Work (Tudor and Stuart)

Most people in Buckinghamshire would have been farmers in the Tudor and Stuart periods, but there were other jobs.

Gentry and Nobility

There were many landowners who made their money mainly by charging rent on property and land. Tenants would do the farming and the landowners would get the money!

Many gentlemen and noblemen had to do service for the monarch. They could go to the royal court and work as an advisor or companion or they could stay at home and be voted in as a Justice of the Peace or a Sheriff, which meant enforcing local laws and tax collecting. 

Tradesmen

Former street names in Aylesbury give us clues about what they were used for in the past. Market Square was used for markets. Cambridge Street was Baker Street, Silver Lane was Butcher’s Row and Temple Street was Cordwainer Row (cordwainers make shoes). 

Parish records tell us what work people did. Look at the occupations of the men recorded in parish registers below. The men are listed in alphabetical order, last names first.  

Answer the questions based on the table above:

1. What is the earliest occupation recorded in the table?
2. Is there a change in the type of occupations through time?
3. Where are most of the millers in Buckinghamshire?
4. Where are most of the papermakers in Buckinghamshire?
5. Where are most of the brick makers in Buckinghamshire?

Industry

Papermaking

Papermaking was going on by the end of Elizabeth I’s reign in 1603. In 1636 there were 12 paper mills in Buckinghamshire. There were eight papermills near High Wycombe in 1690. Do a search on Buckinghamshire’s Heritage Portal to find all the sixteenth and seventeenth century papermills in Buckinghamshire and mark them on the map of papermills attached to this page. 

Brick-making

Brick and tile-making were important in Buckinghamshire. Brickfields were set up in the 1650s at Claydon for building Claydon House. Bricks and tiles were being made in Brill as well at this point, and the clay-pits can still be seen on Brill Common. Do a search on Buckinghamshire’s Heritage Portal to find all the sixteenth and seventeenth century brick kilns, brickworks or tileworks in Buckinghamshire and mark them on the map of brickworks attached to this page. 

Tanneries

Excavations at the Oxford Road Mill in Aylesbury after it burnt down in 1993 uncovered lots of sheep foot bones dating to the Stuart period. This suggests that there was a tannery there in the seventeenth century. A tannery is a place where animal skins are turned into leather. Skins would be delivered with just the feet bones still attached after the meat had been sold for food. The feet bones would be cut off during the tanning process. 

Women’s work

Lace-making

Lace was made by women in High Wycombe and Aylesbury. In 1661 Sir Edmund Verney of Claydon House received some lace from a tenant that had been made by his daughter. It was made into a cravat.

Beer-brewing

Beer-brewing and selling was one trade a woman could have. There were many alehouses run by women, who were called alewives. You didn't need a license to run an alehouse, like you did to run an inn or tavern, but local laws in High Wycombe tried to shut down the alehouses. People who ran inns and taverns in High Wycombe didn't like women brewing beer because they sold it cheaper.

Seamstressing

Men were not allowed to make underwear for women. The linen shirts that were used as underwear were also thought to be very simple pieces of clothing and so easy enough for women to make. For an example of this kind of work, search on the Buckinghamshire County Museum’s online database for a coif. A coif is a head covering that could be worn under a hat or as a nightcap. 

Go back to find out more about the Rich and poor.