A Waste of Space? Controversies Surrounding the Working-Class Parlour in Inter-War Britain

Abstract

This article uncovers the fierce inter-war debate provoked by the British Government’s decision to remove state subsidies for building larger “parlour-type” houses in 1923. Examining the various defences that were put forward in support of the working-class parlour it argues that the parlour was seen as a key marker of respectability in working-class communities with the potential to shape the behaviours and outlook of its inhabitants. Drawing on a variety of contemporary and autobiographical sources it suggests that the occasional use of the parlour, a keystone of its opponents’ criticisms was precisely what gave most value to the room for its owners. Recent controversy over the bedroom tax in Britain suggests that “extra” space remains a contentious issue in subsidised homes today.

Keywords:

• Parlour
• home,
• respectability
• working-class
• interior
• inter-war
• state housing

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Earlier versions of this article were presented at the AHRC – funded workshop From Parlour Songs to iPlayers: Experiencing Culture in the 20th and 21st Century Home University of Lincoln May 2014 (Grant Ref. AH/M504117) and at the Colloquium “The Heart of the Home” University of Sapienza, Rome, August 2013. Thanks to Simon Gunn and Bruno Bonomo for thoughts and comments.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 Lilian Fairbrother Ramsey (1877–1974) wrote a number of books and hymns and had a regular column in the West Sussex Gazette.

2 For rental rates for parlour houses, which varied across Britain, see for example the report ‘Housing’ published by Liverpool City Council, June 1928, which gives weekly rents of between 16/9 and 19/9 for its more recent parlour houses.

3 For Eyles see M. Joannau, ‘Leonora Eyles’, New Dictionary of National Biography.

4 TNA RECO 1/631 ‘Discussion on Housing with the Mothers of Barton Hill Mother’s School’.

5 Comments by Charlie Elphicke and Chris Grayling, Hansard 21 February 2012 col 753.

6 See for example Keir Mudie, “Bedroom tax Tory Lord Freud Lives in an Eight Bedroom Country Mansion.” Available online at https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/bedroom-tax-tory-lord-freud-1545677

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Krista Cowman

KRISTA COWMAN IS PROFESSOR OF HISTORY AND DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH FOR THE COLLEGE OF ARTS, UNIVERSITY OF LINCOLN. SHE HAS PUBLISHED WIDELY ON THE HISTORY OF WOMEN’S POLITICAL ACTIVISM IN BRITAIN, PARTICULARLY ON CAMPAIGNS FOR WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE. HER PRESENT RESEARCH CONCERNS WOMEN’S QUOTIDIAN ACTIVISM IN INTER AND POSTWAR BRITISH CITIES.