The Writing of County Histories in Early Modern England

From Firenze University Press Book: East and West Entangled (17th-21st Centuries)

Chen Rihua, Nanjing University

Written history has a long tradition in England. Chronicles from the Middle Ages are full of local histories and matters,1 the earliest example being the work by the fifth- or sixth-century monk and saint, Gildas, recording Britain’s rivers, land, cities and castles. From the end of fifteenth century, topography was added to written local history. Later, Ptolemy’s Geography was published at Vicenza in Italy in 1475 and brought to Britain. In 1547, the antiquarian Robert Talbot compiled his Itinerary in which he depicted Britain’s landscapes and its customs. William Worcester’s travel notes from the same period are also worthy of mention. Worcester is one of the fathers of English topography, which constitutes the foundation of local history. Worcester devoted his life to the study of English topography and history. His notes contain everything he saw on his travels, including natural landscapes, architecture, religions and the lives of ancient celebrities. W. G. Hoskins paid tribute to William Worcester as «the spiritual grandfather of all who read this book» (Hoskins 1959, 15).

John Leland was the first important writer of local history in early modern England. He was appointed by Henry VIII as the king’s antiquary and was allowed to collect ancient manuscripts for the royal library (Toulmin Smith 1907, ix). Thus he travelled around Britain and visited numerous monasteries, churches and schools and discovered a multitude of antique works, especially manuscripts by ancient chroniclers. His travel notes contain information about English villages, towns, markets and castles, and also the genealogies of many gentry families. Leland was called by L. Toulmin Smith «the father of English topography» (Toulmin Smith 1907, xiii). He planned to write a book about Britain’s ancient history based on its counties, in which he would cover the history and topography of English counties. Unfortunately, the proposed work was never finished, and the content remained in manuscript form. John Leland himself was widely regarded as a silent and dull scholar, as J. W. Thompson once commented: to weave the «thing of shreds and patches» into a systematic and significant design was more than «the silent scholar» could do, and although great expectations were aroused in his contemporaries by his projected history and industry with which he collected material, his plan never came to fruition. His notes were made use of by every historian of the later Tudor period, and William Camden succeeded magnificently where Leland had failed (Thompson 1942, I:607).

Though his planned masterpiece never became a reality, Leland’s travel notes were read by many of his contemporaries and younger local historians, whose own works often drew directly from this learned man’s manuscripts. From the perspective of compiling paradigms, Leland is the pathfinder of the writing of British history by counties, and this method was inherited, perfected and enriched in subsequent compilations of local history. What is more, Leland’s travels around Britain coincided in time with the English Reformation. Some of his travelling was before the dissolution of monasteries, which made it possible for him to reserve a great number of valuable medieval historical documents and manuscripts, and he himself also became an important witness of that time. Anthony Wood said: «At the time of the dissolution of monasteries, he saw with very great pity what havock was made of ancient monuments of learning, and if no remedy should be taken, they would al perish» (Wood 1813, 198). In this sense, Leland’s work exerted a great influence on later writings of local history. But generally speaking, nothing but sporadic records related to local history appeared in Leland’s age, and systematic narratives did not emerge until the next era. T he true landmark of the commencement of local history writing in England is William Lambarde’s Perambulation of Kent, which was finished in 1570 and published six years later. Lambarde is thus considered the founder of modern writing of county history. Unlike earlier travels, the Perambulation is no longer a simple list of places and persons, but rather a systematic and detailed description of Kent’s history, culture, natural conditions, geography, climate, administrative divisions, etc. In his work, he first enumerated all the peoples that filled and formed the history of Britain: Britons, Romans, Scots, Picts, Saxons, Danes and Normans. As a jurist, he pointed out, in particular, that three important laws existed during the Heptarchy, namely, the Danelaw, the Wessex Law and the Mercia Law. In the following pages, Lambarde gave an overall profile of Kent and its history. The contents of this local history were briefly introduced, then the geographical position of Kent was given, after which came the origin of the name «Kent». According to Lambarde, there were two theories for the origin of the word «Kent» (Lambarde 1826, 2–3). As for the administrative division, Kent was divided into five lathes, under which were hundreds, and, at the bottom, villages or towns. Residents of Kent could be divided, according to Lambarde, into three categories: the gentry, yeomen and craftsmen, in order of social hierarchy. The gentry was the ruling class. Gentlemen were generally knowledgeable about law. By managing their land and family, they retained their wealth. They were also gentlemen with a strong sense of responsibility and participated zealously in public affairs. The yeomen enjoyed more freedoms and happiness than peasants from any other region, as they were no longer in bondage. Craftsmen included fishermen, masons, blacksmiths, carpenters and weavers. As far as the paradigm is concerned, the Perambulation of Kent is based on administrative divisions and describes villages, towns and ports one by one. These characteristics established the principles and ideas for compiling modern local history. From its publication, this work was highly applauded by its readers: William Camden praised that «in his researches that he has left very little for others» (Copley 1977, 1). Later scholars shared the high evaluation of the book, with Lambarde being defined by some scholars as «one of the giants among the historians of Kent» (Warnicke 1973, 35). The gentlemen from Kent also continued their narratives about their home county and built on the foundation laid by the Perambulation of Kent. Updated versions of this local history showed up in 1657, 1659, 1776 and 1798. According to Peter Laslett, it is no exaggeration to say that English local history was born in Kent in the late sixteenth century and was nurtured by its gentry in the early seventeenth century, in such a way as to become the point of departure for the entire modern movement of British institutional history (Laslett 1948, 159).

DOI: 10.36253/979–12–215–0242–8.05

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