Stobart, J. (2013) The metropolitan geographies of elite shopping: Mary Leigh and Roger Newdigate in Georgian London. Paper presented to: Gender in the European Town: Medieval to Modern, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, 2013-05-23.
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Abstract:
The importance of London as a source of elite goods is a commonplace. Work by Berry, Walsh, Vickery and Greig has painted a vivid picture of the mechanisms through which elite women in particular sought out metropolitan suppliers. It has also suggested a variety of motivations for their metropolitan tastes. We also have a good idea of the changing retail geography of London, with west-end shops becoming increasingly prominent through the eighteenth century. Less clear are the ways in which these two were linked through the spatial practices of consumers: where, precisely, did elites shop? How was this linked to their place of residence, experience of London or longevity in the city? And what difference did gender make? This paper explores these questions by mapping the metropolitan shopping habits of two elite families with estates in rural Warwickshire and houses in London: the Leighs of Stoneleigh Abbey and Newdigates of Arbury Hall. I argue that London retailers were both local and metropolitan – geographies of elite shopping being linked to the London residence and to key retail locations – and that men and women had different shopping geographies in part because of their different engagements in and with London.
Creators:
Stobart, J.
Faculties, Divisions and Institutes:
Date:
23 May 2013
Date Type:
Publication
Journal or Publication Title:
Gender in the European Town: Medieval to Modern
Event Title:
Gender in the European Town: Medieval to Modern
Event Dates:
2013-05-23
Event Location:
University of Southern Denmark, Odense
Event Type:
Other
Language:
English
Status:
Published / Disseminated
Refereed:
No
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