Professor McGinty visited the time of the victorians in 1880
By then, children had gained a lot more rights than in previous years
Before the government had realised the poor treatment of children, they were subjected to awful,
and sometimes life threatening, working conditions
They were forced up chimneys to clean them, they worked down coal mines and in brick factories,
and wouldn't be able to go to school
Once they could go to school, in the early days they weren't much better off.
They were often beaten for the most minor of offences. Such as -
Eventually, school began to look more like the schools that you see today,
although you would have to write using slate and chalk,or ink pens and copy books,
instead of luxuries that we have today like computers and biros.
Find the words in the following Wordsearch and ring them with your pen
A small child would have been used to sweep one of these _ _ _ _ _ _ _
This mode of transport carried lots of people along tracks _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
The Queen _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Her husband's name _ _ _ _ _ _
A large building where poor people or orphans would go to stay and work _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Young children would work all day underground digging this _ _ _ _
There was a great one of these in 1851 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
From 1852 you would have put your post into one of these _ _ _ _ _ _ _
A famous stamp that is quite valuable today and is definitely not white _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
One penny could by a loaf of _ _ _ _ _
Women were not allowed to do this until the suffragettes protested _ _ _ _
In most houses, all of the cooking would have taken place in one room around a _ _ _ _ _
The whole family would use the water in one of these and by the time it was your
Turn you wouldn't want to have one _ _ _ _
Thieves would pick one of these _ _ _ _ _ _
In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell invented this _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
It was only proper to wear one of these on your head when going out _ _ _
C.D. players were not around in Victorian times but you could play music on a _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
The Victorian era was from 1837 to 1901 and is called Victorian because
the queen at that time was Queen Victoria
Along with her husband, Albert, she reigned the country at a time of great change
During those years, a lot of things changed that we take for granted today.
Electricity in our homes, the postal system where you could send a letter for one penny,
motor cars started to appear and steam trains could take you almost anywhere.
Inventions were all over the place.
Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephoneand the gramophone,
Louis Pasteur invented antiseptic, Samuel Morse invented the
morse code, James Watt invented the steam engine, tinned food was created
and eventennis was invented.
A lot of inventions didn't quite make it and seem very strange to us today.
Inventions such as moustache curlers are not really to be found in the shops.
Try and think of your own invention that could help you in your everyday life.
It could be a lunchbox carrier or a motorised teacher.
Have a go at drawing the plans for your invention.
Maybe you can try and make it as well!
During Victoria 's reign, the world became aware of the terrible way that working
class children and women were being treated in their work and where they lived.
The rich people lived very well and the poor people lived very poorly.
Until about a hundred years ago, children were sent up chimneys to
clean them, and a lot of them died up there.
Children worked long hours in coal-mines and a young girl would have to move
about thirty six tons of bricks a day to be paid a very small amount indeed.
A lot of poor people couldn't afford to send their children to school
because they needed the money that they were bringing into the family.
People who couldn't afford to live in a house ended up in a horrible place
called the 'Workhouse'.
Husbands and wives would never see each other and they would have to eat
revolting food and do horrible work such as making rope out of Hessian
(very painful on the fingers)
Gradually the richer classes became aware of the poor conditions that existed and
people such as Dr. Barnardo took it upon themselves to do something about it.
He created children's homes and orphanages.
Affordable schooling was also created so that everybody could have an education.
Imagine what the inside of a workhouse looked like and draw a picture of it.
It would have been very dirty and I doubt that anybody would be smiling!
In 1851 a huge display of ideas, inventions and industry was put on
at a placecalled Crystal Palace , in London .
It was called the great exhibition and gave Britain a chance
to show the restof the world what it had to offer.
Posters would have been everywhere advertising inventions and ideasand in later
years, when people saw a poster for something like the telephone, they
probably thought that it was a stupid idea and that it would never catch on.
Design a poster for your invention or an invention from Victorian times.
Remember that people wouldn't know what a telephone did
so you would have to explain it carefully.
See if your classmates would like to buy your invention!
The Victorian street would have been full of people. Poor 'Street Arabs' or
'Urchins'would probably pick your pocket if you weren't too careful.
Street sellers shouting things like "milko-penny a pint" and "muffins for sale ".
There would have been cobbled streets and children playing in the gutters.
Rich people in their carriages and poorer ones on the horse drawn trams
that were around in the later years.
With all the industry and business there must have been a lot of pollution
and the streets must have been very filthy.
Women called 'suffragettes' may have been protesting to let women be allowed to
vote and most people would be wearing hats as this was the fashion at the time.
Imagine that you lived in Victorian times and you have an adventure.
You can think of all the colourful characters
That you might meet on your travels.
You could also draw a picture of yourself with some other Victorians.
Why not take a look at some of the other places that Professor McGinty has visited
Maybe you could have a go at some of those activities?
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