Located on 7 Great George Road, The Georgian House Museum explores what a Bristol sugar plantation and slave owner's home might have looked like around 1790.
The house was built in 1790 for John Penney, a West India sugar merchant and slave plantation owner, and designed by Bristol architect, William Paty.
The grade II listed building was also home to the freed slave Frances Coker who was a maid and Pinney's slave, Pero, after whom Pero's Bridge at Bristol Harbour is named.
Scenes for the At Home with the Georgians series by Amanda Vickery were filmed at the Georgian House in July 2010. It was also used as a filming location for BBC's A Respectable Trade series, which was adapted from the book by Philippa Gregory, about the slave trade.
The Georgian House is run by the Bristol City Council and has been presented as a museum since 1937.
The house spreads across six floors with 11 rooms across four floors accessible to the public. Visitors can explore the basement, which is comprised of the kitchen, housekeeper's room, pantry and John Pinney's cold water plunge pool; John Pinney's office, two dining rooms, a library and two drawing rooms on the ground and first floors; and a bedroom and small exhibition room on the second floor.
The museum is free and is open Saturday to Tuesday from 11am to 4pm.
Scroll through to see 30 photos from our visit to The Georgian House Museum.
The grade II listed building was also home to the freed slave Frances Coker who was a maid and Pinney's slave, Pero, after whom Pero's Bridge at Bristol Harbour is named.
![The study is the first room you will encounter as you enter the Georgian House Museum. The room contains the only furniture original to the house. The bureau bookcase dates to 1740 and was brought from another Pinney house and stands in its own niche whilst the two bookcases were built into the house.](https://www.thestar.co.uk/jpim-static/image/2024/05/30/10/41/Study.jpg.jpg?crop=3:2&trim=&width=800)
5. Study
The study is the first room you will encounter as you enter the Georgian House Museum. The room contains the only furniture original to the house. The bureau bookcase dates to 1740 and was brought from another Pinney house and stands in its own niche whilst the two bookcases were built into the house. | National World
![Breakfast was a casual meal consisting of bread or toast with butter and tea, coffee or chocolate to drink in 18th-century England. The breakfast parlour at the rear of the ground floor would have been used for the meal. Food would have been brought up from the kitchen below via a hatch behind the door in the corner.](https://www.thestar.co.uk/jpim-static/image/2024/05/30/10/16/The%20Breakfast%20Parlour.jpg.jpg?crop=3:2&trim=&width=800)
6. The Breakfast Parlour
Breakfast was a casual meal consisting of bread or toast with butter and tea, coffee or chocolate to drink in 18th-century England. The breakfast parlour at the rear of the ground floor would have been used for the meal. Food would have been brought up from the kitchen below via a hatch behind the door in the corner. | National World
![The portraits of Elias Vanderhorst - an American consul in Bristol from 1792 - and his wife can be found on the fireplace wall in the breakfast parlour.](https://www.thestar.co.uk/jpim-static/image/2024/05/30/10/26/Elias%20Vanderhorst%20and%20his%20wife.jpg.jpg?crop=3:2&trim=&width=800)
7. Elias Vanderhorst and his wife
The portraits of Elias Vanderhorst - an American consul in Bristol from 1792 - and his wife can be found on the fireplace wall in the breakfast parlour. | National World
![Located on the ground floor, the eating room could be used as a one-through room with the connecting breakfast parlour during large gatherings. The dining room dates back to 1800 to 1820 and is set for dessert with Bristol porcelain plates from 1775 and genuine Bristol Blue glass.](https://www.thestar.co.uk/jpim-static/image/2024/05/30/10/37/The%20Eating%20Room.jpg.jpg?crop=3:2&trim=&width=800)
8. The Eating Room
Located on the ground floor, the eating room could be used as a one-through room with the connecting breakfast parlour during large gatherings. The dining room dates back to 1800 to 1820 and is set for dessert with Bristol porcelain plates from 1775 and genuine Bristol Blue glass. | National World