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Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

Buckingham Palace, 15 Oct 1874 – Merano, 6 Feb 1899

8 facts3 sources

Facts and their sources

A life in time

  1. 15 Oct 1874

    Born in Buckingham Palace

  2. 6 Feb 1899

    Dies in Merano, aged 24

Family

See the tree

Parents

During his lifetime

He lived through 3 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like around Buckingham Palace.

General history, not a record about the family: each item says where it comes from.

The 1870s · Alfred, is born in Buckingham Palace

Who governed

In the news1870

1870 Education Act mandate school for everyone

The Education Act of 1870 mandated that school became accessible for everyone in Britain.

Music

Street Performers and Murder Ballads

Street musicians often survived by singing sensational ballads about local murders, such as the killing of Jael Denny in Essex. A popular sentimental song like Bayley's Isle of Beauty could be performed to earn a quick meal from passersby.

Italy is unified. Garibaldi, Cavour and Victor Emmanuel joined the Italian states into one kingdom, with Rome its capital from 1871.In Europe · 1859–1871

Italy is unified. Garibaldi, Cavour and Victor Emmanuel joined the Italian states into one kingdom, with Rome its capital from 1871.

Baldassare Verazzi (1819-1886) · public domain

Daily life

Winter Bed Warming and Iced Windows

With no central heating, families used warming pans filled with hot coals to heat beds during winter. It was not uncommon for ice to form on the inside of window panes on cold mornings.

In the news1879

1879 Tay Bridge collapses killing 75 passengers

In 1879, the two-mile Tay Bridge collapsed during a storm, killing 75 passengers in Britain's largest engineering disaster.

What people wore

Sunday Best as a Status Symbol

Ordinary working-class men and women maintained a Sunday best outfit, often a three-piece suit for men, to symbolize respectability and celebrate the weekly day of rest.

Getting around

Faster and cheaper travel by rail

A journey from London to Liverpool by coach once took twenty-two hours and cost £4 inside, whereas by the mid-nineteenth century, the same journey by train could be completed in just six hours for £2 5s.