Language
English (en)
Date of Award
Spring 5-15-2026
Author's Department
History
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts (A.B.)
Restricted/Unrestricted
Unrestricted
Abstract
In May of 1695, a group of inhabitants walked the grounds of the English locality of Melbourne (Derbyshire) and collected demographic data from every household within the parish boundaries. From this perambulation came a uniquely detailed census-type listing. Combining that listing with other available sources, including probate records, criminal litigation, property disputes, financial papers, antiquarian accounts, maps, and enclosure agreements from across seven record offices, this project uncovers the complex social and economic developments experienced by those who lived in Melbourne from 1650 to 1750. To analyze this well-documented parish, this thesis utilizes various methodologies. Nominal record linkage connects Melbourne’s diverse sources across time and space to specific individuals from all social and economic statuses. The transcription and statistical analysis of 168 surviving wills and inventories, spanning across 100 years, situates the locality of Melbourne within the changing material and economic worlds of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Structurally, “Within Melbourne: Landscape, Labor, and Material Culture in a Derbyshire Parish, 1650-1750” is divided into three main focuses: Melbourne’s farming economies and the landscape, labor and production, and material culture. When combined, these topics of analysis account for the historiographical orthodoxy that work was experienced economically as necessary labor and a means towards consumption, but also socially as a series of acts and responsibilities shared between families and neighbors. Ultimately, this thesis proves that, while a broad and statistically supported analysis of change over time may provide historians with the general picture of Melbourne, it is the intimate stories of laborers, craftsmen, farmers, and women that allow us to access the experience of life in the pastures of rural England.
Mentor
Dr. Steve Hindle
Additional Advisors
Dr. Lori Watt and Dr. Daniel Bornstein
Recommended Citation
Powell, Mia, "Within Melbourne: Landscape, Labor, and Material Culture in a Derbyshire Parish, 1650-1750" (2026). Senior Honors Papers / Undergraduate Theses. 81.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/undergrad_etd/81