A Treasury of Comfort: A Study of Elite Comfort in the Long Eighteenth Century

This study examines the significance of comfort in elite lives in the long eighteenth century. With a focus on the correspondence of six gentry families from the East Midlands and the aspects of their lives which were most frequently discussed within it, this thesis argues that comfort was an integral feature of the elite experience. By its exploration of familial and social relationships, illness and death and how they interacted with and shaped the comfort of family members, this study demonstrates the complex and diverse nature of comfort, which was comprised of emotional, spiritual, financial, social, as well as the more commonly studied, physical comfort. This examination also demonstrates the fragility of elite comfort, the effort that was often required to achieve it and how a seemingly privileged lifestyle did not imply that comfort was guaranteed. This in-depth study marks a change as it considers elite comfort from a broader perspective than has perhaps been undertaken previously. It extends beyond that of the physical comfort afforded by advances in furniture design, for instance, as well as considering the comfort of the elite family from both within but also outside of the confines of the country house. With this broader coverage of comfort and its interrelationship with the various aspects of elite life, this thesis also provides a fresh perspective from which to consider other, more established, areas of historical analysis such as the family, sociability and death.