Consumption, wealth, indebtedness and social structure in early modern England
Authors
Sneath, Kenneth George
Change log
Description
Chapter 1 introduces the main question addressed in this thesis: was there a 'consumer
revolution' in England in the third quarter of the eighteenth century? The question was
posed by Neil McKendrick in The birth of a consumer society published in 1983.
McKendrick called for 'detailed quantitative work' on probate inventories to answer the
question. Probate inventories pose challenges to the historian and their interpretation is
enhanced when they are used in conjunction with other sources. This is the subject of
chapter 2.
Following McKendrick's call, two major studies were carried out. The first was Lorna
Weatherill's Consumer behaviour and material culture in 1988 and the second was
Overton et al, Production and consumption in English households in 2004. 1 Weatherill's
study was based on eight regions in England and Overton et al's on two counties, Kent
and Cornwall. However, there were major problems in their approach. The first problem
concerned is coverage of the vital period after 1750. Both studies rejected
McKendrick's proposed 'consumer revolution' in the third quarter of the eighteenth
century. Yet Weatherill only covered the period up to 1725 and Overton et al had
relatively few primary sources beyond 1730 and their study period terminated in 1750.
The main reason for this failure was non survival of the sources. The second problem
faced by both studies arose because few inventories for labourers survived for their
selected locations. 2 Labourers represented the largest social group in most parts of
England and evidence about their possessions is important in establishing how far
ownership of consumer goods extended down the social scale.
1 L., Weatherill, Consumer behaviour and material culture in Britain 1660-1760, (2"d edn. London, 1996);
M., Overton, J., Whittle, D., Dean and A Hann Production and consumption in English households 1600-
1750 (Abingdon, 2004) 2 Weatherill, Consumer behaviour and material culture, pp.21 0-1; Overton et a!, Production and
consumption in English households, p.22.
The two studies by Weatherill and by Overton et al showed that locality had a profound
influence on the consumption of goods. This thesis is based on Yorkshire and
Huntingdonshire. Chapter 3 explores the contrasting economies of these two counties,
Yorkshire in the heartland of industrial change, and Huntingdonshire, an agricultural
county. These counties were also chosen because both had large numbers of probate
inventories covering the crucial period after 1750 and Huntingdonshire had more than
250 inventories for labourers. Based on 2949 probate inventories and over 400 probate
accounts, this thesis represents the second largest study of consumption using probate
records. It is the first evidence about consumption based on probate material dated after
1750.
Consumption of consumer goods is related to social structure as well as location.
Chapter 4 considers the problems in defining social and occupational groups. It
demonstrates that social groups were not homogenous but represented a wide range of
people. Two f~ctors influence social structure and relative personal wealth: the extent to
which agriculture was practised and scale of credit. Chapter 5 examines agricultural
production and the extent of by-employment. Chapter 6 discusses the importance and
scale of borrowing and lending in the early modern economy and its impact on
assessment of individual wealth.
The inventoried population was not the same as the population in society as a whole.
The problem of representativeness, discussed in chapter 7, is difficult to resolve.
Overton et al admitted that their sample of inventories was not random and therefore
that their results could not be generalised to the entire population of Kent or Cornwall.
Weatherill did not attempt a study of society as a whole but people of middle rank. By
using occupational data recorded in Anglican baptism registers and hearth tax records
2
the present study seeks for the first time to measure the extent to which probate records
reflect the whole population.
The economic changes of the early modern period were reflected not just in material
goods but in the houses in which they were displayed. Housing is considered in chapter
8 and chapter 9 examines ownership patterns of selected consumer goods. These
consumer goods included both new products such as clocks and more 'traditional' goods
such as bedding and silver. Consumer change took place largely in the eighteenth
century. There was a sharp rise in ownership of certain new consumer goods during the
period of McKendrick's consumer boom after 1750. Ownership levels for some other
goods rose earlier in the century. Location generally had a greater effect on the
likelihood of ownership of consumer goods than wealth. With the single exception of
clocks, consumer goods were much more commonly owned by inventoried persons in
parishes with market towns than in more rural parishes. The large number of labourers'
inventories provided a rare insight into their material culture. There was little evidence
that most ne'Y consumer goods reached those towards the bottom end of the social
spectrum. However ownership of these goods began to change after 1750. The new
evidence covering the second half of the eighteenth century showed that clocks and to
some extent looking glasses were being acquired by husbandmen and even labourers.
The consumer revolution was at last beginning to arrive in the bottom half of society.
Date
Advisors
Keywords
Qualification
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Awarding Institution
University of Cambridge