Men, Women and Property in England, 1780–1870
Author | : R. J. Morris |
Publisher | : Cambridge University Press |
Total Pages | : 468 |
Release | : 2005-02-03 |
ISBN-10 | : 1139442724 |
ISBN-13 | : 9781139442725 |
Rating | : 4/5 (24 Downloads) |
Download or read book Men, Women and Property in England, 1780–1870 written by R. J. Morris and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2005-02-03 with total page 468 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is an innovative study of middle-class behaviour and property relations in English towns in Georgian and Victorian Britain. Through the lens of wills, family papers, property deeds, account books and letters, the author offers a reading of the ways in which middle-class families survived and surmounted the economic difficulties of early industrial society. He argues that these were essentially 'networked' families created and affirmed by a 'gift' network of material goods, finance, services and support, with property very much at the centre of middle-class survival strategies. His approach combines microhistorical studies of individual families with a broader analysis of the national and even international networks within which these families operated. The result is a significant contribution to the history, and to debates about the place of structural and cultural analysis in historical understanding.