Comments on: Forty winks at Ham House

By: Emile de Bruijn

Emile de Bruijn — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 07:34:42 +0000

Yes it is difficult to imagine living like that. Interestingly, though, in seventeenth-century Ham House there would have been a similar lack of privacy, with servants sleeping in their masters’ bedrooms and so on. When people talked about their ‘household’ that meant the servants as well as the family (and of course that meaning survives today in the term ‘Royal Household’, i.e. the body of people working for the British royal family).

By: artandarchitecturemainly

artandarchitecturemainly — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 00:55:27 +0000

That is absolutely true… we assume that basic domestic patterns never change. However clearly every thing changes over the centuries and between the social classes as well. My Edwardian grandmother lived with her mother, father, uncle and the 10 children in a 3 bedroom home in the East End. I don’t think bed-sharing was an issue they faced in Ham House.

By: Emile de Bruijn

Emile de Bruijn — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 14:32:23 +0000

Indeed, our toddler son is now past that phase, which I am extremely thankful for! The amazing thing is that people then seem to have done it voluntarily. Was it some kind of Puritan penance-through-sleep-deprivation? Dr Handley will probably be able to explain all.

By: Christopher Storb

Christopher Storb — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 14:23:54 +0000

You just need to have a newborn to understand we’re still doing midnight chores, though we don’t always get to go to bed again till morning.

By: Emile de Bruijn

Emile de Bruijn — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 13:56:22 +0000

Yes I read somewhere that people in seventeenth-century England used to regularly get up in the middle of the night, do some chores or something recreational, and then go to bed again until morning – a pattern that you would think would make you feel exhausted.

By: Parnassus

Parnassus — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 13:06:57 +0000

This sounds fascinating. We often assume that basic domestic patterns never change, but a tour like this will probably reveal some real surprises. It also provides a new focus, in addition to “best parlor”, for looking at houses.