The archives that emerged from the parochial administration of the English poor law before 1834 include letters that came from the poor themselves. Some 750 of these pauper letters are contained in this volume, revealing the strong belief of the poor in their right to relief and their surprisingly powerful position in negotiating their case with the overseers.

The archives that emerged from the parochial administration of the English poor law before 1834 include letters that came from the poor themselves. Some 750 of these pauper letters are contained in this volume, revealing the strong belief of the poor in their right to relief and their surprisingly powerful position in negotiating their case with the overseers.

This volume completes the publication of a unique source for historians of the later medieval nobility. It contains invaluable evidence on daily life as well as on medieval finance generally. In Part 2, Dr Woolgar has selected and edited the accounts of 14 households, illustrating the full variety of texts that have survived. They include special accounts for expenses on jewels, furs, cloth and armour. Dr Woolgar has also provided a complete catalogue of extant medieval English household accounts.

This volume complements Ruth Spalding's edition of The Diary of Bulstrode Whitelocke, 1605-1675. Many entries--including Whitelocke's manuscripts at Longleat as well as new material from his letters--shed new light on the politics of the period, as well as on economic and social developments. Items include Sir John Holland's frank comments on Charles I's demeanor at Holdenby Manor, the key to the number code sent by Secretary of State John Thurloe to Whitelocke in Sweden, and a letter written by Whitelocke to Cromwell using secret ink. Spalding has assembled a great number of biographical...

This 17th century diary contains a wealth of important information on the social, economic and political events of Whitelocke's time. A distinguished lawyer and Member of Parliament, a keen musician and scholar, and a family man who had three wives and seventeen children, Whitelocke also held such high offices as Keeper of the Great Seal, temporary Speaker of the House of Commons, and Lord President of the Council. He knew most of the leading figures of his time, and his diary reveals sharp insights into public affairs, particularly during the Civil Wars and Interregnum.

This study makes a unique source accessible to historians of the later medieval nobility. It contains evidence of daily life, diet, hospitality, etiquette, travel, the arts and politics, as well as medieval finance generally. In Part 1, an introduction discusses these documents as a coherent body of records, and places them in the context of the administrative systems for which they were created. Their diplomatic forms and development are analyzed and compared with those on the Continent, and an extensive glossary is provided to assist scholars in the study of these sources.

This account book of a small yeoman farmer in Lancashire, running from 1724 (just after his marriage) to his death in 1767, provides a record of expenditure on domestic, personal and farming items. It is unique in offering a detailed view of household life and domestic economy in a stratum of society from which very few documents of any sort have survivied. Shedding light on the informal economy of the locality, entries cover payment for services, clothing, household goods, seeds, farming equipment, servants, medical expenses, books and education. A computer-generated concordance provides a...

This volume gives details of a wide range of day-to-day transactions mainly during the period 1617 to 1645. The editor adds greatly to our knowledge of Henry Best, his family, and estate in a substantial introduction, and much ancillary documentary evidence is provided in a series of appendices.

Lynn was a port of the late eleventh century, founded on the estates of the Bishop of Norwich. This collection of documents provides evidence for the origin and topography of medieval Lynn, and also for its religious, social and economic life.

Contains surveys for the whole estate made in the reigns of Henry I and Henry II, 13th-century custumals for Minchinhampton, Avening, and Felsted, and 26 charters and leases, some of which relate to property in London. The surveys provide evidence of social conditions and changing methods of estate exploitation.