Kent Archives and Local History Service presents a talk by Peter Joyce at Kent History and Library Centre, Maidstone.

In his History of the English Assizes, Cockburn argued that Kent had the heaviest caseload on the home circuit. Therefore, the county quarter session records are of national importance. However, despite this accolade, they have received minimal academic interest.

This talk demonstrates the importance of this unique data source to the social historian by examining the bastardy cases between 1600 and 1700. By utilizing this data set, we will attempt to restore the ‘lost voice’ of the women who were affected by a judicial system that was fiscal, patriarchal and designed to maintain the status quo.

The re-discovery of these ‘lost voices’ is extremely important in restoring some form of dignity to a large section of society that suffered under a judicial system where the commonwealth took precedence over the individual – but also, understanding the social structure of Kent is seen as a pathway not only into studies of poverty but also into the family unit, marriage patterns, and agricultural seasons.

Outside of the data set presented, it will argue that quarter sessions offer insights into the Kentish community far beyond the written record, which is an imperfect factual list of the failings of one section of humanity as judged by another section of their contemporary but unequal society, quite often against a standard of ideals in which they had no part or voice in setting.

This talk will use a small data set to demonstrate ‘Tales from the Quarter Sessions: A Record that Speaks.’

Pete Joyce is the organiser of the Medway History Showcase and a heritage photographer. He has an MRes in Theology and Religion and a BA (Hons) in Theology with Philosophy, Religion and Ethics, both from Canterbury Christ Church University. His work centres around ‘Excluded Congregations’. He is an Oxus scholar working on a doctoral thesis exploring ‘Parochial charity in the lower Medway valley in the long eighteenth century’ at the Centre for Kent History and Heritage, which is being supervised by Dr Sheila Sweetinburgh. He lives in Medway with his wife and son and volunteers at several local history and heritage attractions.

For further information and to reserve your seat, call 03000 420673 or email archives@kent.gov.uk