History Group Meeting on Monday 20th February 2012.At this our second meeting of the year we had 15 members present and the subject for discussion was “The Victorians”.
This is a very broad subject of course, but it was said that the three great reigns of monarchs have been noted by their names and they are all Queens(men beware) - the Elizabethan , the Victorian and of course our current Queen- 60 years so far and look what has happened so far.
In this time called the 100 years of peace-although there were a succession of wars around the globe in which we were involved. There were countless inventions, such as steam trains which have had such a profound effect on our lives with mass travel being possible for the first time. Fish and chips as the trains could have the fresh fish taken from the ports to the cities in hours rather than days.
Up to the mid 18 hundreds when you had an operation you just had to grit your teeth and endure the terrible pain, but with the advent of anaesthetics it mean that the patient no longer had to be held during surgery.
The Bicycle, the car, the telephone, ice creams, baked beans and so much more.
This was a golden age of discovery and progress, but at the same time millions lived in abject poverty. Whereas at the beginning of Victoria’s reign the workhouse was supreme and it was your fault if you were poor, by the end of the 19th century attitudes had completely changed the country took it as their responsibility and job to help you.
All this and so much more.
Our next meeting is on Monday 19th March and the topic for discussion will be “Workhorses-the Industrial Revolution”.
Michael Page
