Victoria
1819 - 1901. Queen of the United Kingdom (1837 - 1901), Empress of India (1876 - 1901).
Queen Victoria, daughter of Edward, the duke of Kent and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg was born on the 24th of May, 1819 in Kensington Palace in London.
Victoria was almost entirely of German descent and the last British monarch of the House of Hannover (after her, the dynasty was named after Prince consort Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha). Queen Victoria ascended the throne in 1837 at the age of eigthteen. At this time the United Kingdom was already an established constitutional monarchy in which the king or queen held few political powers and exercised influence by the prime minister's advice.
She reigned the United Kingdom of Britain and Ireland for 64 years. During her reign the British Empire expanded to a large extent, reaching its climax as one of the foremost global powers of the time. The upper and middle class in the United Kingdom experienced an unprecedented economic prosperity. Therefore she gave her name to an era, the Victorian Age.
Her husband was Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to whom she was married in 1840. Together, they had nine children (Victoria, Bertie, Alice, Alfred, Helena, Louise, Arthur, Leopold, and Beatrice) for all of whom she arranged marriages. Furthermore she had fourty-two grandchildren all across Europe giving her the nickname "mother of Europe".
Changes during her reign
When Victoria came to the throne, monarchy was unpopular among the people in the UK. This attitude altered, mainly in the second part of Victoria's reign as her strong character, her will and her determinedness induced significant changes.
Right from the beginning of her reign, several 'Factory Acts' were passed improving conditions of work notably for children and women but also men in mines, factories and offices by means of restricting weekly hours of work and forbidding night work for persons under the age of 18.
Since the 1870s, the 'Married Women's Property Acts' allowed women to keep their goods when they married. In addition, women longed for political equality and thus, they claimed the right to vote. (Victoria was vehemently against the emancipation of women, but she could not and did not veto the acts of parliament).
In Education, the 'Forster Education Act' (1870) divided the kingdom into districts receiving grants of money for education. In 1891, the attendance of primary school was compulsory and free and finally, the Act ensured that the rate of illiteracy decreased rapidly by the end of the century as more and more citizens were able to read and to write. The "Board of Education", a system of state schools, was established in 1899 and expanded the number of school offered by the Anglican Church.
After the death of her husband in 1861 she almost completely retreated from the public. She died on the 22th of January, 1901 in Osborne House, Isle of Wight. She was succeeded by her son Edward.
Sources
- http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/627603/Victoria
- Maurer, Michael: Kleine Geschichte Englands. Stuttgart: Reclam, 2007.
- Ray, John, Ray, Mary: The Victorian Age. London: Heinemann Educational Books, 1969.
- St. Aubyn, Giles: Queen Victoria - A Portrait. [Place?]: [Publishing House?], 1991.
- Trevelyan, George Macaulay: English social history - A Survey of Six Centuries, Chaucer to Queen Victoria. [Place?]: [Publishing House?], 1945.