This SAHGB - IHR seminar will be a hybrid event, taking place online and in person at the Institute of Historical Research, Pollard N301 (3rd Floor, North Block of Senate House, Malet St, London WC1E 7HU).
Pre-industrial construction enterprises are usually thought to be ‘artisanal’, and the medieval and early modern building trades have been idealised around ‘craft skills’ since the mid nineteenth century. Records of actual working contractors on major infrastructure projects and housing development contradict these embedded ideals, however. This paper describes the way in which early modern building contractors, a surprising number of them female, managed projects, competed for business, utilised and organised labour and supply chains, and ran profitable enterprises, which delivered the technologically enduring legacy of the late seventeenth century built environment.
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BIO
Professor Judy Stephenson is an economic historian researching labour markets, institutions, firms, finance and industries in London between about 1600 and 1850. She is known for her work on London and English wages between 1650 and 1800 and has published on contracts and wages, and the boundaries of the firm before 1800. She is currently Professor of Economic History of the Built Environment at The Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction and Honorary Secretary of the Economic History Society, 2022-2025.
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Calling SAHGB Members!
Renewals are now due for those who pay annual membership fees online, through ‘Support Us’.
The Annual Lecture 2024 takes as its theme: Architecture and Affect in the Middle Ages. Register here for 14 March as we expect this to be a popular event.
Sincere thanks for your support through 2023. Please get in touch if you have any questions.