From Debtor’s Prison to the American Civil War | S1E1 | A House Through Time

In the first episode of this series David Olusoga follows the stories of the first inhabitants of the house in the 1840s and 1850s. In a remarkable piece of historical detective work, David discovers how the house came to be built as a merchant's residence by a canny property developer at a time when Liverpool was one of the great trading ports of the British Empire. He then uncovers the story of the very first tenant – a customs clerk with a taste for fine furniture and the high life. David explores what happens to his lavish lifestyle when the money dries up. The second resident, James Orr and his wife Ann, are an apparently ordinary middle-class, newly-wed couple. But they prove to be anything but as David discovers that James and Ann have spent their early lives as servants. The couple have made their way to the top of Liverpool society through hard work and a series of canny financial decisions that bring them enormous wealth. David then discovers a darker tale when he searches for evidence of the cotton broker, Wilfred Steele. Wilfred's story leads David in extraordinary directions. He discovers a portrait of Wilfred hanging in the Walker Art Gallery. But then the evidence leads him to debtors' prison and eventually to America, where David discovers that Wilfred's attempts to escape his past have had tragic consequences for his family back home. 📺 SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE ▶️ @lifethroughtimetv Different lives within these walls Each episode of this fascinating, presenter-led history series tells the unique personal stories of all the people who lived in one particular house, from the time it was built until today. Through a combination of first-hand testimony, archive film and careful detective work, we'll find out who the different residents were over time, from the first people onwards. We'll explore what their lives were like while they lived there, and how the house changed over the years. Ultimately, by following the stories of individual residents and the times in which they lived, we'll provide a distinctive social history of the UK over time and of the place they called home. #WarnerBros #FullEpisode #FreeTV