The Decline of Life
Old Age in Eighteenth-Century England
Cambridge Studies in Population, Economy and Society in Past Time Series

The Decline of Life is an ambitious and absorbing study of old age in eighteenth-century England. Drawing on a wealth of sources - literature, correspondence, poor house and workhouse documents and diaries - Susannah Ottaway considers a wide range of experiences and expectations of age in the period, and demonstrates that the central concern of ageing individuals was to continue to live as independently as possible into their last days. Ageing men and women stayed closely connected to their families and communities, in relationships characterized by mutual support and reciprocal obligations. Despite these aspects of continuity, however, older individuals' ability to maintain their autonomy, and the nature of the support available to them once they did fall into necessity declined significantly in the last decades of the century. As a result, old age was increasingly marginalized. Historical demographers, historical gerontologists, sociologists, social historians and women's historians will find this book essential reading.

List of figures; List of tables; Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; Introduction: old age in eighteenth-century England: no 'golden age of ageing'; 1. Who was 'old' in eighteenth-century England?; 2. The activities of the 'helmsman': self-reliance, work and community expectations of the elderly; 3. 'The comforts of a private fire-side'; 4. Independent but not alone: family ties for the elderly; 5. Community assistance to the aged under the Old Poor Law; 6. Continuity and change in community assistance to the elderly over the eighteenth century; 7. Within workhouse walls: indoor relief for the elderly; Conclusion: old age as a useful category of historical analysis; Bibliography; Index.

Susannah R. Ottaway is Assistant Professor of History at Carleton College, Minnesota.