THE ViCToRiANS - Royal Albert Hall

Royal Albert Hall Education
Royal Albert Hall
Kensington Gore
London
SW7 2AP
Tel: 0207 589 3203
education@royalalberthall.com
www.royalalberthall.com
Registered Charity No: 254543
Design: www.thiswayupdesign.co.uk
THE ViCToRiANS
EDUCATioNAL ACTiViTY PACK
Name: Age:
Generously supported by the Band Trust

The Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall was the idea of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s
husband. Albert was Victoria’s cousin and had moved from his home in
Germany to marry her when he was only 21 years old. Albert wanted
to create a Hall where music concerts could be performed and the
Arts and Sciences could be explored and celebrated.
Albert worked hard planning and organising The Great Exhibition to
encourage trade and progress in manufacturing techniques. Because of his
hard work, the Exhibition was very popular. The Exhibition made a profit,
which was spent developing the Art and Science institutions in South
Kensington, including the Royal Albert Hall. However, Albert died before
the Hall was opened and so Queen Victoria decided it should still be
built and named after Albert as a memorial.
Task1
Victorian Timeline
The timeline of the Hall’s history has become muddled. Can you draw a line
from each event to the correct point on the timeline provided?
862
First underground
opens in London
87
Queen Victoria opens
the Royal Albert Hall
837
Victoria becomes
Queen
90
Queen Victoria dies
876
Alexander Bell invents
the telephone
85
Great Exhibition held in the
Crystal Palace in Hyde Park
86
Prince Albert dies
1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910
870
Law passed which rules all
children between the ages of
5 – 10 must attend school

Mini Task
Mix and match
See if you can match the following pictures of the Hall with their descriptions.
Close up of the frieze
Albert’s initials on the outside
of the building!
Albert’s initials on every railing!
Close up of the pipe organ
inside the auditorium
A section of the frieze and the sky!
The frieze from afar
View from the roof
Queen Victoria
Queen Victoria is the longest reigning British monarch. She was
crowned when she was only 18 years old and was on the throne
for 64 years, from 1837-1901. Queen Victoria was dutiful and hard
working, taking her roles as Queen, mother and wife very seriously.
Because of this, she was respected by the people she ruled.
Queen Victoria had nine children and she was the first Queen
to move into Buckingham Palace. During her reign, she greatly
supported changes to improve the lives of the Poor. The Queen
and her husband, Prince Albert, also supported many charities
involved in education and public health. Queen Victoria out-lived
Albert by 40 years and survived seven assassination attempts
between 1840 and 1882.
Task 2
Key words
After reading the biographies and
looking at the pictures, which words
would you use to describe the
characters of Queen Victoria and
Prince Albert? See if you can think
of 5 words to describe each of them.
Prince Albert
At first, the Victorian public did not like Prince Albert and he was
never given a proper title or any position of political power. it wasn’t
until 17 years after he married Queen Victoria that he was named
Prince Consort. Prince Albert was a great influence on his wife and
was her personal secretary for many years. He was well educated,
had a great interest in the Arts and Sciences, and enjoyed designing
things including a Snooker table which he had built for his house.
He was a talented businessman, successfully tripling the profits of
the Royal estates. Prince Albert died after contracting Typhoid at
the age of 42, sadly before he had a chance to see the completed
Royal Albert Hall.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Queen Victoria Prince Albert
2 3

Task 3
The Victorian Times
Imagine you are a reporter for the Victorian Times newspaper and write an article describing the
events of the opening ceremony. Look at the four pictures. Think carefully about what they can tell
you about the day and use them as inspiration for your article. You can then draw one of the
pictures into the box provided.
interior of the Hall at the opening ceremony
Queen Victoria arriving at the Hall
for the opening ceremony
Poster for the opening ceremony
Exterior of the Hall at the opening ceremony
5

Billy’s story – how the Poor experienced the Hall
As well as the Lords and Ladies who attended the opening of the Royal Albert Hall, many ordinary
members of the public came to get a glimpse of Queen Victoria at the launch of the building that
honoured her late husband.
Billy is ten and comes from a very poor family. As a special treat he is being allowed a day off school
and is going with his grandfather to see the opening of a large grand concert hall – the Royal Albert Hall.
Billy has dressed in his best clothes; a pair of trousers, with patches to cover up the holes, a shabby
waistcoat and a cap. His mother has given him a packed lunch of bread and some cheese and Billy and
his grandfather are travelling on the new underground trains. When they get to the Royal Albert Hall, they
go in through one of the smaller doors and then climb up five flights of narrow stairs to get to their seats in
the Gallery, right at the top. In the Gallery there are 2,000 people who are poor like Billy and have saved
up to buy a ticket to see the opening. Tickets up in the Gallery cost £1 and 1 shilling, which is a whole
week’s wages for Billy’s dad. It is very crowded and quite smelly. However, Billy does not notice as he is
so excited to be seeing the Queen who will be entering the Queen’s box at any moment.
Task 4
Diary entry
Above is Billy’s story. He was a young boy lucky enough to come to the opening ceremony at the
Hall after his parents saved up to buy him a ticket. Read through it and then write a diary entry in
the space provided below. imagine that you are Billy. Describe how Billy is feeling when he comes
to the Hall and what sights and sounds he experiences.
Task 5
Rich vs Poor
Rich
Both
Poor
on the diagram above, record the ways in which a visit to the Royal Albert Hall would
have been similar and different for poor and rich people.
Look back at the work you did on pages 5 and 6 which records the visits of both Queen
Victoria and Billy. Use those pages and any other knowledge you have about rich and poor
Victorians to help you complete the task.
For example, you could compare the ways in which they would have travelled to the Hall,
where they would have sat, what they would have worn, who they would have met and
what would have saddened or excited them.
6 7

Victorian Clothes
For wealthy ladies to wear the fashionable dresses, they had to wear a corset
underneath to make their waists very small. Corsets were sometimes made of steel and
would squash their ribs, making it difficult to breathe. it was considered rude for ladies
to show their ankles and so they would wear very long skirts. For some of the Victorian
Age, fashionable ladies wore crinoline skirts which were huge, bellshaped
skirts worn over hoops of steel and whalebone, making it
difficult to get through doors or up narrow stairways. However, by
the time the Royal Albert Hall opened in 1871, the crinoline was
out and the ‘bustle’ was in fashion. Skirts were now swept up at the
back into a padded cushion called a ‘bustle’. Ladies could not wash
their hair very often so bonnets became an important fashion item.
A bonnet is a type of hat. Lace, ribbons and even real bird feathers
were used to decorate them.
Like modern men, Victorian men who could afford it would wear a
jacket, waistcoat and trousers, but they were not made from matching
cloth. Men would always wear a waistcoat and if they were going
somewhere in the evening, the waistcoat might be made of silk, satin
or velvet. They would also wear a cravat around the neck which was similar to the ties
worn today. Victorian men would wear long woollen underwear and sometimes they too
would wear a corset to keep their stomachs in! When they left the house, wealthy men
would always wear a top hat, gloves and would often carry a walking cane.
There were not special clothes for children; boys and girls would be dressed like their
parents and it was not easy for them to run and play wearing these sorts of clothes.
often boys would be put in dresses until they were aged four or five. When they were
at school, children would wear pinafores over their clothes to stop them getting dirty.
Task 6
Rhyming poem
Read through the text on page 8 which is all about Victorian
clothes. Write a short rhyming poem in the space below, using
four of the words written in bold.
8 9

0
Task 7
Design your own programme
imagine that you are staging an event at the Royal Albert Hall. it can be anything you like: it could
be the Hall’s first ever football match, or a concert by your favourite pop singer, or maybe your school
is doing a special performance.
Have a look at some of the programme covers for previous shows below. in the space provided,
design the cover for the show you have decided to stage at the Hall.

Task 8
The Royal Albert Hall is for sale!
imagine you are an Estate Agent and it’s your job to sell the Royal Albert Hall. Create a set of
details that will help sell the building to someone who has never been to the Royal Albert Hall.
include the following:
Strap-line:
This is the first line that any interested buyer will read. it should be a way of grabbing their attention,
making them want to read on…just like the headline in a newspaper.
Introduction:
Using the space below, make a list of the best features of the Hall and a list of words that
describes those features.
Using your list, create a paragraph that tells the buyer about the building.
Remember that you want your reader to buy the Hall, so focus on the things you think are
the most special.
Here are some examples to help you get started:
Boxes – Intimate, Cosy, Unique
Pipe Organ – Largest in the UK, Golden
Auditorium – Red, Vast, Impressive, 5,200 seats
2 3

Royal Albert Hall Quiz
1. Whose idea was it to build the Royal Albert Hall?
2. Why was it named the Royal Albert Hall?
3. On what date was the Royal Albert Hall opened?
4. How did Queen Victoria arrive at the opening ceremony?
5. Why did Queen Victoria wear black at the opening ceremony
of the Royal Albert Hall?
6. Who conducted the orchestra at the opening ceremony concert?
7. Where are the cheapest seats in the Royal Albert Hall?
8. Is the Royal Albert Hall pipe organ the largest or smallest in the UK?
9. What shape is the auditorium?
10. How many seats are there in the auditorium?
You might need to have a look back through the work you have done
in this book to help you answer some of the questions.
Answers on page 16
Word search
ACOUSTICS
GREAT EXHIBITION
ALBERT
KENSINGTON
AUDITORIUM
ORGAN
BOX
PROMS
CONCERT
ROYAL RETIRING ROOM
CORSET
STAGE
DOME
VICTORIA
GALLERY
5

6
Quiz Answers
1. Prince Albert
2. After Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert
3. 29 March 1871
4. Horse and carriage
5. in mourning for Prince Albert
6. Sir Michael Costa
7. Gallery
8. Largest
9. Elliptical or oval
10. 5,222
Acknowledgements:
Photos:
Michael Betts
Sheila Burnett
Chris Christodoulou
Marcus Ginns
In addition:
Caroline Hillyard and the children of St Jude’s Primary School, Southwark
Lara Agnew and the children of Alma Primary School, Southwark
Rev Reji Raj-Singh and the children of St James’ & St Michael’s Primary School, City of Westminster
Miranda Clarke
On behalf of the Royal Albert Hall:
Jacky Cowdrey
Matt Warburton
This pack was written and edited by:
Lorna Flynn
Ros Templeman
Rachel Farrell
These tours are generously supported by the Band Trust.