What features can you

see in the picture ?

Label the parts.

Why do you think

William Hogarth drew

this picture?

What does it suggest

life was like in the

18th & 19th Century?

Do you think he got

his message across?Gin Lane by Willam Hogarth (1751)

1. Why did towns grow so rapidly in Victorian England?

WALT

• To understand why there was a

population boom in Victorian

England

• To examine how this affected

the growth and development of

towns like London.

WILF

Grade D/F - Identify the main reasons for the population boom in Victorian London.

Grade C/B – Explain how the population boom affected the growth of towns like London.

Grade A/A* Hypothesise how the population boom may have made life difficult in the East End

The population of Britain

grew so fast that one

historian referred to is as

“an explosion of people!”

10

20

30

40

50

17507 Million

18009 Million

185021 Million

190037 Million

Graph estimating growth of British population between 1750-1900

Population increases for

three different reasons:

1. More births

2. Fewer deaths

3. More Immigrants

In 1695, the population of Britain was estimated to be 5.5 million.

By 1801, the year of the first census, it was 9.3 million.

By 1841, it was thought to be 15.9 million – a 60% growth rate in just 40 years.

Why did the population explode?More Births

1. People got married younger, giving them more

time to have children. The average age at which

people got married dropped from 27 to 20.

2. Midwives were used after 1750 to look after

pregnant. Some hospitals provided maternity beds.

3. Anaesthetics and antiseptics made operations

safer and cleaner after 1870. Fewer patients died of

shock, pain or infection.

4. Baby boom. After 1800 parents had more children

knowing they could send to work in factories.

Why did the population explode?Fewer Deaths

1. Smallpox Vaccination. In 1796 Edward Jenner

discovered how to vaccinate against smallpox.;

made compulsory after 1870.

2. Cheap Soap. From 1800, killed germs.

3. Gin Tax. In the 1700s lots of people died of

drinking cheap gin. Unborn babies were also

harmed. In 1751 the govt put a tax on it meaning

fewer people could afford it.

4. Cleaner Cities. After the 1860s councils began

installing clean water supplies and sewers. Better

houses were built and lighting improved.

Why did the population explode?Immigration

• Britain had no immigration laws for most of the 19th century. The East End of London

became swamped with poor Russian, Polish and German Jews escaping persecution.

Most of these people lived in extreme poverty.

• The tens of thousands of Jews arriving into the East End experienced terrible xenophobia

because of competition for jobs and housing. It led to the creation of the first racist

political group of the 20th century; the British Brothers League

What were the effects of immigration?

The popular image of the Jew at the time is seen in Dickens’

‘Oliver Twist’ where the character Fagin is shown as a

villainous, greedy Jew. It is one of the most antisemitic

images of the Jews in literature.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VogHwP0C5VY

Why did the population ‘explode’ after 1750?

Introduction Introduce the topic. Include facts and figures about the increase in population

ConclusionWrite a summary of your findings.

Point 1 – More births. Summarise the main reasons for the increased birth rate.

Point 2 – Fewer deaths. Summarise the main reasons for the decrease in the death rate.

Point 3 – Immigration. Who were the immigrants? Why were they here? What effects?

Why did towns grow so rapidly in Victorian England?

WALT

• To understand why there was a

population boom in Victorian

England

• To examine how this affected

the growth and development of

towns like London.

WILF

Grade D/F - Identify the main reasons for the population boom in Victorian London.

Grade C/B – Explain how the population boom affected the growth of towns like London.

Grade A/A* Hypothesise how the population boom may have made life difficult in the East End

1750 1801 1851

Liverpool 35,000 82,000 376,000

Birmingham 30,000 71,000 233,000

Manchester 45,000 75,000 303,000

Leeds 14,000 53,000 172,000

London 675,000 957,000 2,362,000

Before the Industrial Revolution most people in

England lived in the countryside.

With the invention of the steam engine and the

growth of factories, people moved to the towns to

work in the newly mechanised industries.

Towns were seen to offer:

• Guaranteed work

• Good Wages

• Work for children

• Housing

Why did towns grow so rapidly?

The increase of population in England and Wales in thirty years, 1801 to 1831, has been

something more than 47%. The number of inhabitants of five of our most important towns has

grown by more than double that rate; being Manchester 109%, Glasgow 108%, Birmingham 73%,

Leeds 99% Liverpool 100%, giving an average of almost 98%.

It will there be seen that the sewerage and drainage and cleansing has been greatly neglected.

The necessary precautions to preserve health have been forgotten. There are many fevers and

contagious diseases.

It is painful to see, in the midst of a rich and flourishing community, a vast number of poorer

people, by whose hands these riches were created, for no fault of their own, living in places where

it is impossible to be healthy, clean and cheerful. There is no building Act to see that the houses

are properly built, and no draining Act or local regulations.

From the Report of the Select Committee on the Health of Towns 1840

1. What problems are being created in the towns by the rising population?

2. How could these problems be resolved?