The Rise of the Victorian Middle Class

Page 3 of 5

• 1. The middling sort
• 2. Rise to power
• 3. Self reliance
• 4. Insular privilege
• 5. Find out more
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Self reliance

In practice however, most middle-class Victorians acknowledged that the environment had an influence on men's behaviour. In fact, the rise of the middle-classes in the Victorian period has as much to do with this recognition as the promotion of political economy. Improvement was a key part of middle-class culture. The persistence of poverty and the tendency of the working classes not to emulate middle-class behaviour provided the impetus for a host of reform movements. The Victorian middle-class defined their own values in these attempts to make the poor 'see' their own interests. Policy proposals and reform strategies promoted middle-class values and helped to cement middle-class leadership and authority.

'Improvement was a key part of middle-class culture.'

Education reform, factory reform and the New Poor Law emphasised progress and civility through work, thrift and rationality. But, perhaps more significantly, local voluntary societies such as Mechanics Institutes and temperance societies promoted improvement cross class communication and rational recreation. Personal narratives of success were an important part of this culture. Records of achievement were popularised and promoted in books like Self Help as examples of how all individuals could and should improve.

Individualised narratives of great men building fortunes from nothing became a staple part of Victorian middle-class culture. However, they need to be read with a certain scepticism. A close reading of these stories often reveals that personal contacts and supportive connections were important in establishing a business or in gaining entry to a profession. Having access to networks of support in the Manchester business community was central to the success of the engineer and industrialist James Nasymth. Nasmyth gained legal advise, credit and customers through a network of professionals and businessmen in the area. Like many successful Victorian businessmen, Nasmyth was introduced to these networks through his family relations and family friends.

Despite the expansion of the economy and the growth of towns and cities, reputation and personal contact remained significant factors in business arrangements and recruitment in the Victorian period. The working class could and did enter the ranks of the lower middle-class through small capital accumulation and the ownership of a small business but such concerns were often in a very precarious market position. Booth's inquiries into London in the late nineteenth century show the fragility of small businesses. They often yielded modest incomes for hard work. With little access to credit, they were not well equipped to withstand competition or slack periods of trade. The white-collar salaried professions, such as public administration and banking, did however, provide the potential for mobility.

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Published: 2001-08-01