Suffolk Farming In The Nineteenth Century

Underdraining has been recognized as one of the major capital-intensive agricultural improvements of the nineteenth century. Over half the agricultural area of England is subject to waterlogging and is in need of some form of underdraining, rendering the improvement both technically and economically basic to much of English agriculture. By removing excess soil water, the object of underdraining was to reproduce as far as possible the conditions of free-draining land, which was workable all year round, and to create an optimum soil-moisture content for both plant growth and cultivation. Despite the necessity for the improvement, a wide-ranging debate exists in the literature on the extent, effectiveness and agricultural importance of underdraining in the nineteenth century. The present study attempts to resolve this debate. By examining the evidence of draining loans under the Public Money Draining Acts and of the various land improvement companies and the accounts of estates in Devon, Northamptonshire and Northumberland, a precise record has been provided for the, first of the spread of underdraining in England in the nineteenth century, of the factors involved in its adoption and of its impact on agricultural practice in that period.

This book is concerned with the nineteenth-century education, family life and employment of working-class girls and women. Based on extensive local research, it also draws on evidence from social, labour and women's history in a wide-ranging analysis of the purposes and practices of girls' education within a variety of forms of schooling, both public and private.

The unifying theme of this volume is the changing role of the countryside in national life, and the impact upon it of the social and economic forces unleashed by industrialisation and the growth of towns.

"Worlds Between" presents a series of pioneering essays by Leonore Davidoff which together constitute nothing less than an urgent reappraisal of our understanding of the relationship between gender and history. Among the topics discusses are the positions of servants and wives in Victorian and Edwardian England; the relationship between home and community in English society; the changing structure of housework; the role of family relationships; and the reflections on the role of the concepts of the "public" and the "private" developed through the work of feminist historians. For over two decades, Davidoff has been at the forefront of the reexamination of femininity and masculinity in history. This volume, which brings together her most important writings over this period, as well as several unpublished essays, will provide a necessary and important addition to the existing literature.

Family Fortunes has become a seminal text in class and gender history. Published to wide critical acclaim in 1987, its influence in the field continues to be extensive. It has cast new light on the perception of middle-class society and gender relations between 1780 and 1850. This revised edition contains a substantial new introduction, placing the original survey in its historiographical context. Leonore Davidoff and Catherine Hall evaluate the readings their text has received and broaden their study by taking into account recent developments and shifts in the field. They apply current perceptions of history to their original project, and see new motives and meanings emerge that reinforce their argument.