Lynn Sorge-English - Stays and Body Image in London

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STAYS AND BODY IMAGE IN LONDON:
THE STAYMAKING TRADE, 16801810

BY

Lynn Sorge-English

First published 2011 by Pickering & Chatto (Publishers) Limited

Published 2016 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Taylor & Francis 2011
Lynn Sorge-English 2011

All rights reserved, including those of translation into foreign languages. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

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BRITISH LIBRARY CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION DATA

Sorge-English, Lynn.
Stays and body image in London: the staymaking trade, 16801810. (Body,
gender and culture)
1. Corset industry England London History 18th century. 2. Corsets
Social aspects England London History 18th century. 3. Body image in
women England London History 18th century.
I. Title II. Series
331.768722094209033dc22

ISBN: 978-1-848-93089-6 (hbk)

Typeset by Pickering & Chatto (Publishers) Limited

This book has grown out of my Ph.D. dissertation at Oxford Brookes University, and I have an enormous debt of gratitude to scholars on both sides of the Atlantic. In the UK, first and foremost, I would particularly like to thank my Ph.D. supervisor Steven King for his always-insightful comments on my work, and for his never-ceasing encouragement and unwavering support not once did he say, Enough, stop researching and begin to write! His patience was unremitting, he was adventurous and forward-thinking, his intellectual curiosity knew no bounds, and for this, and much more, I will always be grateful. During my three years in London I was thrilled by the chase, by having no idea what lay beneath the brown cover on the cardboard box sitting on the huge table in a chilly, quiet room at the National Archives, by the sheer pleasure of pulling out a bundle of blue notebooks displaying the distinctly visible words The Bone Shop written on the top cover, by the discovery of a small leather-covered book penned by a staymaker in 1744, by being allowed to occupy a spot in the British Library Manuscripts Reading Room day aft er day transcribing the bits which might enable me to capture the essence of the life of a tradesman the excitement was daily, the discoveries seemingly endless.

None of it would have been possible without the help and guidance of many. I am grateful to Elizabeth Hurren, Christiana Payne, Lesley Miller, Barbara Burman, John Styles, John Rule, and Madeleine Ginsburg, to colleagues at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, to seminar and conference participants for feedback given following paper-presentations in both the UK and USA, and to editors and anonymous referees of articles published using this research. In North America, I am thankful to Beverly Lemire, Claudia Kidwell, Linda Baumgarten, Sally Queen, Brenda Rosseau, the late Cora Ginsburg, Titi Halle, Michele Majer, and the late Rha Theriault. To all of my students and colleagues in the Costume Studies Programme and Department of Theatre, Dalhousie University, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate the stimulation, support and encouragement you continue to provide me.

I am eternally grateful to curators and staff at the British Library, National Archives, Guildhall Library, Corporation of London Records Office, Hackney Archives Department, National Art Library and Picture Library, V&A, and the Institute of Historical Research for welcoming me into their collections and endlessly providing me with documents to transcribe and/or photograph. I would also like to thank curators and staff at the following archives for allowing me access to study and document their artefacts: Castle Howard Costume Gallery Collection, York; Churchill House Museum, Hereford; Gallery of Costume, Bath; Gallery of Costume, Manchester; Hereford and Worcester County Museum, Hartlebury; Museum of Costume and Textiles, Nottingham; Museum of London; Snowshill Costume Collection, Th e National Trust, Berrington Hall, Leominster; V&A, London; Worthing Museum & Art Gallery, Worthing; Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Virginia, USA; Cora Ginsburg, Inc., New York; Kenmore Plantation and Museum, Fredericksburg, Virginia, USA; National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC; and the owners of three private collections.

This research would not have been possible without the award of a three-year Research Studentship from the Oxford Brookes Arts and Humanities Research Board, a Doctoral Fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, a Royal Historical Society Grant, a Faculty Small Grant and the Richard Newitt Prize, University of Southampton, the KG Ponting Memorial Bursary, Pasold Research Fund, and a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Research Grant. I would like to express my appreciation to all of the awarding bodies for their generosity. To my very dear friends and family, thank you for waiting. To Phil Sorge none of this would either have begun or been possible without you. To Naomi, Abe and Isaac Sorge, and Bill English, all of whom have helped in inestimable ways in the creation of this book thank you a million times over. Your faith in me makes all things possible.

In 1784 Hannah Boardman committed a crime, was arrested and taken into custody while she awaited her trial at the Old Bailey, unable to afford her bail. Upon finding her crying and desolate in the privy of the prison, Elizabeth Leonell, a fellow prisoner, offered to have someone bail her out if Boardman would put up a sum of money. Boardman had only a portion of it on her person, and so Leonell asked her for her stays, obviously to sell. Boardman was torn between wanting her freedom, and wanting not to part with her stays. As she put it, How can I go without my stays? She did decide to part with them eventually, but not trusting that Leonell would give her the money, had her own child sell them for her, and bring her the four shillings and sixpence she received for them. A short time later, Leonell robbed Boardman of the money. She was found guilty, and sentenced to death. Even though Boardman had a child and very much wanted to be released, she thought long and hard about parting with her stays, which were the only thing of value she had with her. They were such an important part of her identity and self-image that she could not imagine her daily life without them.