Victorian times refers to the time when Queen Victoria was on the throne of Britain and the British Empire - 1831-1901.
Victorian times does not mean the same as the Industrial Revolution, as some people incorrectly say. In fact, the Industrial Revolution was largely over before Victoria came to the throne So, for example, the railways were not invented in Victorian times. They were already in place, even though not much had happened. Factories already existed before Victorian times, and conditions in them were horrible. They were not invented in Victorian times. Canals were already built before Victorian times, and Britain, through its empire, was becoming more prosperous.
What Victorian times is all about is taking the industries that had already started and making them happen on a large scale. So the Victorians extended the railway so that is covered the country. They made bigger factories that produced more goods. And, like other generations, they invented many things, such as steel-making, motor cars and the telephone. They were also about the seaside and giving people at least a few days off each year. They introduced the music hall, better standards for houses, clean piped water and sewerage, gas lighting and eventually electricity. They were also about religion.
But Victorians were about something quite different as well. They were about orderliness. Victorians were about people knowing their place and behaving accordingly. They were about working hard and learning. The Victorians also worried about illness, the poor, learning and health. Of course, things are better today. But that is because we are 100 and more years on. Many Victorians did their best to make life for everyone better. Theirs were the first steps. We carry on trying today.
At the start of Victorian times the city had not spread out very far. Public transport almost did not exist. Then came the railway. It meant that people could live farther from their work– a train stop or two – and this allowed the city to spread out from the cramped centre. So while the inner city was crammed with tenements of the poor, the outer parts of the city could be designed as leafy areas – so long as they were within walking distance of a train station.
With people spreading out in a city, there was a need for shops in each part. It was at this time that the corner shop developed. You have to remember that most people were paid weekly and so they bought small amounts of food and other necessities until their money ran out. Also, there was no way of keeping perishable food fresh, and so food had to be bought daily. The corner shop was therefore a general store on a small scale.
For things that people needed less often, a new kind of shop developed. It was aimed at the middle classes and these shops spread out from the city railway station to make a shopping street. Some of the more elaborate became covered markets and covered arcades. You still find them in many cities. But, all the same, they were not self-service shops that we know today. Each shop was staffed by a large number of assistants. There was even a person, called a floorwalker, whose job was to greet customers, find out what they wanted and take them to the right counter where they would be served by assistants. Senior assistants served first, then less senior if the senior was busy. It was all very orderly.
