Naval Wives and Mistresses
An innovative study of naval women who stayed at home while their men went to sea. Focusing on the second half of the 18th century, a period when Britain was almost continuously at war, this book looks at different social groups, from the aristocratic elite to the labouring and criminal poor, prostitutes and petty thieves.
Drawing on a range of material from personal letters to trial reports, from popular prints to love tokens, it exposes the personal cost of warfare and imperial ambition. It also reveals the opportunities for greater self-determination that some women were able to grasp, as the responsibility for maintaining the home and bringing up children fell squarely on them in their husbands’ absence.
The text includes many voices from the past and throws fresh light on an under-researched aspect of women’s history.
- A much-needed new work in a growing area of social and naval history
- Illustrated with images from the National Maritime Museum’s extensive collection of 18th and 19th century oil paintings, prints and drawings
- Social history from rare sources which illuminates all aspects of society from the angle of the aristocracy, ‘middling sort’ and poor
Naval Wives and Mistresses was featured on Radio 4's Woman's Hour on 26 March 2008.
Author: Margarette Lincoln
Title: Naval Wives and Mistresses
Format: Hardback, 234 x 153mm, Portrait
Rights: World
Category: History
Pages: 224pp
Illustrations: 32pp colour plate section
ISBN: 13978-0-948065-92-7
Price: £20