The Local Historian Volume 52 Number 1 January 2022

By Val Dudley

pp 2-7
This paper was the winner of the 2021 British Association for Local History Research and Publications Award in the ‘short article’ category. It first appeared in the Suffolk Review. Val Dudley explores the evidence for many aspects of daily life in the medieval period provided by coroners’ rolls which are accessible online at the Anglo-American Legal Tradition website (AALT) of the University of Houston. She emphasises that that in inquests held on the occasion of sudden or accidental death, much detail of life in the fields, homes and streets is revealed. The paper looks at many examples from Suffolk, categorised into accidental death (from causes such as fire, drowning and falls); work-related deaths (such as agricultural mishaps and overturning carts); natural causes; and violence including murder and assault.

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By Heather Falvey

pp 8-26

This major paper provides a wide-ranging and comprehensive guide to medieval probate records, explaining how the probate process was organised and operated, and the different types of records which researchers might potentially encounter. After an introductory overview, Heather Falvey describes the procedures involved in making a will, the main categories of testators, and the question of literacy. She then explains probate jurisdictions, church courts, and their powers and actions. The paper includes a discussion of the registration of wills, and their enrolment in bishops’ registers, and then considers the steps involved in the granting of probate, including the role of executors.

The next section discusses other probate documents, including inventories, probate accounts and administrations. There are detailed explanations of how these fitted into the overall process of probate, and of the fees which were chargeable. Particular attention is given to the question of administration, and what the relevant documents should contain. This is followed by a comprehensive assessment of the survival rates of medieval wills, illustrated by statistics from different dioceses and archdeaconries. It is emphasised that the existence or otherwise of medieval wills is to a considerable extent determined by the circumstances of ecclesiastical geography and jurisdictions.
The paper then sets out the typical contents of a medieval testament, with the main elements from the religious preamble through to the witnessing of the document. The final section summarises ‘where to find pre-1858 wills’, including discussion of published and online material, and guides to reading and interpreting the documents. There is a detailed and very helpful set of notes and references.

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By Susan Major

pp 27-38

In this paper the railway historian Susan Major explores the way in which the expansion of the rail network from the 1830s to the 1880s opened up leisure opportunities. She focuses in particular upon the liberating effect that this had for women, who were increasingly able to take advantage of the enhanced mobility combined with the growing availability of leisure time as working hours were slowly reduced and more holidays were accepted. Major discusses the general issues involved in analysing women and leisure, including social attitudes; their non-participation in a wide range of sporting and recreational activities; the lack of attention to women’s leisure (in contrast to coverage of women’s labour); and the vexed question of the unchaperoned mixing of women and men. She then considers, with many local examples, the impact of railways, and especially excursion trains and the associated leisure and recreational pursuits, the vulnerability of women in some circumstances, and the risk of physical assault. This is contrasted with examples of how some women were able to take advantage of the railways to, for example, travel to look for work, or simply enjoy a day at the seaside. In her conclusion Susan Major urges local historians to undertake more research, using newspapers, diaries, letters and autobiographies, in order to discover more of this somewhat under-investigated aspect of social history.

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By Peter Jolly

pp 39-52

In this paper Peter Jolly uses the 1901 and 1911 census material to trace the progress of a sample of young girls drawn from nine rural parishes across Berkshire, identifying them in 1901 and then locating them ten years later. He seeks to give some quantification, and specific factual evidence, to test and corroborate the impressionistic observations of writers such as Flora Thompson and Richard Jefferies. They, and others, commented on the apparent ubiquity of ‘going into service’ as the destiny of country girls, but suggested that they tended to be found places locally. Jolly investigates, among other questions, whether there was in fact a move to the towns. He begins his paper with a consideration of the historiography of migration in the context o domestic service, and then explains in detail his sampling methodology, choice of parishes, sample sizes and procedures for using and working with the census data. The inclusion of checks and the rationale for the different elements of the exercise are highlighted; just over 800 girls were sampled and investigated.

The second part of the paper sets out the results of the investigation, with specific examples of individual girls to illustrate the findings. A series of statistical tables sets out data for occupational categories, the impact of parental migration, and other variables. The analysis considers the evident dominance of service as an occupation, including such patterns as ‘sisters in service’, the absence of alternative female employment in the more remote agricultural parishes, the significance of family mobility, the importance of the social and economic characteristics not only of the ‘exporting’ parish but also of the places where domestic service might be found, and the influence of London particularly in the west of the county, where fewer local opportunities were available.

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By James P. Bowen

pp 53-67

Arnold Bennett was a novelist much of whose work was deeply rooted in the landscape, society, economic life and character of his native Potteries. As a creator of regional novels he drew upon that background extensively, and in this paper James Bowen appraises Anna of the Five Towns in that context, arguing that regional novelists are more frequently associated with rural and agricultural settings (as with Thomas Hardy) than with urban industrial societies. He begins with a detailed examination of the background to the novel itself, including the highly-individual character and identity of the Staffordshire Potteries, and their historical development in the two centuries before Bennett’s time. Bowen then assesses the distinctive urban industrial; landscape of the area, and its central role in evoking the atmosphere and unique qualities of environment portrayed in the novel. He introduces Bennett’s own observations about the landscape and environment, from journals and other writings, and highlights the significance of the new park at ‘Bursley’ in the context of working-class leisure and the social and class structure of the conurbation. This precedes a discussio0n about holidays, as reflected in the part of the book where Anna goes to the Isle of Man, and the extensive coverage in the novel of squalor, degradation of the environment, and pollution.

The paper then considers social themes, highlighting the careful observation of social character, groups and individuals which Bennett displays, and the key importance of religion in the area’s working-class life. These linked elements are discussed in the context of questions about the radicalism or otherwise of the novel. Contemporary reviews and assessments are discussed, including the issue of accuracy and realism in the novel. Bowen concludes with an overview of Bennett’s work in relation to the Potteries, arguing that the novels should be seen in perspective and that they, and Bennett himself, have a significant place in the history of the region and its life. He suggests that the study of regional literature is important in local history, provided that it is approached with a critical eye.

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