122-699: The Industrial Dwellings Society (1885) Ltd. (IDS) was formed in London during the Victorian era as a philanthropic model dwellings company , known at the time as the Four Per Cent Industrial Dwellings Company . In 1952 the organisation took its present name and form and is today commonly known as simply IDS . The IDS manages over 1,400 properties in the London Boroughs of Hackney , Tower Hamlets , Southwark , Redbridge and Barnet , and
244-595: A Royal Commission , chaired by the Earl of Devon ( Devon Commission ), to enquire into the laws regarding the occupation of land. Irish politician Daniel O'Connell described this commission as "perfectly one-sided", being composed of landlords with no tenant representation. In February 1845, Devon reported: It would be impossible adequately to describe the privations which they [the Irish labourer and his family] habitually and silently endure ... in many districts their only food
366-544: A feminist movement developed. Parental authority was seen as important, but children were given legal protections against abuse and neglect for the first time towards the end of the period. Access to education increased rapidly during the 19th century. State-funded schools were established in England and Wales for the first time. Education became compulsory for pre-teenaged children in England, Scotland and Wales. Literacy rates increased rapidly, and had become nearly universal by
488-444: A laissez-faire economic doctrine, but also because some in power believed in divine providence or that the Irish lacked moral character , with aid only resuming to some degree later. Large amounts of food were exported from Ireland during the famine and the refusal of London to bar such exports, as had been done on previous occasions, was an immediate and continuing source of controversy, contributing to anti-British sentiment and
610-507: A comparatively small space. By 1800, the potato had become a staple food for one in three Irish people, especially in winter. It eventually became a staple year-round for farmers. A disproportionate share of the potatoes grown in Ireland were the Irish Lumper , creating a lack of genetic variability among potato plants, which increased vulnerability to disease. Potatoes were essential to
732-585: A democracy. The political legacy of the reform movement was to link the nonconformists (part of the evangelical movement) in England and Wales with the Liberal Party . This continued until the First World War . The Presbyterians played a similar role as a religious voice for reform in Scotland. Religion was politically controversial during this era, with Nonconformists pushing for the disestablishment of
854-944: A disease that had attacked the potato crops in America for two years. In 1843 and 1844, blight largely destroyed the potato crops in the Eastern United States. Ships from Baltimore , Philadelphia , or New York City could have carried diseased potatoes from these areas to European ports. American plant pathologist William C. Paddock posited that the blight was transported via potatoes being carried to feed passengers on clipper ships sailing from America to Ireland. Once introduced in Ireland and Europe, blight spread rapidly. By mid-August 1845, it had reached much of northern and central Europe; Belgium, The Netherlands, northern France, and southern England had all already been affected. On 16 August 1845, The Gardeners' Chronicle and Horticultural Gazette reported "a blight of unusual character" on
976-402: A disincentive to local relief efforts. Due to poor weather conditions, the first shipment did not arrive in Ireland until the beginning of February 1846. The initial shipments were of unground dried kernels, but the few Irish mills in operation were not equipped for milling maize and a long and complicated milling process had to be adopted before the meal could be distributed. In addition, before
1098-455: A fashion among employers for providing welfare services to their workers, led to relative social stability. The Chartist movement for working-class men to be given the right to vote, which had been prominent in the early Victorian period, dissipated. Government involvement in the economy was limited. Only in the post-World War II period , around a century later, did the country experience substantial economic growth again. But whilst industry
1220-530: A holding by a tenant became the property of the landlord when the lease expired or was terminated, the incentive to make improvements was limited. Most tenants had no security of tenure on the land; as tenants "at will", they could be turned out whenever the landlord chose. The only exception to this arrangement was in Ulster where, under a practice known as "tenant right" , a tenant was compensated for any improvement they made to their holding. According to Woodham-Smith,
1342-472: A hostile place in which to live. Some landlords visited their property only once or twice in a lifetime, if ever. The rents from Ireland were generally spent elsewhere; an estimated £6,000,000 was remitted out of Ireland in 1842. In 1843, the British Government recognized that the land management system in Ireland was the foundational cause of disaffection in the country. The Prime Minister established
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#17328697759371464-445: A major employer and industry in their own right. Expected standards of personal conduct changed in around the first half of the 19th century, with good manners and self-restraint becoming much more common. Historians have suggested various contributing factors, such as Britain's major conflicts with France during the early 19th century, meaning that the distracting temptations of sinful behaviour had to be avoided in order to focus on
1586-511: A mixture of "indoor" and "outdoor" direct relief; the former administered in workhouses through the Irish Poor Laws , the latter through soup kitchens . The costs of the Poor Law fell primarily on the local landlords, some of whom in turn attempted to reduce their liability by evicting their tenants or providing some relief through the conversionist practice of Souperism . On 1 March 1847,
1708-420: A parallel in the world. It allowed proprietors to suck the very life-blood of that wretched race". The "Gregory clause" of the Poor Law, named after William H. Gregory , MP, prohibited anyone who held at least 1 ⁄ 4 acre (0.1 ha) from receiving relief. In practice, this meant that the many farmers who had to sell all their produce to pay rent and taxes, would have to deliver up all their land to
1830-489: A period between the 1860s and 1880s subject to spot compulsory examinations for sexually transmitted infections , and detainment if they were found to be infected. This caused a great deal of resentment among women in general due to the principle underlying the checks, that women had to be controlled in order to be safe for sexual use by men, and the checks were opposed by some of the earliest feminist campaigning. Great Famine (Ireland) The Great Famine , also known as
1952-430: A rise in prosecutions for illegal sodomy in the middle of the 19th century. Male sexuality became a favourite subject of medical researchers' study. For the first time, all male homosexual acts were outlawed. Concern about sexual exploitation of adolescent girls increased during the period, especially following the white slavery scandal , which contributed to the increasing of the age of consent from 13 to 16 . At
2074-541: A role in economic life but exploitation of their labour became especially intense during the Victorian era. Children were put to work in a wide range of occupations, but particularly associated with this period are factories. Employing children had advantages, as they were cheap, had limited ability to resist harsh working conditions, and could enter spaces too small for adults. Some accounts exist of happy upbringings involving child labour, but conditions were generally poor. Pay
2196-737: A scheme, which while yielding a moderate and safe return, will largely tend, not only to improve the dwellings of the poor, but also reduce the high rates now paid for the minimum of accommodation. Of this, Rothschild himself subscribed £10,000, and even paid for the site of the company's first project (in Flower and Dean Street, Spitalfields ) himself, months before the first meeting of the Company directors. These first buildings were to be known as Charlotte de Rothschild Buildings, after Lord Rothschild's mother, and took up parts of Thrawl Street, Flower and Dean Street, and George Street, Spitalfields. The majority of
2318-509: A substantial part of the metropolis... In big, once handsome houses, thirty or more people of all ages may inhabit a single room Hunger and poor diet was a common aspect of life across the UK in the Victorian period, especially in the 1840s, but the mass starvation seen in the Great Famine in Ireland was unique. Levels of poverty fell significantly during the 19th century from as much as two thirds of
2440-468: A symbol of the British Empire. Queen Victoria died on 22 January 1901. The Victorian era saw a rapidly growing middle class who became an important cultural influence, to a significant extent replacing the aristocracy as British society's dominant class. A distinctive middle-class lifestyle developed that influenced what society valued as a whole. Increased importance was placed on the value of
2562-687: A time when job options for women were limited and generally low-paying, some women, particularly those without familial support, took to prostitution to support themselves. Attitudes in public life and among the general population to prostitution varied. Evidence about prostitutes' situation also varies. One contemporary study argues that the trade was a short-term stepping stone to a different lifestyle for many women, while another, more recent study argues they were subject to physical abuse, financial exploitation, state persecution, and difficult working conditions. Due to worries about venereal disease , especially among soldiers, women suspected of prostitution were for
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#17328697759372684-625: A week (25p to 30p). These grey stone houses were drab and draughty, but they were also solid and sanitary, and were probably better flats than those in other projects of the time." Today, IDS manages a large number of properties, predominantly in the East of London, but also in Southwark, Hertsmere and Barnet, including flats, houses, sheltered housing , accommodation for people with special needs, key worker housing and shared ownership properties. It still specialises in culturally specific housing and acquired
2806-461: A wide range of new inventions. This led Great Britain to become the foremost industrial and trading nation of the time. Historians have characterised the mid-Victorian era (1850–1870) as Britain's 'Golden Years', with national income per person increasing by half. This prosperity was driven by increased industrialisation, especially in textiles and machinery, along with exports to the empire and elsewhere. The positive economic conditions, as well as
2928-569: A wide-ranging change to the electoral system of England and Wales . Definitions that purport a distinct sensibility or politics to the era have also created scepticism about the worth of the label 'Victorian', though there have also been defences of it. Michael Sadleir was insistent that "in truth, the Victorian period is three periods, and not one". He distinguished early Victorianism—the socially and politically unsettled period from 1837 to 1850 —and late Victorianism (from 1880 onwards), with its new waves of aestheticism and imperialism , from
3050-400: A working wage. They had to work for their landlords in return for a small patch of land to farm. This forced Ireland's peasantry to practice continuous monoculture , as the potato was the only crop that could meet nutritional needs. The potato was introduced in Ireland as a garden crop of the gentry . By the late 17th century, it had become widespread as a supplementary food; their main diet
3172-574: Is always denoted with a capital letter to express its specific historic meaning. The period of the potato blight in Ireland from 1845 to 1851 was full of political confrontation. A more radical Young Ireland group seceded from the Repeal movement in July 1846, and attempted an armed rebellion in 1848 . It was unsuccessful. In 1847, William Smith O'Brien , leader of the Young Ireland party, became one of
3294-568: Is called 'cholera' in potatoes in Ireland, especially in the north". On 13 September, The Gardeners' Chronicle announced: "We stop the Press with very great regret to announce that the potato Murrain has unequivocally declared itself in Ireland." Nevertheless, the British government remained optimistic over the next few weeks, as it received conflicting reports. Only when the crop was harvested in October did
3416-456: Is now called classical music was somewhat undeveloped compared to parts of Europe but did have significant support. Photography became an increasingly accessible and popular part of everyday life. Many sports were introduced or popularised during the Victorian era. They became important to male identity. Examples included cricket , football , rugby , tennis and cycling . The idea of women participating in sport did not fit well with
3538-431: Is the potato, their only beverage water ... their cabins are seldom a protection against the weather ... a bed or a blanket is a rare luxury ... and nearly in all their pig and a manure heap constitute their only property. The Commissioners concluded they could not "forbear expressing our strong sense of the patient endurance which the labouring classes have exhibited under sufferings greater, we believe, than
3660-449: The 1st Earl of Clare observed of landlords that "confiscation is their common title". According to the historian Cecil Woodham-Smith , landlords regarded the land as a source of income, from which as much as possible was to be extracted. With the peasantry "brooding over their discontent in sullen indignation" (in the words of the Earl of Clare), the landlords largely viewed the countryside as
3782-908: The Ajex Housing Association for Jewish ex-servicemen/women in 2006; IDS also work with the Otto Schiff housing association , Agudas Israel Housing Association and the Bangla Housing Association . IDS is chaired by Michael Brodtman and the Chief Executive is Jonathan Gregory. Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire , the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria , from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed
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3904-519: The Church of England . Nonconformists comprised about half of church attendees in England in 1851, and gradually the legal discrimination that had been established against them outside of Scotland was removed. Legal restrictions on Roman Catholics were also largely removed . The number of Catholics grew in Great Britain due to conversions and immigration from Ireland . Secularism and doubts about
4026-736: The Georgian era and preceded the Edwardian era , and its later half overlaps with the first part of the Belle Époque era of continental Europe. Various liberalising political reforms took place in the UK, including expanding the electoral franchise. The Great Famine caused mass death in Ireland early in the period. The British Empire had relatively peaceful relations with the other great powers . It participated in various military conflicts mainly against minor powers. The British Empire expanded during this period and
4148-586: The Great Hunger ( Irish : an Gorta Mór [ənˠ ˈɡɔɾˠt̪ˠə ˈmˠoːɾˠ] ), the Famine and the Irish Potato Famine , was a period of mass starvation and disease in Ireland lasting from 1845 to 1852 that constituted a historical social crisis and had a major impact on Irish society and history as a whole. The most severely affected areas were in the western and southern parts of Ireland — where
4270-578: The Irish language was dominant — hence the period was contemporaneously known in Irish as an Drochshaol , which literally translates to "the bad life" and loosely translates to "the hard times". The worst year of the famine was 1847, which became known as "Black '47". The population of Ireland on the eve of the famine was about 8.5 million, by 1901 it was just 4.4 million. During the Great Hunger, roughly 1 million people died and more than 1 million more fled
4392-592: The Isle of Wight . A week later, on 23 August, it reported that "A fearful malady has broken out among the potato crop ... In Belgium the fields are said to be completely desolated. There is hardly a sound sample in Covent Garden market ... As for cure for this distemper, there is none." These reports were extensively covered in Irish newspapers. On 11 September, the Freeman's Journal reported on "the appearance of what
4514-534: The Lord Mayor , went to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Lord Heytesbury to discuss the issue. They offered suggestions such as opening the ports to foreign corn, stopping distillation from grain, prohibiting the export of foodstuffs, and providing employment through public works. Lord Heytesbury urged them not to be alarmed, that they "were premature", that scientists were enquiring into all those matters, and that
4636-557: The Pax Britannica , was a time of relatively peaceful relations between the world's great powers . This is particularly true of Britain's interactions with the others. The only war in which the British Empire fought against another major power was the Crimean War , from 1853 to 1856. There were various revolts and violent conflicts within the British Empire, and Britain participated in wars against minor powers. It also took part in
4758-498: The second reading of the government's Irish Coercion Bill was defeated by 73 votes in the House of Commons by a combination of Whigs , Radicals , Irish Repealers, and protectionist Conservatives. Peel was forced to resign as prime minister on 29 June, and the Whig leader, Lord John Russell , became prime minister. The measures undertaken by Peel's successor, Russell, proved inadequate as
4880-587: The 'workshop of the world', Britain was uniquely advanced in technology in the mid-19th century. Engineering, having developed into a profession in the 18th century, gained new profile and prestige in this period. The Victorian era saw methods of communication and transportation develop significantly. In 1837, William Fothergill Cooke and Charles Wheatstone invented the first telegraph system . This system, which used electrical currents to transmit coded messages, quickly spread across Britain, appearing in every town and post office. A worldwide network developed towards
5002-511: The 1840s. Blight infection caused 100,000 deaths outside Ireland and influenced much of the unrest that culminated in European Revolutions of 1848 . Longer-term reasons for the massive impact of this particular famine included the system of absentee landlordism and single-crop dependence. Initial limited but constructive government actions to alleviate famine distress were ended by a new Whig administration in London, which pursued
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5124-576: The 1880s, sanitation was inadequate in areas such as water supply and disposal of sewage. This all had a negative effect on health, especially that of the impoverished young. For instance, of the babies born in Liverpool in 1851, only 45 per cent survived to age 20. It had been hoped that there would be a rapid improvement following the Public Baths and Wash-houses Act 1846. This was the first legislation to empower local authorities in England and Wales to fund
5246-413: The 19th century and germ theory was developed for the first time. Doctors became more specialised and the number of hospitals grew. The overall number of deaths fell by about 20%. The life expectancy of women increased from around 42 to 55 and 40 to 56 for men. In spite of this, the mortality rate fell only marginally, from 20.8 per thousand in 1850 to 18.2 by the end of the century. Urbanisation aided
5368-536: The 19th century for the first time in history, improved nutrition, and a lower overall mortality rate. Ireland's population shrank significantly, mostly due to emigration and the Great Famine. The professionalisation of scientific study began in parts of Europe following the French Revolution but was slow to reach Britain. William Whewell coined the term 'scientist' in 1833 to refer to those who studied what
5490-491: The 40 years that followed the union, successive British governments grappled with the problems of governing a country which had, as Benjamin Disraeli stated in 1844, "a starving population, an absentee aristocracy, an alien established Protestant church , and in addition, the weakest executive in the world". One historian calculated that, between 1801 and 1845, there had been 114 commissions and 61 special committees inquiring into
5612-557: The Bank of England announced plans to raise a loan of £14 million to relieve the Irish crisis, and also for unfunded tax cuts. This led to the Panic of 1847 , in which gold was withdrawn from circulation, so reducing the amount of bank notes that the Bank could legally circulate. By 17 April 1847 the bullion reserve of the Bank of England had diminished from £15 million in January to some £9 million, and it
5734-450: The Bible. A variety of reading materials grew in popularity during the period, including novels, women's magazines, children's literature, and newspapers. Much literature, including chapbooks , was distributed on the street. Music was also very popular, with genres such as folk music , broadsides , music halls , brass bands , theater music and choral music having mass appeal. What
5856-519: The Borough of Hertsmere . The foundation of the company followed the United Synagogue 's enquiry into "spiritual destitution" in 1884. The company was founded in 1885 by Nathan Rothschild and a board of other prominent, Jewish philanthropists including Frederick Mocatta and Samuel Montagu , to provide "the industrial classes with commodious and healthy Dwellings at a minimum rent". The company
5978-485: The British Empire, reform included rapid expansion, the complete abolition of slavery in the African possessions and the end of transportation of convicts to Australia . Restrictions on colonial trade were loosened and responsible (i.e. semi-autonomous) government was introduced in some territories. Throughout most of the 19th century Britain was the most powerful country in the world. The period from 1815 to 1914 , known as
6100-501: The Four Per Cent Company's tenants were Jewish. By 1905, it had built six large blocks (known as 'Rothschild houses' comprising around 1,500 flats, or 3,800 rooms. "Each had two rooms, shared a toilet and kitchen with the adjacent flat, and opened to outdoor halls and stairways. In order to reimburse investors at the promised rate, the six storey buildings occupies no less than 50% of the ground space and tenants paid about 5s to 6s
6222-571: The Inspectors of Constabulary and Stipendiary Magistrates were charged with making constant reports from their districts, and there was no "immediate pressure on the market". On 8 December 1845, Daniel O'Connell, head of the Repeal Association , proposed several remedies to the pending disaster. One of the first things he suggested was the introduction of Tenant-Right as practised in Ulster, giving
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#17328697759376344-549: The Origin of Species (1859), which sought to explain biological evolution by natural selection, gained a high profile in the public consciousness. Simplified (and at times inaccurate) popular science was increasingly distributed through a variety of publications which caused tension with the professionals. There were significant advances in various fields of research, including statistics , elasticity , refrigeration , natural history , electromagnetism , and logic . Known as
6466-548: The Pale (i.e., before the union with Great Britain in 1801) had adopted in periods of distress. Contemporaneously, as found in letters from the period and in particular later oral memory, the name for the event is in Irish : An Drochshaol , though with the earlier spelling standard of the era , which was Gaelic script , it is found written as in Droċ-Ṡaoġal. In the modern era, this name, while loosely translated as "the hard-time",
6588-408: The Victorian era covers the duration of Victoria's reign as Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , from her accession on 20 June 1837—after the death of her uncle, William IV —until her death on 22 January 1901, after which she was succeeded by her eldest son, Edward VII . Her reign lasted 63 years and seven months, a longer period than any of her predecessors. The term 'Victorian'
6710-420: The Victorian heyday: mid-Victorianism, 1851 to 1879. He saw the latter period as characterised by a distinctive mixture of prosperity, domestic prudery , and complacency —what G. M. Trevelyan called the 'mid-Victorian decades of quiet politics and roaring prosperity'. The Reform Act , which made various changes to the electoral system including expanding the franchise, had been passed in 1832. The franchise
6832-631: The Victorian view of femininity, but their involvement did increase as the period progressed. For the middle classes, many leisure activities such as table games could be done in the home while domestic holidays to rural locations such as the Lake District and Scottish Highlands were increasingly practical. The working classes had their own culture separate from that of their richer counterparts, various cheaper forms of entertainment and recreational activities provided by philanthropy . Trips to resorts such as Blackpool were increasingly popular towards
6954-447: The West." The rapid growth in the urban population included the new industrial and manufacturing cities, as well as service centres such as Edinburgh and London. Private renting from housing landlords was the dominant tenure. P. Kemp says this was usually of advantage to tenants. Overcrowding was a major problem with seven or eight people frequently sleeping in a single room. Until at least
7076-497: The accuracy of the Old Testament grew among people with higher levels of education. Northern English and Scottish academics tended to be more religiously conservative, whilst agnosticism and even atheism (though its promotion was illegal) gained appeal among academics in the south. Historians refer to a 'Victorian Crisis of Faith', a period when religious views had to readjust to accommodate new scientific knowledge and criticism of
7198-466: The amount of rent they could obtain. Tenants could be evicted for reasons such as non-payment of rents (which were high), or a landlord's decision to raise sheep instead of grain crops . Cottiers paid their rent by working for the landlord while the spalpeens (itinerant labourers) paid for short-term leases through temporary day work. A majority of Catholics, who constituted 80% of the Irish population, lived in conditions of poverty and insecurity. At
7320-492: The arrival of Phytophthora infestans , commonly known as "blight", only two main potato plant diseases had been discovered. One was called "dry rot" or "taint", and the other was a virus known popularly as "curl". Phytophthora infestans is an oomycete (a variety of parasitic, non-photosynthetic organisms closely related to brown algae , and not a fungus). In 1851, the Census of Ireland Commissioners recorded 24 failures of
7442-411: The basis for welfare provision into the 20th century. While many people were prone to vices, not least alcoholism, historian Bernard A. Cook argues that the main reason for 19th century poverty was that typical wages for much of the population were simply too low. Barely enough to provide a subsistence living in good times, let alone save up for bad. Improvements were made over time to housing along with
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#17328697759377564-413: The building of public baths and wash houses but, since the act was only permissive rather than mandatory, improvement was slow. Conditions were particularly bad in London, where the population rose sharply and poorly maintained, overcrowded dwellings became slum housing. Kellow Chesney wrote of the situation: Hideous slums, some of them acres wide, some no more than crannies of obscure misery, make up
7686-507: The campaign for independence. Additionally, the famine indirectly resulted in tens of thousands of households being evicted , exacerbated by a provision forbidding access to workhouse aid while in possession of more than one-quarter acre of land. The famine was a defining moment in the history of Ireland, which was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1801 to 1922 . The famine and its effects permanently changed
7808-489: The children in school; in 1840 only about 20 per cent of the children in London had any schooling. By the 1850s, around half of the children in England and Wales were in school (not including Sunday school ). From the 1833 Factory Act onwards, attempts were made to get child labourers into part time education, though this was often difficult to achieve. Only in the 1870s and 1880s did children begin to be compelled into school. Work continued to inhibit children's schooling into
7930-540: The commission stated that "the superior prosperity and tranquillity of Ulster, compared with the rest of Ireland, were due to tenant right". Landlords in Ireland often used their powers without compunction , and tenants lived in dread of them. Woodham-Smith writes that, in these circumstances, "industry and enterprise were extinguished and a peasantry created which was one of the most destitute in Europe". Immense population growth , from about 2 million in 1700 to 8 million by
8052-618: The complicated history of the period. The potato blight returned to Europe in 1879 but, by this time, the Land War (one of the largest agrarian movements to take place in 19th-century Europe) had begun in Ireland. The movement, organized by the Land League , continued the political campaign for the Three Fs which was issued in 1850 by the Tenant Right League during the Great Famine. When
8174-632: The conditions that led to the famine. However, it was asserted that, since the Acts of Union 1800 , the British Parliament was partly to blame. This point was raised in The Illustrated London News on 13 February 1847: "There was no law it would not pass at their request, and no abuse it would not defend for them." On 24 March, The Times reported that Britain had permitted in Ireland "a mass of poverty, disaffection, and degradation without
8296-472: The cornmeal could be consumed, it had to be "very much" cooked again, or eating it could result in severe bowel complaints. Due to its yellow colour, and initial unpopularity, it became known as "Peel's brimstone". In October 1845, Peel moved to repeal the Corn Laws — tariffs on grain which kept the price of bread high—but the issue split his party and he had insufficient support from his own colleagues to push
8418-477: The country , causing the country's population to fall by 20–25% (in some towns, populations fell as much as 67%) between 1841 and 1871. Between 1845 and 1855, at least 2.1 million people left Ireland, primarily on packet ships but also on steamboats and barques —one of the greatest exoduses from a single island in history. The proximate cause of the famine was the infection of potato crops by blight ( Phytophthora infestans ) throughout Europe during
8540-438: The crisis deepened. The new Whig administration, influenced by the doctrine of laissez-faire , believed that the market would provide the food needed. They refused to interfere with the movement of food to England, and then halted the previous government's food and relief works, leaving many hundreds of thousands of people without access to work, money, or food. Russell's ministry introduced a new programme of public works that by
8662-774: The diplomatic struggles of the Great Game and the Scramble for Africa . In 1840, Queen Victoria married her German cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha . The couple had nine children, who themselves married into various royal families, and the queen thus became known as the 'grandmother of Europe'. In 1861, Albert died. Victoria went into mourning and withdrew from public life for ten years. In 1871, with republican sentiments growing in Britain, she began to return to public life. In her later years, her popularity soared as she became
8784-465: The early 20th century. 19th-century Britain saw a huge population increase accompanied by rapid urbanisation stimulated by the Industrial Revolution. In the 1901 census , more than three out of every four people were classified as living in an urban area, compared to one in five a century earlier. Historian Richard A. Soloway wrote that "Great Britain had become the most urbanized country in
8906-483: The end of December 1846 employed some half a million but proved impossible to administer. Charles Trevelyan , who was in charge of the administration of government relief, limited the Government's food aid programme, claiming that food would be readily imported into Ireland once people had more money to spend after wages were being paid on new public-works projects. In a private correspondence, Trevelyan explained how
9028-424: The end of period. Initially the industrial revolution increased working hours, but over the course of the 19th century a variety of political and economic changes caused them to fall back down to and in some cases below pre-industrial levels, creating more time for leisure. Before the Industrial Revolution, daily life had changed little for hundreds of years. The 19th century saw rapid technological development with
9150-453: The end of the century. Private education for wealthier children, boys and more gradually girls, became more formalised over the course of the century. The growing middle class and strong evangelical movement placed great emphasis on a respectable and moral code of behaviour. This included features such as charity, personal responsibility, controlled habits, child discipline and self-criticism. As well as personal improvement, importance
9272-470: The end of the century. In 1876, an American patented the telephone . A little over a decade later, 26,000 telephones were in service in Britain. Multiple switchboards were installed in every major town and city. Guglielmo Marconi developed early radio broadcasting at the end of the period. The railways were important economically in the Victorian era, allowing goods, raw materials, and people to be moved around, stimulating trade and industry. They were also
9394-436: The expansion of the cottier system ; they supported an extremely cheap workforce, but at the cost of lower living standards. For the labourer, "a potato wage" shaped the expanding agrarian economy. The potato was also used extensively as a fodder crop for livestock immediately prior to the famine. Approximately 33% of production, amounting to 5,000,000 short tons (4,500,000 t ), was typically used in this way. Prior to
9516-516: The family, and the idea that marriage should be based on romantic love gained popularity. A clear separation was established between the home and the workplace, which had often not been the case before. The home was seen as a private environment, where housewives provided their husbands with a respite from the troubles of the outside world. Within this ideal, women were expected to focus on domestic matters and to rely on men as breadwinners. Women had limited legal rights in most areas of life, and
9638-514: The famine could bring benefit to the English; As he wrote to Edward Twisleton : "We must not complain of what we really want to obtain. If small farmers go, and their landlords are reduced to sell portions of their estates to persons who will invest capital we shall at last arrive at something like a satisfactory settlement of the country". In January 1847, the government abandoned its policy of noninterference, realising that it had failed, and turned to
9760-479: The first deaths from starvation were recorded. Seed potatoes were scarce in 1847. Few had been sown, so, despite average yields, hunger continued. 1848 yields were only two-thirds of normal. Since over three million Irish people were totally dependent on potatoes for food, hunger and famine were widespread. The Corporation of Dublin sent a memorial to the Queen, "praying her" to call Parliament together early (Parliament
9882-414: The first time. Whilst some attempts were made to improve living conditions, slum housing and disease remained a severe problem. The period saw significant scientific and technological development. Britain was advanced in industry and engineering in particular, but somewhat undeveloped in art and education. Great Britain's population increased rapidly, while Ireland's fell sharply. In the strictest sense,
10004-448: The first widely circulated tracts on the famine, The Last Conquest of Ireland (Perhaps) , published in 1861. It proposed that British actions during the famine and their treatment of the Irish were a deliberate effort at genocide. It contained a sentence that has since become famous: "The Almighty, indeed, sent the potato blight, but the English created the Famine." Mitchel was charged with sedition because of his writings, but this charge
10126-608: The founding members of the Irish Confederation to campaign for a Repeal of the Act of Union, and called for the export of grain to be stopped and the ports closed. The following year, he helped organise the short-lived Young Irelander Rebellion of 1848 in County Tipperary . When Ireland experienced food shortages in 1782–1783, ports were closed to exporting food, with the intention of keeping locally grown food in Ireland to feed
10248-524: The hands of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and Chief Secretary for Ireland , who were appointed by the British government. Ireland sent 105 members of parliament to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom , and Irish representative peers elected 28 of their own number to sit for life in the House of Lords . Between 1832 and 1859, 70% of Irish representatives were landowners or the sons of landowners. In
10370-768: The hungry. Irish food prices promptly dropped. Some merchants lobbied against the export ban, but the government in the 1780s overrode their protests. Historian F. S. L. Lyons characterised the initial response of the British government to the early, less severe phase of the famine as "prompt and relatively successful". Confronted by widespread crop failure in November 1845, the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel, purchased £100,000 worth of maize and cornmeal secretly from America with Baring Brothers initially acting as his agents. The government hoped that they would not "stifle private enterprise" and that their actions would not act as
10492-522: The island's demographic, political, and cultural landscape, producing an estimated 2 million refugees and spurring a century-long population decline . For both the native Irish and those in the resulting diaspora, the famine entered folk memory . The strained relations between many Irish people and the then ruling British government worsened further because of the famine, heightening ethnic and sectarian tensions and boosting nationalism and republicanism both in Ireland and among Irish emigrants around
10614-459: The landlord a fair rent for his land, but giving the tenant compensation for any money he might have laid out on the land in permanent improvements. O'Connell noted actions taken by the Belgian legislature during the same season, as they had also been hit by blight: shutting their ports against the export of provisions and opening them to imports. He suggested that, if Ireland had a domestic Parliament,
10736-542: The landlord to qualify for public outdoor relief. Of this Law, Mitchel wrote that "it is the able-bodied idler only who is to be fed—if he attempted to till but one rood of ground, he dies". This simple method of ejectment was called "passing paupers through the workhouse"—a man went in, a pauper came out. These factors combined to drive thousands of people off the land: 90,000 in 1849, and 104,000 in 1850. The Incumbered Estates (Ireland) Act 1849 ( 12 & 13 Vict. c. 77) allowed landlord estates to be auctioned off upon
10858-420: The management of sewage and water eventually giving the UK the most advanced system of public health protection anywhere in the world. The quality and safety of household lighting improved over the period with oil lamps becoming the norm in the early 1860s, gas lighting in the 1890s and electric lights beginning to appear in the homes of the richest by the end of the period. Medicine advanced rapidly during
10980-591: The measure through. He resigned the premiership in December, but the opposition was unable to form a government and he was re-appointed. In March, Peel set up a programme of public works in Ireland, but the famine situation worsened during 1846, and the repeal of the Corn Laws in that year did little to help the starving Irish; the measure split the Conservative Party, leading to the fall of Peel's ministry. On 25 June,
11102-444: The middle of the 19th century to 'diminished cruelty to animals, criminals, lunatics, and children (in that order)'. Legal restrictions were placed on cruelty to animals. Restrictions were placed on the working hours of child labourers in the 1830s and 1840s. Further interventions took place throughout the century to increase the level of child protection. Use of the death penalty also decreased. Crime rates fell significantly in
11224-487: The middle- and working-classes a role in politics. However, all women and a large minority of men remained outside the system into the early 20th century. Cities were given greater political autonomy and the labour movement was legalised. From 1845 to 1852, the Potato Famine caused mass starvation, disease and death in Ireland, sparking large-scale emigration. The Corn Laws were repealed in response to this. Across
11346-404: The people of any other country in Europe have to sustain". The Commission stated that bad relations between landlord and tenant were principally responsible for this suffering. Landlords were described in evidence before the commission as "land sharks", "bloodsuckers", and "the most oppressive species of tyrant that ever lent assistance to the destruction of a country". As any improvement made on
11468-406: The political climate, in which the Irish famine occurred. The "middleman system" for managing landed property was introduced in the 18th century. Rent collection was left in the hands of the landlords' agents, or middlemen. This assured the landlord of a regular income and relieved them of direct responsibility while leaving tenants open to exploitation by the middlemen. The ability of middlemen
11590-504: The population in 1800 to less than a third by 1901. However, 1890s studies suggested that almost 10% of the urban population lived in a state of desperation lacking the food necessary to maintain basic physical functions. Attitudes towards the poor were often unsympathetic and they were frequently blamed for their situation. In that spirit, the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 had been deliberately designed to punish them and would remain
11712-502: The ports would be thrown open and the abundant crops raised in Ireland would be kept for the people of Ireland, as the Dublin parliament had done during the food shortages of the 1780s. O'Connell maintained that only an Irish parliament would provide both food and employment for the people. He said that repeal of the Act of Union was a necessity and Ireland's only hope. Mitchel later wrote one of
11834-467: The potato blight returned to Ireland in the 1879 famine , the League boycotted "notorious landlords" and its members physically blocked the evictions of farmers; the consequent reduction in homelessness and house demolition resulted in a drastic reduction in the number of deaths. Ireland was brought into the United Kingdom in January 1801 following the passage of the Acts of Union . Executive power lay in
11956-601: The potato crop going back to 1728, of varying severity. General crop failures, through disease or frost, were recorded in 1739, 1740, 1770, 1800, and 1807. In 1821 and 1822, the potato crop failed in Munster and Connaught . In 1830 and 1831, counties Mayo , Donegal , and Galway suffered likewise. In 1832, 1833, 1834, and 1836, dry rot and curl caused serious losses, and in 1835 the potato failed in Ulster. Widespread failures throughout Ireland occurred in 1836, 1837, 1839, 1841, and 1844. According to Woodham-Smith, "the unreliability of
12078-668: The potato was an accepted fact in Ireland". Experts are still unsure of how and when blight arrived in Europe; it almost certainly was not present prior to 1842, and probably arrived in 1844. The origin of the pathogen has been traced to the Toluca Valley in Mexico, whence it spread within North America and then to Europe. The 1845–1846 blight was caused by the HERB-1 strain of the blight. In 1844, Irish newspapers carried reports concerning
12200-577: The scale of destruction become apparent. Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel wrote to Sir James Graham in mid-October that he found the reports "very alarming", but allayed his fears by claiming that there was "always a tendency to exaggeration in Irish news". Crop loss in 1845 has been estimated at anywhere from one-third to one-half of cultivated acreage. The Mansion House Committee in Dublin , to which hundreds of letters were directed from all over Ireland, claimed on 19 November 1845 to have ascertained beyond
12322-405: The second half of the 19th century. Sociologist Christie Davies linked this change to attempts to morally educate the population, especially at Sunday schools . Contrary to popular belief, Victorian society understood that both men and women enjoyed copulation . Chastity was expected of women, whilst attitudes to male sexual behaviour were more relaxed. The development of police forces led to
12444-413: The shadow of a doubt that "considerably more than one-third of the entire of the potato crop ... has been already destroyed". In 1846, three-quarters of the harvest was lost to blight. By December, a third of a million destitute people were employed in public works. According to Cormac Ó Gráda , the first attack of potato blight caused considerable hardship in rural Ireland from the autumn of 1846, when
12566-402: The spread of diseases and squalid living conditions in many places exacerbated the problem. The population of England, Scotland and Wales grew rapidly during the 19th century. Various factors are considered contributary to this, including a rising fertility rate (though it was falling by the end of the period), the lack of a catastrophic pandemic or famine in the island of Great Britain during
12688-419: The state of Ireland, and that "without exception their findings prophesied disaster; Ireland was on the verge of starvation, her population rapidly increasing, three-quarters of her labourers unemployed, housing conditions appalling and the standard of living unbelievably low". Lectures printed in 1847 by John Hughes , Bishop of New York , are a contemporary exploration into the antecedent causes, particularly
12810-405: The time of the Great Famine, led to increased division of holdings and a consequent reduction in their average size. By 1845, 24% of all Irish tenant farms were of 0.4–2 hectares (1–5 acres) in size, while 40% were of 2–6 hectares (5–15 acres). Holdings were so small that no crop other than potatoes would suffice to feed a family. Shortly before the famine, the British government reported that poverty
12932-599: The top of the social hierarchy was the Ascendancy class , composed of English and Anglo-Irish families who owned most of the land and held more or less unchecked power over their tenants. Some of their estates were vast; for example, the Earl of Lucan owned more than 60,000 acres (240 km ). Many of these landowners lived in England and functioned as absentee landlords . The rent revenue—collected from impoverished tenants who were paid minimal wages to raise crops and livestock for export —was mostly sent to England. In 1800,
13054-402: The war effort, and the evangelical movement's push for moral improvement. There is evidence that the expected standards of moral behaviour were reflected in action as well as rhetoric across all classes of society. For instance, an analysis suggested that less than 5% of working class couples cohabited before marriage. Historian Harold Perkin argued that the change in moral standards led by
13176-419: The world. English documentary maker John Percival said that the famine "became part of the long story of betrayal and exploitation which led to the growing movement in Ireland for independence." Scholar Kirby Miller makes the same point. Debate exists regarding nomenclature for the event, whether to use the term "Famine", "Potato Famine" or "Great Hunger", the last of which some believe most accurately captures
13298-507: Was announced that the cost of famine relief would be transferred to local taxes in Ireland. The financial crisis temporarily improved, but the intended relief for Ireland did not materialise. In June 1847, the Poor Relief (Ireland) Act 1847 ( 10 & 11 Vict. c. 31) was passed which embodied the principle, popular in Britain, that Irish property must support Irish poverty. The landed proprietors in Ireland were held in Britain to have created
13420-481: Was at this time prorogued ), and to recommend the requisition of some public money for public works, especially railways in Ireland. The Town Council of Belfast met and made similar suggestions, but neither body asked for charity, according to John Mitchel , one of the leading Repealers. In early November 1845, a deputation from the citizens of Dublin, including the Duke of Leinster , Lord Cloncurry , Daniel O'Connell and
13542-402: Was dropped. He was convicted by a packed jury under the newly enacted Treason Felony Act and sentenced to 14 years transportation to Bermuda . According to Charles Gavan Duffy , The Nation insisted that the proper remedy, retaining in the country the food raised by her people until the people were fed, was one which the rest of Europe had adopted, and one which even the parliaments of
13664-526: Was expanded again by the Second Reform Act in 1867. The Third Reform Act in 1884 introduced a general principle of one vote per household. All these acts and others simplified the electoral system and reduced corruption. Historian Bruce L Kinzer describes these reforms as putting the United Kingdom on the path towards becoming a democracy. The traditional aristocratic ruling class attempted to maintain as much influence as possible while gradually allowing
13786-433: Was founded as a private capital concern, with capital of £50,000 in 5000 shares of £10 each: It is estimated that if the rentals were based on a net return of 4 per cent excellent accommodation consisting of two rooms, a small scullery, and w.c. could be supplied at a weekly rental of five shillings per tenement; and it is considered that many investors will be found willing and even anxious to contribute their capital towards
13908-478: Was generally then known as natural philosophy, but it took a while to catch on. Having been previously dominated by amateurs with a separate income, the Royal Society admitted only professionals from 1847 onwards. The British biologist Thomas Henry Huxley indicated in 1852 that it remained difficult to earn a living as a scientist alone. Scientific knowledge and debates such as that about Charles Darwin 's On
14030-448: Was given to social reform. Utilitarianism was another philosophy that saw itself as based on science rather than on morality, but also emphasised social progress. An alliance formed between these two ideological strands. The reformers emphasised causes such as improving the conditions of women and children, giving police reform priority over harsh punishment to prevent crime, religious equality, and political reform in order to establish
14152-467: Was in contemporaneous usage to describe the era. The era can also be understood in a more extensive sense—the 'long Victorian era'—as a period that possessed sensibilities and characteristics distinct from the periods adjacent to it, in which case it is sometimes dated to begin before Victoria's accession—typically from the passage of or agitation for (during the 1830s) the Reform Act 1832 , which introduced
14274-401: Was low, punishments severe, work was dangerous and disrupted children's development (often leaving them too tired to play even in their free time). Early labour could do lifelong harm; even in the 1960s and '70s, the elderly people of industrial towns were noted for their often unusually short stature, deformed physiques, and diseases associated with unhealthy working conditions. Reformers wanted
14396-447: Was measured by the rent income they could contrive to extract from tenants. Middlemen leased large tracts of land from the landlords on long leases with fixed rents and sublet to tenants, keeping any money raised in excess to the rent paid to the landlord. This system, coupled with minimal oversight of the middlemen, incentivised harsh exploitation of tenants. Middlemen would split a holding into smaller and smaller parcels so as to increase
14518-462: Was so widespread that one-third of all Irish small holdings could not support the tenant families after rent was paid; the families survived only by earnings as seasonal migrant labour in England and Scotland. Following the famine, reforms were implemented making it illegal to further divide land holdings. The 1841 census showed a population of just over eight million. Two-thirds of people depended on agriculture for their survival but rarely received
14640-485: Was still based on butter, milk, and grain products. The Irish economy grew between 1760 and 1815 due to infrastructure expansion and the Napoleonic Wars (1805–1815), which had increased the demand for food in Britain. Tillage increased to such an extent that there was only a small amount of land available to small farmers to feed themselves. The potato was adopted as a primary food source because of its quick growth in
14762-461: Was the predominant power in the world. Victorian society valued a high standard of personal conduct across all sections of society. The emphasis on morality gave impetus to social reform but also placed restrictions on certain groups' liberty. Prosperity rose during the period, but debilitating undernutrition persisted. Literacy and childhood education became near universal in Great Britain for
14884-432: Was well developed, education and the arts were mediocre. Wage rates continued to improve in the later 19th century: real wages (after taking inflation into account) were 65 per cent higher in 1901 compared to 1871. Much of the money was saved, as the number of depositors in savings banks rose from 430,000 in 1831 to 5.2 million in 1887, and their deposits from £14 million to over £90 million. Children had always played
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