McCormack, M. (2014) Glamping at Coxheath: domesticity, sociability and the Georgian militia officer. Paper presented to: British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies 43rd Annual Conference, St Hugh's College, University of Oxford, 08-10 January 2014. (Unpublished)
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Abstract:
During the Seven Years, American and French Wars, huge military camps were established on the south coast of England to ward off potential invasion from France. These were effectively temporary towns, whose size, layout and opportunities for polite sociability had much in common with the towns of the urban renaissance. In particular, they were dominated by militia regiments, since these were designed for home defence, relieving the regulars for service abroad: they were therefore populated by civilian soldiers, who served for a distinct phase of their lives and retained their links with civilian society. This paper will explore the material culture of the military camp, focusing in particular on the themes of privacy, domesticity, sociability and moral regulation. It will highlight crucial differences in the experiences of privates and commissioned officers, who had a quite distinct experience of camp. Officers’ quartering arrangements, familial relationships and leisure pursuits arguably had more in common with their lives in civilian society than they had with those of the privates. This helps us to think about the nature of military rank, and also the relationship between ‘war’ and ‘society’ among the elite, in a period before ‘civilian’ was thought about as a distinct sphere.
Subjects:
Creators:
McCormack, M.
Faculties, Divisions and Institutes:
Date:
9 January 2014
Date Type:
Presentation
Event Title:
British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies 43rd Annual Conference
Event Dates:
08-10 January 2014
Event Location:
St Hugh's College, University of Oxford
Event Type:
Conference
Language:
English
Status:
Unpublished
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