Kinship and Capitalism
Marriage, Family, and Business in the English-Speaking World, 1580–1740

This study reconstructs the lives of urban business families during England's emergence as a world economic power.

Richard Grassby (Author)

9780521782036, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 27 November 2000

528 pages, 42 tables
23.8 x 16.3 x 3.6 cm, 0.94 kg

'The sections on the accumulation of capital, on women and widows in business are particularly full of interesting stimuli for social and economic historians, and will not fail to inspire future research in what remains the great unanswered question in the relationship between family and business … ' Journal of Urban History

This uncompromisingly empirical study reconstructs the public and private lives of urban business families during the period of England's emergence as a world economic power. Using a broad cross-section of archival, rather than literary, sources, it tests the orthodox view that the family as an institution was transformed by capitalism and individualism. The approach is both quantitative and qualitative. A database of 28,000 families has been constructed to tackle questions such as demographic structure, kinship and inheritance, which must be answered statistically. Much of the book, however, focuses on issues such as courtship and relations among spouses, parents and children, which can only be studied through those families that have left intimate records. The overall conclusion is that none of the abstract models invented to explain the historical development of the family withstand empirical scrutiny and that familial capitalism, not possessive individualism, was the motor of economic growth.

Tables
Abbreviations
Explanatory notes
Preface
Introduction: models and myths
Part I. Marriage: 1. Making a match
2. Husbands and wives
3. Widowers and widows
Part II. The Business Family: 4. Parents and children
5. Adulthood and old age
6. Kin and community
Part III. The Family Business: 7. Men in business
8. Women in business
9. Inheritance and advancement
Conclusion: capitalism and the life cycle
Appendices
Sources
Index.

Subject Areas: Economic history [KCZ], Gender studies: women [JFSJ1], British & Irish history [HBJD1]