Accommodating Poverty: The Housing and Living Arrangements of the English Poor, C. 1600-1850

While the history of poverty in England has recently enjoyed a revival in academic attention, little is yet known about poor housing and poor households. This comprehensive study of the living arrangements and households of the English poor between 1600 and 1850 also contributes valuable insights into the poor in English society. Offering a detailed examination of the material circumstances of the poor in urban, rural and metropolitan contexts, chapters investigate how poor people lived, how they fit into households, and how they themselves perceived their household experiences. An important addition to wider investigations into British economic and social conditions in the long eighteenth century.

Table of Contents:
List of Illustrations, Tables and Figures Preface List of Abbreviations Notes on the Contributors Accommodating Poverty: The Housing and Living Arrangements of the English Poor, c.1600-1850; P.Sharpe & J.McEwan PART I: THE VALUE OF ACCOMMODATION 'Turned into the Street with my Children Destitute of Every Thing'; The Payment of Rent and the London Poor, 1600-1850; J.Boulton The Lodging Exchange: Space, Authority and Knowledge in Eighteenth-Century London; J.McEwan Heartless and Unhomely? Dwellings of the Poor in East Anglia and North-East England; A.Green Joys of the Cottage: Labourers' Houses, Hovels and Huts in Britain and the British Colonies, 1770-1830; S.Lloyd PART II: MOBILITY AND HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION Vagrant Lives; T.Hitchcock The Residential and Familial Arrangements of English Pauper Letter Writers, 1800-1840s; S.King Labour Discipline, Agricultural Service and the Households of the Poor in Rural England, c.1640-1730; S.Hindle 'I was forced to leave my place to hide my shame': The Living Arrangements of Unmarried Mothers in London in the Early Nineteenth Century; S.K.Williams PART III: PAROCHIAL RELIEF AND CHARITY 'The Comforts of a Private Fireside'? The Workhouse, the Elderly and the Poor Law in Georgian Westminster: St Martin-in-the-Fields, 1725-1824; J.Boulton & L.Schwarz The Parish Poor House in the Long Eighteenth Century; J.Broad Retirement from the Noise and Hurry of the World?: The Experience of Almshouse Life; A.Tomkins Select Bibliography Index

About the Author :
JOANNE MCEWAN recently completed her PhD at the University of Western Australia, Australia. Her thesis was on women, crime and support networks in eighteenth and early nineteenth century London. She is an editor for the postgraduate journal Limina: A Journal of Historical and Cultural Studies and has presented papers on lodgers in London and community participation in legal processes. PAMELA SHARPE is Professor of History at the University of Tasmania and previously worked at the University of Western Australia, Australia. Among her other publications are Chronicling Poverty: the Voices and Strategies of the English Poor, 1640-1840, edited with Tim Hitchcock and Peter King, which was the forerunner to Accommodating Poverty.

Review :
'In this fascinating collection, an impressive team of scholars examine an important and previously neglected aspect of the lives of the poor from diverse perspectives.' - Robert Shoemaker, University of Sheffield, UK