Welcome back, time travellers!
Yesterday we learned how to find the story of our own town. Today we have a BIG adventure: we will travel through almost 1,000 years of British history!
We start in 1066, when Edward the Confessor died. We end in today.
Buckle up — here we go!
1066 — the Norman Conquest
Edward the Confessor died with no children. So three men all said, “I should be king!”
- Harold Godwinson — an English nobleman
- Harald Hardrada — the king of Norway
- William, Duke of Normandy — from northern France
Harold Godwinson was crowned king first. But the others came to fight him.
In September 1066, Harold beat Hardrada at the Battle of Stamford Bridge.
Three weeks later, William sailed from France with a huge army. Harold had to march all the way south to fight him. They met near Hastings on 14 October 1066.
This was the Battle of Hastings. Harold lost. He was killed by an arrow in the eye (people say). William became king. He is called William the Conqueror.
After 1066, the Normans ruled England. They built stone castles, big cathedrals, and brought French words into English. Hundreds of years of new history began!
The Tudors (1485-1603)
Now jump 400 years to the year 1485. A new family of kings began. They were the Tudors.
Five Tudor kings and queens ruled England:
| Tudor | When | Famous for |
|---|---|---|
| Henry VII | 1485-1509 | Started the Tudor family |
| Henry VIII | 1509-1547 | Six wives! |
| Edward VI | 1547-1553 | Boy king, died young |
| Mary I | 1553-1558 | The first queen of England |
| Elizabeth I | 1558-1603 | The famous “Virgin Queen” |
Henry VIII — the king with six wives
Henry VIII is one of the most famous kings ever. He had six wives!
Why six? Because Henry wanted a son to be the next king. His first wife only had a daughter. So Henry got rid of her (he made the Church say it didn’t count). Then he married again. And again. And again.
A rhyme to remember what happened to Henry’s wives:
Divorced, beheaded, died, Divorced, beheaded, survived.
Henry also broke away from the Catholic Church in Rome. He made himself the head of a new church, the Church of England. This was a HUGE change.
Elizabeth I — the Virgin Queen
Henry’s daughter Elizabeth I was a great queen. She ruled for 44 years (1558-1603) — that is a long time.
In Elizabeth’s time:
- William Shakespeare wrote his plays
- English ships started sailing to America
- Sir Francis Drake sailed all the way around the world
- The English navy beat the Spanish Armada (a huge fleet of ships) in 1588
Elizabeth never married. People called her the Virgin Queen. The American state of Virginia is named after her!
The Victorians (1837-1901)
Jump forward 250 years. Queen Victoria became queen in 1837, when she was just 18 years old.
She ruled for almost 64 years — the longest of any British monarch until Queen Elizabeth II.
Victoria’s time was an amazing time of change. People call it the Industrial Revolution.
What was life like for Victorian children?
Sadly, life was hard for poor children. Many had to work in factories at age 6 or 7! They worked:
- 12 hours a day
- 6 days a week
- For very low pay
In 1880, a new law said all children must go to school until age 10. Slowly, schools became more important.
Rich Victorian children had toys, dolls, and went to school in nice clothes. Poor children might never see a doctor or have new shoes.
Big Victorian inventions
- Steam trains that could go 60 mph!
- Cars (1885 in Germany, soon in Britain)
- Telephones (1876, by Alexander Graham Bell — a Scotsman!)
- Electric lights
- Cameras
- The first underground train (London, 1863)
- The postage stamp (the Penny Black, 1840)
Famous Victorians
- Charles Dickens — wrote Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol
- Florence Nightingale — a nurse who helped soldiers in war
- Isambard Kingdom Brunel — built bridges, ships and railways
- Charles Darwin — wrote about how animals change over time
Britain at this time also had a huge empire. The British Empire was the biggest empire ever, covering a quarter of the world.
World War One (1914-1918)
In 1914, a terrible war started. We call it World War One or WWI.
Britain fought against Germany, Austria-Hungary and Turkey. The war was mostly in Europe, in countries like France and Belgium.
Why was it so terrible?
WWI was the first war with big new weapons:
- Machine guns
- Tanks
- Aeroplanes
- Poison gas
Soldiers fought in trenches — long, muddy ditches in the ground. Living in a trench for months was awful.
About 750,000 British soldiers died. Many came from small villages. That is why almost every UK village has a war memorial with names of soldiers who died.
The war ended on 11 November 1918, at 11 o’clock. We still wear a red poppy every year on Remembrance Day (11 November) to remember them.
World War Two (1939-1945)
Just 21 years later, another big war started. World War Two or WWII.
This time, Britain fought against Germany (led by a horrible man called Adolf Hitler), Italy and Japan. Britain was helped by France, the USA, and many other countries.
The Blitz (1940-41)
In WWII, Hitler tried to make Britain give up. He did this by bombing British cities at night. This was called the Blitz.
- London was bombed for 57 nights in a row!
- Other cities like Coventry, Liverpool, Birmingham and Manchester were also bombed.
- About 40,000 people died in the Blitz.
Children were sent away from cities to live in the countryside. This was called evacuation. It must have been very scary.
But Britain did NOT give up. The Royal Air Force (RAF) fought back in the sky in the Battle of Britain. The brave pilots stopped Germany from invading.
A great wartime leader was Winston Churchill. He was the British Prime Minister. He made famous speeches. One famous line was: “We shall fight on the beaches… we shall never surrender.”
The war ended in 1945. Britain won, but everything was tired and broken. Many cities had to be rebuilt.
Windrush (1948)
After WWII, Britain needed help to rebuild. The British government asked people from countries in the British Empire to come and work in Britain.
In June 1948, a ship called the HMT Empire Windrush sailed from the Caribbean (countries like Jamaica and Trinidad) to London. About 500 men, women and children came on that ship.
This was the Windrush generation. Over the next 20 years, half a million people came from the Caribbean. They worked in:
- Hospitals (the new NHS needed nurses)
- Trains and buses
- Factories
- Building houses
Their food, music and stories made British life richer and more interesting. Today there is a special day each year (22 June) to celebrate the Windrush generation.
But it was not always fair. Many Windrush people met racism in Britain. Some were even told to “go home” by mean people. The Windrush scandal in 2018 showed how badly some of them were treated even decades later.
We learn about Windrush so we can do better in the future.
After Windrush — modern Britain
After the 1950s, Britain kept changing fast.
- The NHS was started in 1948 — free healthcare for all!
- Lots of new music came: The Beatles (1960s), punk rock (1970s)
- People came from all over the world to live in Britain
- The internet started in the 1990s
- Mobile phones in your pocket from the 2000s
Britain today is full of different cultures, languages and foods. Many of us have grandparents or great-grandparents from far away.
Fun facts
- Henry VIII could play lots of musical instruments, including the harp.
- Queen Victoria loved her dog Dash. He even sat with her at her crowning!
- A Victorian child’s lunch was often just bread and dripping (fat from cooked meat).
- During the Blitz, people slept in Underground stations to be safe from bombs.
- The Empire Windrush ship was actually a German ship before WWII!
Words to remember
- Norman Conquest: when William the Conqueror took over England in 1066
- Tudor: the family of kings 1485-1603
- Victorian: about Queen Victoria’s time (1837-1901)
- Industrial Revolution: when machines and factories changed Britain
- The Blitz: when Germany bombed British cities (1940-41)
- RAF: Royal Air Force
- Windrush generation: people who came from the Caribbean from 1948
- NHS: National Health Service — free healthcare in Britain
Talk about it
- Henry VIII had six wives! Why do you think he had so many?
- Victorian children worked in factories. How is your life different?
- The Blitz must have been very scary. What would you take to a shelter?
- Why is it important to remember the Windrush generation?
Quick summary
- 1066: William the Conqueror takes over England.
- Tudors (1485-1603): Henry VIII (six wives) and Elizabeth I (Virgin Queen).
- Victorians (1837-1901): big change with steam trains and factories.
- WWI (1914-1918): trench war, 750,000 British dead.
- WWII (1939-1945): the Blitz bombed cities; Britain won.
- Windrush (1948): people from the Caribbean came to help rebuild.
Next article
Tomorrow we leave Britain and travel to the first big cities in human history — Sumer, Indus Valley, Egypt and Shang. See you then!