100
votes
Accepted
Why did people have so many children in Victorian times?
There is a name in the medical community for those who rely on withdrawal as a contraception method - such people are referred to as "parents". Your average high school health textbook will give you ...
MCW♦
- 31.9k
93
votes
Accepted
Is this depiction of command hierarchy, with the chain of command standing next to each other, historically accurate?
Ref. Das Boot showing a similar chain of command (although only with one additional person). The lieutenant commander gives orders to the watch officer, who passes them below deck. The commander could ...
- 13.4k
57
votes
Accepted
How long would it take to cross the Channel in 1890's?
Google Books has a copy of Bradshaw's Guide from 1887. To get to Paris, they recommended one of four options:
The numbers in the three rightmost columns are, respectively: approximate first-class ...
- 3,048
32
votes
Accepted
What was life like for an adult Victorian chimney sweep?
Actually, by 1881 the use of children as chimney sweeps had been abolished in the UK.
In 1840, the UK Parliament had passed a revised Chimney Sweeps Act which had raised the minimum age at which ...
- 77.2k
31
votes
Is this depiction of command hierarchy, with the chain of command standing next to each other, historically accurate?
Clarity for the soldiers.
Imagine you are a a rifleman standing or crouching somewhere during the battle. The colonel says in your hearing "hold this position." The captain says "first platoon, face ...
- 16.6k
26
votes
Why did people have so many children in Victorian times?
You are right to say that 14 children is larger than most families of the period, particularly if they all had the same mother. Death in childbirth was not uncommon at that time. One of my Victorian ...
- 77.2k
18
votes
Accepted
Were bookshops 'common' in the late 19th century, and how did they differ from modern ones?
Bookshops were certainly becoming more common in Victorian England. In fact, the entire printed world exploded in the 19th century. Most of it was concentrated in London, which by 1860 housed 812 ...
- 97.2k
16
votes
Was there a particular area of Victorian London in which bookshops were concentrated?
This page on London during the Victorian era offers (emphasis mine):
Further, there are the streets and districts for particular trades, as Long Acre, where the carriage-makers abound; and Lombard ...
- 23.2k
15
votes
Accepted
What was the Victorian opinion of the American Revolution?
SHORT ANSWER
Probably the most widely expressed view on American Independence from Britain was that it was inevitable. Whig historians, in particular, also say the revolution was justifiable and that ...
- 108k
14
votes
Is this depiction of command hierarchy, with the chain of command standing next to each other, historically accurate?
This is absolutely no different from a modern office environment. The only person I take orders from is my supervisor. Anyone above/outside him will be politely told, "I need to check that with Mr. M....
MCW♦
- 31.9k
13
votes
Why did people have so many children in Victorian times?
One influence on families in "Victorian" times was Queen Victoria herself. She had nine children, despite having been an "only" child. This was despite the fact that she had access to any birth ...
- 104k
13
votes
Accepted
Where can I find a world map from the Victorian period?
There are some atlases for 1890 or thereabouts on the internet archive. This one here is exactly 1890.
The world-wide atlas of modern geography, political and physical, containing one hundred and ...
- 1,284
13
votes
Accepted
How long would it take for a young lady in victorian England to walk this distance?
A young lady from the Victorian era would not walk that distance. A young lady would be driven that distance in the family coach.
If the young lady is running away from her family, or other ...
- 8,524
13
votes
Accepted
Why was the Gilgamesh flood tablet such a sensation?
In interested circles of archaeology the discovery of the Gilgamesh epos was a sensation as well. 'Old writings from the time of biblical history'. And obviously 'originals', not copies of copies. ...
- 80.6k
12
votes
Why did people have so many children in Victorian times?
This is a case of survivorship bias.
Your great-...-greatparents had lots of children so some survived and some of those who survived had lots of children, and of those some had children and some ...
- 221
12
votes
Is this depiction of command hierarchy, with the chain of command standing next to each other, historically accurate?
As stated by this British Army Doctrine Publication, an clear chain of command
strengthens integration between formations and units and enhances
unity of effort. Subordinates must be in no doubt ...
- 108k
12
votes
Accepted
Did Victorian parents raise their children "sexless" to prolong innocence?
So I think there are two questions at play here:
Did boys wear dresses when they were young?
Did they do this to make children sexless?
The way the article is written, it seems to conflate the two. ...
- 359
11
votes
How long would it take a Victorian to travel from central Germany to the UK?
(The maps are from an Atlas Obscura article on Isochronic maps and the wikipedia entry on German Railways.)
Here's an isochronic map centered on London from the early 1880s to give a feel of how long ...
- 23.2k
10
votes
How long would it take for a young lady in victorian England to walk this distance?
Well, we do have an example of a literary heroine of that age who walks about half that distance in a morning's walk: Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice (Chapter VII) walks three miles, across ...
- 5,671
8
votes
Accepted
Did the average height of men in late Victorian England decline due to poor nutrition?
The statistical illustration published by the BBC of Hatton's data is misleading, The Economist is different:
The original paper is Timothy J. Hatton: "How have Europeans grown so tall?",...
- 80.6k
8
votes
Is this depiction of command hierarchy, with the chain of command standing next to each other, historically accurate?
Hardly an "academic" answer, I'm a middle-aged (alright, elderly) woman with no military experience, though from a family of soldiers - but it seems blindingly obvious to me. Officers have to ...
- 7,901
8
votes
Accepted
Would newspapers in 1890 London have printing presses in their offices?
Yes the presses were in the offices in Fleet Street.
For a picture see wikipedia picture entitled "New_Daily_Telegraph_Offices_Fleet_Street_ILN_1882" from the Illustrated London News in 1882
Another ...
- 1,004
8
votes
Accepted
When was the term 'finishing school' first used?
Short answer
As a term used to mean a school for preparing young women to enter fashionable society (or something similar), 'finishing school' seems to have already been in use in the late 1790s. ...
- 108k
7
votes
Accepted
Who Is to Be Served First, Duchess or Son?
This is, presumably unintentionally, a trick question.
There were no Dukes of England, Great Britain or United Kingdom who were elevated in the Victorian era in their late twenties to early forties, ...
- 291
7
votes
Accepted
How to find regulations for charities in Victorian England?
There is a cultural gap here, because contemporary London is a time and place where we assume that:
There is a process,
which is documented,
which anyone can follow,
and which ends up with everything ...
- 86
6
votes
How did Victorian UK handle bail?
tl; dr
Yes, you could get bail in the Victorian period.
No, it didn't have to be in cash.
Yes, someone else could provide the sureties required by the court.
Some women could provide the sureties ...
- 77.2k
6
votes
Accepted
What was the price of gunpowder in Victorian England
From Sketch of the Mode of Manufacturing Gunpowder at the Ishapore Mills in Bengal: Published in 1862.
The English service powders cost 5£. upwards for the 100 lbs say 50
rupees. The best ...
- 38.5k
6
votes
Accepted
How to research a Victorian company
A search through archive of The Gazette (London), Official Public Record for the U.K., turns up:
22 November 1892; Issue:26347, Page:6589 & 6591:
9 May 1893; Issue:26399, Page:2692 & 4
So ...
- 71.9k
5
votes
Can the assignment "Depot Battalion" in Hart's Annual Army List be linked to a specific regimental assignment?
A more readable copy of the 1887 Hart's List here
The reference being asked about is this mention of:
In summary, Brevet Col. Cardew's posting is to Staff Officer of Pensioners located at an ...
- 71.9k
5
votes
How did Victorian British conservatives resolve the tension between valuing tradition and spreading empire?
Although it was (technically) addressed to Americans, Rudyard Kipling published perhaps the best reconciliation of these two impulses with this poem, "Take up the white man's burden". Key lines ...
- 104k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible