Grace Elliott

Grace Dalrymple Elliott was a Scottish courtesan, writer and spy resident in Paris during the French Revolution. She was an eyewitness to events detailed in her memoirs, Journal of my life during the French Revolution published posthumously in 1859. She was mistress, first to the future George IV, by whom she is said to have borne an illegitimate daughter, and then to the Duke of Orléans.

Dual-purpose Undergarments

Women often wore a shift (a basic undergarment) that served as both daytime underwear and sleepwear.

Popular Bedgowns as Street Wear

Bedgowns, which were lightweight front-wrapping jackets, evolved into a staple garment for British working-class street wear.

Cost of musical instruments for amateurs

While professional instruments like harpsichords were expensive, costing 35 to 50 guineas, amateur musicians could purchase violins for £2 to £3 or an oboe for less than £2.

Masked performers singing for eggs and beer

Groups known as pace-eggers would travel from house to house wearing masks and fantastic costumes, singing and dancing in exchange for rewards like eggs and strong beer.

Slow coach travel speeds in mid-18th century

Coaching became more common after 1760, but travel remained slow; in 1755, average coach speeds to London were less than five miles per hour.

Travel options depended on personal wealth

Wealthy travelers hired expensive postchaises for speed, while poorer people sometimes paid to sit on baggage in slow carts pulled by carriers.

Adjusting Rushlights Was a Child's Chore

Rushlights, made from dried reed pith dipped in fat, were a cheap source of light, though they could burn for as little as ten minutes. It was often the youngest family member's chore to manually adjust the reed in its clamp to keep the light burning.

Communal Baking for a Small Fee

In smaller communities, people often used a shared bakehouse where they paid a small fee to have their dough baked in a communal oven. Residents would carry their bread loaves to these ovens on boards resting on their shoulders.

Cheap gin for the poor

In 1751, gin was so cheap and widely consumed by the London poor that one could get drunk for a penny and dead drunk for twopence.

Sixpenny dinner for craftsmen

For an average London craftsman, a typical dinner consisted of bread, beer, and cheese or fatty bacon, often costing sixpence.

Cost of a simple dinner

In 18th-century London, a simple dinner of cold meat, bread, and a pint of porter cost 6 1/4d.

Prices for clothing items

A working woman's gown cost 6s. 6d., while a pair of stout silk-knit breeches for men cost £1 12s.

Common jobs in the period

Common occupations included agricultural labourers, who worked by the seasons, and diverse urban roles like cordwainers (shoemakers), chandlers (candle makers), and night-soil men, who removed waste at night.

Notable work facts and extremes

Some people worked unusual hours, such as a publican who began mowing at 2:00 a.m. in 1756, and children were employed from a young age for tasks like bird-scaring and stone-picking.