ABSTRACT
Dunckerley came from a modest but respectable family, though with no formal education and no inheritance he looked rather grimly towards the peace. He was not, however, entirely without assets he could leverage. According to contemporary accounts, Dunckerley was intelligent, articulate, ambitious and he carried himself like the gentleman he longed to be. Rather, he comported himself as the gentleman he was convinced he had to be, for the sake of his readily admitted pride, and because he had concluded that only a signi cant rise in his social status could bring the nancial stability he need to support his extended family and meet past obligations.2 He also claimed to be £300 in debt, a ruinous sum in the eighteenth century when individuals could not declare bankruptcy unless they were in business. Faced with demanding creditors, ordinary people like Dunckerley were sent to debtors’ prisons until debts were paid or settled, which was of course di cult to accomplish from prison.3
