In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901.

The traditional aristocratic ruling class attempted to maintain as much influence as possible while gradually allowing the middle- and working-classes a role in politics.

[13] Across the British Empire, reform included rapid expansion, the complete abolition of slavery in the African possessions and the end of transportation of convicts to Australia.

[30] The growing middle class and strong evangelical movement placed great emphasis on a respectable and moral code of behaviour.

[41] Nonconformists comprised about half of church attendees in England in 1851,[note 6][42] and gradually the legal discrimination that had been established against them outside of Scotland was removed.

[49] Historians refer to a 'Victorian Crisis of Faith', a period when religious views had to readjust to accommodate new scientific knowledge and criticism of the Bible.

[50] A variety of reading materials grew in popularity during the period, including novels,[51] women's magazines,[52] children's literature,[53] and newspapers.

[64] The idea of women participating in sport did not fit well with the Victorian view of femininity, but their involvement did increase as the period progressed.

[65] For the middle classes, many leisure activities such as table games could be done in the home while domestic holidays to rural locations such as the Lake District and Scottish Highlands were increasingly practical.

[66] The working classes had their own culture separate from that of their richer counterparts, various cheaper forms of entertainment and recreational activities provided by philanthropy.

[68] Initially the industrial revolution increased working hours, but over the course of the 19th century a variety of political and economic changes caused them to fall back down to and in some cases below pre-industrial levels, creating more time for leisure.

[73] The positive economic conditions, as well as a fashion among employers for providing welfare services to their workers, led to relative social stability.

Employing children had advantages, as they were cheap, had limited ability to resist harsh working conditions, and could enter spaces too small for adults.

Pay was low, punishments severe, work was dangerous and disrupted children's development (often leaving them too tired to play even in their free time).

Early labour could do lifelong harm; even in the 1960s and '70s, the elderly people of industrial towns were noted for their often unusually short stature, deformed physiques, and diseases associated with unhealthy working conditions.

"[82] The rapid growth in the urban population included the new industrial and manufacturing cities, as well as service centres such as Edinburgh and London.

[85] Conditions were particularly bad in London, where the population rose sharply and poorly maintained, overcrowded dwellings became slum housing.

Kellow Chesney wrote of the situation:[86] Hideous slums, some of them acres wide, some no more than crannies of obscure misery, make up a substantial part of the metropolis...

In big, once handsome houses, thirty or more people of all ages may inhabit a single roomHunger and poor diet was a common aspect of life across the UK in the Victorian period, especially in the 1840s, but the mass starvation seen in the Great Famine in Ireland was unique.

However, 1890s studies suggested that almost 10% of the urban population lived in a state of desperation lacking the food necessary to maintain basic physical functions.

In that spirit, the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 had been deliberately designed to punish them and would remain the basis for welfare provision into the 20th century.

While many people were prone to vices, not least alcoholism, historian Bernard A. Cook argues that the main reason for 19th century poverty was that typical wages for much of the population were simply too low.

[85] Improvements were made over time to housing along with the management of sewage and water eventually giving the UK the most advanced system of public health protection anywhere in the world.

[49] Scientific knowledge and debates such as that about Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species (1859), which sought to explain biological evolution by natural selection, gained a high profile in the public consciousness.

Simplified (and at times inaccurate) popular science was increasingly distributed through a variety of publications which caused tension with the professionals.

[95] There were significant advances in various fields of research, including statistics,[96] elasticity,[97] refrigeration,[98] natural history,[49] electromagnetism,[99] and logic.

This system, which used electrical currents to transmit coded messages, quickly spread across Britain, appearing in every town and post office.

[103] The railways were important economically in the Victorian era, allowing goods, raw materials, and people to be moved around, stimulating trade and industry.

[105] Historians have suggested various contributing factors, such as Britain's major conflicts with France during the early 19th century, meaning that the distracting temptations of sinful behaviour had to be avoided in order to focus on the war effort, and the evangelical movement's push for moral improvement.

[108] Historian Harold Perkin argued that the change in moral standards led by the middle of the 19th century to 'diminished cruelty to animals, criminals, lunatics, and children (in that order)'.