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If you had to choose one feature that exemplifies Victorian England,
railways (or railroads as we know them in the US) would not be a bad
choice. The railway transformed everyday life for all classes of English
people, changing not only the landscape, but industry, leisure, and more.

This 1894 lithograph celebrates the 1830 maiden voyage of the locomotive
*Northumbrian, *of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, the world’s first
inter-city train system. Look how small the original locomotive was!

Passenger trains grew out of innovations in freight transport necessitated
by the Industrial Revolution. Although the technology of rail
transportation was millennia old, it took the advent of the steam engine to
bring it to its modern familiar form. Mines in Europe and England had used
short horse-drawn railroads for centuries, but with the increased demand
for raw materials, and the increased output of goods, the 19th century
required faster and more extensive rail networks. British engineer and
businessman George Stephenson pioneered early steam locomotives and founded
the world’s first multi-city railway in 1830. His Liverpool & Manchester
Railway ferried both freight and passengers along its 30-mile route between
the industrial center of Manchester and the busy seaport of Liverpool.

Early passenger carriages lacked some amenities but offered the novelty of
speed. | A.B. Clayton, *Opening Liverpool & Manchester Railway*

The changes the steam locomotive and the railways brought were immediate.
Thirty miles doesn’t sound impressive today, but before trains, travel
anywhere—even short distances—was expensive, complicated, slow, and dirty.
Only the wealthy could afford horses or time away from labor, roads were
nonexistent or poorly maintained, and less prosperous people were consigned
to the distances they might travel on foot. Some improvements to roads and
passenger coaches were made in the 18th century, but for any sort of
meaningful, affordable long-distance travel, it took the railways.
Stephenson’s train turned that 30-mile trip from a daylong journey to the
excursion of an hour.

*The Illustrated London News* enthusiastically covered Her Majesty’s
groundbreaking railway journey in 1843

By the mid-1840s railways had spread across England, and the Age of the
Rails was well underway. Queen Victoria’s own first train trip was a media
sensation.

Railway holidays gained popularity throughout the British Empire. This
exuberant poster advertises excursions to see horseracing in India.

Alongside the technological development, the lives of working people were
changing, too. The new railways needed thousands of new workers—from the
“navvies” who built the rails (the name comes from “navigator,” and was
first applied to the construction workers on canals in the 1700s), to the
“linemen” who worked aboard the trains, to the clerical staff in stations
and offices all over Great Britain.

19th century staff of the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railway.

Throughout the period, the workday got gradually shorter, vacation time
became more common, and increased wages meant more people could now afford
to take holidays, ushering in the new tourism industry. *The seaside became
the destination of choice*, transforming countless coastal villages into
resort towns. Another activity reinvented thanks to train travel was* the
celebration of Christmas*. Now far-flung family members and friends could
easily gather together to celebrate.

Christmas excursionists aboard a first class compartment, circa 1860. Check
out the clever hat rack!

Although everyone benefited from the speed and convenience of train travel,
the class system prevailed, and the luxury (or lack thereof) of your
railway journey depended on how much you could pay for it. Conditions for
third-class passengers were slow to improve from the early open carriages,
but second and first class passengers soon enjoyed more amenities.

Passengers boarding a second class carriage in the 1840s (*Illustrated
London News*). The second class would eventually disappear altogether from
English railways by the 1870s as third class carriages became better
appointed.

Cover artist Brett Helquist perfectly captured the spirit of 19th century
travel posters.

In *How to Get Away with Myrtle*, Myrtle takes a rail trip aboard a private
luxury train. Excursion companies (or the otherwise very rich) could
commission railways to use their networks and employees for private trains
or to add private carriages to existing trains. The astonishing luxury of
these private carriages is hard to imagine, for those of us used to
utilitarian commuter trains or modern subways! Carriages had all the
comfortable appointments of the finest Stately Homes; modern amenities like
gaslight, electricity, and running water; and everything from barber shops
to convertible beds to fancy restaurants.

*The Illustrated London News* shows life aboard a 19th century train. The
captions point out the features like having a smoke, the “Very Refreshing”
private sink, going to bed aboard the sleeping car, a little girl saying
“Good night, Ma,” and a young woman relishing the blissful luxury of her
private room (which she was unlikely to have enjoyed at home).

But period photographs say it even better. Here are some great images of
luxury carriages from the Victorian era:

Elegant passengers in the 1880s enjoy a carriage trying to be as Victorian
as possible. The cord running the length of the ceiling could be a gasline
for the lights, or it might be the emergency signal cord.

Although England pioneered train travel, the most lavish carriages came
from America’s Pullman Company of Chicago. This car stayed in America for
the Chicago & Alton line, but railways all over the world used Pullman
carriages.

A Pullman sleeping carriage, featuring a daybed instead of their famous
convertible berths.

A lounge carriage with electric lights, plush velvet furnishings, and the
finest decorative fixtures

A dining car fancier than most restaurants!

Although such luxury trains are now mostly a bygone, there is an enduring
romance to the golden age of rail travel, a time when luxury and technology
combined to transform the landscape and the lives of people everywhere. You
can join Myrtle on her railway journey October 6.

The post #MyrtleMondays: All Aboard! Trains in Victorian England appeared
first on Elizabeth C. Bunce.

Oh, dear. Are there any more depressing words in the English language? I
haven’t been in school for decades now, but contemplating the end of summer
vacation is still like fingernails on… well, you know. This year, returning
to school is fraught with even more anxieties and uncertainties than ever.
Let’s have a look at what this annual ordeal was like for Victorian
schoolchildren in England.

The Old Sunday School, Macclesfield, Cheshire, opened in 1814 after
outgrowing its previous building, and served as a school until 1973. It’s
now a museum. (photo by Mike in Macc)

Widespread education in England began in the 18th century with the advent
of Sunday schools, which—unlike today—weren’t necessarily focused on
catechism. Instead, they offered formal education to children who had to
work in farm fields, mines, and factories the other six days of the week.
Fees were paid either by the families themselves or more prosperous
benefactors.

A London school around 1850, with all the children, teachers, and staff
sharing a single large (and no doubt noisy!) room. Note how the youngest
children are being taught by older students.

A series of Education Acts in the 19th century established compulsory
education for children ages five to ten (later raised to 12). Children
whose families couldn’t afford private education at home or boarding school
went to local schools that charged a subscription fee (to recoup the cost
to build the school). The poorest children—orphans, or those whose families
could not afford even the smallest fees—could attend so-called “Ragged
Schools.” It was not until 1891 that free elementary education was
available to everyone. In addition to basic academic and religious lessons,
schools for the working class taught vocational skills like metalwork and
sewing, to prepare boys for a trade and girls for jobs as servants.

Students at Rugby School playing their eponymous game, 1859

After the age of 10, the sons of more prosperous families could attend
boarding schools, while their sisters were educated at home for most of the
era.

These well-to-do 1870s girls are studying with their mother or a governess
(I’m guessing Mum, from her dress and since the housemaid is consulting her
about something.)

Middle and upper-class households often employed a governess, especially to
teach their younger children. Governesses were typically the well-educated
daughters of prosperous families who may have fallen on hard times, and
their position in a household could be awkward. Of the same social class as
their employers, they were not quite family members, and not quite
servants, fitting comfortably into neither group.

The demand for governesses dropped off by the end of the century, as better
educational opportunities for girls arose. Both the students *and*
potential governesses benefited, as new schools also needed new teachers
and staff. Secondary school education (past the age of 10 or 12) became
more common, with “day schools” (or high schools) opening up to teach
middle class girls, and boarding schools offering more rigorous academic
instruction alongside the social graces. A college education for young
women was considered a novelty and a luxury for those who could afford it,
after which they were expected to settle down and marry (although some
students had other plans!). In contrast, the day schools prepared girls who
would have to work for professional careers. Even so, by the end of the
century, the vast majority of English girls received no formal secondary
education.

Girls at Durand Secondary School in London study science in a well-equipped
laboratory classroom, 1908

A typical secondary education included coursework in Classics (Latin and
Greek literature, history, and languages), French and German, the sciences
(chemistry, physics, and natural history, or biology), mathematics,
physical education, and optional classes in art, music, or technical skills
like bookkeeping and shorthand.

Girls in gym class (and bloomers!) at Charleston High School (Boston, MA),
1893

These lads are studying mechanical drawing at Hampton Institute (now
Hampton University) in Virginia, 1899

The English educational system was far-reaching. Here, soldiers’ children
attend a British Regimental School in India in the 1880s

While we have Victorian schools to thank (or blame) for our modern system
of compulsory education, we can also thank them for another blissful
concept: they invented summer vacation. So whether you’re picking up a
slate or logging into Zoom this fall, spare a thought for the generations
of schoolkids who’ve suffered just like you, with the end of the lazy days
of summer break.

The post #MyrtleMondays: Back to School appeared first on Elizabeth C. Bunce
.