ABSTRACT
The examination of the family as a unit of residence and reproduction has made extremely good use of the wealth of information available to produce an important framework, within which family life in the past can be understood. In contrast to pioneering historians investigating the sentiments, those concerned with residence and reproduction tended to focus on averages and norms; some would even say its proponents have been obsessed with finding a mythical historical everyman. In exploring the immense potential of evidence for demographic patterns in early modern England, pioneering demographers experienced a steep learning curve, uncovering much that turned upside down assumptions about family life in the past. Recent research has used family reconstitution and records of residence, such as taxation returns, to link issues of residence and the life cycle with mortality among the young, patterns of marriage and family formation, together with residential persistence.
