Laws in Victorian England 

by: Lorena Sferlazza and Mina Alexis

“She is all but powerless, yet the powers of the government are her powers, diffused by long evolution among her Parliament, her prime minister, her cabinet, her courts... Such phrases are not mere symbolic anachronisms: the Queen is not there, but her power is, and in an unfathomable British way the power seems particularly real because, although it is not wielded by others, it remains the power of a single person, the monarch.” - A quote commenting the power of Queen Elizabeth from author John Osberne's book  Britain.

 

 

INTRODUCTION                                                                                GOVERNMENT                                                                                   LAWS ENACTED                                                                               TO CONCLUDE                                                                                 WORKS CONSULTED

 

 INTRODUCTION                                                                               

 However, most people are unaware of the many interesting laws that were created and passed for the better or worst. The
 

Victorian Era lasted from 1837-1901 and has been considered to be a golden age for
 

political reforms were made. Laws and regulations were formed to try to control the growing middle and
 

GOVERNMENT                                                                                 

        All laws in Old England at the time were passed through PARLIAMENT. Parliament was the branch of government that held the power to discuss, create, and change the laws. They did this by discussing with the current king about town issues and, afterward, voting on ways to solve them. When meeting, parliament's elected members divided into five groups:

                                                                       1.) the prelates (bishops and abbots)

                                                                       2.) the magnates (earls and barons) 

                                                                                         3.) the inferior clergy                     

                                                                       4.) the shires' knights

                                                                                         5.) the town's citizens

However, these five groups were categorized into two main houses:

1.) The House of Commons

This house was comprised of groups 3, 4, and 5 from above. Members of this house, called MPs, voted on ways to provide money for the king, mainly by instigating taxes. After new taxes were created, the king appointed these members to go about their towns and make certain such taxes were being collected. Initially, MP's did not have the right to vote for laws that impacted the entire country's daily living.   

The House of Lords originally held the most power between the two parliament branches because it was comprised of a less number of members, most of which held a higher social status. Therefore, each of their votes was weighted greatly. Another reason why this house was so powerful was because the king preferred to discuss with them new laws to be enacted. The House of Lords held the power to vote whether these potential laws were to be legalized or not.

As time passed, the number of Commons members increased and were given the right to vote upon more potential laws. Eventually, laws had to be voted upon by both houses, and the majority vote would overrule. 

In addition to the Houses of Parliament, you would have the monarchy, which is basically the queen or king of England. He or she would officially sign all of the laws that parliament votes for. At the time of the Victorian Era, the queen, (Queen Victoria I,) would have a much more influential position regarding that of instituting more laws and shaping the government to become the way it is today: a more balanced, civil structure that relies upon the dependability of various political parties and the prime minister's administration. The prime minister is the eldest executive head of the ruling political party of parliament's elected members.

He or she presides over England's CABINET, who are ministers appointed by

the monarch to run specific segments of government, such as the "Minister of Defense."

Combining such political efforts, the outcome would be the complete government of Victorian England. Although

Queen Victoria always believed in the people to have a say in their government, almost every decision made in the Victorian Era had some significant impact by the Queen herself, therefore rightfully naming this time period the

Victorian Era.

 For more information on Old England's government, click here.

For more information on parliament's significance and history, click here.

 LAWS ENACTED                                                                             

The foundation of Victorian England's success revolved around the laws that were passed at the time. Laws did not only say what were the right and wrong things to do in society; they set guidelines that shaped the boundaries of social hierarchy and designated those who were poor from those who were wealthy, which gave the Victorian England its famously distinct levels of social status. This greatly influenced the occupations chosen by certain people, which succumbed to who would invent the first telephone or become the first female nurse. Laws have always been molded by society, however, whether it was their direct opinion or by the indirect actions of its citizens. Then, society becomes formed by the laws; it becomes a never-ending chain of influence. Here are some of the most influential and renowned laws passed during the Victorian Era:   

     Although much disputed, the Reform Acts were said to have started the entire Victorian Era because it expanded English citizen's representation in the right to vote. As more people began to vote, there was more fairness in representation for England's growing population. Voting thereafter became more of a right of citizenship rather than a privilege for people of high social status. There were three Reform Acts that were passed during the Victorian Era.

     The first act was passed in 1832. Because the industrial population of England was rapidly proliferating, there was a great need for more representation in Parliament. Therefore, the First Reform Act was passed, guaranteeing the franchise of any man who owned a house worth at least 10 lira. The enactment of this act added 217,000 voters to an already established group of 435,000 voters in Parliament.

     Still growing in population, English parliament decided to expand the voting rights even more to many workmen and others, enacting the Second Reform Act in 1867. This added 1,000,000 people to the electorate, and caused another doubling of Parliament's members to almost 2,000,000 people! Theories continued to evolve whether this great quantity of voters would devastate the power of the queen and create a democracy that would demolish England's well-kept cultural basis.

     Finally in 1884, along with the Redistribution Act of 1885, Parliament's electorate took a giant step to enfranchise almost all male agricultural workers. This created the Third and Final Reform Act of 1884. Women during the Victorian Era were not granted the right to vote, for the Act of 1918 gave women over age thirty this right. Voting rights were not equalized for both women and men until 1928's Equal Franchisement Act.    

For more information on the Reform Act, click here.

Corn Laws

    Another significant set of laws passed during the Victorian Era was the Corn Laws. This series of laws was first enacted in 1815. At the time, Parliament was concerned about the importation of foreign corn. This law was passed to maintain the very high price of corn at the time of the termination of the French Wars. Since the corn was so expensive, it caused other goods to raise their prices, too. This caused the domestic market for manufactured goods to be ultimately depressed because people were spending all of their money on food rather than commodities.

    These laws passed by parliament were ultimately only beneficial to the members in parliament because most of them were land owners. This is significant because they wanted to obtain more profit from raised corn prices while not having to buy corn because they had a surplus of land to cultivate corn and sell it themselves. However, the majority of Old England lived in cities. Therefore, they had no vast land to grow the vegetable and were relient on buying goods. This is why parliamentary officials were unwilling to revise the law.

    In 1828, the Corn Laws were revised by the Duke of Wellington's government, and they made a sliding scale for the weight-to-price of the corn. Despite this revision however, this did not help the citizens of Old England since the price was still high.

For more information on the Corn Laws, click here. 

 Poor Laws

2.) Conditions in workhouses were to be made very harsh to discourage people from wanting to receive help;          

3.) Workhouses were to be built in every parish or, if parishes were too small, in unions of parishes;                       

4.) Ratepayers in each parish or union had to elect a Board of Guardians to supervise the workhouse, to collect the   

Poor Rate, and to send reports to the Central Poor Law Commission, and that

5.) The three man Central Poor Law Commission would be appointed by the government and would be responsible       

for supervising the Amendment Act throughout the country."

   During the Victorian era, the separation between the poor, middle, and upper class was an extremely wide gap. This was primarily because of the laws that seemed to benefit the rich, but actually hurt the middle - or working class - and the poor. So, Prime Minister Earl Grey, in effort to control the growing middle and lower classes, created this law. However, being someone who was from the upper class, he was not completely able to understand the conditions that the poor had to live in.

    Before he created the Poor Law Amendment, he asked for reports of conditions of the workhouses across England. Of course, the workhouse officials did not give honest reports, simply because they either didn't care or didn't want the poor to receive help from the government. So, they asked for harsher rules for their houses. If Prime Minister Earl Grey were to have witnessed the conditions of the poor and working classes, he may have made the law differently, one that suited the needs of the growing working class.

For more information on the Poor Laws, click here. 

Married Women's Property

    Before The Married Women's Property Act was passed, the English common law stated that no woman had any rights to dispose of property or make a will after marriage without the consent of their husband. The only way to claim any property for themselves was to become a widow. Most of the property that the woman had before marriage was obtained from the father, and after the ceremony the husband got this property, which was enforced by the Commom Law Doctrine of Coventure.

    If one was to compare the rights of a married and unmarried woman, the unmarried woman had much more rights than the married woman did. They could buy and sell property, make wills, and have complete control over everything they owned. So, since many people recognized that only the minority of women got married for love, why get married at all? Many woman got married because, despite having to give up their property, inheritance, and freedom, they were able to marry into a higher social status.

   However, if a woman wanted to divorce her husband, which was looked down upon back in the late 1800's, then they would not be awarded any of their property previously owned before the marriage. So, most widows, (who were left with only 1/3 of their husband's property,) remarried because they wanted to have protection under the law for their children.

    Finally in 1882, under the new Prime Minister William Gladstone, (who was elected in 1880,) the Married Women's Property Rights Act was passed, giving the married woman equal rights to the average unmarried woman. Even though they still didn't have as equal rights as the husband, this was huge progress for the married woman, who was looked down upon in society. Under this act, the married woman could still keep their inheritance and property after marriage, but still had to have the consent of her husband in buying or disposing of property.

For more information on the Married Women's Property, click here

Child Labor Laws

   Child labor was one of the most common sources of occupation in the Victorian Era. Many people of the 21st century would be confused at why employers would hire children because, not only is it mind-boggling to hire someone at such a young age with little experience, but children were weaker and more susceptible to illness or injury. Despite this fact, employers were reliant on child labor because they saw three benefits to their business;

1.) Lowered wages-

        they could pay the absolute minimum wage to children

2.) Less adequate working and living conditions-

        they could provide less than satisfactory living conditions and knew that they would have to endure it

3.) Their small bodies and hands were more easily maneuverable-

        they could fit into smaller places, and not have as much difficulty with some materials because of having smaller hands.

    Some laws were created to help the working class children in terrible and dangerous working conditions. In 1833, a law was passed limiting the number of hours that children could work in textile factories. Also, in 1842, the law was revised and the hours were limited for children in mines as well. In 1847, Parliament outlawed young children of both sexes under ten years of age from working in mines.

    Although children could still work in other factories after this specific law was passed, this was a major milestone in the rights of child labor. It was significant because Old England relied on the cheap labor of children, so for Parliament to pass these laws was very important for poor and middle class children.

For more information on Child Labor, click here

Divorce Laws

    Divorce was extremely difficult to obtain during the Victorian Era of Old England. This was partly because divorce, back in the 1800's, was socially unacceptable and would "put a stain on your name". Most of the time marriage only ended when a spouse passed away. While the husband only had to prove the wife's adultery in order to get a divorce, the wife had to prove five things in order to legally divorce:

1.) Adultery- interactions with someone outside of a marriage

2.) Incest- interactions with a near relative    

3.) Bigamy- marrying again without a legal divorce

4.) Cruelty- physical or mental suffering from a spouse

5.) Desertion- to abandon a spouse without the others consent

    In the upper class, marraiage was most commonly arranged by social status, and not by love. Therefore, husbands committing adultery were not uncommon and were not even viewed as something very serious.

    Also, divorce was not common in the upper class because every time the woman divorced, she would lose most, (if not all,) of her property and inheritance, so the family on the wife's side hardly ever allowed divorce.

    One of the most common reasons for divorce was because the wife was considered "unclean." This statement meant that she had slept with another man other than her husband. Even if the accusation was false, if the husband wanted a divorce because of this, then divorce was to follow. However, it was socially acceptable for husbands to sleep with other woman because they thought that men needed other women sometimes.

    Since divorce was so devastating to the wife, she was often left in the streets, stripped of her property, her good name, and reputation. This was one of the most common reasons for prostitution in Old England, which was one of the most important issues of the Victorian Era.

    In 1873, a law was passed to attempt to give the wife some rights regarding the custody of their children, and in 1886, a law was passed to make the wife the sole guardian of her child if the husband passed away. Although this still didn't improve the rights for actual divorcing, it still helped the wife have an easier time after the divorce so that she is not left with absolutely nothing.

For more information on the Marriage and Divorce, click here

 TO CONCLUDE                                                                               

 WORKS CONSULTED                                                                     

Articles

Bloy, Marjie. "The Corn Laws". The Victorian Web. 11 October 2002. New Press. <www.victorianweb.org/histpry/cornlaws1.html> 

Cody, David. "Child Labor." The Victorian Web. October 2002. New Press. <http://www.victorianweb.org/history/hist8.html>

Everett, Glenn. "The Reform Act". The Victorian Web. March 2001. New Press. <www.victorianweb.org/history/hist2.html>

"Explore Parliament". United Kingdom Parliament. 1999. Parliamentary Education Unit. 

    <www.explore.parliament.uk/parliament.aspx?id=1>

"Married Women's Property Act 1882." Wikipedia. December 2007. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.

    <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Married_Women's_Property_Act_1882>

Miller, Ilana. "The Victorian Era (1837 - 1901)." August 2004. Victoriaspast.com. <http://www.victoriaspast.com/FrontPorch/victorianera.htm>

Osberne, John. LIFE: World Library Britain: Canada: Time Inc., 1970

Simkin, John. "1834 Poor Law". Spartacus Educational. September 1997. International Education Forum.

      <www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Lpoor1834.htm>

Simkin, John. "1832 Reform Act". Spartacus Educational. September 1997. International Education Forum.

    <www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/PR1832.htm>

Ziemba, Melissa. "Marriage nd Divorce in Victorian England." Charlotte's Web. December 2005.

    <http://www.umd.umich.edu/casl/hum/eng/classes/434/charweb/MARR_485.htm>

Pictures - URLs

(Parliament) http://www.edinphoto.org.uk/0_eng_one/0_engraving_-_one_1_164_parliament_house.jpg

(house of commons) http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/key/SP-BL/images/hoc-cdc/hoc.jpg

(house of lords) http://www.dkimages.com/discover/previews/783/840392.JPG

(cabinet) http://www.londonarchitecture.co.uk/Images/Westminster/CabinetWarRooms-001.jpg

(old england map) http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/engwalmap1660-1892.jpg

(parliament 2) http://wvs.topleftpixel.com/photos/2006/04/ottawa_parliament_front.jpg

(reform act) http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en-commons/thumb/8/8f/400px-House_of_Commons_Microcosm.jpg

(corn law) http://photo.net/bboard-uploads/00KmlR-36054284.jpg

(poor law) http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Lpoor1834.htm

(married women property) http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/csl0267l.jpg

(child labor law) http://www.rcas.org.uk/images/Victorian%20children.jpg

(divorce law) http://www.heritagecouncil.ie/publications/ecclesiastical/church20.jpg

(balance of justice) http://www.justiceboxers.com/images/scale6.gif

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