Death was an everyday part of life in 19th-century Britain – and the Victorians were fascinated by it, developing a wealth of customs and rules about how people should bury their dead and how they should grieve. Many of these – from hair jewellery to deathbed photography – seem strange to modern eyes, but they sprang from a deep desire to pay respect to the deceased. Speaking to Rebecca Franks, Judith Flanders takes us on a moving journey from the sickbed to the cemetery.
(Ad) Judith Flanders is the author of Rites of Passage: Death and Mourning in Victorian Britain (Picador, 2024). Buy it now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rites-Passage-Mourning-Victorian-Britain/dp/1509816976/?tag=bbchistory045-21&ascsubtag=historyextra-social-histboty
The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Caesar | 3. Master of his fate
Caesar | 2. Was this ambition?
Caesar | 6. The evil that men do
Caesar | 1. Beware the Ides of March
Caesar | 5. The dogs of war
Caesar | 4. Honourable men
Netflix's The Crown: history and storytelling
Boston Tea Party: Igniting a revolution | Trailer
Boston Tea Party | 1. Tea and taxes
Georgian grand houses: the forgotten women who built them
Introducing Life of the Week
Life of the Week: Mansa Musa
Caesar: Death of a Dictator | Trailer
Victoria's armpit and 'giant' bones: body parts that changed history
The American Gilded Age: everything you wanted to know
Books and war: from James Bond to leaflet bombing
Shakespeare: Past Master | 4. Hamlet
Medieval manners: social etiquette in the Middle Ages
Marshal Pétain: Vichy France in the dock
1950s Britain: everything you wanted to know
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Dan Snow’s History Hit
Gone Medieval
History Unplugged Podcast
Not Just the Tudors
History Daily