By Tim Lambert English Society in the 17th Century During the 17th century, the population of England and Wales grew steadily. It was about 4 million in 1600, and it grew to about 5 1/2 million by 1700. During the 17th century, England became steadily richer. Trade and commerce grew and grew. By the late… Continue reading Life in the 17th Century
Category: Daily Life in the Past
Life in the 1950s
By Tim Lambert Britain Becomes an Affluent Society The 1950s were a period of prosperity for Britain. There was full employment. At the beginning of the decade many items were still rationed. However rationing was gradually removed. Sweet rationing ended in 1953 and meat rationing followed in 1954. For the first time Britain became an… Continue reading Life in the 1950s
Life in the 1970s
By Tim Lambert There were two sides to the 1970s. On one hand, by 1973 a long period of economic prosperity was coming to an end. By the spring of 1975 unemployment had climbed to 1 million. It was over 5% of the workforce. By 1977 it had risen to 5.5% and in 1979 it… Continue reading Life in the 1970s
Life in the 1980s
By Tim Lambert There were two sides to life in Britain in the 1980s. On the one hand, there was a severe recession in the years 1980-1982 and there was mass unemployment during the decade. The official unemployment rate stood at 5.3% in May 1979. It rose to 14.1% in 1986 then fell to 5.6%… Continue reading Life in the 1980s
Life in the 19th Century
By Tim Lambert Society in the 19th Century During the 19th century, life was transformed by the Industrial Revolution. At first, it caused many problems but in the late 19th century life became more comfortable for ordinary people. Meanwhile, Britain became the world’s first urban society. By 1851 more than half the population lived in… Continue reading Life in the 19th Century
Life in the 20th Century
By Tim Lambert There were two sides to the 20th century. On the one hand, there were severe recessions in the early 1930s and in the 1980s and 1990s. There were also two terrible world wars. On the other hand, there was a vast improvement in the standard of living of ordinary people. Life expectancy… Continue reading Life in the 20th Century
Life in the 21st Century
By Tim Lambert British Society in the 21st Century In the 21st century, people in Britain enjoyed a higher standard of living than ever before in history. In 1998, only 27% of the population had a mobile phone. By 2025, 93% of the population did. In 2023, 25% of households in Britain had a dishwasher.… Continue reading Life in the 21st Century
Life in the Middle Ages
By Tim Lambert Society In The Middle Ages Under the feudal system, introduced by the Normans, society was like a pyramid. At the top of the pyramid was the king. Below him were the barons or tenants-in-chief. The king granted them land and in return, they had to provide so many soldiers to fight for… Continue reading Life in the Middle Ages
Life in the Old Testament
By Tim Lambert The Israelites were monotheists. They worshiped only one God. One of the 12 tribes of Israel, the Levites, were priests. Since they did not own land the other tribes gave the Levites one-tenth of their crops and domestic animals. Furthermore, 48 towns in Israel were set aside for the Levites. In return,… Continue reading Life in the Old Testament
Life in Viking Times
By Tim Lambert Viking Society Upper-class Vikings were called Jarls (from which we derive our word, Earl). Below them was a class of farmers and craftsmen called Karls. At the bottom of the heap was a class of slaves called thralls. Slavery was common in the world at that time. It was accepted as an… Continue reading Life in Viking Times