th
18
Century
Historical Context
1. The Rural Context
For over 200 years people have left the countryside and
fled to towns or overseas. There are many reasons for
this including:
• conditions became too intolerable
• because they have been denied access to land or jobs
• people voluntarily deserted the land in preference for
a better life
People were either 'pushed' off the land or 'pulled' to
the towns by the attractions of life elsewhere.
The ‘Enclosures’ of lands forced many to move into the
factories of the growing industrial towns and cities.
The former cottagers no longer laboured with land and
were forced to work long hours for very low wages.
Rural industries that had existed now fell behind and
were outshone by the industrial centres.
The old ‘Cottage Industries’ had provided work for
women, children and craftsmen, but they could not
compete with machine-made goods.
Machinery gradually
replaced people and
one by one the
traditional trades and
industries succumbed.
The only ones who
survived were those
who serviced the
‘horse-economy’ – the
blacksmiths,
wheelwrights and
saddlers.
They survived until the motor
vehicle undermined them in
the twentieth century.
Nevertheless, some historians point out that the
enclosures only really affected certain areas, such as
the South and East Midlands.
The new mills and factories of the north were not
merely filled with dispossessed agricultural labourers;
they often drew on local families long involved in some
form of manufacturing.
Urban towns and cities offered jobs with better wages,
promising varied and appealing social lives. This
appealed to young men and women who were bored
with the oppressive and dull life of small communities.
So the decision to move was arrived at by comparing
prospects at home and elsewhere, and it involved
the whole family.
Other things can be said of the eighteenth century
which had significant bearing on the rural context.
For example, in 1700 the population of Britain was
about 6.5 million. By 1800 it was over 9 million.
Owning land was the main form of
wealth and political power in the 18th
century.
At the top were the nobility. Below
them a class of nearly rich landowners
called the gentry. In 1700 a ‘yeomen’
class lay between the rich and the
poor.
During the century they became less
numerous and the gap between the
rich and poor increased.
Middle class merchants and professionals became richer
and more numerous, especially in the towns. Below
them were the great mass of the population, craftsmen
and labourers.
In the 18th century probably half the population lived as
subsistence or bare survival level.
An 18th Century coal
mine in the midlands
Between 1700 and 1800
there was also an agricultural
revolution. Until 1701 seed
was sown by hand. That year
Jethro Tull invented a seed
drill, which sowed seed in
straight lines.
He also invented a horse drawn hoe which hoed the
land and destroyed weed between rows of crops.
Until then most livestock was slaughtered at the
beginning of winter as farmers could not grow enough
food to feed their animals through the winter months.
Up to the 18th
century land
was divided
into 3 fields.
Two fields were
sown with
crops while the
third was left
fallow (unused).
The Dutch had began to grow swedes
or turnips on land instead of leaving it
fallow, which restored the soil's
fertility.
When harvested turnips were stored
to provide food for livestock over the
winter.
The new methods were
popularised in England by a
man named Robert 'Turnip'
Townsend (1674-1741).
Under the 3 field
system, the land
around a village or
small town, was
divided into 3 huge
fields. Each farmer
owning a few strips
of land in each
field.
During the 18th century land was enclosed, divided up
so each farmer had all his land in one place instead of
scattered across 3 fields. Enclosure allowed farmers to
use their land more efficiently.
Also in the 1700s a farmer, Robert Bakewell began
scientific stockbreeding (selective breeding). Farm
animals grew larger providing more meat, milk and
wool.
Despite the farming
improvements, the food of
ordinary folk remained plain
and dull. Meat was a luxury
and bread, potatoes, butter
and tea were the staple
foodstuffs.
I’m bored, bung us a rusk!
Whether your family was in a craft or in agriculture
working the land would very likely have been a part of
their everyday life and economy.
Farming a few strips or more would have been part of
most of their experience in 1700, unless they were
rather more wealthy.
It is worth considering how this lifestyle affected their
outlook, morality, religion, costume and health as we
progress through this family history course.
Is it more likely that you can identify with any of these
aspects of living as a result of researching your own
family history.
 How far back have you now progressed?
 Where were your ancestors living in the 1700s?
 What can be known about their occupations?
 Are there dwellings still standing from the area in
which they lived?
 Have you considered visiting the area, taking
photos, walking the graveyards?
Useful websites:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/vict
orians/exodus_01.shtml
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_was_ru
ral_life_like_in_England_during_the_late_
1700's