict – your teacher might even beat you if you didn’t obey the rules.
What was London like in 1850?
By the 1850s, London was the world’s most powerful and wealthiest city. But it was also the world’s most crowded city with growing problems of pollution and poverty that threatened to overwhelm its magnificence.
What were homes like in the 1800’s?
To us, middle-class 19th-century homes would seem overcrowded with furniture, ornaments, and knick-knacks. However, only a small minority could afford this comfortable lifestyle. In the early 19th century housing for the poor was often dreadful. Often they lived in ‘back-to-backs’.
What was home like in the 1800s?
The houses were cheap, most had between two and four rooms – one or two rooms downstairs, and one or two rooms upstairs, but Victorian families were big with perhaps four or five children. There was no water, and no toilet. A whole street (sometimes more) would have to share a couple of toilets and a pump.
What were houses made of in the 1800s?
From the mid-1800s through about 1900, the industrial revolution and steam power also helped make masonry building materials cheaper and more readily available. As a result, more and more people could afford to own a brick or stone home. Historic masonry houses were constructed in two ways: Masonry.
What did kids do in the 1800s?
Children learned to cook, bake, make soap and candles, sew and spin. “Young children did household chores together and then around the age of 9 or 10 they started to work in the field – boys and girls.” For girls, working alongside boys was a big change.
What did people eat in the 1800s?
Most fruits and vegetables were grown on the farmstead, and families processed meats such as poultry, beef, and pork. People had seasonal diets. In the spring and summer months, they ate many more fruits and vegetables than they did in the fall and winter.
What did adults do for fun in the 1800s?
What sort of things might you do to have fun and be entertained? Theatre Halls were numerous and performances were regularly given by theatre troupes, ventriloquists, hypnotists, poets, comedians, choirs and orchestras. Circuses came to town and set up in parks and public places.
How did Victorian ladies deal with periods?
The Victorian Period (And Beyond)
From the 1890s to the early 1980s, people used sanitary belts, which basically were reusable pads that attached to a belt worn around the waist – and yes, they were as uncomfortable as they sound.
Did Victorian ladies shave?
In the Victorian era, ladies with excess facial or body hair didn’t have the luxury of making an appointment at their local salon. Instead, women employed various methods of hair removal at home. There was shaving and tweezing, of course, but there were also more dangerous methods.
How did Victorian ladies wash their hair?
She rarely washed her hair, as the process was involved and not terribly pleasant. Women were advised to dilute pure ammonia in warm water and then massage it through the scalp and hair, like modern shampoo.
What did the poor Victorians eat?
For many poor people across Britain, white bread made from bolted wheat flour was the staple component of the diet. When they could afford it, people would supplement this with vegetables, fruit and animal-derived foods such as meat, fish, milk, cheese and eggs – a Mediterranean-style diet.
What did poor Victorians do for fun?
Outdoor and Indoor Games
Many families played soccer, badminton, battledore and shuttlecock. Poor children kicked around a blown-up pig’s bladder. Families indoor played board games like Snakes and Ladders, Ludo and Draughts, and also card games. A popular card game was Happy Families.