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Laura Skublics

1826–1865

Born
8 Jul 1826, Zalabesenyő
Country of birth
Hungary
Died
18 Oct 1865, Vienna
facts
8
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 · Zalabesenyő

    Birth, Zalabesenyő

  2. Died · Vienna

    Death, Vienna

What was it like?

The world around Zalabesenyő, 1826: 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.

Laura was born around the same time as Jules Verne, Henrik Ibsen, and Henry Dunant.

Born around the same time

  • Jules Verne

    1828 · French writer (1828–1905)

  • Henrik Ibsen

    1828 · Norwegian playwright and theatre director (1828–1906)

  • Henry Dunant

    1828 · Swiss businessman and co-founder of the Red Cross (1828-1910)

  • Dante Gabriel Rossetti

    1828 · English poet, illustrator, painter, and translator (1828-1882)

  • Hippolyte Taine

    1828 · French literary critic and historian (1828-1893)

  • Nikolay Chernyshevsky

    1828 · Russian writer and nihilist philosopher (1828–1889)

Fashion

Festive Boots versus Daily Sandals

Red boots were a popular festive footwear for girls and young women, while men typically wore simpler laced sandals (bocskor) for daily farm work.

Peasant Men's Linen Clothing and Skins

In the mid-19th century, Hungarian peasant men often wore wide, loose linen trousers and short shirts, sometimes so brief that their skin was visible, paired with sheepskin vests or cloaks in winter.

Music

Automatic Music in Bourgeois Homes

In bourgeois homes, automatic musical clocks and pictures were popular, playing waltzes, polkas, and Hungarian verbunkos melodies. These mechanisms were often decorated with idyllic scenes and reflected the musical tastes of the period.

Diverse Methods of Musical Performance

Where musical instruments were unavailable, rural Romani musicians sometimes performed a capella using a unique, improvised technique called oral bassing, which involved rhythmic grunts and drumming on boards or cans. In contrast, among the nobility and educated bourgeoisie, household music-making was common, with children often learning to play violin, flute, or keyboard instruments.

Getting around
Around 1824–1824

Postal coach travel between towns

The postal coach, or diligence, was the main way to travel between towns, with a trip between Buda and Vienna taking 24 to 30 hours.

Difficult road conditions for wagons

Road conditions were often so poor that heavy wagons could sometimes travel only about 15 kilometers in a single day during bad weather. The lack of paved roads in the Great Plain meant routes could become impassable mud during autumn and spring.

Daily life
Around 1828–1828

First nursery school established in 1828

In 1828, the first Hungarian nursery school was opened, where children aged 1.5 to 7 years were taught for a daily fee of 1 krajcár. The curriculum included singing, prayer, and basic skills like counting using fingers or an abacus, as well as drawing geometric shapes.

Hardship in soot-covered peasant homes

Many peasant families lived in soot-covered houses without chimneys, where mothers frequently struggled to manage household chores and cooking in a dark, smoke-filled environment. Life was characterized by extreme hardship, with frequent starvation and high infant mortality from diseases like smallpox and pneumonia.

Food

Homemade fruit brandy distillation

Common people frequently distilled their own fruit brandies, particularly plum and apricot, in their peasant homes despite strict government prohibitions.

Homemade vinegar production

To create a pleasant tart flavor in various dishes, households fermented chopped or grated apples with water to produce their own homemade apple vinegar.

Prices and wages
Around 1827–1849

Stagnant Living Standards in the Habsburg Empire

In the Habsburg Empire, including Hungary, living standards for ordinary people remained stagnant throughout the monarchy prior to the 1850s.

Work

Common jobs of the agrarian population

Common occupations included agricultural labourers on large estates, seasonal workers who contracted for months at a time, and various service roles like field guards or carriers. Casual day labourers also performed a wide variety of tasks but faced the most uncertain employment.

Long hours of the working day

Agricultural work typically lasted from sunrise to sunset, often exceeding 16 hours daily in summer, with only short breaks for meals. Workers often returned home as late as 8 PM, leaving little time for their own household needs.

News and letters

Letters were folded without envelopes

Envelopes were rarely used for letters at the time because they increased the postal weight and thus the cost for the sender. Instead, letters were folded and sealed with wax or paper.

Mail coach travel between Vienna and Buda

Between 1825 and 1840, the speed and frequency of mail and passenger coaches between Vienna and Buda improved significantly, with journey times reduced to 24 hours and daily services eventually established.

During their lifetime

  1. 1831

    Cholera epidemic of 1831

    A cholera epidemic struck the area around Vienna in 1831, causing significant mortality and leading to systematic expansions of the sewage system.

  2. 1837

    First steam railway in 1837

    The first steam railway line in the empire opened in 1837, connecting Vienna to Deutsch-Wagram and marking a new era for travel.

  3. 1844

    Language Law of 1844

    The Language Law of 1844 established Magyar as the official language of the country, which embittered Slav minorities who had previously enjoyed greater autonomy.

  4. 1848

    Abolition of serfdom in 1848

    The law for the final abolition of serfdom was passed on September 7, 1848, ending a feudal system that had existed for over 1,000 years.

  5. 1848

    Revolution of 1848 in Vienna

    On March 13, 1848, revolution broke out in Vienna, resulting in the overthrow of Metternich and the granting of press freedom and a constitution.

  6. 1848

    Cholera Epidemic of 1848-1849

    A severe cholera epidemic struck Hungary during the war, causing a major demographic crisis and contributing to the demoralization of the hinterland in 1849.

Family

Parents

Spouses

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.