15 Pieces of History That Victoria Did Differently
By Lacy Baugher
Jenna Coleman as Queen Victoria (Photo: ITV)
Victoria Didn’t Pardon the Newport Chartists
Chartism was a political reform movement in Britain which existed from 1838-1857. This movement supported “The People’s Charter”, which called for six major reforms. These included giving all men over the age of 21 the right to vote, the use of a secret ballot, doing away with property qualifications to serve as an MP, payment of MPs and more. The bulk of these items aimed to allow more working class people the opportunity to serve in government.
After the House of Commons denied a Chartist petition, protests and unrest grew around the country. The Newport riot depicted on Victoria actually happened. It was the last incident of large-scale armed rebellion in Great Britain. Twenty-two people were killed and over 200 were arrested. The leaders of the rebellion were ultimately convicted of high treason, and sentenced to death. Their sentences were later commuted to “transportation”, which meant sent to Australia for the rest of our lives.
Victoria does cover all of this, but the show made an interesting, and historically inaccurate decision, to change the ending of the story a bit. The queen steps in and decides to show mercy by commuting the sentences of the guilty parties. That didn’t happen in real life. Instead, it was Lord Melbourne who personally lobbied to do so (and only after a nationwide petitioning campaign).
On the show, Victoria’s decision to intercede comes after her dressers explain the situation to the queen while helping her get ready. Mrs. Jenkins’ nephew happens to be one of the men arrested, and Victoria is moved by her anguish. (Not to mention the grisly description of the deaths the men will face.) This more sympathetic read of the queen in this instance is a bit incongruous with history. But it’s definitely more appealing in a lead character. And that’s probably what the show was most concerned with at that point in its story.