Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.
This project investigated the character and development of London’s eastern suburb by examining the life of the inhabitants of the extra-mural parishes of St Botolph Aldgate and Holy Trinity Minories from c.1550-c.1700. Covering just under 80 acres running south from the parish of St Botolph Bishopsgate to the Thames, this area experienced a population explosion during the early modern period, from c.3,500 inhabitants in 1540, over 11,000 by 1650, to nearly 20,000 by 1700. The area offers a population with a unique range of social and economic experiences which allow the greatest possible scope for studying suburban living in early modern London. Moreover, it also offers an unprecedented array of sources, including parish registers, records of poor relief, numerous taxation and household listings, and the observations of the parish clerks of St Botolph. The project had three main aims. The first involves a full family reconstitution and demographic analysis of the area’s parish registers - the largest reconstitution yet attempted from English registers. Relevant issues here are seasonality of mortality across the period, and the impact of maternal feeding practices. The second area of research involved study of the status, wealth and arrangement of the domestic units within the two parishes. Major themes here concern the levels of poverty and overseas immigration, the impact of London’s growth on existing social structures and whether communities of wealth congregated in different areas of the suburb. Finally, the third project strand concerned the topographical development of the area, specifically the expansion of its housing stock. Subjects of interest here included the residence patterns and spatial characteristics of the population, variables such as housing quality and amenity, and rental values.
Main Topics:
The datasets in this collection are composed of data created from sources that fall into four categories: 1. The parish registers of St Botolph Aldgate and Holy Trinity Minories 2. Parochial records from the vestry of St Botolph Aldgate 3. Lists of inhabitants from local and national taxation records 4. Records of ownership and conveyance of properties within the parish of St Botolph Aldgate Two principal approaches were taken to creating the data from sources in groups 1-3. For the parish register material, data was entered into a relational database, whilst for the parish records and lists of inhabitants ‘semi-structured’ transcriptions were made. These latter comprise verbatim transcriptions with core information – usually relating to named individuals or payments made and received – organised in a tabular structure, sometimes with (clearly identified) added analytical apparatus. In all cases all material has followed the original orthography. These source-specific datasets were subsequently processed and reconfigured for various research strands as required. The current data collection contains the pre-processed transcripts, subjected to editing and cleaning
No sampling (total universe)
Transcription of existing materials
