Recent Research
The History eLearning Project (HeLP) Kingston University 2008-2010
HeLP-A Victorian Child is a web-based resource, which is (from September 2010) being used in primary schools as part of the History National Curriculum module on ‘The Victorians’. This module is part of Key Stage 3 and appropriate for seven – eleven year old children.
It focuses on the life of Arthur Carter, who was raised in Kingston upon Thames in Surrey. I used contemporary sources (pictures, newspaper reports, marriage registers and census records), to try to show what a working class person’s life would have been like in the latter half of the nineteenth century.In 1875, at the age of 5, Arthur was a patient in Great Ormond Street Hospital, suffering from bladder stones. The resource uses this opportunity to consider life in a children's hospital in the nineteenth century and how different it was to the kind of experience a child might have in hospital today.
The examination of Arthur’s life leads on to a more general consideration of Victorian social history, which is relevant to the History National Curriculum. I conducted all of the research for the project, as well as writing the text for the children and additional information for the teachers. I was also responsible for locating appropriate images and negotiating with the copyright holder for their use. My research and writing was complemented by curriculum based activities for the classroom, supplied by educational consultants at Kingston University.
It is not possible to provide a link to this resource, because access to it is limited to the schools using it. However, here is brief biography of Arthur Carter, which illustrates how much of a person’s life may be reconstructed from official records.
The Life Story of Arthur Carter
Arthur Carter was born in Kingston upon Thames in 1870. He was the youngest of the five children of Richard and Ann Carter. Richard was a wheelwright, who provided wheels for carts and carriages. Arthur spent the first few years of his life in a slum area of the town. The houses were virtually falling down and there was no running water or proper sanitary provision.. The lack of proper sanitation may have contributed towards Arthur’s illness. He was admitted to Great Ormond Street Hospital for 40 days. During this time, he underwent an operation to remove the bladder stones.
According to the 1881 census, at the age of 11, Arthur was a scholar-or schoolchild-living with his family in the nearby town of Chiswick. By this time, his father had become a barge-builder. We can’t really know why Richard changed his occupation, but at this time barge-building was a booming industry, so it is probable that Richard felt he could earn more money building boats.
Ten years later, in 1891, Arthur and his family had moved back to a poor area of Kingston. Arthur was working as a general labourer and would probably have been assisting in the construction of roads or buildings in the Kingston area. Five years later, 26 year old Arthur married Hannah Brooker in a church in Kingston. Hannah’s father was a carpenter.
Arthur and Hannah reappear in the 1901 census. They were living in Hampton Wick, which is just across the River Thames from Kingston. Arthur was still working as a general labourer and Hannah was a laundry maid. There is no indication that they had any children.
Arthur Carter was not listed in the 1911 census. However, his wife, Hannah was recorded as living in the same house as Arthur’s father, Richard Carter. The census shows that Hannah was still married to Arthur. Two years later, at the age of 43, Arthur Carter died.