HOUSEHOLDS AND HIDDEN KIN IN EARLY-19TH-CENTURY ENGLAND - 4 CASE-STUDIES IN SUBURBAN EXETER, 1821-1861

This article explores kin relationships between household heads and resident domestic servants in a suburban road in Exeter between 1841 and 1861. In particular it focuses on cases where the census does not record a kin relationship, and where the surnames of householder and servant are different, yet it has been possible to establish a blood relationship between the two individuals. The unusual methodology used for the micro-study, in particular the researching of female as well as male lines of descent, has produced interesting new conclusions with regard to proportions of resident kin in households in the early nineteenth century, and also on the nature of domestic service in the period.