How did British society change during the 19th century as a result of the reign of queen Victoria?

Question

How did British society change during the 19th century as a result of the reign of queen Victoria?

Answer 1

The United Kingdom evolved into a constitutional monarchy in which the monarch had few powers--primarily the right to consult, the right to advise, and the right to warn--and was expected to remain above party politics.  

Consequently, Victoria also evolved into  a patriotic symbol around which it became convenient to build an imperial empire.  

As the monarchy became more symbolic, the Queen placed a stronger emphasis on family values, creating the concept of the "family monarchy" echoed today (with similar problems) during the reign of Elizabeth II.  

As the "Grandmother of Europe",  Queen Victoria received   much respect from her descendants and their subjects since she arranged the marriages of her 9 children and 42 grandchildren.  Unfortunately, Queen Victoria also was the first known royal carrier of hemophilia: Victoria probably inherited the gene because her father was an older father.

As a trend setter, Victoria started the fashion of wearing a white wedding gown while her consort, Prince Albert, brought the first Christmas tree to England.  Within a few years after an illustration of the royal family enjoying their Christmas tree appeared in the newspapers, both the English and and  the American public quickly adopted the custom.

Answer 2

There were enormous changes during the reign of Queen Victoria.

Political change - more people were enfranchised during the course of her reign, by the end of the century most men in Britain had the vote.  Laws were passed granting property rights to married women, and the right of married women to sue for divorce.  The British had greatly expanded the number of colonies they ruled over, and the Queen was made Empress of India.

Economic change - the Industrial Revolution made huge changes to the way society lived.  A lot of people were already working in factories at the beginning of her reign, but there were many more doing so by th eend.  Railways had spread all over Britain, making travel faster and cheaper for everyone, and the steam ship did the same for sea travel. Inventions like the camera, the telegraph, the phonograph, the telephone, and moving pictures, came into being during her reign.  

Great strides were made in medical fields, antiseptics and anaesthetics were both popularised during her reign.  The Queen had her last two babies with the assitance of chloroform, of which she thoroughly approved.  Florence Nightingale revolutionised nursing, and virtually created the modern nursing profession.  Public health acts led to cleaning up of the filthy streets and improvement in sewage disposal and the introduction of indoor plumbing.

There were big changes in eduction. The Education Act of 1870 made basic schooling a government responsibility, local education boards were set up to establish schools, existing Church schools received government backing.  More schools for girls were opened, offering the same kind of academic education as boys received. Colleges for women began to open.