Work, school and the workhouse
What life was like for working families: long days, new schools, and a Poor Law that was meant to be harsh.
Jump to: Work | The workhouse | Booth’s map | School | Girls’ education | Books
Work
Many people left the countryside to find work in towns and cities. British Library: The Industrial Revolution A working day of 12 hours was not uncommon in factories. British Library: The Industrial Revolution
Many children were sent from workhouses or orphanages to work long hours in factories. British Library: The Industrial Revolution An apprenticeship usually lasted seven years. British Library: Education in Victorian Britain
The Factory Act of 1833 said employers must provide half-time education for workers under 13, but this was easily ignored. British Library: Education in Victorian Britain
The workhouse
A new Poor Law was brought in in 1834. It was meant to cut the cost of looking after the poor and make the system the same all over the country. The National Archives: Examine an anti-Poor Law poster Parishes were grouped into unions, and each union had to build a workhouse if it did not already have one. The National Archives: Examine an anti-Poor Law poster
Apart from special cases, poor people could now only get help if they left their homes and went into a workhouse. The National Archives: Examine an anti-Poor Law poster Conditions inside the workhouse were made harsh on purpose. The National Archives: Examine an anti-Poor Law poster
Families were split up, and inmates had to wear a uniform. The National Archives: Examine an anti-Poor Law poster Inmates did unpleasant work such as picking oakum or breaking stones. The National Archives: Examine an anti-Poor Law poster
Children who entered the workhouse would receive some schooling. The National Archives: Examine an anti-Poor Law poster The campaigner Richard Oastler called workhouses “Prisons for the Poor”. The National Archives: Examine an anti-Poor Law poster
The new Poor Law was very unpopular, and there were riots in northern towns. The National Archives: Examine an anti-Poor Law poster Workhouses were not abolished until 1930. British Library: Charles Booth’s poverty map of London
Charles Booth’s poverty map
In 1886 the businessman Charles Booth set out to find the truth about poverty in London. British Library: Charles Booth’s poverty map of London Booth lived with working-class families for several weeks at a time. British Library: Charles Booth’s poverty map of London
Booth thought reformers had exaggerated London’s poverty, said to be about a quarter. He found that as many as one third of Londoners lived in poverty. British Library: Charles Booth’s poverty map of London His study, Life and Labour of the People in London, filled 17 volumes and used a colour code to map poverty street by street. British Library: Charles Booth’s poverty map of London
Booth’s map shows poor and rich Londoners living side by side. British Library: Charles Booth’s poverty map of London His work helped bring in the old age pension. The first pensions were paid on 1 January 1909. British Library: Charles Booth’s poverty map of London
School
Ragged schools grew out of the Sunday School started in Gloucester in 1780 by Robert Raikes. British Library: Education in Victorian Britain Ragged schools were charities that aimed to give free education to poor children. British Library: Education in Victorian Britain
John Pounds, a cobbler in Portsmouth, had a class of 30 or 40 children by 1818. British Library: Education in Victorian Britain In 1844, 19 ragged schools joined to form the Ragged School Union, headed by Lord Shaftesbury. British Library: Education in Victorian Britain
By 1861 ragged schools were teaching over 40,000 children in London. British Library: Education in Victorian Britain By 1870 there were 250 ragged schools in London and over 100 in the rest of the country. British Library: Education in Victorian Britain
Some schools used the Lancaster system, where the brightest pupil taught what they had learned to other pupils. British Library: Education in Victorian Britain In 1846 this was replaced by properly trained pupil-teachers. British Library: Education in Victorian Britain
By 1870 the Jews’ Free School in east London had 2,400 pupils, and was perhaps the largest school in the world. British Library: Education in Victorian Britain
The big breakthrough came in 1870: elected school boards could raise a local rate to build new schools, giving education up to the age of 10. British Library: Education in Victorian Britain By 1874 there were 5,000 “Board Schools”. British Library: Education in Victorian Britain
In 1880 elementary schooling was made compulsory for boys and girls, and the age was raised to 13. British Library: Education in Victorian Britain
Girls’ education
Queen’s College, in Harley Street, London, was founded in 1848. British Library: Education in Victorian Britain Cheltenham Ladies’ College was founded in 1853. British Library: Education in Victorian Britain
By 1898, 90 grammar schools for girls had been founded. British Library: Education in Victorian Britain In 1878 London University became the first in Britain to accept women students. British Library: Education in Victorian Britain
Children’s books
A “Golden Age” of children’s books began in the 1860s, with Charles Kingsley’s The Water-Babies (1863) and Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865). British Library: Perceptions of childhood Charles Dickens’ novel Oliver Twist, published in 1837, features Fagin’s gang of young pickpockets, led by the Artful Dodger. The National Archives: Victorian children in trouble with the law