Lancaster Gate, according to the Charles Booth, is mostly composed of people from upper middle and upper classes. The area has many mansions, such as “Bayswater House, an isolated mansion in the Bayswater Road, between Lancaster Gate and Orme Square.”  Aside from having mansions, Kensington Gardens is located right across from Lancaster Gate (Nothing Hill and Bayswater).

 

Bayswater House was not the only mansion around the area. Since Lancaster Gate is across the street from Kensington Gardens, Kensington Palace is also located around the area. To get a better understanding of the wealth of the people, Queen Elizabeth was born here (The Victorian Web).

Due to the lavish lifestyles around the area, there are very few crimes reported according to the Old Bailey. One big crime that appeared was of Charles Lord Mohun, a man who died during a duel and was killed by John Hamilton.

In Romance of a Shop, Aunt Pratt lives in Lancaster Gate. Aunt Pratt is described as belonging “to that mischievous class of the community whose will and energy are very far ahead of their intellect and perceptions. She had a vulgar soul and a narrow mind, and unbounded confidence in her own judgments” (Levy Chapter 2). Aunt Pratt does not approve of the Lorimer’s sister photography shop. Aunt Pratt cares more about social appearances and looking like a proper woman, she even tells Gertrude “that now, of all times, you must be careful in your conduct; and among other things, you can none of you afford to be seen looking shabby” (Levy Chapter 3).

It is no surprise that out of all the sisters, Fanny, is the one who lives with her. Fanny, just like Pratt, is not very interested in running a photography studio. Her sisters assigned her the simplest job, a house keeper, due to her lack of interest. Both Fanny and Aunt Pratt are much more interested in living a lavish lifestyle and getting things easily, much like the people who lived in Lancaster Gate.

Work Cited

• Levy, Amy (2014-05-21). The Romance of a Shop (Black Heath Victorian Bookshelf) (Kindle Locations 400-403). Black Heath Editions. Kindle Edition.
• Walford, Edward. ‘Notting Hill and Bayswater.’ Old and New London: Volume 5. London: Cassell, Petter & Galpin, 1878. 177-188. British History Online. Web. 8 December 2015. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/old-new-london/vol5/pp177-188.
• “The Proceedings of the Old Bailey.” Browse. N.p., Mar. 2015. Web. 15 Dec. 2015.
• “Walking toward the Long Water. Kensington Gardens, London.” Walking toward the Long Water. Kensington Gardens, London. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2015.

 

Queen’s Gate, as mentioned in Romance of a Shop, is a residential area “adjacent to Kensington Gardens and near the Royal Albert Hall” (Levy Chapter 2 footnote 1). The street was built on a Land brought by The Royal Commissioners which explains why this area contained mostly groups of people from high middle to wealthy class (Charles Booth).

The Queen’s Gate area was described by Halsey Ricardo as “something striking by the hand of an architect, and something humdrum by the unaided hand of the builder”(Survey of London: Volume 38, South Kensington Museums Area), before its revival period. During the Victorian Area, most of the buildings looked the same and the East side of Queen’s Gate was a clear representation of that. Later on, Norman Shawn’s architectural design contribute to Queen’s Gate revival period (Survey of London: Volume 38, South Kensington Museums Area).

In Romance of a shop, Constance Devonshire lived in Queen’s Gate with her family where Gertrude was staying. Constance, also known as Conny, was described by Levy as a “blooming young woman, dressed in the height of fashion” (Chapter 2). In her first introduction to the story, Constance is described as a high class social woman, with elegance in her presence and her style. Her brother Fred is also described as a “a tall, heavy young man, elaborately and correctly dressed, with a fatuous, good-natured, pink and white face” (chapter 2).  She is well off, which explains why her character would be located here. Conny even offers Gertrude to stay with her while she gets back on her feet after the death of her father.

Conny, although rich, does not seem to express happiness. When Gertrude tells her about how she plans on getting back on her feet, Conny replies, “Sounds very nice,’ she added with a sigh, and thought perhaps, of her own prosperous boredom” (Chapter 2). Although she is much better off than the Lorimer sisters, she seems to be un-amused with her own world.

Conny is a representation of life for women who were not actively seeking to become the new women. Although she is financially well, she is not satisfied with her life. She finds interest in the Lorimer sisters and much of the reason could be because these are women who are working for their money, rather than just having it.

 

Work cited

‘Buildings of the Domestic Revival and later.’ Survey of London: Volume 38, South Kensington Museums Area. Ed. F H W Sheppard. London: London County Council, 1975. 325-348. British History Online. Web. 15 December 2015. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol38/pp325-348.

Weinreb, Ben and Hibbert, Christopher (1992). The London Encyclopedia (reprint ed.). Macmillan. p. 650.

 

 

 

“In Dull Brown” by Evelyn Sharp tells the story of Jean and Tom, who walk many of the streets of London, one of them being Oxford Street. Oxford street was known to be one of the busiest streets in London. It was known as “one of the world’s longest shopping streets, consisting of over a mile of uninterrupted commercial development, now almost exclusively Victorian or more recent in date.”

Besides being just a busy street for shops, Oxford also “…consisted almost uniformly of modest, irregular Georgian houses with shop fronts; only at the very west end close to Park Lane, where there was a scatter of substantial private houses and their outbuildings…”.  This description of location helps describe how Jean’s choice of dress did not make her feel as if she stood out in comparison to her location, which shows us an insight look on how Jean feels about herself. After her meet up with Tom she says “he was being most dreadfully unconventional, and I couldn’t help wondering if he would have spoken to me again, if I had worn my new tailor-made gown and looked ordinary.” One of the themes of the story is gender inequality and in this quote, Jean is describing how Tom may have been “unconventional” towards her because of how un-ordinary she is.

In order to get to Oxford Street, the characters had to walk across Green Park. In one end of the park was Buckingham Palace Gates and in the other is Oxford Street. These high class and very well known places further explain the wealth that is in Oxford Street. According to google maps, Oxford Street continues to be a local street for expensive stores such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Prada.

  Sharp, Evelyn. “In Dull Brown.” The Yellow Book 8 (January 1896): 181-200. The Yellow Nineties Online. Ed. Dennis Denisoff and Lorraine Janzen Kooistra. Ryerson University, 2012. Web. [Date of access]. http://1890s.ca/HTML.aspx?s=YBV8_sharp_dull.html

Oxford Street: Introduction.’ Survey of London: Volume 40, the Grosvenor Estate in Mayfair, Part 2 (The Buildings). Ed. F H W Sheppard. London: London County Council, 1980. 171. British History Online. Web. 8 September 2015. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol40/pt2/p171.

So I am really surprised that sex has its own category in the Victorian dictionary, mostly because I believed that sex now and then must have been the same thing (I mean really, what could really change about that?) Under sex there are many small categories and they vary from masturbation down to abortion. Since it was such a wide subject, I decided to look on the views of abortion from the Victorian era to see what the majority’s point of view was.

I was really surprised at some of the language used to describe women who believe in abortion. They were called “savages” who are “no better than the women who commit such infamous murders to-day, to avoid the cares, the expense, or the duty of nursing and tending a child.” This was really harsh to read because abortion was and still is very controversial. Realizing that so much time has passed and the idea continue to be the same is both surprising and sad. It’s a woman’s choice and she should not be insulted or bashed for choosing to do what she wants with her body. I was also really surprised at the reasons why people believe women get abortions. making assumptions, and of the worse kind, really gave me an insight to how strict this era was and how much ignorance existed.

Jackson, Lee. “Dictionary of Victorian London – Victorian History – 19th Century London –Social History.” Dictionary of Victorian London – Victorian History – 19th Century London – Social History. Yale University Press, 3 Oct. 2014. Web. 26 Aug. 2015.

 

My name is Yesenia, but you can all freely call me Yesi for short. I am a senior studying Early Childhood and Childhood Education. Before reading these articles, I knew absolutely nothing about Victorian London but I figured it couldn’t be so different as to when America was evolving into a new era. I learned that London developed its new technology in different areas, rather than the country doing it as a whole. While reading this, I wonder if it had anything to do with location or economic standing. While those in higher class standing were able to live better lives than those in lower class, the areas with better economic funding also were developing at a much smoother pace than those with working class people. This divide of the country made me realize that the country and its people were very segregated, something I didn’t realize other countries (other than Korea) went through. Another thing I learned was that the development of the train was a big deal in London. With the train, it meant that people were able to move from their locations, and also helped those who were workers. The railroad was a form of freedom for those who wanted to move away from the dangerous parts of London. It seems to me a little strange to see just how important the railroad system was to the workers of London and how it continues to be as important to city workers today. There is a saying that says “history always repeats itself” and I can say that this truly does apply.

Work Cited

Robinson, Bruce. “London: ‘A Modern Babylon’” BBC News. BBC, 11 Feb. 2011. Web. 24 Aug. 2015.