The world of the alehouse and tavern in early modern England has generally been
regarded as primarily male, a view that was deeply embedded in the period itself.
This essay explores the place of women within the public house, in serving, buying
and consuming alcohol, and the unwritten conventions that underpinned social
practice. It argues that while some female customers matched their contemporary
image, as disorderly, immoral and dishonest, it was also possible for respectable
women to visit a tavern or alehouse without risking their good name, provided they
adhered to the conventions. Middling-sort and elite women might drink and dine in
London taverns with their husbands, or in mixed parties; throughout England married
couples, and mixed groups of young folk, might drink, dance, and socialise; marketwomen
might assemble at the end of the day, and chapwomen often lodged overnight.
And, at least in London, respectable women might enter a public house alone, by
day, without meeting disapproval. Many establishments provided private as well as
public rooms, and these created social spaces for female customers, couples and
mixed parties, serving different needs than those met within the main public space
