Find out about the impact of the Industrial Revolution and how living and working conditions changed for many in Britain. Political protest and crime and punishment are key themes in our resources for this period. 
Showing 82 resources
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1833 Factory Act
Did it solve the problems of children in factories?
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1834 Poor Law
What did people think of the new Poor Law?
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19th century prison ships
What do these documents reveal about attitudes to crime and punishment?
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A ‘right’ to relief?
In what ways did paupers hold the Poor Law to account?
All Work and No Play
What does this document reveal about work in the past?
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Body Snatchers
What led to the Anatomy Act of 1832?
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Bussa’s rebellion
How and why did the enslaved Africans of Barbados rebel in 1816?
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Chartism
Who were the Chartists?
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Coping with Cholera
How did the authorities react in 19th century?
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Coronations: Ceremony and Change
How can we find out about Coronations in the past? How far have Coronations changed over time?
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Criminal petitions
What do they reveal about the justice system?
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Dr James Barry
Why was he significant in 19th century medicine?
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Empire Windrush: Early Black Presence
What do the sources reveal about an early Black presence in Britain?
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Florence Nightingale
Why do we remember her?
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Foundling Hospital
What were conditions like for children in the care of the Foundling Hospital?
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French Revolution
How did the British react to July 1789?
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From Outbreak to Archive: Tales of Public Health
What do the documents reveal about how government and society dealt with public health in the past?
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Georgian Britain
Age of modernity?
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Have we underestimated the Victorian Poor?
To what extent did the Victorian Poor accept their fate in the workhouse?
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Health and the Poor Law
To what degree did the Poor Law make an important contribution to Public Health?
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Holding History
What is 'The National Archives'?
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Hong Kong and the Opium Wars
How did Hong Kong become part of the British Empire?
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How did the government respond to a mass protest at ‘Peterloo’ in 1819?
Political reform in 19th century Britain
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Introduction
What is The National Archives?
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Mapping London
How and why does an area change over time?
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Mental Health on Record
What do the documents reveal about the understanding of mental health in the past?
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Protest and Democracy 1816 to 1818, part 1
Was this the start of mass politics in Britain?
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Protest and democracy 1818 to 1820, part 2
How close was Britain to revolution?
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Protesting against the New Poor Law
What can archival material tell us about protest?
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Punishment in the workhouse – Lesson One
What can ‘pauper voices’ reveal about punishments for workhouse children?
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Punishment in the workhouse – Lesson Two
What can ‘pauper voices’ reveal about attitudes towards punishments in the workhouse?
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Rebecca riots
What happened during them?
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Rebels in the records
What can we learn from documents that show how people ‘rebelled’ in the past?
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Resistance and Rebellion in the Caribbean
How did enslaved people resist?
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Selling the Victorians
Victorians for sale! Has advertising changed from Victorian times?
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Significant Events
What happened then?
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Significant People
Who is who?
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Significant People
Key Stage One Activity Book
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Significant Places
What's in a place?
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Slavery
How did the Abolition Acts of 1807 and 1833 affect the slave trade?
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Terfysg Beca (Cymraeg/Welsh)
Beth a ddigwyddodd yn ystod
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The Search for ‘Terra Australis’
What did Captain Cook’s secret mission involve?
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Travel smart through time (SEND)
How and why have people travelled around in the past and how have they done it safely?
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Treasures
What 'treasures' are there at The National Archives?
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Uncovering LGBTQ+ lives in the archive
What types of sources might be useful to find out about the lives of LGBTQ+ people in the past?
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Victorian Health Reform
How did the Victorians view compulsory vaccination?
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Victorian Industrial Towns
What made them unhealthy?
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What caused the 1832 Great Reform Act?
Political and social reform in 19th century Britain
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What caused the ‘Swing Riots’ in the 1830s?
Political and social reform in 19th century Britain
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What is history?
How do historians know what to believe?
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What was Chartism?
Political and social reform in 19th century Britain
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Why did the Luddites protest?
Political reform in 19th century Britain
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Why was radical writer Thomas Paine significant?
Political and social reform in 18th century Britain
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Workhouse Voices
What did paupers say about the Poor Law?
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Workhouse Voices Creative Writing
Stories inspired by letters from the past
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Workhouse Women
How were women treated in the Victorian workhouse?