Abstract
This thesis examines records in the North Riding Register of Deeds to explore how gender, marital status, and social networks shaped property transactions in two localities. Drawing on this unique archival source, this study addresses three main questions. First, how can records within Registers of Deeds contribute to the study of everyday property practices in eighteenth-century England? Second, how did gender, social status and place affect the transactions? Third, how did family, social, and professional networks shape patterns of exchange and ownership?This study analyses over 2,000 property transfer documents from two localities in the North Riding of Yorkshire between 1736 and 1783, employing quantitative analysis to identify patterns of participation, transaction types and frequency. The selected localities, consisting of a market town and six rural parishes, were chosen because of their contrasting economic profiles, enabling a comparative analysis of property practices across different types of community. The quantitative findings reveal patterns that are subsequently examined through detailed case studies. In the case studies, genealogical methods are used to reconstruct the social and family relationships behind the transactions. This combined methodology reveals how local economic and legal practices operated within property transactions, which in the study communities were negotiated through kinship, status, and professional networks.
The findings reveal that participants in property transactions predominantly belonged to the middling sort rather than the elite, with women also playing a significant role. Women participated in 41% of all transactions, as both grantors and grantees, often through strategic use of legal mechanisms such as settlements and trusts that enabled families to navigate property law constraints. This demonstrates that the eighteenth-century property market was more collaborative between men and women than previously recognised. The family networks that were dominant in property transactions, employed distinct gendered inheritance strategies that often favoured partible rather than primogeniture inheritance. Professional networks, particularly attorneys, acted as key intermediaries facilitating transfers.
This methodological framework demonstrates broader potential for investigating property markets from the eighteenth to twentieth centuries by repositioning Registers of Deeds as rich sources for reconstructing everyday legal and economic life. It offers a nuanced understanding of how gender and status interacted to shape property transfers in provincial England, challenging assumptions about the insignificance of women and the non-elite. Finally, this thesis reveals property transactions as collaborative processes embedded within the social fabric of local communities, linking seemingly remote localities to broader regional and national economies.
| Date of Award | 29 Apr 2026 |
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| Original language | English |
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| Supervisor | Ultan Gillen (Supervisor), Joan Heggie (Supervisor) & Roisin Higgins (Supervisor) |