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Old 10-01-22, 10:59
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Default Multi family households

In 1921, I am finding so many relations crammed into one house: a brother and sister, with their respective families; nephews and neices; a daughter, her husband and family, plus another grandchild. Was this the norm for working families? This is only happening for my town-dwelling relations, but may be a reflection of where my families were in the cycle: my rural families had most of the children still unmarried and at home.
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Old 10-01-22, 11:16
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I'd say either the effects of WW1 re employment and housing issues, or they were just trying to save you some £££s one hundred years later!!
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Old 10-01-22, 11:21
Olde Crone Olde Crone is offline
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I can't say if it was the norm in 1921 but it was definitely the norm during my childhood and then when I lived in London. I think it was part necessity and part convenience, someone always on hand to look after the kids and a way of making poor wages go further.

My great grandfather is living with his married daughter in 1921, no shortage of money there so it would have been helpless male syndrome. After WW1, another great grandfather has his three spinster sisters in law living with him, again helpless widower, but also gave them a much nicer middle class home that they could never have afforded on their own. I know this is not the same as multi generationfamilies living together, but I think many of the reasons are the same.

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Old 10-01-22, 11:33
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OH only had to buy one 1921 census page for his direct line as his mother, grandmother and great-grandmother were all at the same address and his maternal grandfather nowhere to be seen. His paternal line were in Spain.


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Plus putting a muddy paw print on my freshly washed top.
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Old 10-01-22, 12:12
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The moving paw writes, and having writ, moves on...
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Old 10-01-22, 12:29
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Haha!
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Old 10-01-22, 12:34
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Phoenix View Post
In 1921, I am finding so many relations crammed into one house: a brother and sister, with their respective families; nephews and neices; a daughter, her husband and family, plus another grandchild. Was this the norm for working families? This is only happening for my town-dwelling relations, but may be a reflection of where my families were in the cycle: my rural families had most of the children still unmarried and at home.
It's certainly the case for my family - my grandparents lived with his widowed mother, his unmarried sister, and their daughter.

Meanwhile in Bethnal Green another great-grandmother lived in 1 room with 3 of her adult sons. No doubt that explains why my unmarried grandmother was with her much older brother and his family (as she had been in 1911).
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Old 10-01-22, 16:42
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I don't think there was the affordable housing to accommodate separate households until fairly recently. Even when I was younger no-one could afford a flat of their own - it was usually lodgings or a bedsit with shared facilities.

Looking at my family there were often adult siblings still in the family home, even if they were married with children
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Old 14-01-22, 00:34
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I have recently had a look at a line I'd neglected in the past. Many generations seem to live at a few addresses over time. I don't know if the relevant grandparents owned or rented but many of their children and grandchildren seem to move in and out of the house even up to the 1939 register and beyond, if electoral registers exist.

Move onto me and my childhood home is on it's fourth rebuild and the homes my parents lived in have been demolished.
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