Differing Responses to an Industrialising Economy - eTheses ...

In investigating the bias between sources we are fortunate to have a good body of
data for four different sources in Coughton and Studley in the eighteenth century. Table
7.24 compares these four sources (as available) in Coughton and Studley between 1680
and 1799. In order to avoid the problem of whether to include labourers in primary or
secondary or both, this table omits labourers altogether. Numbers of labourers omitted
from the various records are as follows: baptism data: 750; burials: 194; probate: 1;
marriage licences: 12. As in the nineteenth century, baptism registers yield the lowest
figure for tertiary. Probate and marriage licences exaggerate the farmers’ share of the
workforce. Such bias is to be remembered during discussion of the various occupational
sectors which follows.
In the text below Zone D’s changing occupational structure is discussed in
specific occupational groupings. I make reference to data in the above tables where
relevant, but sometimes do not quote exact figures for certain occupations as the size of
samples and bias of sources (especially probate and marriage licences) may cause
inconsistencies in these exact figures. 47
Where appropriate, comparisons are made with
other zones in the study area and also with studies of places elsewhere.
Agriculture
The soil is mainly Mercia mudstone, loam and boulder clay with sand and gravel
along the Ridgeway on the Worcesterhire-Warwickshire border. There are also outcrops
of Arden and Bromsgrove sandstone. The clayey topsoil was not considered as good for
arable crops as that in Zone B. However, the Arrowside pastures and extensive
47 Where relevant, explanations of such inconsistencies and bias of sources are discussed, but generally I
note the general trends exhibited and look for corroboration from various other sources in order to make
observations about whether different occupations were present or absent, and increasing or decreasing in
the zone at different periods.
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