Steve Hindle
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199271320
- eISBN:
- 9780191709548
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199271320.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
This chapter discusses the historiography of informal relief strategies in the early modern period, emphasizing the significant impact on the scholarship of Keith Thomas' allusion to the ‘tradition ...
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This chapter discusses the historiography of informal relief strategies in the early modern period, emphasizing the significant impact on the scholarship of Keith Thomas' allusion to the ‘tradition of mutual help’ and, perhaps more significantly, of Olwen Hufton's concept of the ‘economy of makeshifts’, first developed in her seminal The Poor of Eighteenth-Century France (Oxford, 1974). It discusses the relative and enduring significance of four specific aspects of informal relief in the parishes of rural England: the exploitation of common right; the support of kin; the kindness of neighbours; and the resort to ‘crimes of necessity’. It suggests that even though parish relief eventually did spread across rural England during the course of the early modern period, there was no inevitable transition from informal to formal care. Even at the end of the period, those who received parish pensions supplemented their collection with a wide range of income generated from other sources, especially the informal and quasi-formal networks of charity.Less
This chapter discusses the historiography of informal relief strategies in the early modern period, emphasizing the significant impact on the scholarship of Keith Thomas' allusion to the ‘tradition of mutual help’ and, perhaps more significantly, of Olwen Hufton's concept of the ‘economy of makeshifts’, first developed in her seminal The Poor of Eighteenth-Century France (Oxford, 1974). It discusses the relative and enduring significance of four specific aspects of informal relief in the parishes of rural England: the exploitation of common right; the support of kin; the kindness of neighbours; and the resort to ‘crimes of necessity’. It suggests that even though parish relief eventually did spread across rural England during the course of the early modern period, there was no inevitable transition from informal to formal care. Even at the end of the period, those who received parish pensions supplemented their collection with a wide range of income generated from other sources, especially the informal and quasi-formal networks of charity.
David Eastwood
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198204817
- eISBN:
- 9780191676406
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198204817.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This chapter examines the problem of police reform and punishment and prison in rural England. Central government acknowledged the logic of central funds being deployed to help finance centrally ...
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This chapter examines the problem of police reform and punishment and prison in rural England. Central government acknowledged the logic of central funds being deployed to help finance centrally imposed policies when in 1846 grants-in-aid — inaugurated in 1845 and substantially extended in 1865 — gave central government much more leverage over local policy than it had enjoyed in the immediate aftermath of the 1835 Act.Less
This chapter examines the problem of police reform and punishment and prison in rural England. Central government acknowledged the logic of central funds being deployed to help finance centrally imposed policies when in 1846 grants-in-aid — inaugurated in 1845 and substantially extended in 1865 — gave central government much more leverage over local policy than it had enjoyed in the immediate aftermath of the 1835 Act.
David Eastwood
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198204817
- eISBN:
- 9780191676406
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198204817.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
This book provides a new perspective on the process of state formation in modern England. It begins by identifying the complex ideological, cultural, and institutional influences that shaped the ...
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This book provides a new perspective on the process of state formation in modern England. It begins by identifying the complex ideological, cultural, and institutional influences that shaped the political provincialism of later Hanoverian England. In contrast to traditional accounts, which emphasized the ineffective, even oligarchic, character of the administration of rural England, this book demonstrates its effectiveness and capacity to adapt, and uncovers the complex interplay between central and local institutions that lay at the heart of the late Hanoverian polity. By examining key areas of policy (poor law administration, police, crime and punishment) the book explains the ways in which new principles of public administration combined with rapid social change to create a profound crisis in English local government in the second quarter of the 19th century. The resolution of this crisis led to a diminution in the role and power of traditional governing elites in rural England. This complex reconfiguration of authority within the English state had a profound influence on the developing political culture and institutional framework of modern Britain.Less
This book provides a new perspective on the process of state formation in modern England. It begins by identifying the complex ideological, cultural, and institutional influences that shaped the political provincialism of later Hanoverian England. In contrast to traditional accounts, which emphasized the ineffective, even oligarchic, character of the administration of rural England, this book demonstrates its effectiveness and capacity to adapt, and uncovers the complex interplay between central and local institutions that lay at the heart of the late Hanoverian polity. By examining key areas of policy (poor law administration, police, crime and punishment) the book explains the ways in which new principles of public administration combined with rapid social change to create a profound crisis in English local government in the second quarter of the 19th century. The resolution of this crisis led to a diminution in the role and power of traditional governing elites in rural England. This complex reconfiguration of authority within the English state had a profound influence on the developing political culture and institutional framework of modern Britain.
David Eastwood
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198204817
- eISBN:
- 9780191676406
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198204817.003.0011
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
By the mid-nineteenth century, the participatory traditions of local self-government in rural England had been substantially eroded. Edwin Chadwick spoke of the ‘principles of 1834’ with visionary ...
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By the mid-nineteenth century, the participatory traditions of local self-government in rural England had been substantially eroded. Edwin Chadwick spoke of the ‘principles of 1834’ with visionary ecstasy, and was echoed by reformers, the public-health lobby, and prison reformers most notably. Had the new poor-law unions not proved unpopular, they would in all probability have constituted the framework within which a comprehensive restructuring of local government could have been undertaken.Less
By the mid-nineteenth century, the participatory traditions of local self-government in rural England had been substantially eroded. Edwin Chadwick spoke of the ‘principles of 1834’ with visionary ecstasy, and was echoed by reformers, the public-health lobby, and prison reformers most notably. Had the new poor-law unions not proved unpopular, they would in all probability have constituted the framework within which a comprehensive restructuring of local government could have been undertaken.
Martin Bunton
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199211081
- eISBN:
- 9780191695797
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199211081.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Middle East History
This book focuses on the way in which the Palestine Mandate was part of a broader British imperial administration — a fact often masked by Jewish immigration and land purchase in Palestine. The ...
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This book focuses on the way in which the Palestine Mandate was part of a broader British imperial administration — a fact often masked by Jewish immigration and land purchase in Palestine. The book's research reveals clear links to colonial practice in India, Sudan, and Cyprus amongst other places. It argues that land officials’ views on sound land management were derived from their own experiences of rural England, and that this was far more influential on the shaping of land policies than the promise of a Jewish National Home. The book reveals how the British were intent on preserving the status quo of Ottoman land law, which (when few Britons could read Ottoman or were well grounded in its legal codes) led to a series of translations, interpretations, and hence new applications of land law. The sense of importance the British attributed to their work surveying and registering properties and transactions is captured in the efforts of British officials to microfilm all of their records at the height of the Second World War. Despite this, however, land policies remained in flux.Less
This book focuses on the way in which the Palestine Mandate was part of a broader British imperial administration — a fact often masked by Jewish immigration and land purchase in Palestine. The book's research reveals clear links to colonial practice in India, Sudan, and Cyprus amongst other places. It argues that land officials’ views on sound land management were derived from their own experiences of rural England, and that this was far more influential on the shaping of land policies than the promise of a Jewish National Home. The book reveals how the British were intent on preserving the status quo of Ottoman land law, which (when few Britons could read Ottoman or were well grounded in its legal codes) led to a series of translations, interpretations, and hence new applications of land law. The sense of importance the British attributed to their work surveying and registering properties and transactions is captured in the efforts of British officials to microfilm all of their records at the height of the Second World War. Despite this, however, land policies remained in flux.
Chris Briggs
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264416
- eISBN:
- 9780191734342
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264416.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History
Exploring the role of credit is vital to understanding any economy. In the past two decades historians of many European regions have become increasingly aware that medieval credit, far from being the ...
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Exploring the role of credit is vital to understanding any economy. In the past two decades historians of many European regions have become increasingly aware that medieval credit, far from being the preserve of merchants, bankers, or monarchs, was actually of basic importance to the ordinary villagers who made up most of the population. This study is devoted to credit in rural England in the middle ages. Focusing in particular on seven well-documented villages, it examines in detail some of the many thousands of village credit transactions of this period, identifies the people who performed them, and explores the social relationships brought about by involvement in credit. The evidence comes primarily from inter-peasant debt litigation recorded in the proceedings of manor courts, which were the private legal jurisdictions of landlords. A comparative study that discusses the English evidence alongside findings from other parts of medieval and early modern Europe, the book argues that the prevailing view of medieval English credit as a marker of poverty and crisis is inadequate. In fact, the credit networks of the English countryside were surprisingly resilient in the face of the fourteenth-century crises associated with plague, famine, and economic depression.Less
Exploring the role of credit is vital to understanding any economy. In the past two decades historians of many European regions have become increasingly aware that medieval credit, far from being the preserve of merchants, bankers, or monarchs, was actually of basic importance to the ordinary villagers who made up most of the population. This study is devoted to credit in rural England in the middle ages. Focusing in particular on seven well-documented villages, it examines in detail some of the many thousands of village credit transactions of this period, identifies the people who performed them, and explores the social relationships brought about by involvement in credit. The evidence comes primarily from inter-peasant debt litigation recorded in the proceedings of manor courts, which were the private legal jurisdictions of landlords. A comparative study that discusses the English evidence alongside findings from other parts of medieval and early modern Europe, the book argues that the prevailing view of medieval English credit as a marker of poverty and crisis is inadequate. In fact, the credit networks of the English countryside were surprisingly resilient in the face of the fourteenth-century crises associated with plague, famine, and economic depression.
Sherry Ann Chapman and Sheila Peace
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9781861349019
- eISBN:
- 9781447303299
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781861349019.003.0003
- Subject:
- Sociology, Gerontology and Ageing
This chapter examines the interdependence of older women within the rural areas where they live. It tries to determine whether these are good places in which to grow old, and whether the physical and ...
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This chapter examines the interdependence of older women within the rural areas where they live. It tries to determine whether these are good places in which to grow old, and whether the physical and social character of these places influences the sense of self of the participants in later life. A comparison and contrast of the lives of people living in two distinct locations in the Western world — rural Canada and semi-rural England — is included.Less
This chapter examines the interdependence of older women within the rural areas where they live. It tries to determine whether these are good places in which to grow old, and whether the physical and social character of these places influences the sense of self of the participants in later life. A comparison and contrast of the lives of people living in two distinct locations in the Western world — rural Canada and semi-rural England — is included.
Jane Whittle
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198208426
- eISBN:
- 9780191677991
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198208426.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
This book is an important new scholarly study of the roots of capitalism. The author's penetrating examination of rural England in the 15th and 16th centuries asks how ...
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This book is an important new scholarly study of the roots of capitalism. The author's penetrating examination of rural England in the 15th and 16th centuries asks how capitalist it was, and how and why it changed over the century and a half under scrutiny. Her book relates ideas of peasant society and capitalism to a local study of north-east Norfolk, a county that was to become one of the crucibles of the so-called agrarian revolution. The author uses the rich variety of historical sources produced by this precocious commercialized locality to examine a wide range of topics from the manorial system and serfdom, rights to land and the level of rent, the land market and inheritance, to the distribution of land and wealth, the numbers of landless, wage-earners, and rural craftsmen, servants, and the labour laws.Less
This book is an important new scholarly study of the roots of capitalism. The author's penetrating examination of rural England in the 15th and 16th centuries asks how capitalist it was, and how and why it changed over the century and a half under scrutiny. Her book relates ideas of peasant society and capitalism to a local study of north-east Norfolk, a county that was to become one of the crucibles of the so-called agrarian revolution. The author uses the rich variety of historical sources produced by this precocious commercialized locality to examine a wide range of topics from the manorial system and serfdom, rights to land and the level of rent, the land market and inheritance, to the distribution of land and wealth, the numbers of landless, wage-earners, and rural craftsmen, servants, and the labour laws.
Shaun Spiers
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781447339991
- eISBN:
- 9781447346661
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447339991.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
This introductory chapter provides an overview of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE). CPRE's 43 country branches and 100-odd district groups aim to direct development to places where it ...
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This introductory chapter provides an overview of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE). CPRE's 43 country branches and 100-odd district groups aim to direct development to places where it will harm the countryside least and benefit it most. This was also the aim of the men and women who founded CPRE. They were remarkably open to the idea of change in the countryside provided that it was properly planned and provided that sophisticated and high-minded people like them helped guide it. As well as opposing inappropriate development, conservationists should propose how to do developments better and where they should go. The aim should be both less damage to the countryside and more new houses. But to make this possible, policymakers must recognise that the current system needs radical change, both to improve the affordability of housing and to make it possible for groups like CPRE to engage more constructively.Less
This introductory chapter provides an overview of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE). CPRE's 43 country branches and 100-odd district groups aim to direct development to places where it will harm the countryside least and benefit it most. This was also the aim of the men and women who founded CPRE. They were remarkably open to the idea of change in the countryside provided that it was properly planned and provided that sophisticated and high-minded people like them helped guide it. As well as opposing inappropriate development, conservationists should propose how to do developments better and where they should go. The aim should be both less damage to the countryside and more new houses. But to make this possible, policymakers must recognise that the current system needs radical change, both to improve the affordability of housing and to make it possible for groups like CPRE to engage more constructively.
Ann Jannetta
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804754897
- eISBN:
- 9780804779494
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804754897.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
In Japan, as late as the mid-nineteenth century, smallpox claimed the lives of an estimated twenty percent of all children born—most of them before the age of five. When the apathetic Tokugawa ...
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In Japan, as late as the mid-nineteenth century, smallpox claimed the lives of an estimated twenty percent of all children born—most of them before the age of five. When the apathetic Tokugawa shogunate failed to respond, Japanese physicians, learned in Western medicine and medical technology, became the primary disseminators of Jennerian vaccination—a new medical technology to prevent smallpox. Tracing its origins from rural England, this book investigates the transmission of Jennerian vaccination to and throughout pre-Meiji Japan. Relying on Dutch, Japanese, Russian, and English sources, it treats Japanese physicians as leading agents of social and institutional change, showing how they used traditional strategies involving scholarship, marriage, and adoption to forge new local, national, and international networks in the first half of the nineteenth century. It details the appalling cost of Japan's almost 300-year isolation, and examines in depth a nation on the cusp of political and social upheaval.Less
In Japan, as late as the mid-nineteenth century, smallpox claimed the lives of an estimated twenty percent of all children born—most of them before the age of five. When the apathetic Tokugawa shogunate failed to respond, Japanese physicians, learned in Western medicine and medical technology, became the primary disseminators of Jennerian vaccination—a new medical technology to prevent smallpox. Tracing its origins from rural England, this book investigates the transmission of Jennerian vaccination to and throughout pre-Meiji Japan. Relying on Dutch, Japanese, Russian, and English sources, it treats Japanese physicians as leading agents of social and institutional change, showing how they used traditional strategies involving scholarship, marriage, and adoption to forge new local, national, and international networks in the first half of the nineteenth century. It details the appalling cost of Japan's almost 300-year isolation, and examines in depth a nation on the cusp of political and social upheaval.
