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Objects of Poverty

Material Culture in Britain from 1700

Objects of Poverty cover

Objects of Poverty

Material Culture in Britain from 1700

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Description

Focusing on the history of poverty through the lens of objects crafted, owned, and used by the impoverished, this book demonstrates how objects, or the lack of them, allow us to understand the experience of impoverishment from new and innovative perspectives.

Spanning British history from 1700 to the present, Objects of Poverty is the first volume dedicated to analysing the material culture of poverty. Whilst the study of materiality is a well-established discipline, the objects that feature in the lives of the poor is a field that has remained opaque. To address this gap, Harley and Holmes bring together a diverse cohort of leading and emerging scholars to examine the significance of objects to the impoverished across four centuries, and approach the history of poverty from a dynamic new perspective.

Including 80 illustrations, and drawing on a variety of historical sources - including objects that survive today - this book traces the importance of materiality across all aspects of early modern and modern life, including the domestic sphere, fashion, healthcare, institutional life, and leisure. Throughout its 20 chapters, this book crafts a detailed exploration of the history of poverty in Britain, and offers an excellent introduction to the study of materiality.

Table of Contents

List of Figures
List of Tables
List of Contributors
Preface
Acknowledgements
Introduction, Joseph Harley and Vicky Holmes (Anglia Ruskin University, UK and Notre Dame London, The University of Notre Dame (USA) in England, UK)
Part I: Objects of Sustenance
1. Bread: The Matter That Mattered Most, Carl Griffin (University of Sussex, UK)
2. Global Goods to Pauper Provisions under the Old Poor Law: Evidence from Overseers' Vouchers, 1765–1834, Peter Collinge (Keele University, UK)
3. 'Full of saloop with fire under it': Teaware, Saloop Stalls and Warmth on the Streets of Georgian London, Freya Purcell (Victoria & Albert Museum, UK)

Part II: Objects of Home
4. From Cradle to Grave? The Enduring Afterlife of the Egg Box in Victorian London, Vicky Holmes (Notre Dame London, The University of Notre Dame (USA) in England, UK)
5. From Improvised to Subsidised Safety: Fireguards, Jonathan Reinarz and Shane Ewen (University of Birmingham, UK and Leeds Metropolitan University, UK)
6. Coal in the Bath: Poverty, Modernity and the Welfare State in Postwar Britain, Michael Lambert (Lancaster University, UK)

Part III: Crafted Objects
7. Creativity in Poverty: British Sailors' Craft in the Long Nineteenth Century, Maya Wassell Smith (Royal Museums Greenwich, UK)
8. Buttons for Whistles in the Late-Victorian, Early Edwardian era: Unbranded Calls, Emily Cockayne (University of East Anglia, UK)
9. Makeshift Dolls and Working-Class Childhood, c. 1880-1930, Emily Cuming (Liverpool John Moores University, UK)

Part IV: Objects of Childhood
10. Toys for the Poor, c. 1700-1918, Ken Sneath (University of Cambridge, UK)
11. 'Models of Needlework': A Needlework Sample Book from the Dublin Female Orphan House, Eliza McKee (Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland)
12. Fragmentary Findings: A Victorian School Needlework Sample, Vivienne Richmond (Goldsmiths, University of London, UK)

Part V: Living Objects
13. The Poor's Best Friend? Dog Ownership and Companionship in England, c. 1780-1880, Joseph Harley (Anglia Ruskin University, UK)
14. 'Up With the Hen House': Chickens, Coops and Class Identity in British Municipal Cottage Estates, 1920–1950, Lesley Hoskins and Rebecca Preston (Buckinghamshire New University, UK and English Heritage London, UK)

Part VI: Monetary Objects
15. “Was much Reduced and had been under the necesity to Pawn his Cloaths”: Parish Payments to Redeem Pawned Goods in London in the Long Eighteenth Century, Samantha Williams (University of Cambridge, UK)
16. 'No Money Value': The Salvation Army Social Work Tokens in the Late Nineteenth Century, Flore Janssen (Salvation Army International Heritage Centre, UK)
17. The Purses of the Poor: Money, Autonomy and Everyday Life in Victorian and Edwardian England, Julie-Marie Strange (University of Durham, UK)

Part VII: Workhouse Objects
18. Going to Bed in the Workhouse: Facilities, Practices and Implications in the 1790s, Alannah Tomkins (Keele University, UK)
19. Scraps and Samplers: The Form and Function of Textile Artefacts in the Nineteenth Century Workhouse, Karen Thompson, Peter Jones and Steven King (University of Glasgow, UK and Nottingham Trent University, UK)
20. Investigating All They Possessed: Depredation, Damage and Defiance in the Vagrant Ward 1834 to 1900, Megan Yates (University of Leicester, UK)

VIII. Objects of Injury and Death
21. 'Ought I Not to Have Been Grateful?': Wooden Legs as Military Charity, 1800-1850s, Caroline Louise Nielsen (University of Northampton, UK)
22. Medical Objects: The Sick Poor and Their Relief in the Long Nineteenth-Century, Steven King & Peter Jones (University of Glasgow, UK and Nottingham Trent University, UK)
23. Inscription Gravestones: Poverty and Commemoration in the Late Nineteenth Century, Rebecca Senior (University of Nottingham, UK)

Bibliography

Product details

Bloomsbury Academic Test
Published 04 Sep 2025
Format Hardback
Edition 1st
Extent 320
ISBN 9781350368187
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Illustrations 80 bw illus
Dimensions 234 x 156 mm
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Anthology Editor

Joseph Harley

Joseph Harley is a Lecturer in History, at Anglia…

Anthology Editor

Vicky Holmes

Vicky Holmes is a Visiting Research Fellow at Quee…

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