18th century what was it like

Plus, we might notice that work — even gig work — depends upon status. Today, workers relying on online platforms for work depend upon their user rating. Status and employment go hand-in-hand. And activities that help a person build status blur the distinctions between work and leisure, or unpaid and paid work. Work, for men like Parsons, Harrold and Cannon, was a social practice.

It was not only a productive activity to support themselves, but was rather an undertaking that established skill, independence and self-worth. We tend to think of the gig economy as a relatively recent phenomenon, but there are many historical parallels Credit: Alamy. Should we define work as tasks undertaken for pay? Or should we include productive labour that is not paid?

For these tasks, she earned money. She cared for children, baked bread, and brewed ale. These tasks sustained the household and its reproduction, but because they were unpaid, they remain unrecognised as work.

Even though she spent her days working, Sarah would have been listed as having no occupation in formal tax or census records. Will accounting for these help us to better recognise the invisible work that takes place in the household? The gig economy certainly poses challenges to the well-being of workers. The disruption that it brings, however, offers an opportunity to better account for the diversity of different kinds of work that take place in society, and to recognise the people who perform it.

Tawny Paul is a senior lecturer in economic and social history at the University of Exeter. This article originally appeared on The Conversation, and is republished under a Creative Commons licence. Landowners held power and influence. This made it difficult to move up the social ranks, seeing as how buying land was considered a luxury even in those days. Social Class Structure Wealthy Landowners This was the most powerful group, which made up the smallest amount of the population.

It included the most important of the aristocracy and squires. Gentry This included those who received a high standard of upbringing but were not as important as the upper echelon of wealth. This included: gentlemen, merchants, wealthy tradesmen, and well-off manufacturers.

Yeoman Yeoman were those who owned and worked their own land. The upper middle class included certain professionals and merchants. The lower middle class included artisans, shopkeepers, and tradesmen.

Black Britons Though they made up a small portion of the population, black slaves existed and were a hot issue during the early half of the century.

Their labor made commodities available and cheap, but the idea of slavery as wrong was extremely prevalent. No matter the protest, though, the labor and trade continued until its abolition in Though this class structure was almost always set from birth and heavily protected by those were already inducted into high social standing, it was not impossible for those of lower status to break through.

Everyone was mainly subject to the same body of law as everyone else and certain privileges for ruling classes only went so far.

Property was the key to wealth and power, and property could be purchased. So, any man could amass a fortune and land, and begin to climb the social ladder; and any family could lose all of its estate and see their social standing vanish.

London and the Job Market. London was the biggest and most commercialized and industrialized city in England at the time. It was home to roughly half a million citizens at the beginning of the century and would only grow from there. One could come across any business from merchant shops to ale houses and the people were as eclectic as the commerce with numerous faces, such as: the wealthy and their servants, inn keepers, beggars, doctors, prostitutes and pickpockets.

The noble and the lowly all walked the same streets painting a great picture of social life in the 18th century. Unfortunately for the better half of the century, the streets they walked on were atrociously covered in filth and dirty water that had been dumped from upper windows.

Horse manure and human waste were also common to come across on the street. New foods were eaten like bananas, pineapples, and chocolate for the upper class. Tea and coffee were also introduced as exciting new drinks and coffee shops were up and coming, helping with the economy and job market.

Education Rich children, both boys and girls, were sent to petty school, like a preschool. However, only boys went to elementary school or grammar school, while upper class girls were tutored.

Some mothers taught their daughters in the middle class until boarding schools began to take place. These girls were often taught writing, music, and needlework. While boys studied more academic subjects, girls were believed to only need to be taught subjects that were more on the line of abilities.

At the grammar schools, boys attended school from about 6 or 7 in the morning until around 5 at night. They were allowed some breaks for meals, but if they acted out of hand they would be punished with a smack on their bare butt with birch twigs.

For the better part of the century, these suffocating devices were thought a necessity for good posture. There were both arguments for and against these dress contraptions. Nay-sayers complained that they made women struggle to get around and ruined comfort, but those in support insisted it ke. Caps were immensely popular for the majority of women and embraced a lace around the brim.

And not as uncommon as today, fashionable women were many accessories that interchanged between different gloves, watches, masks, and jewelry. Men wore mostly bland haircuts while some wore wigs which at the beginning of the century tended to be long. Hats varied in width and were comm only worn among these wigs. Three piece suits also ruled the male fashion scene, containing a jacket, vest, and pants as the essentials. With these suits, men wore black leather shoes with stockings underneath.

Coats appeared as longer waist coats with the rich showing off many different features while the working class displayed much simpler details. When outdoors, a gentleman wore cloaks, which later became highly unfashionable. Below all of this, a man wore breaches. Dating and Social Interactions Dating life for women in the 18th century had started to change as they had more of a say in their marriages and weddings.

It was at this time the idea of marrying because of who your parents arranged had died, and the idea of marrying on the basis of personal affection and started taking its place. The average age women had started to marry was 22 compared to decades before when the age was much younger. The husband also needed to not only pay a dowry to the brides family, but have an allotment of things lined up for the happy couple.

Things such as: housing, clothing, prospect of decent income and savings. On average, men tended to marry at 26 during this time, looking for specific attributes in a woman to be considered as his future wife. These qualities included: the typical household wife of maid, mother and caregiver, as well as a youthful looking woman who was wise with a decent holy background.

Entertainment Sports. The English were an outdoors people when it came to sport. Ice skating in winter months was extremely common, and during the summer months, swimming and water sports reigned supreme. Boating for the purpose of fishing, picnicking, and watching regattas was all very popular. During fall months, hunting took a big role in many lives where the main game was dear and certain birds.

Horse races have been documented since until the Jockey Club was officially founded in Many denounced the racing due to it being a distraction to labor that needed to be done, but the protest had little to no effect.

Leaning towards the middle of the century, cricket started gaining increasing popularity due to its viability with both men and women of all classes. Along with cricket, other organized sports included tennis, golf, and lawn bowling.

Plays Almost everyone enjoyed the theater whether it be watching it in the city, travelling companies, or performing in their own home. It was a scathing social satire that included the poor and alienated the rich. With the increase in theater popularity, many theaters renovated and put on multiple shows. The audiences were various and a lot of the time were rude to the point where they would throw produce at the actors if they were unhappy with what they had seen.

Other Entertainment Art shows were another source of pleasure for various people of all ages. Globally, the 18th century was when Britain became an empire, as the British East India Company established their rule in India and millions of slaves were shipped to plantations in the Caribbean and the Americas. By the end of the 18th century, the spread of radical ideas had led to revolutions in France and America and unrest in England.

Tracing your family history in the 18th century is a challenge because it is before the introduction of key family history resources such as census records and civil registration of birth, marriage and death records. However, these websites are a great way of discovering more about the 18th century and tracing family history records throughout the period.

London Lives brings together 15 18th century datasets formed from all kinds of documents housed in eight London archives. ScotlandsPlaces represents a gateway into researching 18th century Scottish ancestry. Perhaps the most useful of the various tax records here are the 18th century land tax rolls spanning — Also called cess or valuation rolls, these were compiled for each county, listing landowners and assessing the rental values. Other tax rolls include the carriage tax — , clock and watch — , female servant — , male servant — , window — and dog — You can explore the records by place name, map or postcode.

Masters did not have to pay stamp duty on Poor Law apprentices, and records of these normally survive at local archives.