Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures and tables
- List of plates
- List of abbreviations
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 The birth of settlement
- 2 The settlement of the poor and the rise of the form
- 3 Kinship, community, and settlement
- 4 Governance, gender, social status, and settlement: or, where was Mrs Turner?
- 5 The settlement of the fiscal-military state
- Conclusion
- Select bibliography
- Index
4 - Governance, gender, social status, and settlement: or, where was Mrs Turner?
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 April 2026
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures and tables
- List of plates
- List of abbreviations
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 The birth of settlement
- 2 The settlement of the poor and the rise of the form
- 3 Kinship, community, and settlement
- 4 Governance, gender, social status, and settlement: or, where was Mrs Turner?
- 5 The settlement of the fiscal-military state
- Conclusion
- Select bibliography
- Index
Summary
Chapter 4 focuses on the impact of the settlement laws on local community life. A rare personal diary by a Sussex village shopkeeper (1754–1765) records his activity as a parish officer and helps to paint a detailed canvas, and to connect the history of parish administration with studies of gender and the social order. This chapter also returns to the legal framework to explore further the responsibilities of the overseer of the poor and the parish vestry.
Keywords
Information
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Settlement of the Poor in England, c.1660–1780Law, Society, and State Formation, pp. 192 - 218Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
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