Victorian history

Death was everywhere for the Victorians, but it was never commonplace

4 May 2024 9:00 am

In a society obsessed with the trappings of grief, funerals were often elaborate occasions, with commemorative medals struck and strict rules applied to the period of mourning

The miserly widow Mary Emsley, clutching a roll of her precious wallpaper, as portrayed in the popular press

Ill-met by gaslight

9 September 2017 9:00 am

What is it about Victorian murders that so grips us? The enduring fascination of Jack the Ripper caught the imagination…

The Bridgeman Art Library

Laurence Oliphant: oddest of Victorian oddballs

12 March 2016 9:00 am

As an erstwhile obituarist, I pity the poor hack who had to write up the life of Laurence Oliphant —…