Farmers, Consumers, Innovators

About the book

“[A] succinct and handsomely produced volume...” Kate Tiller, International Journal of Regional and Local History

“The book is attractively produced, well illustrated, and reasonably priced. Focusing on several key aspects of Joan Thirsk’s wide ranging interests, this book deserves the attention of economic and social historians of the late medieval as well as the early modern periods.” John S. Lee, The Ricardian

“The strength of the book... is in the combination of papers on a diverse range of related topics. As historians with the vast range of expertise that Thirsk held are very rare for most readers it will provide thought-provoking links between their own field and ones they may not have considered before.” Ronan O'Donnell, Landscape History

“What we have here, therefore are accessible, readable, thought provoking summaries and critiques of debates which Thirsk has been instrumental in making central to the study of rural social history, combined with practical examples of how a wide range of sources and techniques have been, and could be used by local historians to pursue the issues themselves.” Michael Winstanley, The Local Historian

“There is much to appreciate in this book… I was particularly interested in the articles on 'common fields' and enclosure but also very taken by the ones on dress and the village shop and the use of probate inventories, a source underused by local historians.” Janet Morris, CALH Review

Joan Thirsk was the leading English agrarian historian of the late 20th century. Perhaps best known for her research into regional farming, she also wrote much about rural industry, changing tastes and fashions, and innovations in the rural economy.

This book is based on a conference held in her honour (following her death in 2013) that was intended not to look back but rather to identify Joan Thirsk’s relevance for historians now, and to present new work that has been influenced and inspired by her.

Some of the contributors are scholars who knew Joan, and as students were taught and supervised by her; others are younger people who know of her ideas from her publications.

More about the book

Joan Thirsk’s agrarian research revealed rural England to be a rich mosaic of distinct farming regions, each with its own way of working the land.
It had been supposed that, before the Agricultural Revolution, peasants were dull conservatives who resisted innovation and had to be forced into modernity.
Thirsk’s work, by contrast, highlighted farmers’ ability to respond to the demands of consumers and the capacity of industries to satisfy changing fashions, such as the vogue for knitted stockings. Her writings were informed by a sympathy for country people, which enabled her to appreciate their wisdom and common sense.
The contributors to this book have been inspired by Joan Thirsk's revelation of a lively, varied and developing rural scene, and pursue themes that extend her pioneering work in new ways.
Their chapters on regional differences, farming methods, conflicts over the use of land, shopping opportunities, fashion and consumption resonate with each other and present fresh insights into a world that was undergoing transformation well before the Agricultural Revolution.

View the table of contents

	List of figures	vii
	List of tables	viii
	Notes on contributors	ix
	Series editors' preface	xi
	Preface and acknowledgements	xii
1	Joan Thirsk at Leicester Christopher Dyer	1
	Part I: Countries, pays and regions	9
2	Countries and pays David Hey	11
3	Joan Thirsk and agricultural regions: a fifty-year perspective John Broad	17
4	Joan Thirsk: pays, country, transitions and agencies John Chartres	28
	Part II: Farmers and fields	33
5	Joan Thirsk and ‘The common fields’ Tom Williamson	35
6	‘A Countrie' consisting wholly of woodland, ‘bredd of Oxen and Dairies’? Agricultural regions and rural communities in lowland pastoral Shropshire during the early modern period James Bowen	49
7	Enclosure, common fields and social relations in early modern Norfolk Nicola Whyte	63
	Part III: Innovators	77
8	An early industrial workforce: spinning in the countryside, c.1500–50 Craig Muldrew	79
9	The village shop, 1660–1760: innovation and tradition Jon Stobart	89
	Part IV: Consumers	103
10	‘Galloon, incle and points’: fashionable dress and accessories in rural England, 1552–1665 Susan North	104
11	Oats and oatcakes: farming and diet in the north Midlands in the post-medieval period Mark Dawson	124
12	Peter Walkden and the world of goods Richard Hoyle	139
13	End piece Richard Jones	157
	Index	161

About the Editor/s:
Richard Jones

Dr Richard Jones is a Lecturer in Landscape History at the University of Leicester. He has previously worked for the Sussex Archaeological Society and the University of Cardiff.
Other titles by this author
- Farmers, Consumers, Innovators: The world of Joan Thirsk – with Christopher Dyer (Eds)
- Deserted Villages Revisited - with Christopher Dyer (Eds)
Christopher Dyer

Christopher Dyer is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Leicester. His research covers social and economic history, archaeology, and the study of the landscape, in the middle ages in England.
Current research interests
The main project is to complete work on ‘Peasant farming 1200-1540’ which is being funded by the Leverhulme Trust. This is intended to make a new assessment of the types of farming practised by peasants, and to evaluate their role in the economy.
In addition publication of various projects in landscape history such as surveys of Admington, Compton Scorpion, Westcote and Bretford in Warwickshire.
Past research interests
The economic and social history of medieval England, which includes the management of landed estates, agrarian history, peasant mentality and rebellion, standards of living (including diet and housing), consumers and consumption, relations between town and country, the role of towns, especially of smaller towns, the conditions and attitudes of wage earners, poverty, the origins of capitalism, landscape history, rural depopulation, and money and commerce.
Much of this research has been focussed on the west midland region (Gloucestershire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire) but has also included the east midlands, East Anglia and Yorkshire.
Other titles by this author
- Farmers, Consumers, Innovators: The world of Joan Thirsk – with Richard Jones (Eds)
- Deserted Villages Revisited - with Richard Jones (Eds)

ISBN: 978-1-909291-56-0 Format: Paperback, 192pp Published: Sep 2016

Farmers, Consumers, Innovators

The world of Joan Thirsk

About the book

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Richard Jones

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Christopher Dyer

Current research interests

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