This diary gives a vivid picture of life in a Yorkshire village between the Napoleonic Wars and the Victorian era. Robert Sharp, schoolmaster, village constable, shopkeeper, and tax collector, was in a unique position to observe the affairs of the village and the lives of his fellow-villagers, whom he describes with wry humor and affection, often quoting their conversations verbatim. He also gives a contemporary view, at the local level, of events of national and international importance.

The correspondence from the most successful Irish-American trading firm of the colonial period forms a remarkable archive for economic historians of the eighteenth century.

The poll tax records of 1377, 1379 and 1381 form a massive resource about individuals, their occupations, and their relationships, providing a detailed picture of late 14th-century England. Part 2 of this acclaimed edition covers the counties of Lincolnshire-Westmorland. The enormous wealth of material on Norfolk is of particular significance.

This volume provides two of the most important sources for population studies in the early modern period. The bishops' returns of 1563 and 1603 represent the earliest census-type information that has survived in England and Wales. The 1563 returns, surviving from twelve dioceses, record the number of households; the 1603 documents, from nine dioceses, survey religious nonconformity and estimate the number of communicants in each parish.

The poll tax records of 1377, 1379 and 1381 form a massive resource about individuals, their occupations, and their relationships, and therefore provide an intriguing and detailed picture of late fourteenth-century England. Part 3 of this highly acclaimed edition covers the counties of Wiltshire - Yorkshire; the enormous wealth of material on the West Riding is of particular significance. The volume also takes advantage of the National Archives' 'E197 Project' to publish additional documents discovered since the publication of Parts 1 and 2. Indexes to all three parts conclude this major...

The letters of William Jardine and James Matheson, co-founders of the Hong Kong Trading Firm Jardine, Matheson & Co., shed new light on the important commercial, economic and political developments of the nineteenth century. Local and world politics, debate about freedom, monopoly and free trade, the conduct of the Opium War and the beginnings of British rule in Hong Kong are passionately discussed alongside the immediate business concerns of tea, opium and British exports to China. The letters from the Jardine Matheson Archive, collected here for the first time, portray a fascinating...

This authoritative history of the Treasury provides a new perspective on public policy-making in the twentieth century. It explores the role and functions of the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the consequent implications for the changing role of the Treasury. As the key department in British government, the Treasury developed growing responsibility for managing the national economy and became increasingly involved in international relations from the time of the First World War. Professor Peden examines the relations between ministers and their official advisers, and the growing influence of...

The 300 letters written by members of the Jeake family create a narrative of business and family life in 17th and 18th century England. They reveal the importance of kinship in ensuring business and family survival during religious and political upheavals, and provide a rare glimpse into the life and work of 'middling-sort' woman, Elizabeth Jeake.