The Victorian period was one of immense technological and social change. In 1837, when Queen Victoria came to the throne, Britain was an agrarian nation, with the majority of its population living in the countryside, working on farms or in associated occupations. In 1851, the census revealed that the British had become the world’s first urbanised nation, with over 50% of its population living and working in towns and cities. By 1901, when Queen Victoria died, electricity, motor cars and telephones were creeping into the lives of many. Only the rich habitually used them, but everyone would have seen the electric banners on the front of theatres and music halls, and benefitted from the almost instant communication of news.
