Ingenious Trade: Women and Work in Seventeenth-Century London

Ingenious Trade explores the lives of young women who came to London in the late seventeenth century to earn their own living, using legal records and guild archives to reconstruct their negotiations with city regulations and bureaucracy. It shows how single women, wives, and widows established themselves in guilds, creating a network that extended from elites to paupers and around the country.

Format: Hardback
Length: 284 pages
Publication date: 16 December 2021
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Ingenious Trade delves into the captivating narratives of young women who ventured to London in the late seventeenth century, driven by the desire to forge their own livelihoods, often through the skilled art of needlework. By meticulously tracing these women through city archives, the book unveils the intricate details of their contracts, training, and skills, spanning from their adolescence to old age. This groundbreaking work stands in stark contrast to the informal, unstructured, and often marginalized aspects of women's labor. Instead, it utilizes legal records and guild archives to reconstruct women's negotiations with city regulations and bureaucracy. Through this comprehensive archival reconstruction, Laura Gowing reclaims the profound significance of apprenticeship in the lives of girls and women, placing their work at the very center of the revolutionary transformation in worldly goods.

The late seventeenth century witnessed a significant influx of young women to London, driven by the pursuit of economic independence. These women, known as needlewomen, came from diverse backgrounds and sought opportunities to earn a living through their skilled craftsmanship. Many of them were single, wives, or widows, seeking to establish themselves in guilds alongside and separate from men. The guilds served as networks that extended from the elites to the paupers, spanning across the country.

Ingenious Trade sheds light on the intricate negotiations that women engaged in with city regulations and bureaucracy. It reveals how they navigated the complex rules and regulations that governed their trade, often facing challenges and discrimination. The book showcases the resilience and determination of these women as they established themselves in guilds, often facing resistance and adversity. It demonstrates how they forged alliances, built networks, and collaborated to improve their working conditions and advocate for their rights.

Through an intensive and creative archival reconstruction, Laura Gowing recovers the significance of apprenticeship in the lives of girls and women. She explores how apprenticeship provided them with valuable skills, knowledge, and networks that helped them succeed in their chosen profession. The book emphasizes the importance of education and training for women, particularly in the context of a rapidly evolving industrial society. It sheds light on the challenges that women faced in accessing education and the ways in which they overcame these barriers to achieve economic empowerment.

Ingenious Trade also highlights the contributions of women to the revolution in worldly goods. It demonstrates how their skilled needlework and craftsmanship played a vital role in the production of luxury goods, such as textiles, clothing, and accessories. Women's labor was essential in the growth of the textile industry, and their contributions helped to shape the economic landscape of London and beyond.

The book offers a rich and detailed account of the lives of these young women and their apprenticeships. It sheds light on the social, economic, and cultural contexts in which they operated, providing a deeper understanding of the complexities of seventeenth-century London. Ingenious Trade is a valuable contribution to the field of women's history, offering a fresh perspective on the lives of women in a period of significant change and transformation.

Weight: 544g
Dimension: 214 x 282 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781108486385
Edition number: New ed