Elizabeth Drake

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.

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.

Work

Common Jobs in Early Modern England

Most people worked in agriculture or rural trades, with tasks including milking, harvesting, and various domestic chores performed by both men and women. Work was not purely seasonal; households often combined farming with commercial tasks, crafts, and errands throughout the year.

Music

High earnings of ballad singers

Ballad singers, such as those known as Outroaringe Dick and Wat Wimbas, could earn as much as 20 shillings in a single day by performing at fairs and wakes.

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.

Getting around

Everyday Travel for Work and Market

People regularly travelled between towns for work and trade, such as a 14-mile walk to return home from weaving or travelling 6 miles to sell crops at market.

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.