Victorian

Birth of a Swiss Serial Killer

Marie Jeanneret was born on 13 January 1836 in Switzerland. By the time she was brought to justice, she had attempted to murder at least 30 people.

London Necropolis Railway Opens

On 13 November 1854, the Victorians combined their love of heavy industry and heavy mourning, with the opening of the London Necropolis Railway.

Confinement by Jessica Cox review

Confinement: The Hidden History of Maternal Bodies in Nineteenth-Century Britain by Jessica Cox looks at the engine of the Victorian population boom: motherhood.

When Inca Mummies Came to Europe

Older than their Egyptian counterparts, the preserved remains of Andean peoples fascinated 19th-century Europe, leading to a ‘bone stampede’ for Inca mummies. But to what end?

The New Tourists

The visitors’ books of 19th-century hotels, pubs and inns show Victorians on holiday, revealing them to be irreverent pleasure seekers, capable of highfalutin pomposity and touristic wrath.

The Moral of the Story

Illustrated picture books in Victorian England reached new aesthetic heights. But was it always for the benefit of the children?