Jonathan Barry is Head of the School of Historical, Sociological and Political Studies at the University of Exeter, UK. His research publications include studies of 'middling' identity, the urban society and culture in the later seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, religious belief in early modern towns, witchcraft and prosecution in the early modern period, and the nature of cultural history. Henry French is Lecturer in social and economic history at the University of Exeter, UK. His research publications include several journal articles on the identity of the 'middle sort of people' in early modern England.

• Preface and Acknowledgements Notes on Contributors Introduction - Identity and Agency in England, 1500-1800; H.French Civility, Honesty and the Identification of the Deserving Poor in Seventeenth-Century England; S.Hindle Social Inequality, Identity and the Labouring Poor in Eighteenth-Century England; P.King Honesty, Worth and Gender in Early Modern England, 1560-1640; A.Shepard A Dynamic Model of Social Relations: Celibacy, Credit and the Identity of the 'Spinster' in Seventeenth-Century England; J.Spicksley Class and Credit: Social Identity, Wealth and the Life Course in Early Modern England; C.Muldrew Sense and Singularity: The Social Experiences of John Marsh and Thomas Stutterd in Late-Georgian England; H.Berry Agency, Custom, and the English Corporate System; P.Withington Bibliography

Jonathan Barry is Head of the School of Historical, Sociological and Political Studies at the University of Exeter, UK. His research publications include studies of 'middling' identity, the urban society and culture in the later seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, religious belief in early modern towns, witchcraft and prosecution in the early modern period, and the nature of cultural history. Henry French is Lecturer in social and economic history at the University of Exeter, UK. His research publications include several journal articles on the identity of the 'middle sort of people' in early modern England.

• Preface and Acknowledgements Notes on Contributors Introduction - Identity and Agency in England, 1500-1800; H.French Civility, Honesty and the Identification of the Deserving Poor in Seventeenth-Century England; S.Hindle Social Inequality, Identity and the Labouring Poor in Eighteenth-Century England; P.King Honesty, Worth and Gender in Early Modern England, 1560-1640; A.Shepard A Dynamic Model of Social Relations: Celibacy, Credit and the Identity of the 'Spinster' in Seventeenth-Century England; J.Spicksley Class and Credit: Social Identity, Wealth and the Life Course in Early Modern England; C.Muldrew Sense and Singularity: The Social Experiences of John Marsh and Thomas Stutterd in Late-Georgian England; H.Berry Agency, Custom, and the English Corporate System; P.Withington Bibliography

Jonathan Barry is Head of the School of Historical, Sociological and Political Studies at the University of Exeter, UK. His research publications include studies of 'middling' identity, the urban society and culture in the later seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, religious belief in early modern towns, witchcraft and prosecution in the early modern period, and the nature of cultural history. Henry French is Lecturer in social and economic history at the University of Exeter, UK. His research publications include several journal articles on the identity of the 'middle sort of people' in early modern England.

• Preface and Acknowledgements Notes on Contributors Introduction - Identity and Agency in England, 1500-1800; H.French Civility, Honesty and the Identification of the Deserving Poor in Seventeenth-Century England; S.Hindle Social Inequality, Identity and the Labouring Poor in Eighteenth-Century England; P.King Honesty, Worth and Gender in Early Modern England, 1560-1640; A.Shepard A Dynamic Model of Social Relations: Celibacy, Credit and the Identity of the 'Spinster' in Seventeenth-Century England; J.Spicksley Class and Credit: Social Identity, Wealth and the Life Course in Early Modern England; C.Muldrew Sense and Singularity: The Social Experiences of John Marsh and Thomas Stutterd in Late-Georgian England; H.Berry Agency, Custom, and the English Corporate System; P.Withington Bibliography