19th Century Almshouse

Photographer: Morley Von Sternberg

This room shows how a former governess living in the Geffrye almshouses during the 1880s may have furnished it.

On retirement, governesses would have possessed little furniture or cooking equipment, having lived in with their employers.

Inexpensive new or second-hand furniture could be purchased locally. Fresh arrivals at the almshouse may also have received some items as gifts from members of their family.