Donald Woodward - Böcker

In the early 1640s Henry Best, a gentleman farmer of Elmswell in the East Riding of Yorkshire, composed an account of his farming practices. The resulting Farming Book provides a unique account of seventeenth-century farming, of the marketing of agricultural produce, and of rural customs. It is here published in a new transcription by Donald Woodward. In addition, a complete transcript of Henry Best's Memorandum Book is published for the first time; this volume gives details of a wide range of day-to-day transactions mainly during the period 1617 to 1645. The editor adds greatly to our knowledge of Henry Best, his family and estate in a substantial introduction, and much ancillary documentary evidence is provided in a series of appendices. The volume is rounded off by an extensive new glossary prepared by Peter McClure.

This study redresses the North and South imbalance of much work on economic and social history by focusing on the lives and economic impact of the building trade in the major urban centres of the North during the early modern period. The period 1450-1750 witnessed substantial changes in England: to the size of national population, the range of industry practised, the commodity structure and patterns of overseas trade; in agricultural techniques; and in the proportion of population tied to the soil. Using many hitherto unworked sources from local archives, the author challenges many prevailing orthodoxies. He addresses conditions of work in the building trades, levels of remuneration, the characteristics of the life cycles of male and female workers, gender differences in work, and relationships with employers.

This study redresses the North and South imbalance of much work on economic and social history by focusing on the lives and economic impact of the building trade in the major urban centres of the North during the early modern period. The period 1450-1750 witnessed substantial changes in England: to the size of national population, the range of industry practised, the commodity structure and patterns of overseas trade; in agricultural techniques; and in the proportion of population tied to the soil. Using many hitherto unworked sources from local archives, the author challenges many prevailing orthodoxies. He addresses conditions of work in the building trades, levels of remuneration, the characteristics of the life cycles of male and female workers, gender differences in work, and relationships with employers.