Being Single in Georgian England: Families, Households, and the Unmarried by Harris, Amy

Being Single in Georgian England: Families, Households, and the Unmarried (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780192869494)

Vendor: Amy Harris
Product type: Books
Format: Hardcover
$90.00
$90.00
$90.00
Subtotal: $90.00
Being Single in Georgian England: Families, Households, and the Unmarried by Harris, Amy

Being Single in Georgian England: Families, Households, and the Unmarried

$90.00
Being Single in Georgian England: Families, Households, and the Unmarried by Harris, Amy

Being Single in Georgian England: Families, Households, and the Unmarried

$90.00
Format: Hardcover
Description
Description
x
Being Single in Georgian England is the first book-length exploration of what family life looked like, and how it was experienced, when viewed from the perspective of unmarried and childless family members. Using a micro-historical approach, Amy Harris covers three generations of the famous musical and abolitionist Sharp family. The abundance of records the Sharps produced and preserved reveals how single family members influenced the household economy, marital decisions, childrearing practices, and conceptions about lineage and genealogy. The Sharps' exceptional closeness and good humor consistently shines through as their experiences reveal how eighteenth-century families navigated gender and age hierarchies, marital choices, and household governance. The importance of childhood relationships and the life-long nature of siblinghood stand out as central aspects of Sharp family life, no matter their marital status. Along the way, Being Single explores humor, music, religious practice and belief, death and mourning, infertility, disability, slavery, abolition, philanthropy, and family memory.

The Sharps' experiences uncover how important lateral kin like siblings and cousins were to marital and household decisions. The analysis also reveals additional layers of Georgian family life, including: single sociability not centered on courtship; the importance of aunting and uncling on their own terms; the ways charitable acts and philanthropic endeavors could serve as outlets or partial replacements for parenthood; and how genealogical practices could be tied to values and identity instead of to biological descendants' possession of property.

Ultimately, the Sharp siblings' remarkable lives and the single family members' efforts to preserve a record of those lives, show the enduring contribution of unmarried people to family relationships and household dynamics.

Author: Amy Harris
ISBN-10: 0192869493
ISBN-13: 9780192869494
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Language: English
Published: 11/03/2023
Pages: 272
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.35lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.40w x 1.30d
By Amy Harris
By Amy Harris
x
Amy Harris, Associate Professor of History, Brigham Young University

Amy Harris is an associate professor of history at Brigham Young University and an accredited genealogist. Her research interests focus on families, women, and gender in early modern Britain. She is particularly interested in the way family and social relationships inform one another. She has written about siblinghood, genealogical practices, childhood, and singleness. Professor Harris teaches British and European history, introductory and advanced genealogy courses, English paleography, and women's studies. She currently serves as the coordinator of the Family History BA Program at BYU.

Recently Viewed Products