Victorian Britain lesson 1 week 2

Poor children often had to work to earn money for their family. As a result, many could not go to school. 

Victorian children did not have as many toys and clothes as children do today and many of them were homemade. 

Many children died from illnesses such as cholera, measles and scarlet fever. Babies in over-crowded and damp housing were the most at risk from diarrhoea and tuberculosis.

 Orphans who could not find a place in an orphanage sometimes had to live on the streets or in workhouses. Workhouses provided food and shelter in return for hard, unpleasant work. Conditions were very harsh and people would only go to workhouses as a last resort.

It was common for poor families to pawn their Sunday best clothes on a Monday morning. They would then collect the clothes on a Saturday, which was payday, so they could wear them again on Sunday.

Poorer children often wore patched and mended clothes that had been bought second-hand or passed down through the family.

Poor children often made their own toys such as rag balls or, if they were lucky, bought cheap penny toys.

Poor children would sell these on the street to make money.