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The employment of women and children in agriculture: a reassessment of agricultural gangs in nineteenth-century Norfolk

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 09:34 authored by Nicola Verdon
This article examines one of the most infamous forms of rural labour in nineteenth-century No rfolk: the agricultural gang. Using Parliamentary Papers as its source, the paper argues that some previous interpretations of this form of organized labour have both exaggerated the scale of ganging in the county, and misrepresented the composition of agricultural gangs. It will be shown that, far from exploiting the cheap labour of young children and adult women across Norfolk, by the 186os, agricultural gangs mainly consisted of a youthful workforce and were regionally concentrated in the west of the county. It calls for a more considered approach to using Parliamentary Papers to prevent the perpetuation of generalizations concerning female and child labour in the nineteenth-century countryside.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

Agricultural History Review

ISSN

0002-1490

Publisher

British Agricultural History Society

Issue

1

Volume

49

Page range

41-55

Department affiliated with

  • History Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2012-02-06

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