Victorian England

[MichaelJSheahan]

Hi all,
I have started to write a novel based in late 19th Century England. My starting point was an OS Map of 1885.
I would be grateful for any recommended sites for research what life would have been like.
I want the novel to be a fantasy fiction but using real historical facts.
Thanks
MJS

 

[CupofJoe]

What part of the country?
I love this site for looking at old maps:

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/side-by-side/#zoom=5.0&lat=56.00000&lon=-4.00000&layers=6&right=ESRIWorld

 

[Romy]

If you can find them (some seem to be put officially on youtube these days) there are several "living history" series available (also known as the Ruth Goodman universe mostly known from the 'farm' series)
Victorian Farm (+- continuation of Tales from the Green Valley but with a budget, part of the 'Edwardian/Tudor and wartime farms)
Victorian Bakers (an interesting one with a wink to early industrialisation) / Victorian Pharmacy (goes a bit further and also quite some bits about regular life that could be interesting)
There is also one were they build the railroads but forgot the name.
Quite often British history series that pass several eras have a Victorian episode, if you happen to be within iPlayer allowed BBC regions...

 

[skip.knox]

Which sort of life do you mean?

Think how you might answer if a person asked you what life in America in the 2020s was like. Which part of America? Wealthy or poor? Urban or rural? Young or old? What about along the margins of society?

You begin to see the scope of the question is too large to permit of a ready answer. Or a brief one. You might do better to start with your characters. Is it a band of thieves? Or are they farmers? Then you can start looking for those particular kinds of "life in Victorian England". You'll still want to read widely: general and specific histories, contemporary fiction (that is, ones written in the 1880s), as well as good historical fiction set in that era. The living history, historical re-creationists, is also a good base to touch.

I'd budget a couple hundred hours of reading. Which is fine because it'll take more than that to get the story written anyway.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

This is not my traditional research area, but we're also developing the worldbuilding for a prequel series for our current UF and our next project is an Epic Fantasy against the background of the technological free-for-all that the Victorians gave us.

So, books.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PLVRAV0?

There are tons of these writer's guides, and they go on and off sale.
Amazon.com: A Victorian Lady's Guide to Fashion and Beauty eBook : Matthews, Mimi: Kindle Store

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CO4AWWU?

https://www.amazon.com/Austen-Charles-Dickens-Whist-Nineteenth-Century-ebook/dp/B008O58KKK/

https://www.amazon.com/How-Be-Victorian-Dawn-Dusk-ebook/dp/B00J8R3QF2/

These are all useful, but how useful depends on you and how detailed or authentic or just as correct as you want to be.

 

[Mad Swede]

Hi all,
I have started to write a novel based in late 19th Century England. My starting point was an OS Map of 1885.
I would be grateful for any recommended sites for research what life would have been like.
I want the novel to be a fantasy fiction but using real historical facts.
Thanks
MJS

Start with the various UK Census, especially those from 1851 onwards. Look at the local trade guides and the local newspapers, and also at the church records. Personally I'd get accounts on Ancestry and Find My Past to do this. Then do straight internet searches for people and things like pubs and inns. There are a lot of odd little internet sites which tell you a huge amount about local places, events and people in the UK. Books, I'd suggest starting with the Open University course book Culture and Society in Britain 1850-1890. That book has a long list of references, probably more than you'll ever need. You might also consider The Penguin Economic History of Britain, especially volumes 2 and 3. For older books, try The Oxford History of England, specifically Volume XIII: The Age of Reform, 1815–1870 and Volume XIV: England, 1870–1914. You'll probably have to get those second hand...