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Edwina Mountbatten, Countess Mountbatten of Burma

32 Bruton Street, 28 Nov 1901 – Kota Kinabalu, 21 Feb 1960

8 facts3 sources

Facts and their sources

A life in time

  1. 28 Nov 1901

    Born in 32 Bruton Street

  2. 21 Feb 1960

    Dies in Kota Kinabalu, aged 58

Family

See the tree

Parents

Partner

During her lifetime

She lived through 7 decades. Pick one to hear and see what it was like around 32 Bruton Street.

General history, not a record about the family: each item says where it comes from.

The 1900s · Edwina is born in 32 Bruton Street

In the news1908

Old Age Pensions Introduced in 1908

In 1908, Parliament approved means-tested old age pensions of up to five shillings a week for people over 70.

Getting around

Horses ruled the early 1900s streets

Before World War One, horses dominated town streets, pulling everything from carriages and taxicabs to delivery carts and buses.

At the table

High Bread Consumption

Bread was a staple for urban families, with some large households consuming as many as sixty loaves a week.

Powered flight. The Wright brothers flew a powered aeroplane at Kitty Hawk in 1903; in 1906 Santos-Dumont flew the 14-bis in Paris.Around the world · 1903–1906

Powered flight. The Wright brothers flew a powered aeroplane at Kitty Hawk in 1903; in 1906 Santos-Dumont flew the 14-bis in Paris.

Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright (credited as photographers) [1], [2] · public domain

What people wore

Domestic servants' uniform requirements

Female domestic servants were required to purchase their own uniforms, which consisted of striped cotton dresses for morning chores and a black dress with a white cap and apron for afternoon duties.

Music

Pianos as status symbols in 1916

In 1916, a single gramophone cost as much as 200 music hall tickets, making it a luxury item, yet families often saved for years to purchase a piano as a symbol of respectability. By 1914, there were three million pianos in Britain, and in 1916 alone, 40,000 were sold.

Daily life

Lighting in the home was rarely electric

Most late-Victorian and Edwardian families lacked electricity and relied on gas, or in rural areas, oil lamps and homemade rushlights.