Family ties under strain: negotiating failure, 1836-1846

Business failure was a key moment of crisis for family relations, when obligations to kin were tested and liabilities negotiated. Family ties have generally been regarded as a positive resource, and a key form of insurance against failure, but in practice the terms and conditions of assistance could be a matter of delicate negotiation. Focusing on a case study from nineteenth-century Sheffield, the article uses personal and business correspondence to reveal the different positions of family members in managing failure, and the emotional tensions that accompanied this process. Through cooperation, assets could be protected and the family name preserved from the shame and expense associated with the formal process of bankruptcy. However, the family’s response to failure also highlighted differences between grades of kin and across generations. Direct financial support was one option, but separation of assets was an alternative way of proceeding that could offer strategic benefits. The case demonstrates the role of microhistorical study for exploring the tensions and emotions that could be generated within families. Responses to financial crisis highlight the role of family relations and emotion as important factors in understanding economic behaviour.