Rethinking the Age of Reform Britain 1780–1850

This book takes a fresh look at the ‘age of reform’, from 1780 when reform became a common object of aspiration, to the 1830s - the era of the ‘Reform Ministry’ and of the Great Reform Act of 1832 - and beyond, when such aspirations were realised more frequently. It pays close attention to what contemporaries termed ‘reform’, identifying two strands, institutional and moral, which interacted in complex ways. Particular reforming initiatives singled out for attention include those targeting parliament, government, the law, the church, medicine, slavery, regimens of self-care, opera, theatre, and art institutions, while later chapters situate British reform in its imperial and European contexts. An extended introduction provides a point of entry to the history and historiography of the period. The book will therefore stimulate fresh thinking about this formative period of British history.

This book takes a look at the 'age of reform', from 1780 when reform became a common object of aspiration, to the 1830s - the era of the 'Reform Ministry' and of the Great Reform Act of 1832 - and beyond, when such aspirations were realized more frequently. It pays close attention to what contemporaries termed 'reform', identifying two strands, institutional and moral, which interacted in complex ways. Particular reforming initiatives singled out for attention include those targeting parliament, government, the law, the Church, medicine, slavery, regimens of self-care, opera, theatre, and art institutions, while later chapters situate British reform in its imperial and European contexts. An extended introduction provides a point of entry to the history and historiography of the period. The book will therefore stimulate fresh thinking about this formative period of British history.

Notes on contributors; Preface; List of abbreviations; 1. Introduction Joanna Innes and Arthur Burns; 2. 'Reform' in English public life: the fortunes of a word Joanna Innes; 3. Parliament, the state and 'old corruption': conceptualising reform, c. 1790–1832 Philip Harling; 4. 'Old wine in new bottles': the concept and practice of law reform, c. 1780–1830 Michael Lobban; 5. English 'church reform' revisited, 1780–1840 Arthur Burns; 6. Medicine in the age of reform Ian A. Burney; 7. British antislavery reassessed David Turley; 8. 'The age of physiological reformers': rethinking gender and domesticity in the age of reform Kathryn Gleadle; 9. Reforming the aristocracy: opera and elite culture, 1780–1860 Jennifer L. Hall-Witt; 10. Reform on the London stage Katherine Newey; 11. Reforming culture: national art institutions in the age of reform Holger Hoock; 12. Irish reform between the 1798 Rebellion and the Great Famine Jennifer Ridden; 12. Empire and parliamentary reform: the 1832 Reform Act revisited Miles Taylor; 14. Reforms, movements for reform and possibilities of reform: comparing Britain and continental Europe Jonathan Sperber; Index.

This book revisits Britain's much-studied 'age of reform', before and after the Great Reform Act of 1832, showing that 'reformers' hoped to reform not only parliament, government, the law and the Church but also, for example, medicine and the theatre. A substantial introduction provides an overview of the period.

Arthur Burns is Senior Lecturer in History, King's College London.
Joanna Innes is Fellow and Tutor in Modern History, Somerville College, Oxford, and Lecturer in Modern History, University of Oxford.