Consumption and Deathliness

The Victorians loved everything gothic, the idea that the dead could come back to be terrifying. They also loved telling ghost stories. The popularity of ghost stories was linked to economic changes. The industrial revolution led people to migrate from rural villages into towns and cities, and created a new middle class. They moved into houses that often had servants, many taken on around October or November, when the nights were drawing in early – and new staff found themselves "in a completely foreign house, seeing things everywhere, jumping at every creak". Servants were expected to be seen and not heard and probably not even seen. If you go to a stately home you see the concealed doorways and servant's corridors. You would actually have people popping in and out without you really knowing they were there, which would be quite a strange experience, leading them to think there were ghosts.

(http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/dec/23/ghost-stories-victorians-spookily-good) 

Another factor is also that the only night lighting they had were lamps, and the carbon monoxide they released could lead to hallucinations. Even on Christmas Eve it was traditional to sit by the fire and tell a ghost story. Ghost stories were increased by the media, with the release of the Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" in 1843 helping to strengthen the phenomenon even further in the public awareness.

During this time infant mortality and childbirth was very low, most children would experience death of at least one sibling. Many of these children died due to malnutrition, diseases like small pox, TB and cholera. Cholera was the product of over population and slums by dirty water, typhoid fever and dysentery were also big during the period. A study showed that 60% of children in Manchester died industrial deaths because of long hours and bad working conditions.

The death of Prince Albert during this time also didn’t help. When he died Queen Victoria set out his clothes every morning for 40 years and wore nothing but black. In portraits there is often a picture of bust in the painting with Victoria and her children. Queen Victoria was a huge trend setter when she started to wear all black, her people followed, also the way she treated her children influenced the treatment of children during this time; she introduced children playing with toys, having a Christmas tree and putting up Christmas decorations. 

Image links:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?biw=1366&bih=623&noj=1&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=victorian+ghost+&oq=victorian+ghost+&gs_l=img.3..0l10.51806.61649.0.63363.28.18.5.4.5.0.264.2447.0j11j3.14.0.msedr...0...1c.1.64.img..7.21.2280.m-fFh7jID8U#imgdii=_&imgrc=yoWrQNxEoFsc2M%253A%3ByqJRQRQgwgNMwM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fstatic.guim.co.uk%252Fsys-images%252FGuardian%252FPix%252Fpictures%252F2013%252F12%252F20%252F1387547922476%252FA-ghostly-19th-century-il-015.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.theguardian.com%252Fbooks%252F2013%252Fdec%252F23%252Fghost-stories-victorians-spookily-good%3B2560%3B1536

 https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=portrait+of+queen+victoria&biw=1366&bih=623&noj=1&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=2b8aVfzeM6iP7AavhYGwDQ&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ#imgdii=_&imgrc=rDJiYvWhIlEYoM%253A%3BKKk81rMYEb-32M%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fbohosojo.files.wordpress.com%252F2012%252F03%252Fqueen-victoria1.jpg%3Bhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.pinterest.com%252Flostempress%252Fqueen-victorias-legacy%252F%3B5217%3B7297