Domestic Disorder: Crime, Kinship and Space in Bedfordshire, c. 1650-1790

Using criminal court records from Bedfordshire, this dissertation explores the relationship between space, crime and kinship across the long eighteenth century. It applies a spatial analysis to criminal court cases, further nuancing our understanding of how concepts of space and time interacted and informed one another. A focus on space not only reveals the ways that crimes were exposed, but it also draws attention to the permeability of boundaries within the domestic space. Objects, people, gossip, and reputations moved within, without, and across domestic spaces, underscoring how the thresholds of spaces were not fixed and inflexible, but porous and permeable. This dissertation also reveals the complexities of relationships between, within, and outside of spaces within the domestic realm. In doing so, it not only underscores the vital role of the community in exposing crimes, but the role that space played in shaping relationships between kin and non-kin.