Morris, Polly (1985) Defamation and sexual reputation in Somerset, 1733-1850. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

This dissertation examines sexual reputation in the county of
Somerset between 1733 and 1850. Its purpose is to explore plebeian
sexual culture by tracing changes in the way plebeian men and women
defined and defended their sexual reputations in an era of social,
economic and cultural transition. In this period Somerset evolved
from a prosperous and rapidly growing county with an economy based on
agriculture and manufactures to a more static and primarily agrarian
county; its major city, Bath, went from being a thriving resort to a
retirement town. At the same time, the breakdown of the Puritan
sexual consensus left a hiatus before the triumph of Victorianism
during which a multiplicity of sexual cultures thrived.
The defamation causes heard in the ecclesiastical courts of the
diocese of Bath and Wells constitute the basic source for the study of
plebeian sexual reputation. By the eighteenth century, these causes
were concerned solely with sexual insults and the courts' clients
were predominantly and increasingly married women drawn from the
ranks of artisans and small tradespeople in the county's market towns
and the city of Bath. The survival of this jurisdiction reflects a
continuing need on the part of plebeian litigants for a cheap and
public mode of settling disputes over honour. Though plebeian men continued
to use the church courts to restore their good names long after
upper class men had ceased to do so, their eventual abandonment of the
courts has necessitated the use of common law sources to construct
a picture of male reputation.
As the industrial and agricultural revolutions proceeded, and the
personnel of the church courts adopted a sexual ideology emphasising
privacy, decorum and the double standard, traditional plebeian sexual
mores were challenged. Definitions of male and female reputation
diverged and the egalitarianism of the early eighteenth century weakened.
By the mid-nineteenth century, the dominant sexual culture had
triumphed: the distinctive plebeian sexual culture had been absorbed
by the more homogeneous sexual culture of the Victorian era; litigants
had ceased to use the church courts; and, in 1854, the defamation
jurisdiction was abolished.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Somerset (England) -- History -- 18th century, Somerset (England) -- History -- 19th century, Sex -- England -- Somerset, Libel and slander -- England -- Somerset, Reputation -- England -- Somerset
Official Date:	May 1985
Dates:	Date Event May 1985 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Social History
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Extent:	773 leaves
Language:	eng

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