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
3 - Kinship, community, and settlement
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
In Chapter 3, notions of kinship and family come to the fore. Once belonging had been articulated by the settlement laws, and moreover was seen to have been invested not only in individuals but in families, the question soon arose: who counted as ‘family’ for the purposes of the law? For example, when and under what circumstances would the status of ‘child’ expire? What would be the effects of marriage and remarriage? A study of legal sources helps distil the changing regulations – another unintended consequence of the settlement laws which affected millions, and echoes today. A case study concerning one woman illustrates the effects of the settlement laws on kinship and community relations. Local and regional samples suggest how the law was implemented in near and distant localities.
Keywords
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- The Settlement of the Poor in England, c.1660–1780Law, Society, and State Formation, pp. 139 - 191Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
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