Since the study of aging merged out of Second-wave feminism during the 1960’s, aging has been associated exclusively with the time of old age. In this study I will revisit the assumptions which have underpinned the exclusive nature of this relationship in recent historiography through an analysis of a wide-range of primary sources addressing aging as a physiological and psychic process. Whilst aging was a much contested concept; a matter for speculation and fundamentally unquantifiable, it was also in the final analysis an unregulated process which could begin at any time of life. Whilst ideas of aging were constituted in a number of contexts: medical, theological and philosophical dominate this study, I will also illustrate ways in which practices and discourses of age were interrelated, each informing the other. Historians of age have in their own ways paraphrased Joan Scott’s definition of gender, statements have however been qualified by the prefix that a certain age; either childhood or old age is a useful category of analysis. My study eschews such an approach, arguing instead that for age to become a useful category of analysis we must firstly attempt to fully understand the process which gives rise to the value judgements that certain ages are a more useful category of analysis than others. Understanding aging will make are per se a useful category of analysis in the same way that studies of masculinity, in addition to studies of femininity, have made studies of gender a useful category o analysis.

This thesis represents the first stage of a projected complete edition of Camden's Remains. I offer here Camden's text for three chapters (Britain, Inhabitants, and the Wise Speeches) along with a textual apparatus. The General and Textual Introductions are based on a study of the whole book. The General Introduction examines the relation of the Remains to Camden's major work, the Britannia. It also contains a discussion of Camden's sources and the manner in which he handles his material. Briefly, I indicate the extent of Camden's contact with other historians and antiquarians and state whose libraries he had access to. Discussion is purposely brief because these and related matters have already been: treated in works by Linda van Norden, F. T. Levy, and May McKisack. A separate study of how and where Camden saw the manuscripts and books he used lies outside the scope of the thesis. To conclude the General Introduction I offer brief comments on Camden's style, his intentions, and the place of the Remains in relation to his two historical works. The Textual Introduction studies the evidence of the manuscripts and of the three editions in Camden's lifetime. The text is based on the edition of 1605. It adopts the authoritative revisions and additions of 1614 and 1623. The apparatus at the bottom of each page records substantive variants of the manuscripts, 1614, and 1623. It also records all departures from the copy text. Commentary for the two sections Britain and Inhabitants is confined to identifying sources and explaining points in the text. For the Wise Speeches, I attempt to trace the origin and development of each story and, where possible, to identify Camden's source or the tradition leading to Camden's version. In a number of cases it is possible to identify the particular manuscript or edition which Camden used and these have been noted. I indicate any changes Camden has made in the substance of a story and, in most cases, I present for comparison the text of the speech or aphorism. The Commentary was designed for the convenience of the general reader, hence some entries are no doubt fuller than an historian would need. Appendix A presents a selection of manuscript apophthegms which, for one reason or another, Camden chose not to print. They are not part of his final intentions. For this and other reasons, I offer them here, unannotated, simply as a sample of the contents of the manuscript. I hope to deal with the unpublished apophthegms separately at another time. Appendix B provides a table identifying all the material Camden added to the editions of 1614 and 1623.

This thesis examines the emergence of the family carer in English and Welsh mental health care, from the inception of the National Association for the Parents of Backwards Children in 1946 until the publication of the National Strategy for Carers in 1999. Rather than being primarily concerned with the day-to-day experiences of these family care-givers, the focus of this thesis, drawing upon Professor Ian Hacking’s theories as a starting point, is on the history of ideas and the emergence of the family carer as a category. With specific reference to familial care of relatives with a mental illness or a learning disability, I consider how and why the term ‘carer’ did not come into widespread usage until the 1980s. As the British government moved towards an explicit policy of deinstitutionalisation and community care in the 1960s, concern was raised that care in the community would in reality mean care by the family. For some this was a concern because they were worried about the well-being of the affected families, whilst for others they were concerned about the potential pathological impact of the family. Through this qualitative study of the family carer, I argue that whilst families have cared for relatives with mental illnesses and learning disabilities for centuries, during the post-war years this role was discussed, acknowledged, politicised, negotiated, and challenged to a much greater extent. Indeed, by 1999 family carers were recognised in their own right rather than exclusively in relation to the person they cared for. The story of the emergence of the family carer contributes to, and in some respects destabilises, current literature on the histories of mental health care, community care, the family, the psychosocial, the welfare state, and voluntary action.

Investigating a range of commonly asserted characteristics relating to British family firms, this study concluded that, although they retained ownership and control and did not adopt mass-production, no persuasive evidence was found to suggest that the family managers of L. Gardner and Sons behaved unprofessionally or irrationally during the first eighty-seven years of the firm?s existence. Analysed from the perspective of markets and workplace industrial relations, it was found that the Gardner family managers coped reasonably well with most of the macroenvironmental shifts that occurred between 1955 and 1975. However, two serious errors were made: the first, which caused a short-term loss of revenue and a long-term loss of market leadership, was a result of negligence, the second stemmed from an outdated authoritarian approach to industrial relations that resulted in intense discord in the workplace, alleviated only after the management was replaced by a more astute and enlightened regime. A third error occurred after Gardner was sold to Hawker Siddeley, a large British industrial group, in 1977. Based on a perception that Gardner's plant was outdated, the new owners invested in expensive computer controlled manufacturing systems, and increased the volume of subcontracted components, strategies that caused disruptions to production schedules, eroded quality standards, and failed to improve output. As a result, Gardner's superlative reputation for reliability and service became tarnished and its market share plummeted. In 1986, when mounting trading losses became unacceptable, the firm was sold-on to a competitor and production effectively ceased. This thesis asserts that, as a family firm, Gardner traded profitably and provided incomes for thousands of employees for more than a century. Moreover, the sale to Hawker Siddeley conferred wealth on the family shareholders and financial security on their descendents. Gardner was not therefore, a failure either between 1898 and 1955, or before 1978.

This thesis provides an analysis of communism in Britain between 1927 and 1932. In these years, the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) embarked upon a 'new period' of political struggle around the concept of class against class. The increasingly draconian measures of the Labour Party and trade union bureaucracy between 1924 and 1927 significantly restricted the scope of communist influence within the mainstream labour movement. As such, the CPGB - in accordance with the Communist International - attempted to establish an 'independent leadership' of the working class. The decline in Communist Party membership that accompanied the 'New Line' has led historians to associate an apparent collapse in CPGB influence with the political perspective of class against class. Similarly, the CPGB's initial resistance to the line has been interpreted as evidence of the Party's willing subservience to Moscow. In this thesis, such a portrayal of communist motive and experience will be challenged. Instead, a more multifaceted approach will endeavour to show that: i) the 'left turn' of 1927- 28 complemented attitudes evident in Britain since at least 1926; ii) the simultaneous collapse in CPGB influence related primarily to the structural changes afflicting Britain (and the British labour movement) between the wars; iii) the period was a difficult but not completely disastrous time for the Party. Rather, the years should be seen as a transitional period, in which the focus of communist activity moved out of the workplace and onto the streets. Thus, the Party's successful mobilisation of the unemployed, and the development of an idiosyncratic communist culture, were 'positive' factors. And finally; iv) that the political line pursued by the CPGB was more flexible and changeable than has hitherto been recognised. The Party continually modified its political strategy and objectives throughout the Third Period. Moreover, the 'sectarian excesses' that characterised class against class were due in part to the will of the Party rank and file. Many in the Party embraced the exclusivity of the New Line, and were responsible for interpreting the policy 'on the ground.'

This thesis draws on the extensive, underexplored records of the Court of Great Sessions for the period 1730-1830 to examine the nature and extent of Welsh women’s involvement in a range of serious crimes. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, it provides an in-depth analysis of the characteristics of women indicted for various criminal activities, including crimes against the person and against the public peace, and offers explanations for their involvement, as far as the records allow. Information regarding the age, social position, and marital status of the female defendants has been compiled and analysed, and the extent to which these factors affected judicial outcomes is demonstrated. The broad geographical and chronological scope of this study also provides an insight into links between levels and types of crime involving women and their location, as well as changes over time. It is argued that there were distinctly gendered elements in the offences committed by women, the motivations attributed to them, and their treatment by the courts. There is no comparable study of female crime in the period encompassed by this thesis. Many historians of crime have wrongly assumed that experiences in Wales and England were the same, and both countries have often been analysed interchangeably. Welsh criminals, women included, have rarely been considered in their own right. Studies of crime in ‘England and Wales’ have too often failed to fully appreciate the distinctiveness of Wales. This thesis addresses these shortcomings, demonstrating that Welsh experiences of crime were unique in many respects. In so doing, it provides an unparalleled contribution to our understanding of female crime and gender relations in Wales during the long eighteenth century.

This thesis examines the language use of adult, first generation Pakistanis and Kashmiris settled in Amsterdam and Birmingham. It seeks to show that the research subjects' use of the many languages and language varieties at their command is neither random nor illogical, but rather, aids both community formation in the diaspora and the attainment of individual goals. This attainment of goals involves a use of language which may be pragmatic or affective but, particularly when addressing a heterogeneous audience, is often both simultaneously. The primary importance of context is illustrated. This context is both transnational, in the sense that the Pakistani migrant-settlers studied form part of a world-wide diaspora, and bounded by conditions in the two European metropolises of Amsterdam and Birmingham. There is also a local context, defined by the particular areas of town where most of the respondents lived. Finally, there is a context of power relationships operating through community networks, where gender and religion, in this case Islam, play a significant role. The Introduction discusses some historical and political aspects of language issues in the Indian subcontinent and their continuing influence. The first part of the Literature Review and much of Chapter Four, which examine previous studies of the Pakistani communities in England and the Netherlands and give background information respectively, concentrate more on the influence of place than time. Chapter Four also contains a discussion of how the concept of "diaspora" may be applied to the Pakistanis here studied. Many of the languages spoken by the respondents form part of a continuum: hence, the repeated use of terms such as "the Punjabi family of languages", or, "the Pahari group". These and other terms are defined in the Methodology section, which is Chapter Three. Issues of methodology are not restricted to Chapter Three but are also strands which run through the whole work. The highly multilingual nature of the research subjects rendered some techniques favoured by sociolinguists, such as matched guise tests, inappropriate. The mobility of many individuals posed both practical and analytical difficulties. Some questions of particular social relevance to the group studied influenced research design, such as the separation of the sexes and, in Amsterdam, the presence of undocumented workers in the community. Language issues which are of great concern to researchers in Pakistan and northern India have less relevance in the Netherlands and England, and the reverse is also true. This became apparent to the researcher through conversations with scholars in Pakistan during her fieldwork visit there. More co-operation by scholars in the regions of origin and in the regions of settlement on the interface between ethnicity and language is needed. Any such collaborative research could have important applications in the areas of language planning and language rights. Chapter Five discusses findings from the individual interviews and Chapter Six deals with the analysis of the observation of group interactions. They are separate sections for clarity of exposition but this separation is artificial. All of the interviewees also participated in at least one and typically several of the group events. Hence, it was possible to observe and analyse the differences and similarities between individuals' reported and actual language use, and how individuals, with their distinct histories and statuses contribute to and benefit from group multilingual encounters. The Conclusion shows how the Pakistani communities studied - and the researcher believes this must be true of many other migrant groups - came from multiethnic, multicultural and multilingual societies and settled in similarly heterogeneous environments in Europe. Hence, far from suffering crises as a result of being "between two cultures", they were able to use tried and tested strategies in the new environment to their advantage. Central to such regroupment and reworking of tradition was their multilingualism.

This thesis on the role of the rural working class woman, centred on the village of Broadway, Worcestershire and surrounding villages in the period 1890 - 1940, examines and develops the hypothesis that they played a key role in the social and economic functioning of their families. While they were conditioned and educated to provide a reservoir of cheap labour in a very limited variety of gender specific employments - domestic service, sewing, and some forms of field work, this study demonstrates that village women did not perceive themselves as powerless. Their housekeeping role included the power of the purse and in contrast to middle class women they, in addition to their men, were earners and providers. Their managerial role within the family and their pivotal role within the extended family provided the means by which their families could cope with low incomes and harsh living conditions. This thesis examines all aspects of rural women's lives from the formative influences of the home, church, class, and school, to work experience, and marriage. The family's income, including men's, women's and children's contributions is examined, together with its outgoings, including housing, food and clothing, the use and avoidance of debt, and family leisure. The extent of the role of women as providers and receivers of mutual aid within the extended family is researched. Finally, a comparison is made between this research into the role of rural working class woman and research into that of her urban counterpart.

This thesis offers the first detailed assessment of an event that has hitherto been consigned to the margins of the literature on devolution and territorial reform in the United Kingdom, the Conference on Devolution, 1919-1920. Sitting between October 1919 and April 1920, the Conference on Devolution was arguably one of the two moments in the UK’s constitutional history when the territorial constitution was approached in a holistic fashion by policy makers and political elites (the other occasion being the Royal Commission on the Constitution, 1969-1973). The primary aim of this thesis is to provide the first detailed analysis of the Conference on Devolution, to develop a fuller understanding of why it was established, what it debated and why it failed. Secondary to that objective, this thesis will also assess what relevance the Conference has for students of territorial governance in the UK today, at a time when the UK’s constitution is in flux. In pursuit of these objectives, the thesis utilises the ideas and insights on territorial governance of James Bulpitt and James Mitchell, alongside an extensive catalogue of archival evidence, including the previously unstudied (in the context of the Conference on Devolution) personal papers of the Conference’s Secretary, Gilbert Campion. Using this methodology and archival sources, the thesis offers a considerable revision to previous understandings of the Conference on Devolution. It demonstrates that the Conference’s fatal disagreement on how the devolved legislatures should be composed, was not, as has been previously portrayed, just a disagreement at the latter stages of the Conference’s work, but was instead a cleavage that undercut the entirety of the Conference on Devolution. Finally, the thesis highlights the clear resonance between the issues deliberated by the Conference and many of today’s territorial governance debates.

The 1991 Child Support Act is seen as one of the most controversial and notorious policy failures in Britain, being described as ‘the most incompetent and inhuman agency ever set up by a British government’ (Ingrams, 1997). Its first year in operation was marked by administrative chaos, error, and failure. This thesis will demonstrate that this failure was ‘foreseeable’ and ‘foreseen’. This thesis is both an examination of the British policy-making process, and the 1991 Child Support Act. Analysis focuses primarily on policy formation, assessing the reasons behind why policy-makers pursued certain actions, and ultimately how a foreseeable and foreseen policy failure was able to gain cross-party support. It examines the role of power, imbalance of resources, and inter-Departmental and inter- Ministerial battles. Parliamentary processes, together with a detailed assessment of Parliamentary discussions, are also addressed. The existence of dual origins, and the role of ‘policy transfer’, or as this thesis argues, ‘incoherent dual-policy transfer’ are examined. The thesis re-introduces the stages approach as an appropriate framework for examining policy-making in general, and analysing policy failure in particular. It draws on evidence gained through interviews, official documents, unpublished consultation responses, Parliamentary debates, and materials from pressure groups and think-tanks, as well as academic literature. Examination of the policy formation process shows that the Child Support Act had two separate paths of origin. These conflicting origins led to ‘incoherent dual-policy transfer’, whereby the policy pursued by Newton and Mackay was undermined by Thatcher and the Treasury. It also demonstrates that the Bill’s flaws were magnified by ineffective legislative process. It ends by illustrating the roots behind the 1991 Child Support Act’s failure, and the ultimate failings of the British policy-making process. The larger implications for these findings is the presentation of the idea of ‘perfect legislation’, which shows us what leads to, and thus provides a criteria for avoiding, policy failure.