Victorian Poetry and Fiction: some historical and cultural dates

1837 – William IV dies and is succeeded by Victoria. 1840 – Victoria marries the German prince, Albert. 1846 – ‘Railway Mania’ year: 272 Railways Acts passed. 1851 – The Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace in London. 1854 – Outbreak of the Crimean War; Florence Nightingale goes out to Scutari in the Crimea 1856 – Crimean War ends; Victoria Cross for bravery instituted. 1857 – Divorce made possible without an Act of Parliament, but on unequal terms for men and women. 1859 – Darwin’s The Origin of the Species published. 1871 – Darwin’s The Descent of Man. 1895 - Oscar Wilde jailed for three years for homosexual offences. 1897 – Existing suffrage organisations unite as National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies. 1901 – Victoria dies and is succeeded by Edward V11.