Intimacy within letters: Epistolary Exchanges among the Middling-Sort in Eighteenth-Century England, 1750-1830

The analysis of middling-sort correspondence is an area of historical enquiry that has been overlooked, especially in relation to the wider social networks these letters form between friends and family. My research aims to use collections of eighteenth-century middling-sort correspondence in order to uncover varying levels of intimacy, primarily, within same-sex family relationships. By exploring collections between friends, brothers, cousins and parents, my research draws out key themes that signify varying levels of intimacy and how they differ between each dynamic. I deploy the word ‘intimacy’ by its eighteenth-century usage, which means to be close, familiar or thick with one another. The aim of my research is to identify and uncover varying levels of intimacy within middling sort correspondence, as well as, how these relationships formed and grew through the medium of letter-writing.


My findings are based purely on archival research, and are thus ever-evolving. Common themes that have emerged from the collections I have explored are: health and sickness, gendered differences, business and transactional relationships, the use of language and terms such as friend and, finally, the complexity of motherhood and a woman’s role. These key themes provide the basis for my research,however, as I visit more collections they expand and contract based upon historical evidence. Within archives, I have found that middling sort correspondences are less frequent than their aristocratic counterparts during the eighteenth century, in order to combat this, I correspond with, as well as visit archives frequently to search through potential collections.


Biography:
My name is Isabella, and I started my academic journey at the University of Derby where I completed an Integrated Master’s degree in history. For my MA dissertation, I focused on ‘Lesbian-like’ women and the function of the political gift within the eighteenth century; this has inspired my current research. Currently, I am a second-year postgraduate researcher at the University of Leicester after having the honour of being awarded the Future 100 Scholarship. My thesis focuses on same-sex middling sort correspondence between 1750 to 1830. The goal of my research is to uncover the varying levels of intimacy among same-sex friendships and familial connections.

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