'Commemorative of the 60 years reign of Queen Victoria 1837-1897', 1897 (c)

Printed cotton handkerchief, 1897 (c).

The reign of Queen Victoria lasted for 68 years, from 1837 until 1901. At the time, women were generally thought of as the weaker sex in body and mind, subordinate to male authority. Yet as monarch, the Queen was superior to every other citizen in Britain, including her husband.

Queen Victoria's reign also saw the emergence of some remarkable women (such as Emmeline Pankhurst, the suffragette) into public life and the expansion of women's roles in relation to the Army.

While the Victorian era saw the first occasion on which women were officially employed by the War Office (during the Crimean War, 1854-1856), by the end of Victoria's reign there was as yet no sign of expanding their role beyond nursing.