Category: Daily Life in the Past

By Tim Lambert Until the year 1752, in England, New Year’s Day was, legally on 25 March, which was the Feast of the Annunciation when an angel told Mary the mother of Jesus that she was pregnant and would have a son. (It was also called Lady Day). However long before the legal change, most… Continue reading A Brief History of New Year’s Day

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 Sport In The Ancient World Egyptian Sport People have always played sports. In Ancient Egypt, people went swimming. They also enjoyed boxing, wrestling, and archery. They also played a game that involved standing on a boat and trying to knock the opposing team into the water with a stick. The Olympic Games… Continue reading A Brief History of Sport

By Tim Lambert Early Tea According to legend tea was first discovered in 2737 BC by a Chinese emperor called Shen Nung when some leaves blew into hot water. In reality, tea drinking was discovered much later in history (we are not sure exactly when) and we don’t know who discovered it. From China tea… Continue reading A Brief History of Tea

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