From servants to staff : the making of a modern estate, Chatsworth 1908-1950
Taking as its subject the estate of Chatsworth, in rural Derbyshire, this thesis addresses the question of how the history of the country estate can be understood, not from the perspective of a single social group, but in relation to the whole community who lived, worked and interacted within its boundaries. Structurally, the thesis is comprised of four thematically organised chapters. Each focuses upon a different subset of the estate community and draws upon different kinds of archival material. Each chapter also adopts a distinct methodological approach in response to the source material under scrutiny. In particular, the thesis pays attention to analytical tools developed within the field of historical pragmatics. I argue that this innovative, multi-methodological approach enables a holistic understanding of archival sources to emerge. The thesis finds that, while demographic mapping provides one level of insight, the information contained within letters and memoirs can be crucial for understanding the social norms and interpersonal relationships which made up the framework underpinning the estate community. In particular, it draws upon a variety of documents from the records of Chatsworth's senior employees,
Clapperton, Fiona
From servants to staff : the making of a modern estate, Chatsworth 1908-1950. Taking as its subject the estate of Chatsworth, in rural Derbyshire, this thesis addresses the question of how the history of the country estate can be understood, not from the perspective of a single social group, but in relation to the whole community who lived, worked and interacted within its boundaries. Structurally, the thesis is comprised of four thematically organised chapters. Each focuses upon a different subset of the estate community and draws upon different kinds of archival material. Each chapter also adopts a distinct methodological approach in response to the source material under scrutiny. In particular, the thesis pays attention to analytical tools developed within the field of historical pragmatics. I argue that this innovative, multi-methodological approach enables a holistic understanding of archival sources to emerge. The thesis finds that, while demographic mapping provides one level of insight, the information contained within letters and memoirs can be crucial for understanding the social norms and interpersonal relationships which made up the framework underpinning the estate community. In particular, it draws upon a variety of documents from the records of Chatsworth's senior employees,
servant staff making modern estate taking subject estate rural derbyshire address_question history country estate understood perspective single social_group relation whole community_live work interact within_boundary structurally comprise_four thematically organised chapter focus_upon different subset estate community draw_upon different_kind archival_material also adopt distinct methodological response source_material scrutiny particular attention analytical_tool develop within_field historical pragmatic argue innovative multi methodological enables holistic archival_source emerge find demographic mapping provide level insight information_contain within letter memoirs crucial social_norm interpersonal relationship make framework underpinning estate community particular draw_upon variety document record senior employee