What was life like in England around 1820?

Answer 1

It was the era of the Industrial Revolution, when Britain was changing from a society where most people lived in the country and lived by farming, to one where most people lived in towns and worked in factories. Towns were growing rapidly, and the number of factories was increasing. Many people worked in factories: men, women and children, often in really awful conditions and for very long hours. Attempts were made to imporve conditions for workers, in 1819 the Factory Act forbidding the employment of children under nine in cotton-mills was passed, and iin 1825 the Cotton Mills Regulation ACt was passed limiting children under 16 to a 12-hour working day.

It was the beginning of the age of the steam train, the Stockton-Darlington railway opened in 1825, and in 1829 George Stephenson and his son Robert won a competition sponsored by the Liverpool and Manchester Railway with their Rocket, capable of travelling at almost thirty miles an hour!

In the 1820s, Law and Order was maintaned in London by the Bow Street Runners, who were badly paid and few in number. In 1829, the Metropolitan Police came into being, under a Commissioner at Scotland yard. There were 3000 constables originally, who wore top hats and blue frockcoats, and were armed only with wooden truncheons. They were known as 'peelers' or 'bobbies' after their creator. Other towns eventually followed London's example and established their own police forces.

Conditions in prisons and for convicts transported to Australia were very grim during this period. The Quaker reformer Elizabeth Fry was very active in the 1820s: she toured the country inspecting prisons, demanding reform, and founding women's associations and pressure groups. She was particularly concerned with the appaling conditions of women and children in prisons.

Answer 2

People who lived in England found living really harsh there because in winter it would get so cold that people started dying at random points on the street. They would have a very short life time because about the maximum age they could get to was their 40's. James Clark 4A!!!

Answer 3

It was ruled by King George the Third and Parliament, and was so badly governed people moved and founded America. It was also dirty.

Answer 4

If you were wealthy, then the world was full of exciting opportunities. If you weren't then drudgery, ill-health, exploitation and misery were far more common.