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Victorian Family Life

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What was Victorian Family Life Like?

This Lens gives a glimpse of Victorian Family Life through the eyes of Victorians as published in a selection of Victorian newspaper articles collected by George Burgess (1829-1905) during his working life and saved in his Victorian Scrapbook. George Burgess lived in America for a number of years from about 1845 to 1857 so this lens not only looks at family life in England but also has a peak at the American family life during the Victorian Era.

Further reading from the source material that this lens is based on is freely available elsewhere on Squidoo and from the Nathanville Main Website; links to these sources are given further down this page.

So Happy Reading...

Humour shining through hard times

The first thing that strikes me about Victorian Life is their strong sense of humour, even though for the ordinary Victorian family life could be harsh, especially for the lower classes. To quote an example from one of the Victorian newspaper articles:-

The following is a specimen of sharp shooting between a coquette and her lover: - "You men are angels when you woo the maid. But devils when the marriage vow is paid." The lover, not be out-done, replied nearly as follows: - "The change, dear girl, is easily forgiven. We find ourselves in hell instead of heaven."

Marriage

Victorian Married Life

Women were treated with respect and generally had equal rights and opportunities, with some notable exceptions e.g. no right to vote. Although on the whole they were expected to marry, have children and look after the family home. To quote from a couple of articles published in Victorian newspapers:-

Children

Children in the Victorian Family

Generally, children were considered 'Little Adults', who were given respect and who needed to be guided through lives perils by example and good sound advice. They were recognised as a future resource that required a lot of dedicated time and attention to help ensure their safe passage to adulthood.

Prior to this period children when old enough were sent out to work e.g. in the coalmines and as chimney- sweeps, often as young as six, to bring much needed income into the family, but with the dawning of the Victorian era came a recognition that children needed to be bought up in a safe family environment until they reached adulthood. Hence the birth of childhood as we know it today and the decline in child labour. Although for the poorer Victorian families who couldn't afford the cost of bringing up their children this enlightenment took made decades; so much so that even in the late Victorian period child chimney-sweeps and children working on the streets with their brushes as little sweepers earning tips from pedestrians for whom they cleared the paths; as depicted in the touching story 'Mother's Last Words' by Mary Sewell, born 1797.

Quoting from a couple of Victorian newspaper articles:-

Victorian Newspapers

A Victorian Scrapbook by George Burgess (1829-1905)

These lenses provides further examples of Victorian Newspaper articles saved by George Burgess in his scrapbook.

Victorian Newspapers on Victorian Life

Free to view online

For further reading followi this link to the source articles; published online for free viewing.

Victorian newspapers on Victorian Family Life: A Victorian Scrapbook of Newspaper Articles on Victorian culture, family, people and relationships by George Burgess (1829-1905)

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