Stewards, Lords and People: The Estate Steward and his World in Later Stuart England PDF
Preview Stewards, Lords and People: The Estate Steward and his World in Later Stuart England
The landed estates were one of the fundamental structures of early modern England. They were omnipresent, for they were not confined to the country side but penetrated into every borough and city. English society was composed largely of landlords and tenants. It follows that to understand the nature of this society the relationship between the two must be studied, and in particular the role of the man who linked them: the estate steward. Stewards, Lords and People analyses the role of the estate stewards in the social mechanisms of later Stuart England. It is based on many years of research among more than 10,000 letters exchanged by stewards and their masters about estates as widely distributed as Northumberland and Corn wall, Cumberland and Sussex. Professor Hainsworth shows that the stew ards' labours tended to promote social harmony as they mediated between lord and tenant, between town and country, and between 'national' and provincial culture. No mere rent collectors, the stewards were entrepreneurs exploiting mines and forests, mills and quarries. They were election agents, almoners for their lords' charity, builders and developers of their mansions and gardens, ambassadors among their lords' neighbours, and conduits of their lords' patronage. Their regular reports, and their masters' responses, provide a vivid and detailed picture of the social and political life of England in the late Stuart era. Cambridge Studies in Early Modern British History STEW ARDS, LORDS AND PEOPLE Cambridge Studies in Early Modern British History Series editors ANTHONY FLETCHER Professor of Modern History, University of Durham JOHN GUY Professor of Modern History, University of St Andrews and JOHN MORRILL Lecturer in History, University of Cambridge, and Fellow and Tutor of Selwyn College This is a series of monographs and studies covering many aspects of the history of the British Isles between the late fifteenth century and the early eighteenth century. It includes the work of established scholars and pioneering work by a new generation of scholars. It includes both reviews and revisions of major topics and books which open up new historical terrain or which reveal startling new perspectives on familiar subjects. All the volumes set detailed research into our broader perspectives and the books are intended for the use of students as well as of their teachers. For a list of titles in the series, see end of book. STEW ARDS, LORDS AND PEOPLE The estate steward and his world in later Stuart England D. R. HAINSWORTH Associate Professor of History, University of Adelaide D CAMBRIDGE • UNIVERSITY PRESS CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, Sao Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521364898 ©Cambridge University Press 1992 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 1992 This digitally printed version 2008 A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data Hainsworth, D. R. (David Roger) Stewards, lords and people: the estate steward and his world in later Stuart England I D. R. Hainsworth. p. cm. -(Cambridge studies in early modem British history) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0 521 36489 2 (hardback) 1. Real estate management -England -History. 2. Landlord and tenant -England -History. 3. Manors -England -History. 4. England -Social conditions -17th century. I. Title. II. Series. HD604.H35 1992 333.3'22'0974209032 -dc20 91-30371 CIP ISBN 978-0-521-36489-8 hardback ISBN 978-0-521-05976-3 paperback For Margaret Laura CONTENTS Preface page xi List of abbreviations xv Introduction 1 The rise of the estate steward 6 The steward's career 23 The whole duty of a steward 42 Between lord and tenant 48 Returns to London 75 The ambassador 108 Tending the interest 136 The almoner 159 Filling the pulpit 173 The constable: defending the manor 186 The constable: defending the forests 205 Exploiting the estate 222 The clerk of works 236 Master and man 251 A note on the manuscript sources 266 Index 271 IX
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