BRITISH CONSERVATISM AND THE PRIMROSE LEAGUE ... - ideals

area, although a cotton factory and two paper mills were also a source
224
of local employment.
Catholics were prominent in the area, their
influence indicated by the churches and independent schools situated in
the region. 57
The prominence of the Irish Catholic population
undoubtedly contributed to nurturing Conservative sensibilities in the
region as indeed it did for much of the western section of Lancashire.
The Garstang Habitation register 58
distinguishes itself from
Melbury's in a number of respects.
A far greater proportion of its
members can be identified; 191 out of 498 or 38 percent as compared
with 16.9 percent for Melbury.
This may be attributed to the greater
number of farmers, small businessmen, and shopkeepers accounted for in
the rolls.
Farmers represented 43.5 percent of the total, 10 percent
greater than in the Melbury listing.
The overwhelming agrarian
character of the region was underscored by the numbers of businessmen,
innkeepers, and skilled tradesmen who were also simultaneously engaged
in farming.
The nobility/landowning class appears to have occupied a less
prominent role in Garstang, although their relative standing was
slightly higher than that of Melbury's, respectively, 4.2 to 4.7
percent.
The most highly placed participant in Habitation activities,
the Countess of Bective, was not even listed on the register, although
57
Kelly's Directory of Lancashire, 1898, pp. 450-51, 96, 114,
223, 338, 359-60, 423-24, 457, 507, 589-90, 703, 854, 1109. A xeroxed
copy of Kelly's Directory was obtained courtesy of Michael Wills.
58
The Garstang Habitation records, including the Garstang
Register, 1897-1909, are housed in the Lancashire County Record Office
in Preston, DDF 2.