ISWE COMPLETES FIRST DOCTORAL PROJECT

In January 2021 Sadie Jarrett successfully defended her PhD thesis on the history of the Salesbury family of Rhug and Bachymbyd.  This project was generously funded by the Rhug Estate and was the first doctoral project attached to ISWE.  In this article, Sadie tells us about her research and her plans post-PhD. 

Completing the PhD 

When the coronavirus pandemic put much of the country into lockdown in March 2020, I still had six months left of my PhD. It was especially challenging because all the libraries closed, although I was very fortunate that I’d completed my archival research a month before the lockdown. I finally submitted my thesis in September 2020 and I couldn’t have managed it without the support of my family and friends as well as my supervisors, Huw Pryce and Shaun Evans. The summer involved a lot of online second-hand bookshops and one frantic day trip to Bangor to pick up a huge bag of books when the University Library became the first in Wales to offer a click-and-collect service. I remain very grateful to the librarians and archivists whose help enabled me to complete my PhD on time and in the middle of a global pandemic. The librarians at Bangor University were particularly brilliant. 

The thesis 

My PhD thesis was entitled, ‘“Of great kindred and alliance”: The status and identity of the Salesburys of Rhug and Bachymbyd, c.1470-c.1660’. It examined what defined and consolidated a gentry family in early modern Wales, using the example of the Salesburys of Rhug and Bachymbyd. They’re a particularly interesting case study because their ancestors arrived in north Wales as medieval English settlers in the marcher lordship of Denbigh, but they established themselves as Welsh gentry. I found that the Salesburys were a Cambro-British family who embraced a Welsh identity and gained status in their local communities. However, they also recognised the value of obtaining power from the early modern British state, particularly as opportunities broadened after the Acts of Union (1536–43). 

Highlights 

Highlights of my PhD definitely include my visits to Boston for the Harvard Celtic Colloquium and Los Angeles to use The Huntington Library, places I didn’t expect to go when I started my PhD on early modern Welsh history!  I also loved visiting the Rhug Estate, which funded my PhD research, especially meeting the bison herd and almost being persuaded to hold a turkey!  It’s wonderful to see a landscape that’s changed very little since the Salesburys owned the estate, as well as buildings like Rhug Chapel, built by William Salesbury in 1637. I really enjoyed presenting my research to local history groups throughout north Wales and meeting such engaged audiences. It’s something I’ve missed during the pandemic and I’m always interested to hear from societies who’d like to know more about the early modern Welsh gentry. 

Post-PhD roles and plans  

In October 2020, I started a one-year postdoctoral research fellowship at the Institute of Historical Research, funded by the Economic History Society. It’s been a strange year because of the pandemic, but it’s still been such a privilege to be part of the IHR. At the IHR, I’ve been predominantly focused on developing my doctoral thesis as a book. It’s under contract with University of Wales Press and it’s provisionally entitled ‘Power and Identity in Early Modern Wales: The Salesbury Family, 1450–1720’. The book will use my case study of the Salesburys to explore the relationship between Welshness, identity, and power in early modern Welsh society. It will examine how the Welsh gentry navigated their changing role in the early modern British state while also exploring new opportunities in Europe and the colonies of the Atlantic world.  

Research for the book 

The end date of my book is sixty years later than my PhD research and I’ve mostly been looking at that later period, 1660-1720, during my fellowship. In June, I finally made it to the archives for the first time in many months and I managed to look at a Chancery case involving the last Salesbury patriarch, Roger Salesbury (d.1719), and his nieces, Elizabeth and Margaret. Roger owed money to his nieces, but he said that he couldn’t afford to pay them because there were too many financial demands on his estate. The case rumbled on for over two decades, until Roger died and Elizabeth and Margaret inherited all his land. It’s a fascinating example of internal Salesbury relationships and demonstrates how women felt capable of defending their interests in court. 

I’ve also been looking at the income of the Salesbury estates and how the family was affected by the changing economy. As a result, I’ve become acquainted with the family’s tenants and I’ve discovered that some of them were tough negotiators who refused to pay increased rents. However, the Salesburys’ income increased substantially between 1600 and 1700 and it enabled the family to live very comfortable lives, although they were not as wealthy as many gentry families in England. Some members of the family lived beyond their means and so the family also had high levels of debt, particularly at the turn of the seventeenth century. It’s been so interesting to learn about how the Salesburys managed their finances and the pressures of maintaining their lifestyle as a gentry family.   

The future 

Over the past year, I’ve attended many online events across the UK and abroad, including research seminars, conferences, book launches, reading groups, and training programmes. We’ve also been keeping in touch at ISWE with monthly online discussion groups and it’s been great to stay engaged as an honorary research associate. I appreciate that this would have been more difficult for me if events were held in person, though I’m sure I would have made it to Bangor every so often! 

In October, I’m starting an exciting new post as a career development fellow at The Queen’s College, Oxford. I’ll be using my three years in Oxford to finish my book manuscript and start a new project on early modern Welsh colonial activity in North America. It builds on a related chapter in my book and focuses on Wales’ contribution to early modern British colonialism. I’m really looking forward to starting my new job and keeping my fingers crossed that life will be closer to normal. 

Everyone associated with ISWE and Bangor University warmly congratulates Sadie on the attainment of her PhD and wishes her all the very best for the future as she continues to make important contributions to understanding Welsh History.

Publication date: 2 September 2021