what were beds like for poor people in the Victorian times?

Question

Hello. I am writing a novel set in the 1890's, in East End London. I want one of the characters and her child to move in with another family ( a poor family) so I need to find out about bedding and the mattresses. What were they made of? Also would the children in the East end family be expected to give up their bed for the new arrival or would the guests stay somewhere else?
Also I want one of the kids to have an embroidered cover over his bed, made by his mother. What kind of thread would she have used - is it authentic to use embroidery silks amoungst such poverty?

Answer 1

They would probably sleep on a straw-filled pallias

Answer 2

Poor families would often have to share a room with maybe 4 other families and the space they had could ba around 9' by 6'. Depending on how fortunate or unfortunate you were. Enclosure, forced many from their livlihoods in the country to the polluted disease ridden cities. Sometimes you may be fortunate to afford a basement which was rat infested.

Nobody would give up their bedspace without a fight. As far as the embroidery question you ask, I can only think about the poor who were sent to the workhouse and factories, afterwards. They would havwe embroidery skills, if they could get their hands on any material. I don't think you would find many of the poor with a bed, never mind a mattress. Some would sleep on small areas of damp floors, where you were so cramped you would have to sleep in your own or others urine, or excretia.

I hope that has been a little help from you as I did an Agricultural and Industrial Revolution as a Mature Student at College. A Course which, really shocked me at the living conditions. In London, Liverpool, Glasgow, etc. the living expectancy was anything from 16 to early 20's if you were strong enough.

Answer 3

Poor people in the 1890's may have slept on pallets (mattresses on the floor), usually no sheets as we know them or pillows. You could have someone give the family the bed. Maybe somebody else (the previous owner) died in it? Or a family member built the bedframe out of scrap wood? I still have furnitiure that my great-grandfather built from scrap wood about 100 years ago: an armoir, a chest of drawers, a chest (like a cedar chest but different wood), a table.

I also have things from my family (who was very poor in the 1890s) that were embroidered on old flour sacks. Again, maybe someone gave the mother the embroidery floss or she found it; either would be possible. If the mother or one of the daughters was working as a servant in a rich man's home, there would be access to embroidery floss. But lighting would be a problem after dark.

One of my grandmother's cousins, who was blind, learned to crochet when she was in the Blind School, and this could be sold to wealthy women who didn't crochet.

If you ever get a chance to watch the PBS specials like "1900 House," that would give you many helpful clues. Also check The History Channel and History International for shows like "What the Victorians Did For Us" and "Worst Jobs of Victorian Times."

Answer 4

They'd be lucky if the had a bed. The ones who did,shared it with about 6 other kids. Beds were mainly stuffed with horse-hair,a kind of straw. I doubt if the mother could afford embroidery silks. If the kid had a smart bed-cover, it would be sold or pawned within days,or stolen off the washing line. It was real poverty in the east-end,no shoes,no home comforts.I think you have to do tons more research before starting your book

Answer 5

The golden rule about writing a novel, especially a first novel, is to stick to what you know. Mattresses were stuffed with horse-hair and it is unlikely that any mother in poor circumstances could have used silk thread for embroidery. Naturally they would have put their guests up in the Dorchester!

Answer 6

Sounds like a bestseller already! and conditions haven't changed much the kids in the east end today are lucky to have a bed never mind back then. I sleep under the stairs in the dogs basket.

Answer 7

They slept in wooden cots ( the poor that is ) on sacks filled with straw . They didn't have silk but embroidered with cotton ,I used to collect samplers ( pieces of linen embroidered by little girls to show their ability and skill )
Good luck with your book
Horsehair mattresses were only owned by the wealthy!

Answer 8

they were made out of straw or hay,with a thin blanket padding on top.Many mothers would sew quilts for themselevs and children with bits of scrap material,and nicer ones to sell at market.The children didn't usually have to give up their bed(alothough many shared with other siblings or parents)No embroidery silks would not be real common for the poor in that era,unless like I said earlier it was scrap pieces from a bedding she would have made for someone of money.

Answer 9

Dry Grass

Answer 10

Sack cloths filled with hay or horse hair, very uncomfortable, usually filled with whatever they could get their hands on. as for threads not sure about that one