18 th Century Historical Context

1. 18th Century Historical Context 1. The Rural Context

2. For over 200 years people have left the countryside and fled to towns or overseas. There are many reasons for this including: • conditions became too intolerable • because they have been denied access to land or jobs • people voluntarily deserted the land in preference for a better life • People were either 'pushed' off the land or 'pulled' to the towns by the attractions of life elsewhere.

3. The ‘Enclosures’ of lands forced many to move into the factories of the growing industrial towns and cities. The former cottagers no longer laboured with land and were forced to work long hours for very low wages. Rural industries that had existed now fell behind and were outshone by the industrial centres. The old ‘Cottage Industries’ had provided work for women, children and craftsmen, but they could not compete with machine-made goods.

4. Machinery gradually replaced people and one by one the traditional trades and industries succumbed. The only ones who survived were those who serviced the ‘horse-economy’ – the blacksmiths, wheelwrights and saddlers. They survived until the motor vehicle undermined them in the twentieth century.

5. Nevertheless, some historians point out that the enclosures only really affected certain areas, such as the South and East Midlands. The new mills and factories of the north were not merely filled with dispossessed agricultural labourers; they often drew on local families long involved in some form of manufacturing. Urban towns and cities offered jobs with better wages, promising varied and appealing social lives. This appealed to young men and women who were bored with the oppressive and dull life of small communities.

6. So the decision to move was arrived at by comparing prospects at home and elsewhere, and it involved the whole family. Other things can be said of the eighteenth century which had significant bearing on the rural context. For example, in 1700 the population of Britain was about 6.5 million. By 1800 it was over 9 million.

7. Owning land was the main form of wealth and political power in the 18th century. At the top were the nobility. Below them a class of nearly rich landowners called the gentry. In 1700 a ‘yeomen’ class lay between the rich and the poor. During the century they became less numerous and the gap between the rich and poor increased.

8. Middle class merchants and professionals became richer and more numerous, especially in the towns. Below them were the great mass of the population, craftsmen and labourers. In the 18th century probably half the population lived as subsistence or bare survival level. An 18th Century coal mine in the midlands

9. Between 1700 and 1800 there was also an agricultural revolution. Until 1701 seed was sown by hand. That year JethroTull invented a seed drill, which sowed seed in straight lines. He also invented a horse drawn hoe which hoed the land and destroyed weed between rows of crops. Until then most livestock was slaughtered at the beginning of winter as farmers could not grow enough food to feed their animals through the winter months.

10. Up to the 18th century land was divided into 3 fields. Two fields were sown with crops while the third was left fallow (unused). The Dutch had began to grow swedes or turnips on land instead of leaving it fallow, which restored the soil's fertility. When harvested turnips were stored to provide food for livestock over the winter. The new methods were popularised in England by a man named Robert 'Turnip' Townsend (1674-1741).

11. Under the 3 field system, the land around a village or small town, was divided into 3 huge fields. Each farmer owning a few strips of land in each field. During the 18th century land was enclosed, divided up so each farmer had all his land in one place instead of scattered across 3 fields. Enclosure allowed farmers to use their land more efficiently.

12. Also in the 1700s a farmer, Robert Bakewell began scientific stockbreeding (selective breeding). Farm animals grew larger providing more meat, milk and wool. Despite the farming improvements, the food of ordinary folk remained plain and dull. Meat was a luxury and bread, potatoes, butter and tea were the staple foodstuffs. I’m bored, bung us a rusk!

13. Whether your family was in a craft or in agriculture working the land would very likely have been a part of their everyday life and economy. Farming a few strips or more would have been part of most of their experience in 1700, unless they were rather more wealthy. It is worth considering how this lifestyle affected their outlook, morality, religion, costume and health as we progress through this family history course.

14. Is it more likely that you can identify with any of these aspects of living as a result of researching your own family history. • How far back have you now progressed? • Where were your ancestors living in the 1700s? • What can be known about their occupations? • Are there dwellings still standing from the area in which they lived? • Have you considered visiting the area, taking photos, walking the graveyards?

15. Useful websites: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/exodus_01.shtml http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_was_rural_life_like_in_England_during_the_late_1700's