ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with the example of Elizabeth Freke, and the question of how common was her experience. It examines both the cultural ideals concerning the living situation of the elderly and the lived experience of older women. The eighteenth century is a particularly important era in which to consider questions of family history. As mortality and age of marriage declined in the later eighteenth century, fertility rose, the age structure changed and the population of England increased dramatically. Eighteenth-century ideals of individualism and independence decreed that individuals placed a high priority on maintaining household autonomy in later life. Elderly women themselves would have had to weigh the advantages and costs of staying in their own homes. Most old women from the household listings were head of household. Old women, especially those in their last days, and those suffering from poverty, remained very vulnerable to isolation and dependence.
