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

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”

Historian and author Emma Griffin (Photo by Fran Monks)

Living on the edge in Victorian Britain

Victorian family. (Photo by Sean Sexton-Getty images)

The Victorians: everything you wanted to know

Podcast-Website-large-Jane-Ridley-5edbaf2

7 podcasts about Queen Victoria and the Victorians to listen to right now

Irish people starving during the Potato Famine

The Corn Laws crisis

A portrait of Florence Nightingale

Nursing by numbers: how Florence Nightingale campaigned for better conditions

A woman in riding gear breaks out in a grin in the c1860s.

Smiling Victorians: why it’s a myth that our ancestors didn’t smile for pictures

Policemen from Scotland Yard patrolling at night

Real-life Sherlocks: the detectives of Scotland Yard and their curious cases

Midwives and babies in the sun

General Early Modern

Midwifery and childbirth: a historical A–Z guide