Raphael Endre Adès
Research
I work on two distinct (though occasionally interrelated) topics: early modern public banking and the history of crime. The former is my doctoral thesis and the latter was the subject of my MPhil (Oxford, 2022). My background is in Economic History (BSc, LSE, 2020; Lilian Knowles Prize). I completed my PLTO on Literature and Politics in Early Modern England and have served as an access tutor at Christ Church and Wadham, running sessions on the seventeenth-century English free banking system.
1. The Pre-history of the Bank of England
Between 1553 and 1694, over sixty proposals were submitted to the English government advocating the erection of a public bank. William Paterson’s famous and successful model was therefore the last in a long line of projects considered by subsequent governments. The principal question of my Doctorate is why, given the numerous benefits a public bank might have (and later did) offer to the Crown, the Commons, and the commerce of England, this great ‘project’ took more than a century and a half to see fulfilment. My preliminary findings suggest that one necessary pre-condition for a central bank in England might have been the revolution of 1688 and particular trust-centred governmental changes which accompanied it. Secondary questions include who the projectors were, where they got their ideas, what problems they intended their banks to solve, and whether the economic and social needs they addressed changed over time.
2. The status and circumstances of criminals in early modern England
Even when showing how frequently the upper classes fell into sin, pamphlet literature in early modern England often portrayed the classic criminal as belonging to the lower orders. However, because of deep disagreements between scholars as to the social status of the average historical criminal, the accuracy of this framing remains unconfirmed. In an attempt at resolution, I subject early seventeenth-century Middlesex Indictments to social class and status schemes. Sanctuary records are additionally used as an independent sample for comparison. In contrast to contemporary portrayals, offenders emerge as a group of middling to high status persons; proportionally of higher status than the broader population, and oftentimes of higher status than those who sat on juries to decide their cases. Those accused of property crimes were the lowest status group among criminals, violent offenders, the highest. For property crimes, criminals, seeking the greatest remuneration, commonly selected victims within their parish, of a higher status than themselves, and made off with large sums. For violent offences, criminals selected those equal to or below them in status. Geography was important both in determining how criminals selected victims and in matching indictees with their sureties. Finally, the legal system seems to have operated without conspicuous class solidarity or bias.
Supervisor: Professor Steven Gunn and Professor Sheilagh Ogilvie
