17th Century Domestic LifePage 2
The wife and mother would have been actively involved in running the house, managing the servants and bringing up and educating the children. Although the husband usually controlled the household finances, she would have taken personal responsibility for the provision of food and the cooking, whether this was done at home or at a bakehouse. Some of the food might have been grown in the garden. She was expected to have a wide knowledge of plants and herbs and their uses for medicinal, culinary and cleansing properties. She would also have been accomplished at needlework and would likely have been able to read and write and known how to play a musical instrument. Most households would have had one or two servants, who were either employees or pauper apprentices, or single female relatives of the family.
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Title-page from 'The Accomplisht Lady's Delight' by Hannah Woolley, 1685; copper engraving.
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