The Decline of Life

Old Age in Eighteenth-Century England

AvSusannah R. Ottaway

Inbunden, Engelska, 2004

Del 39 i serien Cambridge Studies in Population, Economy and Society in Past Time

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Beskrivning

The Decline of Life is an ambitious and absorbing study of old age in eighteenth-century England. Drawing on a wealth of sources - literature, correspondence, poor house and workhouse documents and diaries - Susannah Ottaway considers a wide range of experiences and expectations of age in the period, and demonstrates that the central concern of ageing individuals was to continue to live as independently as possible into their last days. Ageing men and women stayed closely connected to their families and communities, in relationships characterized by mutual support and reciprocal obligations. Despite these aspects of continuity, however, older individuals' ability to maintain their autonomy, and the nature of the support available to them once they did fall into necessity declined significantly in the last decades of the century. As a result, old age was increasingly marginalized. Historical demographers, historical gerontologists, sociologists, social historians and women's historians will find this book essential reading.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:2004-02-02
Mått:160 x 236 x 28 mm
Vikt:704 g
Format:Inbunden
Språk:Engelska
Serie:Cambridge Studies in Population, Economy and Society in Past Time
Antal sidor:340
Förlag:Cambridge University Press
ISBN:9780521815802

Utforska kategorier

Europas historia inom Historia och arkeologi

Mer om författaren

Susannah R. Ottaway is Assistant Professor of History at Carleton College, Minnesota.

Recensioner i media

'Ottaway's book, however, does serve as a model for how to write a gendered social history … historians of demography, family, society, gender, and, of course, the eighteenth century, will find much in Ottaway's book to interest and instruct them.' H-Net

Innehållsförteckning

List of figures; List of tables; Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; Introduction: old age in eighteenth-century England: no 'golden age of ageing'; 1. Who was 'old' in eighteenth-century England?; 2. The activities of the 'helmsman': self-reliance, work and community expectations of the elderly; 3. 'The comforts of a private fire-side'; 4. Independent but not alone: family ties for the elderly; 5. Community assistance to the aged under the Old Poor Law; 6. Continuity and change in community assistance to the elderly over the eighteenth century; 7. Within workhouse walls: indoor relief for the elderly; Conclusion: old age as a useful category of historical analysis; Bibliography; Index.