Vickipedia

VICTORIA I., Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, daughter and only child of Edward, Duke of Kent, 4th son of George III., was born at Kensington Palace, May 24, 1819. Her mother, Victoria Mary Louisa, was 4th daughter of Francis, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and sister of Leopold, late king of the Belgians. Her first husband, the Prince of Leiningen, died in 1814; and on the 11th July 1818. she married, at Kew, the Duke of Kent. The duke died January 23, 1820, leaving his widow in charge of an infant daughter only eight months old, who had been baptized with the names of Alexandria Victoria.

The Duchess of Kent fulfilled the important duties which devolved upon her with more than maternal solicitude, and with admirable care and prudence. The infant princess, as she grew up, was taught to seek health by exercise and temperance, to acquire fearlessness even from her amusements, such as riding and sailing, and to practise a wise economy united to a discriminating charity. After a few years, the Duchess of Northumberland was associated with her mother in her nurture and education. The Princess V. became accomplished in music, drawing, and the continental languages; and acquired a knowledge of some of the sciences, particularly botany. Her father having belonged to the Whigs, her political education was naturally derived from the members of that party; and to Viscount Melbourne (q. v.); belongs the credit of having thoroughly instructed her in the principles of the British constitution. She ascended the throne of the United Kingdom 011 the demise of her uncle, William IV. (q. v.), June 20, 1837; her uncle, the Duke of Cumberland, becoming king of Hanover, in virtue of the law which excludes females from that throne. By this event, the connection which had lasted for 123 years between the crowns of England and Hanover was terminated. Victoria was proclaimed June, 1837, and crowned at Westminster, June 28,1838. She found on her accession Viscount Melbourne at the head of the government; and during his premiership, and with the cordial assent of her subjects, the young queen was married at St. James’s Palace (February 10, 1840) to Prince Albert (q. v.), Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and second son of the then reigning duke.

Her Majesty has had issue—four sons and five daughters; the Princess Royal, Victoria, born November 21. 1840, married. Jan. 35, 1858, to Frederick William, now Crown Prince of Prussia, and Prince Imperial of Germany; Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, heir-apparent to the throne of the United Kingdom, born Nov. 9, 1841, married, March 10, 1863, Princess Alexandra, eldest daughter of Christian IX., king of Denmark; Princess Alice, born April 25, 1843, married, in 1862, Prince Frederick William of Hesse (died Dec. 14, 1878); Prince Alfred, born August 6. 1844. created Duke of Edinburgh 1866, married, Jan. 23, 1874, Marie, only daughter of the Emperor of Russia; Princess Helena, born May 25, 1840, married in 1866 to Prince Christian of Denmark; Princess Louisa, born March 18, 1848, married in 1871 to the Marquis of Lorne; Prince Arthur, born May 1, 1850, created Duke of Connaught 1874, married in 1879 Princess Louise Marguerite of Prussia; Prince Leopold, born April 7, 1853, was created Duke of Albany in 1881, and married to Princess Helena of Waldeck in 1882; Princess Beatrice, born April 14,’1857.

The changes of administration in this reign maybe traced in the articles GREAT BRITAIN, MELBOURNE, PEEL, RUSSELL, derby, aberdeen, palmerston, gladstone, disraeli. The legislative measures of greatest importance were the establishment (1840) of the penny-postage (see post-office); the Amendment of the Poor Laws (q. v.) in Scotland (1845) and Ireland (1847); the Abolition (1846) of the Corn Laws (q. v.), and (1849) of the Navigation Laws,(q. v.); the Irish Encumbered Estates Act, (see TITLE, &c.); the transfer (1858) of the Indian possessions from the East India Company to the crown (see india); the admission (1858) of Jews into the House of Commons; the Reform Act of 1867; Disestablishment of the Irish Church (1869); the Irish Land Acts (1870 and 1881); the Abolition of Purchase in the Army (1871); the Elementary Education Act for England (1870), and the Scotch Education Act (1872). See NATIONAL EDUCATION. Other events which will signalize this period of British history were the formation of the Free Church (q. v.) of Scotland (1843); the discovery of the North-west Passage (q. v.) by Sir Robert M’Clure (1850); the Exhibitions (q. v.) of 1851 and 1862; the discovery of gold in Australia (q. v.) and in British Columbia; the war (1854—1856) with Russia (q. v.)iii defence of Turkey (q. v.), in which the siege of Sebastopol was the chief item; the Indian Mutiny in 1857 (see india); the Volunteer (q. v.) movement (1859); the establishment (1866) of telegraphic communication with America (see TELEGRAPH); the Abyssinian War, 1867(see theodore); the formation of the Dominion of Canada, 1867; the wars with Ashantees (1873), Zulus (1879), and Afghans (1878-80), the rising in the Transvaal; the agitations in connection with the Fenian Society (q. v.), Home Rule (q. v.), and the Land League; the passing of the Land Act (1881); and the war in Egypt (1882).

In 1848, the only disturbance in Britain was a Chartist demonstration (see chartism); while, during V.’s reign, France (q. v.) has been successively a constitutional monarchy, a republic, an empire, and again a republic. The great civil war in the United States of America (q. v.) has resulted in the extinction of slavery; the formation of the kingdom of Italy (q. v.) has been completed by the acquisition of Venetia and Rome; the unification of Germany, begun by the formation of the North German Confederation, as the result of the war between Prussia and Austria in 1866. has been consummated by the events of the Franco-Prussian War (1870—1871); and the ever formidable ‘ Eastern Question,’ raised again in 1876 by the insurrection in Herzegovina led in 1877 to war between Russia and Turkey, and to sweeping changes in the Balkan Peninsula (see turkey).

In 1876, ‘ Empress of India’ was added to the royal titles of Queen V. The premature death of the Prince-Consort (see albert) on December 14, 1861, caused the Queen to seclude herself for several years from public life. Queen V. has published two volumes—The Early Days of His Royal Highness the Prince-Consort; and Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands (1869).

‘In Queen Victoria,’ according to Macaulay, ‘her subjects have found a wiser, gentler, happier Elizabeth.’ No former monarch has so thoroughly comprehended the great truth, that the powers of the crown are held in trust for the people, and are the means, and not the end of government. This enlightened policy has entitled her to the glorious distinction of having been the most constitutional monarch this country has ever seen. Not less important and beneficial has been the example set by her Majesty and her late Consort in the practice of every domestic virtue. Their stainless lives, their unobtrusive piety, and their careful education of the royal children, have borne rich fruit in the stability of the throne, and have obtained for the royal family of England the respect and admiration of the civilized world. See Theodore Martin’s Life of the Prince Consort (vols. i.-iv. 1873-79).

The progress made by the nation in the various elements of civilization, especially in that of material prosperity, has been unparalleled (see great britain); and perhaps during no reign has a greater measure of political contentment been enjoyed.