A Victorian Child Trivia Quiz

Answer: Nanny

Because the father was working, and the mother was looking after the house or socializing, a nanny was employed to look after the children. The nanny was usually an unmarried spinster who would feed, clothe and look after the child until they were sent to school. Famous fictional nannies include Mary Poppins and Nanny McPhee.

Answer: Rocking horse

Children were given a rocking horse to play with until they were old enough to be given a real horse. Other toys they would play with included tea sets, train sets, wooden building blocks and dolls' houses.

Answer: Chalk

Boys from wealthy families were sent away to a public school while their sisters were taught sewing and cooking at home. Children from middle class families attended a primary school in their nearest town or village. Lessons included writing, spelling and arithmetic, using a blackboard to practise their skills. A sponge or wet cloth would be used to clean the surface, ready for the next lesson.

Answer: Punch and Judy

Punch and Judy were wooden puppets, engineered by a puppet master who controlled their strings and provided the voice. Punch was always arguing with his wife, Judy. In response, Judy would bash Punch over the head with a rolling pin. The comical performance also included Baby, a Police Constable, and Toby the Dog. During the late part of the 18th century, the puppets changed from string to hand controlled, and it is these which can be seen on the beaches and parks during summer holidays.

Answer: Chimney sweep

Young children were normally apprentices to a chimney sweep. They had the terrible job of climbing up a narrow chimney flue with their wire brush to clear the soot from inside. Because these children were poor, they could not afford the luxury of having a bath afterwards, and some of them became very grimy and diseased.

Answer: Delivering newspapers

Girls and boys were expected to work in the cold dark mineshafts for up to 18 hours a day for little money. Some would stay by the doors inside the mineshaft and open them when needed. Some were on hands and knees, hauling trucks full of coal along deep and narrow mine shafts. Some guided the horses that were pulling trucks full of coal towards the surface.

Answer: Workhouse

A workhouse was an imposing prison-like brick building, a shelter for homeless men, women and children. Many people lived and slept in one large room, on several floors, and had to work for their accommodation, food and clothes. Jobs allocated to children included laundry, cleaning and gardening, but they were also loaned outside to work in factories and cotton mills.

Answer: Gruel

Gruel was a very thin and watery porridge, usually made simply with oatmeal, water and salt. "Oliver Twist" was published in 1838 and told of a young boy who was orphaned and made to live in a workhouse. He ran away to become a street urchin, picking pockets with the Artful Dodger for the evil criminal, Fagin.

Answer: Penal colony

A crime as small as poaching a rabbit, or stealing a loaf of bread, was enough to convict a child of 13 or 14 years old to a penal colony. Firstly they had to survive an arduous journey by ship to another country, such as Australia, by living in cramped conditions without much food or water. They were then punished by being made to work long hours at the penal colony for seven to ten years. Boy convicts worked for settlers on the land, building and farming, while young girls were assigned servant jobs.

Answer: National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children

In the UK, the Victorians generally treated animals better than their children! The RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) was created in 1824, but it was another 67 years before the NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children) was formed. Created in 1891 by the campaigner and reformer Benjamin Waugh, the children's charity was formed to stop abuse against children, and to give them improved education and better working conditions.