Identity and agency in England, 1500-1800

275 Pages·2004·0.79 MB·English

by  French Henry

Identity and Agency in
England, 1500–1800
Edited by
Henry French and Jonathan Barry
Identity and Agency in England, 1500–1800

Also by Jonathan Barry RELIGION IN BRISTOL c. 1640–1775
WITCHCRAFT AND DEMONOLOGY IN SOUTH-WEST ENGLAND
(forthcoming)
PALGRAVE ADVANCES IN WITCHCRAFT STUDIES (forthcoming) Also
by Henry French THE CHARACTER OF ENGLISH RURAL SOCIETY, 1500–
1750
Identity and Agency in
England, 1500–1800
Edited by
Henry French and Jonathan Barry
Editorial matter, selection, Introduction © Jonathan Barry and Henry French
2004
Remaining chapters © Palgrave Macmillan Ltd 2004
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First published 2004 by
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ISBN 1–4039–1764–7 hardback
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Identity and agency in
England, 1500–1800 / edited by Henry French & Jonathan Barry.
p. cm.
“Derives from papers given at a colloquium held at the University of Exeter in
September 2002”—Pref.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1–4039–1764–7
1. Social status – England – History – Congresses. 2. Social role – England –
History – Congresses. 3. Marginality, Social – England – History – Congresses.
4. Group identity – England – History – Congresses.
5. England – Social conditions – 16th century – Congresses. 6. England – Social
conditions – 17th century – Congresses. 7. England – Social conditions – 18th
century – Congresses. I. French, Henry, 1968– II. Barry, Jonathan, 1956– HN
398.E5I34 2004
305Ј.0942Ј0903—dc22
2004052089
10 9
8
7
6
5
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3
2
1
13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham and
Eastbourne
Contents
List of Tables and Figure vii
Preface and Acknowledgements
viii
Notes on Contributors x
‘Identity and Agency in English Society, 1500–1800’ – Introduction
1
Henry French with Jonathan Barry 1
Civility, Honesty and the Identification of the Deserving Poor in Seventeenth-
century England 38
Steve Hindle
2
Social Inequality, Identity and the Labouring Poor in Eighteenth-century
England 60
Peter King
3
Honesty, Worth and Gender in Early Modern England, 1560–1640
87
Alexandra Shepard 4
A Dynamic Model of Social Relations: Celibacy, Credit and the Identity of the
‘Spinster’ in Seventeenth-century England
106
Judith Spicksley 5
Class and Credit: Social Identity, Wealth and the Life Course in Early Modern
England 147
Craig Muldrew
6
Sense and Singularity: The Social Experiences of John Marsh and Thomas
Stutterd in Late-Georgian England
178
Helen Berry
v

vi
Contents
7
Agency, Custom, and the English Corporate System 200
Phil Withington Bibliography
223
Index
242

List of Tables and Figure
Tables
2.1
General poor relief levels in Quainton, Bucks., 1833 and 1834 compared to
Joseph Mayett’s poor relief payments
72
2.2
Poor relief levels for different types of regular receiver, Quainton, Bucks.,
September 1834
73
2.3
Female poor relief levels in Quainton, Bucks., 1839
74
5.1
Continuity of surnames of individuals rated on more than four hearths between
1662 and 1674
153
5.2
Survival of surnames among members of the ‘Twelve’
in Lewes, Sussex, 1591–1741
154
5.3
Survival of surnames among aldermen of High Wycombe, Bucks., 1650–1710
154
Figure
2.1
Joseph Mayett’s monthly poor relief payments, Quainton, Bucks., July 1828–
June 1835
72
vii
Preface and Acknowledgements
This volume of essays derives from papers given at a Colloquium held at the
University of Exeter in September 2002, on the subjects of ‘Social Identity,
Class and Status in England, 1500–1800’. The idea behind this event was to
draw together some of the leading researchers on the subject of social identity, to
explore what was left in terms of explanations, after the weakening of Marxist,
and other ‘structural’ accounts of human agency in the past. The aim of the
organisers was to focus primarily on empirical research, but to use the
colloquium as an opportunity to draw out common themes, and discuss the more
abstract methodological implications of these studies.
This discussion, and the degree to which the disparate subjects addressed a set of
common themes, inspired the editors to seek publication of these papers, for
their own sake, and because they addressed a series of themes of contemporary
relevance in historical studies. In particular, these were the extent to which
ordinary individuals could shape their own destinies, and the degree to which
they were limited by social, moral, gender or other conventions. Identity is an
extremely broad subject, and in organising the original colloquium, and
collecting these essays, some conscious decisions were made regarding subject
matter.
Two significant areas of historical interest in identity were not addressed. These
are, first, national identity or the creation and meaning of ‘British-ness’ in the
early modern period. The second was sexuality and its relationship to gender
identity. In both cases, the reason for this omission is because such themes have
been the subject of intense and vibrant existing debates among historians. These
themes appeared not to require revisiting, in the same way that questions of
social agency did, particularly as they related to poverty, estimations of status
and repute, and corporate identity, in the light of recent research developments.
The editors would like to thank the contributors to this volume, first for the
stimulating discussions at the Exeter colloquium, and then for their co-operation,
speed and efficiency in turning their papers into completed chapters, and their
helpful advise in relation to the introduction. Thanks are also due to Tim
Hitchcock for his stimulating paper at the event in 2002. The colloquium was
organised with the assistance of Mark Overton and Jane Whittle, and benefited
greatly from their viii