society and social changes 1851-1886

Question 1

the upper class

Answer 1

• divided by two groups: landed aristocracy and landed gentry
• ‘occupation’: landowning, money earned from work or trade was seen as vulgar
• new money was looked down on by old money (earned vs inherited)
• landed elites would marry their children to the children of leading families from worlds banking and commerce

Question 2

aristocracy

Answer 2

800 people 
income £10,000+
land over 10,000 acres 
up to 50 staff/servants
titles: duke, earl
dominated house of lords

Question 3

gentry

Answer 3

3000 people
income £1000-10,000
1,000-10,000 acres
6 servants
minor titles
aspire to emulate the aristocracy and have children marry into the aristocracy
resentment of aristocracy’s dominance of key positions

Question 4

the middle class classified

Answer 4

• different levels within the middle class
• derived from steady income from non-manual labour in business or the professions
• criteria: minimum of an annual income of £100
• ability to employ servants 1-3 to emulate upper class lifestyle, created greater leisure time for the middle classes

Question 5

the different levels within the middle class

Answer 5

• rich industrialists, bankers, financiers and merchants
• richer clergy, doctors, uni profs, headmasters
• yeoman farmers, lawyers, mill managers
• teachers and clerk

Question 6

middle class within mid victorian boom

Answer 6

• living standards generally improved
• real incomes increased 1851-71 = number of middle class increased
• families started to limit their size = societal mobility
• separated from the poor by moving south and west = regional divides
• increased leisure, books, magazines about fashion, lifestyle and household management aimed at women
• more affluent middle class sent son to Eton and Westminster to emulate the upper class lifestyle
• confidence, affluence and number increase claimed dominance in British politics and society
• promoted positions based on merit not birth

Question 7

the working class

Answer 7

• divided between the unskilled and skilled workers
• most effected by the Great Depression 1873 as all agricultural workers were working class
• changes to poor law meant landowners adapted to ensuring areas of true poverty and poor housing
• consciousness grew gaining prosperity and the vote
• 1884 more working class men won the vote
• 1885 working class constituencies created

Question 8

unskilled workers

Answer 8

• lower skill level had a more volatile and irregular working life
• first to be unemployed in economic decline
• seasonal employment: dressmaking
• living arrangements often unstable

Question 9

skilled workers

Answer 9

• ## skilled working classes formed friendly societies and trade unions

Question 10

impacts of the Great Depression 1873 on the working class

Answer 10

• high farming and mechanisation reduced the demand for agricultural workers - hit agriculture more than industry
• conditions were dangerous: high infant mortality rate, low life expectancy, overcrowded
• falling prices benefited working class mainly with food but life remained struggle with unstable work and housing

Question 11

regional differences throughout UK

Answer 11

Scotland - more developed education system and higher literacy rate
Northern England, Midlands and South Wales - developed industrially
London - major international centre of commerce and government
South-East and West - agricultural

Question 12

regional differences - north and south divide

Answer 12

• pay in the north was higher than south
• housing was better in the north for workers than south and rents were lower
• cost of key commodities was lower: coal
• Nottingham - better housing for the working class, lower rents = little worker mobility
  HOWEVER
• some areas in the North had very poor conditions: back to back housing in Yorkshire

Question 13

slums

Answer 13

• all major towns and cities has slums where casual workers lived near local industry
• worst conditions were found in London
• huge influx of people but very little industry
• many relied in casual seasonal work = poverty in winter
• health conditions in capital terrible

Question 14

migration and emigration 1851-1886

Answer 14

• growth in industry attracted other people to go to Britain and move within Britain
  example - Nottinghamshire miners came from other mining areas
• traditional differences broke down but regional’s dialects remained strong
• emigration to USA or other dominoes of British empire: Canada, Australia and New Zealand for new life and opportunity

Question 15

prosperity

Answer 15

• gap between rich and poor vast even during mid victorian boom
• food prices fell and real wages increased peak prosperity
• larger middle class and upper class benefited from the prosperity
• huge poverty in slums and acute poverty in rural areas
• class differences captured in books, films and TV dramas
• seasonal activities: summer holidays, august shooting, winter hunting, easter-summer the ‘season’ in London (balls, theatres etc)

Question 16

‘season’

Answer 16

• highlight of the year important with regard to the marriage market
• wealthy families wanting to make good matches for son/ daughter when they come of age
• dowry worth £15,000 a year

Question 17

prosperity within the upper class and middle class

Answer 17

• number in service increased from 750,000 to 1,200,000 1851-71
• number keeping horses and carriages grew and use of railways
• taking annual holiday, spa towns and seaside resorts grew
• expenditure grew quicker than the increase in the costs of goods

Question 18

lack of prosperity for working class

Answer 18

• worked long hours six days a week for low pay to produce goods the wealthy consumed or waited on them as servants
• sewing machine invention made fashion more accessible

Question 19

poverty - low wages

Answer 19

• very low for unskilled workers
• rates misleading because: irregular working hours, additional sources of income and family may have multiple wage earners
• working-class families had very basic diets largely potatoes and bread
• health problems due to poor diets and living conditions and lack of money for medical treatment
• high infant mortality and low life expectancy
• no money = educationally limited
• seek alternative incomes

Question 20

alternative incomes to counteract low wages

Answer 20

street selling 
washing 
home-based crafts 
running allotments 
poaching 
petty crime 
prostitution

Question 21

dangerous working conditions - mining

Answer 21

• mine owners unwilling to invest in modern machinery
• at Hartley Colliery in Northumberland 204 men entombed when the beam of the pumping engine snapped and fell down single shaft
• between 1860 and 1897 24,000 men died in mining accidents

Question 22

dangerous working contains in industry

Answer 22

• factories and brickyards damaging to health
• in matchmaking phosphorous fumes ate away at workers teeth and jawbone leading to ‘phossy jaw’
• medical treatment expensive and days missed meant no pay = people forced by poverty to continue working in terrible conditions lowering productivity

Question 23

high rents and poor living conditions aiding poverty

Answer 23

• 1/4 to 1/2 wages on rent
• gov attempts to clear slums and build better housing meant they were too expensive for the poorest
• slums not cleared with any haste apart from Birmingham
• mass overcrowding, poor sanitation, poorly built accommodation: back to back housing developed for profit
• health deterioration: cholera outbreaks

Question 24

working class related to living conditions

Answer 24

• preferred ‘freedom’ of slums despite conditions
• families crammed into singular rooms
• gas lights became for common and furniture was becoming cheaper
• low standard and frequently adulterated food: graphite and back lead in tea

Question 25

child labour

Answer 25

• common in all industries
• increasing legislation to limit long hours of work
• much of the work was dangerous: extreme heat, huge weights, inhaling soot, hours in cold and wet
• child labour kept adult wages down
• decided children chance of education and causes serous long-term damage to health

Question 26

the poor law

Answer 26

• raised money through rates to support the poor who couldn’t support themselves
• amended in 1834 to shift responsibility from individual parishes to 600 poor law unions
• poor law mainly offered through a workhouse, family would be placed in workhouse if accept poor relief
• new poor law introduced 1834 = outdoor relief

Question 27

outdoor relief

Answer 27

poor relief from their own homes not within the workhouse

Question 28

workhouse

Answer 28

• husbands, wives and children were separated into different wards
• uniform required
• personal belongings given in and returned on leaving workhouse
• expected to work their poor relief
• conditions were deliberately harsh so people would seek to avoid the workhouse
• some education was provided for children

Question 29

assessments of living conditions

Answer 29

• left-wingers: stress the suffering and exploitation of the workers
• right-wingers: stress the function of the market in ensuring that standards of living improved for all
• industrialisation spread wealth widely but lower class saw little improvement