How to be a Victorian

by Ruth Goodman

Accidents happened everywhere: dung carts turned over and trapped people beneath, axes slipped, loads shifted, and threshing machines used to separate grain from stalks and husks maimed and killed. Power hammers, kilns and foundries crushed, asphyxiated and burnt in the centres of industry. Men drowned entangled in fishing nets or cast overboard when boats foundered, while, underground, rockfalls and explosions killed. Victorian machinery was large and heavy, and its blades, intakes and hoppers were without guards. It tended to jam easily and usually needed close attention to operate, requiring people to dart in and out among the moving parts, oiling here, clearing dust and dirt there, adjusting screws and levers. Machines powered by water or steam were hard to shut down quickly, and those that relied on horsepower were subject to the panics and starts of the animals. None of course was intended to injure or kill and, if the human attrition rate was too high, they became uneconomical to run. But what counted as too high often changed according to economic necessity and greed.