William Villiers, 2nd Viscount Grandison

At the table

Pottage was a staple vegetable stew

Poor families relied on pottage, a thick vegetable stew often flavored with small amounts of bacon or meat when available.

What people wore

Respectability through Sunday best

To maintain respectability despite limited income, common people kept a wardrobe with at least two outfits, saving the better one for Sundays, holidays, and leisure.

Getting around

Slow Pace of Early Coaches

Early coaches were slow and uncomfortable, often moving at a walking pace of about 2 to 3 miles per hour because of poor road conditions.

What it cost

Typical food prices in England

When bread cost a penny a pound, cheese cost threepence a pound, and butter cost fivepence to sixpence a pound.

Music

Ale as payment for musicians

Ale was commonly known as fiddlers' wages, as itinerant musicians frequently performed in taverns and alehouses in exchange for drink, food, or money.

Daily life

Fetching water from public conduits

Most poor families collected water from public conduits or communal street pumps because private piped water was rare.