The author of any book so long in the making has received help, advice, and encouragement from many people. My interest in early modern rural society was inspired by Sir John Habakkuk's and Joan Thirsk's undergraduate lectures and Cliff Davies's tutorial teaching. When St Edmund Hall Oxford elected me to the Gilbert Verney Senior Studentship, George Ramsay and Neville Williams supervised me with a combination of judicious promptings and enthusiastic suggestions that helped shape a doctoral thesis on Sir Ralph Verney. Joan Thirsk chaired a postgraduate seminar that was lively and thought-provoking, and helped initiate me into the intricacies and pleasures of English rural history. The decision to expand my work in time and scope was made possible by the generous help and support of three generations of the Verney family at Claydon House: Sir Harry Verney, Sir Ralph and Lady Verney, and Sir Edmund Verney gave me full access to the papers, help with accommodation to stop me freezing in the paper room and to enable me to search the eighteenth century papers systematically, and their own insights into the family history. The archivists at Buckinghamshire County Record office (now the Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies) and their staff provided help and advice on a wide range of subjects. Joan Thirsk and John Beckett many years ago provided stimulating comments on an earlier draft, making me re-think my approach during a spell of administrative duties that further delayed completion of the manuscript.