The Wortley Park Poachers and the Outbreak of the English Civil War

Abstract

On the eve of the Civil War, Sir Francis Wortley's deer park near Sheffield attracted the persistent attention of well armed plebeian poachers. The killing of Wortley's deer was an act of defiance that slighted his honour. His reputation was further undermined by the verbal abuse of several yeoman, prompting him into defending his reputation in the West Riding Quarter Sessions and the High Court of Chivalry. An examination of this litigation leads into a discussion of Sir Francis's concept of honour, distrust of popular politics and identification with the ideology of Charles I's personal rule. A micro-history approach to Sir Francis and his poacher enemies addresses the historiographical debate over whether deference or defiance defined plebeian attitudes to the ruling elite. It also impacts upon the formation of popular allegiance at the outbreak of civil war, and Wortley's brief notoriety as a national figure when he drew his sword for the King at York on 30 April 1642.     

The Civil War Reminiscences of John Marshall Harlan

Towards the end of his life, John Marshall Harlan wrote a series of essays about various events of his life. Collected together, the documents form the closest thing to an autobiography Harlan was to write. Most of the documents concern Harlan's experiences in the Civil War, and some of them repeat the same stories. Cited often in biographies and articles about Harlan, they have never been published before. The three printed here were chosen not only for their individual interest, but also because, taken together, they form a nearly complete account of Harlan's wartime experiences.     

Transatlantic financiers and the Civil War

This essay examines the sympathies and actions of transatlantic financiers in Britain during the Civil War. Motivated largely by their financial and ideological connection to the Northern states, major Anglo‐American banks sympathized with the Union and campaigned to keep Britain out of the conflict. Unable to procure the support of Britain's leading banking houses, the Confederacy turned to lesser capitalists and speculators for financial assistance. By highlighting Britain's economic links to the Northern states and pointing to the potential dangers of meddling in the conflict, financiers in the City of London provided statesmen in the Westminster Parliament with a powerful justification for the policy of neutrality.     

略论美国内战在经济上的代价和影响

查尔斯和玛利·比尔德在他们的名著《美国文明的兴起》中把内战称为“第二次美国革命”。这不仅仅是因为内战解放了 40 0万黑奴和废除了奴隶制 ,而且是因为比尔德夫妇认为内战推动了美国工业资本主义的迅速发展。路易斯·海克后来对此作了进一步阐发。他认为内战中的政治权力转移替“工业资本主义的代言人”提供了完成其经济蓝图的机会。海克引述为证的战时措施包括关税、《银行法》、铁路土地赠与、《宅地法》、《莫里尔法》以及《契约劳工法》等等 ①。在比尔德和海克看来 ,内战是美国资本主义经济发展中的一个分水岭或者说转折点。他们这…     

Sheffield Castle and The Aftermath of The English Civil War

The demolition of castles following the English Civil War is often seen as an inevitable consequence of the conflict, with their slighting often being ascribed to a need to prevent further bloodshed and punish the ruling elite. However, recent studies have demonstrated that the destruction of elite buildings during this period was far from straightforward, and this complexity is reflected in the methodology employed to damage them. At Sheffield, so extensive was this damage that, less than a century later, not a trace remained of what had once been one of the largest castles in South Yorkshire. Whilst little remains of the building itself, the rare survival of a set of demolition accounts, alongside a large number of other sources including personal correspondence, estate rentals and town records, means it is possible to explore in great detail the circumstances of the castle’s slighting. Through these a far more nuanced picture of civil conflict emerges with the castle’s destruction taking place within a complicated dialogue between the Lord of the Manor, Parliament’s officials and the inhabitants of Sheffield themselves.