In Parish Clergy Wives in Elizabethan England, Anne Thompson shifts the emphasis from the institution of clerical marriage to the people and personalities involved. Women who have hitherto been defined by their supposed obscurity and unsuitability are shown to have anticipated and exhibited the character, virtues, and duties associated with the archetypal clergy wife of later centuries. Through adept use of an extensive and eclectic range of archival material, this book offers insights into the perception and lived experience of ministers' wives. In challenging accepted views on the social status of clergy wives and their role and reception within the community, new light is thrown on a neglected but crucial aspect of religious, social, and women's history.

How did midwives deliver women in the past? What was their understanding of anatomy and physiology? How did they cope with unnatural presentations, haemorrhage, miscarriage and stillbirths, constipation? Were lives being prolonged and risks diminished? Midwifery case notes offer a considerable source of evidence, which, when used with care and imagination, help to tackle these questions. Mrs Stone & Dr Smellie demonstrates this in a fascinating way by analysing the work of two well-known midwives. Sarah Stone's A Complete Practice of Midwifery was published in London in 1737. Mrs Stone had been a midwife in Bridgwater, Taunton and Bristol before moving to London in the late 1730s. Her book collects 43 case notes mainly from her Somerset practice. It is probably unique in providing a female midwife's perspective on childbirth in provincial England in the eighteenth century. Although often mentioned by medical historians, literary scholars have given it most attention by reading it as a feminist text. But A Complete Practice reproduced in full within this book, is a detailed, albeit selective, account of the problems faced by midwifes, what they could do for their women, and how likely they were to succeed. William Smellie (1697-1763) occupies a pivotal position in the history of midwifery, not only in Britain, but also in the wider international community. He published a textbook in 1751 and two collections of case notes in 1754 and 1764. an analysis of the 278 London cases. Woods and Galley offer a 'thick description' of Smellie's practice, the problems he faced, the people he dealt with, how he combined domiciliary clinical practice with advanced instruction, and the way in which he presented his work to a wider community for their enlightenment. Compulsory reading for those working on the history of medicine and midwifery, demography and social history, Mrs Stone and Dr Smellie is an engaging final study by the late internationally-renowned scholar Professor Robert Woods, FBA.

This book offers the first in-depth investigation into the relationship between the National Birth Control Association, later the Family Planning Association, and contraceptive science and technology in the pre-Pill era. It explores the Association's role in designing and supporting scientific research, employment of scientists, engagement with manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies, and use of its facilities, patients, staff, medical, scientific, and political networks to standardise and guarantee contraceptive technology it prescribed and produced. By taking a micro-history approach to the archives of the Association, this book highlights the importance of this organisation to the history of science, technology, and medicine in twentieth-century Britain. It examines the Association's participation within Western family planning networks, working particularly closely with its American counterparts to develop chemical and biological means of testing contraception for efficacy, quality, and safety.

Customs play an important part in all societies and offer fascinating insights into a country's history and culture. Scotland boasts a multitude of unique customs, many of which can be traced back to the times of the Druids, Celts and Romans. This book introduces hundreds of Scottish customs associated with a huge range of topics. As well as customs associated with key events of our lives, from birth to death, it also includes customs associated with the world of work, food and drink, health, animals and nature. Extracts from written works through the ages bring these customs to life and show how important they have been in the story of Scotland for thousands of years.

Historical Studies in Industrial Relations was established in 1996 by the Centre for Industrial Relations, Keele University, to provide an outlet for, and to stimulate an interest in, historical work in the field of industrial relations and the history of industrial relations thought. Content broadly covers the employment relationship and economic, social and political factors surrounding it - such as labour markets, union and employer policies and organization, the law, and gender and ethnicity. Articles with an explicit political dimension, particularly recognising divisions within the working class and within workers' organizations, will be encouraged, as will historical work on labour law.

In western societies today, it goes almost without saying that sex and consumption are closely related. On the one hand, there is a plethora of commercial goods and services that shape sexual desires, and practices. On the other, there are scarcely any products or services that do not lend themselves to sexually charged advertising and mass media communication. This volume focuses on forms of hybridization of these equally suggestive notions.