Differing Responses to an Industrialising Economy - eTheses ...

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION: THE AIMS, AREA AND PERIOD OF STUDY
The aim of this thesis is to examine the occupational structure of certain rural
communities in the heart of England from 1660 to 1840, a period chosen for two main
reasons. Firstly, the time-scale is long enough to detect occupational change as Britain
metamorphosed from a mainly agricultural society in the early modern period into the
world’s leading industrial nation in the nineteenth century. Secondly, sufficient records
are extant and accessible from this period to allow such a study.
According to Wrigley ‘the character of a country’s economy at any point in time
and the nature of any changes taking place over time are necessarily reflected in its
occupational structure.’ 1
To what extent are the huge national changes reflected in the
occupational structure of the study area, which in Victoria’s reign was very different both
socially and economically from the same area in the days of Charles II?
Is there evidence that ‘in the traditional economy, industry was a widespread
activity in the countryside’? 2
If so, did early industrialisation lead to a more concerted
industrialisation? 3
Do certain parishes de-industrialise, while others industrialise or
urbanise? Can we find reasons for the location of certain industries in certain parishes?
Or was it serendipity rather than suitability which changed the local economic scene? Did
some settlements continue to be dominated by agriculture while their neighbours
embraced a certain industry?
1 E. A. Wrigley, Poverty, Progress and Population, (Cambridge, CUP, 2004), p. 129.
2 D. Mills, ed., English Rural Communities: The Impact of a Specialised Economy, (London, Macmillan,
1973), p. 13.
3 See Chapter 2 for a discussion of proto-industrialisation.
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