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James Duff, 2nd Earl of Fife, was an important eighteenth and early nineteenth-century Scottish landed magnate who expanded his estate significantly. Fife's political power in terms of the ability to control local parliamentary elections grew along with his wealth and landholding until circa 1790, after which his influence declined markedly. This thesis attempts to explore and explain these developments. A detailed and systematic analysis of the Earl's financial records has enabled, for the first time, authoritative conclusions to be drawn about the financial affairs of a late eighteenth-century Scottish landowner, and in particular about the dynamics of landed expansion. Markets for debt were successfully exploited. Initially heavily geared towards the Edinburgh funds market, as the eighteenth century progressed local borrowing became dominant. More importantly, income surpluses were used to rapidly pay down debt and thus enable more land to be purchased. Costs were kept under control, principally as a result of the Earl's prudent approach but nevertheless an increasingly London-focused lifestyle could be enjoyed. Improvement costs were not significant, however this did not prevent the estate participating in the wave of agrarian ‘transformation' that swept through Scotland in the late eighteenth century. Politically, reliance on the traditional means of the provision of ‘friendship' to members of the local gentry was replaced by the use of expanding landholdings to create nominal votes. Nominal voters themselves, previously ignored historiographically, effectively became part of Fife's local patronage network. When the system collapsed as a result of legal changes and the damaging activities of ‘associations' of independent freeholders, Fife had nothing to replace it with. Patronage had become increasingly narrowly focused towards individuals with no voting rights. Furthermore, political miscalculation and an inability to forge alliances with either an increasingly powerful administration or independent freeholders prevented a return to ‘traditional' forms of political management.

The thesis examines the factors which led to the first demonstration of television being given by John Logie Baird on 25th October 1925 and the inpact of Baird's contributions - he produced 178 patents - on the development of television together with the difficulties, (political and technical), which he encountered in persuing his objectives.

The history of illegitimacy has been much studied in England, Scotland and elsewhere in Europe, but has attracted little attention in Wales, in spite of the significance of the debate about the sexual laxity of Welsh courting couples to the historiography of the nineteenth century. This thesis examines illegitimacy in the counties of Glamorgan and Carmarthenshire between 1660 and 1870, using data from 74 parishes to measure the changing level of illegitimacy, at a time when south Wales was being transformed by economic, social and religious change. The research sets out to introduce Wales to the debate on illegitimacy, locating south Wales within the established picture of European demography. Patterns of illegitimacy in England and Wales are compared in order to establish whether south Wales fell within the range of regional variation found in England or displayed a distinct pattern, related to different traditions of courtship and marriage, or to experiences such as industrialisation and religious revival, which developed in different ways in the two countries. Material from poor law records, the consistory courts, Nonconformist disciplinary records, and personal narratives is brought together to give a holistic picture of the courtship of young people, and the circumstances of illegitimate children and their parents. Analysis suggests that patterns of illegitimacy in south Wales fit well with the characteristics of the ‘highland’ region of England described by Adair, but with additional intra-regional variation in levels of illegitimacy, which reflected local social, economic and cultural factors.

This thesis sets out to reassess medieval moated sites in England in light of up-to-date information, and to investigate a number of key areas: where moated sites were located, why they were dug, who had them dug, and their relationship with their localities. Variations between sites and whether it is possible to make overriding conclusions about moated sites are also considered. A new dataset of moated sites was created for this thesis, to take into account information not used in previous studies. This new dataset of 8452 sites has been used to create a new distribution map of moated sites in England. The thesis explores the implications of this, and the reasons behind the distribution, including the influences of topography and geology, areas of Forest Law, settlement patterns, and social emulation. A new chronology of the construction of moated sites has been created from this new dataset. This chronology has been used to look at how the distribution of moated sites may have changed over time, and who was responsible for the moats dug at different periods. The study then questions whether there is evidence for a single motivation for the use of moats or whether there were multiple influences, and how this may vary from site to site. As well as motivations associated with defence and status, those examined included factors such as the use of moats as fishponds. This study concludes that there is no simple explanation for the presence of a moat at a site. In addition moated sites are considered in relation to the particular social groups responsible for their creation. The evidence is examined to see whether moats were seen as particularly desirable or important for one of these groups, and where there are and are not correlations between size and date, and the social group the moated sites are associated with. Finally, the complex relationship between medieval moated sites and their local landscapes is studied. This includes the location of moats in relation to features contemporary to and older than them, high status features such as parks, and the use of a moat to separate the ‘island’ from the immediate locality. The continued variety between sites is considered in these contexts. The study concludes that moated sites are a highly varied and complex group. This means that there is no one set of rules and explanations that apply to all moated sites, and no simple explanation to why one site was moated while a similar site was not.

This thesis is a study in the evolving ecclesiastical identities of the Puritan/Nonconformist clergy between 1640 and 1672. It will supplement the historiographical definition of Nonconformity and argue that a shift towards a 'soft' denominational identity more accurately represents Restoration Nonconformity. It will show how particular ecclesiastical tendencies crystallised in the 1640s as Presbyterian, Congregationalist, and Baptist identities. However it will demonstrate that individual ministerial identities were not fixed. Clerical identities shifted and blended, adapting to the circumstances within the Puritan/Nonconformist movement as well as those forced upon them from without. The demarcations between Presbyterians, Congregationalists and Baptists were often blurred. Using data gathered from a Nonconformist ministerial database the thesis will substantiate an observable tendency during the Restoration for some former Presbyterians to shift towards a Congregationalist/Baptist identity. It will provide evidence that, in the absence of a classis system, many pure Presbyterians progressed to a Presbyterian/Congregationalist or even Baptist identity as documented by the 1672 licenses. It will track the evolution of Nonconformist ministers by way of dated identity markers based on primary source self-identification including: attestations, confessions, trier, classis, and ejection records, clergy associations, and ministerial licenses. It will discuss a variety of possible motivational factors allowing for observable clerical identity migration across denominational lines. These include an educational emphasis on an irenic view of ecclesiology, intermittent cooperation during the Commonwealth and Protectorate, the formation of ecumenical pastoral associations and the enforcement of penal laws charging ministers with sedition should they not conform. In addition, this thesis raises questions about Edmund Calamy's list of ejected ministers and the 1669 Episcopal Returns, both of which lead historians to underestimate the number of nonconformist ministers active during the Restoration era, which in turn complicates the assessment of ecclesiastical identities, thereby creating a distorted picture of Nonconformity in the Restoration.

The interwar years were particularly harsh for the farming community. The big upsurge of prices during the Great War was quickly reversed in 1920-1921. Government considered the plight of farming in 1923 but, when this improved, continued laissez-faire policies throughout the 1920s. However, they became interventionist in 1932-1933, first with subsidies for wheat and then later with cattle and other grain products. There is scant research into the profitability of the different branches of farming. While there is reasonable historiography for the 1920s, there is very little detailed information about the fortunes of farming in the 1930s, a gap which this thesis has filled. This study is based on 35 studies of profitability of individual farming operations, and it uniquely offers an insight into the minutiae of farming in the interwar years. Apart from identifying individual trends of the components of arable and livestock farming, it also evidences benefits of specialisation or competitive edge where these were found. After the price adjustment of 1920-1921, mixed farming was the first to become unprofitable due to increasing imports from major grain producing countries. Cattle were the next to come under pressure from the Meat Trusts of North America. Milk had its problems too, so no sector was immune during the study period. The 1930s were almost universally harsh for farming, with the exception of cattle grazing in the second half of that decade. Where in earlier times there may have been a greater degree of commonality of outcomes with mixed farming at the fore, this later period saw a divergence in farmers’ fortunes, which this thesis articulates.

This thesis explores the ways in which Birmingham was planned for the purposes of mass automobility between 1945 and 1973. The urban landscape was reshaped substantially during this period; the relationship between automobility and town planning is examined to elaborate a deeper historical understanding of the impact of the motor car on the urban environment. Existing literature on the impact of the motor car on British society has focussed on specific roads or patterns of car usage. This thesis instead addresses the issue of how the city changed as a result of planning for automobility and what the repercussions of this strategy were. City centre redevelopment, slum clearance, public transport provision and pollution are investigated to show how the city’s commercial, civic and residential spaces changed, and how the lives of Birmingham’s inhabitants were affected as a result of living in a ‘motor city.’ Birmingham City Engineer Herbert Manzoni believed that a modern city should be redeveloped to facilitate increased car use. The redevelopment of Birmingham as a ‘motor city’ was in large part ideological. Birmingham was not planned as a ‘motor city’ in reaction to increased motor car use, but rather proactively redeveloped to facilitate future increases in motor ownership. This thesis argues that Birmingham Corporation utilised other aspects of the planning process, such as city centre redevelopment and slum clearance, to implement new road systems. It also argues that these policies had repercussions for everyone, including pedestrians. The pursuit of automobility in Birmingham resulted in a lack of resources being directed towards public transport and growing concerns with public health caused by motor car pollution. As a consequence by the early 1970s the tide had turned against the motor city ideal.

This thesis will examine the support structures in crusading armies from the First Crusade, launched in 1095, to the end of the Barons’ Crusade, in 1241. Support structures were the networks through which resources were channelled in order to support crusaders during the expeditions to the Holy Land and the eastern Mediterranean. These structures developed in response to the growing costs and challenges of crusading, with increased efforts by the authorities in the West to raise money to support crusaders. The study of crusader logistics has only taken off in the last twenty years, and the study of how crusading armies were supported is a relatively unexplored field. Recent scholarship has made headway in the logistics of individual crusades, the efforts to raise funds in the West and support structures in western medieval armies. To date, little work has explored the long-term development of support structures in crusading armies or how developments in the West influenced these structures. This thesis will attempt to bridge this gap by examining how the resources raised in the West and those gathered on Crusade were employed to support crusaders, and how these structures developed throughout this period. This thesis will attempt to address three main issues. Firstly it will attempt to examine the role of the West in the development of crusading support structures, and the growing expectation that support should be provided by the authorities in the West. Secondly, it will study the distribution of resources through these structures, and how effective they were in providing support. Thirdly it will examine the increased role of money and paid service in crusading armies and the impact upon support structures.

Historical and cultural geographers have in the recent past argued for a more dynamic and critical geography of architecture and suggested that researchers pay greater attention to domestic architecture and the spaces within the home. My original contribution to knowledge shows how the home was employed as a vehicle for the permanent expression of private and individual belief, following the English Reformation and over and above the employment of traditional, commissioned and yet more transient decoration. There are no studies of an area’s collective spiritual expressions as witnessed over several hundred years, perhaps due in part to the limited primary documentary evidence available. I have furthered research into various motifs, and have forwarded two new theories. I have shown that the salt niche was used for ritual storage rather than simply for foodstuffs, and that a ‘spiritual frequency’ was generated within the home for protection and to enable a closer association with God. The geographical area of study has been chosen not least because of the apparent lack of attention paid to the county by vernacular architectural historians in the recent past which lies in the architectural shadow of Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk. The research looks at a selection of houses from various parishes to the north and east of Cambridge, plus several other East Anglian properties, for contextual purposes. An interdisciplinary approach, the analysis considers elements of architectural history, buildings archaeology, art history and social geography and employs documentary and micro-historical analysis. The investigation concludes at a time when the gathering pace of the Enlightenment meant less religious turmoil, greater levels of urbanity and scientific discovery, and the arguable coeval reduction in the belief, practice and resultant manifestations of village lore.