Pre industrial Britain.

What are some characteristics of pre industrial Britain?

• rural countryside

• society split from birth: lower = peasants, upper = gentry

• women seen as weaker sex and less rights in society

• minimal law and order

• Only the upper class were educated and literate 

• Limited transport; horse and cart for upper class on under developed roads 

• Religion was strongly followed; holy days were peoples holidays  

what is mob football?

• Mass game with few rules and equipment  

• Earliest form of football and rugby 

• Violent (un-Christian) 

• Lower class peasant males 

what are characteristics of animal baiting, hunting and fighting?

• Lower class; bare knuckle fighting, dog fighting 

• Upper class; cock fighting, fox hunting 

• Excessive gambling  

• No laws to limit violence or animal cruelty  

 

what is real tennis?

• First form of tennis originating in France  

• Very complicated rules; only understood by the educated 

• Large elaborate venue  

• Long lasting game  

• Upper class only  

what was cricket like?

• Often associated with local public houses (pubs) 

• Plenty of space for cricket ovals due to rural land  

• Although mostly upper class, different roles allowed lower class to play but reflected their status: 
  ^gentry amateurs: batted, which reflected their position as the privileged class 

^lower class professionals took the labouring role of bowling  

what was pedestrianism - and what did each class do?

• Competitive race walking  

• Came from the occupation of footmen, who ran alongside the horse and cart to ensure it didn’t overturn on rough roads 

• Upper class would bet on their own footman 

• Participated by all classes, but different roles 

• e.g. working class = participated, upper class = patrons (agents and sponsors to those competing) 

what is a holy day fair/wake?

• Range of events that brought the whole village together  

• On religious holidays, as this was the only free time for the working class 

• Separate events for women e.g. smock race, archery for upper class 

• Based around public houses (pubs) 
  other activities included: drinking contests, catching pigs, throwing competitions, bare knuckle fighting, animal baiting etc.  

what are the 7 factors we need to know about?

• gender 

• transport 

• education 

• law and order 

• cost 

• time 

• social class 

seasonal time meaning.

work starting at sunrise and ending at sunset.  

what are ethnic games?

activities unique to one area e.g. cheese rolling (Gloucestershire). 

what was cultural borrowing?

taking examples of good practice from other countries.  

how did social class effect pre-industrial Britain in sport?

• affected peoples access to sport

• upper class played sports like real tennis 

• lower class played sports like mob football 

• they were very spilt - the complete opposites of each other

how did time effect pre-industrial Britain in sport?

• lower/working class had little to no time for sport since they were always working 

• sport for working class was done on holidays and occasions

• working class also had little energy for sport 

• upper class had lots of free time so used sport for recreation often

how did education effect pre-industrial Britain in sport?

• upper class played sports which had lots of rules like real tennis as they could read and write

• working class played more chaotic sports like mob football which had little/no rules as they were illiterate 

• upper and working class were complete opposites 

• upper class had access to public schools

how did cost effect pre-industrial Britain in sport?

• upper class had disposable income they could use for equipment, venues etc. 

• ‘upper class sports’ like real tennis required equipment (racket etc.) which cost money

• lower class lived off the land and so had to make their own equipment out of natural resources 

how did transport effect pre-industrial Britain in sport?

• upper class used horse and cart but the roads were poor quality 

• lower classes only form of transport was to walk 

• this meant their weren’t many leagues or cups and most people played locally in their village 

how did law and order effect pre-industrial Britain in sport?

• there were no police to regulate so sports like mob football often got aggressive and violent. 

• nothing was illegal 

• rules were localised 

• lawlessness and brutality during play

• blood sports as pastimes

how did gender effect pre-industrial Britain in sport?

• lower participation for women as they were supposed to eb at home raising and looking after a family.

• women could take part in archery if they were in the upper class and smock racing if they were lower class.

• women had to look modest

• women were seen as the weaker sex

• limited opportunities for women

when was pre industrial Britain?

1850