Differing Responses to an Industrialising Economy - eTheses ...

Between 1680 and 1780 the parish registers of Studley, Coughton and Feckenham
give some occupational information. Although such information does not refer to the
whole of Zone D, analysis of these registers is included here, as for those three parishes it
provides a more accurate picture than probate and marriage licence data, which are the
only common sources for all parishes.
Coughton and Studley parish registers continue to give occupations with some
consistency up to 1769 in baptisms and to 1779 in burials. In these registers Studley
shows signs of continuing industrialisation up to the 1770s, while the adjacent parish of
Coughton shows a swing back towards agriculture. The biggest factor behind these
figures is the needle industry, which started to decline in Coughton, but grew in Studley,
as discussed below.
Table 7.9 Male occupational structure in Studley from baptism register 1695-1769
(shown as % of fathers with known occupations)
1695-
1707
1720-
1729
1730-
1739
1740-
1749
1750-
1759
1760-
1769
Primary (with agricultural labourers) * 56.0 59.2 54.3 49.6 48.3 55.9
Primary (without labourers) 32.0 22.1 20.2 24.3 15.1 23.5
Secondary (with other labourers) * 43.1 35.1 40.1 49.1 47.0 41.4
Secondary (without labourers) 33.7 22.9 28.8 40.7 36.0 30.6
Tertiary 0.9 5.7 5.6 1.3 4.7 2.7
Needlemakers 4.0 11.4 14.6 18.6 19.8 17.5
All labourers 37.8 49.3 45.5 33.6 44.2 43.2
Total males with known occupations (n) 225 140 198 226 172 183
* Labourers allocated to primary or secondary according to the 1831 census. 26
26 No distinction is made between agricultural and non-agricultural labourers in the register. In the 1831
census in Studley approximately 1 in every 4 labourers worked outside agriculture. As Studley had many
secondary occupations in this earlier period too the same ratio of 1:4 was used here. Although imperfect it
is better than allocating all labourers to agriculture. From 1695-1707 occupations were given for 88.2% of
fathers in baptisms; the figure for 1720-1769 was 95.8%.
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