I'm a Finn and the default Dresdenverse does not feel really familiar in the same way it does for an American.

Me too! I have the same problem with other games, like Vampire and World of Darkness in general. It's not the first time I use London for my campaigns, but this time I'd prefer to set my adventure in one of the most fascinating period of London's history, with an addition of steampunk tachnology (just a little bit). I think Dresden Files allows a similar experiment, 'cause it's more "fantasy" than other "urban" games.

You might want to use the old form of Hexing (milk spoils, etc) if you're setting the game in the past.

I'm thinking about other form of hexing, like "old" ones. As an alternative I'll use a sort of "steampunk technology hexing".

I expect that the world's balance of power be heavily weighted against mortals in the Victorian Age.

I'd like to permit one additional refresh point to mortals character during creation. What do you think about this "solution"?