What was school actually like in the Victorian age? For most of us today, one of the greatest differences was the emphasis on boarding schools. Many Victorian children spent most of their lives at school rather than at home. Another key difference, cited by nearly every male who reminisces about school days, is the prevalence of physical punishment. (Physical punishment was not absent from girls' schools, but generally did not extend to the routine beatings that were experienced by the boys.) Rules were many and strictly enforced. However, while many modern articles portray Victorian schools as stark, dour places where facts were drilled by rote by grim-faced teachers, the truth in this case is simple: it depends. Some Victorian teachers were kind and inspiring; others were dull and drilling. In that regard, perhaps, we'd find Victorian schools not so different from our own!

The Beaufoy Shakspearean Medal (Illustrated London Almanack, 1856)

A medal awarded to London schoolboys in an annual competition for the best essay on a work of Shakespeare (inaugurated in 1851).

Sorrows of Old Schoolboys (Leisure Hour, 1860)

The primary sorrow of old schoolboys was the regularity with which they were whipped.

The Art of Packing Up (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1877)

How to pack a child's trunk for his or her return to school.

How to Train a Child Physically (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1881)

Are Public Examinations Beneficial to Young People? (Reader debate) (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1882)

On the Higher Development of Drawing-Room Music, by J. Crowdy (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1882)

Primarily about the best instruments to teach children to use to produce drawing-room music.

Should We Send Our Girls to Boarding Schools? (Reader debate) (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1882)

Are We Over-Educating Our Children? (Reader debate) (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1884)

Gymnastics for Our Girls (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1885)

The Tonic Sol-Fa College and Its Work, by J. Cuthbert Hadden (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1887)

The rise of a system of learning to sing (think "do-re-mi").

Amusing Juvenile Answers, by D. Lawson Johnstone (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1889)

Odd answers to test questions are nothing new; amongst this delightful collection is the information that "a fort is a place to put men in, and a fortress is a place to put women in."

Physical Training for Girls, by Barbara Foxley (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1889)

Ragged Schools, Old and New, by G. Holden Pike (Quiver, 1889)

Some Board School Children, by James Runciman (English Illustrated Magazine, 1890A)

A look at the variety of children attending London's Board Schools in the slums.

School-Day Reminiscences (Girl's Own Paper, 1891)

A look back at life in a girl's school in Toronto, Canada.

Rugby School, by Judge Hughes and H. Lee Warner (English Illustrated Magazine, 1892A)

Some Talk About English Public Schools (Harper's Monthly, 1892A)

A helpful article for anyone confused about the system of British "public" vs. "private" schools.

Are Our Children Over-Educated? No, by the Hon. E. Lyulph Stanley (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1894)

Musical Gestures, by Prof. J. Frederick Bridge (Cassell's Family Magazine, 1894)

A means of teaching music using gestures.

Where Shirkers from School Are Sent: Life at an Institution for Truants, by Ernest A. Carr (Chums, 1895)

Peculiar Children I Have Met, by Max O'Rell (The Strand, 1896A)

French author Max O'Rell (who is always a treat to read) talks of his days as a schoolmaster in England.

The Largest School in the World, by S.L. Bensusan (Windsor Magazine, 1896B)

The Jews' Free School in London.

Some Curious Public School Customs, by Thomas Stavely Oldham (The Strand, 1896B)

My School-Days, by E. Nesbit (Girl's Own Paper, 1897)

A twelve-part series by children's author E. Nesbit on her childhood and school life.

School Hampers, by E.V. Lucas (Windsor Magazine, 1898B)

A look at some of the "positively ripping" Christmas hampers that one can order from a major London store for one's lad at boarding school.

To the Memory of the Brave, by George A. Wade (Windsor Magazine, 1900B)

"How public schools honour their dead heroes."

Practical Points of Law, by A Lawyer

Includes Introduction, Dogs, Education, Fire Assurance, Property Fixtures, Life Assurance, Infants/Children, Servants, Swindles, Tenants, Travel, Wedlock, Wills, Popular Errors

• See also Children's Schools in Britain