Living with lodgers: Household economy and social relations in working-class Victorian England [Hardcover]

For the Victorian working class, lodging in someone elses 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.GBVicky Holmes is an adjunct Assistant Professor in History at Notre Dame London, The University of Notre Dame (USA) in EnglandFor the Victorian working class, lodging in someone elses home was commonplace. Drawing on hundreds of coroners inquests reported in the Victorian press,Living with lodgerstraverses Englands domestic dwelling lodgings, providing an intimate portrayal of the lives of the inhabitants.

Living with lodgerstakes readers behind the closed doors of Victorian Englands domestic lodgings. For the Victorian working class, lodging in someone elses home was commonplace. Indeed, at no other time did the lodger occupy such a central place in the home. Yet, despite this, lodgers and the households that accommodated them have remained significantly under-researched. This is the first book-length study to tell their story.

Drawing on almost 900 coroners inquests reported in the Victorian press, alongside census enumerators books and other court records, this book delves into the day-to-day business of lodging in someone elses home. It challenges many current perceptions and myths surrounding living with lodgers in Victorian England, revealing a more complicated picture of who lodged and why. It also examines the networks and monetary arrangements that shaped the lodging exchange, and explores the daily interactions between lodgers and householders. By exploring the lines drawn and crossed in the householder-lodger relationship, this book reshapes our understanding of household dynamics in the Victorian lÃF