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Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 July 2009

Naomi Tadmor
Affiliation:
New Hall, Cambridge
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Summary

After decades of academic research on the history of the family in early modern England, scholars and students are both enlightened and perplexed. We now have a very considerable body of knowledge at our command. A field once dominated by ill-informed myths about family life in the past has been enriched with well-researched facts and many well-founded interpretations. Thus, for example, we now possess invaluable data on the demography of the family. We know the mean age at marriage of different populations, the average duration of marriage, rates of remarriage, and the extent of non-marrying populations. We know how many children families in the past were likely to have, how many were born out of wedlock, and how many were likely to die before they reached maturity. Beyond these facts and figures, we know much about conventions of courtship and marriage, as well as the history of marital breakdown. We are aware of different life-cycle stages, from childhood and adolescence to the experience of old age. We know about differences between town and country, rich and poor, east and west, north and south. Indeed, we have many studies that inform us about the experience of particular localities. We also know much about the different experiences of women and men in the past, and about the laws and customs that bred and nurtured these experiences.

This impressive accumulation of facts and interpretations attests to the productivity of historians of the family.

Type
Chapter
Information
Family and Friends in Eighteenth-Century England
Household, Kinship and Patronage
, pp. 1 - 17
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2001

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  • Introduction
  • Naomi Tadmor, New Hall, Cambridge
  • Book: Family and Friends in Eighteenth-Century England
  • Online publication: 30 July 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511496097.002
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  • Introduction
  • Naomi Tadmor, New Hall, Cambridge
  • Book: Family and Friends in Eighteenth-Century England
  • Online publication: 30 July 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511496097.002
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Introduction
  • Naomi Tadmor, New Hall, Cambridge
  • Book: Family and Friends in Eighteenth-Century England
  • Online publication: 30 July 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511496097.002
Available formats
×