A significant shift in culture occurred in France and elsewhere at the beginning of the 18^th century, known as the Enlightenment, which valued reason over authority.  In France, the sphere of influence for art, culture and fashion shifted from Versailles to Paris, where the educated bourgeoisie class gained influence and power in salons and cafés.  The new fashions introduced therefore had a greater impact on society, affecting not only royalty and aristocrats, but also middle and even lower classes.  Ironically, the single most important figure to establish Rococo fashions was Louis XV’s mistress Madame Pompadour.  She adored pastel colors and the light, happy style which came to be known as Rococo, and subsequently light stripe and floral patterns became popular.  Towards the end of the period, Marie Antoinette became the leader of French fashion, as did her dressmaker Rose Bertin.  Extreme extravagance was her trademark, which ended up majorly fanning the flames of the French Revolution.

Fashion designers gained even more influence during this era, as people scrambled to be clothed in the latest styles.  Fashion magazines emerged during this era, originally aimed at intelligent readers, but quickly capturing the attention of lower classes with their colorful illustrations and up-to-date fashion news.  Even though the fashion industry was ruined temporarily in France during the Revolution, it flourished in other European countries, especially England.

During this period, a new silhouette for women was developing.  Panniers, or wide hoops worn under the skirt that extended sideways, became a staple.  Extremely wide panniers were worn to formal occasions, while smaller ones were worn in everyday settings.  Waists were tightly constricted by corsets, provided contrasts to the wide skirts.  Plunging necklines also became common.  Skirts usually opened at the front, displaying an underskirt or petticoat.  Pagoda sleeves arose about halfway through the 18^th century, which were tight from shoulder to elbow and ended with flared lace and ribbons.  There were a few main types of dresses worn during this period.  The Watteau gown had a loose back which became part of the full skirt and a tight bodice.  The robe à la française also had a tight bodice with a low-cut square neckline, usually with large ribbon bows down the front, wide panniers, and was lavishly trimmed with all manner of lace, ribbon, and flowers.  The robe à l’anglais featured a snug bodice with a full skirt worn without panniers, usually cut a bit longer in the back to form a small train, and often some type of lace kerchief was worn around the neckline.  These gowns were often worn with short, wide-lapeled jackets modeled after men’s redingotes.  Marie Antoinette introduced the chemise à la reine (pictured right), a loose white gown with a colorful silk sash around the waist.  This was considered shocking for women at first, as no corset was worn and the natural figure was apparent.  However, women seized upon this style, using it as a symbol of their increased liberation.

Women’s heels became much daintier with slimmer heels and pretty decorations.  At the beginning of the period, women wore their hair tight to the head, sometimes powdered or topped with lace kerchiefs, a stark contrast to their wide panniers.  However, hair progressively was worn higher and higher until wigs were required.  These towering tresses were elaborately curled and adorned with feathers, flowers, miniature sculptures and figures.  Hair was powdered with wheat meal and flour, which caused outrage among lower classes as the price of bread became dangerously high.

Men generally wore different variations of the habit à la française: a coat, waistcoat, and breeches.  The waistcoat was the most decorative piece, usually lavishly embroidered or displaying patterned fabrics.  Lace jabots were still worn tied around the neck.  Breeches usually stopped at the knee, with white stockings worn underneath and heeled shoes, which usually had large square buckles.  Coats were worn closer to the body and were not as skirt-like as during the Baroque era.  They were also worn more open to showcase the elaborate waistcoats.  Tricorne hats became popular during this period, often edged with braid and decorated with ostrich feathers.  Wigs were usually worn by men, preferably white.  The cadogan style of men’s hair developed and became popular during the period, with horizontal rolls of hair over the ears.  French elites and aristocrats wore particularly lavish clothing and were often referred to as “Macaronis,” as pictured in the caricature on the right.  The lower class loathed their open show of wealth when they themselves dressed in little more than rags.

Fashion played a large role in the French Revolution.  Revolutionaries characterized themselves by patriotically wearing the tricolor—red, white, and blue—on rosettes, skirts, breeches, etc.  Since most of the rebellion was accomplished by the lower class, they called themselves sans-culottes, or “without breeches,” as they wore ankle-length trousers of the working class.  This caused knee breeches to become extremely unpopular and even dangerous to wear in France.  Clothing became a matter of life or death; riots and murders could be caused simply because someone was not wearing a tricolor rosette and people wearing extravagant gowns or suits were accused of being aristocrats.

The Rococo era was defined by seemingly contrasting aspects: extravagance and a quest for simplicity, light colors and heavy materials, aristocrats and the bourgeoisie.  This culmination produced a very diverse era in fashion like none ever before.  Although this movement was largely ended with the French Revolution, its ideas and main aspects strongly affected future fashions for decades.

“In the days when women yet blushed, in the days when they desired to dissimulate this embarrassment and timidity, large fans were the fashion; they were at once both a countenance and a veil. Flirting their fans, women concealed their faces; now they blush little, fear not at all, have no care to hide themselves, and carry in consequence imperceptible fans.” …*Madame de Genlis

Carrying in left hand, open: “Come and talk to me”

Twirling it in the left hand: “We are watched”

Twirling in the right hand: “I love another”

Drawing across the cheek: “I love you”

Presented shut: “Do you love me?”

Drawing across the eyes: “I am sorry”

Letting it rest on right cheek: “Yes”

Letting it rest on left cheek: “No”

Open and shut: “You are cruel”

Dropping it: “We will be friends”

Fanning slowly: “I am married”

Fanning quickly: “I am engaged”

With handle to lips: “Kiss me”

Open wide: “Wait for me”

Carrying in right hand in front of face: “Follow me”

Placing it on left ear: “I wish to get rid of you”

Carrying it in the right hand: “You are too willing”

Drawing through the hand: “I hate you”

Placed behind head: “Don’t forget me”

With little finger extended: “Good-bye”

Quickly fanning herself: “I love you so much”

Looking closely at the painting: “I like you”

Drawing it across the forehead: “You have changed”

Resting the fan on her lips: “I don’t trust you”

Touching tip with finger: “I wish to speak with you”

Hitting her hand’s palm: “Love me”

Hitting any object: “I’m impatient”

Hiding the sunlight: “You’re ugly”

The shut fan held to the heart: “You have won my love”

Carrying in left hand in front of face: “Desirous of acquaintance”

Presenting a number of sticks, fan part opened: “At what hour?”

Threaten with the shut fan: “Do not be so imprudent”

Gazing pensively at the shut fan: “Why do you misunderstand me?”

Pressing the half-opened fan to the lips: “You may kiss me”

Clasping the hands under the open fan: “Forgive me I pray you”

Cover the left ear with the open fan: “Do not betray out secret”

Shut the fully opened fan very slowly: “I promise to marry you”

The lady appears at the balcony, slowly fanning her face, then she shuts the balcony: “I can’t go out”

If she does it excitedly, leaving the balcony open: “I’ll go out soon”

Touching the unfolded fan in the act of waving: “I long always to be near thee”

The shut fan resting on the right eye: “When may I be allowed to see you?”

Fanning herself with her left hand: “Don’t flirt with that woman”

Running her fingers through the fan’s ribs: “I want to talk to you”

Slowly fanning herself: “Don’t waste your time, I don’t care about you”

Moving her hair away from her forehead: “Don’t forget me”

Passing the fan from hand to hand: “I see that you are looking at another woman”

Carrying the fan closed and hanging from her left hand: “I’m engaged”

Carrying the fan closed and hanging from her right hand: “I want to be engaged”

Quickly and impetuously closing the fan: “I’m jealous”

Resting the fan on her heart: “My love for you is breaking my heart”

Half-opening the fan over her face: “We are being watched over”

Fans were known to the ancients, and kept the flies off Pharaoh. The Japanese, clever as always, devised the folding variety, and they became enormously popular in the Western world. Whether the thing was made of feathers, silk, or paper, the idea at first was simply to cool the person. But there was something exquisitely graceful about a beautiful lady waving her fan and, as women will, they discovered it. It was a new way to say yes, no, or maybe.

The origin of hand fans can be traced as far back as four thousand years ago in Egypt. The fan was seen as a sacred instrument, used in religious ceremonies, and as a symbol of royalty power. With the discovery of King Tutankhamun’s tomb, two elaborate fans were found in his tomb, one with a golden handle covered in ostrich feathers and the other was ebony, covered with gold and precious stones. Three thousand year old drawings still exist showing elegant Chinese ladies using fans. The ancient Greeks wrote poems of fans being the “scepters of feminine beauty” and Romans brought Greek fans back to Rome as objects of great value. Images of punk ha wallahs waving enormous branches from palm trees over the Kings and Queens of ancient civilizations also indicate the early pomp and glory of fans.

In the seventeenth century, China was importing huge quantities of exotic fans into Europe. These small utilitarian instruments could regulate ambient air temperature and provide a means of self-cooling or hide one’s temper and blushes. In addition, fans could shield the eyes from the glare of the sun, prevent an unfashionable tanning of the skin outdoors and prevent ruddy complexions arising from too vigorous a fire indoors, hence, the development of the hand-held fire screen. The eighteenth century Georgian fans represented the most exquisite objects d’art, the perfect gift for a lady of good taste, and connoisseur of the handcrafted object. Fans also had a particular place in the masquerade balls across Europe in that century, hiding the faces of their owners, as part of an elaborate ritual of flirtation.

Fan languages or “fan flirtation rules” were a way to cope with the restricting social etiquette. The main rules must have been practiced just to remember them, not to mention the young fellows who also had to learn the language of fans!

Holding a fan in the left hand signified “desired acquaintance”

Resting the fan on the right cheek meant “yes” and left cheek “no”

Twirling a fan in the left hand meant “I wish to be rid of you”

and the right hand meant “I love another”

A fan held on the left ear signified “you have changed”

Pulling a fan across the forehead meant “we are watched”,

across the eyes meant “I am sorry”

A wide open fan meant “wait for me”

Dropping a fan meant “we could be friends”

Fast fanning meant “I am married”

Swift pulling of a fan through the hand meant “I hate you”

Placing the handle of a fan to the lips meant “kiss me”

By 1865 the fan was an indispensable fashion accessory for the emergent middle classes, reaching the peak of its success in the Victorian era. Fashion dictated that all women have a fan. Like many other utilitarian objects for women, fans became works of art. The kind of fan a woman owned was based on her social status, ranging from street vendors to hand painted, mother of pearl or ivory inlaid with gold and precious jewels. This availability to all, led to an extraordinary snobbery about the fan.

Fans survived into the twentieth century but much of the past elegance, and the unspoken language of oriental mystique had fallen to the side, except in the case of postcards. Fans made one last appearance during the postcard era and then, once again, they became practical as souvenirs, advertisements (including political), decorations and friendship gifts.

A History of the Fan

A fan can be functional, used in ceremonies, a fashion statement or a means for advertising. A type of fan was used in ancient Roman, Greek, Egyptian and Chinese cultures. Some of the earliest examples include two fans discovered in Tutankhamen’s tomb when it was excavated in 1922. These early fans were single shapes fixed to a handle. The first European country to produce fans was Italy in about 1500. This was in Venice and was a result of the city being a major trading centre for the Orient to the rest of Europe.

As trade increased during the 16th century fans grew in popularity as a fashionable commodity. In the 17th century The Guild of Fan Makers was established thus acknowledging its professional status. A century later the Worshipful Company of Fan Makers formed in 1709. Until the mid 17th century fans continued to be very much a luxury item, often made from some of the most expensive materials and jewels. By the latter part of the 17th century the range of fans was increasing and France overtook Italy as the main centre for fan production. By the 18th century most countries were making fans of some kind and fan painting had become a recognised craft. Fans were now an essential fashion accessory and styles echoed other trends in fashionable dress. A decline in fan use began in the early 20th century and they became more of an advertising tool rather than a fashion accessory. However, their popularity continues in Spain, where they became part of the Spanish culture, and in hot climates for keeping cool.

Throughout their history fans have been made from a diverse range of materials. Some of the earliest Egyptian and Chinese fans were made of feathers. The peacock feather was popular because of its eye motif which was seen as a protective symbol. Colourful feathers were used for fans in the third quarter of the 19th century. During the latter part of the 19th century the neutral tones of ostrich feathers mounted on mother of pearl, ivory or tortoiseshell echoed the softer tones of their contemporary dress. 1920s fashions demanded a single ostrich plume dyed to match dress colours. Leaves of folding fans have been made of fine animal skins (including that of unborn lambs and often referred to as ‘chicken skin’), vellum, paper, lace, silk and other textiles. Vellum and ‘chicken skin’ were used mainly during the 16th and 17th centuries after which paper increased in popularity. These leaves were painted, the first printed fan dates to the 1720s. Tortoiseshell, ivory, bone, mother of pearl, metal and wood have all been used as guards and sticks. All either highly decorative: jewelled, carved, pierced, gilded, lacquered, painted, printed or simply left plain. Artificial materials have been used too. Celluloid, one of the earliest plastics was being used to imitate tortoiseshell during the late 19th century.

Styles

The most common styles of fan are folding, bris?, cockade or a simple rigid shape on a handle. A folding fan is made from a set of sticks with a pleated leaf. The two outer sticks are described as guards and they are frequently decorated. The guards and sticks are held together at the base with a rivet. Bris? fans are made from separate sticks which are linked together at the top with ribbon and the base is fixed in the same way as a folding fan. Cockade fans have a folding leaf which is designed to open into a full circle and it closes into a single guard. Decorative styles vary according to country of origin and changing taste in dress. Painted scenes, landscapes and vignettes inspired by religious and mythological subject matter ran parallel to contemporary developments in the fine and decorative arts, particularly during the 17th and 18th centuries. These earlier styles were revived again in the 19th century. Other influences include historical and cultural events. The excavations of Herculaneum and Pompeii in Italy during the 18th century encouraged a fascination with classical motifs. Wealthy young men travelled to see the sites and souvenir fans were available for them to purchase for their female relatives. The French Revolution provided a source for printed fans, sometimes produced to make a political statement.

Communication

From the sixteenth century onwards the fan was used in fashionable society as a means of communication. The messages conveyed on the whole were those of love. This form of sign language was published in contemporary etiquette books and magazines. The Original Fanology or Ladies’ Conversation Fan which had been created by Charles Francis Badini, was published by William Cock in London in 1797. It contained details on how to hold complete conversations through simple movements of a fan. Both men and women carried fans and understood the different messages. Some of the most common are listed below.

Placing your fan near your heart = I love you

Letting the fan rest on the right cheek = Yes

Letting the fan rest on the left cheek = No

Dropping the fan = We will be friends

Fanning slowly = I am married

Fanning quickly = I am engaged

Drawing the fan across the eyes = I am sorry

To open a fan wide = Wait for me

A half closed fan pressed to the lips = You may kiss me

Twirling the fan in the right hand = I love another

Twirling the fan in the left hand = We are being watched

Shutting a fully open fan slowly = I promise to marry you

A closed fan resting on the right eye = When can I see you

Carrying a open fan in the left hand = come and talk to me

Touching the tip of the fan with a finger = I wish to speak to you

Copyright Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum

*[Madame de Genlis, French writer and educator (1746 – 1830), one of the most popular, prolific authors of her day]

Afternoon dress

1837

13 February – Rowland Hill, (postal reformer) – He campaigned for a comprehensive reform of the postal system, and discloses the idea of carrying letters in a separate sheet which folded to become an envelope and the idea of “a bit of paper” which could be affixed to a letter to flag that postage had been paid.

May – William Fothergill Cooke and Charles Wheatstone patent the electrical telegraph.

3 June – The London Hippodrome opens in Bayswater.

20 June – King William IV dies from heart failure at Windsor Castle.

20 June – His niece, Princess Victoria of Kent ascends the throne as Queen Victoria.

30 June – England abolishes the use of pillory.

13 July – Queen Victoria moves into Buckingham Palace in London, the first monarch to live there.

20 July – Euston Station, London’s first railway station, is opened.

1838

10 January – A fire destroys Lloyd’s Coffee House and the Royal Exchange in London.

8 April-23 April – The SS Great Western makes the Atlantic crossing to New York in 15 days setting a new speed record.

May – the People’s Charter is published calling for universal suffrage for male voters.

28 June – The coronation of Queen Victoria takes place at Westminster Abbey. Lord Melbourne denies her the traditional medieval banquet due to budget constraints, and furious critics refer to it as “The Penny Crowning.”

7 September – Grace Darling rescues 9 survivors from the wreck of Forfarshire off the Farne Islands.

1839

9 April – The world’s first commercial electric telegraph line comes into operation alongside the Great Western Railway line from Paddington station to West Drayton.

19 April – The Treaty of London establishes Belgium as a kingdom.

4 November – Newport Rising: several thousand coal miners march on Newport to liberate Chartist prisoners.

1840

10 January – Uniform penny postage introduced.

22 January – British colonists reach New Zealand. Official founding date of Wellington.

6 February – Treaty of Waitangi, document granting British sovereignty in New Zealand, is signed.

10 February – Queen Victoria marries Prince Albert of Saxe Coburg-Gotha. A veritable love match, the young Queen and her German husband were devoted to each other. Albert popularised many German traditions that became English favourites, such as the Christmas tree.

30 March – Death – Beau Brummell (b. 1778), arbiter of fashion known as Dandyism, dies of syphilis. Beau Brummel was the most influential dresser of his age, the leader of the fashion movement. His taste for well-cut, understated clothes marked a move away from the bright colours and high heels favoured by the Prince Regent (the only area for patterns and colour was in the exquisitely tailored waistcoat). He also introduced innovations in the wearing of neck cloths, the Hessian boot and pantaloons rather than breeches that were wrinkle-free, thanks to handy loops that went over your feet.

15 April – King’s College Hospital opens in Portugal Street, London.

1 May – The Penny Black was the first pre-paid self-adhesive stamp. It was printed with black ink and cost 1d – hence the name! This was the beginning of the modern postal service.

4 July – The Cunard Line’s 700-ton wooden paddlewheel steamer RMS Britannia departs from Liverpool bound for Halifax , Nova Scotia on the first transatlantic passenger cruise.

23 July – The Province of Canada is created by the Act of Union.

21 November – Birth – Victoria, Princess Royal (d. 1901)

December – Stockport viaduct was completed in this year. It is one of the largest brick structures in Europe.

— The foundation stone of the Palace of Westminster is laid as its reconstruction following a fire in 1834 begins.

— Houses of Parliament finished: Architects Barry and Pugin are responsible for the Gothic style of the new Houses of Parliament (built to replace the Palace of Westminster that burned down in 1834).

The tower that houses Big Ben was not completed until 1859.

— The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals gains royal approval (becoming the RSPCA). The English are famous for their love of animals and the RSPCA was the first animal protection society in the world, dedicated to changing public indifference to cruelty against animals, appointing inspectors and prosecuting people guilty of cruelty.

1841

26 January – The United Kingdom occupies Hong Kong.

01/17 (?) July – First edition of Punch Magazine published. Punch was a satirical magazine famous for its political cartoons (they were the first to start using the word in this sense) and high quality of comic writing, poking fun at everything from contemporary fashions to foreign affairs. Many well-known writers worked there, such as PG Wodehouse, Douglas Jerrold and George Grossmith. Two famous English books which started by serialisation in Punch were
Vanity Fair
and
1066 And All That
.

30 October – a fire at the Tower of London destroys its Grand Armoury and causes a quarter of a million pounds worth of damage.

9 November – Birth – King Edward VII of the United Kingdom (d. 1910)

— English founding father William Henry Fox Talbot invents a means of transferring a photographic negative on to another piece of paper as a positive image. He calls this new invention a “calotype”. This was one of a few photographic processes that Fox Talbot was working on at this time; Of all the technologies, the one Carroll was most involved with was photography [
Alice In Wonderland
]. The technique of fixing an image onto paper had been simultaneously developed by French and British pioneers in the early 19th century.

1842

31 March – Middleton Junction and Oldham Branch Railway line opened up to Werneth.

— Income Tax Act 1842 passed; 7 pence on the pound sterling, for incomes over 150 pounds.

— Pentonville Prison built.

— A law is passed to ban women and children working in mines.

— Treaty of Nanjing: This treaty opens China to trade with Britain and lends Hong Kong to the British Crown for 150 years. It brings a modest number of Chinese immigrants to England, mostly merchant seamen.

1843

25 March – The Thames Tunnel, the first tunnel under the River Thames, is opened.

25 April – Birth – Alice of the United Kingdom, member of the royal family (died 1878)

19 July – The SS Great Britain is launched from Bristol.

19 December – First publication of Charles Dickens’
A Christmas Carol
.

— The world’s first commercial Christmas cards are printed by Sir Henry Cole in London.

— Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square, London completed.

1844

6 June – George Williams founds the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) in London.

6 August – Birth – Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, member of the Royal Family (d. 1900)

9 August – Imprisonment for debt abolished in England.

28 October – The Royal Exchange in London opened by Queen Victoria.

1 December – Birth – Alexandra of Denmark, queen of Edward VII of England (d. 1925)

1845

17 March – Stephen Perry patents the rubber band.

30 December – Queen’s Colleges of Belfast, Cork and Galway are incorporated in Ireland.

— Undated – Beginning of the Irish Potato Famine.

1846

5 January – The United States House of Representatives votes to stop sharing the Oregon Territory with the United Kingdom.

16 May – Under the leadership of Prime Minister Robert Peel, Parliament repeals the Corn Laws, replacing the old Colonial mercantile trade system with Free Trade.

25 May – Birth – Princess Helena of the United Kingdom (d. 1923)

29 June – Peel resigns and is succeeded by John Russell, 1st Earl Russell.

— June: Repeal of the Corn Laws: The Corn Laws were a series of measures which banned the importing of wheat or kept its price high. They were aimed at protecting British farmers but made the price of bread too high for many of Britain’s poorer citizens. They were therefore a focus of discontent for many. John Bright and Richard Cobden had been campaigning for their abolition since 1839 but it was the effects of the famine in Ireland which were key in their eventual repeal.

— Irish Potato Famine peaks: One million people will have died by 1851. The terrible poverty of Ireland at this time caused a wave of Irish emigration – to England but also further afield, especially America. The response of the British government to this disaster was scandalously slow.

— ‘Hans Christian Andersen frenzy’: Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales appear in no less than three different English translations this year! Andersen visited London the following year and was delighted to see copies of his books in so many shop windows.

— Electric Telegraph Company founded.

— Railway Mania reaches its zenith.

— Irish Potato Famine (1845-1849)

1847

3 March – Birth – Alexander Graham Bell, Scottish-born inventor (d. 1922)

9 August – The Whig Party under John Russell, 1st Earl Russell wins the general election.

30 September – The Vegetarian Society was formed. It remains the oldest in the world.

— United Presbyterian Church of Scotland constituted.

— Publication – Emily Bronte publishes
Wuthering Heights
under the pen name of Ellis Bell. Introducing the ultimate glowering romantic hero, Heathcliff, with his doomed love for Cathy, Emily Bronte’s passionate novel is still a fantastically atmospheric evocation of the Yorkshire Moors. It has often been filmed, staged and televised and is the inspiration for Kate Bush’s song of the same name.

— Publication – Charlotte Bronte publishes
Jane Eyre
under the pen name of Currer Bell. Only slightly tamer than her sister Emily’s novel published in the same year, Jane Eyre follows the fortunes of its heroine from orphan to wife of wealthy Mr. Rochester. Another one of the troubled romantic bestsellers of all time and frequently dramatised.

— Publication – William Makepeace Thackeray’s novel
Vanity Fair
. Thackeray’s novel was set during the Napoleonic wars but was intended as a satire on his own age.

1848

18 March – Birth – Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll (d. 1939)

31 March – Birth – William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor, financier and statesman (d. 1919)

19 December – Death – Emily Bronte, author (b. 1818)

— Queen’s College, London founded.

— Publication – The
Communist Manifesto
by Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx, while living as exiles in London. This book sets out the principles and practices of communism which were then developed by Lenin and others.

— France, Italy and Germany all experience revolutions this year

1849

13 February – Birth – Lord Randolph Churchill, statesman (died 1895)

29 March – The United Kingdom annexes the Punjab.

21 April – Irish Potato Famine: 96 inmates of the overcrowded Ballinrobe Union Workhouse die over the course of the preceding week from illness and other famine-related conditions, a record high.

28 May – Death – Anne Bronte, author (born 1820)

2 December – Death – Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, queen of William IV of the United Kingdom (born 1792)

— Sinking of the Royal Adelaide: This ship, carrying immigrants to England from Cork, went down with all hands, highlighting the dangerous journey many Irish people were making at this time.

— Publication – Serialisation of Charles Dickens’ novel
David Copperfield
.

1850

27 January – Birth – Edward Smith, Captain of the Titanic (d. 1912)

23 April – Death – William Wordsworth, poet (b. 1770)

1 May – Birth – Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, member of the Royal Family (d. 1942)

2 July – Death – Robert Peel, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1788)

13 November – Birth – Robert Louis Stevenson, writer (d. 1894)

— In Memoriam AHH published: Tennyson’s long poem cycle, inspired by premature grief at the death of his friend Arthur Hallam. Tennyson went on to become Poet Laureate and one of the central literary figures of the age. He was photographed on numerous occasions by his friend, Julia Margaret Cameron.

— First bowler hat worn: Invented for James Coke, the bowler hat was midway between the formality of a top hat and the soft felt hat worn by the lower middle classes. The hat was hard, to protect the head. It became the traditional accessory of every City gent and only went out of everyday use in the 1960s.

— Publication – Elizabeth Barrett Browning publishes her sonnet cycle,
Sonnets From The Portuguese
. A celebration of the love between herself and fellow poet Robert Browning, it contains this famous poem, often read at weddings; which begins “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” The true-life story of their secret love, elopement and happy marriage in Italy is as romantic as the poems themselves.

1851

1 February – Death – Mary Shelley, author (b. 1797)

01 May – The Great Exhibition opened by Queen Victoria (the first World’s Fair) is held in The Crystal Palace, with great success and international attention. It runs until 18 October. A celebration of the Empire and advances in technology housed in Joseph Paxton’s splendid Crystal Palace, situated in Hyde Park. It was the brainchild of Victoria’s husband, Albert, and was hugely well-attended and highly influential. The Crystal Palace itself, having been relocated to south London, burnt down in 1936.

— Art – Ophelia painted by Millais: Lizzie Siddal lies in a bath posing for Sir John Everett Millais’ Ophelia showing the death by drowning of this characters in Hamlet by Shakespeare. Lizzie contracted pneumonia and later died but the painting is one of the most famous illustrations of Shakespeare and of the Pre-Raphaelite movement.

1852

14 February – The Great Ormond Street Hospital in London admits its first patient.

4 May – Birth – Alice Liddell, schoolgirl inspiration for
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
(d. 1934)

14 September – Death – Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, general and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1769)

11 November – New Palace of Westminster opens in London.

— Serialisation of Charles Dickens’ novel,
Bleak House
.

— William Makepeace Thackeray’s novel,
The History of Henry Esmond
.

— Publication – Roget’s Thesaurus – Dr. Roget was a physician and scholar who had the remarkable idea of producing a book of words classified according to the ideas they express rather than the definitions. The book has been continually revised and updated, until 1953 by a member of the Roget family!

— Livingstone set off to explore Zambesi. A missionary who made three long explorations of East Africa. He wrote the story of his amazing three year journey across the African continent from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. He wasthe first European to see the Victoria Falls.

1853

7 April – Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, member of the royal family (died 1884)

— Red pillar boxes introduced: This innovation, which meant you didn’t have to walk to the post office with your letters, is introduced by novelist Anthony Trollope.

1854

28 March – United Kingdom declares war on Russia – Crimean War begins.

01 August – Cholera outbreak in Broad Street Some 500 people died in only ten days from drinking infected water from the Broad Street pump in London – but nobody knew it was the drinking water that was spreading the disease until Dr John Snow began to investigate and realised it was a water- rather than an air-born infection. He had the pump sealed up and the deaths ceased. This was a break-through in medicine and was influential on later Public Health legislation; and forming the starting point for epidemiology. 2,000 people died during one week of the cholera epidemic.

6 October – The great fire of Newcastle and Gateshead is ignited by a spectacular explosion.

16 October – Birth – Oscar Wilde, writer (d. 1900)

21 October – Florence Nightingale leaves for Crimea with 38 other nurses.

04 Nov – Ms Nightingale arrives in Scutari: Florence Nightingale takes over the running of the military hospital at Scutari and transforms the conditions there. Her pioneering attitude to hygiene and dedication to nursing transformed the profession.

— Publication – Alfred Tennyson’s poem
The Charge of the Light Brigade
.

— Publication – Charles Dickens’ novel
Hard Times
.

— Publication – William Makepeace Thackeray’s novel
The Rose and the Ring
.

1855

31 March – Death – Charlotte Bronte, author (born 1816)

15 May – The Great Gold Robbery of 1855 in London.

29 June – The Daily Telegraph begins publication.

— Charles Goodyear invents vulcanised rubber, which is harder, more durable and less sticky than previous types of rubber. He patents the very first football made out of vulcanised rubber.

1856

29 January – Queen Victoria institutes the Victoria Cross.

5 March – Fire destroys Covent Garden Theatre in London.

31 March – The Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the Crimean War.

10 August – Birth – William Willett, inventor of daylight saving time (d. 1915)

— National Portrait Gallery in London opened.

1857

7 January – London General Omnibus Company begins operating in London.

14 April – Birth – Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom, member of the royal family (died 1944)

31 December – Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa, Ontario as the capital of Canada.

— Divorce without parliamentary approval becomes legal.

1858

25 January – The Wedding March by Felix Mendelssohn becomes a popular wedding recessional after it is played on this day at the marriage of Queen Victoria’s daughter Victoria, “Vicky,” the Princess Royal to Prince Friedrich of Prussia in St. James’s Palace, London.

01 Apr – Big Ben cast: Casting a bell that the design specified should be 14 tonnes proved difficult. Big Ben, as cast by the Whitechapel Foundry, is 13.8 tonnes and even that has a crack in it! It is now arguably the most famous recognisable bell chime in the world.

23 April – Birth – Ethel Smyth, composer and a leader of the women’s suffrage movement (d. 1944)

16 August – US President James Buchanan inaugurates the new trans-Atlantic telegraph cable by exchanging greetings with Queen Victoria. However, a weak signal will force a shutdown of the service in a few weeks.

— British Empire takes over powers and properties of the British East India Company.

1859

4 May – Cornwall Railway opened across the Royal Albert Bridge linking the counties of Devon and Cornwall.

22 May – Birth – Arthur Conan Doyle, writer (d. 1930)

6 June – The British Crown colony of Queensland in Australia is created by devolving part of the territory of New South Wales.

7 September – The clock of the Clock Tower, Palace of Westminster becomes operational. The bell acquires the nickname “Big Ben” by association with Benjamin Hall, 1st Baron Llanover.

28 December – Death – Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, poet, historian and politician (born 1800) – During the 1840s he began work on his most famous work, “The History of England from the Accession of James the Second”, publishing the first two volumes in 1848, the next two volumes appearing in 1855. He is said to have completed the final volumes of the history at Greenwood Lodge, Ditton Marsh, Thames Ditton, which he rented in 1854. At his death, he had only got as far as the reign of King William III. Ever wonder who said… “The measure of a man’s character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out”. Now you know: Thomas Babington Macaulay

— Trinity College in Cambridge bans
The Origin of Species.

— Publication – 24 November – naturalist Charles Darwin publishes
The Origin of Species
, which leads to great religious doubt and insecurity. a book which argues that species gradually evolve through natural selection. (It immediately sold out its initial print run.)

— Publication – Charles Dickens’s novel
A Tale of Two Cities.

— Publication – George Eliot’s novel
Adam Bede
.

1860

May – Queen Victoria becomes the first British monarch to be photographed. The photographer was John Jabez Edwin Mayall.

1 December – Charles Dickens publishes the first installment of
Great Expectations
in the magazine
All the Year Round
.

29 December – The world’s first ocean-going (all) iron-hulled and armoured battleship, the
HMS Warrior
is launched.

— Publication – George Eliot’s novel
The Mill on the Floss.

1861

20 February – Storms damage the Crystal Palace in London and caused the collapse of the steeple of Chichester Cathedral.

29 June – Death – Elizabeth Barrett Browning, poet (b. 1806) – her Mother, Sarah Barrett Moulton, posed for the painting: “Pinkie” by Thomas Lawrence.

14 December – Death – Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, husband of Queen Victoria (b. 1819)

Queen Victoria refuses to go out in public for many years, and when she does she wears a widow’s bonnet instead of the crown.

— Publication – George Eliot’s novel
Silas Marner
.

1862

1 July – Marriage of Princess Alice, second daughter of Queen Victoria, to Prince Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine.

— Publication – Serialisation of George Eliot’s novel
Romola
.

1863

10 January – The first section of the London Underground Railway opens (Paddington to Farringdon Street).

10 March – Marriage of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales to Princess Alexandra of Denmark.

27 March – Birth – Henry Royce, automobile pioneer (d. 1933)

26 October – The Football Association founded.

19 December – Linoleum patented.

24 December – Death – William Makepeace Thackeray, novelist (b. 1811)

— A scarlet fever epidemic causes over 30,000 deaths.

Publication – Charles Lyell publishes
Geological Evidences of the Antiquity of Man
endorsing the views of Charles Darwin.

1864

8 January – Birth – Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale – Albert Victor Christian Edward; was a member of the British Royal Family, as the eldest son of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VII) and Alexandra of Denmark. At the time of his birth, he was second in the line of succession to the throne after his father. However, he (d. 1892) predeceased his father, and the crown eventually passed to his younger brother,
Prince George (George V), the grandfather of the current British monarch, Elizabeth II.

– George V was born on 3 June 1865, at Marlborough House, London. His father was The Prince of Wales

– (later King Edward VII), the eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

– His mother was the Princess of Wales (later Queen Alexandra), the eldest daughter of

– King Christian IX of Denmark. As a grandson of Queen Victoria in the male line,

– George was styled His Royal Highness Prince George of Wales at birth.

11 January – Charing Cross railway station in London opens.

11 March – Great Sheffield Flood: the Dale Dike Dam bursts devastating Sheffield.

— James Clerk Maxwell discovers microwaves.

— Publication – Charles Dickens’s novel
Our Mutual Friend
.

1865

June 3 – Birth – King George V of the United Kingdom (d. 1936)

2 July – The Christian Mission, later renamed the Salvation Army, is founded in Whitechapel, London by William and Catherine Booth.

4 July – Lewis Carroll publishes
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
.

5 July – First speed limit is introduced in Britain – 2 mph in town and 4 mph in the country.

14 July – A party led by Edward Whymper makes the first ascent of the Matterhorn.

23 July – The SS Great Eastern departs on a voyage to lay a transatlantic telegraph cable.

30 December – Birth – Rudyard Kipling, writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1936)

— Joseph Lister discovers the sterilising effects of carbolic acid.

1866

5 July – Marriage of Princess Helena of the United Kingdom, third daughter of Queen Victoria, to Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg.

27 July – The Transatlantic telegraph cable is successfully completed, allowing transatlantic telegraph communication for the first time.

28 July – Birth – Beatrix Potter, children’s author (died 1943)

21 September – Birth – H. G. Wells, writer (died 1946)

— John Langdon Down describes Down syndrome. John L.H. Langdon Down (November 18, 1828 – October 7, 1896) was a British physician best known for his work with mentally retarded children. The condition Down’s syndrome, or Down syndrome in the US, is named after him. Down was his father’s Irish family name (his great-grandfather was the Protestant Bishop of Derry) and Langdon was his mother’s family name (from Cornwall).

— Invention of the clinical thermometer by Thomas Clifford Allbutt.

— A cholera epidemic in London causes over 5,000 deaths.

— Publication – George Eliot’s novel
Felix Holt, the Radical
published.

1867

16 March – First publication of an article by Joseph Lister outlining the discovery of antiseptic surgery, in
The Lancet
.

29 March – The British North America Act receives Royal Assent, forming the Dominion of Canada in an event known as Confederation. This unites the Province of Canada (Quebec and Ontario), New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia as of July 1. Ottawa becomes the capital, and John A. Macdonald becomes the Dominion’s first prime minister.

26 May – Birth – Mary of Teck, consort of King George V (d. 1953)

1 July – The Dominion of Canada, the first independent dominion in the British Empire, is created by the British North America Act.

1868

26 May – Last public hanging in Britain – Fenian bomber Michael Barrett.

5 July – Preacher William Booth establishes the Christian Mission, predecessor of the Salvation Army, in the East End of London.

6 July – Birth – The Princess Victoria (Victoria Alexandra Olga Mary, also called “Toria”, was a member of the British Royal Family, the fourth child and second daughter of Edward VII. (died: 3 December 1935)

— Joseph Norman Lockyer discovers the chemical element helium.

1869

16 October – England’s first residential college for women, Girton College, is founded.

4 November – The first issue of scientific journal
Nature
is published.

23 November – In Dumbarton, Scotland the clipper ship Cutty Sark is launched (it was one of the last clipper ships to be built, and the only one surviving to the present day).

— The Suez Canal was opened.

1870

9 June – Death – Charles Dickens, novelist (b. 1812)

1871

26 January – Rugby Football Union established in London.

29 March – The Royal Albert Hall is opened by Queen Victoria

18 June – University Tests Act removes religious tests at Oxford, Cambridge and Durham.

— Publication – George Eliot’s novel
Middlemarch
.

1872

30 November – Scotland v England: the first ever international football match takes place at Hamilton Crescent in Scotland.

— Stanley found Livingstone.

1873

1 April – The British steamer RMS Atlantic sinks off Nova Scotia killing 547.

1 May – David Livingstone, explorer of Africa (born 1813)

9 June – Alexandra Palace in London destroyed by fire only a fortnight after its opening.

1874

23 January – Marriage of the Duke of Edinburgh, second son of Queen Victoria, to Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia, only daughter of Emperor Alexander III of Russia.

25 January – Birth – William Somerset Maugham, author (died 1965)

23 February – Walter Clopton Wingfield patents a game called “sphairistike” which is more commonly called lawn tennis.

15 October – Birth – Prince Alfred of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (died 1899) – His father was Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, second eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. His mother was Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, a daughter of Alexander II of Russia.

30 November – Birth – Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature. (died 1965)

— Publication – Thomas Hardy’s novel
Far from the Madding Crowd
.

1875

1 April –
The Times
publishes the first daily weather map.

15 August – Birth – Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, composer (died 1912)

25 August – Captain Matthew Webb becomes the first person to swim the English Channel.

1876

— The Royal Titles Act 1876 gives Queen Victoria the title of Empress of India.

— School attendance was made compulsory.

— Publication – George Eliot’s book
Daniel Deronda
.

1877

15 March – The first Test cricket match takes place between England and Australia.

24 March – For the first and only time in history, the Boat Race between the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford is declared a “dead heat” (i.e. a draw).

12 April – Britain annexes the South African Republic violating the Sand River Convention of 1852 causing a new Xhosa War.

9 July – All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club begins its first lawn tennis tournament at Wimbledon.

1 August – Birth – Charlotte Hughes, longest-lived person ever documented in the United Kingdom (d. 1993)

17 September – Death – William Fox Talbot, photographer (b. 1800)

— American suffragettes Victoria Woodhull and Tennessee Claflin come to England due to criticism of their behaviour.

— Six Scotch whisky distilleries combine to form Distillers Company Limited.

1878

14 January – Alexander Graham Bell demonstrates the telephone to Queen Victoria.

11 February – First weekly Weather report published in UK

14 December – Death – Alice of the United Kingdom, member of the royal family (born 1843)

— Electric street lighting began in London.

1879

13 March – Marriage of The Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, third son of Queen Victoria, to Princess Louise Marguerite of Prussia.

19 May – Birth – Viscount Waldorf Astor, businessman and politician (died 1952)

26 May – Russia and the United Kingdom sign the Treaty of Gandamak establishing an Afghan state.

27 December – Birth – Sydney Greenstreet, actor (died 1954)

1880

8 March – The Conservative Party lose the general election to the Liberal Party.[1]

18 April – William Ewart Gladstone succeeds Benjamin Disraeli as Prime Minister. This is Gladstone’s second term as Prime Minister.[1]

19 April – Second Anglo-Afghan War: British victory at the Battle of Ahmed Khel.

27 July – Second Anglo-Afghan War: Afghan victory at the Battle of Maiwand.

1 September – Second Anglo-Afghan War: British victory at the Battle of Kandahar.

16 December – The Boers declare independence in Transvaal triggering the First Boer War.

20 December – First Boer War: British forces defeated in the Action at Bronkhorstspruit.

22 December – Death – George Eliot, writer (born 1819)

1881

5 February – Death – Thomas Carlyle, writer and historian (b. 1795)

1 March – The Cunard Line’s SS Servia, the first steel ocean liner, is launched.

19 April – Death – Benjamin Disraeli, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1804)

23 April – First performance of the Gilbert and Sullivan opera Patience at the Opera Comique in London.

26 July – First publication of the
London Evening News
.

10 October – The Savoy Theatre opens and is the first electrically lit building in London.

15 October – Birth – P. G. Wodehouse, writer (d. 1975)

1882

25 January – Birth – Virginia Woolf, writer (d. 1941)

2 March – Roderick Maclean fails to assassinate Queen Victoria at Windsor.

19 April – Death – Charles Darwin, naturalist (born 1809)

6 December – Death – Anthony Trollope, novelist (born 1815)

— Married Women’s Property Act 1882 in Britain enables women to buy, own and sell property and to keep their own earnings.

— The Chartered Institute of Patent Agents is founded (now called Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys).

— St. Andrew’s Ambulance Association is established in Glasgow, Scotland.

— Jumbo the elephant is sold to the American showman P. T. Barnum for $10,000

1883

25 February – Birth – Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone (Alice Mary Victoria Augusta Pauline; nee Princess Alice of Albany; was a member of the British Royal Family, a granddaughter of Queen Victoria. She has the distinction of remaining the longest lived Princess of the Blood Royal of the British Royal Family and last surviving grandchild of Queen Victoria. She also held the titles of Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duchess in Saxony from birth as well as a Princess of Teck by marriage until 1917 when she was commanded to relinquish them by the Letters Patent of George V. Her father was Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, the youngest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. (Death: 3 January 1981)

1884

1 February – First
fasicle
* of the Oxford English Dictionary is published. *one of the divisions of a book published in parts – fas’ci’cled

28 March – Death – Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, member of the royal family (born 1853)

22 April – Colchester earthquake: the UK’s most destructive earthquake.

October – International Meridian Conference in Washington, D.C. fixes the Greenwich meridian as the world’s prime meridian.

— British Police officers go on armed patrol in London.

1885

15 February – Birth – Princess Alice of Battenberg (Victoria Alice Elizabeth Julia Marie), later Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark

was the mother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (consort of Queen Elizabeth II).

This gives new meaning to “the outside of convoluted”. Pay attention.

After the fall of King Constantine II of Greece and the imposition of military rule in Greece in 1967, she was invited by her son and daughter-in-law to live at Buckingham Palace in London, where she died two years later; 5 December 1969. Her Serene Highness Princess Victoria Alice Elizabeth Julia Marie of Battenberg was born in the Tapestry Room at Windsor Castle in Berkshire (at the queen’s invitation) in the presence of her
great-grandmother, Queen Victoria
. She was the eldest child of Prince Louis of Battenberg (24 May 1854 – 11 September 1921) and his wife Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine (5 April 1863 – 24 September 1950).
Her mother was the eldest daughter of Princess Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse, the second daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.
Elizabeth II and Prince Philip are third cousins through Queen Victoria and second cousins, once removed through Christian IX of Denmark.

Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Carolina Marie Charlotte Louise Julia) [1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925];

Queen Consort to Edward VII; paternal great-grandmother to Elizabeth II. (See: 1864)

Royals attempt to
keep it in the family
. I lost
my place
in this drama at;
“Pay attention”
.

14 March – W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan’s The Mikado opens at the Savoy Theatre.

20 July – Professional football is legalised.

11 September – Birth – D.H. Lawrence, English author (d. 1930)

— Soap manufacturer Lever Brothers founded

— Publications

— Henry Rider Haggard’s novel
King Solomon’s Mines
.

— George Meredith’s novel
Diana of the Crossways
.

— Walter Pater’s novel
Marius the Epicurean
.

1886
1 February – William Ewart Gladstone becomes Prime Minister for the third time.
20 May – John Jacob Astor, 1st Baron Astor of Hever, businessman (d. 1971)
30 June – Royal Holloway, University of London opened by Queen Victoria in Surrey.
— Scotch whiskey distiller William Grant & Sons is founded.
— Publication – Thomas Hardy’s novel
The Mayor of Casterbridge
1887
9 May – Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show opens in London.

21 June – Britain celebrates a Golden Jubilee, marking the 50th year of Queen Victoria’s reign.


5 September – Theatre Royal, Exeter burned down, and 186 people die.
25 December – Glenfiddich single malt Scotch whisky first ran from the stills of Glenfiddich Distillery. The whisky is still produced today by William Grant & Sons.
— Publications
— Arthur Conan Doyle’s first Sherlock Holmes novel
A Study in Scarlet
— Thomas Hardy’s novel
The Woodlanders
1888
8 February – Birth – Edith Evans, actress (died 1976) – Edith Evans was created a Dame Commander of the British Empire (DBE) in 1946. She also received four honorary degrees from the universities of London (1950), Cambridge (1951), Oxford (1954), and Hull (1968).
22 March – The Football League is formed.
7 August – The body of Martha Tabram was found, a possible murder victim of Jack the Ripper.
??? – Contradiction –
16 August – Birth – T. E. Lawrence (
Lawrence of Arabia
) liaison officer during the Arab Revolt, writer, and academic (died 1935)
31 August – Mary Ann Nichols is murdered. She was perhaps the first of Jack the Ripper’s victims.
8 September – In London, the dead body of Annie Chapman is found. She is considered to be the second victim of Jack the Ripper.
30 September – In London, the bodies of Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes are found. They are generally considered Jack the Ripper’s third and fourth victim respectively.
2 October – The Whitehall Mystery: a body is discovered during the construction of New Scotland Yard.
9 November – In London, the dead body of Mary Jane Kelly is found. She is considered to be the fifth, and last, of Jack the Ripper’s victims. A number of similar murders in England follows, but the police attribute them to copy-cat killers.
— The serial killer known as Jack the Ripper murders and mutilates five (and possibly more) prostitutes on the streets of London, leading to world-wide press coverage and hysteria. Newspapers use the deaths to bring greater focus on the plight of the unemployed and to attack police and political leaders. The killer is never caught, and the affair contributes to Commissioner of Police, Sir Charles Warren’s resignation.
1889
16 April – Birth – Charlie Chaplin, actor and film director (d. 1977)
12 June – 88 are killed in the Armagh rail disaster near Armagh in Northern Ireland.
6 July – Several aristocrats are implicated in the Cleveland Street scandal after police raid a male brothel in London.
3 August – Mahdist War: Egyptian and British victory at the Battle of Toski.
14 August – The London Dock Strike begins.
12 December – Death – Robert Browning, poet (b. 1812)
1890
4 March – The longest bridge in Britain, the Forth Bridge (1,710 ft) in Scotland, is opened.
Publication – Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes novel
The Sign of the Four
23 May – Birth – Herbert Marshall, actor (died 1966)
16 June – Birth – Stan Laurel, actor (died 1965)
15 September – Birth – Agatha Christie, writer (died 1976)
4 October – Death – Catherine Booth, the Mother of The Salvation Army (born 1829)
4 November – London’s City & South London Railway, the first deep-level underground railway in the world, opened, running a distance of 5.1 km (3.2 mi) between the City of London and Stockwell.
— November – Scotland Yard, headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service, moves to a building on London’s Victoria Embankment, as the New Scotland Yard.
1891
9 February – Birth – Ronald Colman, English actor (died 1958)
9 March-12 – Powerful storm off England’s south coast; 14 ships sink
18 March – official opening of the London-Paris telephone system.
1 April – the London-Paris telephone system is opened to the general public
— New Scotland Yard becomes the HQ of London Metropolitan Police
— Education becomes free for every child.
— Serialisation of Thomas Hardy’s novel
Tess of the d’Urbervilles.
1892
3 January – Birth – J. R. R. Tolkien, professor and author of
The Lord of the Ring
s (d. 1973)
14 January – Death of Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence, second in line heir to the throne of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Next in line is his younger brother Prince George of Wales. (b. 1864)
24 May – Prince George of Wales becomes Duke of York.
31 October – Arthur Conan Doyle publishes
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
1893
3 April – Birth – Leslie Howard, actor (d. 1943) – He is best known by international audiences as Ashley Wilkes in the movie Gone with the Wind.
6 June – Marriage of Prince George, Duke of York and Mary of Teck.
1894
10 February – Birth – Harold Macmillan, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1986)
23 June – Birth – King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom (d. 1972) King of Great Britain, Ireland, the British Dominions beyond the Seas, and Emperor of India from the death of his father,
George V
**

(1910-36), on 20 January 1936, until his abdication on 11 December 1936. He was the second monarch of the House of Windsor, his father having changed the name of the Royal house from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in 1917. Only months into his reign, Edward forced a constitutional crisis by proposing marriage to the American divorcee Wallis Warfield Simpson. (previously Wallis Simpson; born Bessie Wallis Warfield; 19 June 1895 or 1896 – 24 April 1986) – After two unsuccessful marriages, she allegedly became the mistress of Edward, Prince of Wales in 1934. Rather than give up Mrs. Simpson, Edward chose to abdicate, making him the only monarch of Britain, and indeed any Commonwealth Realm, to have voluntarily relinquished the throne. He is one of the shortest-reigning monarchs in British history, and was never crowned.
30 June – Tower Bridge in London opened for traffic.
26 July – Birth – Aldous Huxley, author (d. 1963)
3 December – Death – Robert Louis Stevenson, author (b. 1850) – Author:
Treasure IslandandKidnapped
— Patrick Manson develops the thesis that malaria is spread by mosquitoes.
1895
11 February – The lowest ever UK temperature of -27.2C (measured as -17F) was recorded at Braemar in Aberdeenshire. This record was equalled in 1982 and again in 1995.
14 February – First showing of Oscar Wilde’s last play The Importance of Being Earnest (St. James’ Theatre in London).
10 March – Death – Charles Frederick Worth, fashion designer (born 1825)
6 April – Oscar Wilde is arrested after losing a libel case against the Marquess of Queensberry.
25 May – Oscar Wilde is convicted of “sodomy and gross indecency” and is sentenced to serve two years in a Reading prison.
14 December – King George VI of the United Kingdom (died 1952)
1896
28 January – Walter Arnold of Kent receives the first speeding conviction for driving in excess of the contemporary speed limit of 2 mph.
19 June – Birth – Wallis, The Duchess of Windsor, American wife of Edward VIII of the United Kingdom (died 1986)
22 September – Queen Victoria surpassed her grandfather, King George III as the longest reigning monarch in British history.
1897
12 January – Death – Isaac Pitman, inventor of Pitman Shorthand (born 1813
19 May – The Anglo-Irish writer Oscar Wilde was released from prison.
22 May – The Blackwall Tunnel, at the time the longest underwater tunnel in the world, opened by the Prince of Wales.
June 12 – Birth – Anthony Eden, Prime Minister (died 1977)
19 June – Charles Boycott, land agent, origin of the word “boycott” (born 1832)
— Queen Victoria celebrated her accession to the throne in 1837 with her Diamond Jubilee celebrations centered around London.
— Discovery of the electron by J. J. Thomson.
— Publications
— Irish-born writer Bram Stoker releasesDracula
for the first time on May 18, which is set between Transylvania and Whitby in Yorkshire.
— H. G. Wells completes drafting of
The War of the Worlds
and prepares it for finalising and publishing. His novel,
The Invisible Man
, is released in this year, as is
The Crystal Egg
1898
14 January – Death – Lewis Carroll, writer, mathematician (b. 1832)
12 February – Henry Lindfield, dies in Brighton, becoming the world’s first fatality from an automobile accident.
15 February – The 1898 World Figure Skating Championships held in London.
19 May – Death – William Ewart Gladstone, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1809)
6 June – Birth – Ninette de Valois, Irish dancer and founder of The Royal Ballet, London (d. 2001)
29 November – Birth – C. S. Lewis, author (d. 1963)
— North Petherton becomes the first town in England to install Acetylene lighting.
1899
6 February – Death – Prince Alfred of Edinburgh and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (b. 1874)
27 March – Guglielmo Marconi successfully transmits a radio signal across the English channel.
13 August – Birth – Alfred Hitchcock, film director (d. 1980)
16 December – Birth – Noel Coward, actor, playwright, and composer (d. 1973)
1900
January 3 – The Royal Yacht, Victoria and Albert capsizes as it leaves port.
February 5 – The UK and the United States sign a treaty for the building of a Central American shipping canal through Nicaragua.
February 7 – The Labour Party is formed.
February 27 – Ramsay MacDonald appointed secretary of newly formed Labour Party.
March 31 – Birth – Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (d. 1974) The Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (Henry William Frederick Albert); was a member of the British Royal Family, the third son of George V of the United Kingdom and Queen Mary, and thus uncle to Elizabeth II. He was appointed regent for his niece when his brother (George VI) came to the throne in 1936, and was required to stay in the United Kingdom until she came of age in case her father died and she ascended the throne underage. His father was Prince George, Duke of York, the eldest surviving son of Prince Albert Edward, Prince of Wales.
April 1 – Irish Guards formed by Queen Victoria.
April 4 – Anarchist shoots at the Prince of Wales (Edward VII) during his visit to Belgium in the birthday celebrations of the King of Belgium.
July 30 – Death – Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, second eldest son of Queen Victoria (b. 1844)
August 4 – Birth – Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, consort of King George VI (d. 2002) – The 20th Century knew her at the “Queen Mother” – (mother of) Elizabeth II
22 November – Death – Arthur Sullivan, composer (b. 1842)
1901
1 January – The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia federate as the Commonwealth of Australia.[1] Edmund Barton becomes first Prime Minister.

22 January – Queen Victoria dies at Osborne House.


Her eldest son, Prince Albert Edward, Prince of Wales becomes King, reigning as Edward VII. His son, Prince George, Duke of York becomes Duke of Cornwall.
2 February – Funeral of Queen Victoria takes place at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.
5 August – Death – Victoria, Empress of Germany, eldest daughter of Queen Victoria (b. 1840)
9 November – Prince George, Duke of Cornwall becomes Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester.
18 November – The United Kingdom and United States sign the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty allowing the US to build a canal through Panama.
25 December – Birth – Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester (died 2004) Wife of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, the third son of George V and Queen Mary. She was thus the sister-in-law of George VI and Edward VIII, and the mother of the current Duke of Gloucester. She was an aunt of Elizabeth II through her marriage to the Queen’s paternal uncle.
— Nigeria becomes a British protectorate
— Winston Churchill enters the House of Commons**
George V
(George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was the first British monarch belonging to the House of Windsor, which he created from the British branch of the German House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. From 1914 to 1918 Britain was at war with Germany.
The King’s paternal grandfather was Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha; the King and his children bore the titles Prince and Princess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Duke and Duchess of Saxony.
On 17 July, 1917, George V issued an Order-in-Council that changed the name of the British Royal House from the German-sounding House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to the House of Windsor, to appease British nationalist feelings. He specifically adopted Windsor as the surname for all agnatic (or patrilineal) [Patrilineal descent, descent from father to son, is the principle behind membership in royal houses, as it can be traced back through the generations] descendants of Queen Victoria then living in the United Kingdom, excluding women who married into other families and their descendants, would be members of the House of Windsor with the personal surname of Windsor. The name Windsor has a long association with English royalty through the town of Windsor and Windsor Castle.
King George V with his first cousin Tsar Nicholas II (their mothers –
Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom and Empress Maria Fyodorovna of Russia – were sisters).

Relatives of the British Royal Family who fought on the German side, such as Prince Ernst August of Hanover, to 3rd Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale (the senior male-line great grandson of George III) and Prince Carl Eduard, Duke of Albany and the reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (a male-line grandson of Queen Victoria), were simply cut off; their British peerages were suspended by a 1919 Order in Council under the provisions of the Titles Deprivation Act 1917. George also removed their Garter flags from St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle under pressure from his mother, Queen Alexandra.

When Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, a first cousin of George through his mother, Queen Alexandra (Nicholas II’s mother was Empress Maria Fyodorovna, Queen Alexandra’s sister) was overthrown in the Russian Revolution of 1917, the British Government offered asylum to the Tsar and his family but worsening conditions for the British people, and fears that revolution might come to the British Isles, led George to think that the presence of the Romanovs might seem inappropriate under the circumstances.

(Webmaster Personal note: I have always found England’s “Royal” refusal to grant Nicolas II and his family asylum* abominable; resulting in their massacre.) THEY WERE MEMBERS OF THE ENGLISH ROYAL FAMILY!!

…England
justified
their action as
disassociating
their Country with German mobilization and declaration of war, and the outbreak of World War I.
Right of asylum* (or political asylum) is an ancient judicial notion, under which a person persecuted for political opinions or religious beliefs in his or her country may be protected by another sovereign authority.
Nicholas II of Russia (Nikolay Alexandrovich Romanov) (19 May [O.S. 6 May] 1868 – 17 July
[O.S. 4 July] 1918) (Russian: ??????? II, Nikolay II) was the last Tsar of Russia, King of Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland. He ruled from 1894 until his forced abdication in 1917. Nicholas proved unable to manage a country in political turmoil and command its army in World War I. His rule ended with the Russian Revolution of 1917. Nicholas and his family were imprisoned firstly in the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoe Selo. The family were later moved to the Governor’s Mansion in Tobolsk and finally to the Ipatiev House in Ekaterinburg. On the night of 16/17 July 1918, Nicholas and his family were shot, and speared with bayonets, by Bolsheviks.
See:
In Council on 9 April 1952, after her accession, Queen Elizabeth II officially declared her “Will and Pleasure that I and My children shall be styled and known as the House and Family of Windsor, and that my descendants who marry and their descendants, shall bear the name of Windsor.”
This is in contrast with the usual practice in which her children would be of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glocksburg through their father, born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, a line of the House of Oldenburg. On 8 February 1960, the Queen confirmed that she and her descendants will be known as the House and Family of Windsor, and further provided that their personal surname, whenever one should be needed, is “Mountbatten-Windsor”. Mountbatten is the surname adopted by Prince Philip before his marriage, an anglicisation of his mother’s family name of Battenberg. Any future monarch could change the dynasty name by royal proclamation if he or she chooses to do so. For example, if the current Prince of Wales accedes to the throne, he could change the name of the royal house to “Mountbatten” in honour of his father. However, the proclamations of George V and Elizabeth II will continue to stand unless and until they are overridden by a monarch in the future.
In 1937, the Duke of Windsor (King Edward VIII) and his Duchess (Wallace Warfield Simpson) visited Germany, against the advice of the British government, and met Nazi leader Adolf Hitler at Berchtesgaden. The visit was much publicised by the German media. During the visit the Duke gave full Nazi salutes.

Queen Victoria married Prince Albert in 1840 and the wedding was a memorable occasion.

The marriage of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert was solemnized on the 10th of February 1840, at the Chapel Royal, St. James’s. Queen Victoria’s wedding day was inauspicious, a heavy rain falling; but immense multitudes assembled to gaze upon the processions.

At daybreak crowds of anxious and loyal subjects were seen hastening from all parts of the city in the direction of the royal palaces and the whole city exhibited the most extensive preparations for the proper celebration of Queen Victoria’s wedding. In St. James’s Park, the area in front of Buckingham Palace, and the avenue leading from thence to the garden entrance of St. James’s was densely thronged before eight o’clock, and the rain which fell after that time caused no sensible diminution of the crowds, for as fast as the endeavor of one body of the eager visitors gave way their places were filled by the fresh numbers which were every minute arriving.

Her Royal highness the Duchess of Kent and the twelve Bridesmaids were in attendance upon her Majesty at an early hour in preparation for Queen Victoria’s wedding. The Princess Sophia Matilda of Gloucester, the Duchess of Cambridge, the Princess Mary, and the Princess Augusta of Cambridge, and the Duchess Gloucester also arrived early at the Palace and were admitted to Queen Victoria’s private apartments.

The Royal Bride’s Procession
The bridal procession from Buckingham Palace to St. James’s, where the ceremony for Queen Victoria’s wedding was to be performed, begun to move through the triumphal arch at 12 o’clock. A royal salute of 21 guns announced that Queen Victoria was entering her carriage. Every accessible part of St. James’s Park which lies between the palaces had been crowded from an early hour, and Queen Victoria was received in the most enthusiastic manner by those who were so fortunate as to command a view of this procession.

St. James’s Palace
The procession for Queen Victoria’s wedding passed on to the Garden Entrance of St. James’s Palace by which Her Majesty entered and proceeded to the Queen’s Closet, or Privy Council Chamber, where she remained for half an hour till the procession was formed in front of the Throne. During all this time the cheering continued in front of the Palace with uninterrupted vehemence.

Prince Albert’s portion of the procession moved first, preceded by the Lord and Deputy Chamberlains, who conducted His Royal Highness to the chapel where he remained on the right hand side, or left of the altar. He was attended by his Gentleman of Honor, and the Reigning Duke and Hereditary Prince of Saxe Coburg (his father and elder brother) and their suites, and preceded by drums and trumpets.

His Serene Highness wore a field marshal’s uniform, with large rosettes of white satin on his shoulders. There was a flush on his brow as he entered the chapel to begin Queen Victoria’s wedding. His manly and dignified bearing, and the cordial and unaffected manner with which he greeted those of the Peers and Peeresses around him, won all hearts. Many of those around pronounced that Prince Albert was a consort worthy of Queen Victoria.

On reaching his chair, Prince Albert advanced gracefully to the Queen Dowager and respectfully kissed her hand. He afterwards bowed to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the other Church Dignitaries and remained for some time standing and casting many anxious glances towards the Chapel entrance. The Queen Dowager at length requested him to be seated and he entered into conversation with her.

The Lord Chamberlain and Deputy Chamberlain returned to Queen Victoria, and having their prescribed positions, her Majesty’s procession advanced preceded by music, and guided by the Officers of the Earl Marshal. The procession passed through the Throne Room, the Ante Throne Room, Queen Anne’s Drawing Room, the Guard Chamber, the Armory, the Grand Staircase, and the Colonnade leading to the Chapel. All these apartments were sumptuously adorned, and in all of them seats had been prepared for spectators, which crowded with an array of beauty and fashion. Twenty-one hundred tickets had been issued for the accommodation of spectators in these places.

In the procession, Queen Victoria was preceded by the usual display of heralds and trumpeters, by the various officers of the household, by the different members of the royal family, each with an attendant from their households, by the Chamberlains, and Lord Melbourne bearing the sword of state. Her Majesty’s train was borne by her twelve bridesmaids, who were followed by the ladies of the bed chamber, the maids of honor, the women of the bed chamber, the gold stick, and six gentlemen of arms, and as many yeomen of the guard to close the procession.

The procession arrived at the chapel at half past one. The chapel itself had been crowded from an early hour. The galleries presented a magnificent display of nobility and beauty. In the Ambassador’s gallery, facing the altar, among the first arrivals, were the American Minister and Mrs. Stevenson, the Turkish Ambassador, the Princess Esterhazy, Mr. and Mrs. Van de Weyhr, the Swedish Ambassador, Russian Ambassador, and Count Sebastiani. A number of others arrived in rapid succession, and the south gallery soon presented a very magnificent display of costly diamonds, stars, and decorations. At 10 o’clock one of the bands marching into the Palace yard passed the chapel window playing “Haste to the Wedding.” While a smile mantled on the faces of the ladies, the Archbishop of Canterbury most appropriately entered the chapel and proceeded up to the altar.

The Queen Dowager entered immediately after eleven, and took her seat on the right of the state chair appropriated to Prince Albert – all the spectators rose on her entrance, and Queen Adelaide curtsied at this mark of respect.

The appearance of the large body of spectators was brilliant in the extreme. Bridal favors were universally worn, and the profusion of diamonds and other gems, the glittering state robes and costly decorations, formed a display of the most magnificent character. The altar was magnificently decorated. The pillars supporting the galleries were gilt, as was the communion table and the gothic railing which surrounded it.

Wedding Attire
Queen Victoria’s dress was of rich white satin, trimmed with orange flower blossoms. The headdress was a wreath of orange flower blossoms, and over this a beautiful veil of Honiton lace, worn down. The bridesmaids or train-bearers were also attired in white. The cost of the lace alone on the dress was ?1,000. The satin, which was of a pure white, was manufactured in Spitalfields. Queen Victoria wore an armlet having the motto of the Order of the Garter: “Honi soit qui mal y pense,” inscribed. She also wore the star of the Order.

The lace of Queen Victoria’s bridal dress, though popularly called Honiton lace, was really worked at the village of Beer, which is situated near the sea coast, about ten miles from Honiton. It was executed under the direction of Miss Bidney, a native of the village, who went from London, at the command of her Majesty, for the express purpose of superintending the work. More than two hundred persons were employed upon it from March to November, during the past year.

The lace which formed the flounce of the dress, measured four yards, and was three quarters of a yard in depth. The pattern was a rich and exquisitely tasteful design, drawn expressly for the purpose, and surpasses anything that has ever been executed either in England or in Brussels. So anxious was the manufacturer that Queen Victoria should have a dress perfectly unique, that she has since the completion of the lace destroyed all the designs. The veil, which was of the same material, and was made to correspond, afforded employment to the poor lace workers for more than six weeks. It was a yard and a half square.
The Queen Dowager’s dress was of English lace with a rich deep flounce over white satin; the body and sleeves trimmed with the same material. The train was of rich violet velvet lined with white satin and trimmed with ermine. The whole of this dress was entirely composed of articles of British manufacture. Queen Adelaide wore a diamond necklace and earrings, a head dress, feathers, and diamonds.

The dress worn by her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Kent, was of white satin splendidly brocaded with silver and trimmed with three flounces of blonde. It was trimmed with net and silver. The train was of sky-blue velvet lined with white satin and trimmed with ermine. The body and sleeves were tastefully ornamented with ermine and silver with blonde ruffles. The head dress was of diamonds and feathers with a necklace and earrings en suite. The articles in the dress were wholly of British manufacture.

H.R.H. Princess Augusta wore a corsage and train of rich blue velvet trimmed with Brussels point lace and tastefully ornamented with aigrettes of diamonds. There was a rich white satin petticoat with volants and heading of Brussels point lace. The head dress was of Brussels point lace with superb lappets to correspond and a magnificent spray of diamonds.

The Duchess of Sutherland wore a dress of white satin trimmed with barbs of Spanish point lace and white roses. Included was a stomacher of brilliants, point ruffles and berth?; plus a train of white moir? magnificently embroidered in coral and gold. The head dress was of feathers and point lappets with splendid diamonds.

The Countess of Carlisle had a dress of sapphire blue velvet with a Brussels point tucker and ruffles. Her head dress was a toque of velvet and Brussels point lappets.

Prince Albert met Queen Victoria and conducted her to her seat on the right hand side of the altar. The Archbishop of Canterbury advanced to the rails; next her Majesty and Prince Albert approached him and the service commenced. While the service was proceeding, her Majesty was observed looking frequently at Prince Albert, who was standing at her side. In fact she scarcely ever took her eyes off him till she left the chapel.

As the service concluded, the several members of the Royal Family who had occupied places around the altar returned to take up their positions in the procession. After all had passed, with the exception of the Royal bride and bridegroom, Queen Victoria stepped hastily across to the other side of the altar, where the Queen Dowager was standing and kissed her. Prince Albert then took her Majesty’s hand, and the Royal pair left the chapel, all the spectators standing.

Having remained a short time in the Royal Closet, Queen Victoria and the Prince returned in the same carriage from the Royal Garden of St. James’s to Buckingham Palace.

Wedding Breakfast
A wedding repast was prepared, at which several of the illustrious participators in the previous ceremony, and the officers of the household and ministers of state were present. It is needless to say that the taste and ingenuity of the confectioners and table-deckers were prominently displayed at the festival, a splendid wedding cake forming a prominent object of attraction.

On her marriage to Prince Albert in 1840, Queen Victoria’s own wedding cake was a sight to behold. The cake had a circumference of nine feet (2.75 meters) and weighed over 300 pounds (136 kilos). The cake is reported to have been about 14″ high (35.6 cm), of a two-tier design with the second tier rising from the centre of the base. A pure white icing background was decorated with cupids and on the top a sculpture of the mythical Britannia and the marrying couple.

After partaking of the sumptuous dejeune, the royal bridal party set out for Windsor attended by the military, and on the road they were greeted by assembled thousands with the same affection and cordiality with the inhabitants of London. The White Wedding Dress In 1840, Queen Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe wearing a white wedding gown. In those days white was not a symbol of purity, blue was. In fact, many women chose the color blue for their wedding dresses for specifically that reason. White, on the other hand, symbolized wealth.

Since white wasn’t generally chosen as the color in which to be married, Victoria’s dress came as quite the surprise. It wasn’t an unpleasant surprise, however, because soon after women all over Europe and America began wearing white wedding dresses as well. There were still those who chose to get married in other colors, but it was the trend among those of an elevated social status to wear a glamorous white dress.

The term “Victorian fashion” can be used to refer to frilly, lacy, flowing clothing from the British Victorian era.

Styles favored in the Victorian era emphasized the notion of being at the height of all possible civilization and refinement, and the elimination of any outward hint of savage or animal nature in humans.
“Proper” clothing required covering the entire body apart from the hands and head, although these too were often covered with gloves and a hat.
Men’s clothing: pants, coat, jacket; a cap for the lower class, derby hat for the middle class, and top-hat for the upper class (top hats sometimes worn by middle class men for formal occasions).
Women’s clothing: dresses with skirts long enough to reach the feet. Showing an ankle covered with nothing but stocking was considered rather risque, and frowned on in polite society.
Mass production of artificial dyes allowed for clothing to be in a greater variety of colors than was common any time earlier.
Home furnishing and decor favored a busy (some would say “cluttered”) abundance of detail; mass production enabled the middle class to decorate their homes with bric-a-brac.
Number of different outfits worn in a day:
For women this included but was not limited to: receiving dress, visiting dress, walking dress (or promenade costume), riding dress, travel dress, carriage dress, ball gown for a private ball, gown for a rout (or a crush – a house party), ball gown for a public ball, ball gown for an event with food, ball gown for dancing only, fancy dress ball (costume), dinner dress.
For men: outfits for visiting/walking with ladies, riding, hunting on horseback, hunting by foot, visiting the club, engaging in pugilistic endeavors, dining in, dining out, ball dress, fancy dress (costume), smoking jacket, and card/gambling attire.”The clothes make the man” is a phrase that could have been coined during the Victorian period. Victorian clothes were very much a symbol of who you were, what you did for a living, and how much money was in your bank account.

For Men and Woman

For the wealthy, silk stockings covered the legs. For the less wealthy, it was wool socks.
Beachwear in Victorian times consisted of a costume which covered the entire body with yards of material. There were exceptions though – arms could be bare from the elbows down.
Ladies had to have their legs completely covered. This was either done by wearing black stockings or, later in the century, pants. Men were able to show their shins. Bathing bonnets were worn by both.
Good quality leather shoes could always be made-to-order, but by 1850 manufactured shoes were available for purchase. Shoes were now made for the ‘proper’ feet.
Etiquette played its part in Victorian clothing. It was considered ‘good etiquette’ to dress appropriately to ones age, and position in society.
To own an umbrella was a social-scale barometer. The wealthy owned their own bumbershoots, while the general public would rent an umbrella if the weather turned wet.
Victorian dress was not complete without a walking stick, or cane. Some canes contained compartments which were useful for holding vials of perfume.
Victorian fashion did include eyeglasses, But, they were strictly for looks and not for the correction of vision. Often, if there were lenses in the frames, those lenses were removed and the empty frames would become part of the ensemble.
Although the cloth for Victorian clothes was manufactured, ready-made outfits were unknown. Seamstresses and tailors were responsible for custom-made creations. Milliners, glovers, and hatters would help to complete the look.
If the pocket-book didn’t allow such individual attention, families would make their own Victorian clothes or find used garments.
The poorer members of society would visit second-hand, even third and fourth-hand, shops for garments which still had some wear in them.
For Ladies Only
Throughout the era, Victorian fashion changed dramatically. Skirts went from straight to being spread over large hoops. At the end of the era, the hoop disappeared from view and it was back to slimmer skirts, although now sporting a bustle.
Sleeves made different fashion statements, also. Slim sleeves gave way to “leg o’mutton” sleeves by the end of Queen Victoria’s reign.
Head gear was a style all its own. From large lavishly decorated hats, covered with feathers and flowers, the close-fitting bonnet was soon the need-to-have garment. Not that these were any plainer – feathers, lace, and flowers would still be used for decoration.
There was a constant though; the corset. The design throughout the era would change, but the initial purpose never varied. To wear Victorian dress, it was necessary to have a cinched-in waist.
For younger ladies, having a waist in inches the same as your age was the goal. Older ladies were allowed more leeway.
The baring of the shoulder and upper part of the chest was strictly for evening apparel, and most usually this style was worn by upper and middle class ladies. Working-class women were more modest. Because of the exposure of flesh to cool air, shawls joined the Victorian costume.
Satins, silks, and heavy velvets for the older generation were the norm. For younger society ladies who were on the look-out for “a good catch”, the lighter the material, the better.
Fragile gauze dresses, covered with bows or flowers, were made to catch a prospective husband’s eye. On average, these dresses were worn only once or twice.
Middle-class women bought either garments, or ready-made clothes, with the idea that they would last. If necessary, the garment would at some point be cut-down so that it could be worn by children.
For the well-dressed female tradesman (aka “monger”), a bright silk scarf would be worn around the neck, and a flower-strewn bonnet would adorn the head. Brightly polished boots would be proudly shown beneath a many petticoated skirt, which just reached to the ankles.

The Well-dressed Gentleman

Victorian dress didn’t go in for such radical changes with men. But coat lengths did vary over time and the cinching of the waist (men would wear a type of corset) gave way to the ease-of-breathing loose jacket.
Men’s fashion history can be traced via the style of trousers. Early in Queen Victoria’s reign, legs were covered in tight form-fitting cloth. This appearance soon changed to a looser tubular style. Straight slacks, with a crease in front and back, were common by the end of the century.
The elegant dress-coat for the day slowly gave way to a long frock coat, usually black. The dress coat did continue to make appearances, though. ‘White tie and tails’ was the formal eveningwear for gentleman, the ‘tails’ being the former daytime coat.
Games and cycling were the major catalysts for any change in male Victorian clothes. By the late 1800’s, knickers were introduced and a more casual style was adopted for daytime wear. Plaids and checks were seen more often, although most often in the country.
Like his female counterpart, a male would wear a bright silk scarf around his neck. Atop his head would be a closely fitting cap which completely covered his hair. A long waistcoat and seamed trousers would complete his Victorian costume, ending with the sight of polished boots.

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