In the 13th century, the Buckerel family was one of the powers of the City of London, members of the Pepperers’ Gild, which later became the Grocers’ Livery Company.

“The elder Stephen was royal Chamberlain of London and King’s Butler at Henry II’s coronation banquet. Two years later he bought the lease of the Exchanges for three years for about 4,000 marks (£15m at present day values), and became Master of the Exchange.
… they produced the first woman known to have played a major role in City affairs in her own right. When Isabella Buckerel, wife of Stephen the younger, was widowed, she managed all her business and property affairs herself. … holding property in the City alone which encompassed most of the Drapery, the Rpoert, the Saddlery, and the Poultry in Chepe and Walbrook and 20 other city parishes as well. She also played a behind-the-scenes part in City politics, and most of the residents of the Ward must have been dependent on her to some degree.”

The Ward of Cripplegate in the City of London, Caroline Gordon and Wilfrid Dewhirst, Cripplegate Ward Club, 1985, p. 22

Typically, there appears to be nothing about her on the web.

Any recommendations for sources on the (to use anachronistic terms) production, marketing, administrative, management practices of printers in London at the end of the 16th century? (No, I’m not asking much …)

I’m trying, perhaps hopelessly, to create a chronology for four pamphlets published in 1594 – none of which unfortunately were entered in the register of the Company of Stationers … (in case you were wondering.)

As a reward, I offer in return a link to an article from Harvard Magazine arguing for the study of neo-Latin writers of the (broadly) early modern period. Which makes me think of Women Latin Poets – a book I’m promoting every way I can, since I think anyone interested in early modern women writers (or medieval, or later) should read.

British Asian men are going to India, marrying women for their dowries, then abandoning them. Or sometimes they are, they say “forced into marriage by their parents” (just how do you do this to a 30-year-old man?), then get cold feet. Either way, it is the women who are left in limbo.

But in China, there are now labour shortages in the South, where skilled workers, particularly young women, are demanding a minimum wage of £50 a month, or more. Interesting that they have the same social pattern as here – no shortage of university educated starter-workers, but a real shortage of technical training. From what I know of Chinese culture – think Confucianism and all that — the pressure towards book learning and away from anything involving getting your hands dirty is going to be even stronger than in the West. Time to invest in any plumbing that is “plug and play”, I think.

I’ve got a copy of the classic about an English village, Akenfield (almost unavoidable given the number you see in second-hand bookshops), but now there’s a sequel. And it actually doesn’t sound too bad:

“Steve Coghill, who lectures at nearby Otley Agricultural College, adds to this, pointing out that a lessening emphasis on “production, production” also has its rewards. “We are now seeing a return to managing the land in a more biodiverse way,” he says. “We have larger headlands. We have beetle banks that encourage predators to come in and knock out the pests rather than spraying them with phosphorous compounds every 10 minutes. Also new technology like companion planting. These old wives’ tales are turning out to be true.”

Well there are worse bits too, so for some uncomplicated indulgence, the Guardian news blog ran a “send in your dog pic” competition. I can only imagine they got flooded, but the results are rather good, and showing just how international its audience is becoming, many are from outside the UK.

Finally, back to the Britain of old, Matthew Parris has his usual insightful column, this time taking a fresh look (really!) at the Profumo scandal. (Profumo died this week.) But what really surprised me was this:

“Surely all men patronise whores,” protested a Tory minister, Lord Lambton, as he fell nearly a decade later.

That was 1973 ….
Although it seems from a BBC report that he was a man for whom any excuse would do.

I was working yesterday from Halkett and Laing, A Dictionary of Anonymous and Pseudonomous Publications in the English Language, Third ed, Longman, 1980, in search of a 16th-century author I know as S.P. (And thanks to my commenter Clanger: I reckon I might know who he is, although more work is needed.)

But I was taken by the story of how this foundational book came into being. (In the preface by John Horden.)

The foundation of the work was done by Samuel Halkett, Keeper of the Library of the Faculty of Advocates, Edinburgh, then continued (I’m simplifying) after his death by John Laing. A prospectus had been issued by a publisher and subscribers sought in 1871, but a statement by Miss Catherine Laing, John’s daughter explained why the first volume (of four) was not issued until 1882 and the last in 1888:

“At the time of my father’s death, eight years ago, there came into my hands an enormous mass of materials, comprising, in addition to his own collections, those of Mr Halkett and Mr HB Wheatley. No attempt had been made to arrange those materials … In the process of reducing the slips to some rough alphabetical order, I discovered that a large number consisted of merely a word or two of the title, with a reference to one or more authorities. Consequently, those titles had to be complete, references verified, and not infrequently, in the case of duplicate slips drawn from different sources, rival claims of authorship examined.”

Horden says, (p. xi): “From this and the rest of her remarks … it is not difficult to come to the conclusion that strict justice would have required the inclusion of Catherine Laing’s name on the title-page.”

Why does this not surprise me?

… and off Blogger – probably a move that is long overdue. I’d use WordPress, and probably the same host as I have My London Your London on – since it seems OK – BlueHost.com. But anyone have any tips about the process of making the move? All help gratefully received …