A Study In The Edwardian Era An Introduction study one

Downton Abbey is one of my favourite series, based largely on real history, which makes it all the more interesting. The Era portrayed is the link between our "modern" world and the Victorian world, which was such a different time when compared to the one we live today. The Edwardian Era was one of invention and change, a time when the lives of every-one, upper class and lower class, changed forever. The fashion, especially for women, became very "sensible" --- long flowing skirts, stopping just above the ankle and tailored jackets. It became possible for women to dress themselves instead of always relying on a ladies maid or each other --- much more practical. Out of all the "Fashions" in history, this, the Edwardian Era, is my favourite. The long flowing skirt, beautifully decorated evening dresses and the ability to dye with such lovely colours. The dress became very practical, even before The Great War.

The reality of an upper class and lower class was very evident! However "strange" it seems to us it was the only life people knew back then. If you were fortunate enough to be born into gentry, it would seem like a life of ease and being waited on, having servants to cook, help dress, clean the house, and so on. Although the truth may have been a little different, as the series portrays. The other side of life --- the emotions, status, "one's duty" --- may have been different. A daughter had no claim to her father's estate, as laid down in the Law of the time, and she quite often had to marry because of position, it was 'rare' to marry for love. How many lives of the upper class were truly happy? They lived according to manners, position, and the like. We can only 'imagine' their feelings, thoughts and plans. The daughters were raised to do charitable works, get married and have children --- "an heir and a spare". Paid employment just did not exist for the ladies of the gentry. That is until The Great War! Princesses learnt to work as nurses in the war hospitals, and the ladies followed their example. Today, it is quite normal for a Princess to be in paid employment. Perhaps we are freer to choose our lives today.

 When Lady Sybil decided to train as a nurse because she wanted to help with the War effort, it was interesting to watch as the Lady learnt 'to make a cup of tea', make her own bed, do her own hair. I can only imagine Lady Sybil's nervousness in leaving home and staying at the Nurses College with complete strangers from all walks of life, also the excitement of 'complete' freedom. As the old dowager said:"Pack things that Sybil can get in and out of without a maid!" --- Lady Sybil was on her own now!

"Madame Fashion" --- The Victorian Era

The fashion belonging to the Victorian Era did make women look beautiful but --- was the dress really practical ?

For the rich young lady, who  never worked, this style of dress was perfect for just "sitting pretty." For the poorer woman who had to work in order to live everyday, this style of dress must have been very difficult to live and work in.
As in other Eras, the fashion became extreme. By the end of the decade, the crinoline-supported skirts were truly prodigious, until it was impossible for two women to enter the room together or sit on the same sofa, for the frills of one dress took up all available space.

In 1851, Mrs Bloom came to England (from America) to try to induce women to adopt her sensible and feminine costume. This was a bold attempt to dress in trousers but it would be many years before this style of women's clothing was accepted.

Style changed slowly from the circle crinoline to the bustle --- which was a dress that went straight down in the front and came out (the bustle) at the back. Evening dress became very low in the bosom. The fabrics (at least for the upper classes) were rich (silks and satins) and beautiful --- the dress was cut to fit the body. At this time, the corset became very extreme, travelling over the hips and down the legs, to get the 'hour-glass' figure. The bustle eventually disappeared and the train, of even the day dress, became extremely long. Again, movement became difficult but the effect was beautiful.
It was at this time that fashion divided into two =
1/ Madame Fashion --- those who followed the Parisian styles, wearing corset, bustle, etc.
2/ The Aesthetic costume --- those who wore no corset and much looser clothes.
The two looked so different and yet the second became more accepted and more practical, especially as women became more active.

CONCLUSION --- THE VICTORIAN ERA

                                               So, "could I have lived in the Victorian Era ?"
The honest answer is "yes" but I'm not sure I would have wanted to or liked to. Even though it was an extremely exciting time in which to live with regards to the many new inventions, for those born into poverty, it was one of the worst times in which to live, with the slums and the Poor Houses. It was at this time that many of the New Laws were first introduced in order to help the poorest of people, yet the application of these Laws were very slow.
However, with the invention of the "Photograph", this Era come to life like no Era before it !

QUEEN VICTORIA 1837-1901

Alexandrina Victoria was born in 1819 to Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, fourth son of King George III, and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfield. This little Princess lost her father in 1820 and was raised under the close supervision of her German-born mother. Victoria inherited the throne when she was eighteen years old and married her first cousin, Prince Albert Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in 1840. They had nine children, each one of them marrying into Royal and Noble families.
So much has been written with regards to this well-loved Queen, that I was quite at a loss as to know what to write. Reading through the many history books about Queen Victoria, what stood out was her character and sheer resolve to do the right thing for her country. A quote made by Queen Victoria on the very night that she was informed that she was now the Queen of England, puts us in no doubt as to the state of this young woman's mind :
"Since it has pleased Providence to place me in this station, I shall do my utmost to fulfill my duty towards my country; I am very young and perhaps in many, though not in all things, inexperienced, but I am sure, that very few have more real good will and more desire to do what is fit and right than I have."
We have to remember that Victoria was only a young woman of eighteen years old when she spoke these words.

Rather than re-write the many history books found in the library about this remarkable Queen, I strongly recommend a read of some, if not all, of them. We see a ruly passionate Queen who loved her husband dearly and "did her duty !" by having nine living children. During Queen Victoria's life-time, so much changed in all areas of life that life would never be the same again and yet, it really did bring us closer to the life we know today.

The Victorian Era Study Six

The world's oldest Tennis Tournament, the Wimbledon Championships, were first played in London in 1877.

The first football league was established in 1888. Cricket, Croquet, Horse-riding and water activities are examples of some of the popular sports in this Era.

During Queen Victoria's reign, medicine moved forward ! In 1846 anaesthetics started to be used. In 1847 chloroform was introduced as an anaestheitic and was favoured by doctors and hospital staff because it is less flammable than ether. Queen Victoria was given chloroform for the birth of Prince Leopold, her eight child. Antiseptics was introduced in 1867 in the form of carbolic acid (phenol). Joseph Lister (who first used antiseptics) instructed the hospital staff (he worked with) to wear gloves and to wash their hands, as well as the instruments and dressings, with a Phenol solution. In 1809, he invented a machine that would spray carbolic acid in the operating theatre during surgery.
 

The Victorian Era Study Five

With the amazing improvements within the railway services, visits to the seaside became popular and fishing villages such as Worthing, Brighton and Scarborough (to name only three) began turning into major tourist centres. All of this was helped by the Bank Holiday Act of 1871, which created a number of fixed holidays. Thomas Cook (1808-1892) took advantage of this opportunity and his company still survives today in 2016.

 Communication improved at a rapid pace during the Victorian Era, as did travel. The Penny Black, the first postage stamp, standardized postage to a flat price regardless of distance sent. Electric power, the telegraph and telephones all started to make an appearance on the Victorian scene. By 1889, hand-held cameras were available.
A great engineering feat in the Victorian Era was the sewage system in London. During the same period, London's water supply network was expanded and improved. In the 1880's, a gas network for lighting and heating was introduced.

  At this time science grew into the discipline it is today with the now famous theory of evolution by Charles Darwin, in his book "On The Origin Of Species", first published in 1859.

The Victorian Era Study Four

In the Victorian Era, English family life increasingly became compartmentalized, the home a self-contained structure housing a nuclear family extended according to need and circumstance to include blood relations. The concept of "privacy" became a hallmark of the middle class life.

The Entertainment varied according to social class. Literature was as popular as ever, with the well-known authors such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Charles Dickens and the Bronte Sisters.
Music was also very popular and even today, we can still enjoy the fourteen comic operas by Gilbert and Sullivan. Brass bands and "The Bandstand" became extremely popular at this time. It was common to hear the sound of a brass band whilst strolling through parklands. It was in this Era that the British Circus came into its own. An unusual form of 'Entertainment' involved "Spectacles" where paranormal events, such as mesmerism, mediumship, ghost conjuring and the like, were carried out to the delights of the crowds and participants.

Specialist hobbies, such as the study of birds, butterflies, seashells and wild flowers, became popular. Natural history was being looked into. Amateur collectors and natural history entrepreneurs played an important role in building the large collections of the 19th Century and early 20th Century.

A FEW FACTS From The Victorian Era Study Three

Two important figures of this Era are the Prime Ministers Gladstone and Disraeli, whose contrasting views changed the course of English history. Disraeli, who was favoured by Queen Victoria, was a gregarious Tory. The rival, Gladstone, a Liberal distrusted by Queen Victoria, served more terms and oversaw much of the overall legislative development of the Era.

Two major factors that affected the population groups are fertility rates and mortality rates.

 The Industrial Revolution had a positive impact on living standards. The people had more money and could improve their standards ; therefore, a population increase was sustainable. With improving living standards, the percentage of women who were able to have children increased. Also, the greater prosperity allowed people to finance marriage and new households earlier than previously possible. With more births within marriage, marriage rates and birth rates rose together.
Class had a significant effect on mortality rates as the upper classes had a lower rate of premature death early in the 19th century than the poorer classes did. Environmental and health standards rose throughout the Victorian Era, improvements in nutrition may also have played a role. Sewage works were improved as was the quality of drinking water. With a healthier environment, diseases were caught less easily and did not spread as much. Technology was also improving, (for example, techniques to prevent death in childbirth so more women and children survived), which also led to a greater number of cures for diseases.

Gothic Revival Architecture became increasingly significant during this period. The critic John Ruskin supported this Gothic Revival, and he argued that it epitomized communal and inclusive social values.

We cannot talk of the Victorian Era without mentioning The Great Exhibition of 1851, the first World's Fair, which show-cased the greatest innovations of the century. At its centre was the Crystal Palace, a modular glass and iron structure. Photography was showed-cased at The Great Exhibition.

The Victorian Prostitute

A shocking reality of the Victorian Era is the fact that there were thousands of women who were prostitutes --- in London alone! Many of these women were very "matter of fact" about prostitution and, with it being a better paid profession than many others, would save the money so that they could  "move on" to a better life, a little like a stepping-stone. It was not unheard of for a young women to leave domestic service, 'walk the streets' to save money and to see life, and then with their saved money, became the landlady of some coffee house. This life seemed completely normal and was accepted in certain classes of life. Or the well-born young woman who became a governess, lost her position for some reason and then she would end up on the streets.

There were, of course, always the unfortunate who as beautiful young girls had been forced into this degrading world by cruel "chaps" or pimps as we call them. These beautiful young girls rarely lived passed a certain age and we can only guess at the horrors they succumbed to. It was interesting to note that Jack the Ripper chose prostitutes as his victims and the questions are varied and many regarding this. Was it because a great deal of women were prostitutes back then ? Or was there a more sinister reason found only in his childhood ? We may never know ! The reality is that prostitution seemed to be quite a normal part of life for many women who lived in the Victorian Era.