The electric telegraph was the primary means of long-distance communication during the late 1800s. It used Morse code—dots and dashes—which was sent by way of an electrical signal through wire. The invention of the telegram dramatically decreased communication time, and brought countries closer together, especially Europe and America through the transatlantic telegraph cables, which were built across the floor of the Atlantic ocean. Such an invention meant that news was able to travel much faster, and people therefore had a better understanding of the current events, fashions and attitudes of other countries than at any other time prior.

McGillem, Clare. “Telegraph." Britannica, www.britannica.com/technology/telegraph. Accessed 5 July 2021.

The Victorian preoccupation with privacy is well-documented. The increasing population made privacy harder and harder to come by, and thus the more privacy a dwelling afforded, the greater the wealth of the inhabitants. It was during the 1900s that houses in London were first sorted out into suburbs. Classes were segregated by street, with the wealthy occupying the main thoroughfares and squares, and the poor the tight back alleys. Poorer families often owned a single room in a flat shred with others, and thus the desire for a self-contained apartment grew amongst the middle class. New houses were built with privacy in mind, offering clearly segregated dining and receiving spaces, bedrooms, and kitchens, and the most desired style was the italianate villas, with garden walls and plenty of foliage to block prying eyes.

Olsen, Donald J. “Victorian London: Specialization, Segregation, and Privacy.” Victorian Studies, vol. 17, no. 3, 1974, pp. 265–278. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3826665. Accessed 5 July 2021.

Afternoon tea was a popular pastime amongst wealthy women in the Victorian era. It came about following the introduction of gas-lighting, which meant dinner was able to be held later in the evening. In the long, intervening hours between lunch and dinner, women devised of afternoon tea to curb their hunger. It was often a short, casual occasion, which allowed women to catch-up with friends and neighbours. While men were not as a rule disallowed from such events, they were not organisers of afternoon tea and would only attend on invite.

Afternoon tea also became something of a liberation for women at the time, who, due to the indoor setting, were able to wear less-restricting garments, and had the freedom to discuss all manner of ideas and opinions out of earshot of their husbands. The practice eventually lead to the creation of tea rooms, both in Europe and America, which allowed women to earn an independent income, and became places for suffragettes to meet.

Matthews, Mimi. “What It Was Like To Attend Afternoon Tea In The Victorian Era." Bust, www.bust.com/living/194891-afternoon-tea-etiquette.html. Accessed 5 July 2021.

Marks, Tasha. “The tea-rific history of Victorian afternoon tea." The British Museum, 14 Aug. 2020, www.blog.britishmuseum.org/the-tea-rific-history-of-victorian-afternoon-tea. Accessed 5 July 2021.

Strickland, Cara. “The Top-Secret Feminist History of Tea Rooms." Jstor Daily, 6 Mar. 2019, www.daily.jstor.org/the-top-secret-feminist-history-of-tea-rooms. Accessed 5 July 2021.

There is a long history of the English naming their houses. Typically, this was a practice of the wealthy, who would name their manors after their family or state homes after their location. In the eighteenth century, as the population was growing, house numbering was introduced as a more efficient way of distinguishing between properties. There was a resurgence in the house-naming in the Victorian era as the construction of railways gave birth to the suburbs. Old-sounding British names such as “Parkdale” or “Oakdean” were most often used, as people aspired to improve their social standing by evoking a façade of family wealth. Owning an old structure with a name was almost always an indicator that the owner had a good fortune.

Knight, Sam. “What Do the Names of British Houses Mean?” The New Yorker, 28 Mar. 2020, www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-the-uk/what-do-the-names-of-british-houses-mean. Accessed 5 July 2021.

Batchelor, Judith. “The Significance of House Names to Family History." Genealogy Jude, 18 Apr. 2020, www.genealogyjude.com/2020/04/18/the-significance-of-house-names-to-family-history. Accessed 5 July 2021.

Wright, Laura. “How house names tell the story of centuries of social change in Britain.” The British Academy, 19 Mar. 2020, www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/blog/how-house-names-tell-story-centuries-social-change-britain. Accessed 5 July 2021.