Never Married. Singlewomen in early modern Britain

Topics:

  • Name Women in business

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Notes:

See the writer's doctoral thesis, 'Singlewomen, Work and Community in Southampton, 1550-1750', Duke University, 1996. In a wide ranging scholarly study touches on their business interests - eg moneylending, notably at Southampton but also at Bristol, Oxford and York [pp129-41]; property holding at Southampton, Bristol, Oxford and York [pp121-28]; general trades [pp91-112]. Chapters include: 'Marital status as a category of difference - singlewomen and widows'; 'Single but not alone - the family history of never-married women'; 'A maid is not always a servant - singlewomen in the urban economy'; 'Women of independent means - the civic significance of never-married women'; 'Spinsters, superannuated virgins, and old maids - representations of singlewomen'; 'The question of choice - how never-married women represented singleness'