The Life and Families of17th Century Langham Edited by Mike Frisby
Langham Village History Group, 2009, 181pp, illus, ISBN 9781907097003
Click here to read a sample chapter
The Langham Village History Group has quickly achieved for itself a reputation as one of the
most dynamic and productive village history societies in the country. Its major achievement
thus far has been the publication of The Life and Families of 17th Century Langham.
Buoyed by an award of £23,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, which has enabled the Group
to create a volume to the highest possible standards of production, the collaborators worked
at a Stakhanovite pace to produce a book which has illuminated all aspects of life in Langham
during the period.
Inevitably in a book of this nature, there is some variability in the quality of the
contributions. Of most interest to academic historians will be the work on cartography and
finance. The editor, Mike Frisby, has analysed minutely the parish map of 1624 and, although
he admits that not all of the mysteries of the map can be decoded, he, nevertheless,
has deduced a vast amount of detail which has underpinned much of the work elsewhere in
the book. Anthony Wright has expertly placed Langham in the context of seventeenth-century
maps of Rutland in a period when mapping was evolving rapidly. Caroline and Nigel Webb had
the daunting task of investigating the impact of taxation on the village at a time of
considerable controversy over the issue, which they have accomplished with considerable
skill. Some questions, however, remain unanswered - and are possibly unanswerable.
Why, for example, was Langham's proportion to most of the Rutland subsidies in the
seventeenth usually under 2%, whereas its liability in 1642 was 5.7%? A similar attention to
detail can be found in the same authors' contributions on the cost of living and the church,
though in the latter case a slight caveat must be noted in that they have tended to elide
puritanism and nonconformity before the distinction was made explicit as a result of the
Laudian revolution within the Church.
Of most interest to the general reader might be the short account of the contribution of the
Langham-born James Hubbard to the development of the history of New York. Hubbard
surveyed and laid out the settlement which became known as Brooklyn and contributed much
to its early development, at least when he was not being incarcerated by the Dutch
authorities.
Some of the sections of more general interest do suffer from the lack of much specific
Langham evidence to illustrate the material. However, this should not detract from the
overall interest of the book. This is really a model of how such a group collaboration should
be undertaken. The editor, Mike Frisby, and his team are to be congratulated on producing a
work form which both the professional historian and the amateur enthusiast can derive much
pleasure.
Mike Tillbrook - Chairman - Rutland Local History and Record Society 2011
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This book gives an extremely rare and detailed account of life in a Rutland village in the
seventeenth century. Funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund has enabled members of the
Langham Village History Group to research and produce a very professional and attractive
hard-backed book. Their research has been extensive with visits to a wide variety of archives
and libraries; sources consulted range from maps, wills, inventories and parish registers to
the more unusual court rolls and Exton Papers. Although the chapters have been written by
various members of the History Group they have been seamlessly woven together to produce
a scholarly book that is nevertheless very accessible to a wide readership. Whether you have
an interest in Langham, local history, family history, or the seventeenth century in general,
you will find this book a fascinating exploration of 'not just the lives of people, but the whole
fabric of the village.' Apart from the wonderful 1624 parish map, which shows who owned
land in Langham, there are twenty-two chapters covering such topics as trades and
occupations, the written and spoken word, goods and chattels, the land, transport, health,
food and fuel, and Langham charities.
To help the reader put everything into context there are several timelines of national events
and general information about the seventeenth century. There is also a list of family names
and several family trees of notable inhabitants of the village. The good deeds and
misdemeanours of village folk are revealed. Two examples are the miller, Thomas Palmer,
who left money in his will to Langham church, Peterborough Cathedral and the poor of the
parish, while William Freeman, on the other hand, was charged with fornication with Elinor
Barker. He was 'very sorry' but still had to do public penance in Uppingham market and
Langham parish. A wide variety of illustrations are sprinkled throughout the book and many of
the extracts help the reader to visualise various aspects of life. Mary Barker, for example,
reports in 1661 that Langham residents 'are all in great danger of the small pox more than
ever, for Ealse Neckealls hath it.'
Even if you do not have an interest in Langham you will be totally absorbed by this book.
Shirley Aucott - The Leicestershire Historian 2010
