Laws in Victorian England

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Laws in Victorian England

By: Taryn M. and Mike M.

INTRODUCTION:

The Victorian Era was a period of time in England that lasted form 1837- 1901.

There were different kinds of social classes in this era such as the poor class, working class, and the rich class.

Along with the different classes there were also different laws that were being passed.

Along with the laws, there were many other things going on like fashion, technology, and architecture.

But the laws are what set the rules and are what I believe to be one of the main things in the Victorian Era.

Some of the laws i have on this page are the Divorce Laws, Poor Laws, Corn Laws and more!

Corn Laws:

The Corn Laws were passed after the Napoleonic wars between 1815 and 1846. The purpose of these laws was to keep corn and other grains at a price no lower than 80 schillings, which was a lot back then. This high price protected farmers from selling their corn to cheap foreign importers and exporters.

These laws benefited the nobles by letting them have a monopoly over the farming industry. They were some of the only people that could buy the corn at such a high price, but this did nothing to help the working class. They had to work many hours just to buy a weeks worth of corn.

For more information on the Corn Laws, Click Here

Poor Laws:

In 1833 Earl Grey, the prime minister made the Poor Laws to look at the conditions of the working and poor social classes. He first set up a commission to see about the poor law working in Britain. In 1834 the Commission made some recommendations to Parliament. After that, the Poor Law was passed. The Law stated that:

- No able-bodied person was to receive money or other help from the Poor Law authorities except in a workhouse.

- The conditions in workhouses were to be made very harsh to discourage people from wanting to receive help.

- Workhouses were to be built in every parish or, if parishes were too small, in unions of parishes.

- Ratepayers in each parish or union had to elect a Board of Guardians to supervise the workhouse, to collect the Poor Rate and to send reports to the Central Poor Law Commission.

- The three man Central Poor Law Commission would be appointed by the government and would be responsible for supervising the Amendment Act throughout the country.

The poor law seemed to hurt the working and poor classes while it benefited the rich. The law was supposed to be seen as an overall solution to pauperism. There was a big growth of people to the working and poor classes, but the law did not fix the problem at all.

For more information about the poor laws, Click Here

Divorce Laws:

For the Victorians, divorce was extremely expensive, and was very hard to do. The Victorian men and women stayed in unhappy marriages for a lot of reasons. In order to get a divorce, the husband had to prove his wife's adultery; while on the other hand, the wife had to prove 5 things.

* Adultery- Voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than his or her lawful spouse

* Bigamy- The marrying while one has a wife or husband still living, from which no valid divorce has been affected

* Incest- Sexual intercourse between closely related persons

* Cruelty- Act of spouse that causes grievous bodily harm or mental suffering

* Desertion- Abandonment of one's wife or husband without consent

The marriages in the upper classes were based on economic and material gain. The marriages were not viewed as equal. The husband was the main controlling figure and the wife was supposed to just listen to what the husband says. The husband in the marriage was in charge of all the property and wealth while the wife still has no control over anything. This law was pretty much being used in the husbands favor.

For more information about the DIvorce Laws, Click here

Child Labor Laws:

A lot of children in the Victorian Era worked 16 hour days in the dirty, disgusting environments of workhouses, poorhouses, and as apprentices. Child Labor was one of the most common things in the Victorian era because it was an inexpensive way to get work done that normally no one would want to do.

Starting at the age of seven, children would leave their families (if they had one) and go off to work for England. Children were employed in many jobs that normal sized grown people couldn't. For example in the picture below, these children are bringing up various things from the mines. Children are especially good at this because they can fit into the tight tunnels that the mines have. Another job children were often employed for was a chimney sweep because of the tight space.