Charles James Stuart, Duke of Cornwall

1629–1629

Born: 13 May 1629, Palace of Placentia
Country of birth: United Kingdom
Died: 13 May 1629, Palace of Placentia

facts: 8
sources: 1
images and files: 0

Facts and their sources

Tap a fact to see where it comes from.

Birth13 May 1629, Palace of PlacentiaProbable1 source
Death13 May 1629, Palace of PlacentiaProbable1 source
Eventdied on day of birthConfirmed1 source
ParentCharles I of EnglandConfirmed1 source
ParentHenrietta Maria of FranceConfirmed1 source

A life in time

13 May 1629
Born · Palace of Placentia
Birth, Palace of Placentia
13 May 1629
Died · Palace of Placentia
Death, Palace of Placentia

What was it like?

The world around Palace of Placentia, 1629: 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.

Women's shoes had no distinction between left and right feet at this time. Both were identical.

Known for

In their life

died on day of birth

Fashion

Identical left and right shoes

Women's shoes had no distinction between left and right feet at this time. Both were identical.

Ordinary women's linen smocks

Ordinary women wore smocks as an undergarment, which were loose, all-enveloping linen dresses. These could be made of holland linen for best or coarser fabrics for daily work.

Music

Psalm Books as Treasured Possessions

Commoners and nobility alike cherished psalm books, which were sometimes bound with bibles and could be easily carried in a purse due to their small size.

The Popularity of the Viol

The viola da gamba, a fretted instrument with six strings played with a bow, became very popular for domestic music-making because of its shimmering sound and relative ease of learning.

Getting around

Carriages stuck in the mud

Carriages sometimes required a team of sturdy laborers on both sides to prop them up so they would not overturn in deep mud.

Transport via packhorses

Travelers often used packhorses to transport goods, and humble passengers sometimes rode on packsaddles between baskets.

Daily life

Candles and open fires lit homes

Lighting and cooking relied heavily on fire: people used candles for light and open fires for cooking. Many houses were built close together and often of wood, increasing the risk of fire.

Around 1600–1624

Education and early childhood labor

Boys might attend petty school from age five to learn English, while poor children often started working full-time at age seven.

Food

Beer and ale safer than water

Most people avoided water because it was rarely clean and could spread disease, so they drank beer or ale made from malted barley and water. Beer was the cheapest drink because its higher alcohol helped it last; some beers were aged for up to two years.

Ordinary diets centered on pottage

For poorer people, pottage (a thick vegetable stew) was a main food, alongside bread and vegetables. This diet left many lacking vitamins and iron, and hard times meant hunger when prices rose.

Prices and wages

Around 1600–1624

Daily wages for English laborers

In the early seventeenth century, unskilled labourers typically earned fourpence to fivepence per day, while skilled labourers earned sixpence to eightpence.

Around 1600–1624

Supplementary income for rural families

During the Elizabethan and early Stuart period, many rural families supplemented their income by growing fruit and vegetables in cottage gardens or keeping pigs and cows.

Work

Equal Pay for Identical Tasks

While men typically earned more, women and men could sometimes receive the same daily wage for performing identical agricultural tasks.

Highly Seasonal Female Agricultural Work

Women's agricultural work was highly seasonal, with 72.7 per cent of their recorded workdays occurring between July and September.

News and letters

Around 1635–1649

Letters traveled round-trip in six days

After the 1635 royal proclamation, letters could be sent between London and major cities like Edinburgh or Plymouth with a guaranteed round trip, including an answer, in six days. Before this service, many people relied on carriers, foot-posts, or private servants to deliver mail in an informal and often slower manner.

Around 1635–1649

Postage costs based on distance traveled

Postage rates for a single letter in 1635 were set based on distance: 2d for under 80 miles, 4d for 80 to 140 miles, and 6d for distances over 140 miles. Additional fees applied for packets containing more than one letter, with the total cost payable upon receipt or delivery.

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.