Childhood in Victorian England was - as today
- a very varied experience, depending upon the
area, class and family into which the child was
born. Victorian Windsor was a town of great
contrasts: wealth and privilege, poverty and
squalor. This was true for the country as a
whole, but in Windsor, with its royal castle and
two army garrisons, the contrasts were especially
marked. Within sight of the castle there were
streets of elegant shops, mean alleys and
terrible slums.
Just as the town itself was one of great
contrasts, so were the lives of the children -
from the princes and princesses in Windsor Castle
to the ragged and homeless children living in the
slums - and every strata of society in between.
Windsor was a microcosm of much that
characterised Victorian England and this
illustrated talk gave a flavour of times, the
homes and schools, leisure activities, and a
glimpse of the experiences of the children at
work and in trouble. Judith also touched upon a
few of the ways in which the life of the children
were improved during the sixty years of Queen
Victoria's reign, and a few of the people who
helped to bring these about in Windsor such as
Princess Christian and the Sisters of Mercy.
Dr Judith Hunter was the Curator of the
Royal Borough Museum Collection, Windsor until
her retirement. She also found time to write and
co-author a number of brilliant books about
Berkshire, Slough and Eton Wick as well as
running many family or local history courses over
the years. The talk was based on a schools pack
produced by Judith for Madame Tussaud's with the
addition of other research on the history of
childhood in Windsor and the neighbouring
parishes.
For further information on the subject of
Victorian children, Judith recommends the
following:
Frank Crompton, Workhouse Children (Sutton
Publishing Ltd, 1997)
Pamela Horn, The Victorian Town Child (Sutton
Publishing Ltd, 1999)
Pamela Horn, The Victorian Country Child (Alan
Sutton Publishing 1990)
An extensive list of local sources of
information related to this talk is available.
Many can be obtained through the BFHS Bookstall:
for a full list of these as well as details of
Judith's books (some of which are privately
published and all are highly recommended for
family historians) please contact the Chairman of
Windsor Branch at 
.
with any queries
