Female Servants in Early Modern England

Excavating experiences of over a thousand women in service from church court testimony, Mansell argues that early modern service was unstable, but finely graded, fluid, and contingent. Intervening in histories of labour, gender, freedom, and law, Female Servants in Early Modern England rethinks our understanding of the institution of service.

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What was it like to be a woman in service in early modern England? Drawing on evidence of over 1000 female servants recorded in church court testimony between c.1530 and 1650, Female Servants in Early Modern England uncovers these women's everyday lives. Intervening in histories of labour, gender, freedom, law, migration, youth, and community, this book rethinks traditional scholarship of service. De-coupling 'household' and 'service', it reveals the importance of female servants' labour to the wider economy and their key role in social networks and communities. Moving beyond regulatory codes of service prescribed by law and conduct literature, this book lays bare the varied experiences of women who served. Service was fluid and contingent: some women's working lives operated with flexibility unsanctioned by law yet socially accepted, while poverty bound others fast to service. In early modern England, service (and the freedoms it allowed) was in flux.