One of the best ways to get a glimpse of Victorian life is through the tales of the Victorians themselves (which is why I call this site "Victorian Voices"). In this section you'll find a host of anecdotes about day-to-day Victorian life - or about not-so-common experiences that could only have happened in Victorian days. Most of them, we hope, are true - though there are a few here that we suspect are at the very least a bit embellished for the entertainment of the reader!

Mrs. MacClarty - Scenes from the Cottagers of Glenburnie (Chambers Miscellany, 1845)

This appears to be an educational piece thinly veiled as fiction, and offers much information on cottage life in the 1840's.

My Bamboos, and What They Cost Me, by Harry Jones (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1878)

An interesting look at the difficulties in getting an awkward "package" delivered in England.

Frank Ross at Oxford (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1879)

A lengthy, semi-fictionalized account of student life at Oxford.

Without a Servant (Girl's Own Paper, 1881)

How a family struggled to cope with a servant's brief absence!

Our Earthquake Experience, (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1884)

An account of a rare earthquake as experienced in a British village.

How I Got My Telephone for Nothing: An Experience (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1885)

The novelty here is what was considered a new and novel idea in 1885!

An Artist's Voyage Around the Horn, by Hume Nesbit (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1886)

A rough and freezing journey...

How I Tried to Write a Story, by H. Frith (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1888)

An amusing account of an author's efforts to "break in" that will ring just as true with writers today!

My Musical Training; or, What I Did with 100 Pounds, by Anna Williams (Girl's Own Paper, 1888)

A student's account of her musical training in Naples.

A London Art School, by Sophie Turney (Girl's Own Paper, 1889)

A student's account of her artistic training. "My specialty was horses, and it seemed such a physical relief to let one's pencil go with a good fling in a horse galloping, rearing, etc... The life in this paper may sound hard and irksome... But everyone seemed very happy, and in earnest."

School-Day Reminiscences (Girl's Own Paper, 1891)

A look back at life in a girl's school in Toronto, Canada.

Young Tommy Atkins (The Strand, 1891B)

"Tommy Atkins" is the general British term for soldier (rather like our "GI Joe"), and this article looks at the experiences of a couple of new recruits.

My Conjuring Tricks, by George Manners (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1892)

A would-be magician finds that holding on to his money can be the greatest trick of all!

My Struggles with a Camera (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1892)

"Within a few days, I was the proud possessor of the 'Clipper' camera, with plates, slides, hydrokinone, and other known and unknown (chiefly the latter) appurtenances..."

That Quiet Half-Hour: The Plaint of a Housemother (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1892)

Her plaint, of course, is that there is no such thing as a quiet half hour!

My Diving Dress, by One Who Has Done With It (The Strand, 1894A)

A seeker of novel experiences finds that diving might best be left to the experts!

A [Walking] Party of Two, by One of Them (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1894)

An account of a young couple's holiday walking tour.

My Trials as a Housekeeper, by Elizabeth L. Banks (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1895)

Managing a friend's home, and "breaking in" a new staff of servants, turns out to be more difficult than the author imagined...

Peculiar Children I Have Met, by Max O'Rell (The Strand, 1896A)

French author Max O'Rell (who is always a treat to read) talks of his days as a schoolmaster in England.

Drivers I Have Known, by Montague Furtado (W1897A)

Reminiscences about drivers of carriages, sleighs, donkeys, carts and more.

My School-Days, by E. Nesbit(Girl's Own Paper, 1897)

A twelve-part series by children's author E. Nesbit on her childhood and school life.

Social Events in a Girl's Life, by La Petite (Girl's Own Paper, 1897)

How I Was Presented at Court

The Easter Banquet at the Mansion House

My First Royal Garden-Party

A Jubilee Drawing-Room

A Banquet at the Guildhall

Varsity Tales, by Max Pemberton (Windsor Magazine, 1897A, 1897B)

Anecdotes of student life at Cambridge University.

1: Undergraduates I Have Known

2: The Don, with Some Sidelights on Deans

3: The Boating Man

4: The Proctor

5: In the May Term

6: In the Later Hours

An Evening at Court, by Lady William Lennox (Girl's Own Paper, 1902)

See also:

• Christmas Experiences & Reminiscences

• The Civil War: Personal Accounts