Queen Victoria was only 18, when she came to the throne of Britain, and she reigned for 64 years. In fact, she ruled for so long that her reign became known as the Victorian era.
At the age of 21, Victoria married her cousin, Albert of Saxe-Coburg, Gotha, a German Prince. Victoria had nine children, 40 grand-children and 37 great-grandchildren, scattered all over Europe. Most of Queen Victoria’s children married into other royal families of Europe.
Whilst Victoria was queen, there was a tremendous change in the lives of British people: Britain became the most powerful country in the world, with the largest empire that had ever existed, ruling a quarter of the world’s population.
The number of people living in Britain more than doubled, causing a huge demand for food, clothing and housing. As a result, factories and machines were built to meet this demand, and new towns grew up, changing the landscape and the ways people lived and worked. Railways, originally built to transport goods, now enabled people to travel easily around the country for the first time. In short, Queen Victoria oversaw huge changes in British society … is it any wonder that she gave her name to an age?
