BeingSingleinGeorgianEnglandisthefirstbook-lengthexplorationofwhatfamilylifelookedlike,andhowitwasexperienced,whenviewedfromtheperspectiveofunmarriedandchildlessfamilymembers.Usingamicro-historicalapproach,AmyHarriscoversthreegenerationsofthefamousmusicalandabolitionistSharpfamily.TheabundanceofrecordstheSharpsproducedandpreservedrevealshowsinglefamilymembersinfluencedthehouseholdeconomy,maritaldecisions,childrearingpractices,andconceptionsaboutlineageandgenealogy.TheSharps’exceptionalclosenessandgoodhumorconsistentlyshinesthroughastheirexperiencesrevealhoweighteenth-centuryfamiliesnavigatedgenderandagehierarchies,maritalchoices,andhouseholdgovernance.Theimportanceofchildhoodrelationshipsandthelife-longnatureofsiblinghoodstandoutascentralaspectsofSharpfamilylife,nomattertheirmaritalstatus.Alongtheway,BeingSingleexploreshumor,music,religiouspracticeandbelief,deathandmourning,infertility,disability,slavery,abolition,philanthropy,andfamilymemory.TheSharps’experiencesuncoverhowimportantlateralkinlikesiblingsandcousinsweretomaritalandhouseholddecisions.TheanalysisalsorevealsadditionallayersofGeorgianfamilylife,including:singlesociabilitynotcenteredoncourtship;theimportanceofauntingandunclingontheirownterms;thewayscharitableactsandphilanthropicendeavorscouldserveasoutletsorpartialreplacementsforparenthood;andhowgenealogicalpracticescouldbetiedtovaluesandidentityinsteadoftobiologicaldescendants’possessionofproperty.Ultimately,theSharpsiblings’remarkablelivesandthesinglefamilymembers’effortstopreservearecordofthoselives,showtheenduringcontributionofunmarriedpeopletofamilyrelationshipsandhouseholddynamics.
music philanthropy GEORGIAN MUSIC SINGLE PHILANTHROPY
