“His wyfe the chiefe doer of it”

: women who sold ale in south west England, 1550-1700

Abstract

This thesis argues that the early modern Westcountry ale trade was an industry of women.
There have been no book-length studies of the female ale seller, and when she is afforded a section within a chapter on the ale trade, her work is often obscured if the historian consults licences or lists of victuallers. The sources used in this study were chosen for their ability to reveal women’s licensed and unlicensed work in alehouses and inns.

First, broadside ballads reveal how hostesses were depicted in popular culture. Historians have previously noted that ale-selling women endured negative portrayals in popular print. This thesis argues that seemingly negative portrayals also reveal women to be the managerial workers in the alehouse and inn.

This provides a foundation for chapter two, which considers probate inventories of brewers, sellers, and brewer-sellers. By the seventeenth century, these were increasingly separate occupations. While men dominated the brewing trade, women - particularly wives who were comfortably well-off - remained dominant in the selling of ale.

Petitions reveal how the licensing system did not dictate the ale trade. If a trader had a good reputation, the parish permitted them to trade. As such, ale sellers operated within a network of ‘horizontal authority’. Primarily, the working manager of the alehouse (usually a woman) needed to focus on her relationship with the community, including local authorities. The regional authorities’ relationship with the licence-holder (usually a man) was of lesser importance.

Finally, court depositions are presented as an especially strong source material for the analysis of women’s work in the ale trade. They show that the ale trade was possible without men, but impossible without women. Using a variation of the ‘verb oriented method’, court depositions show exactly what was done, when it was done, and by whom. This was an all-hours trade that relied especially on networks of women: typically, a wife stood at the helm, and was supported by daughters, female servants, female neighbours. Men’s input was limited to reprimanding criminals or entertaining male guests. As such, working in an alehouse was gender-specific - and women, particularly wives, were the ‘chiefe doers’.

Date of Award	4 Feb 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bristol
Supervisor	Mark Hailwood (Supervisor) & Jane Whittle (Supervisor)