In the early 1640s Henry Best, a gentleman farmer of Elmswell in the East Riding of Yorkshire, composed an account of his farming practices. The resulting Farming Book provides a unique account of seventeenth-century farming, of the marketing of agricultural produce, and of rural customs. It is here published in a new transcription by Donald Woodward. In addition, a complete transcript of Henry Best's Memorandum Book is published for the first time; this volume gives details of a wide range of day-to-day transactions mainly during the period 1617 to 1645. The editor adds greatly to our knowledge of Henry Best, his family and estate in a substantial introduction, and much ancillary documentary evidence is provided in a series of appendices. The volume is rounded off by an extensive new glossary prepared by Peter McClure.

This is a new release of the original 1933 edition.

This study redresses the North and South imbalance of much of the work in British economic and social history by focusing on the impact of the building trade. The period 1450-1750 witnessed substantial changes in England, including the size of national population, the range of industry, agricultural techniques, and the proportion of population tied to the soil. Using sources from local archives, the author addresses conditions of work in the building trades, levels of remuneration, gender differences in work, and relationships with employers.

This study redresses the north and south imbalance of much work on economic and social history by focusing on the lives and economic impact of the building trade in the early-modern period in the context of the change from rural economy to the eve of industrialisation. The period 1450-1750 witnessed substantial changes in England: in the size of national population; the range of industry practised; the commodity structure and patterns of overseas trade; in agricultural techniques; and in the proportion of population tied to the soil. The evidence analysed in this book uses the nature of building and labouring work to consider the variations in wages and living standards allied to studies of individual towns. Using many hitherto unworked sources from local archives, the author addresses conditions of work in the building trades, levels of remuneration, the characteristics of the life-cycles of male and female workers, gender differences in work, and relationships with employers - at times running counter to the prevailing orthodoxies.