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Alice Thornton's Books @thorntonsbooks.bsky.social · 13h

Image: National Library of Ireland, Dublin, MS 2368.

Alice Thornton's Books @thorntonsbooks.bsky.social · 13h

9 Oct. 1677 #OTD Alice Thornton told her brother, Sir Christopher Wandesford, that she had written to Lady Ayscough to help negotiate a marriage between one of his daughters and the Ayscoughs’ son but could not visit her in person: ‘I find not myself able to walk down the hills’. #EarlyModern 🗃️ 📜

The end of a 17th-century letter which includes the large signature of Alice Thornton.

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Brodie Waddell @brodiewaddell.bsky.social · 7d

Who did what in early modern England?

New #OpenAccess book, 'The Experience of Work in Early Modern England' by @jwhittle.bsky.social, @markhailwood.bsky.social, @hkrobb.bsky.social & @aucointaylor.bsky.social, based on thousands of #EarlyModern court depositions 🗃️

Read it: doi.org/10.1017/9781...

This book applies the innovative work-task approach to the history of work, which captures the contribution of all workers and types of work to the early modern economy. Drawing on tens of thousands of court depositions, the authors analyse the individual tasks that made up everyday work for women and men, shedding new light on the gender division of labour, and the ways in which time, space, age and marital status shaped sixteenth and seventeenth-century working life. Combining qualitative and quantitative analysis, the book deepens our understanding of the preindustrial economy, and calls for us to rethink not only who did what, but also the implications of these findings for major debates about structural change, the nature and extent of paid work, and what has been lost as well as gained over the past three centuries of economic development. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.

Cover of Whittle, Jane, Mark Hailwood, Hannah Robb, and Taylor Aucoin. The Experience of Work in Early Modern England. of Cambridge Studies in Economic History - Second Series. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2025.

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Mark Hailwood @markhailwood.bsky.social · 2d

As you dig out your chunky knitwear from the back of the draw, I know you are wondering: 'How did people prepare for winter 400 years ago?'

Read today's post to find out (and whet your appetite for our new book The Experience of Work in Early Modern England)

manyheadedmonster.com/2025/10/07/t...

The Experience of Work in Early Modern England I: Winter is Coming

This post is part of a series that marks the publication of The Experience of Work in Early Modern England. The book is co-authored by monster head Mark Hailwood, along with Jane Whittle, Hannah Ro…

manyheadedmonster.com

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Mark Hailwood @markhailwood.bsky.social · 18h

Another post on 'The Experience of Work in Early Modern England' - a reminder that work in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was very much a family affair...

manyheadedmonster.com/2025/10/09/t...

The Experience of Work in Early Modern England II: Family Fortunes

This post is part of a series that marks the publication of The Experience of Work in Early Modern England. The book is co-authored by monster head Mark Hailwood, along with Jane Whittle, Hannah Ro…

manyheadedmonster.com

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Reposted by Alice Thornton's Books

Cordelia Beattie @cordeliabeattie.bsky.social · 1d

The Thorntons helped Christopher and Anne Danby out in the 1660s. Alice was still pursuing this 'debt' in her last will and testament, written in 1705! #EarlyModern 📜 🗃️

Alice Thornton's Books @thorntonsbooks.bsky.social · 1d

8 Oct. 1688 #OTD Thornton wrote to her great-nephew, Abstrupus Danby, seeking help with her son’s debts. She reminded him ‘how sad and necessitous a condition your father and mother ... were in for several years when their just right was detained from them and they cast off by all’. #EarlyModern 1/2

Outside of a 17th-century letter. Addressed to Abstrupus Danby at his house in York. Above that he has annotated it as a letter from his aunt Thornton, about what she did for his family, and that he is willing to pay her £50 next Martinmas.

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Alice Thornton's Books @thorntonsbooks.bsky.social · 1d

Abstrupus noted on the outside of the letter (pictured) that he was willing to pay £50 (Thornton had asked for £150, claiming to have spent over £300).

Image: Letter from Alice Thornton to Abstrupus Danby, October 8 1688. NYCRO, ZS: Swinton and Middleham Estate Records. 2/2 📜 🗃️

Alice Thornton's Books @thorntonsbooks.bsky.social · 1d

8 Oct. 1688 #OTD Thornton wrote to her great-nephew, Abstrupus Danby, seeking help with her son’s debts. She reminded him ‘how sad and necessitous a condition your father and mother ... were in for several years when their just right was detained from them and they cast off by all’. #EarlyModern 1/2

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Alice Thornton's Books @thorntonsbooks.bsky.social · 3d

Image: Peeter Gijsels, Landscape with Figures and Carriages (second half of 17th century). Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Alice Thornton's Books @thorntonsbooks.bsky.social · 3d

6 Oct. 1636 #OTD a young Alice, her mother and brothers were in a coach accident on the way to Kildare. The driver was worried they would all fall into a river and drown and so did ‘throw the coach' towards the other side 'which did hurt some of us’ (Bk 1). #EarlyModern 🗃️

A 17th-century painting of a rural scene with a coach and horses in the centre.

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Naomi Baker @drnaomibaker.bsky.social · 3d

Hester Biddle was a Quaker preacher who was imprisoned 14 times, often simply for preaching. She was enraged by the growing inequalities of C17th London and warned that God would judge those who ignored the needs of those begging for food on the streets. Ch 7 of Voices of Thunder tells her story

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Naomi Baker @drnaomibaker.bsky.social · 4d

Ch 6 of Voices of Thunder tells the inspiring story of the London lace woman Elizabeth Attaway, the first C17th woman to preach publicly to a mixed-sex congregation. Her Baptist church did not let women preach, but Attaway did not allow her low social status or her sex to be a barrier … 1/2

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Naomi Baker @drnaomibaker.bsky.social · 9d

Just two weeks until Voices of Thunder is published! If you’re interested in hearing the stories of a dozen radical seventeenth-century women, it can be pre-ordered now ⚡️#earlymodern #womenshistory

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Naomi Baker @drnaomibaker.bsky.social · 8d

Ch 1 of Voices of Thunder tells Rose Thurgood’s story. She lived in Colchester, where she and her children were poor to the point of starvation. As a C17th woman writing from this perspective, her voice in the archive is unique. Her account of her life is in manuscript @thejohnrylands.bsky.social

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Naomi Baker @drnaomibaker.bsky.social · 7d

Ch 3 of Voices of Thunder tells the story of the self-proclaimed prophet Elizabeth Poole, one of the only women of her era to intervene in political debate at the highest level. Just weeks before Charles I’s execution, Poole demanded an audience with Cromwell and the council of officers. 1/2

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Naomi Baker @drnaomibaker.bsky.social · 6d

Sarah Wight, a 17th-century London teenager and Baptist who struggled with extreme anxiety, is the subject of Chapter 4 of Voices of Thunder. Sarah co-wrote a searing but ultimately inspirational account of her experiences. She went on to become a well-known spiritual counsellor. #earlymodern

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Naomi Baker @drnaomibaker.bsky.social · 5d

A serious contender for my favourite woman in Voices of Thunder! Anna Trapnel was a young woman who publicly criticised Oliver Cromwell. A thorn in the side of the authorities, she was accused of being a witch. Trapnel was a true radical, advocating for a fairer society for all. #earlymodern

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Alice Thornton's Books @thorntonsbooks.bsky.social · 6d

Image: Memorial stone for Thomas Comber, Stonegrave Minster. Cordelia Beattie, 2022.

Alice Thornton's Books @thorntonsbooks.bsky.social · 6d

3 Oct. 1700 #OTD Alice Thornton’s daughter, Alice Comber, gave bond of £2000 to prove the will of her late husband, Thomas Comber. In his will he left Alice Thornton £10 for mourning dress and specified that the annuity he had paid her since 1692 should continue. #EarlyModern 🗃️

Photo of a 17th-century dark memorial slab - text upside down - surrounded by tiles in a geometric pattern. At the top of the photo you can see the lower part of the altar.

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Alice Thornton's Books @thorntonsbooks.bsky.social · 7d

These lines closely follow Francis Quarles, ‘Meditation 12’ in Divine Poems (1633), 49.

Image: Woman Reading by Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, Dutch, 1606–1669; public domain via Creative Commons.

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Alice Thornton's Books @thorntonsbooks.bsky.social · 7d

#NationalPoetryDay Thornton included poetry in her books. E.g.
'Lord, guide my heart, and give my soul direction,
Subdue my passions, curb my stout affections,
Nip thou the bud, before the bloom begins:
Lord, the ever one, keep me from presumptuous sins.'
(Bk Rem, 5) #EarlyModern 📜 📚 1/2

17th-century drawing of a woman, in a headscarf, reading a book.

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Gender & History Journal @genderandhistory.bsky.social · 14d

We are delighted to announce that Gender & History now has a new home at the University of Edinburgh. With thanks to the Sheffield team who did a stellar job for the last five years. hca.ed.ac.uk/gender-histo...
#Skystorians #GenderHistory @hcaatedinburgh.bsky.social

'Gender & History' moves to Edinburgh | School of History, Classics & Archaeology | History Classics and Archaeology

The School is very excited to announce that the leading international journal ‘Gender & History’ has moved to the University of Edinburgh.

hca.ed.ac.uk

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Alice Thornton's Books @thorntonsbooks.bsky.social · 16d

Image: Portrait of a baby, in lace costume lying upon a bed, oil on panel, 17th century. Anglo-Dutch school. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Alice Thornton's Books @thorntonsbooks.bsky.social · 16d

23 Sept. 1656 #OTD Alice Thornton’s 8th child, Joyce, was born at East Newton about 4 o’clock in the afternoon; ‘it pleased the Lord to make me happy in a goodly strong child, a daughter, after an exceedingly sharp and perilous time’ (Book 1).
#EarlyModern 🗃️

17th-century painting of a baby lying in a bed of silver hues. The baby's clothes and headdress and the bedding match.

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Naomi Baker @drnaomibaker.bsky.social · 21d

Women have been speaking out about abuse for centuries! I wrote about Anne Wentworth, a 17th-century survivor of domestic abuse, for @theconversation.com #earlymodern

The 17th-century woman who wrote about surviving domestic abuse

In the 17th century, Anne Wentworth spoke out against her abusive husband and the religious institution that protected him.

theconversation.com

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