Soho House -
the home of Matthew Boulton

This is Soho House, the residence of Matthew Boulton. The children from St. Michael's use this house as a basis for their local history work.

The Restoration of Soho House

The exciting History Project that my Year One class were involved with began with the decision by the City Council to restore our neighbouring "Stately Home" - Soho House. Soho House was built by Matthew Boulton in 1766. After having been, amongst other things, a hotel and a police accommodation block it was offered to the Council in 1990 for restoration. This began in 1991 with funds provided by the Council and from charities including the re-established Lunar Society which paid for the restoration of the Lunar Room. 

The children began their work with a story-based approach covering Matthew Boulton's arrival in Handsworth and his need for a butler to look after him and his household. We acted out the life of a butler, giving William jobs to do, some of which the children suggested and some of which I introduced from the story. William's day became as well known to the children as their own. We acted out little scenes between master and servant making up storylines about dinners being cold, vases dropped and so on.
We went on to look at butlers themselves. Are there any today? Who would employ a butler? The children decided to write to the Queen being the only rich person they knew but we ended up writing to a School for Butlers in London who were most helpful.

Click here to learn more about butlers.

Click here to return to Home Page