Our resident History Buff (or history pedant as he calls himself), Andy Kelly, is here to help you swot up!

For our Zoom murder mystery Sherlock in Homes, we've been looking into the historical world that the great detective lived in, specifically the 1890s.

It's a fascinating time when new technologies and ideas are rapidly transforming every part of the world. Britannia rules the waves, women are organising to demand the vote, art is becoming shocking and 'modern', and the young folk are causing mayhem riding around on bicycles.

To help you get into spirit of the times, and prepare you to don your deerstalker and get sleuthing, we've put together some research to lift the lid on the riotous decade known as the Gay Nineties.

In the News

Jack the Ripper murders - In 1888 at least five women are brutally murdered in Whitechapel, and despite multiple investigations, the killer is never identified. It's one of the first high profile serial killer cases. Increasing literacy rates mean that there is now a mass market for cheap, sensationalist journalism that goes into all the gory details.
Trial of Oscar Wilde - In 1895 the celebrated author and playwright is put on trial for 'gross indecency' for his love affair with a male aristocrat. Public opinion is shocked, and Wilde is sentenced to two year's hard labour in Reading Gaol. His career, and life, are ruined.
Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee 1897 marks sixty years of Victoria's reign. Fetes and processions are held across the country, and Victoria parades through London. Patriotism gets a boost and commemorative coins and mugs are manufactured.
Anarchist bombs - All over Europe, monarchs and members of governments are being blown up by anarchist terrorists who seek to spark a revolution one assassination at a time.

Hard Times

Average life expectancy is around 45, but this figure is lowered by a high infant mortality rate. More than 1 in 10 children die before their first birthday, higher than that in urban areas. However, those who survive childhood often live into their sixties and seventies.
In the cities, diseases associated with malnutrition and unsanitary conditons are common – rickets, scurvy, diptheria, cholera, typhoid, whooping cough, scabies, lice...
That said, most people work long hours at physically demanding jobs mean that they suffer less from degenerative or cardiovascular diseases. Much lower rates of cancer, heart disease and dementia than today.
Investigations into the conditions of the urban poor are starting to shed light on these problems as never before, and there is a public outcry to improve public health.
Socialist and trade union movements are campaigning for such radical ideas as higher pay, healthier and safer working conditions, and the weekend.

Getting around

Steam engines are the dominant source of machine power. A national network of steam trains connects all major towns and cities, and even local services from suburbs to town centres have been built.
The London Underground is developing. A lot of what is now the Bakerloo and Circle lines have been built, still using steam engines until the early 20th century.
Roads are bustling places filled with horse-drawn carriages and carts. Automobiles are expensive and still rare. This is the time in history when you might see someone walking in front of a car waving a red flag to warn people to get out of the way.
Modern bicycles (as opposed to the iconic but dangerous penny-farthings) are all the rage. The recent invention of the pneumatic tyre by John Dunlop means that bikes are now an affordable way to go very fast. They become incredibly popular in cities, especially with young people who see in them a freedom of movement never know before. Arthur Conan Doyle himself was a fan, and once advised 'When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking.'
Iron steam ships are sailing the oceans at unprecedented speeds. Liverpool to New York in six days.
The cheap and speedy postal service is the most common way to communicate over long-distance. Telegrams are also popular, but more expensive, costing about sixpence a message

The God Damned Patriarchy

The Married Women's Property Act of 1882 meant that married women could own property in their own right for the first time, and did not have to give men their property upon marrying.
Education – women are able to obtain degrees and doctorates in some UK universities.
Middle-class employment – there is nothing legally stopping women being doctors, scientists, lawyers or business owners. But it was still very rare, and women are still generally expected to be housewives and mothers. A common occupation for unmarried women is teaching, but they are usually expected to stop working when they marry. Women are openly paid less than men.
Working-class employment - Women do still work in factories, but at legally restricted hours. They work in shops, and increasingly as typists in offices. They are paid far less than men.
Women's suffrage campaigns are gaining momentum across the Western world- New Zealand will be the first country to give women the vote in 1900. In the UK and the USA, there is a divide between a more peaceful suffragist movement that seeks to gain support through rational argument and lobbying, and a more radical activist movement that engages in civil disobedience, arson, and assaulting police officers. The British tabloids give them the derogatory nickname 'suffragettes'.

Popular Culture

Music Halls are very popular, providing variety acts of popular songs, comedy routines and magic, as well as excerpts from serious dramas and opera.
Penny Dreadfuls are cheap, illustrated magazines aimed at a mass readership, pushing lurid stories of crime and scandal. The forerunner of 20th century comics and 'true crime' fiction.
Ragtime music originates in America and becomes popular in the UK. Marching bands are also very popular, and the hit songs of the day are played in the streets and pubs on accordions, banjos and barrel organs.

Gramophones have been invented, but there is not yet a mass market for recorded music. Many homes have a piano, however, and there is a booming market for sheet music of the latest songs. The centre of the blossoming music industry is in New York's Tin Pan Alley, so-called because of the racket made by dozens of pianos thumping out new tunes night and day.

Arty Stuff

Modern art is developing in Europe, especially in Paris – post-impressionism, (Van Gogh) expressionism (Munch), art nouveau (Gaudi)
Contemporary composers include Tchaikovsky, Debussy, Satie, Elgar, Dvorak, Sibelius
British contemporary authors include Oscar Wilde, Arthur Conan Doyle, George Eliot, Thomas Hardy, HG Wells, Rudyard Kipling, Joseph Conrad, Bram Stoker
Film is still in its infancy. Exhibitions of moving pictures are causing a sensation but there are no purpose-built cinemas or feature-length films yet.

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