General Chat

how others cope.

Having seen references to 'Victorian times' and 'Edwardian gentleman', I have to say that it is utterly meaningless to me. "They" had trouble enough getting any of our country's history into my head and I rebelled at learning anything about foreigners history. So, if you don't have royalty to measure a timeline against, what do you use? Governments or Presidents don't last long enough (or too long!) to be of use.
I tend to refer to 'the early 1800s' etc.
As an aside, Queen Anne furniture - to me Queen Anne were a brand of boxed chocolates!
B

I changed schools quite a bit, and the curriculum was different in each school, so I never learnt which order the Kings & Queens came in.
However, I do know that my gran (b 1904) was born in Edwardian times, as Victoria died in 1901, so gran's parents live in the Victorian age. Before that, I'm stumped.

So, as a rule, I, like you use 'the early 1800's' reference too :-D :-D :-D

It comes close to home at times ..................

My mother was born in 1903, and my Dad in 1904.

Their parents were of the Victorian era ............. and my maternal grandmother certainly behaved as such!

We lived for the first 11 years of my life in a house that my parents bought in 1928 ........... no indoor toilet or bath. It was probably built around the 1880s or 1890s as housing for the cotton mill workers.

We moved in the early 1950s to an even older house, still in the town, built of stone with great thick walls and a brick extension built on at the back with a kitchen on the ground floor and a bathroom and box room above. Until that was built, all cooking would have been done on the fire in the huge fireplace in the living/dining room, and the toilet was in the back yard.

My grandmother still did her cooking in the huge black leaded fire place with oven until she died in 1954. The only other cooking aid she had was a 1 ring gas burner for a kettle. She also insisted on keeping the gas lights in the bedroom.

We lived in a quite large town, but these houses were all Victorian.

The first house is still standing .......... I didn't have the nerve to go knock on the door in 2001 when we were in that neighbourhood visiting an aged aunt. I would have loved to know if they had indoor plumbing :-D

The second house was demolished in a massive redevelopment scheme back around 1971/2


I presume all the "colonies" learnt the "English" history, after all the Brits were the colonisers bringing the savages to God and "white man's life".

At least, that's what happened here!

Countries such as France, Germany, the Scandinavian countries, etc all have their own history that they have to learn!

It's fascinating to go to Switzerland, Austria, etc and walk down streets lined with houses built in the 14th and 15th centuries and still lived in! For example, in Basle.


Is that what you meant???

Sylvia - that's so 'human'!! :-D
My mum born in 1930 grew up in a 2 up 2 down - upstairs lived a family of 7, mum (5 in all) lived downstairs - and they shared the scullery. Loo was in the yard out the back.

I (born 1956) was brought up in caravans, with the loo being a bucket in the shed.

My brother lives in what was the butler's house. linked to a big house (now a hotel) down the road. The outside (flushlng) loo is still in place - as is the pig sty!

Hi MW & SinC,

Yes, we colonials were supposed to learn more about the old country, than the new. Many did but I concentrated on the useful things like the 3rs. I heard enough about England from my mother who was born there. Her memories were most probably not first hand as she left when she was nearly 4 years old.
Maybe in Europe there is a sense of history with building etc hundreds of years old. Here old means 150 years. I can remember half of it - ha ha.
B

Just enter "BBC horrible histories" into google and you'll be up to speed in no time.

George 1 of Hanover became King of England in 1714 so very roughly Sharron has mislaid the C18.

How to remember the K's and Q's of England:
Willy, Willy, Harry, Steve,
Harry, Dick, John, Harry3
Edward 1 2 3, Dick2
Henry 4 5 6 then who?
Edward 4 5, Dick the Bad
Harrys twain then Ned the Lad
Mary, Lizzie, James the Vain
Charlie, Charlie, James again.
William and Mary, Anne, O'Gloria
Four Georges, William and Victoria.
Edward 7, and George 5
Edward, George and Liz alive.

collecting births certs from my ancestors, it seems that most were born at different addresses,

considering that they were horse traders, carmen, and the like, it offers the suspicion that they often did the proverbial "moonlight" flit

Well bob, that tells me who but not when. Which 'arry was on is orse with is awk on is and with a harrow in is heye? 1066?
Bob2 - you're lucky they didn't trade in police boxes - Tardis - like some of mine!
B