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Guilds, authority and the individual: The Company of Mercers prosecution of Dorothy Gretton in early eighteenth-century Derby

Abstract Through a case study of the prosecution of milliner Dorothy Gretton by the Company of Mercers, this article investigates how shifting relationships between guild jurisdiction, patriarchy and familial influence affected a woman’s right to trade. Placed within the wider contexts of evolving economic practices and the expectation that many middle-ranking women should contribute to family incomes, it reveals how a minor spat in a provincial town escalated, drawing into its orbit the Lord Chief Justice of England. In doing so it highlights the obstacles and opportunities facing women in the early-modern economy.