Victoriana | Lily Wight

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Victoriana At The Arcade Of Arts & Arcana

Posted in Books, Victoriana, tagged Arts, books, History, John Guy, Pre-Raphaelite, Prince Albert, Victorian era, Victorian Life, Writers, Writing on June 9, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Lily Wight

Updated 09/06/2014

All these amazing facts have been borrowed from the Snapping-Turtle Guide, Victorian Life by John Guy.

*The average life expectancy for a Victorian city-dweller was a measly 40 years!

*At the beginning of Victoria’s reign (1837) 20% of the population lived in towns. By the end of her reign (1901) this figure had risen to 75%.

*Beer was less than a penny a pint causing problems with drunkenness… especially amongst children.

*This was probably because both boys and girls wore dresses until they reached about five years old.

*Thomas Edison didn’t just invent the phonograph (1877) he suggested talking-books for the blind.

*The Railway Age created affordable travel for all and inspired that Great British pursuit: a day-trip to the seaside!

*Victorian Artists and Poets reacted against The Industrial Age by incorporating romanticised Myths, Legends and The Natural World into their work. (Click the…

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More Victorian Vixens At The Arcade Of Arts & Arcana!

Posted in Art, Victoriana, tagged Art, Arts, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Images, Pre-Raphaelite, Victorian Paintings on June 30, 2012| 4 Comments »

Updated 30/9/2015

If you would like to see more images from the Victoriana album just click below to link or go to the Gallery tab at the top of the homepage (www.lilywight.com).

You can friend/follow Lily Wight on Facebook or follow @Lily_Wight on Twitter xxx

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Lily Wight’s Remarkable Victorian Trivia Generator

Posted in Books, Victoriana, tagged Arts, books, British, Culture, Great Britain, History, humor, Humour, Queen Victoria, Review, Reviews, Robert Hull, The Victorians, Victorian on June 27, 2012| 8 Comments »

*Postage stamps, matches, refrigerators, lightbulbs, antiseptic, inflatable tyres, cars, buses, telephones, iron bridges, railways, cameras, bandstands and promenades are all Victorian inventions.

*After the death of Prince Albert (1861) Queen Victoria dressed in black and had fresh clothes and a wash-stand prepared for Albert every day.

*She also spoke of “the mad, wicked folly of women’s rights”. No comment.

*Only two British monarchs have reached their Diamond Jubilee. Victoria celebrated hers in 1897.

*Britain and China went to war… over Opium trafficking!

*A large part of the world still speaks English today because of Victoria’s empire.

*The Commonwealth is made up of countries which were once under British rule.

*The River Thames was so thick with sewage that paddle-steamers could hardly move. After 30 years of work a new improved sewage system was completed in 1875. It is still in use today.

*Victorian architecture favoured Medieval Gothic and Classical Roman or Greek styles.

*The first Victorian computer was called the “analytic engine”.

All facts borrowed from The Victorians by Robert Hull.

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More Victoriana At The Arcade Of Arts & Arcana

Posted in Books, Victoriana, tagged Arts, books, British History, Facts, History, James Harrison, The Victorian Age, Trivia, Victorian, Victorian era, Writing on June 25, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Updated 17/06/2014

Here at The Arcade of Arts & Arcana we are not ashamed to trawl kids’ books for fascinating factoids. Here are few of our findings…

*Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital opened in 1852. If you scroll down the sidebar you will find a link to Children With Cancer UK, this site’s nominated charity 🙂

*Edward Jenner helped to wipe out smallpox in just 40 years when free vaccinations became available in 1840.

*The bell residing in the Houses of Parliament clock tower was cast in 1858 and named for building supervisor Sir Benjamin Hall. Big Ben of course.

*Building ships from steel instead of heavy iron was a very good idea.

*Charles Kingsley’s The Water Babies (1863) influenced Parliament to pass the Chimney Sweeps Act. The use of children as sweeps was finally stamped out in 1875.

*Today southeast Asia produces 90% of the world’s rubber. Rubber seeds were originally sourced in South America, shipped to the UK for cultivation at Kew Gardens and re-distributed to Malaysia and Indonesia.

*The first bicycle, the Penny Farthing, was made in 1883 with solid tyres and no brakes.

*The first electric underground railway opened in London in 1890. The system soon became known as “The Tube”.

*Many UK newspapers were founded in the Victorian era. The Times rose to prominence by reporting on the blunders of The Crimean War.

*Many Scots families emigrated to Canada (settling Nova Scotia or New Scotland) due to their own, less well-known potato famine.

All these facts are borrowed from The Victorian Age 1837-1914 by James Harrison.

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Victoriana At The Arcade Of Arts & Arcana

Posted in Books, Victoriana, tagged Arts, books, History, humor, Humour, John Guy, Pre-Raphaelite, Prince Albert, Victorian, Victorian era, Victorian Life on June 22, 2012| 16 Comments »

Updated 09/06/2014

All these amazing facts have been borrowed from the Snapping-Turtle Guide, Victorian Life by John Guy.

*The average life expectancy for a Victorian city-dweller was a measly 40 years!

*At the beginning of Victoria’s reign (1837) 20% of the population lived in towns. By the end of her reign (1901) this figure had risen to 75%.

*Beer was less than a penny a pint causing problems with drunkenness… especially amongst children.

*This was probably because both boys and girls wore dresses until they reached about five years old.

*Thomas Edison didn’t just invent the phonograph (1877) he suggested talking-books for the blind.

*The Railway Age created affordable travel for all and inspired that Great British pursuit: a day-trip to the seaside!

*Victorian Artists and Poets reacted against The Industrial Age by incorporating romanticised Myths, Legends and The Natural World into their work. (Click the Gallery tab for an album of Pre-Raphaelite paintings.)

*Thank whatever gods you believe in for the invention of chloroform! Available for use on patients as an anaesthetic from 1847.

*According to royal protocol no one is allowed to propose to a queen so Victoria had to ask for Albert’s hand in marriage (and we all know where he kept the ring *warning* this link features adult content)!

*Women (and anything they earned or owned) were considered the property of their husbands or fathers until legal amendments beginning 1882.

Click for another post you might enjoy 🙂