19th Century | england-history

Powder Monkey, Prison Ship, and Battle Fleet by Paul Dowswell (1800-1805) - this trilogy starts out with thirteen-year-old Sam Witchall pressed into the British navy after the merchant ship he is working on is captured by a British naval vessel. Includes well-researched nautical detail including battle scenes beginning with the Battle of Copenhagen. This event is followed by Sam’s court martial for a crime that he witnessed and was framed for; his death sentence is commuted and he is transported to a convict’s life in Australia. The series culminates with Sam on board Lord Nelson’s flagship, the HMS Victory, and fighting with him defeating the French and Spanish fleet at Trafalgar. Excellent stories and very absorbing. Excellent recount of life aboard ship as well as the Battle of Trafalgar. Includes a historical afterword and schematic drawings of HMS Victory. Some graphic scenes depicting naval battle casualties. Very informative read.

Mary Anning and the Sea Dragon by Jeannine Atkins (1810)

A picture storybook set in England. Eleven-year-old Mary is out scouring the seashore for stone curiosities and shells to sell to the people from the city when she comes across some markings on a wide, flat stone. She sets to work trying to uncover and reveal what she has discovered. Her discovery turns out to be a dinosaur fossil, one of many that she uncovered during her lifetime. Based on a true story.

The Convicts by Iain Lawrence (Curse of the Jolly Stone Trilogy Book 1) (1820s)
Set in London, England. After fourteen-year-old Tom Tin watches his father being hauled off to debtors’ prison, he leaves home hoping to find a way to settle the accounts so that his father will be free. But in so doing, his life takes a drastic turn as he encounters various unsavoury characters, all of whom play a part in Tom being accused of murder. Tom is given a seven year sentence which is to be served aboard the hulk, a prison ship for boys. The horrid existence and very possible death that the hulk means for any of the four hundred boys aboard is fuel enough for Tom to want to escape. Based on historical fact.

Search of the Moon King’s Daughter by Linda Holeman (1830-1836)

Fifteen-year-old Emmaline’s mother’s hand has been badly injured in the cotton mill. The only relief her mother gets from the pain and the misery of their meager existence is the drams of opiate that they can’t afford. Out of desperation, Emmaline’s mother sells Tommy, Emmaline’s younger brother, to a master sweep. Thus Emmaline sets out for London to find and rescue her little brother from a life that very often ends in death.

Grace by Jill Paton Walsh (1838)

Set along the Northumbrian coast. A twenty-two-year old woman and her father rescue the lone survivors of a shipwreck that is the result of a storm that is raging along the coast. All of Britain hears about this heroic rescue by a woman and her father. But the public adoration is quickly drowned by the bitter accusations that she did it for the publicity and the money. Based on the true accounts of Grace Darling's remarkable deed.

The Gate in the Wall by Ellen Howard (mid-1800s)
In Victorian England, ten-year-old Emma cries in despair when she is late by one minute and locked out from her job. This consists of working for ten hours a day at the silk-spinning machines. Her pay is docked and then she may be beaten by her brother-in-law when she gets home. It isn't until she stumbles upon a gateway that leads to one of England's numerous canals, an unusual boat, and a forbidding old woman; maybe life has more promise to it for young Emma.

Street Child by Berlie Doherty (about 1866)

Based on a true story. A young boy named Jim escapes the workhouse and begins to make his way in the huge city of London. Survival doesn't come easy amidst the dangers, but Jim soon finds some friends. Then he is kidnapped and made to work for Grimy Nick. Freedom seems impossible as he is constantly under the guard of Grimy Nick's vicious dog.

Maria Escapes by Gillian Avery (1875)
Set in Victorian England. An eleven-year-old girl runs away from school and goes to live with her uncle in Oxford. She then decides that she wants to get an education to be a professor at the college. Also known as The Warden's Niece.

Black Water by Rachel Anderson (1880s) Set in Victorian England. A moving story and an eye opener about a boy who suffers from epilepsy during a time when ignorance and cruelty were answers for those that were different. Some of the story is based on the life and writings of Edward Lear.

The Tin-Lined Trunk by Mary Hamilton (1887)

Eleven-year-old Polly and her brother, Jack, are orphans who live in the slums of London where they subsist on whatever they can manage to drum up. The famous English evangelist, Dr. Barnardo, is sending both of them to Canada along with many other orphans. Polly is distressed that she and Jack will be temporarily separated and is quite sure that she will never see her brother again. Based on actual history about Home Children.

Historical Fiction of England