Georgian House, Bristol

{{Infobox Historic building

| image = Georgianhousebristol.jpg

| caption = The Georgian House Museum

| name = The Georgian House Museum

| location_town = 7 Great George Street, Bristol BS1 5RR

| location_country = England

| map_type = Bristol

| coordinates = {{coord|51.45391|-2.60337|display=inline,title}}

| architect = William Paty

| client = John Pinney

| engineer =

| construction_start_date = 1788

| completion_date = 1791

| date_demolished =

| cost =

| structural_system =

| style =

| size =

}}

The Georgian House is a historic building at 7 Great George Street, Bristol, England. It was originally built around 1790 for John Pinney, a wealthy sugar merchant and slave plantation owner, and is now furnished and displayed as a typical late 18th century town house. The period house museum includes a drawing room, eating room, study, kitchen, laundry and housekeeper's room. There is also a small display on slavery and sugar plantations. The Georgian House has been a branch of Bristol City Council since it was presented to the city as a museum in 1937.

The museum is open from 1 April to 31 December on Saturdays, Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays, 11am-4pm. It received 32,127 visitors in 2019.{{cite web |title=ALVA – Association of Leading Visitor Attractions |url=https://www.alva.org.uk/details.cfm?p=423 |website=alva.org.uk |access-date=18 November 2020}}

History

The Georgian House is a well-preserved example of a typical late 18th-century town house, which has been designated by English Heritage as a grade II* listed building.{{cite web|title=The Georgian House, attached front area railings and rear garden walls |work=historicengland.org.uk |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1202244 |access-date=2007-03-14 }} It was built around 1790 for John Pinney, a sugar merchant and slave plantation owner, and is believed to be the house where the poets William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge first met.{{cite web|url=http://www.bath-bristol.co.uk/Web/51235.htm#Georgian%20House |title=Georgian House |access-date=2007-03-14 |work=Homes and Gardens |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070306103200/http://www.bath-bristol.co.uk/Web/51235.htm |archive-date=6 March 2007 }} It was also home to the freed slave Frances Coker who was a maid{{Citation |title=The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |date=2004-09-23 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/73299 |work=The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |pages=ref:odnb/73299 |editor-last=Matthew |editor-first=H. C. G. |place=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/73299 |access-date=2023-02-09 |editor2-last=Harrison |editor2-first=B.}} and Pinney's slave, Pero, after whom Pero's Bridge at Bristol Harbour is named.{{cite web|url=http://www.bristol.gov.uk/ccm/content/Leisure-Culture/Museums-Galleries/bristols-georgian-house.en |title=Bristol's Georgian House |access-date=2007-03-14 |work=Bristol Museums |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070405224617/http://www.bristol.gov.uk/ccm/content/Leisure-Culture/Museums-Galleries/bristols-georgian-house.en |archive-date=5 April 2007 }}

It contains some of the original furniture and fittings, such as the bureau-bookcase in the study and a rare cold water plunge bath, and has been used as a location for the BBC TV series A Respectable Trade, which was adapted from the book by Philippa Gregory, about the slave trade.

Areas of the house

The Dining Room
Pinney's Study
The Drawing Room
Library and a Ladies' Withdrawing Room
The Bedroom
A hidden staircase
A small lift (dumb waiter)
The Housekeeper's Room
The cold water plunge pool

Film and media

On 5 July 2010, Amanda Vickery filmed scenes for her series At home with the Georgians at the Georgian House.{{cite web |url=https://twitter.com/Amanda_Vickery/status/17793957408 |title=Amanda Vickery tweet 5 July 2010 |access-date=14 February 2016}}