Georgian House, Bristol facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Georgian House Museum
The Georgian House Museum
General information
Town or city	7 Great George Street, Bristol BS1 5RR
Country	England
Coordinates	51°27′14″N 2°36′12″W / 51.45391°N 2.60337°W / 51.45391; -2.60337
Construction started	1788
Completed	1791
Client	John Pinney
Design and construction
Architect	William Paty

The Georgian House is a cool old building in Bristol, England. It was built around 1790 for a rich merchant named John Pinney. He made his money from sugar plantations, which used enslaved people to grow sugar. Today, the house looks just like it would have in the late 1700s! It's now a museum where you can see how people lived back then. You can explore rooms like the drawing room, dining room, and kitchen. There's even a small exhibit about the history of sugar and slavery. The city of Bristol has owned and run the Georgian House as a museum since 1937. It's open from April to December on certain days.

A Glimpse into the Past

The Georgian House is a special building because it's a great example of a home from the late 1700s. It's so important that it's officially recognized as a "Grade II* listed building" by English Heritage. This means it's a very important historic place!

The house was built for John Pinney, a wealthy sugar merchant. It's believed that the famous poets William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge first met inside this very house! The house was also home to Frances Coker, a freed slave who worked as a maid. Another person who lived here was Pinney's enslaved servant, Pero. A bridge in Bristol Harbour is named after him, called Pero's Bridge.

Inside the museum, you can still see some of the original furniture and items. For example, there's a special desk in the study and a rare cold water plunge bath. The house has even been used as a filming location for a BBC TV show called A Respectable Trade, which was about the slave trade.

Exploring the Rooms

When you visit the Georgian House, you can explore many different rooms, each showing a part of life in the 1700s:

• The Dining Room: Where families would eat their meals.
• Pinney's Study: This was John Pinney's office, where he would work and read.
• The Drawing Room: A fancy room where guests would relax and socialize.
• Library and a Ladies’ Withdrawing Room: Places for reading and quiet time.
• The Bedroom: See how people slept in the Georgian era.
• A hidden staircase: Discover secret passages!
• A small lift (dumb waiter): This was an early kind of elevator used to move food between floors.
• The Housekeeper's Room: Where the person in charge of running the house would work.
• The cold water plunge pool: A special bath for a quick, cold dip!

On Screen

The Georgian House has appeared on television! On July 5, 2010, historian Amanda Vickery filmed parts of her TV series At home with the Georgians at the museum.

See also

• The Red Lodge Museum
• Bristol Museum & Art Gallery
• Blaise Castle House Museum
• Kings Weston House
• Bristol Archives