At Home with the Soanes: Upstairs, Downstairs in 19th Century London

by Susan Palmer

A look at the day-to-day life once lived inside the home of celebrated British architect John Soane, now a museum that attracts 100,000 visitors a year The product of many years’ research by Susan Palmer, archivist to Sir John Soane’s Museum, At Home with the Soanes paints a detailed picture of the social and domestic life at Nos 12 & 13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London, in the early 19th century—how the buildings were heated, the servants’ daily duties, what meals were cooked, wines purchased and teas drunk—even the fate of the family’s pet dog. Family life with two children—in many ways as difficult as modern offspring—is brought vividly to life and the below-stairs relationships of the servants are poignantly recorded. The evening social whirl of visits to theaters and supper parties is chronicled, and the description of seaside holidays on the Kentish coast, when Margate was in vogue, portrays the social niceties of promenades and dances. Originally published in 1997, At Home with the Soanes has been updated to include the latest discoveries that have come to light during restoration of the house and redesigned to include more than 100 illustrations, mostly in color, from the extensive Museum archive, including photographs of the newly-recreated "lost" private apartments. At Home with the Soanes offers a fascinating insight into this London family’s life, both upstairs and downstairs.

Genres: Biography

112 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2015

Reviews

[Sophie Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books I've read on life in Georgian England because Palmer digs into detailed household accounts, correspondence and other records -- and because Soane established his house as a perpetual museum after his death. So there were a lot of remaining records as well as the spaces they lived in still remaining. Some of the best little details and tidbits I've seen on life in the era and loads of illustrations. There were a few items I was a bit dubious on accuracy of (namely where Palmer departs from the hard facts of what was in the accounts and editorializes on how things were done or used) because I've read other things that conflict, but nothing I'm 100% sure was inaccurate, so I'm staying with 5 stars as this as a delightful read.

[Liawèn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Together with the Dennis Severs’ House, Sir John Soane’s Museum is my favourite little museum in London. I love visiting it and when I found out that there was going to be a William Hogarth exhibition, I knew I had to plan a visit when I was there on my own for a weekend-Musical-trip.

I purchased the book after my visit and have to say that it’s really good. There was so much new information and I’m quite interested in the life in 19th century London. This gave a great insight. I understand the life more now and will definitely take the boom with me during my next visit, just to examine the pictures up close and find all the details mentioned in the text.

I recommend this book to everyone who likes the museum and/or is interested in life in the 19th century. Although I would recommend visiting the museum as well. The pictures are good but seeing them by yourself is even better.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

c2015: When I ordered this book, I didn't realise that it was actually more like a guide book to the museum rather than an actual non fiction book. It was a good read though. Interesting and not too bogged down with references etc.. I rather like the fact that there is still a house that was lived in where we know so much about the day to day life - as the title suggests. For a quick but educational read, would recommend to the normal crew - especially the budding historical fiction writer (you know who you are!). 'There are bills for a silver-bear muff and for a fur-tippet, and in the summer she would carry a parasol and a fan.'

[Mad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fascinating. Tons of detail. Loved it

[E. Ozols · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure if books can get much more niche than this. A couple months ago I was in London, and our very last act as tourists was to stop by the Sir John Soane Museum. We didn't really know what we were getting into going in, but it turns out this museum is awesome. Long story short, a famous successful architect had the world's craziest private collection of art and artifacts, and decided to blow out the back of his townhouse and the neighboring townhouses to display all this stuff. When he died, he left the house and collection to the government under the stipulation that they leave everything displayed exactly is he left it. And... that's exactly what happened. One quirk of this arrangement is that there is literally no signage anywhere explaining what the heck anything is. It's literally thousands of incredible pieces, but the visitor is left stumped as to why it's there or why it might matter. You can buy a guidebook (it's only 3 pounds, which we was a bargain because the museum itself is free), which was definitely better than nothing and pointed out a couple key notes about Soane and his collection in each room. There were staff in each room who seemed happy to answer our questions about both Soane and his room, and we peppered them accordingly. One of them held up this book in response to one of our many questions (I think it was "Did Soane smoke?") and said "I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing no because if he did, it likely would have been mentioned in here." Wouldn't you know it, the book was available in the gift shop, and here we are.
So that's the target audience for this book; people who got a tiny smidge of information about this dude because they visited his informationless museum, but who were so inspired by the visit that they want to learn anything they can about this guy. So, yeah, pretty niche. The second target audience is anyone who loves getting into the minutia of history regarding domestic life. This book isn't exactly a riveting biography; instead, it is a semi-dry list of mostly mundane facts about the running of a household, organized into chapters by category. Someone put a bunch of time and effort into digging through Soane's receipts (literal receipts) to figure out what he bought and when. From that we're learning which food he ate and where he bought it, how he paid an 18th century HOA fee to cover lamplighting costs in the communal park, and what a pain it was for his wife to find pet-friendly AirBnBs at the beach. We know which servants went to the nuthouse and which were alcoholics. We discover at what time the Soanes' ate their meals. In short, we learn about the everyday lives of seemingly everyday people (but in this case, one of those everyday people had a crazy hobby that involved blowing out wall to build a museum.)

If this sounds like a pan, it is not. I love learning this stuff. In learning history we so often focus on political events, on world leaders, and major movements. But even the historical figures we know by name had to live in a house and pay the cable bill (or whatever their equivalent was at the time), so to me it was fascinating to compare how our mundane lives can be so similar, yet so different, across the centuries. That being said, they're not going to be making any movies out of this one, if you know what I mean. There were occasional hints at some potentially juicy drama (the tension between Soane and his youngest son being the most obvious, but not explored here in enough detail to satisfy my morbid curiosity), but that drama was layered matter-of-factly between pages and pages listing mundane household details.

If you're looking for a page-turner, this isn't it. If you're a big nerd like me who plans to be in London anytime soon, then both this museum and this quick little book might be for you.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Purchased at a recent visit to the museum this book a enhanced the experience with great images of the home from Soanes period. Also a lovely insight to the activities in the household throughout the life of the architect himself. Horses, clothing, diets and social engagement are all included to give a better context on the original features seen at the house and better understand daily activities from this distant time.

[Jbondandrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this little book. It gives a handy outline of the early part of the nineteenth century.