British (1714-1815) / John Ashton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ashton, John, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Working class--England--London.

Working class.

England--Social life and customs--18th century.

England.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Other Title:

British

Place of Publication:

New Haven, Conn : Human Relations Area Files, 2013.

Summary:

This collection consists of 8 documents. Green (1963) and George (1965) are the most general introductions to the collection. Green is primarily concerned with political history but provides much general ethnographic information as well. George (1965) is specifically concerned with life in eighteenth century London, and concentrates on the poor and working classes. Campbell (1747) is a contemporary guide to 313 trades and professions practiced in London and was intended to describe them so that parents might choose those appropriate for their children. Ashton (1885) is a picture of life during the late eighteenth century (1788-1799) based largely on newspapers of the time that covers such things as clothing, the military, entertainments, and crime. Sydney (1891) is a two volume social history of eighteenth century England with a series of short chapters on manners and customs, daily life, occupations, and the general social conditions. It refers largely to the upper classes and is based for the most part on diaries and personal correspondence. Barfoot and Wilkes (1791) is in many ways a precursor of the modern telephone directory with its 900 pages of lists including the names, addresses, and professions of London's citizens; a directory of land and sea transportation; legal institutions and personnel; officers of the Court of St. James; government offices and their locations; banks; medical personnel; and members of the city government. Besant (1902) is similar to Sydney (1891), but includes chapters on the whole century and is a more comprehensive and serious history. Limited to just London, it includes a lengthy political history of eighteenth century London, followed by chapters on life in the city, architecture, religion and the church, government, trade, manners and customs, amusements, and crime. Chamberlayne (1729) is another contemporary directory very similar to Barfoot & Wilkes (1791), but it covers the whole country and Scotland, and is for the earlier part of the century. It contains information on such topics as class structure, laws, history, weights and measures, and points of interest to travelers. Drummond & Wilbraham (1940) is a discussion of British diet in the eighteenth century. It is mostly based on contemporary diaries, correspondence, and scientific journals. It discusses variation in diet by class and region, and rural versus urban differences. It also deals with diet and health, and pays particular attention to gluttony, epidemics, scurvy, and rickets. Most of the documents in the collection focus on the first and second parts of the Georgian period (1714-1815). Two of the documents are exclusively on London (George 1965; Besant 1902).

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.