Writing Research - Victorian Era
In historical fiction it is important to be accurate and the only way to do so is to research the era. What is highly recommended by many writers is to write your story first. While writing your story, mark the parts that you’re not sure are correct and then do the research after you are done. This is to prevent you from doing unnecessary research that may not be relevant to your work. You want to spend your time wisely! Or you can just research as you go, it’s really whatever works for you since there isn’t a “wrong” way to research.
To begin, the Victorian era of the British history (and that of the British Empire) formally begins in 1837, which was the year Victoria became Queen and ends in 1901 – the year of her death. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence for Britain. Some scholars date the beginning of the period in terms of sensibilities and political concerns to the passage of the Reform Act 1832. [1]
1000 Most Popular Victorian Names
Victorian Era Names, A Writer’s Guide
Victorian Darlings - British Baby Names
The Victorians: Life and Death
The Victorian Working Life
A Woman’s Place in 19th Century Victorian History
Victorian Occupations: Life and Labor in the Victorian Period
Flirting and Courting Rituals of The Victorian Era
Glimpses of Victorian Life
Victorian Rituals & Traditions
Etiquette, Manners and Morals
Almanac - Etiquette and Manners Victorian Era
Victorian Britain - Children at Work
Children in the Victorian Age
Collège Sainte-Barbe - Children in the Victorian Age
University of Victoria - Victorian Childhood
Museum of London - What Was Life Like for Children?
Victoria and Albert Museum - Victorian Children (PDF)
University of Strathclyde - Victorian Children
Daily Life in the Victorian Era
How the Mid-Victorians Worked, Ate and Died
How did the Victorians mourn?
The House of Mourning - Victorian Mourning & Funeral Customs in the 1890s
Ideals of Womanhood in Victorian Britain
Etiquette of a Victorian Lady
Going to School in Victorian Times
History of Working Class Mothers in Victorian England
Life of the Victorian Woman
The Working Class and The Poor
Needlework, Knitting and Crohet
Victorian Etiquette - Births and Christenings
Victorian Ballroom Dancing Etiquette
Ballroom Manners and Etiquette
How Prudish were the Victorians really?
Gresham College - The Victorians: Gender and Sexuality
Victorian and Albert Museum - Sex & Sexuality in the 19th Century
Why were the Victorians so crazy about public spaces, like parks?
Victorian Homes and Gardens
The Shops and Shopkeepers
The History of British Winters
Top Ten Pet Peeves, or Horse-Related Mistakes to Avoid in your Story
Marriage in the Victorian Era
Husbands and Wives in the Victorian Era
History - Victorian Technology
Gresham College - The Victorians: Religion and Science
Household Management and Servants of the Victorian Era
BBC News - Servants: A Life below Stairs
Life as a Servant in Victorian England
What Servants would you find in a Victorian household?
The Servant’s Quarters in 19th Century Houses Like Downton Abbey
Victorian Domestic Servant Hierarchy and Wages
Australian National University - The Victorian Merchant-Elite and the Chinese Question (PDF)
Project MUSE - The Chinese in Britain, 1800-Present: Economy, Transnationalism, Identity
Untold London - The Chinese In Limehouse 1900 - 1940
JSTOR - The Journal of Negro History: Black Ideals of Womanhood in the Late Victorian Era
H‑Net: Humanities and Social Sciences Online - Black Victorians
Wikipedia - Black British
History Today - Black People in Britain: The Eighteenth Century
University College London - Black Londoners 1800-1900
The Guardian - The Black Victorians: Astonishing Portraits Unseen for 120 Years
BBC News - Short History of Immigration: The 1800s
Wages and Cost of Living in the Victorian Era
Cost of Living in Victorian England
How Much Is That - Calculating Prices Throughout the Years
Victorian Menu - Cooking and Recipes
A Time Traveler’s Guide to Victorian Era Tea Etiquette (PDF)
Victorian Era Food Recipes
Victorians Food Facts - Cookbook
Victorian Tea Time Recipes - Sandwich and Cheese Straws
Victorian Food, Party & Recipes
19th Century Food and Drink
Victorian Cooking: Upperclass Dinner
eHow - Weekly Meals Eaten in the Victorian Era
What did the Victorians have for breakfast?
Victorian Ladies Who Lunch, Or: Luncheon Places and Tea Rooms for Ladies
History Magazine - What Time is Dinner?
The Arts in Victorian Britain
Victorian Art, Literature and Music
Music, Theater, and Popular Entertainment in Victorian Britain
Victorian Entertainments - We Are Amused
19th Century Hobbies and Daily Activities
Victorian Pastimes and Sports
Victorian Fun and Games & Other Pastimes
19th Century British and Irish Authors
Gresham College - The Victorians: Art and Culture
What is up with the depictions of half naked Victorian era women fencing in artworks?
Hygiene, Health & Medicine
Health and Hygiene in the Nineteenth Century
Victorian Diseases and Medicine
Health & Medicine in the 19th Century
Five Horrible Diseases You Might Have Caught in Victorian England
Alcohol and Alcoholism in Victorian England
A Look Back at Old-Time Medicines
Victorian London’s Drug Culture
Victorian - Medical Breakthroughs
Victorian - Baths and Washhouses
Medicine and Health in Victorian Times
The Victorian Revolution in Surgery
Victorian Science and Medicine
Victorian Health and Medicine
Questions about Victorian Women Menstruation
Victorian View on Menstruation
Reusable Menstrual Products
Childbirth and Birth Control in the 19th Century
British Maternal Mortality in the 19th and early 20th Centuries
The Historical Horror of Childbirth
Contraception: Past, Present and Future Factsheet
History of Contraception in America, 19th Century Artifacts
UCLA School of Public Health - Anesthesia and Queen Victoria
Science Museum - John Snow (1813-58)
Science Museum - Chloroform
University of Liverpool - The Demography of Victorian England and Wales (PDF)
Gresham College - The Victorians: Life and Death
Colton History Society - Village History in Staffordshire, England (Victorian Health)
fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment - Do you have anything about an asthmatic in the Victorian era?
Science Museum - Nerve Tonics
The Pennington Edition - Victorian Remedies
Dressing the Victorian Woman
Victorian Hairstyles & Headdresses
Hair of the Nineteenth Century
How to Dress for Travel in 1852
How to Dress Like a Victorian Man from the 1860s
Dressing the Victorian Girl of the 1890s
Victoria’s Real Secret – The Victorians Knew Underwear
How to Undress a Victorian Lady in Your Next Historical Romance
Early Victorian Undergarments; Part 1, luxurious silk hose, colorful stockings, & socks
Early Victorian Undergarments; Part 2, Chemises and camisoles
Early Victorian Undergarments; Part 3, Pantalettes, pantalets, drawers, and bloomers
Victorian Ladies Shoes & Boots
Victorian Men and Woman Swim Wear
Victorian London - Words and Expressions
A Dictionary of Victorian Slang (1909)
Victorian Slang - Lower Class and Underworld
Cliches and Saying of the Victorian Era
The Dictionary of Victorian London
How Safe Was Victorian London?
Crime and the Victorian Household
Danger inside the Train: Crime on Victorian Railways
How Widespread Were Concerns About Prostitution?
The Great Social Evil: Victorian Prostitution
University of Massachusetts at Boston - The Great Social Evil: Victorian Prostitution
BBC History - Child Prostitutes: How the age of consent was raised to 16
University of Minnesota - Victorian Era: There are Two Kinds of Women…
University of London - The Real Rippers Street: Pathology, Policing, and Prostitution in Victorian London
University of Brighton - The Fetishization and Objectification of the Female Body in Victorian Culture
University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law - Homosexuality and the Law in England
Sexual Violence in Nineteenth Century England
Victorian Crime & Punishment
Victorian Women Criminals’ Records Show Harsh Justice of 19th Century
Sentences and Punishments
Types of Punishments - Hanging
Types of Punishments - Imprisonment
Victorian Children in Trouble with the Law
Child Prisoners in Victorian Times
Victorian-era Serial Killers
The Development of a Police Force
A Work-Life History of Policemen in Victorian and Edwardian England (PDF)
How The Victorians Cracked Crime
Tracking a 19th-Century Serial Killer
Schaffer Library of Drug Policy - The Myth of the Opium Den in Late Victorian England
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