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From 1837 to 1901, Britain was shaped by the reign of Queen Victoria, giving rise to what we now call the Victorian era.
Today, many think of it as a dark and mysterious time—sometimes even morbid—with somber fashion, spiritual séances, and ghost stories. But how often do we actually stop to see how people really lived back then?
If you haven’t yet, this is your chance. Below, you’ll find a series of photographs from the Victorian era, capturing people in all kinds of moments, from the everyday to the strange and curious. Scroll through and let us know which ones stood out to you!
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#1
Photo Captures The Moment A Baby Burst Out Laughing And Her Mother Fights So Hard To No Laugh With Her
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#2
Victorian Strongwomen Laverie Vallee Also Known As Charmion
Forrest Hobbs 5 months ago
I think I might once have had an arm that could match that muscle definition (many decades ago when I engaged in sport), but I've never worn a hat quite that fabulous. 😁 - er, yeah, and I am a bloke...
#3
Adorable Series Of Mother And Daughter Photographs From 1900
#4
Two British Victorian Women Make A Victorian Snow Lady In 1892
#5
A Victorian Era Woman Getting Photographed For The First Time. Can Only Imagine How Striking Her Eyes Were
#6
Woman In Knickers Smoking Cigarette And Looking At Man Doing Laundry
Forrest Hobbs 5 months ago
Knickers are underwear. They look like plus fours or similar. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plus_fours
#7
I'll See Your 1876 Batman And Raise You Victorian Era Bat Woman
#8
A Victorian Woman And Her Pets
#9
The Victorian Solution For The Homeless: The 4 Penny Coffin
For 4 pennies a person could geat a blanket, pillow and single coffin to sleep in the warm of a building for the night.
Bill Swallow 5 months ago
As I recall, in the late 1890's, the Salvation Army operated shelters with these oilcloth-lined "beds" in London for the indigent or temporarily-distressed. The oilcloth lining was a defense against 'bodily vermin' (fleas, bedbugs, lice, and the like). They are described in a scene in Fred Saberhagen's excellent novel, "The Holmes-Dracula File".
#10
The London School Of Medicine, Physiology Laboratory. Women Students At Work, 1899
David 5 months ago
women did a lot of lab grunt work back then. If you were a woman who was smart and motivated to work in those days, lab grunt work, nurse, or teacher was basically the only jobs that were availble. Women as actual doctors, professors, and researchers were rare (they did exist (like Professor Sarah Jane Woodson, who in 1859 became the first Black Woman University Professor in the US and taught English, Latin, and Classics. Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell who was a pioneer for women in medicine. Hertha Ayrton was a pioneer in electrical engineering. And many more), but for most women of academic talent, this was where society let them. These women laid the ground work for women in science, medicine, and more that we have today, because these openings were the first stage to what we have today
#11
"The Devil's Auction". Female Burlesque Performer In Horse Costume
#12
Victorian Girl Posing With Her Beloved Dog. Dog Alive, You Can See It Blurring In The 2nd Shot. Circa Mid XIX Century
#13
Mountain Hiking Around 1910
#14
A Victorian Era Candle-Lit Christmas Tree (Late 1800s)
#15
Victorian Photos Showing The Complex Progress For Wearing A Crinoline Dress. Circa 1850
Luis Hernandez Dauajare 5 months ago (edited)
I read somewhere that Punch Magazine, a satirical publication, called for men to cite their wives as "fire hazards" to their insurance companies. However, this was far from funny, as many women d¡ed when their dresses caught fire from fireplaces or trying to escape a burning building. In one documented case, Archduchess Mathilde of Austria burned to death when her dress caught fire from a cigarette she was trying to hide from her father.
#16
A Peanut Vendor Wearing A Suit Made Of Peanuts, Circa 1890
#17
A Young Girl And Her Very Large Doll, Ca. 1900
#18
Before Alarm Clocks Were Affordable, "Knocker-UPS" Were Used To Wake People Early In The Morning. UK, Around 1900
#19
Pluto Lamps: The Victorian Gas Lamps That Sold Cups Of Hot Coffee, Tea And Cocoa. Inauguration Of The First Pluto In Exmouth Street, London, 1899
#20
All Eyes On You, 1892
#21
Crystal Palace Dinosaurs, London, 1880s. The First Dinosaur Sculptures In The World, Unveiled In 1854, Before The Publication Of Charles Darwin’s Origin Of Species
Although There Are Many Inaccuracies, The Sculptures Are “Grade I Listed Buildings", The Same Status As St Paul’s Cathedral.
#22
Visiting Quarantined Family And Friends At Ullevål Hospital, Oslo, 1905
#23
Bathers And Bathing Carriages On The Beach Of Blankenberge
QuincyForrest 5 months ago
The carriages were wheeled down into the surf with the woman inside; at one time the only acceptable way a woman could bathe in the surf. She then stepped out the door and down the steps into the knee/thigh deep water, and was screened by a privacy umbrella. This was frequently in an area segregated for women only. After she got wet, i.e. when her "swimming" was done, she stepped back up into the carriage and it was hauled by ropes (horse powered) back up to the dry beach. She changed into and out of her bathing attire while inside the carriage. In the photo shown it looks like standards have been relaxed somewhat.
#24
A Picture Taken At The Photography Studio Of J. Hart On City Road, East London - Circa Late 1870s
Forrest Hobbs 5 months ago
1870s, London. This should be required viewing for those who complain about "all those foreigners coming over it, it didn't used to be like that" etc., etc.
#25
Victorian Working Women On Their Work Clothes. Miners Most Likely. Some In Pants, Others Still In Dress, Circa Late 1880s
Panda McPandaface 5 months ago
Women were not permitted to work underground at mines after 1842 - they could work moving coal etc above ground though.
#26
Pubic Wig Seller 1860
#27
The Only Female Elephant Trainer In The World, Understood The Value Of Publicity
Here She Is Pictured With Her Outsized Pets, Who, A Little Internet Digging Has Unearthed, Were Called Jemona And Abdella.
#28
A Young Girl Is ‘Hired’ As A Domestic Servant By A Middle-Class Woman In Carlisle’s Greenmarket. Circa 1895
A coin has been pressed into the girl’s hand to confirm her employment.
#29
The Dissecting Room Of St. George's Hospital, London. The Person At The Cadaver's Feet Is Henry Gray, Author Of Gray's Anatomy
#30
Men And Women Cross Dress In This Humorous Victorian Era Snap, 1880-1900
#31
Woman Buttons Up Her Boots 1895
#32
Clowns From The Victorian Era... I Can Understand The Fear People Have Of Clowns
#33
Harry Houdini And Bess Houdini With Members Of The Welsh Bros
#34
Victorian Living Room, Late 1800s
#35
Ma Rolinson Of Bethnal Green Making Mattresses
#36
Girl Group. Ca. 1890
Fire Singer 5 months ago (edited)
Ya'll need to stop downvoting Many Nights so quickly, I can't see whatever deranged c**p they're spouting if you keep getting it deleted! My nosey self wants to see the drama! LOL!
#37
Vassar Class Day On The Lawn. 1895
bodhisayumi 5 months ago
The Victorian era Vassar class likely revolved around the study of Victorian Britain's history, literature, culture, and society. In case you're like me and didn't have a clue what it was.
#38
Misses Fannie Mills Aka “The Ohio Big Foot Girl”
She had a disease called Milroy's disease which caused for legs and feet to become gigantic.
#39
Victorian Women With Long Thick Weavy Hair. Circa Second Half Of The XIX Century
#40
Woman Reading On A Sofa Illustrating The Use Of John Carter’s Literary Machine With Lamp, Table And Adjustable Couch
#41
Cabaret Of Hell
Multa Nocte 5 months ago
"Cabaret de l'Enfer (The Cabaret of Hell) was a famous cabaret in Montmartre, founded in November 1892 by Antonin Alexander and demolished in 1950 to allow for the expansion of a Monoprix supermarket. The Cabaret de L'Enfer was the counterpart to The Cabaret du Ciel (The Cabaret of Sky), another cabaret which shared the same address on the Boulevard de Clichy. Antonin Alexander was the creator, director, and host of the twin ventures."
#42
Brighton Beach Bathing Machines. UK 1864
#43
European Tourists Having A Picnic In A Temple, In Egypt
Forrest Hobbs 5 months ago
They don't appear to be stealing or damaging anything - so, no worries?
#44
A Young Independent Shoeblack Shines The Boots Of A City Gent
#45
Professional "Mute Mourners", An Obligatory Attribute Of The Funeral Of Any Well-To-Do Deceased In Victorian England, 1896
#46
Chimney Sweep
Luis Hernandez Dauajare 5 months ago (edited)
According to Honest Trailers: [Sing to Mary Poppins' Step in Time] "Filth and grime, filth and grime! Never had a union, barely made a dime, our lungs filled with filth and grime!"
#47
Parlor Maid At Little Gillions, Croxley Green (1880s - 1890s)
Forrest Hobbs 5 months ago
About Little Gillions, The Green, Croxley Green, Hertfordshire: https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/library/browse/issue.xhtml?recordId=1199223
#48
Tintype Of Two Victorian Chaps Who Really Want To Show You Their Feet, Circa 1870s
#49
Victorian Life 1890s
#52
A Posed Scene With Costumed Actors 1897
Russell Tilling 5 months ago
Wow. Asian Indians, maharaja and Western Indians with frontiersmen and settlers. Impressive.
#53
Victorian High Fashion At The Time: Taxidermy Hats. Could Go From Birds To Other Animals Like Squirrels
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Forrest Hobbs 5 months ago
BP is very wrong: the Victorian period in British history covers the reign of Queen Victoria and nothing else. 1837-1901. It's defined by the monarch's reign and that's that. There's no wiggle room. In 1837, William IV died, and Victoria became monarch. Some years later - 1901 - Victoria died and that was the end of the Victorian era. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_era. Her son Edward (VII) was then monarch from 1901-1910, that being called the Edwardian era.
Carl Roberts 5 months ago
Almost every one of these photos is from that exact time period, except for few that are dated from the Edwardian era. Is it really worth getting outraged over a couple of photos? Also....these pics come from a Facebook group, BP is just reposting them
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Forrest Hobbs 5 months ago
BP is very wrong: the Victorian period in British history covers the reign of Queen Victoria and nothing else. 1837-1901. It's defined by the monarch's reign and that's that. There's no wiggle room. In 1837, William IV died, and Victoria became monarch. Some years later - 1901 - Victoria died and that was the end of the Victorian era. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_era. Her son Edward (VII) was then monarch from 1901-1910, that being called the Edwardian era.
Carl Roberts 5 months ago
Almost every one of these photos is from that exact time period, except for few that are dated from the Edwardian era. Is it really worth getting outraged over a couple of photos? Also....these pics come from a Facebook group, BP is just reposting them
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