Tag Archives: the Property Historian

The origins of fire insurance (& ‘lusty able body’d firemen’)

The Great Fire of London, 1666 by Jan Griffier, the Elder

The Great Fire of London (1666) destroyed more than 13,000 houses and displaced about 100,000 people but it took a couple of decades for its embers to spark the first blaze of the fire insurance business. Nicholas Barbon was probably the first … Continue reading

Posted in Historical Household, London history | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Ship shape: property ownership of the floating variety

I thought I would turn my attention to a different type of property for this blog post. I’ve mentioned in an earlier post that home ownership was not the common form of property ownership in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. … Continue reading

Posted in Ships and vessels, Women's History | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

‘What to do with the Crystal Palace?’

What better time to appreciate second chances than at the the beginning of a new year. The Crystal Palace [a name of fairy tale splendor, if ever I heard one] sparkled as the stage for Britain’s Great Exhibition of 1851 but … Continue reading

Posted in London history, Parks & gardens, Victorian park estates | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

When Santa got stuck up the chimney

It’s my son’s nativity play this week and this has put me in a festive mood. He’s been practicing  songs about Santa, bags of toys and chimneys and this got me thinking. Why do I say ‘Father Christmas’ but so … Continue reading

Posted in Historical Household | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments