Description
Pauper inventories were made by poor law officials to record the possessions that people on poor relief owned. These inventories have been known to exist for decades, yet they are notoriously difficult to find and have been under-utilised by generations of historians. For the first time, this book contains transcriptions of 230 pauper inventories from Norfolk. The sources are fully contextualised and indexed, alongside four comprehensive chapters which outline the source's importance and usefulness to readers. Pauper inventories are powerful documents which reveal new insights into the living conditions of the destitute and show that being poor did not necessarily equate to owning very little. The sources will be of use to economic, social and cultural historians who study a wide range of topics including consumption, material culture, production, everyday life, poverty and welfare.
About the Author
Joseph Harley is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Derby. He held an Economic History Society fellowship at the Institute of Historical Research, University of London and has previously taught at the University of Leicester and Loughborough University. He is an expert in poverty, consumption and welfare in Britain during the long eighteenth century (c.1650-1850) and has published articles in Historical Journal, Social History, and Continuity and Change.
Reviews
This is an outstanding book...Readers with interests across the fields of social history, consumption, cultural history, poverty and welfare and social relations in the long eighteenth century will be fascinated by this excellent collection. * Steven King, Family & Community History *
In addition to contextualizing the published inventories, Norfolk pauper inventories provides a rich and accessible introduction to pauper inventories as a historical source in the four chapters that precede the sources themselves. * Ruth Mather, Agricultural History Review *
Book Information
ISBN 9780197266656
Author Joseph Harley
Format Hardback
Page Count 320
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 696g
Dimensions(mm) 163mm * 242mm * 28mm
About the Author
Joseph Harley is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Derby. He held an Economic History Society fellowship at the Institute of Historical Research, University of London and has previously taught at the University of Leicester and Loughborough University. He is an expert in poverty, consumption and welfare in Britain during the long eighteenth century (c.1650-1850) and has published articles in Historical Journal, Social History, and Continuity and Change.
Reviews
This is an outstanding book...Readers with interests across the fields of social history, consumption, cultural history, poverty and welfare and social relations in the long eighteenth century will be fascinated by this excellent collection. * Steven King, Family & Community History *
In addition to contextualizing the published inventories, Norfolk pauper inventories provides a rich and accessible introduction to pauper inventories as a historical source in the four chapters that precede the sources themselves. * Ruth Mather, Agricultural History Review *
Book Information
ISBN 9780197266656
Author Joseph Harley
Format Hardback
Page Count 320
Imprint Oxford University Press
Publisher Oxford University Press
Weight(grams) 696g
Dimensions(mm) 163mm * 242mm * 28mm
