Life in Victorian Britain

What was daily life like for people in the Victorian era? From the slums of 19th-century London and life in the workhouse to the court of Queen Victoria and the revolution of the railways, we bring you the facts

Photograph of Mrs Beeton bracing herself against a chair while wearing a long, dark-coloured gown

The secret life of Mrs Beeton: 10 pieces of life advice from her famous Book of Household Management

Residents of a London workhouse drinking beer at rows of tables

How gruelling was the Victorian workhouse?

Kennel Special

The surprising history of Victorian dog shows

Life in the workhouse podcast with Peter Higginbotham

Life in the workhouse: everything you wanted to know

At dinner, St Marylebone Workhouse, London, c1901 (1903)

The rise and fall of the workhouse

The Irregulars. From left to right: Prince Leopold (Harrison Osterfield), Jessie (Darci Shaw), Bea(Thaddea Graham), Spike (McKell David), and Billy (Jojo Macari)

The Irregulars: the real history behind Netflix’s supernatural Sherlock spinoff

The 'Iron Duke' steam locomotive with railway workers

The history of railways in Britain: from the first steam trains to the rail revolution

Victorian surgeon Robert Liston during an operation

An appointment at the house of death: the horror of the early Victorian hospital

Charles Dickens used his novels as a platform from which to attack the injustices that he believed blighted 19th-century Britain. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)

Charles Dickens: prison reformer, scourge of capitalists, champion of the poor

Workers repair Fleet sewer in 1854. London’s creaking sewer network sparked anxieties over what lay beneath the sprawling capital. (Photo by Guildhall Library & Art Gallery/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Living in fear: the dangers of Victorian London

Three medieval carol singers, image dated 1911. (Photo by Chronicle/Alamy Stock Photo)

Christmas carols: the history behind 9 festive favourites

Roman toilet

Tales of the toilet: a historical A–Z

Bill Nighy and Olivia Cooke in 'The Limehouse Golem'.

The real history behind Victorian thriller ‘The Limehouse Golem’

Ramshackle homes in a Newcastle slum, c1880

From riches to rags: David Olusoga reveals how Britain’s grand houses descended into Victorian slums

Historian Emma Griffin. (Photographed by Fran Monks for BBC History Magazine)

Books interview with Emma Griffin: “Looking at family life reveals a dark side to Victorian economic progress”