1. The Industrial Revolution
brings
change to Colonial Victoria
Marion Littlejohn
Education Officer, Sovereign Hill Museum
HTAV Middle Years Conference, October, 2011.
2. Year 9 The Making of the Modern World
Depth Study 1 Making a Better World?
Choose ONE
1 The Industrial Revolution (1750 – 1914)
2 Movements of Peoples (c. 1757 – 1914)
3 Progressive Ideas and Movements (1750 – 1914)
3. Making a Better World ? (1750 – 1914)
Content description
Students investigate …the experiences of men, women and children during the
Industrial Revolution, and their changing way of life
The Industrial Revolution (1750 – 1914)
The technological innovations that led to the Industrial Revolution, and other
conditions that influenced the industrialisation of Britain (the agricultural
revolution, access to raw materials, wealthy middle class, cheap labour, transport
system, and expanding empire) and of Australia
Elaborations
•the impact of steam, gas and electricity on people’s way of life
•The experiences of men, women and children during the Industrial Revolution
•The population movements and changing settlement patterns
•changes to the cities and landscape in European countries and Australia as the
Industrial Revolution continued to develop, using photos
•The short and long-term impacts of the Industrial Revolution, including global changes
in landscapes, transport and communication
The Australian Curriculum; Year 9 - History
6. Beginnings of the Industrial Revolution
A revolution in agriculture in Britain in the 1700s created
conditions that favored the Industrial Revolution.
• Farmers began growing new crops and using new technology
such as the seed drill and the iron plow.
• Increased food production improved people's diet and
health, which in turn contributed to rapid population growth.
• More efficient farming methods (enclosures) meant that fewer
people were needed to farm.
• As a result, unemployed farmers created a large new labor force.
7. Why Britain took the lead.
• It had plentiful iron and coal resources and a good transportation system
(canals).
• It was a leading commercial power so merchants had the capital to invest in
new enterprises.
• It had colonies that supplied raw materials and bought finished goods.
• The British government encouraged improvements in transportation and used
its navy to protect British trade.
• Political stability – secure property rights encourages investment
• British ideal that people could move ahead in society by hard work and talent.
The Protestant Work Ethic.
8. The Industrial Revolution began
in the textile industry, where a
series of inventions created new
demands for laborers. Between
1733 and 1793, inventors
produced new machines, such
as the flying shuttle, the
Spinning Jenny, and a water-
powered loom, for spinning and
weaving of wool and cotton.
New machines led to the growth of
the factory system, which brought
workers and machines together in
one place to manufacture goods. By
the late 1700s, steam began to
replace water as a source of power
after James Watt greatly improved
Thomas Newcomen’s 1712 steam
engine. Steam engines gave a boost
to two other industries that were
essential to the Industrial Revolution;
coal and iron.
9. Replica of Richard Trevithick's 1804 locomotive at the National Waterfront
Museum, Swansea.
10. 1808 Trevithick charged one shilling at his Steam Circus
to view his “Catch me who can” steam locomotive.
11. 1829 George Stephenson’s
Rocket successfully pulled an
open carriage carrying
30 passengers at 45 kph.
Rocket (with some post 1829 innovations) as
preserved in the Science Museum, London.
12. Benefits of rail travel
• ability to transport fresh meat, milk, eggs & vegetables
→ better diet → improved health
• Information/news spreads faster - newspapers and letters delivered next day in UK
• Shrinking world
• Cheaper transport costs → cheaper goods → raising sales → more jobs
• Population more mobile, day return ticket to seaside now possible
William Powell Frith - Life at the Seaside (Ramsgate Sands) 1854.
14. Brunel’s Great Western railway linking London to Bristol included this two-
mile-long Tunnel at Box; then the longest railway tunnel in the world.
The first train ran in 1838.
15. A famous Great Western engine, the "Vulcan," built in 1837
17. Launch of the SS Great Britain by HRH Prince Albert in 1843
18.
19.
20. The Crystal Palace,
Hyde Park, London.
1851
1851
THE GREAT EXHIBITION
Queen Victoria opens the Great
Exhibition in the Crystal Palace.
Hyde Park, London, 1851
29. Between 1852 and 1875
the ss Great Britain made
32 round trips to Australia
bringing 15,000 passengers.
2% of present day Australians are
descended from a Great Britain passenger.
38. Early stripper/harvester c. 1883
H.V. McKay Sunshine Harvester factory showing
harvester combs, comb teeth, wheels and other
metal parts are being packed for shipment c1918
Reproduced courtesy of Museum Victoria
39. Teaching resources
http://www.teacherlink.org/content/social/instructional/industrialrevolution/home.html
Useful outline for teaching a unit on the Industrial Revolution in England – some of the links no longer
work
http://www1.umassd.edu/ir/welcome.cfm
Interesting site from University of Massachusetts Dartmouth which contains an excellent Image Gallery
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/IndustrialRevolution.htm
Amazing site produced to support the UK History curriculum with easily searchable sections on History
topics from Romans to World War 2
Google Images – type in Industrial Revolution and go ballistic!!
The Industrial Revolution is one of the choices for the first Depth Study in year 9http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/History/Curriculum/F-10?y=9&s=HKU&s=HS&layout=1
Pre industrial society was based on agriculture
Note spinning wheel from pre-industrial times but letters possible after the introduction of the penny post in 1848. This family is living in a rapidly changing world.Domestic technology largely unchanged by Industrial Revolution
Background information teachers will need to cover
Spend a little time on inventions
The rapid spread of rail transport transforms peoples lives and would be a good feature to focus on in greater depth.
The Rocket was the most advanced steam engine of its day. It was built for the Rainhill Trials held by the Liverpool & Manchester Railway in 1829 to choose the best and most competent design. It set the standard for a hundred and fifty years of steam locomotive power. Though the Rocket was not the first steam locomotive, its claim to fame is that it was the first to bring together several innovations to produce the most advanced locomotive of its day, and the template for most steam locomotives since. In fact, the standard steam locomotive design is often called the "Stephensonian" locomotive.Rocket had two cylinders set at 35 degrees from the horizontal, with the pistons driving a pair of 4 ft 8 in (1.42 m) diameter wheels. Most previous designs had the cylinders positioned vertically, which gave the engines an uneven swaying motion as they progressed along the track. Subsequently Rocket was modified so that the cylinders were set horizontally, a layout used on nearly all designs that followed. The second pair of wheels was 2 ft 6 in (0.76 m) in diameter, and uncoupled from the driving wheels, giving an 0-2-2 wheel arrangement. The firebox was separate from the boiler and was double thickness, being surrounded with water. Copper pipes led the heated water into the boiler.
Improvements in transportation and communication. During the Industrial Revolution, advances were made in transportation and communication. In Britain, roads made of longer-lasting surfaces and canals connected all parts of the nation. A mining engineer, George Stephenson, developed the first steam-powered locomotive, opening the way for the building of railroads. Railroads and steam-powered ships improved transportation around the world. In 1837, an American inventor, Samuel F.B. Morse, devised the telegraph, which revolutionized communications.
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859)A key figure teachers might choose to focus on especially as his revolutionary ship the SS Great Britain is involved in carrying migrants to Melbourne during the Gold Rushes.
A famous Great Western engine, the "Vulcan," built in 1837, and entered as Locomotive No. 2 in the books of the Company. The "Vulcan" had a single pair of 8ft. driving wheels and two cylinders 14 in. diameter by 16 in. stroke.
Between 1852 and 1875 the Great Britain made 32 round trips to Australia bringing 15,000 passengers.2% of present day Australians are descended from a Great Britain passenger.
Painting by Joseph WalterThe launch of the Great Britain on 19 July 1843 by HRH Prince Albert, who is standing on the podium just forward of the bows. Launch at the Great Western Dockyard, Bristol100 meters long, steel hull auxiliary steam ship (able to use sails or steam)
Engine room on ss Great Britain
The exhibition – masterminded by Prince Albert – showcased the developments of the Industrial Age from many countries.
Images of the Great Exhibition commissioned by Queen Victoria for Prince Alberthttp://www.archive.org/stream/Dickinsonscompr1#page/n149/mode/2up
When gold is discovered in Victoria in 1851 a massive movement of people and ideas occurs from Britain to Australia.
In the early years of the Gold Rushes miners were able to find surface or shallow alluvial gold using simple technology.
As the search for gold went deeper following the quartz reefs more sophisticated machinery was needed. The miners used the developments of the Industrial age to harness the power of steam and adapt machinery to drill through basalt, reach depths of up to a kilometre and crush tonnes of quartz to extract gold.
Examples of restored working steam powered machines can be seen at Sovereign Hill in Ballarat.
New processes were developed to produce stronger iron. In the mid-1800s, Henry Bessemer developed a process to improve the production of steel, a mixture of iron and other materials. Steel triggered the growth of still other industries. The Phoenix foundry in Ballarat was one of many which developed to cater for the needs of the mines.Established in 1854, by 1861 it employed 96 men, in 1884 it employed 350.
Appalling conditions on Victoria’s roads led to public demands for improved transport
The government responded by creating a state-wide rail system. In 1861 the Ballarat line opened – only 10 years after the discovery of gold.B class locomotives were used after 1863, they were originally imported thenbuilt in Victoria from British patterns. Note spark arrester on front funnel added to cope with Australian conditions. Centre dome was polished brass, train green. Carriage in right rear of photo shows the two containers on the roof which held the whale oil for the lamps.
The Ballarat foundries, originally set up to cater for the needs of the mines, were able to adapt to provide the rolling stock for the new railways. In 1883 the Phoenix foundry in Ballarat (where Target is today) rolled out its 100th engine.Phoenix Foundry began in 1854 supplying needs of mines. In 1861 it employed 96 men. In 1871 it tendered for its first locomotive. 1883 – 100th locomotive employing 350 men. 1887 – 200th locomotive. Over 30 years the foundry produced 352 locomotives.
Note the railway station back left and the rapid development in only 21 years.
Industrial development was not restricted to trains.