Skip to content
VitrineRoyal Houses of Europe
Sign in

Prince Robert, Duke of Chartres

1840–1910

Born
9 Nov 1840, Paris
Country of birth
France
Died
5 Dec 1910, Saint-Firmin
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 · Paris

    Birth, Paris

  2. Child born: Princess Marie, Princess Valdemar of Denmark

    Birth, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames

  3. Child born: Prince Robert d'Orléans

    Birth

  4. Child born: Prince Henri d'Orléans

    Birth, Ham

  5. Child born: Princess Marguerite of Orléans

    Birth, Richmond

  6. Child born: Prince Jean d’Orléans

    Birth, 8th arrondissement of Paris

  7. Died · Saint-Firmin

    Death, Saint-Firmin

What was it like?

The world around Paris, 1840: 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.

Prince was born the same year as Émile Zola, Claude Monet, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

Born the same year

  • Émile Zola

    French novelist, journalist, playwright, and poet (1840–1902)

  • Claude Monet

    French painter (1840–1926)

  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Russian composer (1840–1893)

  • Franco Faccio

    Italian composer and conductor (1840-1891)

  • Giulio Ricordi

    Italian musician (1840-1912)

  • Auguste Rodin

    French sculptor (1840–1917)

Fashion

Formal dress for life events

For church services, weddings, and funerals, ordinary people wore their best clothes, with women covering their heads and both sexes wearing formal black attire for mourning.

Working class clothing and footwear

In the early nineteenth century, industrial workers typically wore plain working clothes, often paired with wooden-soled clogs, while many urban poor wore rags.

Music

Violin music at village festivals

The violin was a vital instrument for rural dances and village festivals, though local authorities sometimes tried to ban its use due to the disorder caused at these gatherings.

Around 1830–1839

Parisian street musicians and singers

In the early 1830s, Paris had 106 barrel organ players and 135 singers who performed in the streets as a form of everyday public entertainment.

Getting around

Rise of railway travel speed

In 1848, trains could cover 30 km per hour, twice the average speed of a stagecoach, which traveled about 15 km per hour. Early railway passengers often needed to bring portable candlesticks to read because lighting was deficient.

Travel durations and costs in France

A journey from Paris to Rouen by carriage took 18 hours, while traveling to Barèges required 11 days. During the era of stagecoaches, a dinner at a good inn typically cost two francs.

Daily life

Cramped and dark living conditions

Ordinary urban homes were often cramped and poorly ventilated, with many workers living in simple apartments of one or two rooms, while some lived in communal boarding houses where rooms were shared dormitory-style. Interior spaces were frequently dark and smoky, as homes relied on open hearths for both heating and cooking, and floors were often made of packed earth rather than wood.

Schooling in domestic spaces

While a royal ordinance in 1816 mandated that every commune maintain a school with free education for the poor, implementation was difficult and many children received instruction in settings that doubled as the teacher's living quarters, kitchen, or even bedroom. Teachers often managed their domestic chores, such as cooking at the fireplace, simultaneously while trying to instruct pupils in the same room.

Food
Around 1842–1842

Bread was the daily staple food

Bread made up seven-eighths of the working-class diet in Paris, while families often added stewed pears, roasted apples, or small amounts of pork or bacon in winter.

Around 1842–1842

Diluted beverages were common for families

Working families frequently drank beer mixed with water, wine, or blackcurrant juice, especially when visiting guinguettes on Sundays.

Prices and wages

Cost of bread and rent around 1830

Around 1830 in Paris, a large loaf of bread cost approximately 20 to 24 sous (1 to 1.20 francs), and a modest apartment could be rented for 60 to 150 francs per year.

Industrial worker daily wages in the 1840s

Around 1835, a silk worker in Lyon earned about 2 to 2.50 francs per day, while in the 1840s, an industrial worker in the Paris region earned an average of 3.07 francs daily.

Work

A 15-hour workday in factories

In many French manufacturing sectors, workers endured a typical workday of 15 hours, which included 13 hours of effective labor.

Daily wages in the 1830s

Common male laborers in Lille earned around 30 sous per day, while women often earned between 12 and 40 sous depending on their skill level.

News and letters

Carrier Pigeons for News Delivery

To speed up news from British newspapers in the 1830s, the Havas agency used carrier pigeons to bring information to Paris by 3:00 p.m. daily.

Around 1845–1845

Carrier pigeons delivered news to Paris

Before the telegraph arrived in France in 1845, the Havas news agency used carrier pigeons to bring British newspaper news to Paris by 3:00 p.m. daily.

During their lifetime

  1. 1848

    Abolition of slavery in 1848

    The 1848 decree abolishing slavery throughout French colonies fundamentally changed the lives of enslaved people.

  2. 1860

    Petroleum lamps replaced candles for lighting

    Starting in 1860, petroleum lamps replaced candles and tallow lights in German households, significantly improving home lighting.

  3. 1873

    Gründerkrise economic crash began

    In 1873, Germany experienced the Gründerkrise, a severe economic crisis that caused significant financial instability following a period of post-unification industrial boom.

  4. 1884

    Standardized time zones adopted globally

    In 1884, global standardized time zones were introduced, largely driven by the need to synchronize railway schedules and public life in the industrialized German Empire.

  5. 1895

    Industrial workers equaled agricultural workers

    By the mid-1890s, the number of industrial workers in the German Empire grew to match those in agriculture, marking a major demographic shift toward urbanization and factory labor.

  6. 1900

    Paris Metro opens in 1900

    The first Paris metro line opened on July 14, 1900, allowing travel across the city in half an hour for 20 to 25 centimes.

Family

Parents

Spouses

Children

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.