The Victorian Age

As all of you may know Britain had already acquired a lot of colonies in the previous centuries for example parts of India, Australia Canada and so on.
In the course of the 19th century England expanded its colonies on all continents. Just to mention a few examples.
I want to start with Africa, where England gained the most parts. They took possession of Nigeria, Rhodesia, Kenya, Egypt, Uganda and South Africa, where in the 80s and at the beginning of the 20th century they waged bloody and costly wars against the Dutch settlers, the Boers to take hold of the diamond fields and mines on their territories.
In Asia they expanded their territories in India, the Malayan states, parts of Aden, New Guinea and many islands in the Pacific Ocean like Fiji and Tonga.

Even Australia and New Zealand were completely colonised in the 19th century.
In America they gained some Caribbean Islands such as Bahamas, Bermudas, Trinidad and Jamaica. On the mainland they acquired British Honduras and British Guyana.
The conquest of all these territories made Britain the leading colonial power of the 19th century and spread the English language throughout the world.
At the start of the 19th century very few children went to school. Most poor children worked. If they went to school, their families lost the money they earned.
There were some good schools for boys, for example, grammar schools and public schools. Only richer families could afford to pay the school fees, though some schools gave free places to poor boys. Poor girls did not go to school when the Victorian age began meaning they had little education. Girls from wealthy families would usually be taught at home by a governess. Sometimes, wealthy girls may have attended boarding schools too.

Ragged schools and Sunday schools.
Sunday schools were run by churches, to teach children about the Christian faith. Journalist Robert Raikes started the first Sunday School for poor children in Gloucester in 1780.
Ragged Schools were schools for poor children. One of the first was started in Portsmouth by a shoe-mender named John Pounds. Older children helped to teach younger ones. Ragged Schools were often in one room of a house, or in an old barn. From 1833 factory owners were supposed to provide at least 2 hours education every day for child-workers, but not many children actually got lessons.