THE secret life of 17th Century teenagers is to be revealed at a talk next week.

Dr Dorothy Hamilton, from Sunderland University, is to speak on the lives of youngsters in County Durham, who instead of worrying about GCSEs or the latest must-have gadget, had to contend with being swapped from household to household as servants or apprentices.

The talk, which takes place at Clayport Library, in Durham City, at 1.30pm on Monday, forms part of a new adult education course focusing on the experiences of ordinary families who lived in and around the city.

Dr Hamilton said: "Because they lived in their masters' houses, they had to learn to behave themselves as employees.

"As young Humphrey Wall, of Willington, found out, there was to be no frequenting of alehouses or absenting himself from his master's service without permission.

"How people thought, lived and spoke will come alive through the documents.

"The course will include ways young people met prospective marriage partners, and the trials and tribulations of getting married. It was hard to get all the household belongings together to set up a new home.

"Relatives might help out, as in the case of Isabel Taylor, of Crossgate, in Durham City, whose uncle and aunt warned her sweetheart that she had no marriage portion from her deceased parents, but they said that she shall not come empty-handed."

The course runs for ten session on Monday afternoons. Details of fees and how to enrol are available from Clayport Library, on 0191-386-4003.