"colour" commentary, please?

Folks, could those of you who know spare a few words about the living
conditions of the average ag.lab. circa 1900? Size of living quarters,
breadth of wardrobe, diet, etc etc?

Phil C....

As others have said, it would have varied and there are literary and
social history sources but, for illustration, part of my house in
Lincolnshire was an agricultural cottage. It was derelict when we
moved in and hadn't been occupied since the early 1960s - but little
would have changed since 1900. It was a bit larger than some - three
bedrooms - because the occupants were semi-independent "yardsmen"
rather than ag. labs - it was a base for rearing 80 bullocks. It had a
simple faggot oven for baking bread and hooks for hanging hams. There
was a copper for washing and very simple triplex ranges in the chimney
breasts - before that they would have cooked over the open fires. The
stairs were _lethally_ steep - there had surely been a ladder there
before.

Outside was a two seater "thunder box" - one for an adult and one for
a child. The waste had to be dug out occasionally and would have been
used. Old photos show that no garden space was wasted - every inch was
used for growing vegetables.

Water supply and flies were always a problem, according to the last
tenants. So was the farmer - he used to spy on the tenant from a long
distance to make sure he was working.

I'll be re-reading "Cider with Rosie" soon as I'm off to visit
villages around that part of Gloucestershire. The account's
semi-fictionalised and slightly later than you want (1918-ish) but I'm
bound to be related to some of those mentioned.

singhals...

Thanks, Phil. That correlates with my thoughts, but I always prefer
outside agreement, just to be sure I'm not mixing up various sources (I
mean, Sheridan's ag labs lived in a world quite different from Dame
Agatha's, but since I've read both ... which tidbit came from whom?)

Phil C....

I haven't read it as yet and it's also set a bit later but "A Child in
the Forest" by Winifred Foley (b. 1914, Forest of Dean) has been
recommended to me.

Brian Pears...

Cheryl

Ye Old One...

I think that would be the same as asking "what are the living
conditions of am office worker today?" Conditions for workers in 1900
would be very varied so it is not really a valid question.

singhals...

I don't see why it's not valid. I'm looking for medians, not specifics.

Which statement is TRUE MORE OFTEN:

1) most office workers of 2006 have air conditioning at home
or
2) most office workers of 2006 do not have air conditioning at home

C Rihan...

Most homes don't have air conditioning, and I can't think of any reason
why office workers would be more likely than anyone else to have
air conditioing at home.

Ye Old One...

No way of knowing without doing a full suvey.

Similarly, is it TRUE MORE OFTEN that
1) Ag labs of 1900 generally had houses smaller than 2000 sq ft
or
2) Ag labs of 1900 generally had houses 2000 sq ft or larger

C Rihan...

I'm trying to picture that.
That's the equivalent of 10 rooms, each 10 ft by 20 ft.
That sounds like a very big house to me, and bigger than most
people's houses.
I'd expect ag labs to be sharing with other families, if they were
in a house that big. (unless they were the rich landowner!)

If you look on the 1901 census, you can see how many
households were at the same address and that also has a
column for 'number of rooms occupied if less than five'
That might give you some idea of how spacious their
accommadation was.

If you are lucky, and you search in web-search for the address,
you might get a description of it at an estate agents, or
some village website may have pictures.

Best wishes
C.Rihan

Ye Old One...

No way of knowing without doing a full survey.

Ye Old One...

The thing is that both groups (Ag labs and office workers) are far too
vague and large to be able to give you answers to your questions.

For example, in my own family I can refer to Ag labs which lived-in at
the farm, had seperate housing on the farm, lived seperate and worked
for several farms and, in the case of three brothers, lived at the
local in that was owned by their fairly wealthy family.

As far as living quarters are concerned I can provide an
illustration. From 1902 to 1910 my great grandfather, Thomas
Pears (1867-1934), was employed as an ag lab on a farm at
Chesterwood, Northumberland, as was my grandfather, Nicholas
Pears (1895-1955), as soon as he left school in 1907.

They were provided with a small house which housed Thomas,
his wife Margaret, and children Nicholas, Jane Ann, Elizabeth,
Florence and Thomas Henry.

Here is the house pictured in 1978

and here it is in 1909 with Margaret Pears and kids Jenny, Florrie
and Tommy standing in front.

an enlargement of the people:

Not luxurious accommodation, but not bad.

singhals...

Thanks, Brian! The tall part of the house looks to be about 20 ft long
and maybe 10 to 12 ft wide? That's based partly on the similarity
between this house and others I know personally so I'd be glad for
correction or concurrence.