Wanted Book on Social History of East England

[Debbie Bozkurt]

Does anyone know what book I could buy on the 'habits', lives etc. of Agricultural Labourers etc. from the Cambridgeshire, Norfolk area in Victorian Years. I have had my head researching my family around this area for a number of months. Have come to some of my own, maybe incorrect conclusions on for example whether the Railways were the saviour of the poor labourers. Would also be interested on the attitude to marriage, illegitimacy etc. I guess what I am looking for is a Social and Economic History of the area.

Not sure where to start looking, has anyone found anything interesting and fairly easy to read and understand.

Thanks

Debbie

[Bo Peep]

Take a look at the Archive CD Book stand at Parish Chest (http://www.parishchest.com/shop/index.php?cmd=listlinkeditems&cat=D3270&supplier=&breadcrumb=Bookshop%3AOccupations:Archive+CD+Books ).

[Jan1954]

Debbie,

Try Google Books: http://books.google.com/ and throw into the search box Norfolk Social and Economic History

I did just that and had more results than you could shake a stick at :o

[AnjaliUK]

Did you ever find a book for this that you could now recommend to save me buying a rubbish one? :) I was about to post pretty much exactly the same post on the forum but found this one.

I am trying to write biographies for my Cambridgeshire farmers, but a lot of the generic Victorian info I have read doesn't seem to fit. They were rich landowners, but a lot of stuff I have found focuses on either the working class or the upper class, and what I have read about the middle class doesn't match what hints I get about my lot. Although they were well off landowners, I get the impression they worked hard - some of the women have occupations, which was apparently a no-no for the middle class, and in one obituary it describes how the daughter had a principle share of the housework, despite them having had a servant in the census. I thought a book more specifically about the area and about farmers rather than the general middle class might help.

If you are still looking for the economic side of things, I find BritishHistoryOnline really useful for specific information about the economic stages of a town's history.

[Geoffers]

An interesting book which covers Norfolk is "Unquiet Country - Voices of the Rural Poor 1820-1880" by Robert Lee. ISBN 1-905119-03-8.

Also, "Farmers, Landlords and Landscapes - Rural Britain 1720-1870" by Susanna Wade-Martins. ISBN 0-9538630-9-3.

Both the above are published by WIndgather Press. Copies may be available via inter-library loan.

[davyr]

If you're including Suffolk, I'd recommend George Ewart Evans' "Ask the fellows who cut the hay" and "The pattern Under the plough".

[AnjaliUK]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I'll check them out :)