Friday, my favourite day...
Okay, next time I complain about my lot in life, remind me about what I found out about where one set of my ancestors lived towards the end of the 1800's:
Here is a block of Quinn's buildings built by the same man as those in Pickering Street South Islington. Very rough, very poor, very noisy. Windows broken and dirty, curtains torn, 6 children looking out of one window high up. 2 rooms let at 5/ or 5/6.
- Description of a part of Russia Lane, Bethnal Green (1898)
In the early 1880's the family I'm connected to - two parents and three children - lived on Russia Lane, probably in the poorer area. By 1891, after the mother of the family - Maria - had died, and the family of four - including my nine-year-old great-great-grandmother Louise - lived in Quinns Buildings, most likely in the absolute poverty described of the area by Charles Booth in 1898. From the 1891 census I know that they lived in two rooms. Just two rooms. And they were there until at least 1897 when the father of the family, my great-great-great-grandfather Alfred died there.
By comparison, I've re-looked at the 1901 census for a few of my ancestors who I *know* weren't well off at all around the turn of the century. And I can't find a single other family from my Suffolk, Norfolk or Hertfordshire ancestors whose family lived in less than four rooms. I just can't even begin to think how confining just four rooms must be for a family - but two rooms? It must have been horrible.
Louise, my great-great-grandmother, had moved out to Suffolk as a domestic servant by 1901, she married my great-great-grandfather and lived in Suffolk until she died. I bet by comparison, Suffolk must have been paradise, despite the fact that they were never well off!
I knew very few of my ancestors were well-off - most of my ancestors fell between 'poor' or 'very poor'. But this has really brought it home for me. I've known that some of my ancestors were so poor they received parish support because they couldn't make ends meet. I knew that my London ancestors probably weren't well off. But I didn't know quite how bad - they lived in a rough part of London that would quite probably be classed as a slum. They lived in two rooms.
Some days we REALLY don't know how lucky we have it!
Anyhow - yeah I'm having a bit of a 'genealogy day' to be quite honest, but I think I'm going to try and get my arse in gear after Jeremy Kyle and do all the jobs I need to do - like ringing the tax office and my Local Education Authority, rewrite my CV to include my waitressing experience before I send it around to a bunch of places in Aberystwyth, and get a move on with my packing! I'm being quite ruthless with clothes - if it doesn't fit and look nice, it's staying here. I'm not too upset about that, as I've got SO many lovely new clothes for this year!
Work's going good - I'm actually pretty sad I'm leaving in just over a week's time. While waitressing isn't what I want to do for the rest of my life, I do like my job and the people I work with - not to mention I'm gonna miss the disposable income. In an ideal world I'll find a waitresing job in Aberystwyth... however sadly I'm not convinced I'll manage to find a part-time job, but it's worth a try, right?
I don't have much else to say except life is good - am just trying to enjoy the rest of my time at home... but I'm getting SO excited about going back to Uni! I can't wait! :)
Here is a block of Quinn's buildings built by the same man as those in Pickering Street South Islington. Very rough, very poor, very noisy. Windows broken and dirty, curtains torn, 6 children looking out of one window high up. 2 rooms let at 5/ or 5/6.
- Description of a part of Russia Lane, Bethnal Green (1898)
In the early 1880's the family I'm connected to - two parents and three children - lived on Russia Lane, probably in the poorer area. By 1891, after the mother of the family - Maria - had died, and the family of four - including my nine-year-old great-great-grandmother Louise - lived in Quinns Buildings, most likely in the absolute poverty described of the area by Charles Booth in 1898. From the 1891 census I know that they lived in two rooms. Just two rooms. And they were there until at least 1897 when the father of the family, my great-great-great-grandfather Alfred died there.
By comparison, I've re-looked at the 1901 census for a few of my ancestors who I *know* weren't well off at all around the turn of the century. And I can't find a single other family from my Suffolk, Norfolk or Hertfordshire ancestors whose family lived in less than four rooms. I just can't even begin to think how confining just four rooms must be for a family - but two rooms? It must have been horrible.
Louise, my great-great-grandmother, had moved out to Suffolk as a domestic servant by 1901, she married my great-great-grandfather and lived in Suffolk until she died. I bet by comparison, Suffolk must have been paradise, despite the fact that they were never well off!
I knew very few of my ancestors were well-off - most of my ancestors fell between 'poor' or 'very poor'. But this has really brought it home for me. I've known that some of my ancestors were so poor they received parish support because they couldn't make ends meet. I knew that my London ancestors probably weren't well off. But I didn't know quite how bad - they lived in a rough part of London that would quite probably be classed as a slum. They lived in two rooms.
Some days we REALLY don't know how lucky we have it!
Anyhow - yeah I'm having a bit of a 'genealogy day' to be quite honest, but I think I'm going to try and get my arse in gear after Jeremy Kyle and do all the jobs I need to do - like ringing the tax office and my Local Education Authority, rewrite my CV to include my waitressing experience before I send it around to a bunch of places in Aberystwyth, and get a move on with my packing! I'm being quite ruthless with clothes - if it doesn't fit and look nice, it's staying here. I'm not too upset about that, as I've got SO many lovely new clothes for this year!
Work's going good - I'm actually pretty sad I'm leaving in just over a week's time. While waitressing isn't what I want to do for the rest of my life, I do like my job and the people I work with - not to mention I'm gonna miss the disposable income. In an ideal world I'll find a waitresing job in Aberystwyth... however sadly I'm not convinced I'll manage to find a part-time job, but it's worth a try, right?
I don't have much else to say except life is good - am just trying to enjoy the rest of my time at home... but I'm getting SO excited about going back to Uni! I can't wait! :)