This lesson explores source material in the form of letters written by Paupers which were sent to the Poor Law Commission in London, generally complaining about the treatment and conditions the pauper children were enduring. The pupils will analyse the individual letters to gain an understanding of some of the things which happened to children during this time. This lesson focuses on clothing and is part of a series of lessons which include a focus on Southwell Workhouse followed by two other lessons focussing on schooling and food. This lesson will support an exploration of the Victorians where it is either your post 1066 unit or linked to local history, for example if you have a local workhouse that is now a hospital or converted for other uses. It could also be used if you were exploring children’s experiences through history. This lesson was created as part of the Teaching the Voices of the Victorian Poor Teacher Scholar Programme.

This document pack and associated activity are designed to support students with their depth study of Poverty, Public Health and the State in Britain c1780 – 1939. The period of 1834-55 has been chosen to allow focus on the Poor Law Amendment Act and its impact on society. The letters provided in this pack are largely from paupers or interested parties writing to the Poor Law Commission, the Poor Law Board or local authorities in regards to the act, as such they offer genuine contemporary reactions to the Act. The letters have been presented as photographs with transcripts available (printed on the reverse if this pack is printed double-sided). An accompanying powerpoint has been provided which can be edited to suit your needs. Teachers notes have been provided within the powerpoint with suggested activity instructions. This lesson was created as part of the Teaching the Voices of the Victorian Poor Teacher Scholar Programme.

This lesson explores descriptions of the punishment of the Victorian poor in the MH12 collection in The National Archives. It comes in two parts. The first lesson explores punishments given to children while the second lesson examines pauper attitudes to punishments for the general population. It was created as part of the Teaching the Voices of the Victorian Poor Teacher Scholar Programme.

It has previously been assumed that paupers themselves had little knowledge nor understanding of the legislation governed their position, yet letters sent to the poor law commission from across England and Wales challenge this notion. In fact there is evidence that paupers were frequently writing to contest the way that they were being treated, complain about actions of their Guardians and in some instances even quoted specific parts of legislation in an attempt to change their lives. The legal terminology contained in the letters written by the poor, and the inferences that historians can make from this is a fascinating challenge to students of both History and Law related subjects. This resource aims to demonstrate, through a selection of letters and accompanying tasks, how paupers were active in exercising what they believe to be their ‘right to relief’ and were in fact agents who held the Poor Law to account. This lesson was created as part of the Teaching the Voices of the Victorian Poor Teacher Scholar Programme.

This resource is designed for a KS3 year 8-9 class with prior knowledge on the Victorian Workhouse. It could be used as a partner lesson for the already existing source lesson using the 1837 poster. The lesson examines the Victorian Poor in their own words and seeks to address the common misconception that the Victorian Poor were helpless when in the workhouse and accepted the consequences of becoming a pauper and being institutionalised. This resource is designed as a full lesson and has a section for lower-ability students, depending on whether you wish to differentiate. This lesson would best be used as part of a scheme of work on the Victorians and life during the Industrial Revolution. This lesson was created as part of the Teaching the Voices of the Victorian Poor Teacher Scholar Programme.

Resistance to British rule in Ireland had existed for hundreds of years. Irish nationalists, the majority of them Catholic, resisted this rule in a number of peaceful or violent ways up until the start of the First World War. Irish nationalists wanted Ireland to be independent from British control. At the start of the twentieth century, Irish ‘Home Rule’, the name given to the process of transferring rule from British to Irish hands seemed likely and, as a result the Unionist minority, a largely Protestant population, loyal to Britain and British rule, began to more actively resist the idea. Eventually, Irish Home Rule was granted, but it excluded the six mainly Protestant counties of the province of Ulster (one of the four provinces of Ireland) in the north-east corner of the island. This established Northern Ireland in 1920, which continued to be part of the United Kingdom, while the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed in December 1921, established the Irish Free State as a Dominion of the British Empire. This meant that the Irish Free State was a self-governing nation of the Commonwealth of Nations,  which recognised the British monarch as head of state. Use the original sources in this lesson to find out how Ireland was partitioned.

The purpose of this lesson is to explore sources which reveal something about the contemporary medical understanding of the disease, public attitudes and the role of the General Board of Health over a time frame of series of cholera epidemics in Victorian England. For some, the best advice against the disease was to improve ventilation, cleanliness and purge the body, keep it warm or change the diet. For others it required prayer and forgiveness from God. Again, it is interesting to consider why many of these ideas persisted after the breakthrough provided by Dr John Snow in 1854 that linked the presence of contaminated water to the spread of cholera at a time when the authorities and medical profession believed that the disease was spread by miasma, or bad air caused by pollution.

In 1832, Parliament passed a law that changed the British electoral system. It was known as the Great Reform Act, which basically gave the vote to middle class men, leaving working men disappointed. The Reform Act became law in response to years of criticism of the electoral system from those outside and inside Parliament. Elections in Britain were neither fair nor representative. In order to vote, a person had to own property or pay certain taxes to qualify, which excluded most working class people. There were also constituencies with several voters that elected two MPs to Parliament, such as Old Sarum in Salisbury. In these ‘rotten boroughs’, with few voters and no secret ballot, it was easy for those standing for election to buy votes. Industrial towns like Manchester or Birmingham, which had grown during the previous 80 years, had no Members of Parliament to represent them. In 1831, the House of Commons passed a Reform Bill, but the House of Lords, dominated by the Tory party, defeated it. This was followed by riots and serious disturbances in London, Birmingham, Derby, Nottingham, Leicester, Yeovil, Sherborne, Exeter and Bristol. In this lesson use original documents from 1830-31 to explore demands for change in the voting system.

With the Great Reform Act 1832, voting rights were given to the property-owning middle classes in Britain. However, many working men were disappointed that they could not vote. Chartism was a working class movement which emerged in 1836 in London. It expanded rapidly across the country and was most active between 1838 and 1848. The aim of the Chartists was to gain political rights and influence for the working classes. Their demands were widely publicized through their meetings and pamphlets. The movement got its name from the People’s Charter which listed its six main aims: a vote for all men (over 21) secret ballot no property qualification to become an MP payment for MPs electoral districts of equal size annual elections for Parliament Why did the Chartists make these demands? Use the original documents in this lesson to find out more about Chartism.

On 9 August 1970, a group of Black Power activists led 150 people on a march against police harassment of the black community in Notting Hill, London. They called for the ‘end of the persecution of the Mangrove Restaurant’. Between January 1969 and July 1970, the police had raided the Mangrove Restaurant twelve times. No evidence of illegal activity was found during these raids. Local Police Constable Frank Pulley remained convinced that the restaurant was ‘a den of iniquity’ frequented by ‘pimps, prostitutes and criminals’.¹ At the 1970 march in defence of the Mangrove, violence broke out between the police and protestors. The following year nine men and women were put on trial at the Old Bailey for causing a riot at the march. Their names were Darcus Howe, Frank Crichlow, Rhodan Gordan, Althea Jones-Lacointe, Barbara Beese, Godfrey Miller, Rupert Glasgow Boyce, Anthony Carlisle Innis and Rothwell Kentish. These men and women became known nationally as the ‘Mangrove Nine.’ When all nine defendants were acquitted of the most serious charges after a long 55-day trial, it was widely recognised as a moment of victory for black protest. Use this lesson to find out more about the history of Britain’s Black Power movement and the trial of the Mangrove Nine. ¹ Constable Frank Pulley quoted in ‘A Den of Iniquity,’ Kensington Post, October 12, 1971, as cited in Rob Waters, Thinking Black: Britain, 1964-1985 (2019), p. 99

The 1919 race riots were the first time many people became aware of the presence of black and minority ethnic people living in Britain, including those who had lived and worked here for many years and served in the war. At the end of the First World War, the demobilisation of troops caused severe post-war competition for jobs. The perception that foreigners were ‘stealing’ jobs was one of the triggers for the rioting and attacks on black and minority ethnic communities in British port cities. Use this lesson to find out more about the 1919 race riots in Cardiff and Liverpool. How significant a factor was race in these riots?

This lesson shows us how we can use a range of historical sources from the early modern period to piece together the history of sugar, a foodstuff that is now a part of our daily life. It explores the time in history when sugar was beginning to become more easily available and affordable in England, due to the transatlantic slave trade, the growth of sugar plantations in the Americas, and the labour of enslaved peoples on these plantations. A large collection of documents that can tell us about the history of sugar can be found in a collection called HCA 30, a varied set of records from the High Court of Admiralty, which include piracy, prize-taking, colonialism, and overseas trade. Use this lesson to see what you can discover about the history of sugar from six different sources in collections at The National Archives.

In 1604, James I of England and James VI of Scotland published his ‘Counterblaste to Tobacco’. He condemned the use of tobacco on the grounds of its poisonous effects on the body. He wrote that smoking was a ‘custome lothesome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in the black and stinking fume thereof, nearest resembling the horrible stygian [very dark] smoke of the pit that is bottomless’. ‘Counterblaste’ also revealed James I’s concern about the potential disruptive effects of tobacco to English society. Writers of the period continuously linked the smoking of tobacco with immorality, disobedience, and even treason. As James I had only just ascended the English throne, it is unsurprising that he felt tobacco might encourage civil disorder and unrest. Tobacco had been present in England since at least the 1560s, when sailors returning from Atlantic voyages captained by the Merchant Adventurer Sir John Hawkins had brought it home. It was likely that they themselves picked up the habit from Spanish and Portuguese sailors. Despite James I’s protests, there was a tobacco boom in early Stuart England. Use the documents in this lesson to explore the early Stuart fascination with tobacco, focusing particularly on overseas trade networks and the activity of the Virginia Company, which helped popularise tobacco in England. Find out about the impact of early Stuart colonial ventures on individuals whose stories have often been left out of history.

‘Uncovering LGBTQ+ lives in the archive’ is a series of films combining puppetry, model-making, and animation created by a group of eight young people in July 2022. The project allowed the group to explore moments of LGBTQ+ history from the collection, some more well-known than others, and to interpret the documents from a 21st century perspective. They then used their reflections to inspire the narrative and artwork for their films. This was the first young person’s project to be run onsite since 2019. The group worked with a filmmaking team led by Nigel Kellaway, as well as staff from the Education and Outreach department and record specialists. The young people explored stories relating to individuals and ‘spaces’ which allowed them to consider wider themes such as the use of language, criminalisation, and communication through the 18th to 20th centuries. Under the guidance of staff, the young people worked with original archive documents, in some cases seeing photographs of the people and places they were researching. The group demonstrated emotional intelligence and compassion for the people whose lives they have interpreted. The series of films can now be used by teachers and students as brief overviews or introductions to the themes explored within the films. The following questions can be asked of each film: What types of documents are shown in the films? What do the documents reveal about what life was like for LGBTQ+ people at the time? What themes can you identify within the films? How do we view these stories today, with a contemporary perspective? Can you find out how the laws affecting the lives of LGBTQ+ people have changed over time? Can you explain why? Why are these documents kept at The National Archives?

‘British India’, also referred to as the ‘British Raj’ or ‘Direct rule in India’, was part of the British Empire from 1858 until independence in 1947. This independence process was called ‘partition’, because the colony was divided up into two countries: India and Pakistan. Partition was not inevitable and happened because of long and complicated talks between the British government and elite Indian figures, each with their own political interests. The final borders of the new nations were created in only six weeks by Sir Cyril Radcliffe and were based on Muslim and non-Muslim majority areas. The new Pakistan was split into two regions that were more than 1,000 miles away: West Pakistan and East Pakistan (today’s Bangladesh). The distance and difference in culture, language, and identity between the two regions, and the fact that West Pakistan held more political and economic power, led to strong tensions and eventually protest movements in East Pakistan. In 1971, West and East Pakistan fought in the Bangladesh Liberation War. This led to the creation of Bangladesh on 16 December 1971. How can we trace this road to independence through the British reports in The National Archives?

This lesson looks at Queen Victoria and her relationship with her family. The lesson could be extended to work with decoding other photographs or portraits.

This lesson has been developed in collaboration with the Young Historians Project and their project ‘A Hidden History: African women and the British health service’. Other educational resources can be accessed via their website. For an essential activity for students using this lesson consult their blog post on Princess Ademola listed in external links below. “The recruitment of African women into the National Health Service from British colonies began in the period after the Second World War. However, nurses, doctors and other medical professionals had trained in Britain before this, as the colonial power did not provide the full facilities for medical training in the colonies. Despite their long history of work within health services in Britain, the role of African women is rarely highlighted in discussions of the history of the NHS or of health work more generally. Current narratives on Black women in the British health service tend to focus on the ‘Windrush generation’ and Caribbean contributions”: Young Historians Project. Use this lesson to find original documents which explore the role of African nurses in the health services of Britain. Please note that some sources contain offensive language that was used at the time and is unacceptable today.

What do the sources reveal about an early Black presence in Britain? Black people have lived in Britain for over two thousand years. Some came to Britain with the Roman invasion in 43CE and they became an important part of British society throughout the medieval ages and beyond. Evidence shows that Black people joined the armed forces, married in parish churches, made significant contributions to art and writing, and resisted and challenged the repressive laws of the day. We cannot tell the history of Britain without including their stories. In the early years of the First World War, many Caribbean men bought tickets to sail to Britain to join the army. The British West Indies Regiment was created, playing an important role in the conflict. Men from Nigeria, the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, the Gambia and other parts of Africa, also fought for Britain. At the end of the war, many African and Caribbean soldiers decided to stay in Britain to make it their permanent home. Race riots broke out in parts of the country during the early months of 1919, as some white communities blamed black people for the shortage of work and housing caused by the war. During the Second World War, black people from across the Commonwealth fought for Britain once more. Some were soldiers, whilst others came to support work on the Homefront such as factory production and nursing. After the war, Britain needed to be re-built. By 1948, the Nationality Act was passed; allowing people from British colonies the right to live and work in Britain if they wanted. Other people from Europe were also invited to Britain. Many people from the Caribbean left their homes to begin a new life in Britain, bringing with them a wide range of skills. They filled jobs in the transport system, postal service and health service, helping Britain to re-build and recover. These people are often called the ‘Windrush Generation’, named after the ship ‘The Empire Windrush’ that docked at Tilbury in June 1948. Windrush was not the first ship to bring Caribbean migrants to Britain; the Ormonde and Almanzora had arrived in Southampton the year before. Between 1947 and 1970, nearly half a million people left their homes in the Caribbean to live in Britain.

This lesson and its sources can be used to look at how evidence over time can change leading to new conclusions. The lesson focuses on the sinking of the Indefatigable was one of heroic loss and then it became clear it was a mistake.

Why did people from the Caribbean travel to live and work in Britain? When the Second World War ended, countries needed to recover and rebuild. By 1948, the Nationality Act was passed which gave people from British colonies the right to live and work in Britain if they wanted. They were citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies. Many Caribbean men and women had served in the forces during the war, some wanted to re-enlist into the armed forces or find other employment. After the war, Britain needed people to fill jobs in the health service, transport system and postal system. The arrival of the ship ‘Empire Windrush’ is often seen as the start of this migration of Caribbean migrants from countries including Jamaica; Bermuda; Trinidad and British Guiana seeking jobs and a better life in this country. Jamaica for example, had high unemployment and a recent hurricane had caused huge damage. However, it is also important to remember that there were earlier lesser-known ships that carried post-war migrants from the Caribbean. Find out these other ships in this National Archives blog. It cost £28 for travel on the troop-deck and £48 for cabin class travel on the Empire Windrush. The ship picked up passengers at Trinidad, Jamaica (Kingston), Mexico (Tampico), Cuba (Havana) and, finally Bermuda before arriving at Tilbury Docks on 22nd June in Britain. The total number of passengers was 492, of which 52 were volunteers for the armed forces, 236 who had nowhere to go and who were accommodated in London’s Clapham South tube station deep shelter and 204 who had places to go to and were dispersed direct from Tilbury. The Ministry of Labour set up a small labour exchange or job centre in the Clapham South shelter to help to place people in jobs. Fares were paid to those travelling to other parts of the country. Life was difficult for many people after the war. Rationing and shortages continued, people still queued for food. People therefore arriving from the Caribbean would have experienced this as well as leaving friends and family behind. The climate was also colder and wetter. Unfortunately, some Caribbean migrants were made to feel unwelcome and treated unfairly and differently because of racism. Finding jobs and somewhere to live was difficult due to discrimination. Many were forced to accept employment with low wages or poor housing.