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A History Of Private Life

First broadcast from 20090928 to 20091106.

32 episodes

Episode	Title	First Broadcast	Description
01	The Bed	20090928	Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years. She draws on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries, many of which have never been heard before. Including songs which have been specially recorded for the series. The series begins at the very heart of private life: in the deep comfort of the matrimonial bed, curtains drawn round the four-poster. What happened next is revealed by 16th-century diaries - 'curtain lectures', in which the wife gave her husband a good talking to, and the pleasure of making up afterwards. Readers: Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Madeleine Brolly and Simon Tcherniak. Singers: Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie, with David Owen Norris at the keyboard. A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4. The very heart of private life, as illustrated by extracts from 16th-century diaries.
02	Things That Go Bump In The Night	20090929	Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years. She draws on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries, many of which have never been heard before. Including songs which have been specially recorded for the series. Outside the home, dark forces gathered: witches and ghosts, who came through the windows and doors at night and threatened people in bed. Testimonials from witchcraft trials reveal people's darkest fears and fantasies about what happened outside at night, and how their homes protected them. Readers: Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Madeleine Brolly and Simon Tcherniak. Singers: Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie, with David Owen Norris at the keyboard. A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4. Witchcraft trials reveal people's darkest fears and how their homes protected them.
03	The State In Miniature	20090930	Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years. She draws on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries, many of which have never been heard before. Including songs which have been specially recorded for the series. The hierarchy within the home was supposed to reflect the well-ordered society outside it. That was the theory, anyway. But what do letters and diaries from the 16th and 17th centuries tell us about who was really in charge? Readers: Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Madeleine Brolly and Simon Tcherniak. Singers: Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie, with David Owen Norris at the keyboard. A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4. The hierarchy within the home was supposed to reflect the well-ordered society outside it.
04	Into The Closet	20091001	Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years. She draws on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries, many of which have never been heard before. Including songs which have been specially recorded for the series. By the 17th century, privacy meant withdrawing into a closet - a tiny private space in the corner of a room. There people could pray, read, play music and escape from the rest of the household. For women, it was often their only private space, as revealed by the shocking diary of a woman married to a psychopath, who managed to lock herself into her closet to escape from him. Readers: Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Madeleine Brolly and Simon Tcherniak. Singers: Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie, with David Owen Norris at the keyboard. A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4. By the 17th century, privacy meant withdrawing into a closet - literally.
05	Every Man's Home Is His Castle	20091002	Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years. She draws on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries, many of which have never been heard before. Including songs which have been specially recorded for the series. Elaborate rituals of locking up at night protected the house from burglars. Records from Old Bailey trials reveal how widespread burglary was, and how the law enshrined that, 'the Englishman's home is his castle'. Readers: Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Madeleine Brolly and Simon Tcherniak. Singers: Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie, with David Owen Norris at the keyboard. A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4. Elaborate rituals of locking up at night protected the house from burglars.
06	All My Life Is A Struggle With Dirt	20091005	Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years. She draws on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries, many of which have never been heard before. Including songs which have been specially recorded for the series. The endless struggle against dirt, vermin and decay, and a song which has never been recorded before, The Housewife's Lament. How women came to see laundry and the linen cupboard as part of their moral mission, caring for their families and also keeping the household morally pure. Readers: Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Madeleine Brolly and Simon Tcherniak. Singers: Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie, with David Owen Norris at the keyboard. A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4. How women came to see laundry and the linen cupboard as part of their moral mission.
07	Pots And Pans	20091006	Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years. She draws on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries, many of which have never been heard before. Including songs which have been specially recorded for the series. Why do pots and pans matter? Readers: Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Madeleine Brolly and Simon Tcherniak. Singers: Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie, with David Owen Norris at the keyboard. A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4.
08	Kitchen Physic	20091007	Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years. She draws on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries, many of which have never been heard before. Including songs which have been specially recorded for the series. From rabies to madness and piles, the housewives of the past were expected to concoct medicines which would cure any condition. Readers: Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Madeleine Brolly and Simon Tcherniak. Singers: Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie, with David Owen Norris at the keyboard. A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4. Housewives of the past were expected to concoct medicines which would cure any condition.
09	Ornamenting The Home	20091008	Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years. She draws on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries, many of which have never been heard before. Including songs which have been specially recorded for the series. Sewing was believed to be part of a wife's essential duty in the 17th and 18th century, and also a way of keeping women at home safely occupied. If you were sewing you couldn't be wandering about or reading novels. But a fascinating diary by a woman who suffered from depression reveals that sewing could also give meaning to life and act as a valuable therapy. Readers: Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Madeleine Brolly and Simon Tcherniak. Singers: Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie, with David Owen Norris at the keyboard. A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4. Sewing was believed to be part of a wife's essential duty in the 17th and 18th century.
10	Mistress And Servants	20091009	Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years. She draws on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries, many of which have never been heard before. Including songs which have been specially recorded for the series. The fascinating household diaries of Elizabeth Shackleton, trying to run a house in Lancashire with a floating population of unreliable and drunken servants. Elizabeth cared for a young serving girl, and treated her like the daughter she never had. But the girl turned on her, and abandoned her. Readers: Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Madeleine Brolly and Simon Tcherniak. Singers: Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie, with David Owen Norris at the keyboard. A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4. The household diaries of Elizabeth Shackleton, trying to run a house in Lancashire.
11	Tea	20091012	Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years. She draws on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries, many of which have never been heard before. Including songs which have been specially recorded for the series. Visitors - and new codes of politeness. As visiting begins in the 18th century, so the home is opened up for inspection. Thanks to the introduction of tea in the 18th century, even people who were not rich and who did not have servants could afford to entertain. The home was opened up to inspection; suddenly people were arriving to judge your china, your curtains, and your manners. Readers: Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Madeleine Brolly and Simon Tcherniak. Singers: Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie, with David Owen Norris at the keyboard. A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4. Thanks to the introduction of tea, even people who were not rich could afford to entertain
12	Domestic Harmony	20091013	Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years. She draws on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries, many of which have never been heard before. Including songs which have been specially recorded for the series. Visitors - and new codes of politeness. As visiting begins in the 18th century, so the home is opened up for inspection. Family music-making was a way of creating domestic harmony, and it was your best chance of finding a partner. Includes the diary of one hapless bachelor who falls for one girl after another upon hearing them sing and play at musical evenings. Readers: Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Madeleine Brolly and Simon Tcherniak. Singers: Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie, with David Owen Norris at the keyboard. A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4. Family music-making was a way of creating domestic harmony.
13	Men At Home	20091014	Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years. She draws on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries, many of which have never been heard before. Including songs which have been specially recorded for the series. Visitors - and new codes of politeness. As visiting begins in the 18th century, so the home is opened up for inspection. Not everyone adhered to polite etiquette - these are the stories of family 'black sheep', and how embarrassing they were. And the moving diary of life with an alcoholic husband, who brought his servants back with him from the alehouse and trashed the parlour. Readers: Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Madeleine Brolly and Simon Tcherniak. Singers: Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie, with David Owen Norris at the keyboard. A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4. Not everyone adhered to polite etiquette - these are the stories of family 'black sheep'.
14	Secrets At Home - Illicit Guests	20091015	Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years. She draws on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries, many of which have never been heard before. Including songs which have been specially recorded for the series. Visitors - and new codes of politeness. As visiting begins in the 18th century, so the home is opened up for inspection. Stories from adultery cases about women sneaking lovers into the house and how impossible it was to keep anything from prying servants, who were literally peering through the keyhole. Readers: Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Madeleine Brolly and Simon Tcherniak. Singers: Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie, with David Owen Norris at the keyboard. A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4. Stories from adultery cases about women sneaking lovers into the house.
15	Domestic Violence	20091016	Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years. She draws on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries, many of which have never been heard before. Including songs which have been specially recorded for the series. Visitors - and new codes of politeness. As visiting begins in the 18th century, so the home is opened up for inspection. The dark side of private life, and how home became a trap. The moving diary of Ellen Weeton, who was duped into marriage with a man who abused her, keeping her locked up in a back room and forbidding her access to their daughter. What were her options for escape? Readers: Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Madeleine Brolly and Simon Tcherniak. Singers: Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie, with David Owen Norris at the keyboard. A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4. The dark side of private life, and how home became a trap.
16	Servants	20091019	Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years. She draws on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries, many of which have never been heard before. Including songs which have been specially recorded for the series. When we think of the history of home, the cosy experiences of the nuclear family spring easiest to mind. But what of those who had no family or home of their own? Many servants in the 18th century didn't even have a bed of their own, sleeping in passageways or across their masters' doors like guard dogs. And maids were notoriously vulnerable to sexually predatory men, to their master's droit de seigneur. Readers: Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Madeleine Brolly and Simon Tcherniak. Singers: Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie, with David Owen Norris at the keyboard. A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4. Many servants in the 18th century didn't even have a bed of their own.
17	Bachelors	20091020	Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years. She draws on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries, many of which have never been heard before. Including songs which have been specially recorded for the series. When we think of the history of home, the cosy experiences of the nuclear family spring easiest to mind. But what of those who had no family or home of their own? In the 17th and 18th century, bachelorhood was supposed to be a temporary state best solved by marriage. This programme tells the poignant and hilarious story of law student Dudley Ryder and his search for a wife. Readers: Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Madeleine Brolly and Simon Tcherniak. Singers: Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie, with David Owen Norris at the keyboard. A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4. The poignant and hilarious story of law student Dudley Ryder and his search for a wife.
18	Spinsters	20091021	Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years. She draws on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries, many of which have never been heard before. Including songs which have been specially recorded for the series. When we think of the history of home, the cosy experiences of the nuclear family spring easiest to mind. But what of those who had no family or home of their own? Probably as many as one in five women never married in 18th-century England. What about their story? What did the comforts of home mean for them? Prof Vickery tells the story of one admirable and disabled spinster, whose letters she discovered in a record office in Reading. Readers: Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Madeleine Brolly and Simon Tcherniak. Singers: Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie, with David Owen Norris at the keyboard. A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4. Amanda Vickery tells the story of an admirable and disabled spinster.
19	Widows	20091022	Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years. She draws on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries, many of which have never been heard before. Including songs which have been specially recorded for the series. When we think of the history of home, the cosy experiences of the nuclear family spring easiest to mind. But what of those who had no family or home of their own? Widows had enormous status and power in the 18th century. And for some women, the death of a spouse was a fairytale release. This programme tells the story of the richest widow in England, Elizabeth Montagu, and how she spent her late husband's coal fortune. Readers: Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Madeleine Brolly and Simon Tcherniak. Singers: Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie, with David Owen Norris at the keyboard. A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4. How the richest widow in 18th-century England spent her late husband's coal fortune.
20	Widowers	20091023	Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years. She draws on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries, many of which have never been heard before. Including songs which have been specially recorded for the series. When we think of the history of home, the cosy experiences of the nuclear family spring easiest to mind. But what of those who had no family or home of their own? The story of two different widowers and their desperate search for a new wife, based on original material from two unusual sets of diaries which Prof Vickery found in Lincoln. Readers: Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Madeleine Brolly and Simon Tcherniak. Singers: Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie, with David Owen Norris at the keyboard. A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4. The story of two different widowers and their desperate search for a new wife.
21	Magnificence	20091026	Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years. She draws on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries, many of which have never been heard before. Including songs which have been specially recorded for the series. These days we take it for granted that the home is a place of refuge in which we express our true self; that idea was an invention of the 18th century. Prof Vickery explores the invention of taste, and the role of interior decor in creating both social prestige and a successful marriage. The story of a celebrity divorce - a huge scandal, because the husband was the prime minister. The question then, as now, was what was the woman going to walk away with? Readers: Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Madeleine Brolly and Simon Tcherniak. Singers: Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie, with David Owen Norris at the keyboard. A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4. The story of a celebrity divorce - a scandal, because the husband was the prime minister.
22	Taste	20091027	Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years. She draws on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries, many of which have never been heard before. Including songs which have been specially recorded for the series. These days we take it for granted that the home is a place of refuge in which we express our true self; that idea was an invention of the 18th century. Prof Vickery explores the invention of taste, and the role of interior decor in creating both social prestige and a successful marriage. Taste - and the making of a marriage. The story of an 18th-century couple, the Graftons - fashionable, rich, and deeply in love - who spend life together doing up their magnificent houses. Readers: Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Madeleine Brolly and Simon Tcherniak. Singers: Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie, with David Owen Norris at the keyboard. A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4. The story of an 18th-century couple who spend life doing up their magnificent houses.
23	Science And Nature At Home	20091028	Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years. She draws on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries, many of which have never been heard before. Including songs which have been specially recorded for the series. These days we take it for granted that the home is a place of refuge in which we express our true self; that idea was an invention of the 18th century. Prof Vickery explores the invention of taste, and the role of interior decor in creating both social prestige and a successful marriage. A room constructed entirely of feathers, a hermitage in the garden of a Lincolnshire vicarage, Alexander Pope's grotto - how eccentric homes reflected wider 18th-century ideas about science and nature. Readers: Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Madeleine Brolly and Simon Tcherniak. Singers: Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie, with David Owen Norris at the keyboard. A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4. How eccentric homes reflected wider 18th-century ideas about science and nature.
24	Courtship And Setting Up Home	20091029	Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years. She draws on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries, many of which have never been heard before. Including songs which have been specially recorded for the series. These days we take it for granted that the home is a place of refuge in which we express our true self; that idea was an invention of the 18th century. Prof Vickery explores the invention of taste, and the role of interior decor in creating both social prestige and a successful marriage. The story of two 18th-century marriages and how the husbands prepared new houses for their bride. One got it right, the other destroyed any chance of a happy partnership. Readers: Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Madeleine Brolly and Simon Tcherniak. Singers: Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie, with David Owen Norris at the keyboard. A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4. Two 18th-century marriages and how the husbands prepared new houses for their bride.
25	Neat And Not Too Showy	20091030	Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years. She draws on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries, many of which have never been heard before. Including songs which have been specially recorded for the series. These days we take it for granted that the home is a place of refuge in which we express our true self; that idea was an invention of the 18th century. Prof Vickery explores the invention of taste, and the role of interior decor in creating both social prestige and a successful marriage. Moving into the 19th century, Prof Vickery explores the homes of people lower down the social scale and their ideas about how they wanted them to look. She draws on a series of funny and revealing letters which she discovered in the archive of a wallpaper company. Readers: Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Madeleine Brolly and Simon Tcherniak. Singers: Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie, with David Owen Norris at the keyboard. A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4. The homes of 19th-century people lower down the social scale.
26	Education In The Moral Home	20091102	Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years. She draws on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries, many of which have never been heard before. Including songs which have been specially recorded for the series. Homes were exposed to huge forces of change in the 19th and 20th century, responding to industrialisation, pollution, and the imperial mission. Prof Vickery explores how they remained idealised havens in a heartless, dirty world. Until the late-19th century, home was the only schoolroom many British children were to experience, especially if they were girls. But was domestic education really so inferior to formal schooling? Drawing on diaries she has discovered, Prof Vickery explores home education from the perspective of both mother and child. Readers: Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Madeleine Brolly and Simon Tcherniak. Singers: Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie, with David Owen Norris at the keyboard. A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4. Prof Vickery explores home education from the perspective of mother and child.
27	The Garden Indoors	20091103	Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years. She draws on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries, many of which have never been heard before. Including songs which have been specially recorded for the series. Homes were exposed to huge forces of change in the 19th and 20th century, responding to industrialisation, pollution and the imperial mission. Prof Vickery explores how they remained idealised havens in a heartless, dirty world. By the mid-19th century, the majority of the British population lived in filthy polluted towns. Yet the Victorians contrived increasingly ingenious ways to domesticate nature, capturing ferns and sea anemones under glass in their parlours. Readers: Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Madeleine Brolly and Simon Tcherniak. Singers: Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie, with David Owen Norris at the keyboard. A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4. The Victorians contrived increasingly ingenious ways to domesticate nature.
28	Exporting The Home	20091104	Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years. She draws on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries, many of which have never been heard before. Including songs which have been specially recorded for the series. Homes were exposed to huge forces of change in the 19th and 20th century, responding to industrialisation, pollution and the imperial mission. Prof Vickery explores how they remained idealised havens in a heartless, dirty world. Prof Vickery explores the kind of homes the British struggled to create in India, using the diaries and letters of colonial settlers. Readers: Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Madeleine Brolly and Simon Tcherniak. Singers: Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie, with David Owen Norris at the keyboard. A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4. Prof Vickery explores the kind of homes the British struggled to create in India.
29	Dunroamin	20091105	Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years. She draws on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries, many of which have never been heard before. Including songs which have been specially recorded for the series. Homes were exposed to huge forces of change in the 19th and 20th century, responding to industrialisation, pollution and the imperial mission. Prof Vickery explores how they remained idealised havens in a heartless, dirty world. The roots of the suburb lie very deep; but for snobs and bohemians, the adjective 'suburban' has always been the ultimate put-down. Prof Vickery listens to the experiences of those who moved there. Readers: Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Madeleine Brolly and Simon Tcherniak. Singers: Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie, with David Owen Norris at the keyboard. A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4. Prof Vickery listens to the experiences of those who moved to the suburbs.
30	Alternative Homes
	A History Of Private Life: Discussion	20090928	Tom Sutcliffe chairs a discussion programme about the meaning of home today. Tom Sutcliffe chairs a discussion with historian Amanda Vickery, Simon Jenkins of the National Trust, anthropologist Daniel Miller and sociologist Elizabeth Silva. Responding to Amanda Vickery's new series about the history of private life, they debate the meaning of home today. Together they look at the concerns which have dominated life inside the home for hundreds of years. Why are tussles over who rules the roost a persistent theme? Are modern homes increasingly atomised, separated from local communities and housing an army of home-workers and divorcing couples unable to afford to sell their houses? Or are they predominantly a safe refuge from which householders can show off their exquisite taste and treasured possessions, while leading harmonious and socially integrated lives? The panel examine which of these and many other views might shape how historians of the future will view the private lives we lead at the beginning of the 21st century.
30 LAST	Alternative Homes	20091106	Historian Amanda Vickery presents a series which reveals the hidden history of home over 400 years. She draws on first-hand accounts from letters and diaries, many of which have never been heard before. Including songs which have been specially recorded for the series. Homes were exposed to huge forces of change in the 19th and 20th century, responding to industrialisation, pollution, and the imperial mission. Prof Vickery explores how they remained idealised havens in a heartless, dirty world. 'Home means a place to go to when you are in trouble. A place sadly altered by war. A place to glorify when away and rely on always...' So reported one woman to the Mass Observation survey. Prof Vickery explores the enduring pull of a home of one's own. Readers: Deborah Findlay, John Sessions, Madeleine Brolly and Simon Tcherniak. Singers: Gwyneth Herbert and Thomas Guthrie, with David Owen Norris at the keyboard. A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4. Prof Vickery explores the enduring pull of a home of one's own.