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Arthur von Eppinghoven

1852–1940

Born
25 Sep 1852, Laeken
Country of birth
Belgium
Died
9 Nov 1940, Etterbeek
facts
7
sources
1
images and files
0

Facts and their sources

Tap a fact to see where it comes from.

A life in time

  1. Born · Laeken

    Birth, Laeken

  2. Died · Etterbeek

    Death, Etterbeek

What was it like?

The world around Laeken, 1852: who ruled, who else was alive, how people lived. This is general history, not a record about the family, and every item shows where it comes from.

Arthur was born the same year as Francisco Tárrega, Alice Liddell, and Henrique Oswald.

Born the same year

  • Francisco Tárrega

    Spanish composer and classical guitarist (1852-1909)

  • Alice Liddell

    English woman, basis of the character in "Alice in Wonderland" (1852–1934)

  • Henrique Oswald

    Brazilian composer (1852–1931)

  • Daniel Burley Woolfall

    President of FIFA from 1906 to 1918

  • Antoni Gaudí

    Catalan architect (1852–1926)

  • Antoine Henri Becquerel

    French physicist (1852–1908)

Fashion
Around 1825–1849

The blue sarrau work blouse

Ordinary working-class and agricultural men commonly wore a sarrau, a loose, knee-length blue blouse made of linen or hemp, often over other garments. It served as a protective outer layer, sometimes worn with a black cotton cap and a red scarf with white polka dots.

Around 1825–1849

Women's festive and daily dress

Women typically wore a solid-colored bodice, a long skirt made of thick cotton, and a white cotton petticoat with lace. For feast days and Sundays, they enhanced this ensemble with a black silk apron and black or brown buttoned boots.

Music
Around 1850–1850

Fashionable dance: The Troïka

Around 1850, a dance figure known as the Troïka—a type of Schottische—became very fashionable, involving dancers performing polka steps in large circles.

Explosion of brass bands in Belgium

Between 1830 and 1860, brass bands (harmonies and fanfares) spread rapidly in villages, and a true explosion in their numbers occurred between 1860 and 1880, with 1,203 wind bands recorded by 1880.

Getting around
Around 1845–1845

Local transport from train stations

Upon arriving at a railway station, travelers could hire an omnibus or a one-horse carriage known as a vigilante to reach their final destination. An omnibus with 14 to 20 seats cost 50 centimes, though it was often slower than walking due to frequent stops at inns.

A Long Journey to the Coast

To travel from Brussels to Ostend, one had to take a stagecoach to Ghent in the middle of the night, ride a canal boat to Bruges, and transfer to another canal boat to reach Ostend by evening.

Daily life

Children ruling the household for a day

On the children's festival day, Allerkinderendag, children were permitted to rule the household, tease servants, and even tell the cook what to prepare for dinner. They could also wear their parents' clothes and walk from door to door.

Crowded worker housing near Brussels

In some workers' homes near Brussels, a family of nine lived and slept in a small room barely larger than the space occupied by their two looms. They kept their food and live rabbits in a tiny adjacent space, where the family also slept on a mattress suspended above a loom.

Food

Bread Spending Gap Between Classes

While laboring families spent roughly 30 percent of their total income on bread, wealthy families spent less than 2 percent.

Cheap Mussels for the Poor

In the 1800s, mussels were a very affordable food for the poor, costing as little as two and a half centimes for a hundred.

Prices and wages
Around 1846–1846

Cost of bread for workers

In 1846, the price of a kilogram of household bread in Brussels was 37 centimes, which consumed roughly one-quarter of a typical worker's daily income.

Around 1846–1846

Meat prices in 1846

In 1846, beef cost 0.94 francs per kilogram and pork cost 1.06 francs per kilogram.

Work

Child labor and changing industrial trades

Children as young as 6 to 8 years old worked underground in mines to transport coal through narrow passages, while in villages like Vottem, metal workers transitioned from making iron forks to gun making for better pay. A skilled fork maker might earn 7 to 8 francs a week, while industrial workers could earn 3 to 5 francs per day.

Grueling hours and the truck system

Workers, including young children, typically endured 12 to 14-hour workdays in factories and mines to supplement meager family incomes. Parents were often held captive by the truck system, where wages were partially paid in vouchers valid only at employer-owned shops.

News and letters
Around 1851–1851

Cost of telegrams by distance

In 1851, sending a 20-word telegram cost 2.50 francs for distances up to 75 kilometers, 5 francs for 200 kilometers, and 7.50 francs for greater distances.

Around 1840–1849

Trains used for mail delivery

Belgium was the first country on the continent to use trains for mail delivery, beginning with a trial route between Brussels and Antwerp in 1840.

During their lifetime

  1. 1866

    Cholera epidemic in major cities

    A severe cholera pandemic struck Belgian cities including Brussels, Ghent, and Antwerp in 1866.

  2. 1869

    Cheap worker train tickets introduced

    Belgian railways began offering cheap season tickets for workers in 1869, making commuting more accessible.

  3. 1879

    Arrival of the telephone

    The telephone arrived in Belgium between 1879 and 1883, transforming communication in the Belle Epoque.

  4. 1894

    Universal male suffrage adopted

    Belgium adopted universal male suffrage in 1894, although with a plural voting system based on wealth or education.

  5. 1899

    Proportional representation law passed

    A law introducing proportional representation for elections was passed in Belgium in 1899.

  6. 1900

    First old-age pension law passed

    In 1900, the first law on old-age pensions was approved in Belgium.

Family

Parents

Ancestors and children

Open the full tree

Four generations back to the right, the children to the left. The number beside a child counts the generations of descendants known after them.