Surrey Heritage Online Talks: At Home in History.

Reflections on writing the history of domestic life. A talk by Jane Hamlett, Professor of Modern British History at Royal Holloway College, University of London.

The homes we live in have a powerful influence – shaping our behaviour, relationships and values. In this talk Professor Jane Hamlett will explore how the home has become an important category for understanding the past, drawing on her own research on the domestic lives of women, men, children and animals in 19th-century Britain. We will explore the homes of the rich and poor and the many people who lived in institutional spaces in this era including Surrey’s Royal Holloway College, the Holloway Sanatorium and Brookwood County Asylum. House history is now increasingly popular with our customers at Surrey History Centre and reflecting on this growing interest, Jane will ask ‘What can histories of home tell us, and why are they important today’?

These talks take place on ZOOM (subtitles provided) and are available to download the following day.