Life In An English Village
An Economic And Historical Survey
Of The Parish of Corsley In Wiltshire
By
M. F. Davies
1909
Preface
In 1905, when a student at the London School of Economics, it was suggested to me by Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Webb that I should pursue my studies of economic history and social science by making an investigation into the history and present conditions of the parish in which I was living, and it is upon the research and investigations begun at that time that this monograph is based.
Everything that may be of value in the book is due to some suggestion of Mr. or Mrs. Sidney Webb, while to my own mistakes and failures in filling in outlines sketched by them must be ascribed all its shortcomings.
To Mr. and Mrs. Webb, moreover, I owe the most valuable advice on how to investigate and where to look for possible sources of information, historical or otherwise.
My thanks are due to many of the lecturers and staff of the London School of Economics for advice and criticism, especially to Mr. Hubert Hall, Dr. Lilian Knowles, and Mr. J. McKillop.
I am indebted to the Marquis of Bath for allowing me to examine the various documents at the Longleat Estate Office, relating to the history of Corsley.
To the Rev. J.T. Kershaw I owe thanks for various references to manorial and ecclesiastical records.
I have to thank Canon Christopher Wordsworth, Mr. C.N. Phipps, Miss M. Calthrop, and many others for valuable information, advice, or the loan of documents or books, and Miss Winifred Mitchell for reading the proofs.
Last, but not least, my most hearty thanks are due to many friends and neighbours in Corsley, who do not wish to be mentioned by name, but without whose extremely valuable co-operation no attempt could have been made to describe village life in the nineteenth century and at the present day.
Maud F. Davies.