nburwell

I have both a short story and novel that are going to take place in the Victorian Era (1837- 1901). The short story takes place around 1845 and the novel takes place in the late Victorian Era. I am looking for resources, especially for the early Victorian Era, which have been difficult to find.

Books, especially, are on the top of my list, as well as websites and articles. I am looking for resources that describe how people lived, the economy, and the general atmosphere of England at the time. I want to be able to give an accurate feel for people when they read my stories. I am watching movies and reading books that are set at the time so that I can get a feel for how people spoke.

Any other suggestions of what I should research would be appreciated as well.

Thank you,
Natalie

lilacstarflower

How about a general overview for starters:

Victorian Social History: An Overview

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nburwell

I've got Victorian Web bookmarked, it's one of my favorites, thanks

~Natalie

Rowan Hart

A.J.P. Taylor used to be nfluential as a writer on Victorian social, political and economic issues - at least when I studied history in the time before the internet.

For the short story in 1845, Robert Peel is the Prime Minister, the one who formed the Police Force ( peelers ) to replace the Bow street runners etc. There had been one major political reform act ( 1832, I think ) which gave some of the middle classes the vote. The factory reform acts were the political hot potato of the day and of course, Queen Victoria was the monarch, married to Albert and popping out European heirs like she had nothing better to do.

I think it was robert Peel....starting to doubt myself now! Some Tory P.M. anyway.



For the later Victorian period, A.J.P.Taylor again and he puts England into the European framework also. More Education reform, political reform - the real big issue as the lower middle classes and the working classes were given the vote. Gladstone and Disrali are the Liberal/Tory P.M's who dominated the period after the Crimean war. The scramble for Africa, Indian mutiny, War with China, Hong Kong and gunboat diplomacy, peace, retrenchment and reform are all political components of the late Victorian period. Later as the century turns there is the Boar war and the Entente cordial/triple entente ( and I forgot the Zulu wars during the 80's - I think )


Hope that's gven you a few ideas for research. Keep sayng this, but take a trip to the archive office as we'll be able to photocopy original documents if you want. There's a census every 10 years starting from 1801, and you'd be amazed what information you can get from one of those!

Mark Carter

Well, a general web search will pull up several good Victorian sites and I'm sure you've already done that. You might also try a search at Project Gutenberg (Main Page - Gutenberg) Obviously, use keywords like Victorian, or just browse some of their titles. They have a lot of odd and obscure nonfiction books, historical works and collections of letters from various eras. You might be surprised. It's also nice to have these book as E-text because you can save them and use the "search" feature to find key points you're interested in instead of reading the whole book. You'll also find lots of fiction from the Victorian era there and you can download it for free.