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" Early modern Macclesfield : "
Knight, Paul Adrian.
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Latin Dissertation
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| Record Number
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1096380
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TLets439461
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| Main Entry
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Knight, Paul Adrian.
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| Title & Author
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Early modern Macclesfield :\ Knight, Paul Adrian.
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| College
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University of Liverpool
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| Date
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2003
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| student score
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2003
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| Degree
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Ph.D.
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| Abstract
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The subject of this study is the development of the town of Macclesfield in eastCheshire in the early modem period. The study is primarily based around the probaterecords left by the inhabitants of the town, which begin in 1553 but are sufficientlyconsistent from 1600 to allow them to be studied. Gail Malmgreen' s thesis onindustrial Macclesfield begins in 1740.1 These two factors set the chronologicalparameters of the study. Within these boundaries, it has not been possible to make useof all of the written sources. The proposition was to undertake sub-studies of specificaspects of Macclesfield in order to determine the nature and characteristics of thetown. Wherever possible, these sub-studies would be compared with comparableEnglish towns within the early modem period to assess where Macclesfield stoodwithin the urban hierarchy. Studies of early modem towns tend not to compare townsagainst one another, but rather to discus common themes.This thesis begins by describing the physical and historical background toMacclesfield. This includes a brief summary of the historiography of a number of thesubjects to be covered in this study. It then proceeds to describe the sources madeavailable for and used by this study, and the methodology by which they wereexamined. The following chapters then assess specific aspects of Macclesfield. Threechapters cover the political, social and wealth structures. Chapter 3 covers corporategovernment, both with respect to the town and national politics, while Chapter 4 looksat the structure of wealth within the town. Chapter 5 follows this trend by focusing onnon-financial social structures. Chapters 6 and 7 examine the economic activitiespracticed in Macclesfield. Firstly, the silk button industry will be examined, whichwas the town's main proto-industrial activity. The remaining economic activities areexamined later, but with a focus on the leather industry as an example of an olderindustry which pre-dated the silk button industry. The final chapter placesMacclesfield into a national context. This will be in two parts. Firstly, Macclesfield isexamined at the centre of a network with various links extending outwards, forexample with characteristics of administrators and executors of probate. Secondly,Macclesfield is tied into the national economy through a study of its horse fair.This study found that the pre-industrial town of early modem England could be alively and vibrant community full of economic growth, development and confidence.Macclesfield was one of the leaders in this field. Its proto-industry represents a luxuryproduct in a niche market at the end of a complex international trade system. Thewealth generated through this industry gave the town the opportunity to invest inurban improvement schemes and Macclesfield seems to have been at the forefront ofimprovement schemes, like paving and piped water. But Macclesfield was also able toretain its earlier functions of a market town, as is exemplified by the continuedpresence of the horse fair and the leather industry. Socially, the town also retainedrural characteristics as is shown through baptism and marriage patterns tied to the agricultural year. This study also shows that towns should not be studied in a vacuum,but as part of the wider regional and national picture. All towns possess a hinterland,although in practise this was found to be not one but multi-layered. Dr Jon Sobartrecently examined this pattern with regards to Chester by producing three accounts, attown, county and country level. 2 This thesis will show that Macclesfield alsopossessed similar, multi-layed characteristics, which formed an important aspect ofthe fabric of early modern English urban society.I G. Malmgreen, Economy and Culture in an Industrialising Town: Macclesfield, Cheshire, 1750-1835 (unpublished Indiana University Ph.D. thesis, 1981).2 J. Stobart, 'County, town and country: three histories of urban development in eighteenth-centuryChester' in P. Borsay and L. Proudfoot, (eds), Provincial Towns in Early Modern England and Ireland:Change, Convergence and Divergence (Oxford, 2002).
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University of Liverpool
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