The Grass Roots of English History

In medieval and early modern Britain, people would refer to their local district as their 'country', a term now largely forgotten but still used up until the First World War. Core groups of families that remained rooted in these 'countries', often bearing distinctive surnames still in use today, shaped local culture and passed on their traditions. In The Grass Roots of English History, David Hey examines the differing nature of the various local societies that were found throughout England in these periods.

The book provides an update on the progress that has been made in recent years in our understanding of the history of ordinary people living in different types of local societies throughout England, and demonstrates the value of studying the varied landscapes of England, from towns to villages, farmsteads, fields and woods to highways and lanes, and historic buildings from cathedrals to cottages. With its broad coverage from the medieval period up to the Industrial Revolution, the book shows how England's socio-economic landscape had changed over time, employing evidence provided by archaeology, architecture, botany, cultural studies, linguistics and historical demography.

The Grass Roots of English History provides an up-to-date account of the present state of knowledge about ordinary people in local societies throughout England written by an authority in the field, and as such will be of great value to all scholars of local and family history.

Autorentext

David Hey was Emeritus Professor of Local and Family History at the University of Sheffield. His books include How Our Ancestors Lived, The Oxford Guide to Family History, The Oxford Companion to Local and Family History and Family Names and Family History. He was President of the British Agricultural History Society, Chairman of the Local Population Studies Society and consultant editor for The National Archives' family history magazine, Ancestors.

David Hey was Emeritus Professor of Local History at Sheffield University and is the author of The Oxford Guide to Family History (1993).

Inhalt

Preface

1. Introduction: The Countries of England
2. The People of England
3. Organizing the Countryside: Villages, Hamlets and Farmsteads
4. England's Historic Towns and Cities
5. The Greatest Buildings in the Land
6. Parish Churches and Chapels
7. Timber-Framed Houses
8. Earning a Living in the Countryside
9. Packmen, Carriers and Watermen
10. Family Life and Society
    Select Bibliography
    Index