400,000 Cottagers and paupers 3.25 6.5
35,000 Common soldiers 2 14
25,000 Vagrants, as gypsies, thieves, beggar
As can be seen, agriculture is still the most common occupation.
Great houses now had a central dining chamber for dining, with sets of suites, usually for couples, around it. Each suite had an ante-chamber and/or drawing room, and then a bedchamber, off of which there was a servant's room and a closet [cabinet]. No longer did personal servants bed down in the drawing room or outside their master's door or in a truckle bed at his feet. The servant's room was connected to a back staircase for use by servants. Secret guests also used it. The csbinet room was the innermost sanctum for privacy and gave its name to the later cabinet of the government.
There were fewer servants and they were of a lower social status than before. They were often sons of merchants, clergymen, and army officers. Gentlemen no longer advanced by service to a great man, but instead through grammar school and university education, commerce, the law, or the armed services. This change came about because the state now maintained reasonable law and order. There were more female servants, who were paid less to cook and to clean as well as do laundry and nursing. Servants were kept more in the background, preferably out of sight. The elaborate ceremonial ritual with sewer, carver, and cupbearer was gone. A butler replaced the yeomen of the buttery, ewery, and pantry, and footmen began to wait on the table at which the lord, his lady, and other couples sat. Servants no longer had meals in the hall, which now had a grand staircase up to the dining chamber. The highest servants, the officers: clerk of the kitchen, clerk of the check [comptroller], head cook, butler, and groom of the chambers, and female housekeeper ate in the gentleman-of the-horse's room, although at a separate table. The kitchen staff ate in the kitchen. The footmen, underbutler, porters, coachmen, grooms, stable-boys, gardeners, maids ate in a servants room. The steward was no longer the chief household officer, but had a room near the kitchen. The bulk of the servants slept in the basement or subordinate wings of the house.
Great houses of nobles had more rooms, such as a chapel, library, parlors, dressings rooms, and galleries; there was a variety of architectural floor plans. The structure of a noble household of an earl was as follows: The chief official was the receiver general. He had financial responsibility for the household and prepared accounts for the household and for the tenants' estates. These were checked by an auditor. The receiver general was often the son of a country gentleman and had a salary of 50 pounds raised to 100 pounds with longevity. He had a servant and an assistant. If married, he had a house on the property. There was perhaps an attorney on retainer who were paid for a certain number of hours per week or month. The gentleman of the privy purse kept the accounts of the family and bought them apparel and toiletries. He was in close personal attendance upon the earl. His salary was 20 pounds a year. Besides the receiver general and the gentleman of the chamber, the tutor and chaplain had the closest personal contact with the family. The lady had a gentlewoman with a maid servant. The receiver general supervised most of the staff. There was a steward of 40 pounds a year. He supervised a clerk of the kitchen and a house bailiff of 20 pounds a year. The bailiff had responsibility for the produce of the estate, e.g. the gardens, the deer park, and the fish ponds. Under the clerk of the kitchen was the cook man and kitchen boys, the latter of whom were clothed and fed, but not paid. The steward also supervised the 4 pound yearly porters, who kept the gates; the watchmen outside; and the head housekeeper, usually a woman of 2 to 6 pounds yearly. She supervised the laundry maid and general maids, who spent much of their time sewing. The steward was also responsible for the wine cellar. A dozen footmen belonged partly to the house and partly to the stables and received 2 to 6 pounds yearly. They waited on the lord and lady in the house and accompanied them in travels and did errands for them. The gentleman of the horse supervised the stables, coach, dogs, kennels, and 16 pound yearly huntsman. Boy pages also worked partly in the house and partly in the stables. They were clothed and fed, but not paid. The head gardener received 80 pounds for tending the flowers, vegetables, and fruit trees. He had casual workers as needed to assist him. The steward was also responsible for the London house. Here there was a housekeeper, a watchman, and a 40 pound a year gardener, all there permanently. When the lord was there, bargemen were employed for his barge. The salaries for the family estate totaled about 600 pounds a year. Sometimes married sons' or daughters' families stayed for months at the family estate; then they would pay for their part of the food.
Well-to-do people drank imported tea and coffee, sometimes from porcelain ware, and usually after dinner or supper. Most tea leaves were brewed first for the family and guests and a second time for the servants; then they were given to the servants' relatives or friends. Queen Mary encouraged the fashion of collecting Chinese porcelain. The rich had red or black and gilt lacquered cabinets and cupboards. Oak gave way to walnut, with its variegated surfaces. There were grandfather clocks. Some fireplaces now had cast-iron firebacks. Stuffing began to be upholstered to woodwork benches. Chairs were taller in the back. Ladies did needlework to cover them and also made patchwork quilts. Cane seats came into fashion.
From the spring of 1665 to the end of 1666 there was a Great Plague, mostly in London. It was the last and worst plague since the Black Death of 1348. It lasted over a year and about one-third died from it. Households with a plague victim were walled up with its residents inside to reduce contagion, and then marked with a red cross. Church bells tolling their requiems clanged in ceaseless discord. The mournful cry "bring out your dead" echoed in deserted streets. At night groups of people shoveled the corpses into open graves. To prepare for this revolting task, they often first became drunk out of their senses. People acquired wild beliefs in hope of avoiding the plague. For instance, at one time it was thought that syphilis would prevent it, so maddened hordes stormed the brothels. At another time, it was rumored that the plague could be burned out of the air, and all one day bonfires blazed outside every door and people sweltered in the heat. Other localities posted sentries on the road to keep Londoners out of their areas to prevent the plague from spreading there. Since sneezing was thought to be the first sign of a person getting the plague, it became common to ask God to bless a person who sneezed. In London, statistics were collected on the number of plague victims and their places of death to try to determine the cause of the plague by correlation, a new method. This was a natural sequent to merchant John Gaunt's 1662 book "Natural and Political Observations Made upon the Bills of Mortality", which compiled yearly vital statistics from which to analyze, for instance, causes of death due to particular diseases. It reached conclusions such as that fall was the most unhealthy season; females had longer life spans than males; and infant mortality was very high.
In 1666 a fire destroyed three-fourths of the City of London. The blazing buildings were so hot that people with leather buckets of water, hand squirts, and manually operated water-pumping machines could not get near them. There was a lot of noise from falling buildings. Panic and desperation were widespread. There was a lot of crying out and running about distractedly. People saved some of their possessions by burying them or removing them from the fire's path as they moved to different lodgings. The streets were full of carts piled high with furniture and merchandise. The Thames River was thick with heavily laden barges. Melting lead from St. Paul's church ran down the streets in a stream. The Tower of London, upwind of the fire, was saved by blowing up surrounding buildings. Eventually the wind abated and the fire was put out. A Fire Court with royal justices was created to offer settlement terms about property that were free, fair, fast, and final. Army tents and supplies, and soup kitchens sustained the citizens in the fields.