Overview

For the Victorian working class, lodging in someone else's home was commonplace. Yet, despite their prevalence, lodgers and their householders have received little scholarly attention. Drawing on hundreds of coroners' inquests reported in the Victorian press, Living with lodgers traverses many domestic dwelling lodgings in England at this time, providing an extraordinary, intimate portrayal of the lives of the inhabitants therein.

Full Product Details

9781526170286

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Reviews

'This work successfully documents lodging arrangements in domestic dwellings, from circumstances that initiated lodgings to the social and economic circumstances that ended the lodging arrangements. By drawing on census reports as well as court records and coroners' inquests, Holmes (Notre Dame London, UK) challenges the myths that have developed around both the lodgers and the householders who rented out the rooms. In doing so, the book sheds light on the household dynamics of Victorian working-class homes. In particular, the work reveals many of the financial circumstances that destabilized working-class families and provides a more complicated understanding of working-class homes as offered by those who observed these households, as well as by those individuals who lodged and those who took in lodgers.' - R. J. Bates, Berea College, CHOICE Recommended. -- .

'By drawing on census reports as well as court records and coroners' inquests, Holmes challenges the myths that have developed around both the lodgers and the householders who rented out the rooms. (…)The work reveals many of the financial circumstances that destabilized working-class families and provides a more complicated understanding of working-class homes.’ — R. J. Bates, Berea College, CHOICE Recommended ‘Lodging in private houses played an important role both in accommodating the Victorian working class and in supplementing hosts’ household income. Vicky Holmes’ account of the issues and relationships it created is original, intimate and lively. It is invaluable for anyone interested in nineteenth-century social history.’ —Gillian Williamson, Author of Lodgers, Landlords, and Landladies in Georgian London ‘Vicky Holmes’s new book is an illuminating look into the lives of lodgers and householders between 1840 and 1900… This well-written and worthwhile book will be of interest to historians of material culture, gender, domesticity, and the working class.’ —Susie Steinbach, Hamline University -- .

Author Information

Vicky Holmes is an adjunct assistant Professor in History at the Notre Dame London, The University of Notre Dame (USA) in England.

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