Transforming English Rural Society: The Verneys and the Claydons, 1600–1820(Series Number 40 Cambridge Studies in Population, Economy and Society in Past Time)

Between 1540 and 1920 the English elite transformed the countryside and landscape by building up landed estates which were concentrated around their country houses. John Broad's study of the Verney family of Middle Claydon in Buckinghamshire demonstrates two sides of that process. Charting the family's rise to wealth impelled by a strong dynastic imperative, Broad shows how the Verneys sought out heiress marriages to expand wealth and income. In parallel, he shows how the family managed its estates to maximize income and transformed three local village communities, creating a pattern of 'open' and 'closed' villages familiar to nineteenth-century commentators. Based on the formidable Verney family archive with its abundant correspondence, this book also examines the world of poor relief, farming families as well as strategies for estate expansion and social enhancement. It will appeal to anyone interested in the English countryside as a dynamic force in social and economic history.

Table of Contents:
List of figures; List of tables; Preface; Acknowledgements; Note on editorial practice; List of abbreviations; 1. Introduction; Part I. Re-establishing a Gentry Family 1600–57: 2. A gentry family in county and court society 1603–42; 3. The Civil War and Interregnum 1642–57; 4. The creation of an enclosed estate 1600–57; Part II. The Shaping of Family and Village 1657–1740: 5. Land, business and dynastic advance 1657–1736; 6. The making of a modern landed estate; 7. Power in the community - the making of an estate village 1660–1740; Part III. The Great Estate and Estate Communities c.1700–1820: 8. The rise and fall of Verney fortunes in the eighteenth century 1740–1820; 9. Transforming the Claydons in the eighteenth century; 10. Conclusion; Appendix A: Sir Ralph Verney's confessional letter of 1650; Appendix B: the genealogy of the Verney family; Bibliography; Index.

About the Author :
John Broad is Principal Lecturer in History at the London Metropolitan University.

Review :
'... achieves this work provides a valuable addition to the broader social and economic history of rural England in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries ... It deserves a wide readership.' Agricultural History Review '... an important study of rural and agricultural capitalism ... John Broad has already made several major contributions to the history of Buckinghamshire ... a work of high calibre, an exemplary synthesis of 'family', 'economic' and 'social' history.' Buckinghamshire Archaeological Society '... an inspiration for researchers in southern England and deserves a wide readership.' Jean Morrin, University of Winchester