Saturday 7th February 2026 – The status and economic agency of female landholders in the lordships of Ellesmere and Whitchurch, 1760-1860 by Sara Downs. Between the end of the early modern period and the Married Women’s Property Acts of 1870 and 1882 historians argue that the declining manorial court was a further restriction on women’s landholding. This talk illustrates how Whitchurch lordship’s customary court and copyhold land continued despite the tenurial changes of Bridgewater agricultural policy and nineteenth century law reforms. Customs of the manor still made provision for widows, and daughters continued to inherit land. Women of different marital status were evident in the court managing their land. However, in the Bridgewater’s lordship of Ellesmere women were highly affected by the changes. This talk discusses the differences in the women’s economic agency and socio-economic status by examining their visibility in the landscape, their business activities and the seat they occupied within the parish church and how these were affected by the land that they held. 2.30pm, at The Gateway, Chester Street, Shrewsbury, SY1 1NB
Shropshire Archaeology & History 