Victorian project

1. Victorianproject By Callum Harries

2. Contents

4. Charles Robert Darwin Left : Charles Darwin aged 51 The first evolutionary biologist and originator of the concept of natural selection. 1809-1882 Below: Charles Darwin’s signature

5. The Life of Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin was born on the 12th February 1809 in Shrewsbury, Shropshire. His family was wealthy and well known. One of his grandfathers was Josiah Wedgwood, the famous china manufacturer, while the other, Erasmus Darwin was one of England’s leading intellectuals. Charles Darwin originally planned to become a doctor, and studied medicine at Edinburgh University. However, he later changed courses and studied divinity at Cambridge University. Above: Cambridge University Above : Edinburgh University

6. The HMS Beagle In 1831 Darwin joined a 5 year scientific expedition aboard the ship HMS Beagle. They were headed for South America and the Pacific islands. He was invited on the voyage by Francis Beaufort on behalf of Captain FitzRoy who, aware of the ‘stressful loneliness of command’ wanted a gentleman companion that had the same intellectual capacity as him, to dine and discuss things with. Below : Voyage of the Beagle Up : HMS Beagle Above : HMS Beagle

7. Exploration Darwin spent three years of the expedition on land collecting specimens of scientific value and made careful notes and observations on the rich variety of animal and plant life. Darwin particularly studied finches ,and noticed that each island harboured its own variety of finch, which were closely related but differed in certain ways that seemed dependant on the environment. Upon returning to England, Darwin thought carefully about his observations and how species may evolve. It seemed that animals and plants, best suited to the environment were more likely to survive and reproduce, passing on to their offspring the best characteristics. In this way species gradually change over time. Right :Darwin’s pictures of four different types of Galapagos finches.

8. The Origin of Species Darwin worked on his theory of ‘natural selection’ for 20 years. He delayed publishing his findings and ideas because he knew that the Victorian world would find them extremely controversial. At this time most people believed that the world was created by God in 7 days as described in the bible. Darwin was about to suggest that people had evolved from apes! He was disagreeing with and undermining the teachings of the Christian Church – a dangerous and unwise thing to do at this time. Darwin's book ‘The Origin of Species’ was based on his journey to the Galapagos on the Beagle 1831-1836 . It explained his theory on natural selection (that only the strongest most adapted creatures survived).

9. Isambard Kingdom Brunel Right : Isambard K. Brunel Left: Temple meads station The worlds foremost transport engineer. 1806-1859

10. The Life of Isambard Kingdom Brunel Isambard Kingdom Brunel was born on 9th April 1806 in Portsmouth . He was the only son of a French engineer called Mark Brunel . His father sent Isambard to school in France and when he returned he went to work for his father . At the age of 20 Isambard Kingdom Brunel was responsible for the engineering work on the Thames Tunnel which was completed, after several setbacks, in 1843. Left : Thames Tunnel

11. Clifton Suspension Bridge In 1831 Brunel won a competition to design a bridge to cross the Avon Gorge in Clifton , Bristol . The construction of the Clifton suspension bridge began in the same year but the landmark bridge was not finished until after Brunel's death in 1864 . He did however build several other impressive bridges that are still in service today including the Tamar bridge near Plymouth and the Wye bridge at Chepstow.

12. Great Western Railway Brunel is probably best known for his construction on the Great Western Railroad . In 1833 he was appointed chief engineer and began work linking Bristol to London . As well as introducing the ‘broad gauge’ on this line he constructed a long list of amazing feats of engineering such as viaducts, tunnels and stations. Left : The Albert Railroad

13. The S.S. Great Western As well as bridges, tunnels and railways Brunel was also responsible for the design of three famous ships. The Great Western, launched in 1837, was the first steam ship that carried passengers across the Atlantic. Left : The Great Western On its maiden voyage from Bristol to New York on 8th April 1838, The Great Western left with only 7 passengers on board. Many people had cancelled their voyage thinking the ship was unsafe after an engine fire in which Brunel himself was badly hurt. The Great Western crossed the Atlantic 45 times in 8 years before being sold to the Royal Mail Packet Company and serving in the West Indies and later as a troop ship in the Crimean War. She was broken up at Castle’s Yard, London in 1856.

14. The S.S. Great Britain The S.S. Great Britain was the first iron hulled, steam driven, screw propeller passenger liner. She was built in a specially prepared dry dock in Bristol and floated out through the Avon Gorge on 19th July 1843. The S.S. Great Britain from the back and front. After 127 years at sea and over 1,000,000 miles travelled ,including 34 trips around the world, she was eventually returned to the same dry dock in which she was built. Due to the poor condition of her rusting iron hull she will sadly never sail again but has been restored and will be preserved, in dry air, for future generations to enjoy.

15. The S.S. Great Eastern The Great Eastern launched in 1859 was the biggest ship ever built at the time. She could carry up to 4000 passenger and could travel around the world without refuelling. Left: Model of The Great Eastern Brunel redesigned and was responsible for the construction of many of Britain’s major docks including Bristol, Cardiff and Milford Haven.

16. The Greatest Ever Briton? Over just 3o years Isambard Kingdom Brunel produced a massive amount of beautiful and practical architecture which is still used today. His frantic work rate is thought to have cost him his health and he died of a stroke on 15th September 1859. Many people believe him to be one of the greatest ever Englishmen and he came runner up for the title of Greatest Ever Briton losing out to Sir Winston Churchill in a public vote a few years ago. Left: Isambard Kingdom Brunel

17. Florence Nightingale Right: Florence Nightingale Above : Florence Nightingale’s Signature The lady with the lamp. 1820-1910

18. The Life of Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale was born on May 12th 1820 into a wealthy family. When she grew up she was expected to marry and conduct a traditional upper class woman's life. She felt, however, that ‘God was calling her to work’. She developed an interest in nursing but her family felt it an inappropriate job for a woman of her status. They eventually agreed to her training in Germany in 1851. In 1854 with the onset of the Crimean War she was asked by Sidney Herbert, the War Minister to oversee a team of nurses in the military hospitals in Turkey. She was appalled at the conditions in the military hospitals and with her nurses she greatly improved the conditions and hugely reduced the death rates. Left :Royal Herbert hospital

19. The Crimean War Florence Nightingale exhibited a gift for maths and had a special interest in statistics, a field in which her father was an expert. In 1857 she invented the pie chart as a way to visually explain and show the causes of death of the wounded soldiers in the Crimean War. She revealed startling findings that most soldiers did not die from their wounds but from infections and diseases related to poor hygiene and sanitation. Left: Victorian hospital

20. Nightingale’sNurses When she returned to England in 1856 Florence Nightingale set up The Nightingale Training School for nurses at St. Thomas’ Hospital in London. Nurses trained here were sent all over the country to implement the ‘Nightingale Model’ they had been taught. She published ‘Notes on Nursing’ in 1860 and was hugely influential in improving hygienic practices, concerns of sanitation, health in the military and modern hospital planning. Left : The school’s emblem

21. John Cadbury Above: Cadbury’s chocolate factory Chocolate extraordinaire. 1801-1889 Above : Mr John Cadbury Left : The Cadbury Logo

22. The Life of John Cadbury John Cadbury was born on 12th August 1801 in Birmingham. His father, Richard Tapper Cadbury was a draper and had moved his family from Exeter to open a shop. The Cadbury family were Quakers and had a successful business. Quakers were not allowed to go to university which meant that John Cadbury could not study a profession and as pacifists a military career was also not an option. He therefore decided to go into business like his father. He became an apprentice to a tea dealer in Leeds in 1818. He returned to Birmingham in 1824 and set up a small grocery shop, next to his father’s, at 93 Bull Street. Left: 93 Bull street

23. The Chocolate Revolution John Cadbury soon noticed that a new product was becoming very fashionable amongst the upper classes. This new import from the continent was taking the place of tea, coffee and even alcohol as a preferred drink. This appealed to John Cadbury because as a Quaker he disapproved of alcohol and he saw the possible potential of cashing in on chocolate. In 1831 he changed his business and rented an old malt house in Crooked Lane and so began the ‘chocolate legacy’. The manufacturing of drinking chocolate and cocoa products prospered and in 1847 his brother Benjamin Cadbury joined the business. Right:1886 advertisement for Cadbury's cocoa

24. The Bournville Dream In 1861 John and Benjamin Cadbury dissolved their partnership and retired leaving John’s two eldest sons, Richard and George, to continue to build the business. They also held strong Quaker beliefs and wanted good working conditions for all their employees and their families. They bought undeveloped land in a small rural village, just 4 miles from Birmingham, and built their ‘factory in a garden’. They also built housing and leisure facilities for the community and called the growing development, Bournville. Bournville is now a major suburb of Birmingham and still houses the Cadbury factory today. Right :Richard Cadbury Right : George Cadbury

25. Alexander Bell Right : Alexander Graham Bell Pioneer of telecommunications . 1847-1922 Below : Alexander Bell’s signature

26. Alexander Graham Bell Alexander Bell was born in 1847 into a family that specialised in the field of elocution but only gained his middle name for his 11th birthday as he wanted one because both his brothers had one! By 1863 at the age of 16 he and his brother Melville began researching the mechanics of speech – experiments which meant sacrificing the family cat in order to study the vocal chords in detail. In 1864 Bell became a resident master in Elgin's Weston House Academy in Scotland. Here he researched his idea of transmitting speech using electricity. After a considerable amount of research, and a move to Canada, he came up with a simple receiver that could turn electricity into sound. Right : Bell’s first receiver

27. The Race Other inventors and scientists were also working on similar ideas and devices, among them was an Italian-American called Antonio Meucci. His invention of the ‘teletrofono’ was ready to patent in 1871, 4 years before Bell’s, but he could not afford to do it. There are still arguments today whether it was really Bell that invented the telephone. In 2002 the American Government made a statement recognising that it was Meucci that first had the idea. However, on 6th April 1875 it was Bell that was granted the patent for his multiple telegraph. Left : Antonio Meucci Right : Bell’s Telephone

28. The telephone Bell’s real breakthrough in the development of the telephone as we know it today came, by accident, on 2nd June 1875 while doing tests with one transmitter and two receivers. He discovered that the receivers also worked in reverse, instead of making sounds when electricity was passed through it, it also made electricity when sound was passed through it. More importantly the electricity and sounds produced varied with the voice! Bell worked on and perfected his system and submitted his patent on 14th February 1876 – just two hours before another rival Elisha Gray. It was possibly the most valuable patent ever issued. Bell was not yet 30 years old and went on to have many more ideas for and successes with a variety of inventions including techniques for teaching speech to the deaf, medical research, aircraft design and built the forerunner to the iron lung. Left : ivory handsets made for Queen Victoria