EROP Special: Growing Old and Facing Poverty in Eighteenth-Century Essex

Speaker: Dr. Susannah R. Ottaway

In 1702, Mother Sheepy (sometimes Sheppy), an older woman facing poverty and infirmity, turned to the overseers of the poor in the parish of Terling, Essex and received cash supplements in her home and assistance including “a rope to rays her in her bed.” In 1751-52, Mary Ripley, aged 80, and being “infirm” and “weakly,” turned to the overseers of the poor in Chelmsford, and was brought into the workhouse. When they were faced with the physical challenges of their ageing bodies, both women received assistance under the system of social welfare known as the Old Poor Law, but they had very different experiences. These disparities reflected some of the major changes of the eighteenth century. This talk explores how changing attitudes towards ageing and shifting methods of poor relief affected the lives of people in eighteenth-century Essex.

Susannah is pleased to be revisiting Essex following on from her doctoral research, long ago, which was funded in part by a generous grant from the Friends of Historic Essex. This talk provides an opportunity for her to revisit (and revise!) work that she first presented to the Friends in the 1990s!

Susannah R. Ottaway is the Laird Bell Professor of History at Carleton College, in Minnesota (USA). Her published works on the history of old age include The Decline of Life: Old Age in Eighteenth-Century England (2004) and History of Old Age in England, 1600-1800, 8 volumes, co-edited with Lynn Botelho (2008 and 2009). She is co-editor, with Rebecca Brannon, of the forthcoming A Cultural History of Old Age in the Era of Enlightenment and Revolution. Ottaway’s publications on the history of social welfare include articles in Past & Present (2025), the Historical Journal (2021) and The Journal of Social History (2021). Her new projects include the history of vision impairment, on which she has published in the Journal of British Studies (2024).