Accounting for lives: Autobiography and biography in the accounts of Sir Thomas Myddelton, 1642–1666

Ward Clavier, Sarah

Abstract

This article significantly adds to the literature on the value of financial accounts, demonstrating their worth as both an autobiographical and biographical source. It argues that elite accounts can be seen both as a biography of the master, and an autobiography of the servant. It demonstrates this through analysis of the remarkably detailed Chirk accounts for the period 1642–1666, and the relationship of Thomas Prichard and Sir Thomas Myddelton II. This article uncovers insights into Myddelton’s life and character while revealing Prichard’s life in detail for the first time. This article provides a new model for considering financial accounts as both family chronicle/biography, and history from below/autobiography. Examining the accounts as a self-designed mirror for Myddelton and as a way of discovering the lives of his senior servants and household, the article casts new light on early modern social relationships.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 30, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Jun 12, 2019
• Publication Date: Aug 1, 2020
• Deposit Date: Nov 21, 2019
• Journal: The Seventeenth Century
• Print ISSN: 0268-117X
• Electronic ISSN: 2050-4616
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 35
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 453-472
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0268117x.2019.1626761
• Keywords: Cultural Studies; History; Autobiography; Biography
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/4720854
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/0268117X.2019.1626761