The Geffrye, Museum of the Home

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18th Century Domestic LifePage 2

In the more prosperous households of the middling sort, the lady of the house was expected to do little of the housework herself. She would have had two or three servants to supervise and would have kept close control of the running of the house and overseen the children's upbringing and education. Increasingly, however, children were being educated outside the home, either in schools or by private tutors.

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Laundry-work. 'Women Washing at Sandpit Gate', by Paul Sandby, 1765; watercolour.

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