The Victorian Era

The Victorian Period was the period of Queen Victoria's reign between 1837 and 1901. The  period was one of huge industrial and technological change, divisions between rich and poor, crimes, entertainments for the masses, and an attempts to combat squalor and disease.

Health:

 
In the Victorian era middle class men had a life expectancy of 45 on average. Workmen and labourers  often spanned just half that time. Children were lucky to survive their fifth birthdays. This life expectancy is because of the lower standards of living compared to present day and the high number of deadly diseases roaming around. Diseases such as cholera, smallpox, tuberculosis and syphilis were common among folk in the Victorian period. Childbirth also was a potentially dangerous occurrence. However, during this time the medical practices were generally quite good considering the circumstances.

The Great Exhibition:

This event took place in 1851 at the Crystal Palace, Prince Albert wanted to show the industrial wonders of the world. Liza Picard gave this description of the palace "Glittering among the trees was a palace made of glass, like something out of the Arabian Nights. It was as tall as the trees, indeed taller, because the building arched over two of them already growing there, as if, like giant plants in a glasshouse, they had been transplanted with no disturbance to their roots. A shower of rain washed the dust from the glass, and made it glitter all the more. Nothing like this had been seen in London, ever. It was the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations. The Great Exhibition was the brain-child of Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert. Britain was at peace." Examples of some of the industrial wonders on offer were printing machine, cigarette machine and folding pianos.

Travel, transport and communication: During the Victorian Era, the railway network became a great force for British trade, aided by over 7,000 miles of rail track in England and Scotland. Major cities were now connected via the railway such as Birmingham and Manchester. It allowed news to be spread around quicker and for goods to be passed around, providing a better life for British citizens. Moreover roads were equipped with turnpikes which meant those using the roads had to pay a fee and canals were still used for important matters rather than just for those who actually own a canal boat.In 1863, the London Underground was built connecting Paddington to Farringdon Street, to bypass the chaos above, this network has been expanded and still remains, therefore proving it was an invention that was so successful that it remains today.
















Along the rail lines, led telephone wires which was then placed submarine, allowing communication to take place in the British empire. This could link to the Substratum theory.
When Queen Victoria pressed a button in the telegraph room in Buckingham Palace, on 22 June 1897, to send her Diamond Jubilee message ‘Thank my beloved people. May God bless them’ she was speaking to nearly a quarter of the population of the earth because of the communication technology present.

 Culture:

 Entertainment in Victorian Britain was very accessible to the people. Massive crowds always gather to any social/entertainment events that were put on such as street artists, Gulliver's circus and events at the crystal palace.

Inventions:

Cameras
Tarmac
Sewing Machine
Christmas Card
Underground
Type Writer
Telephone
Light bulb
X-ray

As seen by the list of inventions, there was plenty of opportunity for new words to be created and inventions allowed language to come into contact to each other.