The Victorian era in British history spans roughly from 1820 to 1914, overlapping but not exactly matching the reign of Queen Victoria.
Today, it’s often remembered as a dark and mysterious time, marked by somber fashion, séances, and ghost stories. But how often do we actually stop to see what life was really like for the people living then?
Here’s your chance. Below is a collection of photographs from the Victorian era, capturing everything from the ordinary to the wonderfully strange. Scroll through and see which moments from the past stand out to you!
#1 Victorian Strongwomen Laverie Vallee Also Known As Charmion
Image credits: Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research
#2 The Victorian Solution For The Homeless: The 4 Penny Coffin
For 4 pennies a person could geat a blanket, pillow and single coffin to sleep in the warm of a building for the night.
Image credits: Electrical-Aspect-13
#3 Pubic Wig Seller 1860
Image credits: thebigchil73
#4 Victorian Girl Posing With Her Beloved Dog. Dog Alive, You Can See It Blurring In The 2nd Shot. Circa Mid XIX Century
Image credits: Electrical-Aspect-13
#5 Woman In Knickers Smoking Cigarette And Looking At Man Doing Laundry
Image credits: Underwood & Underwood
#6 Mountain Hiking Around 1910
Image credits: National Archives / Spaarnestad Photo
#7 Clowns From The Victorian Era... I Can Understand The Fear People Have Of Clowns
Image credits: OkGeologist5828
#8 I'll See Your 1876 Batman And Raise You Victorian Era Bat Woman
Image credits: systemadministrator8
#9 Victorian Photos Showing The Complex Progress For Wearing A Crinoline Dress. Circa 1850
Image credits: Lord_Cornwallis_III
#10 A Peanut Vendor Wearing A Suit Made Of Peanuts, Circa 1890
Image credits: Iangator
#11 Girl Group. Ca. 1890
Image credits: SerlondeSavigny
#12 "The Devil's Auction". Female Burlesque Performer In Horse Costume
Image credits: J. Gurney & Son
#13 Crystal Palace Dinosaurs, London, 1880s. The First Dinosaur Sculptures In The World, Unveiled In 1854, Before The Publication Of Charles Darwin’s Origin Of Species
Although There Are Many Inaccuracies, The Sculptures Are “Grade I Listed Buildings", The Same Status As St Paul’s Cathedral.
Image credits: FNaXQ
#14 Victorian Living Room, Late 1800s
Image credits: R. K. Mellon Family Foundation
#15 Bathers And Bathing Carriages On The Beach Of Blankenberge
Image credits: Rijksmuseum
#16 The London School Of Medicine, Physiology Laboratory. Women Students At Work, 1899
Image credits: Wellcome Collection
#17 Two British Victorian Women Make A Victorian Snow Lady In 1892
Image credits: The Strand Magazine
#18 A Victorian Woman And Her Pets
Image credits: reddit.com
#19 Adorable Series Of Mother And Daughter Photographs From 1900
Image credits: pumpkinmum
#20 Woman Buttons Up Her Boots 1895
Image credits: World-Tight
#21 A Young Girl Is ‘Hired’ As A Domestic Servant By A Middle-Class Woman In Carlisle’s Greenmarket. Circa 1895
A coin has been pressed into the girl’s hand to confirm her employment.
Image credits: Albertbailey
#22 Victorian Women With Long Thick Weavy Hair. Circa Second Half Of The XIX Century
Image credits: Electrical-Aspect-13
#23 Harry Houdini And Bess Houdini With Members Of The Welsh Bros
Image credits: digitalcollections
#24 A Victorian Era Candle-Lit Christmas Tree (Late 1800s)
Image credits: rr27680
#25 Before Alarm Clocks Were Affordable, "Knocker-UPS" Were Used To Wake People Early In The Morning. UK, Around 1900
Image credits: Lowcrbnaman
#26 Pluto Lamps: The Victorian Gas Lamps That Sold Cups Of Hot Coffee, Tea And Cocoa. Inauguration Of The First Pluto In Exmouth Street, London, 1899
Image credits: GaGator43
#27 All Eyes On You, 1892
Image credits: 99OBJ
#28 The Only Female Elephant Trainer In The World, Understood The Value Of Publicity
Here She Is Pictured With Her Outsized Pets, Who, A Little Internet Digging Has Unearthed, Were Called Jemona And Abdella.
Image credits: FarStrawberry5438
#29 Parlor Maid At Little Gillions, Croxley Green (1880s - 1890s)
Image credits: wellcome collection
#30 Brighton Beach Bathing Machines. UK 1864
Image credits: OtherwiseTackle5219
#31 A Victorian Era Woman Getting Photographed For The First Time. Can Only Imagine How Striking Her Eyes Were
Image credits: saraboulos
#32 Victorian High Fashion At The Time: Taxidermy Hats. Could Go From Birds To Other Animals Like Squirrels
Image credits: Electrical-Aspect-13
#33 Misses Fannie Mills Aka “The Ohio Big Foot Girl”
She had a disease called Milroy's disease which caused for legs and feet to become gigantic.
Image credits: wikipedia
#34 European Tourists Having A Picnic In A Temple, In Egypt
Image credits: LL / Getty Image
#35 A Young Independent Shoeblack Shines The Boots Of A City Gent
Image credits: John Thomson / Getty Image
#36 Woman Reading On A Sofa Illustrating The Use Of John Carter’s Literary Machine With Lamp, Table And Adjustable Couch
Image credits: nationalarchives
#37 Cabaret Of Hell
Image credits: Harry C. Ellis
#38 Victorian Working Women On Their Work Clothes. Miners Most Likely. Some In Pants, Others Still In Dress, Circa Late 1880s
Image credits: Electrical-Aspect-13
#39 A Young Girl And Her Very Large Doll, Ca. 1900
Image credits: SerlondeSavigny
#40 The Dissecting Room Of St. George's Hospital, London. The Person At The Cadaver's Feet Is Henry Gray, Author Of Gray's Anatomy
Image credits: wellcomecollection
#41 Men And Women Cross Dress In This Humorous Victorian Era Snap, 1880-1900
Image credits: reddit.com
#42 Tourists - 1900s
Image credits: reddit.com
#43 Victorian Life 1890s
Image credits: parijatwashere
#44 Vassar Class Day On The Lawn. 1895
Image credits: kirbyfood
#45 Visiting Quarantined Family And Friends At Ullevål Hospital, Oslo, 1905
Image credits: StcStasi
#46 A Picture Taken At The Photography Studio Of J. Hart On City Road, East London - Circa Late 1870s
Image credits: TheAfternoonStandard
#47 Ma Rolinson Of Bethnal Green Making Mattresses
Image credits: Heritage Images / Getty Image
#48 Chimney Sweep
Image credits: Historical Picture Archive / Getty Image
#49 A Posed Scene With Costumed Actors 1897
Image credits: nationalarchives
#50 Professional "Mute Mourners", An Obligatory Attribute Of The Funeral Of Any Well-To-Do Deceased In Victorian England, 1896
Image credits: Unique_District_9381
#51 Photo Captures The Moment A Baby Burst Out Laughing And Her Mother Fights So Hard To No Laugh With Her
Image credits: Beeninya
#52 Young Women Are Admitted To Full Communion In A London Church. Ca 1860
Image credits: Dhorlin
#53 Tintype Of Two Victorian Chaps Who Really Want To Show You Their Feet, Circa 1870s
Image credits: dannydutch1
