Victorian Britain Became a Nation of Readers - And It Changed Everything

Victorian Britain Became a Nation of Readers - And It Changed Everything

When we think of Victorian literature, the names that usually come to mind are Charles Dickens, the Brontë sisters, Elizabeth Gaskell, George Eliot and Thomas Hardy.

But during Queen Victoria’s reign, something else was happening too. Reading was becoming part of everyday life for far more people than it had been before.

At the beginning of the Victorian period, books could still be expensive and education was far from universal. As the century went on, however, improvements in printing, growing literacy and new ways of publishing helped stories reach a much wider audience.

One of the most popular ways of doing this was to publish novels in instalments. Rather than paying for a complete novel all at once, readers could follow a story piece by piece in magazines or monthly parts.

Charles Dickens became particularly associated with this. Nicholas Nickleby, for example, was published in monthly parts between 1838 and 1839.

Imagine getting to the end of an instalment at an exciting moment and then having to wait for the next one. In some ways, it was not so different from waiting for the next episode of a television series today.

Borrowing books also became increasingly important. Commercial circulating libraries such as Mudie’s Select Library allowed subscribers to borrow books instead of buying every title they wanted to read. As the century went on, a gradually expanding network of public libraries gave more people access to books.

Education was changing as well. In England and Wales, the 1870 Education Act allowed school boards to be established in areas where there were not enough elementary school places. In 1880, school attendance became compulsory for children aged five to ten.

By the later Victorian period, literacy had risen considerably compared with earlier generations.

And there was no shortage of material waiting for them.

Victorian novels explored poverty, industrialisation, marriage, crime, class, childhood and many of the enormous social changes happening around them. Newspapers and magazines became increasingly important too, while cheaper fiction brought adventure, mystery and sensational stories to an ever wider audience.

What I find especially interesting is that the Victorians did not simply produce some of the most famous writers in British history.

They also helped create a culture in which reading became part of life.

☕ Have a cuppa and let’s discover history together.

If you had lived in Victorian Britain, which author would you have wanted to read as their stories were first being published?

Image: Reading Room of the British Museum, London, 1859. Wood engraving. Library of Congress. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. 

The Occupation Was Over - And the Occupiers Became Prisoners

The Occupation Was Over - And the Occupiers Became Prisoners

For nearly five years, German troops had controlled the Channel Islands.

By May 1945, that was finally coming to an end.

On the 8th of May 1945, Islanders gathered around radios and in public places to hear Winston Churchill announce the end of the war in Europe, including the news that the Channel Islands were to be freed.

On the 9th of May, the formal surrender of Jersey took place aboard HMS Beagle. British forces began arriving, Union flags appeared again and crowds filled the streets.

For the Islanders, liberation had finally arrived.

For the German servicemen who surrendered, their situation had changed completely.

They were now prisoners of war.

By the 12th of May, photographs show German prisoners being taken from Jersey to vessels that would carry them to captivity in England. Others remained temporarily in the islands under British supervision.

There was still a huge amount of work to be done.

Years of occupation had left fortifications, weapons, ammunition, beach defences and extensive minefields that now had to be made safe or cleared.

German prisoners were among those put to work dealing with what the occupation had left behind.

In Guernsey, photographs taken shortly after liberation show German prisoners involved in mine-clearance work.

Their presence did not disappear within a few weeks either.

Records from Jersey show German POW labour was still being organised during 1946 as the island continued its post-war recovery. One particularly unusual record from June 1946 shows German prisoners being retained for work connected with controlling the Colorado beetle.

It is one of those small details that makes the end of the occupation feel much more complicated than simply saying the war was over.

Crowds welcome British forces in St Peter Port, Guernsey, 10th May 1945.

Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

For years, these men had belonged to the occupying forces.

Now they were disarmed, guarded and waiting to find out what would happen to them next.

I think this is a good place to finish my Channel Islands series for now, because what happened to those surrendered soldiers leads directly into something I want to look at next.

Prisoners of war.

British servicemen held abroad. German prisoners brought to Britain. The camps they lived in, the work they carried out, the rules they lived under and what happened when the fighting finally stopped.

☕ Have a cuppa and let’s discover history together.

German representatives meet British officers aboard HMS Bulldog during the surrender of the Channel Islands, May 1945.

Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

The Armada Set Sail - And Almost Immediately Things Began to Go Wrong

The Armada Set Sail - And Almost Immediately Things Began to Go Wrong

By the spring of 1588, England knew that an invasion was coming. Across the sea, Philip II of Spain had assembled one of the largest fleets Europe had seen.

The plan was complicated. The Armada was to sail through the English Channel, link up with the Duke of Parma’s army in the Low Countries and help secure its crossing to England.

In May 1588, the fleet began leaving Lisbon.

Around 130 ships carried thousands of sailors and soldiers under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia, but the voyage did not begin smoothly.

Bad weather and other difficulties disrupted the fleet, and the Armada was forced to put into Corunna before continuing. The stop gave the fleet time to regroup and refresh its water supplies before attempting the voyage again.

Eventually, the Armada sailed again and entered the English Channel in July.

On the 19th of July, using the English calendar then in use, it was sighted near the Lizard, off the coast of Cornwall.

Tradition says that Francis Drake was playing bowls on Plymouth Hoe when news arrived and insisted there was still time to finish the game before taking to sea.

It is a wonderful story, although exactly what happened is uncertain.

The English fleet began working its way out of Plymouth. Once at sea, Howard and his commanders manoeuvred to gain the windward position before beginning their pursuit of the Armada up the Channel.

The Spanish ships sailed in their famous crescent-shaped formation, with stronger vessels helping to protect the rest of the fleet. It was designed to make it difficult for the English to break through and attack the more vulnerable ships.

The English, however, did not want to fight the kind of battle the Spanish expected. They used their manoeuvrability and their position to windward to attack with gunfire while avoiding, where possible, the close fighting and boarding actions that would favour the Spanish.

There were several clashes as the Armada moved eastwards, but the English had not yet stopped it.

In fact, despite the fighting, Medina Sidonia eventually reached Calais with much of his fleet still intact.

Philip II’s invasion plan was still alive, but it depended on the Armada making contact with Parma and enabling his army to cross safely from the Low Countries.

Coordinating that crossing was proving far more difficult than Philip’s plan had allowed for.

Next: The English Attacked the Armada - But They Still Hadn’t Stopped the Invasion.

Had you been standing on the English coast watching that huge fleet approaching, would you have believed England could stop it?

Image: English Ships and the Spanish Armada, August 1588, anonymous English School, 16th century. Royal Museums Greenwich. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

They Had Lived in the Islands for Years - Then They Were Given Hours to Leave

They Had Lived in the Islands for Years - Then They Were Given Hours to Leave

Over the past few posts, I have been looking at what everyday life became like in the occupied Channel Islands - the restrictions, the shortages and the quieter forms of resistance.

But in 1942, something happened that must have brought home just how little control some islanders now had over their own lives.

They were ordered to leave.

In September 1942, the German authorities began deporting British civilians from the Channel Islands to internment camps in Germany.

It was largely an act of retaliation. German civilians working in British-occupied Iran had been detained and deported to Australia, and Hitler ordered the deportation of British residents of the Channel Islands in response.

In Jersey, the deportation order arrived on the 15th of September 1942. It applied to certain British residents who were not permanent residents of Jersey or who had not been born there, along with members of their families.

For some, the warning was frighteningly short.

Many had less than 12 hours to make arrangements for their homes, possessions and businesses.

Among those affected was Nellie May Faulder. Nellie had been born in Jersey, but her husband Robert had been born in London. Under the deportation rules, that meant the couple were liable to be sent away.

On the 18th of September 1942, Nellie and Robert were deported to Germany.

Channel Islanders would eventually find themselves in civilian internment camps including Biberach, Wurzach, Laufen and Dorsten.

Many had made their lives there. They had homes, neighbours, jobs and friends - and suddenly they were being taken hundreds of miles away into an uncertain future.

As people were taken away from Jersey, crowds gathered to see them leave. On one occasion, patriotic singing broke out between those standing on shore and those being carried away.

Further deportations followed in 1943.

For those left behind, occupation had already meant living with rules imposed by someone else.

Now it also meant watching friends and neighbours disappear.

Can you imagine being told that within hours you had to leave your home, not knowing when - or even if - you would see it again?

If you would like to read more about what happened to the deportees and what life was really like inside the internment camps, I’ll be sharing a much longer version of their story with my subscribers.

Have a cuppa and let’s discover history together.

Image: German deportation notice issued in Jersey, 15 September 1942. Wikimedia Commons - Public Domain.

William Had Won at Hastings - But England Had Not Surrendered

William Had Won at Hastings - But England Had Not Surrendered

On the 14th of October 1066, Harold Godwinson was dead and his army had been defeated at the Battle of Hastings.

But William of Normandy was still not King of England.

Winning the battle had removed Harold, but William still had to secure recognition as England’s king.

In London, the English did not immediately surrender.

With Harold dead, leading figures turned to Edgar Ætheling. The young grandson of Edmund Ironside was chosen as king, although he was never crowned.

Edgar was probably only in his early teens and had little military experience, while William had an experienced army already operating in the south.

William took Dover, where the town was burned and fortifications were established. From there, he moved on through Canterbury, but London itself was not yet his.

After encountering resistance at Southwark, William turned west and began a much wider march around London.

His army devastated areas of the countryside as it went, increasing the pressure on those still considering resistance.

William eventually crossed the Thames at Wallingford.

By then, Edgar’s position was becoming increasingly difficult. William had survived Hastings, secured important territory and shown that his army was prepared to continue the campaign.

According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Edgar Ætheling, Archbishop Ealdred of York and the powerful earls Edwin and Morcar were among those who submitted to William at Berkhamsted.

After the submission there, the way was open for William to enter London and prepare for his coronation.

Less than three months after landing in England, he had gone from Norman duke and claimant to the throne to the man preparing to be crowned King of England.

But even his coronation would not go entirely according to plan.

It took place on Christmas Day 1066, and what happened outside Westminster Abbey during the ceremony caused panic inside.

Do you think things might have been different if Edgar Ætheling had been crowned immediately after Hastings?

Image: William the Conqueror depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry, 11th century. Public domain/CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The War Was Almost Over - But the Channel Islands Were Still Occupied

The War Was Almost Over - But the Channel Islands Were Still Occupied

By the beginning of 1945, people in the Channel Islands could see that the war was moving towards its end.

But for them, occupation was not over.

The Allied landings in Normandy on the 6th of June 1944 had eventually cut the islands off from their main supply routes through France. By the winter, food, fuel and other essentials had become desperately scarce.

Then, on the 31st of December 1944, the Red Cross ship Vega arrived in Jersey carrying badly needed relief supplies for civilians.

The parcels made an enormous difference. They contained food such as tinned meat, milk powder, chocolate, biscuits, sugar and other items that had become almost impossible to obtain locally.

But the arrival of the Vega did not mean normal life had returned.

Gas and electricity had failed, fuel remained desperately scarce, and people were exhausted after more than four years of occupation. The German garrison was also increasingly isolated from the rest of Europe.

News was still getting through. Islanders who had managed to hide wireless sets continued listening secretly to the BBC and passing on what they heard. Germany was being pushed back, and as Allied armies advanced further into Europe, there must have been a growing feeling that the occupation could not last forever.

There was still one enormous question.

How would it actually end?

The Channel Islands had been heavily fortified as part of the Atlantic Wall, and thousands of German troops still remained. Liberation might have been getting closer, but there was no guarantee that the occupying forces would simply surrender when the time came.

For the people of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney and Sark, the final months of the war became a strange period of waiting. After nearly five years of occupation, freedom finally seemed close enough to imagine, but nobody yet knew exactly when it would come.

Next, I want to look at the extraordinary final days of the occupation and how the German surrender of the Channel Islands actually happened.

Can you imagine knowing the war was almost over, but still having no idea when your own freedom would come?

Image: German occupation fortifications at Noirmont, Jersey. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Some Victorian Children Were Too Poor Even for School - And Ragged Schools Tried to Reach Them

Some Victorian Children Were Too Poor Even for School - And Ragged Schools Tried to Reach Them

For many poor children in Victorian England, going to school was not a matter of just turning up each morning.

Some had no suitable clothes. Some had no shoes. Others spent their days working, begging or trying to find enough food to survive.

Ragged schools developed to provide free education for children living in severe poverty who might otherwise receive little or no schooling. Some also provided food, clothing and practical training as well as lessons.

In 1849, Lord Ashley - later the Earl of Shaftesbury and one of the movement’s strongest supporters - described an investigation involving 33 young people living in extreme poverty in London.

Twenty-four had no parents. Twenty had no shirts. Nine had no shoes. Some had already been imprisoned. When Ashley privately questioned several of them, they admitted surviving through begging and stealing, with picking up old bones providing their only legitimate way of earning a penny.

Ragged schools were deliberately established in some of the poorest districts, where they tried to reach children who were unlikely to receive an education elsewhere.

Lessons could include reading, writing, arithmetic and religious instruction. Some schools also taught practical skills such as tailoring or shoemaking, particularly for children who needed a way of earning a living.

Evening classes were particularly important because many of the children spent their days working, begging or simply trying to survive.

These schools were not a complete answer to Victorian poverty, but they filled an important gap. When the ragged-school movement expanded during the 1840s and 1850s, England and Wales still had no national system of compulsory elementary education.

By the 1860s, Parliament was openly discussing the work being done by ragged schools in places including London, Manchester and Salford. In 1869, more than 10,000 children in Manchester and Salford were described in Parliament as regularly attending them.

What stays with me is that Ashley’s evidence described children who had already been repeatedly imprisoned, while elsewhere in the same evidence he described destitute youngsters who could not even read or write.

The ragged schools could not change every part of their lives, but for many children they offered something they had previously been denied - an education.

Had you heard of Victorian ragged schools before?

Image: The Lambeth “Ragged School” (Boys), London, wood engraving published in The Illustrated London News, 11th April 1846. Public domain. Courtesy of the Library of Congress, via Wikimedia Commons