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Ralph Tailor's Summer: A Scrivener, His City and the Plague
One man's life in the plague, his record of the calamitous decimation of a city where nearly half the people died, and its sometimes surprising impact on families and communities
The plague outbreak of 1636 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne was one of the most devastating in English history. This hugely moving study looks in detail at its impact on the city through the eyes of a man who stayed as others fled: the scrivener Ralph Tailor. As a scrivener Tailor was responsible for many of the wills and inventories of his fellow citizens. By listening to and writing down the final wishes of the dying, the young scrivener often became the principal provider of comfort in people’s last hours. Drawing on the rich records left by Tailor during the course of his work along with many other sources, Keith Wrightson vividly reconstructs life in the early modern city during a time of crisis and envisions what such a calamitous decimation of the population must have meant for personal, familial, and social relations.
The plague outbreak of 1636 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne was one of the most devastating in English history. This hugely moving study looks in detail at its impact on the city through the eyes of a man who stayed as others fled: the scrivener Ralph Tailor. As a scrivener Tailor was responsible for many of the wills and inventories of his fellow citizens. By listening to and writing down the final wishes of the dying, the young scrivener often became the principal provider of comfort in people’s last hours. Drawing on the rich records left by Tailor during the course of his work along with many other sources, Keith Wrightson vividly reconstructs life in the early modern city during a time of crisis and envisions what such a calamitous decimation of the population must have meant for personal, familial, and social relations.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published November 22, 2011
6 people are currently reading
84 people want to read
About the author
Keith Wrightson
11 books8 followersKeith E. Wrightson, Randolph W. Townsend Jr. Professor of History, is a scholar of early modern British history. His books, which have been credited for their novel approach to English social and cultural history, include Poverty and Piety in an English Village: Terling, 1525-1700 (co-authored with David Levine), The Making of an Industrial Society. Whickham 1560-1765 (also with Levine), English Society, 1580-1680 and Earthly Necessities. Economic Lives in Early Modern Britain. He is a contributing editor of The Illustrated Dictionary of British History and co-editor of The World We Have Gained: Histories of Population and Social Structure. Essays Presented to Peter Laslett on His 70th Birthday. Wrightson has also contributed chapters to numerous books.
Wrightson earned his BA, MA and PhD from Cambridge University and began his teaching career at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, where he was a lecturer in modern history 1975-1984. He returned to Cambridge in 1984, serving as the University Lecturer in History and later as director of studies in history and a reader in English social history. He became a full professor of social history there in 1998 and joined the Yale faculty a year later.
The historian has held visiting professorships at the University of Alberta and the University of Toronto, among others, and has been an invited lecturer at universities and in conferences throughout Europe, Canada, Australia, China, Russia and the United States. He was the James Ford Special Lecturer at the University of Oxford in 1993 and presented the British Academy's Raleigh Lecture in the fall of 2005.
At Yale, Wrightson has served as director of undergraduate studies in history and has chaired the Renaissance Studies Program. He has also served on a number of University advisory boards.
In 2001, Wrightson was awarded the John Ben Snow Prize, presented by the North American Conference on British Studies. He is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the British Academy. He serves on the editorial boards of several scholarly journals.
Wrightson earned his BA, MA and PhD from Cambridge University and began his teaching career at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, where he was a lecturer in modern history 1975-1984. He returned to Cambridge in 1984, serving as the University Lecturer in History and later as director of studies in history and a reader in English social history. He became a full professor of social history there in 1998 and joined the Yale faculty a year later.
The historian has held visiting professorships at the University of Alberta and the University of Toronto, among others, and has been an invited lecturer at universities and in conferences throughout Europe, Canada, Australia, China, Russia and the United States. He was the James Ford Special Lecturer at the University of Oxford in 1993 and presented the British Academy's Raleigh Lecture in the fall of 2005.
At Yale, Wrightson has served as director of undergraduate studies in history and has chaired the Renaissance Studies Program. He has also served on a number of University advisory boards.
In 2001, Wrightson was awarded the John Ben Snow Prize, presented by the North American Conference on British Studies. He is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the British Academy. He serves on the editorial boards of several scholarly journals.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 18, 2016
Being fascinated by plague (don't judge me) and wanting to learn more about a period in my hometown's history, this book initially seemed like it would be a good read. Sadly, I've been wrong before.
This is a well-researched book BUT it's somehow lacking in any real depth. Wrightson frequently offers suppositions, followed by "But we'll never know", or "There's no way to know the truth", which becomes deeply irritating after the first few occurrences.
I didn't really feel that I learned anything new about Newcastle that I didn't already know, and the chapters often devolve into endless lists of names, or possessions left in wills. Wrightson's tendency to include snippets from the wills verbatim means having to read a lot of seventeenth century English. I feel like Wrightson expects you to remember names from one chapter to another, and I got incredibly infuriated by his assumption that anyone with the same surname must be a "kinsman". I've never before met anyone who used the word 'kinsman', and it's a sad fact that a lot of people in the area would have had the same surname and NOT been related.
I also didn't really feel that I learned a lot about Ralph Tailor, beyond a few biographical details. Another reviewer said she felt like the book was a conference paper stretched to book length and I think she's right. There are fascinating little details in here, but not enough to sustain the book, and there is too much hypothesising, or referring to the fact that records are missing. If Wrightson wanted to deal in theory and supposition then he would have been better off writing this as historical fiction, and filling in the details himself.
This is a well-researched book BUT it's somehow lacking in any real depth. Wrightson frequently offers suppositions, followed by "But we'll never know", or "There's no way to know the truth", which becomes deeply irritating after the first few occurrences.
I didn't really feel that I learned anything new about Newcastle that I didn't already know, and the chapters often devolve into endless lists of names, or possessions left in wills. Wrightson's tendency to include snippets from the wills verbatim means having to read a lot of seventeenth century English. I feel like Wrightson expects you to remember names from one chapter to another, and I got incredibly infuriated by his assumption that anyone with the same surname must be a "kinsman". I've never before met anyone who used the word 'kinsman', and it's a sad fact that a lot of people in the area would have had the same surname and NOT been related.
I also didn't really feel that I learned a lot about Ralph Tailor, beyond a few biographical details. Another reviewer said she felt like the book was a conference paper stretched to book length and I think she's right. There are fascinating little details in here, but not enough to sustain the book, and there is too much hypothesising, or referring to the fact that records are missing. If Wrightson wanted to deal in theory and supposition then he would have been better off writing this as historical fiction, and filling in the details himself.
March 26, 2014
I had to read and review this book for University so I thought I'd post my review here.
Writing a history like Ralph Tailor’s Summer has many limitations and benefits. ‘History From Below’ is a history, told from the point of view of common people. While most histories focus on the well known people of the time, like the royal or the rich, ‘people’s history’ deals with the less famous, but equally important everyday people. Keith Wrightson’s book is a microhistory, focusing on the life of one man living during the plague outbreak of 1636. Ralph Tailor was a scrivener, living in the town of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the seventeenth century. He wrote for a living, a lucrative business at the time because most people couldn’t read or write. During the plague many people died, but before they died they had to put their affairs in order. This involved making a will. Ralph Tailor was the man to write those wills. Many of the wills and inventories he wrote during the plague of 1636 have survived and these are the prime resources used by Keith Wrightson for his book. The amount of detail in these wills and inventories illuminates many social, political and religious customs of the time. It is fortunate that these documents have survived for so long and that Keith Wrightson was able to find them and bring them to light.
There are many limitations regarding the accuracy and depth of histories told from ‘the people’s’ perspective. Often there is a vast time period between the event studied and the present, therefore much of the original information is lost to the ages. Documents can be lost, damaged or destroyed, if any documentation was made in the first place. Therefore it is difficult to compile a complete history of an event. If there are gaps concerning certain events, often the only way to fill them is with speculation and even an educated guess is still a guess and cannot be relied upon to be exact.
That being said, there is many benefits to writing a history of the common people. The poor, underprivileged and neglected people of history have just as much right to have their story told than the rich and fortunate people. Their stories give you sense of what it was really like to be a normal person living in another time. Having a first person account of an event, no matter how small, is that much more important and special. We know more about the lives of kings because their existence is more documented, but having information on the average lives of people gives a much richer perspective on how the majority lived. I think the benefits of writing a history in this style far out way the limitations because the lives of the common people are just as fascinating and much more relatable.
Reading a history like this reminds people that on the whole, society has not changed very much through the ages and many of the ideas, cares and hopes of normal people in the past mirror those of the present and future. I think Keith Wrightson's book is a marvellous story about an ordinary person living in an extraordinary time.
Writing a history like Ralph Tailor’s Summer has many limitations and benefits. ‘History From Below’ is a history, told from the point of view of common people. While most histories focus on the well known people of the time, like the royal or the rich, ‘people’s history’ deals with the less famous, but equally important everyday people. Keith Wrightson’s book is a microhistory, focusing on the life of one man living during the plague outbreak of 1636. Ralph Tailor was a scrivener, living in the town of Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the seventeenth century. He wrote for a living, a lucrative business at the time because most people couldn’t read or write. During the plague many people died, but before they died they had to put their affairs in order. This involved making a will. Ralph Tailor was the man to write those wills. Many of the wills and inventories he wrote during the plague of 1636 have survived and these are the prime resources used by Keith Wrightson for his book. The amount of detail in these wills and inventories illuminates many social, political and religious customs of the time. It is fortunate that these documents have survived for so long and that Keith Wrightson was able to find them and bring them to light.
There are many limitations regarding the accuracy and depth of histories told from ‘the people’s’ perspective. Often there is a vast time period between the event studied and the present, therefore much of the original information is lost to the ages. Documents can be lost, damaged or destroyed, if any documentation was made in the first place. Therefore it is difficult to compile a complete history of an event. If there are gaps concerning certain events, often the only way to fill them is with speculation and even an educated guess is still a guess and cannot be relied upon to be exact.
That being said, there is many benefits to writing a history of the common people. The poor, underprivileged and neglected people of history have just as much right to have their story told than the rich and fortunate people. Their stories give you sense of what it was really like to be a normal person living in another time. Having a first person account of an event, no matter how small, is that much more important and special. We know more about the lives of kings because their existence is more documented, but having information on the average lives of people gives a much richer perspective on how the majority lived. I think the benefits of writing a history in this style far out way the limitations because the lives of the common people are just as fascinating and much more relatable.
Reading a history like this reminds people that on the whole, society has not changed very much through the ages and many of the ideas, cares and hopes of normal people in the past mirror those of the present and future. I think Keith Wrightson's book is a marvellous story about an ordinary person living in an extraordinary time.
May 13, 2024
This was just so good. And I am delighted to see a historian follow one of the rabbit holes he found.
Using just over 30 verbal depositions Wrightson traces the life of Newcastle during a plague year: he looks at kin relationships, hierarchies and property.
I loved this book. And the character of Ralph Tailor is just waiting to be fictionalised.
Using just over 30 verbal depositions Wrightson traces the life of Newcastle during a plague year: he looks at kin relationships, hierarchies and property.
I loved this book. And the character of Ralph Tailor is just waiting to be fictionalised.
October 13, 2020
I read this for uni and whilst the subject of plague is an interesting one, I found this book could get rather dull. It seems that the source material is often rather thin on the ground and as a result there is often a lot of conjecture, or 'this or that might have occured - but we'll never know.' Whilst it does at times succesfully provide a picture of what life might have been like in 1630s Newcastle or reveal the experience of those neglected by history, often it degenerates into lists of items, bequests, and names which whilst intended to reveal the linkages between people of a community often had me confused as I struggled to remember who was who and why they were important. At the end of the day I do not consider this to be a particularly ground breaking work even if it does approach plague from a microhistorial angle. I'm not sure exactly what I am meant to take away from this book, and were I not so ignorant of the topic to start with perhaps there would not be much to take away. That said, there are parts that are engaging and well worth reading. Ultimately, I do not think I have wasted my time with this book, but I doubt it is one that I will read again.
September 14, 2024
This book truly is a masterclass in finding and analysing sources.
It is meticulously researched and written with such enthusiasm and compassion. Admittedly, during some of the analysis of 17th-century administration, I did find my attention wandering. But there were parts of this book which deeply touched me. The section dedicated to the wills of plague victims, who showed such care and devotion to their loved ones in trying to provide for their future, made me misty-eyed.
Ralph himself is a fascinating figure and the last chapter focussed on the rest of his life was a lovely way to end the book. I was rooting for him! I also enjoyed the wit of the author.
A must-read for enjoyers of local history.
It is meticulously researched and written with such enthusiasm and compassion. Admittedly, during some of the analysis of 17th-century administration, I did find my attention wandering. But there were parts of this book which deeply touched me. The section dedicated to the wills of plague victims, who showed such care and devotion to their loved ones in trying to provide for their future, made me misty-eyed.
Ralph himself is a fascinating figure and the last chapter focussed on the rest of his life was a lovely way to end the book. I was rooting for him! I also enjoyed the wit of the author.
A must-read for enjoyers of local history.
July 12, 2018
This book was the basis of another essay I had to write for history this semester. My essay was focused on the author's use of microhistory throughout the novel. To put it simply, microhistory is the focus on history that is specific to a particular place or person.
The book follows Ralph Tailor and his journey as a scrivener in the 17th century community of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, a small village in England. Tailor's position in the community allowed him to be an observer and enactor of the human condition.
The book is not quite a narrative format, but in a similar way to The Black Death by John Hatcher. I found it an interesting read, but again the black death is a morbid topic.
The book follows Ralph Tailor and his journey as a scrivener in the 17th century community of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, a small village in England. Tailor's position in the community allowed him to be an observer and enactor of the human condition.
The book is not quite a narrative format, but in a similar way to The Black Death by John Hatcher. I found it an interesting read, but again the black death is a morbid topic.
May 19, 2018
Read for university
November 20, 2012
Another chapter in the “I read it so you don’t have to” public service I pride myself of providing at wildly unpredictable intervals. Ralph Tailor’s Summer is neither infuriating nor fun. Unfortunately, these are both good qualities in books.
The Good: the history of a notary/scrivener’s career in Newcastle, glimpsed and reconstructed from mostly official documents he left behind (ah, the power of bureaucracy!). It starts during a plague epidemic in 1636 that brought him good business as a writer of wills, and ends with his own will, in 1652. Several chapters are dedicated to the setting, the background, the wills of people during the plague, and to what plague does to society. Which, is mostly…
…The Bad: this is really a paper stretched to a book. The big finding is that even during the plague, people remain human and society doesn’t break down in nihilistic self-destruction – oh, and also that poor people are more impacted by the plague than richer ones. I’m not a big believer in originality as a requirement for writing academic books, subscribing to the school that most originality is in fact just bad memory. But then at least I want a good story, and…
…The Ugly: history, especially micro-history, the history of “under-represented lives” (Lena Orlin, p160) is always reconstructed through very partial evidence, and a good deal of speculation goes with it. But here there are far too many: “How it really went, we can only wonder,” “it might have been… (but maybe not),” “xyz is unknown… but unlikely (or likely)”and too much character judgment extrapolated from too little source (Tailor is deemed to have been prepared to cut corners on the basis of one sentence in the only letter of his that has been found). If we’re going for fictional reconstruction, might as well go the whole way and tell a really satisfying story like the one that Cipolla tells in the Plague in 17th Century Tuscany.
I don't blame Wrightson. He was working in archives, and suddenly found all these wills from a summer of plague bearing the really striking signature of Ralph Tailor. It’s the reason why people become historians, I suppose – a voice beaconing from a long time ago is like an empty, decaying building – you can’t not go in and imagine what it was. But maybe he would’ve been better off doing something like this Slate’s Permanent Record rather than writing a book. Great title, though. And that counts for a lot.
The Good: the history of a notary/scrivener’s career in Newcastle, glimpsed and reconstructed from mostly official documents he left behind (ah, the power of bureaucracy!). It starts during a plague epidemic in 1636 that brought him good business as a writer of wills, and ends with his own will, in 1652. Several chapters are dedicated to the setting, the background, the wills of people during the plague, and to what plague does to society. Which, is mostly…
…The Bad: this is really a paper stretched to a book. The big finding is that even during the plague, people remain human and society doesn’t break down in nihilistic self-destruction – oh, and also that poor people are more impacted by the plague than richer ones. I’m not a big believer in originality as a requirement for writing academic books, subscribing to the school that most originality is in fact just bad memory. But then at least I want a good story, and…
…The Ugly: history, especially micro-history, the history of “under-represented lives” (Lena Orlin, p160) is always reconstructed through very partial evidence, and a good deal of speculation goes with it. But here there are far too many: “How it really went, we can only wonder,” “it might have been… (but maybe not),” “xyz is unknown… but unlikely (or likely)”and too much character judgment extrapolated from too little source (Tailor is deemed to have been prepared to cut corners on the basis of one sentence in the only letter of his that has been found). If we’re going for fictional reconstruction, might as well go the whole way and tell a really satisfying story like the one that Cipolla tells in the Plague in 17th Century Tuscany.
I don't blame Wrightson. He was working in archives, and suddenly found all these wills from a summer of plague bearing the really striking signature of Ralph Tailor. It’s the reason why people become historians, I suppose – a voice beaconing from a long time ago is like an empty, decaying building – you can’t not go in and imagine what it was. But maybe he would’ve been better off doing something like this Slate’s Permanent Record rather than writing a book. Great title, though. And that counts for a lot.
March 31, 2013
A micro history focusing on one scrivener and his work during plague years writing wills, inventories etc. the material is stretched a bit thin in places, but I found the material fascinating. Accompanying illustrations are appropriate and enlightening.
December 24, 2023
I wrote a very long and glowing review about this book and so rather than repeat myself, here's the link to what I called a Masterful Microhistory
September 23, 2012
A tad dry at times, perhaps, but overall a fascinating glimpse into life in 17th century England.
October 9, 2015
My review is on my blog Contagions: http://contagions.wordpress.com/2013/...
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May 28, 2018skim read it lol
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews