Victorian Fashion

Image : Google
1844 fashion plate depicting
fashionable clothing for men and women,
including illustrations of a glove and bonnets.

              Victorian fashion comprises the various fashions and trends in British culture that emerged and developed in the United Kingdom and the British Empire throughout the Victorian era, roughly 1830s to 1900s (decade). The period saw many changes in fashion, including changes in clothing, architecture, literature, and the decorative and visual arts.

By 1905, clothing was increasingly factory-made and often sold in large, fixed price department stores. Custom sewing and home sewing were still significant, but on the decline. New machinery and materials developed clothing in many ways.

The introduction of the lock-stitch sewing machine in mid-century simplified both home and boutique dressmaking, and enabled a fashion for lavish application of trim that would have been prohibitively time-consuming if done by hand. Lace machinery made lace at a fraction of the cost of the old. New cheap, bright dyes were developed that displaced the old animal or vegetable dyes.

History of the Victorian Corset

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           In the 1830's, the corset was thought of as a medical necessity. It was believed that a woman was very fragile, and needed assistance from some form of stay to hold her up. Even girls as young as three or four, and probably directed by the best motives, were laced up into bodices.

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           Gradually these garments were lengthened and tightened. By the time they were teenagers, the girls were unable to sit or stand for any length of time without the aid of a heavy canvas corset reinforced with whale bone or steel. The corset deformed the internal organs making it impossible to draw deep breath, in or out of a corset. Because of this Victorian women were always fainting and getting the vapours. 

Working class women (except when dressed for special occasions) did not go through the discomfort of wearing tightly laced corsets. They wore looser corsets and simpler clothes, with less weight. The higher up in class a lady was, the more confining her clothes were.

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Pros and cons of a corset :

Cons :

- Asphyxia: they could not breathe very well with them.

- Sunstroke: women usually get sunstroke because of all the clothes they had to     wear.

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- Infertility: the corsets they had to wear were so tight that women had continually miscarriages, many of them remained sterile for life. In the "best" cases babies came out deformed or with cardiorespiratory problems.

- Faints: Faints were caused by the difficult task of breathing well.

Pros :

- Corsets were used to enhance women's figure and to enhance the bust as well.

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Evolution of Fashion Dresses

Women's Fashion 

Image : GooglePrincess Albert de Broglie wears a blue silk
evening gown with delicate lace and ribbon trim.
 Her hair is covered with a sheer frill trimmed
with matching blue ribbon knots.
 She wears a necklace, tasseled earrings
and bracelets on each wri

            In the 1840s and 1850s, women's gowns had wide puffed sleeves. Dresses were simple and pale, and incorporated realistic flower trimming. Petticoats, corsets, and chemises were worn under gowns. By the 1850s, the number of petticoats was reduced to be superseded by the crinoline, and the size of skirts was expanded. Day dresses had a solid bodice and evening gowns had a very low neckline and were worn off the shoulder with shawls.

          In the 1860s, the skirts became flatter at the front and projected out more behind the woman. Day dresses had wide pagoda sleeves and high necklines with lace or tatted collars. Evening dresses had low necklines and short sleeves, and were worn with short gloves, fingerless lace or crocheted mitts.

          In the 1870s, uncorseted tea gowns were introduced for informal entertaining at home and steadily grew in popularity. Bustles were used to replace the crinoline to hold the skirts up behind the woman, even for "seaside dresses". The fad of hoop skirts had faded and women strived for a slimmer style. Small hats were perched towards the front of the head, over the forehead. To complement the small hat, women wore their hair in elaborate curls. Some women wore hairpieces called "scalpettes" and "frizzettes" to add to the volume of their hair.

          In the 1880s, riding habits had a matching jacket and skirt (without a bustle), a high-collared shirt or chemisette, and a top hat with a veil. Hunting costumes had draped ankle-length skirts worn with boots or gaiters. Clothing worn when out walking had a long jacket and skirt, worn with the bustle, and a small hat or bonnet. Travelers wore long coats like dusters.

          In the 1890s, Women's wear in the last decade of the Victorian era was characterised by high collars, held in place by collar stays, and stiff steel boning in long line bodices. By this time, there were neither crinolines nor bustles. Women opted for the tiny wasp waist instead.

The women's dress was very elaborated. Their dresses affected the way they walked, sat or moved her arms. Women wore a variety of colours for their stockings and dresses. Dresses and stockings undergarments were cut in a style  to show off the figure in a modest way. The undergarments had whale-bones or flexible steel to make it more comfortable.

 

Below one can see what women of that time had to wear :

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Firstly the drawers

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Secondly the slip

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Thirdly the Corset

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Then the petticoat

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Then the camisole

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Then they had to put on the "bustle" or polisón, this piece was essential to give form to the dress.

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Followed by the underskirt

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Finally the shirt and the jacket or a t-shirt

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In this picture the woman is dressed to go out.

Hats

Image : GoogleEmma Hill by Ford Madox Brown(1853),
a woman wearing a later version of the poke bonnet.

          Women's hats during the Victorian era are stereotypically thought of as the enormous, feather- and flower-laden creations that were fashionable in the late-Victorian period. They evolved through many trends over the decades before reaching the later style.To enhance the style without distracting from it, hats were modest in size and design, straw and fabric bonnets being the popular choice. Poke bonnets, which had been worn during the late Regency period, had high, small crowns and brims that grew larger until the 1830s, when the face of a woman wearing a poke bonnet could only be seen directly from the front. They had rounded brims, echoing the rounded form of the bell-shaped hoop skirts.

       

Image : GoogleOpera singer Adelina Patti painted
 by Franz Xaver Winterhalter in 1863

  The silhouette changed once again as the Victorian era drew to a close. The shape was essentially an inverted triangle, with a wide-brimmed hat on top, a full upper body with puffed sleeves, no bustle, and a skirt that narrowed at the ankles (the hobble skirt was a fad shortly after the end of the Victorian era). The enormous wide-brimmed hats were covered with elaborate creations of silk flowers, ribbons, and above all, exotic plumes; hats sometimes included entire exotic birds that had been stuffed. Many of these plumes came from birds in the Florida everglades, which were nearly entirely        decimated by overhunting.

Shoes

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In the early XIXth century shoes began to be made with a right foot and a left foot instead of being interchangeable.  Men very often wore boots in the XIXth century and it became acceptable for women to wear them too. Firstly they were made of leather but since the 1850s they were made of rubber. However at the end of the century it became fashionable for women to wear shoes again. 

Accessories

             Shawls, cloaks, mantles, scarves and little aprons were other accessories. Gloves and parasols were popular. Large brooches were worn at the throat and large and small earrings were also worn. The use of fans was also very common. Boas made of feathers or fur were also very big.

Makeup

           

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About the makeup of this time, women wanted to look as fragile ladies. They compared themselves to delicate flowers and emphasised their delicacy and femininity.  They always wanted to look pale and interesting. Paleness could be induced vinegar and avoiding fresh air. Sometimes ladies discreetly used a little rogue on the cheeks, but makeup was not seen very good, especially during 1870s when social etiquette became more rigid.

            Actresses, however were allowed to use makeup. Most cosmetic products available were still either chemically or homemade with kitchen colourings like berries and beetroots.

A pale skin was a mark of gentility. It meant that an upper class-lady did not work in the country so she was not dark-skinned. Parasols were very popular and used to protect the skin from the sun.

            During this time the most valued thing on women was their hair. It was rarely cut, usually only in severe illness. It was also supplemented by false hair depending on the current fashion.

Hairstyles

Hairstyles were very complicated. Hair was thick, long and luxuriant in many different styles. Hair was parted down the middle, curled or braided, then tied or pinned back. Only in informal occasions, a Victorian lady was seen leaving her hair fall loose around her shoulders.

Later in the XIXth century, Victorian hairstyles became more elaborate. Bangs made their debut around 1880. Women began to use hot irons to wave their hair or add ringlets to it.

 * When Queen Elizabeth died in 1901 her styles died with her. The XXth century brought simpler fashions. Women's fashions changed considerably with the rise in feminism in the XXth century.

Men's Fashion

     

Image : GoogleDrawing of Victorian men 1870s

      During the 1840s, men wore tight-fitting, calf length frock coats and a waistcoat or vest. The vests were single- or double-breasted, with shawl or notched collars, and might be finished in double points at the lowered waist. For more formal occasions, a cutaway morning coat was worn with light trousers during the daytime, and a dark tail coat and trousers was worn in the evening. The shirts were made of linen or cotton with low collars, occasionally turned down, and were worn with wide cravats or neck ties. Trousers had fly fronts, and breeches were used for formal functions and when horseback riding. Men wore top hats, with wide brims in sunny weather.

            During the 1850s, men started wearing shirts with high upstanding or turnover collars and four-in-hand neckties tied in a bow, or tied in a knot with the pointed ends sticking out like "wings". The upper-class continued to wear top hats, and bowler hats were worn by the working class.

            In the 1860s, men started wearing wider neckties that were tied in a bow or looped into a loose knot and fastened with a stickpin. Frock coats were shortened to knee-length and were worn for business, while the mid-thigh length sack coat slowly displaced the frock coat for less-formal occasions. Top hats briefly became the very tall "stovepipe" shape, but a variety of other hat shapes were popular.

            During the 1870s, three-piece suits grew in popularity along with patterned fabrics for shirts. Neckties were the four-in-hand and, later, the Ascot ties. A narrow ribbon tie was an alternative for tropical climates, especially in the Americas. Both frock coats and sack coats became shorter. Flat straw boaters were worn when boating.

            During the 1880s, formal evening dress remained a dark tail coat and trousers with a dark waistcoat, a white bow tie, and a shirt with a winged collar. In mid-decade, the dinner jacket or tuxedo, was used in more relaxed formal occasions. The Norfolk jacket and tweed or woolen breeches were used for rugged outdoor pursuits such as shooting. Knee-length topcoats, often with contrasting velvet or fur collars, and calf-length overcoats were worn in winter. Men's shoes had higher heels and a narrow toe.

             Starting from the 1890s, the blazer was introduced, and was worn for sports, sailing, and other casual activities.

             Throughout much of the Victorian era most men wore fairly short hair. This was often accompanied by various forms of facial hair including moustaches, side-burns, and full beards. A clean-shaven face did not come back into fashion until the end of the 1880s and early 1890s.

             Distinguishing what men really wore from what was marketed to them in periodicals and advertisements is problematic, as reliable records do not exist.

Mourning Black

       

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   In Britain, black is the colour traditionally associated with mourning for the dead. The customs and etiquette expected of men, and especially women, were rigid during much of the Victorian era. The expectations depended on a complex hierarchy of close or distant relationship with the deceased. The closer the relationship, the longer the mourning period and the wearing of black. The wearing of full black was known as First Mourning, which had its own expected attire, including fabrics, and an expected duration of 4 to 18 months. Following the initial period of First Mourning, the mourner would progress to Second Mourning, a transition period of wearing less black, which was followed by Ordinary Mourning, and then Half-mourning. Some of these stages of mourning were shortened or skipped completely if the mourner's relationship to the deceased was more distant. Half-mourning was a transition period when black was replaced by acceptable colours such as lavender and mauve, possibly considered acceptable transition colours because of the tradition of Church of England (and Catholic) clergy wearing lavender or mauve stoles for funeral services, to represent the Passion of Christ.

Home Dećor

             Home decor started spare, veered into the elaborately draped and decorated style we today regard as Victorian, then embraced the retro-chic of William Morris as well as pseudo-Japonaiserie.

Victorian Period

               


        The Victorian era of British History was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June

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Queen Victoria, after whom the era is named
Preceded by	Georgian era
Followed by	Edwardian era
Monarch	Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria, after whom the era is named

Georgian era

Edwardian era

Queen Victoria

1837 until her death, on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence for Britain. Some scholars date the beginning of the period in terms of sensibilities and political concerns to the passage of the Reform Act 1832.

Within the fields of social history and literature, Victorianism refers to the study of late-Victorian attitudes and culture with a focus on the highly moralistic, straitlaced language and behaviour of  Victorian morality. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardian period. The later half of the Victorian age roughly coincided with the first portion of the Belle Epoque era of continental Europe.

Historians have characterized the mid-Victorian era, (1850–1870) as Britain's 'Golden Years.' There was prosperity, as the national income per person grew by half. Much of the prosperity was due to the increasing industrialization, especially in textiles and machinery, as well as to the worldwide network of trade and engineering that produce profits for British merchants and experts from across the globe. There was peace abroad (apart from the short Crimean war, 1854–56), and social peace at home. Employers typically were paternalistic, and generally recognized the trade unions. Companies provided their employees with welfare services ranging from housing, schools and churches, to libraries, baths, and gymnasia. Middle-class reformers did their best to assist the working classes aspire to middle-class norms of 'respectability.'

Population

               The Victorian era was a time of unprecedented demographic increase in Britain. The population rose from 13.9 million in 1831 to 32.5 million in 1901. Two major factors affecting population growth are fertility rates and mortality rates. Britain was the first country to undergo the Demographic transition and the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions. Britain had the lead in rapid economic and population growth. People had more money and could improve their standards; therefore, a population increase was sustainable.

Fertility Rates

                In the Victorian era, fertility rates increased in every decade until 1901, when the rates started evening out. There are several reasons for the increase in birth rates. One is biological: with improving living standards, the percentage of women who were able to have children increased. Another possible explanation is social. In the 19th century, the marriage rate increased, and people were getting married at a very young age until the end of the century, when the average age of marriage started to increase again slowly. The reasons why people got married younger and more frequently are uncertain. One theory is that greater prosperity allowed people to finance marriage and new households earlier than previously possible. With more births within marriage, it seems inevitable that marriage rates and birth rates would rise together. 

                 The evening out of fertility rates at the beginning of the 20th century was mainly the result of a few big changes: availability of forms of birth control, and changes in people's attitude towards sex.

Mortality Rates

                The mortality rates in England changed greatly through the 19th century. There was no catastrophic epidemic or famine in England or Scotland in the 19th century – it was the first century in which a major epidemic did not occur throughout the whole country, with deaths per 1000 of population per year in England and Wales dropping from 21.9 from 1848–54 to 17 in 1901 (contrasting with, for instance, 5.4 in 1971). Class had a significant effect on mortality rates as the upper classes had a lower rate of premature death early in the 19th century than poorer classes did.

                 Environmental and health standards rose throughout the Victorian era; improvements in nutrition may also have played a role, although the importance of this is debated. Sewage works were improved as was the quality of drinking water. With a healthier environment, diseases were caught less easily and did not spread as much. Technology was also improving because the population had more money to spend on medical technology (for example, techniques to prevent death in childbirth so more women and children survived), which also led to a greater number of cures for diseases. However, a cholera epidemic took place in London in 1848–49 killing 14,137, and subsequently in 1853 killing 10,738. This anomaly was attributed to the closure and replacement of cesspits by the modern London sewerage system. Tuberculosis (spread in congested dwellings), lung diseases from the mines and typhoid were also common.

Culture

               Gothic revival architecture became increasingly significant during the period, leading to the Battle of the Styles between Gothic and Classical ideals. Charles Barry's architecture for the new Palace of Westminster, which had been badly damaged in an 1834 fire, was built in the medieval style of Westminster Hall, the surviving part of the building.

Image : GoogleThe Poultry Cross, Salisbury, painted by Louise Rayner , c. 1870

               The middle of the 19th century saw The Great Exhibition of 1851, the first World's Fair, which showcased the greatest innovations of the century. At its centre was the Crystal Palace, a modular glass and iron structure – the first of its kind. It was condemned by Ruskin as the very model of mechanical dehumanisation in design, but later came to be presented as the prototype of Modern Architecture. The emergence of photography, showcased at the Great Exhibition, resulted in significant changes in Victorian art with Queen Victoria being the first British monarch to be photographed.

              Industrialisation brought with it a burgeoning middle class whose increase in numbers had a significant effect on the social strata itself: cultural norms, lifestyle, values and morality.

Image : Google A picture of Leadenhall Street, London, c. 1837

              

             In the Victorian era, English family life increasingly became compartmentalised, the home a self-contained structure housing a nuclear family extended according to need and circumstance to include blood relations. The concept of "privacy" became a hallmark of the middle class life.

             Bourgeois existence was a world of interior space, heavily curtained off and wary of intrusion, and opened only by invitation for viewing on occasions such as parties or teas.

Entertainment

Image : Google The Epsom Derby; painting by James Pollard, c. 1840

                 Popular forms of entertainment varied by social class. Victorian Britain, like the periods before it, was interested in literature ( Charles Dickens, Arthur Conan Doyle, Charlotte Brontë and her sisters, Robert Louis Stevenson and William Makepeace Thackeray), theatre and the arts ( Aesthetic movement and Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood), and music, drama, and opera were widely attended. Michael Balfe was the most popular British grand opera composer of the period, while the most popular musical theatre was a series of fourteen comic operas by Gilbert and Sullivan, although there was also musical burlesque and the beginning of Edwardian musical comedy in the 1890s. Drama ranged from low comedy to Shakespeare ( Henry Irving ). There were, however, other forms of entertainment. Gentlemen went to dining clubs, like the Beefsteak club or the Savage club. Gambling at cards in establishments popularly called casinos was wildly popular during the period: so much so that evangelical and reform movements specifically targeted such establishments in their efforts to stop gambling, drinking, and prostitution.

                

             Brass bands and 'The Bandstand' became popular in the Victorian era. The band stand was a simple construction that not only created an ornamental focal point, but also served acoustic requirements whilst providing shelter from the changeable British weather. It was common to hear the sound of a brass band whilst strolling through parklands. At this time musical recording was still very much a novelty.

Image : GooglePablo Fanque performing at Astley's Amphitheatre, 1847

             

The Victorian era marked the golden age of the British circus. Astley's Amphitheatre in Lambeth, London, featuring equestrian acts in a 42-foot wide circus ring, was the epicentre of the 19th century circus.

                Another form of entertainment involved 'spectacles' where paranormal events, such as mesmerism, communication with the dead (by way of mediumship or channelling), ghost conjuring and the like, were carried out to the delight of crowds and participants. Such activities were more popular at this time than in other periods of recent Western history.

                Natural history became increasingly an "amateur" activity. Particularly in Britain and the United States, this grew into specialist hobbies such as the study of birds, butterflies, seashells (malacology/conchology), beetles and wild flowers. Amateur collectors and natural history entrepreneurs played an important role in building the large natural history collections of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

                Middle-class Victorians used the train services to visit the seaside, helped by the Bank Holiday Act of 1871, which created a number of fixed holidays. Large numbers travelling to quiet fishing villages such as Worthing, Brighton, Morecambe and Scarborough began turning them into major tourist centres, and people like Thomas Cook saw tourism and even overseas travel as viable businesses.

Technology and engineering

                The Victorians were impressed by science and progress, and felt that they could improve society in the same way as they were improving technology. Britain was the leading world center for advanced engineering and technology. Its engineering firms were in worldwide demand for designing and constructing railways.

Image : GoogleThe railways changed communications and society dramatically.

                 A central development during the Victorian era was the improvement of communication. The new railways all allowed goods, raw materials and people to be moved about, rapidly facilitating trade and industry. The financing of railways became an important specialty of London's financiers. Trains became important factor ordering society, with "railway time" being the standard by which clocks were set throughout Britain, and with the complex railway system setting the standard for technological advances and efficiency. Steam ships such as the SS Great Britain and SS Great Western made international travel more common but also advanced trade, so that in Britain it was not just the luxury goods of earlier times that were imported into the country but essentials and raw materials such as corn and cotton from the United States and meat and wool from Australia. One more important innovation in communications was the Penny Black, the first postage stamp, which standardised postage to a flat price regardless of distance sent.              

Image : GoogleBrunel's Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol.

              Even later communication methods such as electric power, telegraph, and telephones, had an impact. Photography was realised in 1839 by Louis Daguerre in France and William Fox Talbot in Britain. By 1889, hand-held cameras were available.

Image : GoogleGlasgow slum in 1871

                            

             Similar sanitation reforms, prompted by the Public Health Acts 1848 and 1869, were made in the crowded, dirty streets of the existing cities, and soap was the main product shown in the relatively new phenomenon of advertising. A great engineering feat in the Victorian Era was the sewage system in London.After this, Bazalgette designed the Thames Embankment which housed sewers, water pipes and the London Underground. During the same period London's water supply network was expanded and improved, and a gas network for lighting and heating was introduced in the 1880s.

                 Although initially developed in the early years of the 19th century, gas lighting became widespread during the Victorian era in industry, homes, public buildings and the streets. The invention of the incandescent gas mantle in the 1890s greatly improved light output and ensured its survival as late as the 1960s. Hundreds of gasworks were constructed in cities and towns across the country. In 1882, incandescent electric lights were introduced to London streets, although it took many years before they were installed everywhere.

Railways

                One of great achievements of the Industrial Revolution in Britain was the introduction and advancement of railway systems, not only in the United Kingdom and the British Empire, but across the world.

          

Image : GoogleCrossing the Lagan Canal by the Ulster Railway near Moira, a sensible legacy of the Victorian era.

               The engineers and businessmen needed to create and finance a railway system were available; they knew how to invent, to build, and to finance a large complex system. The first quarter of the 19th century involved numerous experiments with locomotives and rail technology. By 1825 railways were commercially feasible, as demonstrated by George Stephenson (1791-1848) when he built the Stockton and Darlington. Thomas Brassey (1805-70) was even more prominent.They invented and improved thousands of mechanical devices, and developed the science of civil engineering to build roadways, tunnels and bridges.

Sport

                The Victorian Era saw the introduction and development of many modern sports. Cricket, cycling, croquet, horse-riding, and water activities are examples of some of the popular sports in the Victorian Era. The modern game of tennis originated in Birmingham, England, between 1859 and 1865. The world's oldest tennis tournament, the Wimbledon championships, were first played in London in 1877. The first Olympic Games held under the auspices of the IOC were hosted in Athens in 1896. The Games brought together 12 nations and 241 athletes who competed in 43 events.

Football

Image : GoogleThe Aston Villa team of the 1890s.

                 The first football league in the world was established in 1888 by Aston Villa director William McGregor. Aston Villa was the most successful English club of the Victorian era, winning five League titles and three FA Cups by the end of Queen Victoria's reign. Other prominent clubs of the era were Blackburn Rovers, Sunderland and Preston North End. The end of the 19th century saw Britain being swept by football mania, attracting huge crowds of largely working class men.

Health and Medicine 

Image : Google
Joseph Thomas Clover demonstrating the Chloroform apparatus he invented in 1862.  

            Medicine progressed during Queen Victoria's reign.In 1847 chloroform was introduced as an anaesthetic by James Young Simpson.Chloroform was favoured by doctors and hospital staff because it is much less flammable than ether, but critics complained that it could cause the patient to have a heart attack. Anaesthetics made painless dentistry possible. Medicine also benefited from the introduction of antiseptics by Joseph Lister in 1867 in the form of carbolic acid (phenol).

Morality

               The Victorian era is famous for the Victorian standards of personal morality. Historians generally agree that the middle classes held high personal moral standards (and usually followed them), but have debated whether the working classes followed suit. Moralists in the late 19th century such as Henry Mayhew  decried the slums for their supposed high levels of cohabitation without marriage and illegitimate births. By contrast in 21st century Britain, nearly half of all children are born outside marriage, and nine in ten newlyweds have been cohabitating.

Events

1832

Passage of the first Reform Act.

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The 1843 launch of the Great Britain, the revolutionary ship of Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

1837

Ascension of Queen Victoria to the throne.

1838

Treaty of Balta Liman (Great Britain trade alliance with the Ottoman Empire)

1839

First Opium War (1839–42) fought between Britain and China.

1840

Queen Victoria marries Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield. He had been naturalised and granted the British style of Royal Highness beforehand. For the next 17 years, he was known as HRH Prince Albert.

1840

Birth of the Queen's first child The Princess Victoria. Within months she was granted the title Princess Royal.

1840

New Zealand becomes a British colony, through the Treaty of Waitangi. No longer part of New South Wales.

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First Opium War: British ships approaching Canton in May 1841

1841

Birth of the Queen's heir-apparent The Prince Albert Edward, Duke of Cornwall (Duke of Rothesay) . He was swiftly made Prince of Wales. Sir James Brooke founds the White Rajah dynasty of Sarawak.

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The last stand of the survivors of Her Majesty's 44th Foot at Gandamak, Afghanistan

1842

Treaty of Nanking. The Massacre of Elphinstone's Army by the Afghans in Afghanistan results in the death or incarceration of 16,500 soldiers and civilians.The Mines Act of 1842 banned women/children from working in coal, iron, lead and tin mining. The Illustrated London News was first published.

1843

Birth of The Princess Alice.

1844

Birth of The Prince Alfred.

1845

The Irish famine begins. Within 5 years it would become the UK's worst human disaster, with starvation and emigration reducing the population of Ireland itself by over 50%. The famine permanently changed Ireland's and Scotland's demographics and became a rallying point for nationalist sentiment that pervaded British politics for much of the following century.

1846

Repeal of the Corn Laws.

1846

Birth of The Princess Helena.

1848

Death of around 2,000 people a week in a cholera epidemic.

1848

Birth of The Princess Louise.

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The last of the mail coaches at Newcastle upon Tyne, 1848

1850

Restoration of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales. (Scotland did not follow until 1858.)

1850

Birth of The Prince Arthur.

1851

The Great Exhibition (the first World's Fair) is held at the Crystal Palace, with great success and international attention. The Victorian gold rush. In ten years the Australian population nearly tripled.

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The Great Exhibition in London. The United Kingdom was the first country in the world to industrialise.

1853

Birth of The Prince Leopold.

1854

Crimean War: The United Kingdom declares war on Russia.

1857

The Indian Mutiny, a widespread revolt in India against the rule of the British East India Company, is sparked by sepoys (native Indian soldiers) in the Company's army. The rebellion, involving not just sepoys but many sectors of the Indian population as well, is largely quashed within a year. In response to the mutiny, the East India Company is abolished in August 1858 and India comes under the direct rule of the British crown, beginning the period of the British Raj.Prince Albert is given the title The Prince Consort.

1857

Birth of The Princess Beatrice.

1858

The Prime Minister, Lord Palmerston, responds to the Orsini plot against French emperor Napoleon III, the bombs for which were purchased in Birmingham, by attempting to make such acts a felony; the resulting uproar forces him to resign.

1859

Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species, which leads to various reactions. Victoria and Albert's first grandchild, Prince Wilhelm of Prussia, is born — he later became William II, German Emperor. John Stuart Mill publishes On Liberty, a defence of the famous harm principle.

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Governor-General of India Lord Canning meets Maharaja Ranbir Singh of Jammu and Kashmir, 1860

1861

Death of Prince Albert; Queen Victoria refuses to go out in public for many years, and when she did she wore a widow's bonnet instead of the crown.

1863

The Prince of Wales marries Princess Alexandra of Denmark at Windsor. 

1865

Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is published.

1866

An angry crowd in London, protesting against John Russell's resignation as Prime Minister, is barred from Hyde Park by the police; they tear down iron railings and trample on flower beds. Disturbances like this convince Derby and Disraeli of the need for further parliamentary reform.

1867

The Constitution Act, 1867 passes and British North America becomes Dominion of Canada.

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The defence of Rorke's Drift during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879

1875

Britain purchased Egypt's shares in the Suez canals as the African nation was forced to raise money to pay off its debts.

1876

Scottish-born inventor Alexander Graham Bell patents the telephone.

1877

The Princess Alice becomes Grand Duchess of Hesse when her husband succeeds as Louis IV,Grand Duke of Hesse. 

1878

Treaty of Berlin (1878). Cyprus becomes a Crown colony. The Princess Alice dies. Princess Louise's husband The Marquis of Lorne is appointed Governor-General of Canada. First incandescent light bulb by Joseph Wilson Swan.

1879

The Battle of Isandwana is the first major encounter in the Anglo-Zulu War. Victoria and Albert's first great-grandchild, Princess Fedora of Saxe-Meiningen, is born.

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Following the Fourth Anglo-Ashanti War in 1896, the British proclaimed a protectorate over the Ashanti Kingdom.

1881

The British suffer defeat at the Battle of Majuba Hill, leading to the signing of a peace treaty and later the Pretoria Convention, between the British and the reinstated South African Republic, ending the First Boer War. Sometimes claimed to mark the beginning of the decline of the British Empire.

1882

British troops begin the occupation of Egypt by taking the Suez Canal, to secure the vital trade route and passage to India, and the country becomes a protectorate.

1883

Princess Louise and Lord Lorne return from Canada.

1884

The Fabian Society is founded in London by a group of middle class intellectuals, including Quaker Edward R. Pease, Havelock Ellis, and E. Nesbit, to promote socialism. Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany dies.

1885

Blackpool Electric Tramway Company starts the first electric tram service in the United Kingdom.

1886

Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone and the Liberal Party tries passing the First Irish Home Rule Bill, but the House of Commons rejects it.

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Daimler, Wagonette, Ireland, c. 1899

1888

The serial killer known as Jack the Ripper murders and mutilates five (and possibly more) prostitutes on the streets of London. Victoria's eldest daughter, the Princess Royal, becomes German Empress when her husband succeeds as Frederick III, German Emperor. Within months, Frederick dies, and their son becomes William II, German Emperor. The widowed Vicky becomes the Dowager Empress as is known as "Empress Frederick".

1889

Emily Williamson founds the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. 

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British and Australian officers in South Africa during the Second Boer War.

1870 – 1891

Under the Elementary Education Act 1870, basic State Education becomes free for every child under the age of 10.

1891

Victoria and Albert's last grandchild, Prince Maurice of  Battenberg, is born.

1892

The Prince of Wales' eldest son Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence dies of inflluenza.

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Workmen leaving Platt's Works, Oldham, 1900

1893

The Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburg succeeds as Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha when his uncle dies. The Duchy skips over The Prince of Wales due to his renunciation of his succession rights to that Duchy.

1898

British and Egyptian troops led by Horatio Kitchener defeat the Mahdist forces at the battle of Omdurman, thus establishing British dominance in the Sudan. Winston Churchill takes part in the British cavalry charge at Omdurman.

1899

The Second Boer War is fought between the British Empire and the two independent Boer republics. The Boers finally surrendered and the British annexed the Boer republics.

1900

Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha dies. His nephew Prince Charles Edward, Duke of Albany succeeds him, because his brother Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and nephew Prince Arthur of Connaug had renounced their rights.

1901

The death of Victoria sees the end of this era. The ascension of her eldest son, Edward, begins the Edwardian era; albeit considerably shorter, this was another time of great change.