Keeping Hold : A Cultural and Social History of Possession in Eighteenth-Century Britain

What did it mean to possess something – or someone – in eighteenth-century Britain? This study examines the meaning of possession by exploring how owners experienced and responded to loss. It offers a social and cultural history of ownership and uncovers how understandings of self-worth came to be bound up with possession.

What did it mean to possess something – or someone – in eighteenth-century Britain? What was the relationship between owning things and a person's character and reputation, and even their sense of self? And how did people experience the loss of a treasured belonging? Keeping Hold explores how Britons owned watches, bank notes and dogs in this period, and also people, and how these different 'things' shaped understandings of ownership. Kate Smith examines the meaning of possession by exploring how owners experienced and responded to its loss, particularly within urban spaces. She illuminates the complex systems of reclamation that emerged and the skills they demanded. Incorporating a systematic study of 'lost' and 'runaway' notices from London newspapers, Smith demonstrates how owners invested time, effort and money into reclaiming their possessions. Characterising the eighteenth century as a period of loss and losing, Keeping Hold uncovers how understandings of self-worth came to be bound up with possession, with destructive implications.