The Victorian age is named after Britain’s first queen who ruled from 1837 until 1901. Her name was Queen Victoria.

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During the Victorian age, Britain ruled the British Empire. This means that not only was Queen Victoria ruling over Britain, but she was the Empress of India and the Queen of Canada and small countries like Jamaica too!
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Because of its trading with other countries, the Empire made Britain a very rich country in the Victorian age.

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The Industrial Revolution was during Victorian times. This changed Britain from a land full of villages and farms into a place full of large towns and factories.
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During the Industrial Revolution, Britain’s population grew from 16 million in 1801 to over 41 million by 1901.

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Men, women and children started working in factories and coal mines during the Industrial Revolution.  Most workers were very poor. They lived in unhealthy conditions, their houses were overcrowded and diseases were very common.

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For poor people, life was hard. The streets were dirty and the air was filled with smoke from the factories. In 1832, more than 31,000 people died from Cholera. Other diseases included typhus, dysentery and small pox.

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In 1853 the tax on soap was banned. This meant that the poor could buy soap to help keep them clean and to stop diseases spreading.

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The Victorian age was also known as the age of steam! Because of steam power, bigger and more powerful machines could be put into factories. This meant that the amount of factories in Britain was allowed to grow very quickly.

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In 1856, Henry Bessemer invented a quick way of turning iron into steel. Because of this, ships, bridges and buildings could all be bigger.