Dr Charmian Mansell

I am an economic and social historian of early modern England. My research lies at the intersection of the histories of work, gender and community and is primarily concerned with recovering everyday experiences and socio-economic identities of ordinary people using court records. 

My monograph breaks new ground by challenging several deeply-entrenched tropes within the scholarship of female service. At the core of this project is a large body of data gathered from church court depositions between 1550 and 1650. Analysing service from demographic, geographical, economic and social perspectives, this book presents a richer, more textured picture of female service. It illuminates the variety of experiences of female service that extended across the life-cycle and beyond the home, highlighting the important role that women in service played in the early modern community.

My second project, titled ‘Everyday travel and mobility in early modern England’ has developed from my interests in servant mobility, community and sense of place. Drawing upon rich depositional evidence from early modern courts, the project analyses everyday journeys made by individuals across the social and economic spectrum beyond the boundaries of parish. The project expands the geography of the mechanics of community – credit networks, social relations and work – beyond the parish.