1872 and All That…

When the first Varsity Match was played in 1872…

The teams and their supporters would have made their way to the game by steam train, horse-drawn cab, bicycles or on foot. The first car on Britain’s roads wasn’t seen for another 23 years.
Not only were the roads less crowded but there were far fewer people to cause any jams in the first place. At 31 million, the population was half today’s level. (Mind you, the Victorians thought it pretty busy compared to the start of the 19th century when just 8 million people lived in Britain.)
Talking of Victoria, she had been on the throne for over 33 years when the Varsity Match kicked off in February 1872. (Just another 30 to go then!) The Prime Minister back then was William Gladstone although Victoria was said to despise his liberal views.
Indeed, 1870s Britain was a fairly authoritarian place in which to live. Flogging in the army was still allowed and the death penalty still in force. (Public executions had been stopped in 1868 but not because of any libertarian views. The crowds of 50,000 attending hangings were creating law and order problems in their own right!)
Even if you weren’t a criminal, life expectancy wasn’t that great. Only 25% of the population made it past their 40th birthday and a quarter of all babies died in their first year.
Not that surviving children had it easy. Despite legislation, many still worked full weeks in mines and factories, and the practice of sending them up chimneys as sweeps wasn’t outlawed for another three years.
Happily there was one major innovation on the cleaning front in 1872 – the invention of the carpet sweeper! Not that a cleaner could have seen too clearly back then. Homes were still lit by gaslight with the arrival of the electric light bulb still two years off. (The phone followed two years later.)

On the sporting front, 1872 saw the first FA Cup Final (between Wolves and Woolwich Engineers – the early name for Arsenal.) The first ever football international (between England and Scotland) was also held in this year. (One up for the RFU who staged the equivalent fixture for rugby union the year before!.) All the sportsmen involved would have fastened their uniforms or team kit with buttons, pins and ties. Just as well really – the ubiquitous zip wouldn’t be invented for another 21 years.
On the literary front, Middlemarch by George Eliot was a best-seller in 1872. (George Elliot, of course, was a pseudonym for Mary Anne Evans as women were not expected to write novels back then.) In fact, in 1872, women still had very few rights in Britain. Their possessions and money were counted as belonging to their husbands and they certainly couldn’t vote.
Voting, however, did change with the passing of the 1872 Secret Ballot Act which – for the first time - protected the confidentiality of a voter’s choice in both local and national elections. 1872 also saw the passing of a new Licensing Act which controlled pub hours, the content of beers and offences committed whilst under the influence of alcohol. It was very unpopular back then and – for one person at least – still is today…
In July this year a 23-year-old Oldham man was convicted after twice being arrested for being drunk on his electric bike. Current drink-drive laws do not cover motorised bikes such as his 15mph machine. He was therefore convicted under the original 1872 Licensing Act drawn up for people in charge of a carriage, steam-engine, horse or cow. The accused was found guilty, fined £200 and ordered to pay £185 costs.

Which reminds us…

Have a ball at this year’s Varsity Match but please remember to respect others and drink responsibly. Thank you…