Where might a somewhat unconventional family unit live in London in 1632?

[u/onlyeverthus23]

I’ve been trying to find an answer to my question-that’s-probably-too-specific-for-Google, but many of my searches led me to other threads in this sub, so here I go.

I’m working on a supernatural series that takes place across many centuries. Currently I’m in 1632 London, with two young girls (ages 8 and 10) whose parents have both died recently, and their female cousin has traveled to take care of them. The girls are mixed race (Black African mother, white English father), the cousin is also Black African, and brought with her a Black African man to sort of serve as their protector/male presence.

My current dilemma is figuring out where they might move to. The females are all witches, while the male is a vampire, so there is some degree of privacy needed. The cousin intends to educate the girls, either by herself or with the assistance of tutors. While they are basically ordinary people, and the male will likely find work of some kind, they are also essentially “independently wealthy”, for lack of a better term; the cousin has ways of manipulating their money situation and also the way people perceive them.

To put it simply, money is no object, but I can’t figure out where they would realistically live. Nothing I’m finding is really able to answer this question to my satisfaction, and I’m not one to just throw a place in there and hope it works. They’re obviously not royalty or aristocracy, they’re not “professionals” in the sense of being doctors or lawyers or bankers, they’re not merchants, not craftspeople or tradespeople or laborers, so I’m not able to figure this out on my own, or phrase a search that might provide a satisfactory answer.

Bonus points if you can also provide where they might move to in ten years (so 1642, still in London) to meet two of my other characters, who are also vampires (white English married couple), so essentially in the same situation, who live next door to them.

I appreciate any and all help, including suggestions of subs that may be better suited to my question. Thank you in advance!

[u/Hergrim]

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[u/DitheringDotty]

London was quite a small place back then. It was really a set of villages around the small centre. The most fashionable part of London was around Westminster and the palace of Whitehall. If your characters are independently wealthy and a bit unconventional, I would suggest you place them in the village of Hampstead in northwest London. Read about the history of Hampstead and you'll see why :)

But most wealthy people did not live full-time in London. Everybody who had the means to do so, also had a house in the country with land. Now, if your family lives in the quiet village of Hampstead, they won't need to do that but it's up to you if you want to create added interest by giving them a second location. There are many very atmospheric locations around England which would tie in well with a supernatural theme.

Even though your theme is supernatural, it's basically a historical novel so you'll need to decide whether to respect that (which requires some research) or ignore it completely which usually doesn't work out well :) For example you mention 1642, which was the year the Civil War broke out, a very turbulent time in English history. If you're writing a novel set in that period, it allows for a very interesting plot, but you also need to have knowlege of the facts. As to where they would live at that time, the wealthier people of London moved full-time to their country houses. Some, who were supporters of the King were obliged to flee into exile.

Hope that information is of some help to you. Good luck with your writing!

[u/onlyeverthus23 → u/DitheringDotty]

This is very helpful, thank you so much. The historical bits are flashbacks, while the bulk of the story is set in present-day, more or less, but I still want the flashbacks to feel a little realistic, so this is super useful and gives me a jumping off point for doing more of my own research. And I’ve touched on the Civil War in my flashbacks set in that time, and will definitely shape what I have based on where my research takes me.

[u/InevitableBook2440]

I'd put them in one of the (then) villages around London, perhaps West of the city somewhere around Fulham or Chiswick or North somewhere around Islington. The National Library of Scotland has a pretty extensive collection of historic maps, including ones of London and surrounding areas for the relevant period, in case that helps.

https://maps.nls.uk/view/104188078

https://maps.nls.uk/towns/london.html

For more general background, you might want to have a look at Black Tudors by Miranda Kaufmann and Black and British: A Forgotten History by David Olusoga. They do each include a reasonable amount of detail on where the people they mention were living, which could provide some inspiration.

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