Pennell, Sara ORCID: 0000-0002-2594-4601 and Stobart, Jon (2024) ‘Genteel and modern’: auctioning the household belongings of the parish clergy in Georgian England. In: Blonde, Bruno, Overkamp, Anne Sophie and Stobart, Jon, (eds.) Auctions and Households in the Eighteenth-Century World. Routledge. (In Press)

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Abstract

This chapter explores how and why English clergymen and their families used auction sales of household goods to both buy and sell furnishings for their parsonages and rectories. While the clergy may be representative of the wider swathe of middling buyers and sellers at auctions, the specific circumstances pertaining to the clergy -- having to give up their parsonages on moving livings -- provide us with valuable insights into the dynamics of the auction process and motivations of buyers and sellers. Using auction catalogues as well as the business records of a Hampshire auctioneer, we argue that auction sales offered up a discreet yet cost-effective conduit for clergy to dispose of their household goods on giving up a living; but also a means for them to furnish their households with decorum and taste on a budget.

Item Type:	Book Section
Uncontrolled Keywords:	auctions; clergy; material culture; household goods; Eighteenth century
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > D History (General) D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D204 Modern History D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences > School of Humanities & Social Sciences (HSS)
Last Modified:	20 Sep 2024 11:04
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/48026

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