Category: Daily Life in the Past

By Tim Lambert Poverty in the Middle Ages Not much was written about poverty in the Middle Ages. The poor were not considered important. Much more was written about the rich and powerful. However, in the Middle Ages, poverty was common. England was basically a subsistence economy where each village made most of the things… Continue reading A Brief History of Poverty

By Tim Lambert Ancient Public Health In the ancient world, public health was often surprisingly advanced. Stone Age farmers lived in a village at Skara Brae in the Orkney Islands about 3,000 BC. Some of their stone huts had drains built under them and some houses had cubicles over the drains. It’s believed they were… Continue reading A Brief History of Public Health

By Tim Lambert Rich People in Ancient Egypt Rich Egyptians lived in large, comfortable houses with many rooms. Walls were painted and floors had colored tiles. Most wealthy houses had enclosed gardens with pools. Inside their homes, rich Egyptians had wooden furniture such as beds, chairs, tables, and chests for storage. However, instead of pillows,… Continue reading A Brief History of Rich People

By Tim Lambert Early Shops In the centre of Roman towns was a rectangular space called the Forum. It was lined by shops and by a public building called the Basilica. Markets were also held on the forum. In a large Roman town, other main streets were also lined with shops. In Roman times shops… Continue reading A Brief History of Shops

By Tim Lambert Early Law Enforcement From the Middle Ages, there were local officials in England called constables who were responsible for keeping the peace. Men took it in turns to take the post for one year and it was unpaid. Also if somebody witnessed a crime he was supposed to raise the alarm and… Continue reading A Brief History of the British Police

By Tim Lambert The Family in The Ancient World Most children in Ancient Egypt did not go to school. Instead, boys learned farming or other trades from their fathers. Girls learned sewing, cooking, and other skills from their mothers. Girls from well-off families were sometimes taught at home. When a father died his sons inherited… Continue reading A Brief History of the Family

By Tim Lambert The Poor in Tudor Times In Tudor times there were thousands of people without jobs wandering around looking for work. There were also disabled beggars. Some people pretended to be mad or disabled to beg. Tudor governments tolerated people who were disabled begging. However, they did not tolerate able-bodied people without jobs… Continue reading A Brief History of the Poor Law

By Tim Lambert About 650 BC a people called the Celts migrated to Britain. Then in 43 AD, the Romans invaded. It is impossible to accurately estimate the population of Britain before the Romans came. However, the population of Roman Britain was probably about 4 million. Roman towns would seem small to us. The largest… Continue reading A Brief History of the Population of England

By Tim Lambert The Right to Vote in Britain In the 18th century, only a small minority of men in Britain could vote (only those who owned a certain amount of property). But in 1832 the government introduced a reform but the franchise was only extended to about 14% of men. The working class was… Continue reading A Brief History of the Right to Vote

By Tim Lambert Celtic and Roman Towns The Celts who lived in Britain before the Roman invasion of 43 AD could be said to have created the first towns. Celts in southern England lived in hill forts, which were quite large settlements. (Some probably had thousands of inhabitants). They were places of trade, where people… Continue reading A Brief History of Towns