F.M.L. Thompson - The Cambridge Social History of Britain, 1750-1950, Vol. 01. Regions and Communities

THE CAMBRIDGE SOCIAL HISTORY
OF BRITAIN 1750-1950
W h i l s t i n c e r t a i n q u a r t e r s it m a y b e f a s h i o n a b l e to s u p p o s e that t h e r e
is n o s u c h t h i n g as s o c i e t y , s o c i a l h i s t o r i a n s h a v e h a d n o difficulty i n
f i n d i n g t h e i r s u b j e c t . T h e difficulty, r a t h e r , is t h a t t h e a d v a n c e of
social history into every sphere of h u m a n activity and experience has
o c c u r r e d t h r o u g h s u c h a n o u t p o u r i n g o f r e s e a r c h a n d w r i t i n g that it
is h a r d for a n y o n e b u t t h e s p e c i a l i s t to k e e p u p w i t h t h e literature or
g r a s p t h e o v e r a l l p i c t u r e . In t h e s e t h r e e v o l u m e s , as is t h e tradition i n
C a m b r i d g e Histories, a tqam of specialists has assembled the jigsaw
of r e c e n t m o n o g r a p h i c r e s e a r c h a n d p r e s e n t e d a n i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of
t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f m o d e r n B r i t i s h s o c i e t y s i n c e 1 7 5 0 , from t h r e e
c o m p l e m e n t a r y p e r s p e c t i v e s : t h o s e o f r e g i o n a l c o m m u n i t i e s , of t h e
working and living environment, and of social institutions. Each
v o l u m e is self-contained, and each c o n t r i b u t i o n , thematically de
f i n e d , c o n t a i n s its o w n c h r o n o l o g y o f t h e p e r i o d u n d e r r e v i e w . T a k e n
as a w h o l e t h e y offer a n a u t h o r i t a t i v e a n d c o m p r e h e n s i v e v i e w o f t h e
m a n n e r a n d m e t h o d o f t h e s h a p i n g o f s o c i e t y i n t h e t w o c e n t u r i e s of
unprecedented demographic and economic change.
T h e intensive study of particular localities and c o m m u n i t i e s char
a c t e r i s e s m u c h r e c e n t w o r k i n s o c i a l h i s t o r y . V o l u m e 1, Regions and
communities, d r a w s o n t h i s a p p r o a c h to p r e s e n t a s e r i e s o f s t u d i e s of
the social history of various regions of the B r i t i s h Isles. Two
i n t r o d u c t o r y c h a p t e r s o n t h e c o u n t r y s i d e a n d o n t h e c i t y b a l a n c e the
geographical specificity of the other chapters, s h o w i n g h o w the
s o c i a l c o h e s i o n o f r e g i o n a l c o m m u n i t i e s is s t r o n g l y i n f l u e n c e d b y
r e g i o n a l e c o n o m i e s . Regions and communities offers i m p o r t a n t new
perspectives on the links b e t w e e n e c o n o m i c and social history and
the interaction of e c o n o m y and society.
C o n t r i b u t o r s to V o l u m e 1:
F . M . L . T H O M P S O N ; W . A . A R M S T R O N G ; R O S A L I N D M I T C H I S O N ; T . C .
S M O U T ; D . W . H O W E L L and c. B A B E R ; J . K . W A L T O N ; D.J. R O W E ; P . L .
G A R S I D E .
F . M . L . T H O M P S O N was Director of the Institute of Historical Research

a n d P r o f e s s o r o f H i s t o r y at t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f L o n d o n , 1 9 7 7 - 1 9 9 0 , a n d
is a F e l l o w o f t h e B r i t i s h A c a d e m y .
Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

THE CAMBRIDGE SOCIAL HISTORY
O F B R I T A I N 1750-1950
VOLUME 1
Regions and communities

THE CAMBRIDGE
SOCIAL HISTORY OF
B R I T A I N 1750-1950
V O L U M E 1
Regions and communities
Edited by
F. M . L. THOMPSON
Director of the Institute of Historical Research
and Professor of History, University of London
U CAMBRIDGE
"" UNIVERSITY PRESS

Published by the Press Syndicate of the University of Cambridge
The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1RP
40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211 USA
10 Stamford Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne 3166, Australia
© Cambridge University Press 1990
First published 1990

First paperback edition 1993
Reprinted 1996
British Library cataloguing in publication data

The Cambridge social history of Britain 1750-1950.
Vol. 1: Regions and communities.
1. Great Britain. Social conditions, 1714-
I. Thompson, F. M. L. (Francis Michael Longstreth)
941.07
Library of Congress cataloguing in publication data

The Cambridge social history of Britain 1750-1950.
Includes bibliographies and indexes.
Contents: v. 1. Regions and communities -
v. 2. People and their environment - v. 3. Social
agencies and institutions.
1. Great Britain - Social conditions. 2. Social
structure - Great Britain - History. 3. Social
institutions - Great Britain - History. I. Thompson,
F. M. L. (Francis Michael Longstreth).
HN385.C14 1990 306'.0941 89-9840
ISBN 0 521 25788 3 (v. 1)
ISBN 0 521 25789 1 (v. 2)
ISBN 0 521 25790 5 (v. 3)
ISBN 0 521 25788 3 hardback

ISBN 0 521 43816 0 paperback
Transferred to digital printing 2002
BS

Contents
List of t a b l e s page vi
List of c o n t r i b u t o r s vni
Editorial p r e f a c e XI
1 T o w n a n d city 1
F. M. L. T H O M P S O N
2 The countryside 87
W. A. A R M S T R O N G
3 Scotland
1750-1850 155
ROSALIND M I T C H I S O N
Scotland
1850-1950 209
T. C. SMOUT
4 Wales 281
D. W. H O W E L L and C. BABER
5 The north-west 355

J. K. W A L T O N
6 The north-east 415

D. J. ROWE
7 London and the H o m e Counties 471

P. L. GARSIDE
Bibliographies 541
Index 575

Tables
1.1 Percentage of the population of E n g l a n d and W a l e s

living in t o w n s , 1 7 0 0 - 1 9 5 1 page 8
1.2 Relative and absolute growth of the urban population
of E n g l a n d a n d W a l e s , 1 7 0 0 - 1 9 5 1 11
3.1 P e r c e n t a g e o f e m p l o y e d p o p u l a t i o n e n g a g e d in v a r i o u s
o c c u p a t i o n s , 1 8 5 1 - 1 9 7 1 , all S c o t l a n d 211
3.2 Percentage of Scottish employed population and
S c o t t i s h total p o p u l a t i o n in different r e g i o n s , 1 8 5 1 - 1 9 7 1 213
3.3 P e r c e n t a g e o f S c o t t i s h e m p l o y e d p o p u l a t i o n e n g a g e d in
various occupations, 1851-1971, by regions 214
3.4 Percentage of Scottish insured population unemployed,
1927-39 225
3.5 P e r c e n t a g e of S c o t t i s h p o p u l a t i o n l i v i n g in c o m m u n i t i e s
of different s i z e s , 1 8 6 1 - 1 9 5 1 244
3.6 P e r c e n t a g e o f S c o t t i s h p o p u l a t i o n l i v i n g in c o m m u n i t i e s
of o v e r 5 , 0 0 0 , b y g e o g r a p h i c a l a r e a , 1 8 6 1 - 1 9 5 1 245
3.7 P o p u l a t i o n o f t h e six l a r g e s t S c o t t i s h t o w n s , 1 8 6 1 - 1 9 5 1 245
3.8 P e r s o n s p e r r o o m in S c o t t i s h h o u s e s , 1 8 6 1 - 1 9 5 1 253
3.9 P e r c e n t a g e o f S c o t t i s h p o p u l a t i o n i n h o u s e s o f different
sizes, 1 8 6 1 - 1 9 5 1 254
3 . 1 0 N u m b e r s o f m a l e s e m p l o y e d in a g r i c u l t u r e , 1 8 8 1 , 1 9 1 1
a n d 1 9 5 1 , as a p e r c e n t a g e o f t h e n u m b e r s e m p l o y e d in
1851 258
3 . 1 1 P e r c e n t a g e o f m a r r i a g e s in S c o t l a n d t a k i n g p l a c e in
c h u r c h e s o f different d e n o m i n a t i o n s , 1 8 6 1 - 1 9 5 0 271
3 . 1 2 P e r c e n t a g e of t h e p o p u l a t i o n a t t e n d i n g c h u r c h in
Scotland and England, 30 March 1851 272
3 . 1 3 U n i v e r s i t y p l a c e s in E n g l a n d a n d S c o t l a n d , 1 8 3 0 - 1 9 5 0 278
6.1 P o p u l a t i o n a n d h o u s i n g s t o c k in t w o e a s t D u r h a m
colliery v i l l a g e s , 1 8 3 1 - 8 1 : r a t e s o f i n c r e a s e ( p e r c e n t a g e )
by decade 446
vi

Tables vii
6.2 P o p u l a t i o n a n d h o u s i n g s t o c k in N e w c a s t l e a n d
Sunderland, 1 8 1 1 - 7 1 : rates of increase (percentage) by
decade 446

Contributors
w. A. A R M S T R O N G is P r o f e s s o r o f E c o n o m i c a n d S o c i a l H i s t o r y at
t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f K e n t at C a n t e r b u r y . H e h a s w o r k e d e x t e n s i v e l y in
t h e field o f n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y historical d e m o g r a p h y , a n d r e c e n t l y
p u b l i s h e d Farmworkers: a Social and Economic History, 1770-1980 (1988).
c. BABER is S e n i o r L e c t u r e r in E c o n o m i c H i s t o r y at t h e U n i v e r s i t y
of W a l e s C o l l e g e o f Cardiff. H e h a s w r i t t e n m a i n l y o n t h e i n d u s t r i a l
h i s t o r y o f S o u t h W a l e s , a n d is t h e j o i n t e d i t o r o f Modern South Wales:
Essays in Economic History ( 1 9 8 6 ) .
p. L. GARSIDE is S e n i o r L e c t u r e r in E n v i r o n m e n t a l H e a l t h and
H o u s i n g at the U n i v e r s i t y o f S a l f o r d . S h e h a s w o r k e d e x t e n s i v e l y o n
the h o u s i n g a n d p l a n n i n g h i s t o r y o f L o n d o n , p a r t i c u l a r l y in the
t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y , a n d is c o - a u t h o r o f Metropolitan London: Politics and
Urban Change, 1837-1981 (1982).
D. w. H O W E L L is S e n i o r L e c t u r e r in H i s t o r y at t h e U n i v e r s i t y C o l l e g e
of S w a n s e a . H i s w o r k h a s c o n c e n t r a t e d o n t h e h i s t o r y o f rural s o c i e t y
in W a l e s , a n d h i s b o o k s i n c l u d e Land and People in Nineteenth-Century
Wales (1978) a n d Patriarchs and Parasites: The Gentry of South-West Wales
in the Eighteenth Century ( 1 9 8 6 ) .
R O S A L I N D M I T C H I S O N is E m e r i t u s P r o f e s s o r o f S o c i a l H i s t o r y at
t h e U n i v e r s i t y of E d i n b u r g h . H e r w o r k h a s c o v e r e d a w i d e r a n g e
of S c o t t i s h agricultural, d e m o g r a p h i c , a n d social h i s t o r y , a n d h e r
b o o k s i n c l u d e Lordship to Patronage: Scotland, 1603-1745 (1983).
D . j . R O W E is S e n i o r L e c t u r e r in E c o n o m i c H i s t o r y at t h e U n i v e r s i t y
of N e w c a s t l e u p o n T y n e . H e h a s w r i t t e n m a n y articles o n t h e s o c i e t y
a n d e c o n o m y o f t h e n o r t h - e a s t in t h e e i g h t e e n t h a n d n i n e t e e n t h c e n
turies.
T. c. S M O U T is P r o f e s s o r of S c o t t i s h H i s t o r y at t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f
viii

Contributors ix
S t A n d r e w s . H e h a s w o r k e d e x t e n s i v e l y in m o d e r n S c o t t i s h e c o n o m i c
h i s t o r y , a n d h i s b o o k s i n c l u d e A History of the Scottish People ( 1 9 6 9 ) .
F. M. L. T H O M P S O N is D i r e c t o r o f t h e I n s t i t u t e o f H i s t o r i c a l R e s e a r c h
a n d P r o f e s s o r o f H i s t o r y at t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f L o n d o n . H i s b o o k s
i n c l u d e English Landed Society in the Nineteenth Century (1963) a n d The
Rise of Respectable Society ( 1 9 8 8 ) .
j. K. W A L T O N is S e n i o r L e c t u r e r in H i s t o r y at t h e U n i v e r s i t y of L a n c a s
ter. A h i s t o r i a n o f l e i s u r e as w e l l as o f t h e n o r t h - w e s t , h i s b o o k s i n c l u d e
The Blackpool Landlady: A Social History (1978) a n d The English Seaside
Resort: A Social History, 1750-1914 (1983).

Editorial preface
T h e h i s t o r i a n ' s j o b is to find o u t a b o u t t h e p a s t a n d m a k e it intelligible

a n d a c c e s s i b l e to t h e p r e s e n t . S u c h a n a p p a r e n t l y straightforward
t a s k is b y n o m e a n s as s i m p l e a s it m a y s o u n d . F i n d i n g o u t w h a t
h a p p e n e d a n d i n t e r p r e t i n g it in p a t t e r n s a n d d e s i g n s w h i c h m a k e
s e n s e o f t h e p a s t are c o m p l i c a t e d a n d d e m a n d i n g p r o c e s s e s , r e q u i r i n g
scholarship and expertise of a high order, but their value remains
l i m i t e d u n l e s s t h e r e s u l t s are c o m m u n i c a t e d in a l a n g u a g e a n d f o r m
w h i c h reach b e y o n d t h e restricted circle of fellow-specialists. C o m m u n i
c a t i o n is p a r t i c u l a r l y i m p o r t a n t for social h i s t o r y , a field w h o s e c o n
t o u r s a n d b o u n d a r i e s h a v e a l t e r e d o u t o f all r e c o g n i t i o n in t h e last
g e n e r a t i o n , a s u b j e c t w h i c h is b u b b l i n g w i t h t h e vitality o f a n o u t p o u r
i n g o f m o n o g r a p h s a n d j o u r n a l articles, a n d a y o u n g d i s c i p l i n e w h i c h
lacks the settled framework of a conventional orthodoxy or a received
i n t e r p r e t a t i o n w i t h i n w h i c h or a g a i n s t w h i c h n e w d e p a r t u r e s o r o p e n
rebellions can b e placed or assessed. T h e old stand-bys - constitutional
h i s t o r y , political h i s t o r y , d i p l o m a t i c h i s t o r y , e c c l e s i a s t i c a l h i s t o r y , for
e x a m p l e - all h a v e t h e s e e s t a b l i s h e d f r a m e w o r k s w h i c h d e f i n e t h e i r
subject matters and enshrine explanations of the course of history.
T h e s e are w i d e l y familiar, a l t h o u g h o f t e n m i s l e a d i n g o r m i s t a k e n ;
this m e a n s that the terms of debate are well understood, that revisions
are e a s i l y r e c o g n i s e d as r e v i s i o n s , a n d t h a t t h e i c o n o c l a s m o f o v e r t u r n
ing entrenched views does not go unnoticed. E c o n o m i c history, while
much younger than these other subjects, has nevertheless established
its r u l e s o f e n q u i r y , its m e t h o d o l o g i e s , a n d its c a n o n s o f d e b a t e , e v e n
if it h a s n e v e r s u c c e e d e d in s t a k i n g o u t a territory w i t h s h a r p l y d e f i n e d
a n d s t a b l e b o u n d a r i e s . S o m e m i g h t s a y t h a t it h a s d u g a g r o o v e for
itself w h i c h s u c c e e d s in s h u t t i n g o u t a d e q u a t e c o n s i d e r a t i o n o f factors
of c e n t r a l i m p o r t a n c e , for e x a m p l e t h e n a t u r e a n d o p e r a t i o n o f d e m a n d
a n d o f c o n s u m p t i o n , in w h i c h social h i s t o r y c a n b e i l l u m i n a t i n g a n d
supportive.
xi

xii Editorial preface
S o c i a l h i s t o r y d e r i v e s its a p p e a l a n d f a s c i n a t i o n in n o s m a l l m e a s u r e
f r o m its o p e n - e n d e d n e s s , its f r e e d o m f r o m t h e c o n s t r a i n t s o f a f o r m a l
tradition, its eclectic h a b i t s , a n d s t a n d s in n o n e e d o f b e i n g r e n d e r e d
i n t o a n a u t h o r i s e d v e r s i o n . T h i s is j u s t as w e l l , for o r t h o d o x i e s are
n o t c r e a t e d b y editorial d e c r e e a n d if p e r c h a n c e t h e y are f a s h i o n e d
b y b a n d s o f d i s c i p l e s t h e n t h e t h r e e v o l u m e s o f this s e r i e s are in
little d a n g e r o f b e c o m i n g a C a m b r i d g e g o s p e l , for t h e a u t h o r s d o n o t
b e l o n g to a n y o n e s i n g l e c a m p a n d d o n o t h a v e a c o m m o n a x e t o
g r i n d . T h a t is n o t to s a y t h a t t h e y are a particularly d i s p u t a t i o u s or
d o g m a t i c b u n c h , b u t s i m p l y t h a t t h e y are a t e a m o f i n d i v i d u a l i s t s
e a c h o f w h o m h a s b e e n i n v i t e d to b r i n g t h e i r o w n s c h o l a r l y j u d g m e n t
t o b e a r o n t h e t a s k in h a n d . T h a t t a s k is to c o m m u n i c a t e t h e fruits
of r e c e n t w r i t i n g a n d t h e m o s t r e c e n t r e s e a r c h in social h i s t o r y to
t h e w i d e r a u d i e n c e o f s t u d e n t s w h o are c u r i o u s t o k n o w w h a t t h e
s p e c i a l i s t s h a v e b e e n d o i n g a n d h o w t h e i r w o r k fits i n t o a g e n e r a l
p i c t u r e o f t h e w h o l e p r o c e s s o f social c h a n g e a n d d e v e l o p m e n t . T h e r e
are t w o w a y s o f p r o d u c i n g a s y n t h e s i s : s i n g l e - h a n d e d c o m b a t , in
w h i c h o n e a u t h o r t a k e s o n t h e w h o l e field a n d p r o d u c e s a d i g e s t
a n d i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f a l a r g e slice o f h i s t o r y ; or a t e a m effort, in w h i c h
t h e field is s l i c e d u p a m o n g c o n t r i b u t o r s a c c o r d i n g t o t h e i r e x p e r t i s e
a n d t h e o v e r v i e w is a c o - o r d i n a t e d p a c k a g e o f s e p a r a t e a u t h o r i t a t i v e
elements. A s with individual sports a n d t e a m g a m e s , tennis a n d
cricket or golf a n d football, e a c h a p p r o a c h h a s its o w n a t t r a c t i o n s
a n d d i s a d v a n t a g e s , for p l a y e r s a n d s p e c t a t o r s alike, a n d e a c h h a s
its p a r t i s a n s . T h e r e are s e v e r a l e x a m p l e s o f s o l o s y n t h e s e s o n offer
in t h e field o f m o d e r n social h i s t o r y , n o t a b l y f r o m P e n g u i n , F o n t a n a -
C o l l i n s , a n d H u t c h i n s o n . A s t h e a u t h o r o f o n e o f t h e s e it is n o t m y
p u r p o s e to d e c r y t h e i r m e r i t s . N o d o u b t t h e i r m a i n s t r e n g t h c o m e s
from the coherence and unity which a picture of an entire landscape
m a y h a v e w h e n s e e n t h r o u g h o n e pair o f e y e s a n d p a i n t e d b y o n e
h a n d , a n d t h e i r m a i n w e a k n e s s f r o m t h e inability o f a s i n g l e pair
of e y e s t o s e e e v e r y t h i n g or t o b e w e l l e d u c a t e d a n d w e l l i n f o r m e d
a b o u t t h e s t r u c t u r e a n d m e a n i n g o f all t h e f e a t u r e s in t h a t l a n d s c a p e .
S u c h v i r t u e s a n d v i c e s are n e a t l y b a l a n c e d b y t h e c o l l a b o r a t i v e s y n
t h e s i s , in w h i c h e a c h m a j o r f e a t u r e is g i v e n critical a p p r a i s a l b y a
l e a d i n g specialist, w h i l e t h e l a n d s c a p e as a w h o l e is left to l o o k after
itself in t h e e x p e c t a t i o n t h a t a n i m p r e s s i o n will f o r m in t h e m i n d
of t h e b e h o l d e r . It w o u l d b e u n w i s e to try to c o m p e n s a t e for this
b y raising an overarching superstructure over the individual contribu
t i o n s in t h e s e v o l u m e s , for t h a t w o u l d c o m e c l o s e t o c o u r t i n g a d i s a s t e r

Editorial preface xiii
a k i n to t h o s e w h i c h c u s t o m a r i l y visit u n i v e r s i t y b u i l d i n g s d e s i g n e d
in c o m m i t t e e . T h e d e s i g n o f t h i s , t h e first e n t e r p r i s e to m a r s h a l t h e
r e s o u r c e s o f t h e m u l t i - a u t h o r t e c h n i q u e to v i e w t h e e n t i r e s w e e p o f
m o d e r n B r i t i s h social h i s t o r y , d o e s , h o w e v e r , call for e x p l a n a t o r y c o m
ment and description.
I n t h e last g e n e r a t i o n or s o social h i s t o r i a n s h a v e b e e n c a s t i n g t h e i r
nets wider and wider, into waters previously unnoticed and unex
p l o r e d b y h i s t o r i a n s as w e l l as i n t o t h o s e f o r m e r l y fished w i t h t h e
conventional equipment o f t h e political, a d m i n i s t r a t i v e , or t r a d e -
u n i o n h i s t o r i a n . S o far h a s this g o n e t h a t it is s o m e t i m e s said t h a t
all h i s t o r y w h i c h is n o t c o n c e r n e d w i t h t h e t e c h n i c a l i t i e s o f h i g h poli
tics, d i p l o m a c y , or e c o n o m e t r i c s h a s b e c o m e a k i n d o f social h i s t o r y .
T h i s social h i s t o r y h a s m o v e d a l o n g w a y , in its i n t e l l e c t u a l a p p r o a c h
as w e l l as in its s u b j e c t m a t t e r , f r o m t h e ' h i s t o r y w i t h t h e politics
left o u t ' w h i c h still s e r v e d as a definition o f social h i s t o r y in t h e 1 9 4 0 s .
T h e r e m a y n o t b e a ' n e w ' social h i s t o r y in t h e s a m e w a y t h a t t h e r e
is a ' n e w ' e c o n o m i c h i s t o r y as a s c h o o l o f t h o u g h t a p p l y i n g e c o n o
metrics a n d models d r a w n from e c o n o m i c theory to the u n d e r s t a n d i n g
of h i s t o r i c a l e c o n o m i c p h e n o m e n a ; b u t social h i s t o r i a n s d r a w w i d e l y
o n c o n c e p t s f r o m h i s t o r i c a l d e m o g r a p h y , social a n t h r o p o l o g y , s o c i o
l o g y , social g e o g r a p h y , a n d political s c i e n c e , as w e l l as f r o m e c o n
omics, and are well aware of the importance of quantification. Social
h i s t o r i a n s o p e r a t i n g in this c o n c e p t u a l l y eclectic a n d e x p e r i m e n t a l
f a s h i o n d o n o t h a v e t h e m e t h o d o l o g i c a l c e r t a i n t y , u n i t y , or rigidity
of ' n e w ' e c o n o m i c h i s t o r y , a n d d e a l in c o n c l u s i o n s w h i c h are p r o b a b l e
a n d p l a u s i b l e r a t h e r t h a n directly verifiable.
T h i s social h i s t o r y h a s g e n e r a t e d m a n y v i g o r o u s c o n t r o v e r s i e s a n d
d e b a t e s o n t o p i c s w i t h i n t h e p e r i o d c o v e r e d b y this s e r i e s : o n t h e
s t a n d a r d o f living, c l a s s f o r m a t i o n , t h e l a b o u r a r i s t o c r a c y , or social
c o n t r o l , for e x a m p l e , a n d m o r e r e c e n t l y o n g e n d e r r o l e s a n d w o m e n ' s
e m a n c i p a t i o n . T h e s e i s s u e s h a v e n o t b e e n p i c k e d o u t for s e p a r a t e
t r e a t m e n t in t h e s e v o l u m e s . T h e d e b a t e s are b e s t f o l l o w e d in t h e orig
inal e x c h a n g e s , or in t h e s e v e r a l a d m i r a b l e s u r v e y s w h i c h are avail
a b l e , a n d r e f e r e n c e s c a n b e f o u n d in t h e b i b l i o g r a p h i e s h e r e . T h e
i s s u e s , m o r e o v e r , are b e s t u n d e r s t o o d w h e n p l a c e d w i t h i n t h e f r a m e
work of the conditions, customs, and institutions that shaped the w a y
in w h i c h t h e p e o p l e l i v e d . H e n c e q u e s t i o n s o f c l a s s , social r e l a t i o n
s h i p s , g e n d e r d i f f e r e n c e s a n d r o l e s , a n d social conflict are d i s c u s s e d
in t h e c o n t e x t o f a s e r i e s o f p a r t i c u l a r t h e m e s w h i c h c o n s t i t u t e t h e
m a i n e l e m e n t s in t h a t f r a m e w o r k . T h e t h e m a t i c s t r u c t u r e m e a n s t h a t

xiv Editorial preface
m u c h m a t t e r o f i n t e r e s t is left o u t , b e c a u s e it c h a n c e s to fall i n t o o n e
of t h e o u b l i e t t e s b e t w e e n t h e m e s ; b u t w h i l e t h e r e is n o a t t e m p t at
a literally c o m p l e t e c o v e r a g e , t a k e n t o g e t h e r t h e c h a p t e r s a d d u p to
a c o m p r e h e n s i v e a n d b a l a n c e d a c c o u n t o f t h e c o m p l e x i t y , a n d diver
sity, o f t h e i n t e r a c t i o n s b e t w e e n c o n t i n u i t y a n d c h a n g e w h i c h h a v e
d e t e r m i n e d t h e d e v e l o p m e n t of B r i t i s h s o c i e t y in t h e t w o c e n t u r i e s
since 1750.
T h e s e r i e s , i n d e e d , p r o v i d e s t h r e e social h i s t o r i e s o f t h e s e t w o c e n
t u r i e s , e a c h o n e c o m p l e t e in itself at a l e v e l o f partial c o v e r a g e . T h a t
is to say, t h e v o l u m e s t h e m s e l v e s are n o t d i v i d e d c h r o n o l o g i c a l l y ,
b u t i n t o t h r e e b r o a d t h e m a t i c c l u s t e r s : r e g i o n a l c o m m u n i t i e s ; social
e n v i r o n m e n t ; a n d social i n s t i t u t i o n s . M u c h o f t h e r e c e n t p i o n e e r i n g
w o r k in social h i s t o r y h a s a d v a n c e d t h r o u g h i n t e n s i v e s t u d y o f particu
lar localities a n d c o m m u n i t i e s , a n d V o l u m e 1, Regions and Communities,
d r a w s o n this a p p r o a c h b y p r e s e n t i n g a s e r i e s o f c h a p t e r s o n t h e
social h i s t o r i e s o f d i s t i n c t i v e r e g i o n s . T h i s is n o t a n a t t e m p t to p a r c e l
up the w h o l e of Britain into a n u m b e r of regions, which could run
t h e risk o f r e d u c i n g social h i s t o r y to a s u b - b r a n c h o f local h i s t o r y .
It is, r a t h e r , a c o l l e c t i o n o f s t u d i e s o f r e g i o n s - if S c o t l a n d a n d W a l e s
c a n forgive t h e l a b e l - w h o s e s e p a r a t e i d e n t i t y is clearly e s t a b l i s h e d
b y t h e i r distinctive n a t i o n a l , i n s t i t u t i o n a l , legal, a n d administrative
h i s t o r i e s , a n d o f t h o s e o f u n d i s p u t e d significance as e x a m p l e s o f
i m m e n s e social a n d e c o n o m i c c h a n g e ( t h e n o r t h - w e s t ) , c o n c e n t r a t i o n
of p o w e r a n d w e a l t h ( t h e m e t r o p o l i s ) , a n d v i o l e n t c h a n g e s in f o r t u n e
( t h e n o r t h - e a s t ) . T h e o b v i o u s g e o g r a p h i c a l g a p s in this d i s p o s i t i o n
are b r i d g e d b y t w o c h a p t e r s , o n t h e c o u n t r y s i d e a n d o n t h e city,
w h o s e ' r e g i o n s ' are n o t localities w i t h fixed b o u n d a r i e s b u t shifting
social territories d e f i n e d b y e n v i r o n m e n t a l , o c c u p a t i o n a l , a n d cultural
criteria. R e g i o n a l c o m m u n i t i e s , t h e i r social c o h e s i o n , d i s i n t e g r a t i o n ,
a n d r e f o r m a t i o n , are s t r o n g l y i n f l u e n c e d b y r e g i o n a l e c o n o m i e s , a n d
this v o l u m e , t h e r e f o r e , is m o r e directly c o n c e r n e d t h a n t h e f o l l o w i n g
t w o w i t h t h e l i n k s b e t w e e n e c o n o m i c h i s t o r y a n d social h i s t o r y , a n d
w i t h explicit c o n f r o n t a t i o n of t h e i n t e r a c t i o n o f e c o n o m y a n d s o c i e t y .
W h e r e q u e s t i o n s o f social s t r u c t u r e a n d c l a s s r e l a t i o n s are r a i s e d
in t h e s e t t i n g o f specific localities in V o l u m e 1, in V o l u m e 2 , People
and their Environment, t h e y are a p p r o a c h e d , u s i n g n a t i o n a l d a t a a n d
n a t i o n a l p a t t e r n s , t h r o u g h a c o l l e c t i o n o f s t u d i e s o f t h e living a n d
w o r k i n g e n v i r o n m e n t . T h e f a m i l y a n d h o u s e h o l d , t h e social impli
cations of demographic change, domesticity and the separation of
h o m e and workplace, housing and the changing meaning of the h o m e ,

Editorial preface xv
t h e w o r k i n g e n v i r o n m e n t a n d e m p l o y e r - w o r k e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s , nutri
tion and patterns of food and drink c o n s u m p t i o n , a n d leisure a n d
p o p u l a r c u l t u r e are t h e t h e m e s o f this v o l u m e . T o g e t h e r t h e y s h o w
h o w t h e social o r d e r w a s s h a p e d , r e p r o d u c e d , a n d c h a n g e d t h r o u g h
t h e p r o c e s s e s o f g e t t i n g , s p e n d i n g , a n d s t a y i n g alive, t h r o u g h family,
marriage, h o m e , work, consumption, and leisure. T h e s e agencies both
g e n e r a t e d a n d m e d i a t e d social t e n s i o n s , b u t t h e m o r e explicit, institu
t i o n a l i s e d , efforts to p r o t e c t t h e social o r d e r , to c o n t r o l or s u p p r e s s
conflicts, to i n f l u e n c e a t t i t u d e s a n d b e h a v i o u r , a n d to m a n i p u l a t e
social c o n d i t i o n s are r e s e r v e d for V o l u m e 3, Social Agencies and Institu
tions. M u c h o f t h e r u n n i n g w a s m a d e b y t h o s e in p o w e r a n d a u t h o r i t y ,
and the chapters on government and society which explain the chang
i n g i m p a c t o f g o v e r n m e n t o n p e o p l e ' s lives a n d t h e c h a n g e s in p o p u l a r
e x p e c t a t i o n s o f w h a t g o v e r n m e n t c o u l d a n d s h o u l d p r o v i d e , as w e l l
as t h e c h a p t e r o n c r i m e a n d p o l i c i n g , are c e n t r a l to t h i s t h e m e . M o s t
socialisation, h o w e v e r , t o o k p l a c e t h r o u g h v o l u n t a r y a n d non-official
i n s t i t u t i o n s t h a t w e r e l a r g e l y g e n e r a t e d f r o m w i t h i n a social g r o u p
a n d n o t i m p o s e d u p o n it. T h e s e are t h e s u b j e c t o f c h a p t e r s o n phil
anthropy and voluntary associations; while education, religion, and
h e a l t h w e r e in a h a l f - w a y p o s i t i o n , p a r t l y t h e p r o v i n c e of official a n d
often c o e r c i v e a c t i o n , partly a s p h e r e o f v o l u n t a r y i s m , self-help, a n d
self-determination.
E a c h v o l u m e is s e l f - c o n t a i n e d , w i t h its o w n set o f b i b l i o g r a p h i e s ,
a n d w i t h e a c h c h a p t e r c a r r y i n g its o w n c h r o n o l o g y o f t h e 2 0 0 y e a r s .
T o g e t h e r t h e t h r e e v o l u m e s , w i t h t h e i r t h r e e different a n d c o m p l e
m e n t a r y a n g l e s o f a p p r o a c h , are d e s i g n e d to offer a n i n t e g r a t e d a n d
w e l l - r o u n d e d social h i s t o r y t h a t is e x c i t i n g a n d c h a l l e n g i n g , as w e l l
as b e i n g as u p - t o - d a t e as t h e c o n t r i b u t o r s , w h o h a v e w r i t t e n at differ
e n t t i m e s w i t h i n t h e last five y e a r s , c a n m a k e it.
F. M. L. T H O M P S O N

CHAPTER 1
Town and city

F. M . L. T H O M P S O N
A r e g i o n a l a p p r o a c h t o social h i s t o r y o b v i o u s l y w o r k s p r i m a r i l y w i t h i n
g e o g r a p h i c a l b o u n d a r i e s , a n d it is t h e l o n g a c c u m u l a t i o n o f t h e effects
o f t o p o g r a p h y a n d its i n f l u e n c e o n p a t t e r n s o f s e t t l e m e n t a n d a d m i n i s
trative a n d e c o n o m i c s t r u c t u r e s w h i c h is at t h e r o o t o f t h o s e r e g i o n a l
identities that c a n b e o b s e r v e d t h r o u g h the m a n y s u p e r i m p o s e d layers
of n a t i o n a l a n d i n t e r n a t i o n a l f o r c e s , r e l i g i o u s a n d c l a s s d i v i s i o n s , a n d
i n w a r d a n d o u t w a r d m i g r a t i o n . A s i m p l i f i e d p i c t u r e s u g g e s t s that
b y the early s e v e n t e e n t h century Britain p o s s e s s e d a reasonably
unified a n d integrated ruling class, predominantly landed, following
o n the u n i o n of the c r o w n s a n d the T u d o r d e v e l o p m e n t of central
p o w e r . A l t h o u g h the eighteenth century w a s to b e half over before
m a n y o f t h e S c o t t i s h e l e m e n t s s l o t t e d firmly i n t o p l a c e in t h i s class,
it w a s o n e w h i c h w a s b r o a d l y h o m o g e n e o u s in c u l t u r e , in life style
a n d a s p i r a t i o n s ; its m e m b e r s s p o k e t h e s a m e l a n g u a g e , if n o t a l w a y s
t h e s a m e dialect u n t i l t h e s e c o n d h a l f o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , t h e y
i n t e r m a r r i e d freely, a n d a n y s u r v i v i n g r e g i o n a l d i f f e r e n c e s b e t w e e n
t h e m were romantic displays of c u s t o m rather than matters of serious
social o r political c o n s e q u e n c e . B y t h e m i d - e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y t h e
p r o f e s s i o n a l , financial, a n d m e r c a n t i l e m i d d l e c l a s s w e r e similarly
b r o a d l y u n i f i e d , w i t h v a l u e s y s t e m s a n d social c u s t o m s w h i c h tran
scended regional boundaries, although the marked differences
b e t w e e n t h e l e g a l s y s t e m s o f E n g l a n d a n d S c o t l a n d m e a n t that p r o f e s
s i o n a l l y t h e B r i t i s h l e g a l w o r l d h a s n e v e r b e c o m e fully i n t e g r a t e d .
It is t r u e t h a t m a n u f a c t u r e r s a n d i n d u s t r i a l i s t s , w h o in a n y c a s e w e r e
o n l y b e g i n n i n g t o r i s e a b o v e p r o v i n c i a l o b s c u r i t y in t h e early n i n e
t e e n t h c e n t u r y , s t o o d a p a r t f r o m t h i s b o u r g e o i s circle, a n d to s o m e
e x t e n t c o n t i n u e d t o d o s o i n t o t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y . It is also t r u e
that a m o n g the farmers w e r e to b e found m a n y families of authenti
cally m i d d l e - c l a s s w e a l t h a n d s t a t u s w h o n e v e r t h e l e s s r e m a i n e d p r o v -

2 F. M. L. T H O M P S O N
incial a n d d i s t i n c t i v e l y r e g i o n a l in t h e i r social h o r i z o n s a n d b e h a v i o u r .
All t h e s a m e it c a n b e a r g u e d t h a t b y t h e later e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y
r e g i o n a l differences of a n y significance, in s p e e c h , d r e s s , diet, h o u s i n g ,
w o r k p r a c t i c e s , e m p l o y m e n t c u s t o m s , s p o r t s , e n t e r t a i n m e n t s , a n d to
s o m e e x t e n t in r e l i g i o u s p r a c t i c e s a n d o t h e r rituals, h a d b e c o m e t h e
preserve of the working classes, a m o n g w h o m farm workers and
country craftsmen w e r e the chief transmitters of tradition and c u s t o m
a l t h o u g h t h e y w e r e c l o s e l y s u p p o r t e d in this b y m a n y m o r e u r b a n
t r a d e s at l e a s t i n t o t h e later n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y .
T h i s c l a s s - c h r o n o l o g i c a l p e r s p e c t i v e o n t h e r e g i o n a l d i m e n s i o n s in
B r i t i s h social h i s t o r y , w h i c h is implicit in t h e o t h e r c h a p t e r s in this
v o l u m e , n e e d s to b e c o m p l e m e n t e d b y a parallel a p p r o a c h to different
k i n d s o f social r e g i o n , w h i c h are a l s o spatial b u t w h o s e d e f i n i n g c h a r
acteristics are e n v i r o n m e n t a l r a t h e r t h a n g e o g r a p h i c a l . T o w n a n d
c o u n t r y , u r b a n a n d rural are distinct, m u t u a l l y e x c l u s i v e , c a t e g o r i e s
p a r t of e v e r y d a y t e r m i n o l o g y for d e s c r i b i n g p l a c e s a n d e x p r e s s i n g
p e r c e p t i o n s , l a b e l s u s e d in d r a w i n g a d m i n i s t r a t i v e , fiscal, a n d l e g a l
distinctions b e t w e e n places and b e t w e e n the inhabitants of those
p l a c e s , b u t t h e y are a t t a c h e d to a r e a s w h i c h e x p a n d a n d c o n t r a c t
t h r o u g h c h a n g e s in u s e a n d s e t t l e m e n t , a n d are n o t territorially p r e d e
t e r m i n e d in t h e f a s h i o n o f traditional p r o v i n c e s a n d r e g i o n s . T h e t a s k
of t h i s c h a p t e r is t o e n q u i r e in w h a t w a y s , a n d for h o w l o n g , u r b a n
e n v i r o n m e n t s s h a p e d , or c o n t a i n e d , a d i s t i n c t i v e social e x p e r i e n c e ,
p e r h a p s c u t t i n g a c r o s s c l a s s differences a n d r e g i o n a l d i f f e r e n c e s ,
w h i c h c o n t r a s t e d w i t h t h e life a n d m a n n e r s o f t h e c o u n t r y s i d e . T h e
c h r o n o l o g y is t h a t o f t h e m o v e f r o m a m i n o r i t y u r b a n c u l t u r e to a n
urban domination so complete that urban ways and urban values
h a v e taken over the w h o l e of society. Urbanisation has b e e n so
t h r o u g h g o i n g in t h e t w o c e n t u r i e s s i n c e 1 7 5 0 t h a t is h a s in effect
l i q u i d a t e d w h a t w a s a social r e g i o n , b y t u r n i n g it i n t o t h e n a t i o n .
T h e t o w n a n d c o u n t r y d i c h o t o m y is a useful a n a l y t i c a l d e v i c e , b u t
its d r a w b a c k s a n d l i m i t a t i o n s in d e s c r i b i n g e c o n o m i c a n d social real
ties, o r i n d e e d political a n d a d m i n i s t r a t i v e facts, n e e d to b e u n d e r s t o o d
from the outset. Rural society was proclaimed b y the census authori
ties to h a v e b e c o m e a m i n o r i t y o f t h e n a t i o n in 1 8 5 1 : 5 0 . 1 p e r c e n t
of t h e p o p u l a t i o n o f E n g l a n d a n d W a l e s , a n d 5 1 . 8 p e r c e n t o f t h e

Town and city 3
1
population of S c o t l a n d , w e r e reported to b e living in u r b a n a r e a s .
T h e c e n s u s a u t h o r i t i e s , h o w e v e r , h a d o n l y i m p e r f e c t m e a n s for c l a s s i
fying a r e a s as e i t h e r u r b a n o r rural, n o t s i m p l y b e c a u s e t h e l e g a l a n d
local g o v e r n m e n t a r r a n g e m e n t s prevailing in 1 8 5 1 w e r e i n a d e q u a t e
for d r a w i n g a s h a r p l i n e b e t w e e n t o w n a n d c o u n t r y , b u t m o r e i m p o r
tantly because the organisation and structure of the e c o n o m y , and
the patterns of settlement a n d of social relations, m e a n t that n o such
sharp line existed in reality. In defining the t o w n population, legal
status w a s indeed of considerable help; the inhabitants of municipal
b o r o u g h s a n d o f p l a c e s a d m i n i s t e r e d u n d e r a specific T o w n I m p r o v e
m e n t Act w e r e obviously t o w n s p e o p l e . B u t in addition t h e c e n s u s
c o u n t e d as u r b a n all w h o l i v e d i n ' t o w n s o f s o m e 2 , 0 0 0 o r m o r e i n h a b i
tants, without any organisation other than the parish vestry', pro
v i d e d , t h a t is, t h e r e w e r e 2 , 0 0 0 o r m o r e p e o p l e i n a s i n g l e e n u m e r a t i o n
district, w h i c h w a s n o r m a l l y a c o m p l e t e p a r i s h o r t o w n s h i p . A t o w n
can, n a t u r a l l y , b e d e f i n e d i n a n u m b e r o f different w a y s , taking
account of size, function, occupational structure, h o u s i n g density,
a n d l e g a l s t a t u s ; b u t o n a n y d e f i n i t i o n it is a p p a r e n t t h a t t h e 1 8 5 1
classification is l i k e l y t o h a v e o v e r s t a t e d t h e d e g r e e o f u r b a n i s a t i o n
b y i n c l u d i n g m a n y p a r i s h e s t h a t w e r e i n r e a l i t y l a r g e a g r i c u l t u r a l vil
l a g e s firmly a n c h o r e d i n r u r a l s o c i e t y . T h e p r e v a l e n c e o f v e r y s m a l l
b u r g h s in S c o t l a n d , w h i c h w e r e m u n i c i p a l i n f o r m , c o u p l e d w i t h t h e
circumstance that several Scottish ' t o w n s ' with less than 2,000 inhabi
t a n t s w e r e c l a s s e d a s u r b a n i n 1 8 5 1 , a c c o u n t s for t h e r a t h e r u n e x p e c
t e d , a n d a s it t u r n s o u t m i s l e a d i n g , i m p r e s s i o n t h a t S c o t l a n d w a s
s l i g h t l y m o r e u r b a n i s e d t h a n E n g l a n d a n d W a l e s , w i t h its i m p l i e d
corollary that Scottish u r b a n g r o w t h h a d b e e n faster in the previous
2
h u n d r e d years or s o .
T h e s e criteria c o n t i n u e d t o b e u s e d for e n u m e r a t i n g t h e u r b a n p o p u
lation until the 1881 c e n s u s , b y w h i c h time the recently established
urban sanitary districts, created b y the public health legislation of
1872 a n d 1875, w e r e available as c o n v e n i e n t l y appropriate units. F r o m
1
1851 Census of Great Britain, I, Table VII (England and Wales), pp. cciv-ccvii, Table
XIV (Scotland), pp. ccxviii-ccix. A. F. Weber, The Growth of Cities in the Nineteenth
Century (1899; reprinted 1967), pp. 46, 58. Later recalculations give the urban popula
tion of England and Wales as 54 per cent in 1851: C .M. Law, 'The Growth of Urban
Population in England and Wales, 1801-19ir, Transactions of the Institute of British
Geographers, 41 (1967), pp. 125-43.
2
1871 Census of England and Wales, TV, Introd., p. xxxii. In 1851 thirteen burghs in
Scotland and eight boroughs in Wales had less than 1,000 inhabitants: 1851 Census
of Great Britain, I, Tables VII and XIV.

1 9 0 1 o n w a r d s t h e u r b a n district c o u n c i l s , e s t a b l i s h e d b y t h e 1894 L o c a l
G o v e r n m e n t A c t in t h e w a k e o f t h e c r e a t i o n o f c o u n t y c o u n c i l s in
1888, w e r e u s e d in c e n s u s e s , along with c o u n t y b o r o u g h s a n d munici
p a l b o r o u g h s , to d i s t i n g u i s h u r b a n a r e a s a n d u r b a n p o p u l a t i o n f r o m
t h e rural r e s i d u e . F o r t h e 1 8 5 1 - 7 1 p e r i o d , t h e r e f o r e , t h e c e n s u s ' t o w n '
w a s a p l a c e , w h e t h e r p a r i s h or t o w n s h i p , w h i c h h a d 2 , 0 0 0 or m o r e
i n h a b i t a n t s ; m o s t h i s t o r i a n s h a v e t a k e n t h i s to m e a n , p l a u s i b l y b u t
n o t strictly a c c u r a t e l y , t h a t t h e c e n s u s ' t o w n ' h a d a m i n i m u m p o p u l a
3
tion of 2 , 5 0 0 . F r o m 1 9 0 1 t h e c e n s u s ' t o w n ' w a s , at t h e l e a s t , a n
a r e a a d m i n i s t e r e d b y a n u r b a n district c o u n c i l ; a l t h o u g h n o m i n i m u m
p o p u l a t i o n w a s p r e s c r i b e d for q u a l i f y i n g for t h i s f o r m o f l o c a l g o v e r n
m e n t , it h a s b e e n w i d e l y a s s u m e d , b e c a u s e it is c o n v e n i e n t t o b e l i e v e
that c e n s u s returns are a reliable source of a l o n g run of c o m p a r a b l e
figures, t h a t u r b a n district c o u n c i l s also h a d a m i n i m u m p o p u l a t i o n
4
of 2 , 5 0 0 . I n p r a c t i c e u r b a n district c o u n c i l s c o u l d w e l l o w e t h e i r
e x i s t e n c e to h i s t o r y , t r a d i t i o n a n d l o c a l p o l i t i c s , r a t h e r t h a n to s i z e
or t h e p o s s e s s i o n o f r e c o g n i s a b l y u r b a n p h y s i c a l or e c o n o m i c f e a t u r e s .
T h u s in 1 9 0 1 , 15 p e r c e n t o f t h e u r b a n district c o u n c i l s i n E n g l a n d
a n d W a l e s , 170 of t h e m , h a d populations of less t h a n 2,500. T h e smal
lest, C h i l d w a l l in L a n c a s h i r e , o n t h e f r i n g e s o f L i v e r p o o l , h a d n o m o r e
t h a n 2 1 9 p e o p l e ; i n all t h e r e w e r e 2 8 districts w i t h l e s s t h a n 1 , 0 0 0
i n h a b i t a n t s . M o r e o v e r , t h e 1 7 0 t i n y t o w n s or p s e u d o - t o w n s i n c l u d e d
22 municipal boroughs, hangovers from the days of medieval charters,
i n t o a n a g e in w h i c h l o c a l g o v e r n m e n t e x p e r t s t h o u g h t t h a t a b o r o u g h
5
n e e d e d 1 0 , 0 0 0 p e o p l e at t h e v e r y l e a s t .
Two c o n c l u s i o n s c a n b e d r a w n f r o m t h i s . F i r s t , at t h e e n d o f t h e
n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y after u p w a r d s o f a c o u p l e o f c e n t u r i e s o f r a p i d
u r b a n g r o w t h t h e r e w e r e still m a n y p l a c e s t h a t w e r e indubitably
'towns' which were exceedingly small. For example, Aldeburgh
(Suffolk), Appleby (Westmorland), Bromyard (Hereford), Church
Stretton (Salop), Fishguard (Pembroke), Lampeter (Cardigan), L y m e
Regis (Dorset), Montgomery, Padstow (Cornwall), Rothbury
(Northumberland), Seaton (Devon), Stow-on-the-Wold (Gloucester),
W a l t o n - o n - t h e - N a z e ( E s s e x ) , or W o o d s t o c k ( O x f o r d ) , all l o o k e d a n d
3
B. T. Robson, Urban Growth: An Approach (1973), pp. 46-60, discusses the efforts,
particularly by C. M. Law, to recalculate census returns from 1801 to 1911 taking
a 2,500 town population threshold.
4
P. J. Waller, Town, City and Nation: England, 1850-1914 (Oxford, 1983), pp. 2 - 8 , gives
urban population figures for 1851 to 1911 using the 2,500 population threshold.
5
1911 Census of England and Wales, PP1912/13, CXI, Table 8, pp.10-40. In Scotland
forty-three burghs had less than 2,000 inhabitants, eighteen of them less than 1,000:
1911 Census of Scotland, I, p. xvii.

Town and city 5
b e h a v e d like t o w n s . T h e y h a d i n n s , h o t e l s , b o a r d i n g h o u s e s , b a n k s ,
a variety of shops, professional services, markets, and well-established
h i n t e r l a n d s ; t h e y w e r e s o m e t h i n g different f r o m e i t h e r o v e r g r o w n
villages or merely residential clusters. Several of t h e m w e r e ancient
b o r o u g h s ; all o f t h e m in 1 9 0 1 h a d l e s s t h a n 2 , 5 0 0 , m a n y o f t h e m
less t h a n 2,000, i n h a b i t a n t s . S e c o n d , there w e r e also m a n y administra
t i v e a r e a s w i t h s m a l l p o p u l a t i o n s w h i c h w e r e classified as u r b a n t h a t
h a d a few genuinely 'urban' characteristics. For example, the Lincoln
s h i r e v i l l a g e s o f R o x b y ( p o p u l a t i o n in 1 9 0 1 , 3 8 9 ) a n d Ruskington
( p o p u l a t i o n 1,196) h a d t h e s t a t u s o f u r b a n districts , b u t w e r e in fact
far m o r e rural a n d a g r i c u l t u r a l t h a n t h e m a r k e t t o w n o f S p i l s b y , w h i c h
6
a d m i n i s t r a t i v e l y w a s s i m p l y p a r t o f a l a r g e rural d i s t r i c t . T h e s e t w o
f a c t o r s p u l l e d t h e u r b a n - r u r a l c a l c u l a t i o n s in o p p o s i t e d i r e c t i o n s , b u t
it c a n n o t b e a s s u m e d t h a t t h e y n e a t l y c a n c e l l e d e a c h o t h e r o u t . It
w a s i n d e e d argued b y С. M . L a w that the administrative definitions,
a n d s u b j e c t i v e j u d g m e n t s o f i n d i v i d u a l e n u m e r a t o r s , in t h e 1 8 5 1 a n d
1861 censuses caused a marked understatement of the urban popula
t i o n , t h r o u g h t h e e x c l u s i o n o f m a n y s u b u r b s , w h i c h lay b e y o n d t h e
administrative boundaries of their parent towns, and the exclusion
of m a n y m u s h r o o m i n g i n d u s t r i a l , m i n i n g , or d o r m i t o r y v i l l a g e s w h i c h
particular e n u m e r a t o r s h a p p e n e d not to think of as ' t o w n s ' although
their populations e x c e e d e d the notional 2,000 threshold that w a s sup
p o s e d to h a v e b e e n uniformly applied. L a w t h e n recalculated the
u r b a n p o p u l a t i o n in all t h e p r e - 1 9 1 4 c e n s u s e s u s i n g h i s o w n t h r e s h o l d
of a m i n i m u m p o p u l a t i o n o f 2 , 5 0 0 in a p a r i s h o r t o w n s h i p , w i t h a
m i n i m u m d e n s i t y o f o n e p e r s o n p e r a c r e , s h o w i n g for e x a m p l e t h a t o n
these definitions 54 per cent of the people of E n g l a n d and W a l e s w e r e
7
u r b a n in 1 8 5 1 , r a t h e r t h a n t h e 5 0 . 1 p e r c e n t s t a t e d in t h e c e n s u s i t s e l f .
T h e i m p o r t a n t p o i n t is n o t w h e t h e r t h e u r b a n p o p u l a t i o n w a s 5 0
p e r c e n t or 5 4 p e r c e n t o f t h e w h o l e in 1 8 5 1 , b u t t h a t t h e r e is n o
simple, straightforward, objective, a n d generally applicable definition
of a t o w n , a n d h e n c e t h e r e are n o c l e a r - c u t b o u n d a r i e s o f u r b a n
s o c i e t y . A r b i t r a r y d e c i s i o n s are i n e s c a p a b l e in a n y s y s t e m o f classifica
tion. L a w defended his choice of a population threshold of 2,500 partly
o n t h e g r o u n d s t h a t in p r a c t i c e it e x c l u d e d t h e s m a l l e r m a r k e t t o w n s
w h o s e activities w e r e c l o s e l y c o n n e c t e d w i t h t h e rural w a y o f life.
It is r e a s o n a b l e t o w a n t to e x c l u d e s m a l l e r m a r k e t t o w n s f r o m t h e
6
R. J. Olney, Rural Society and County Government in Nineteenth-Century Lincolnshire
(Lincoln, 1979), p. 141.
7
Law, 'Growth of Urban Population', pp. 125-43.

6 F . M. L . T H O M P S O N
u r b a n f a m i l y w h e n i n t e r e s t is c o n c e n t r a t e d o n t h e d i s t a n c e s e p a r a t i n g
a t o w n ' s e c o n o m y f r o m a g r i c u l t u r e . Y e t for o t h e r p u r p o s e s t h e e x c l u
s i o n m u s t s e e m a r b i t r a r y a n d s u b j e c t i v e , for a s t h e 1 8 5 1 c e n s u s R e p o r t
itself o b s e r v e d t h e i n t e r d e p e n d e n c e o f t o w n a n d c o u n t r y , o f a g r i c u l
ture a n d trade a n d industry, w a s in m a n y respects increasing rather
8
than diminishing with the growth of the urban e l e m e n t . T h e exclu
sion of places w h i c h w e r e almost w h o l l y d e v o t e d to servicing agricul
t u r e m i g h t r e s u l t , i n e x t r e m e c a s e s , i n refusal t o a c c e p t t h a t C h i c a g o
or W i n n i p e g , o r n e a r e r h o m e G r a n t h a m o r L u t o n , w e r e t o w n s at
all u n t i l t h e y c u t l o o s e f r o m d i r e c t l y a g r i c u l t u r a l l y d e p e n d e n t indus
tries a n d b u s i n e s s e s at a l a t e s t a g e i n t h e i r d e v e l o p m e n t . L a w c o n
cluded that b y 1841, 4 8 . 3 per cent of the population of E n g l a n d and
W a l e s w a s u r b a n . B y a d d i n g b a c k t h e s m a l l e r m a r k e t t o w n s to h i s
figure it m i g h t w e l l b e a r g u e d t h a t t h e h a l f - w a y m a r k i n u r b a n i s a t i o n
h a d a l r e a d y p a s s e d i n 1 8 4 1 . S u c h a n a d j u s t m e n t is u n i m p o r t a n t e x c e p t
as a n i n d i c a t i o n t h a t t h e e c o n o m i c r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n t o w n and
c o u n t r y r a n g e d all t h e w a y f r o m c o m p l e t e d e p e n d e n c e o n t h e f a r m i n g
of t h e i m m e d i a t e r e g i o n t o c o m p l e t e i s o l a t i o n f r o m t h e i m m e d i a t e
region and dependence on the operations of international markets,
a n d t h a t p e r h a p s t h e o n l y e c o n o m i c c h a r a c t e r i s t i c w h i c h all t o w n s
h a d in c o m m o n w a s that a majority of their economically active p o p u
l a t i o n w a s n o t e n g a g e d i n tilling t h e fields.
T h e spatial r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n t o w n a n d c o u n t r y , o r m o r e a c c u
rately the spatial configuration of t o w n s , adds a further complication
t o t h e d e l i n e a t i o n o f u r b a n a n d rural p o p u l a t i o n s . I n t h e m i d - n i n e
teenth century the administratively urban areas, particularly of the
largest a n d m o s t rapidly growing t o w n s , understated the size of urban
populations b e c a u s e suburbs a n d satellites lay b e y o n d city limits,
far m o r e t h a n t h e y o v e r s t a t e d t h e s i z e b e c a u s e t h e y e m b r a c e d t h i n l y
p o p u l a t e d rural f r i n g e s . B y t h e e n d o f t h e c e n t u r y t h e b o o t w a s o n
t h e o t h e r foot, after h a l f a c e n t u r y o f m u n i c i p a l i m p e r i a l i s m h a d s u c
c e e d e d in a n n e x i n g considerable rural territories t h r o u g h boundary
e x t e n s i o n s i n t e n d e d t o s a f e g u a r d l i n e s o f future e x p a n s i o n a n d a p p r o
p r i a t e t h e i r r a t e a b l e v a l u e s for t h e m o t h e r - c i t y . T h e statistical effect
w a s m o r e to exaggerate the physical area occupied b y t o w n s than
to inflate t h e i r t o t a l p o p u l a t i o n s , s i n c e t h e s e o p e n s p a c e s a n d f a r m l a n d
fringes r e m a i n e d l i g h t l y p e o p l e d , b u t t h e p o p u l a t i o n effect w a s n o t
n e g l i g i b l e . It w a s n o t u n t i l 1 9 5 1 t h a t t h e c e n s u s t r i e d t o t a c k l e t h i s
8
1851 Census of Great Britain, I, Report, p. lxxxiv.

Town and city 7
p r o b l e m . T h e R e p o r t t h e n a c k n o w l e d g e d t h a t ' f o r s o m e t i m e it h a s
b e e n felt t h a t t h e c u s t o m a r y a n a l y s i s o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n b y t y p e s o f
Administrative Area m a y not give an accurate picture of urban develop
m e n t ' , b e c a u s e t h e a r e a o f b o r o u g h a n d u r b a n district c o u n c i l s o f t e n
c o n t a i n e d ' t r a c t s o f l a n d t h a t c a n n o t fairly b e c a l l e d u r b a n i n c h a r a c t e r '
w h i l e r u r a l district c o u n c i l s c o n t a i n e d s o m e l a n d t h a t o u g h t t o b e
c a l l e d u r b a n . T h e 1 9 5 1 d a t a w e r e , t h e r e f o r e , a n a l y s e d o n n e w defini
tions w h i c h classified every w h o l e w a r d or parish as either 'built-up
l a n d ' if it h a d a p o p u l a t i o n d e n s i t y o f m o r e t h a n t e n p e o p l e t o t h e
acre, or rural land. T h e result s h o w e d that m o r e t h a n 12 per cent
of the p e o p l e living in u r b a n administrative areas s h o u l d m o r e pro
p e r l y b e t e r m e d rural, w h i l e 7 p e r c e n t o f t h o s e i n r u r a l a d m i n i s t r a t i v e
a r e a s w e r e i n fact u r b a n i s e d . T h e m o s t d r a m a t i c d i s t o r t i o n s i n t h e
conventional measures which were revealed were that well over one
third of t h e ' t r u e ' rural population w e r e to b e f o u n d in u r b a n adminis
t r a t i v e districts; t h a t W a l e s t a k e n o n its o w n w a s e v e n l y b a l a n c e d ,
h a l f u r b a n a n d h a l f rural, r a t h e r t h a n b e i n g 7 0 p e r c e n t u r b a n ; and
that n o m o r e than 72 per cent of the population of E n g l a n d and W a l e s
w e r e urbanised, against the 81 per cent of the conventional calcula
9
tion. T h e r e is n o w a y o f p r o j e c t i n g t h e s e c o r r e c t i o n s b a c k w a r d s
t o p r e - 1 9 5 1 c e n s u s e s w i t h a n y d e g r e e o f reliability; b u t t h e fact t h a t
the 1951 urban proportion, 72 per cent, h a d already b e e n surpassed
i n 1 8 9 1 i n b o t h t h e official c o n t e m p o r a r y c e n s u s c l a s s i f i c a t i o n a n d
i n L a w ' s r e v i s e d e s t i m a t e s , m u s t g i v e p a u s e for t h o u g h t a b o u t t h e
scale, timing, and pace of the w h o l e process of urban growth.
A l l t h i s a m o u n t s t o s a y i n g t h a t all m e a s u r e s o f t o w n s a n d o f t h e i r
p l a c e i n t h e n a t i o n w h i c h r e l y u p o n criteria o f p o p u l a t i o n s i z e , p o p u l a
tion density, a n d administrative treatment are inherently uncertain
a n d i m p r e c i s e at t h e m a r g i n b e t w e e n t o w n a n d c o u n t r y . Y e t t h e r e
a r e n o o t h e r criteria w h i c h offer at l e a s t t h i s d e g r e e o f a p p r o x i m a t e
precision a n d this possibility of reasonably comparable m e a s u r e m e n t s
o v e r a l o n g p e r i o d o f t i m e . If t h i s is t r u e o f t h e p e r i o d s i n c e 1 8 0 1 ,
with the decennial censuses supplying increasingly reliable and
sophisticated figures, it is e v e n m o r e t r u e o f t h e p r e - c e n s u s a g e . A
goodly n u m b e r of local h e a d c o u n t s , h o w e v e r , w e r e m a d e in the
course of the eighteenth century, either b y t o w n g o v e r n m e n t s or by
private individuals curious about the population a n d resources of their
locality. T h e historian of eighteenth-century t o w n s , P. J . Corfield,
9
1951 Census of England and Wales, General Report (1958), pp. 60, 83, and General
Tables (1956), Table 3.

T a b l e 1.1 Percentage of the population of England and Wales living in

towns, 1700-1951
Towns 2,500- Towns 10,000- Towns over All

10,000 100,000 100,000 towns
1700 5 2 11 18
1750 6 6 11 23
1801 10 13 11 34
1851 10 19 25 54
1901 9 25 44 78
1951 1 16 55 72
[1951 54 81]
Sources: 1700: Corfield, Impact of Towns, Table II; 1750: ibid.; 1801: Law,
'Growth of Urban Population', Table XI; 1851: ibid.; 1901: ibid.; 1951: 1951
census, new definitions; [1951]: 1951 census, old definitions.
has e x a m i n e d m o r e than 125 such listings, a n d from their evidence

a n d t h e n o n q u a n t i t a t i v e e v i d e n c e o f t o p o g r a p h i c a l a n d literary s o u r c e s
has provided informed estimates of eighteenth-century urban popula
tion. A b s e n c e of evidence prevents her estimates from incorporating
t h e fine a d j u s t m e n t s o f t h e c e n s u s - b a s e d c a l c u l a t i o n s , a n d in p a r t i c u l a r
t h e difficulty o f i d e n t i f y i n g a n d q u a n t i f y i n g t h e s m a l l e r a n d m o r e
obscure places a m o n g the 500 market centres of 1700 which might
have passed the 2,500 population threshold she adopts, may have
l e d t o s o m e u n d e r c o u n t i n g , b u t t h e y p r o v i d e a firm f o u n d a t i o n for
10
depicting the broad outlines of long-run urban g r o w t h .
T h e s e o u t l i n e s are s u m m a r i s e d in T a b l e 1 . 1 , a n d b o t h t h e i m m e n s e
impact of urban growth and the long-drawn-out nature of the transfor
m a t i o n o f a p r e d o m i n a n t l y rural s o c i e t y i n t o a p r e d o m i n a n t l y u r b a n
s o c i e t y are r e a d i l y a p p a r e n t . T h e full p o w e r o f t h e u r b a n i s i n g i m p u l s e
c a n b e b e t t e r a p p r e c i a t e d if g r o w t h r a t e s are c o n s i d e r e d a l o n g s i d e
t h e static p r o p o r t i o n s o f T a b l e 1 . 1 . I n e a c h fifty-year p e r i o d u n t i l 1 9 0 1
t h e u r b a n p o p u l a t i o n i n c r e a s e d at m o r e t h a n t w i c e t h e r a t e o f t h e
p o p u l a t i o n as a w h o l e , w i t h e s p e c i a l l y s t r o n g s p u r t s in t h e first h a l f
of t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y a n d t h e first h a l f o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y .
T h e scale o f u r b a n e x p a n s i o n b e t w e e n 1 7 0 0 a n d 1 7 5 0 w a s , o f c o u r s e ,
t i n y b y later s t a n d a r d s : t h e u r b a n p o p u l a t i o n i n c r e a s e d f r o m 9 7 0 , 0 0 0
to 1 , 3 8 0 , 9 0 0 w h i l e in 1 9 0 1 it n u m b e r e d 2 5 . 3 m i l l i o n , a n d in 1 9 5 1
b e t w e e n 3 1 . 5 a n d 3 5 . 3 m i l l i o n a c c o r d i n g t o w h i c h definition is u s e d .
10
P. J. Corfield, The Impact of English Towns, 1700-1800 (Oxford, 1982), Tables I and
II, pp. 6-9. See also C. W. Chalklin, The Provincial Towns of Georgian England (1974),
pp. 3-54.

Town and city 9
B u t it t o o k p l a c e i n a p e r i o d o f o n l y m o d e s t i n c r e a s e in t h e p o p u l a t i o n
a s a w h o l e , r o u g h l y f r o m 5 m i l l i o n to 6 m i l l i o n , b e i n g q u i t e l a r g e l y
s u s t a i n e d b y i m m i g r a t i o n f r o m t h e c o u n t r y districts; a n d it h a p p e n e d
b e f o r e a n y o f t h e g r e a t t e c h n i c a l a n d o r g a n i s a t i o n a l c h a n g e s in m a n u
f a c t u r i n g i n d u s t r y , a l t h o u g h t h e r e w e r e i m p o r t a n t d e v e l o p m e n t s in
t r a d e a n d f i n a n c e , a n d to s o m e e x t e n t in i n l a n d t r a n s p o r t , in t h e first
h a l f o f t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y . T h i s is n o t to s u g g e s t t h a t t h e r e w e r e
n o e c o n o m i c c a u s e s a n d effects o f t h e e x p a n s i o n o f t o w n s . B u t it d o e s
s h o w both the importance of 'pre-industrial urbanism', which had
b e e n gathering pace from the later s e v e n t e e n t h century, a n d the clear
c o n c e p t u a l as w e l l as c h r o n o l o g i c a l d i s t i n c t i o n b e t w e e n u r b a n i s a t i o n
11
and industrialisation.
T h a t d i s t i n c t i o n i n e v i t a b l y b e c o m e s b l u r r e d after 1 7 5 0 , s i n c e t h e
g r o w t h of industry a n d the growth of the urban population so clearly
c o i n c i d e d , a n d s i n c e s o m a n y o f t h e r i s i n g g i a n t s a m o n g cities - G l a s
g o w , B i r m i n g h a m , M a n c h e s t e r , L e e d s a n d S h e f f i e l d , for e x a m p l e -
were closely associated with manufacturing. E v e n though the most
rapidly growing t o w n s included ports and resorts which h a d compara
tively m i n o r i n d u s t r i a l s e c t o r s , if a n y - L i v e r p o o l , B r i s t o l , N e w c a s t l e ,
H u l l , B a t h , or B r i g h t o n - it c a n b e a r g u e d t h a t t h e y o w e d t h e i r liveli
h o o d s to i n d u s t r i a l w e a l t h a n d to t h e c o m m e r c e g e n e r a t e d b y i n d u s t r y .
W h i l e L o n d o n , far a n d a w a y t h e l a r g e s t t o w n o f all, w a s a l s o far
a n d a w a y t h e l a r g e s t m a n u f a c t u r i n g t o w n in t h e c o u n t r y , a l t h o u g h
n o t t h e s e a t o f l a r g e - s c a l e or h e a v y i n d u s t r y . N e v e r t h e l e s s , t h e oscilla
t i o n s in t h e i n t e n s i t y o f u r b a n g r o w t h o v e r l o n g p e r i o d s s u g g e s t t h a t
if it w a s n o t a u t o n o m o u s , t h e n it w a s d e p e n d e n t o n i n d u s t r i a l d e v e l o p
m e n t , a n d e c o n o m i c g r o w t h m o r e g e n e r a l l y , o n l y in i n d i r e c t a n d c o m
plicated w a y s . T h u s , the early years of the industrial revolution a n d
t h e significant i n c r e a s e in t h e r a t e o f e c o n o m i c g r o w t h in t h e s e c o n d
half of the eighteenth century rather surprisingly p r o d u c e d a decele
r a t i o n in u r b a n e x p a n s i o n : total u r b a n p o p u l a t i o n i n d e e d doubled
b e t w e e n 1750 a n d 1 8 0 1 , but while this w a s twice the rate of growth
of t h e p o p u l a t i o n as a w h o l e , in t h e p r e v i o u s h a l f - c e n t u r y t o w n s h a d
g r o w n t w o a n d a h a l f t i m e s as fast as t h e w h o l e p o p u l a t i o n . B e t w e e n
1 8 0 1 a n d 1 8 5 1 , w h i c h m a y b e p i c t u r e d as t h e h a l f - c e n t u r y in w h i c h
the k e y industries of early industrialisation, cotton, iron, and coal,
c o n s o l i d a t e d t h e i r p o s i t i o n in t h e e c o n o m y , u r b a n g r o w t h a g a i n accel
e r a t e d t o t w o a n d a h a l f t i m e s t h e p a c e o f t h e i n c r e a s e in p o p u l a t i o n
11
Corfield, Impact of Towns, pp. 7-15; Chalklin, Provincial Towns, pp. 17-20.

10 F . M. L . T H O M P S O N
as a w h o l e . T h i s familiar p i c t u r e o f t h e m o s t r a p i d u r b a n g r o w t h g o i n g
h a n d in h a n d with the most rapid industrial expansion did not, h o w
e v e r , p e r s i s t i n t o t h e s e c o n d h a l f o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y . It is n o w
fashionable to see the seeds of industrial decline germinating in this
h a l f c e n t u r y , a n d it is t r u e t h a t i n t e r m s o f i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o m p a r i s o n s
B r i t a i n w a s l o s i n g its p o s i t i o n a s l e a d i n g i n d u s t r i a l n a t i o n b y t h e last
q u a r t e r o f t h e c e n t u r y . Still, t h e y e a r s b e t w e e n 1 8 5 1 a n d 1 9 0 1 w e r e
the years w h e n industrialisation really took hold, the years w h e n
steam p o w e r and m a c h i n e m e t h o d s b r o a d e n e d out from their pre
viously narrow base and took over the whole general range of manu
f a c t u r e s , t h e y e a r s w h e n t h e r a i l w a y s p r o d u c e d t h e i r full i m p a c t o n
the e c o n o m y , a n d the years in w h i c h total industrial production
i n c r e a s e d m o r e t h a n i n a n y o t h e r fifty-year p e r i o d i n t h e last t w o
1 2
and a half centuries. Urban expansion of course remained vigorous;
b u t it fell b a c k t o n o m o r e t h a n d o u b l e t h e r a t e o f g e n e r a l p o p u l a t i o n
g r o w t h , t h u s l e a v i n g t h e first h a l f o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y a s t h e
period of t h e m o s t i n t e n s e relative growth of t o w n populations in
B r i t i s h h i s t o r y , e v e n t h o u g h it w a s t h e s e c o n d h a l f o f t h e c e n t u r y
w h i c h s a w b y far t h e g r e a t e s t a d d i t i o n t o t h e a b s o l u t e n u m b e r s o f
towndwellers ever experienced.
T h e different, a n d at t i m e s c o n t r a s t i n g , d i m e n s i o n s o f t h e s c a l e ,
a n d o f t h e p r o c e s s , o f u r b a n i s a t i o n a r e q u a n t i f i e d i n T a b l e 1.2. P e r h a p s
t h e m o s t s t r i k i n g f e a t u r e is t h e g r e a t c h a n g e w h i c h h a s c o m e o v e r
t h e s c e n e s i n c e t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y . It c e r t a i n l y
c a n n o t b e a r g u e d t h a t t h e first h a l f o f t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y w a s a
p e r i o d o f s p e c t a c u l a r , let a l o n e u n i n t e r r u p t e d , e c o n o m i c g r o w t h , w i t h
the disruption of two world wars and the troubles of the interwar
economy. Nonetheless, the years between 1901 and 1951 saw the
arrival o f m o t o r v e h i c l e s , t h e s p r e a d o f e l e c t r i c i t y , a n d t h e d e v e l o p
m e n t o f m a n y n e w i n d u s t r i e s , a n d it w a s m a i n l y b e c a u s e o f t h e s e
t h a t t o t a l i n d u s t r i a l p r o d u c t i o n i n fact i n c r e a s e d n e a r l y a s m u c h i n
t h e s e fifty y e a r s a s it h a d d o n e b e t w e e n 1 8 5 1 a n d 1 9 0 1 . U r b a n i s a t i o n ,
h o w e v e r , s h o w e d n o r e s p o n s e t o t h i s i n d u s t r i a l g r o w t h . O n a n y defi
nition of 'urban' the process of urban growth slowed to a snail's pace
after 1 9 0 1 ; o n t h e n e w , m o r e s o p h i s t i c a t e d , d e f i n i t i o n s p r o d u c e d i n
t h e 1 9 5 1 c e n s u s it e v e n s e e m e d t h a t a r e v e r s e f l o w h a d d e v e l o p e d ,
12
Industrial production and broad rates of increase in it, taken from P. Deane and
W. A. Cole, British Economic Growth 1688-1959, 2nd edn (Cambridge, 1967), Table
37, p. 166, and C. H. Feinstein, Statistical Tables of National Income, Expenditure, and
Output of the U.K. 1855-1965 (Cambridge, 1976), Table 51, T l l l - 1 3 .

Town and city 11
T a b l e 1.2 Relative and absolute growth of the urban population of England

and Wales, 1700-1951
Increase in urban
Total urban Increase in urban population as
population population multiple of total
(000s) (000s) population increase
1700 970
1700-50 — 411 2.47
1750 1,381 — —
1750-1801 — 1,344 2.15
1801 3,009 — —
1801-51 — 6,679 2.52
1851 9,688 — —
1851-1901 — 15,684 2.0
1901 25,372 — —
1901-51 — 10,277 1.14
1951 35,336 — —
1901-51 — 6,147 0.71
1951 31,519 — —
Sources: 1700-50: Corneld, Impact of Towns, Table I; 1750-1801: ibid.; 1801-51:
Law, 'Growth of Urban Population', Table XI; 1851-1901: ibid.; 1901-51: 1951
census, old definitions (first set of figures); 1901-51: 1951 census, new defini
tions (second set of figures).
p o s s i b l y f r o m as e a r l y as t h e 1 9 2 0 s , w i t h rural p o p u l a t i o n i n c r e a s i n g
slightly faster t h a n t h e u r b a n for t h e first t i m e s i n c e t h e s e v e n t e e n t h
century.
A l a r g e p a r t o f t h i s t w e n t i e t h - c e n t u r y h a l t in u r b a n g r o w t h w a s
s i m p l y t h e n e c e s s a r y d e m o g r a p h i c effect o f t h e p r e v i o u s u r b a n e x p a n
sion. O n c e the urban population h a d b e c o m e the decisively predomi
n a n t part o f total p o p u l a t i o n , t h e n t h e m a j o r part o f a n y further
i n c r e a s e s in total p o p u l a t i o n w a s b o u n d t o b e g e n e r a t e d b y t h e u r b a n
p o p u l a t i o n itself, s o t h a t t h e g r o w t h r a t e s o f t h e t w o w e r e likely t o
c o n v e r g e . T h i s is b r o a d l y w h a t h a s h a p p e n e d s i n c e 1 9 0 1 . T h e t w e n
tieth-century demonstration that urbanisation has reached saturation
p o i n t w h e n s o m e w h e r e b e t w e e n t h r e e - q u a r t e r s a n d four-fifths o f t h e
p o p u l a t i o n live in t o w n s n e v e r t h e l e s s r e m a i n s i m p o r t a n t . T h e y e a r
1901 m a r k e d the e n d of a process of urban expansion which h a d started
in t h e s e v e n t e e n t h c e n t u r y , a n d t h e a p p e a r a n c e o f a m a t u r e , fully
u r b a n i s e d s o c i e t y . It w o u l d b e g r o s s l y m i s l e a d i n g , h o w e v e r , t o l e a v e
any impression that the mature urban society of the twentieth century
h a s b e e n in a n y w a y static. F o r o n e t h i n g t h e u r b a n p o p u l a t i o n h a s
c o n t i n u e d t o i n c r e a s e , a n d b e t w e e n 1 9 0 1 a n d 1 9 5 1 at l e a s t 6 m i l l i o n

12 F. M. L . T H O M P S O N
p e o p l e w e r e a d d e d t o t h e t o w n s . B u t a b o v e all i n t e r n a l shifts w i t h i n
t h e u r b a n s t r u c t u r e a n d b e t w e e n different l e v e l s o f t h e h i e r a r c h y o f
towns, w h i c h h a d b e e n h a p p e n i n g throughout the centuries of urban
g r o w t h , c o n t i n u e d a n d w e r e i n t e n s i f i e d in t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y .
T h e rise o f t h e l a r g e t o w n s w i t h p o p u l a t i o n s o v e r 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 c a n b e
s e e n in T a b l e 1 . 1 . T h r o u g h o u t t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y L o n d o n w a s
t h e s o l e t o w n o f t h i s s i z e , a n d w i t h its p o p u l a t i o n r i s i n g f r o m j u s t
o v e r h a l f a m i l l i o n t o j u s t u n d e r o n e m i l l i o n in t h e c o u r s e o f t h e c e n t u r y
it w a s i n a c l a s s o f its o w n , as it h a s r e m a i n e d . B y t h e 1 8 2 0 s L o n d o n
h a d b e e n j o i n e d in t h e 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 - t o w n l e a g u e b y L i v e r p o o l , M a n c h e s t e r ,
a n d B i r m i n g h a m . B y 1 8 5 1 f o u r m o r e t o w n s B r a d f o r d , Bristol, L e e d s ,
a n d Sheffield h a d p a s s e d t h i s m a r k ; i n 1 9 0 1 t h e r e w e r e t w e n t y - e i g h t
t o w n s , o u t s i d e L o n d o n , w i t h m o r e t h a n 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 p e o p l e , a n d forty
six in 1 9 5 1 ( o n e , Halifax, e n t e r e d t h e l e a g u e briefly in 1 9 0 1 a n d 1 9 1 1 ,
a n d t h e n fell b a c k b e l o w t h e t h r e s h o l d ) . O u t s i d e L o n d o n , a q u a r t e r
of t h e u r b a n p o p u l a t i o n l i v e d in t h e s e t o w n s in 1 8 5 1 , two-fifths in
1 9 0 1 , a n d m o r e t h a n t w o - t h i r d s in 1 9 5 1 . T o p u t it in a n o t h e r w a y ,
if t h e ' t y p i c a l ' t o w n is p i c t u r e d as t h e k i n d o f p l a c e i n w h i c h m o r e
t h a n half o f t h e u r b a n p o p u l a t i o n l i v e s , t h e n l e a v i n g L o n d o n a s i d e
again, for m o s t o f t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y t h i s w a s a t o w n w i t h l e s s
than 10,000 inhabitants; b y the beginning of the nineteenth century
this h a d b e c o m e a t o w n w i t h u n d e r 2 0 , 0 0 0 p e o p l e , a n d b y m i d - c e n t u r y
one with under 50,000. B y 1901 m o r e than half the urban population
outside L o n d o n lived in t o w n s with m o r e than 50,000 people, but
it w a s o n l y after 1 9 3 1 t h a t t h e l a r g e t o w n s w i t h m o r e t h a n 1 0 0 , 0 0 0
i n h a b i t a n t s b e c a m e t y p i c a l i n t h i s s e n s e . M o r e o v e r , it w a s t h e t w e n
tieth c e n t u r y w h i c h c o i n e d t h e t e r m ' c o n u r b a t i o n ' to d e s c r i b e t h e
super-large u r b a n concentrations that are agglomerations of o n c e -
s e p a r a t e t o w n s , a n d for a b r i e f spell b e t w e e n 1 9 7 4 a n d 1 9 8 6 g a v e
t h e c o n c e p t a d m i n i s t r a t i v e e x p r e s s i o n in t h e six M e t r o p o l i t a n C o u n t i e s
of G r e a t e r L o n d o n , s o u t h - e a s t L a n c a s h i r e , t h e W e s t M i d l a n d s , W e s t
Yorkshire, M e r s e y s i d e , and T y n e s i d e . T h e conurbation of Greater
L o n d o n , as a p r a c t i c a l l y c o n t i n u o u s b u i l t - u p a r e a m u c h l a r g e r t h a n
the administrative areas of the Cities of L o n d o n a n d W e s t m i n s t e r ,
h a d e x i s t e d as a p h y s i c a l , e c o n o m i c a n d social fact at l e a s t s i n c e t h e
sixteenth century, and had b e e n recognised by the census from the
start, l o n g b e f o r e t h e i n n e r c o r e o f g r e a t e r L o n d o n w a s officially d e l i n
e a t e d b y t h e M e t r o p o l i t a n B o a r d o f W o r k s in 1 8 5 6 a n d t h e L o n d o n
C o u n t y C o u n c i l in 1 8 8 8 . T h e p r o v i n c i a l c o n u r b a t i o n s w e r e t a k i n g
s h a p e in t h e last q u a r t e r o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , a l t h o u g h s o m e

Town and city 13
w e l l - k n o w n e x a m p l e s o f p h y s i c a l u n i o n d e s p i t e civic s e p a r a t i o n , s u c h
as M a n c h e s t e r a n d Salford or N e w c a s t l e a n d G a t e s h e a d , h a d occurred
earlier. T h e terminology to describe t h e m w a s n o doubt invented, b y
Patrick G e d d e s in 1 9 1 5 , b e c a u s e t h e p h e n o m e n o n already existed on
t h e g r o u n d . B u t it w a s t h e i n t e r w a r d e v e l o p m e n t s o f h o u s i n g e s t a t e s
a n d b u s r o u t e s w h i c h finally k n i t t e d t h e s e c o n u r b a t i o n s t o g e t h e r as
p h y s i c a l e n t i t i e s , a n d t h e c e n s u s a u t h o r i t i e s w e r e n o t m o v i n g far
b e h i n d t h e t i m e s w h e n t h e y first r e c o g n i s e d t h e s i x c o n u r b a t i o n s a s
distinctive areas in 1951; 4 0 p e r cent o f the total population a n d nearly
50 per cent of t h e u r b a n population w e r e t h e n living in t h e m , a n d
37 per cent of the n o n - L o n d o n urban population. Arguably, the rep
resentative t o w n s m a n h a d b e c o m e a resident in a million-strong
s p r a w l ( t h o u g h o n e o f t h e six c o n u r b a t i o n s , T y n e s i d e , r e m a i n e d j u s t
1 3
b e l o w the million m a r k ) .
This survey of a few of t h e m o r e p r o m i n e n t features in the history
of u r b a n p o p u l a t i o n a n d t o w n s i z e s s i n c e t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y is
m o s t n o t a b l e for t h e u n c e r t a i n a n d e v e n c o n t r a d i c t o r y n a t u r e o f t h e
p o i n t e r s it p r o v i d e s for t h e a r r a n g e m e n t a n d p e r i o d i s a t i o n o f a n y treat
m e n t o f t h e u r b a n p r o c e s s . F r o m a d i s t a n c e 1 8 5 1 s t a n d s o u t as t h e
great landmark, t h e w a t e r s h e d b e t w e e n p r e d o m i n a n t l y rural p r e -
m o d e r n Britain a n d predominantly urban m o d e r n Britain; but on a
c l o s e r a p p r o a c h its s i g n i f i c a n c e d i s s o l v e s a s d o u b t s o v e r t h e m e a n i n g
of ' u r b a n ' r e d u c e it t o a m e r e statistical a b s t r a c t i o n . If w e f o l l o w W a l l e r
in agreeing that a 'proper' town, of a size, appearance, and presence
t o m a r k it off c l e a r l y f r o m b e i n g a v i l l a g e , w a s a p l a c e w i t h o v e r 1 0 , 0 0 0
1 4
people, t h e n this l a n d m a r k s h o u l d b e m o v e d forwards to 1 8 7 1 . This
is a t e n a b l e p o s i t i o n ; b u t s c a r c e l y m o r e t e n a b l e t h a n a p r o p o s i t i o n
that the essential difference b e t w e e n p r e - m o d e r n a n d modern, in
13
It is interesting to note that Scotland showed a greater degree of urbanisation,
and of concentration in a single town, than England and Wales, but a less pro
nounced general development of large towns, apart from Edinburgh and Glasgow,
there being only a further two with more than 100,000 people: Aberdeen (from
1881) and Dundee (from 1871).
Increase in urban Pop. of towns

Urban pop. as pop. as multiple Pop. of Glasgow over 100,000
percentage of of total pop. as percentage of as percentage of
total pop. increase total pop. total pop.
1801 30 _ 4.7 0
1851 52 2.65 12.5 19.5
1901 74 2.2 20.1 36.0
1951 83 1.93 21.3 37.6
14
Waller, Town, City and Nation, p. 6.

14 F . M. L. T H O M P S O N
u r b a n t e r m s , lies n o t in t h e p r e s e n c e o f u n d i f f e r e n t i a t e d t o w n s b u t
in t h e p r e s e n c e o f ' l a r g e ' t o w n s . ' L a r g e ' t o w n s , in t u r n , m a y b e d e f i n e d
as t h o s e w i t h m o r e t h a n 5 0 , 0 0 0 p e o p l e , in w h i c h c a s e t h e l a n d m a r k
shifts t o 1 9 0 1 ; or t h o s e w i t h o v e r 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 w h e n it b e c o m e s 1 9 3 1 . A g a i n ,
a qualitative r a t h e r t h a n q u a n t i t a t i v e j u d g m e n t c o u l d s e l e c t 1 8 1 1 as
o n e t u r n i n g p o i n t , w h e n t h e first t o w n s o u t s i d e L o n d o n p a s s e d t h e
1 0 0 , 0 0 0 t h r e s h o l d ( L i v e r p o o l , E d i n b u r g h a n d G l a s g o w , in size o r d e r ) ,
a n d 1 9 1 1 as a s e c o n d , w h e n G l a s g o w b e c a m e t h e first city o u t s i d e
L o n d o n t o e x c e e d t h e 1 m i l l i o n m a r k , t o b e f o l l o w e d in 1 9 3 1 b y B i r m
i n g h a m . I n t h e i r w a y t h e s e are all useful m i l e s t o n e s , m a r k i n g signifi
cant and interesting points along the path of urbanisation, and others
c a n b e r e a d i l y d e v i s e d to r e c o r d k e y c h a n g e s in u r b a n p e r c e p t i o n s ,
e n v i r o n m e n t s , o r i n s t i t u t i o n s . T h e t r u t h is, h o w e v e r , t h a t t h e c o n c e p t
of u r b a n s o c i e t y as a h o m o g e n e o u s a n d a u t o n o m o u s s e c t o r o f s o c i e t y
is t o o m u c h o f a n a b s t r a c t i o n for it to b e s e n s i b l e to a t t e m p t to c o n s t r u c t
a n u r b a n c h r o n o l o g i c a l f r a m e w o r k w h i c h is i n d e p e n d e n t o f t h e c o n
v e n t i o n a l p e r i o d i s a t i o n e m p l o y e d in d i s c u s s i n g t h e b r o a d e r c o n t e x t
of e c o n o m i c , political, t e c h n o l o g i c a l , a n d d e m o g r a p h i c c h a n g e s a n d
developments within which urban society was shaped. W h i c h m e a n s
in p r a c t i c e t h a t t h e t w o c e n t u r i e s after 1 7 5 0 are m o s t c o n v e n i e n t l y
sliced at 1 8 1 5 a n d 1 9 1 4 , e v e n if t h i s m a k e s t h e h i s t o r i a n ' s k n i f e c u t
through many important urban threads.
II
I n t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y a n y o n e w h o s a i d ' t o w n ' w a s likely t o m e a n

L o n d o n . L o n d o n w a s unique in Britain, well over ten times larger
t h a n t h e s e c o n d city ( N o r w i c h in 1 7 0 0 , Bristol b y 1 7 5 0 ) , a n d w i t h o u t
e q u a l in E u r o p e . T h e t r a p p i n g s o f b i g city life, t h e g r a n d e u r a n d t h e
s q u a l o r , t h e w e a l t h a n d t h e m i s e r y , t h e e l e g a n c e a n d t h e filth, t h e
p e r p e t u a l b u s t l i n g activity, t h e p o w e r , t h e p l e a s u r e , a n d t h e p a i n ,
w e r e to b e f o u n d in L o n d o n a l o n e . T o b e s u r e , N o r w i c h h a d w e a l t h ,
B r i s t o l h a d b u s t l e , a n d B a t h h a d g r a c e ; b u t in c o m p a r i s o n w i t h L o n d o n
a n y w h e r e e l s e s e e m e d s m a l l , s l e e p y , a n d o f little a c c o u n t . E c h o e s
o f L o n d o n ' s d o m i n a n c e o f t h e l a n g u a g e o f t o w n s c a n o f c o u r s e still
b e h e a r d . T h e ' t o w n ' in t h e d i s t i n c t i o n b e t w e e n t o w n a n d c o u n t r y
m e m b e r s h i p , subscriptions, or clothes, of m a n y clubs, associations,
o r f a s h i o n g u i d e s refers o n l y to L o n d o n . ' G o i n g u p to t o w n ' is a
p h r a s e u n d e r s t o o d n o t m e r e l y in t h e s o u t h - e a s t b u t t h r o u g h o u t e d u
c a t e d E n g l a n d , for g o i n g to L o n d o n , a n d u n t i l t h e 1 9 6 0 s at r a i l w a y
stations 'up' platforms and 'down' platforms were universally

Town and city 15
intelligible as s e r v i n g t r a i n s g o i n g t o , a n d c o m i n g f r o m , L o n d o n . It
w a s this equation of ' t o w n ' with L o n d o n w h i c h gave eighteenth-
c e n t u r y v i e w s o n t h e m e r i t s a n d d e m e r i t s o f u r b a n life m o s t o f t h e i r
s h a r p flavour, for it w a s t h e v i r t u e s a n d v i c e s o f L o n d o n in p a r t i c u l a r
w h i c h w e r e at i s s u e .
T h e debate o n the threat to morality a n d public order p o s e d b y
t h e g i a n t city w a s a l r e a d y o l d w h e n t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y s t a r t e d .
A r g u m e n t s w e r e r e i t e r a t e d r a t h e r t h a n r e f i n e d or d e v e l o p e d ; t h e s i n k
of i n i q u i t y , t h e b o t t o m l e s s pit o f c o r r u p t i o n , t h e u n r u l y m a s s o f u n g o v
ernable people, remained opposed by the counter-images of the bas
tion of civilisation against barbarism, the cradle of e n l i g h t e n m e n t ,
refinement, and taste, and the heart and brain of the w h o l e k i n g d o m ,
in t h e d a y s o f C o b b e t t a n d W o r d s w o r t h - w h o d e n o u n c e d t h e ' i n f e r n a l
w e n ' a n d t h e ' d i s s o l u t e c i t y ' - at t h e e n d o f t h e c e n t u r y , j u s t as t h e y
h a d b e e n a h u n d r e d years earlier. T h e eighteenth century adds t w o
n a m e s to those w h o h a v e s h o w n appreciation of L o n d o n ' s c h a r m s
in m e m o r a b l e p h r a s e s , A l e x a n d e r P o p e a n d S a m u e l J o h n s o n ; b u t it
1 5
did not add a n y n e w i d e a s . Contemporaries were understandably
fascinated, e v e n m e s m e r i s e d , b y the e n o r m o u s size a n d complexity
of L o n d o n a n d its a p p a r e n t p o w e r to d i r e c t a n d c o n t r o l t h e life o f
the entire nation, not only through the instruments of government,
but t h r o u g h the c h a n n e l s of trade, credit, i n v e s t m e n t , opinion, fashion
a n d t a s t e . It w a s n o t u n t i l t h e 1 8 3 0 s a n d 1 8 4 0 s t h a t p e r c e p t i o n s o f
t o w n life c e a s e d t o b e m o n o p o l i s e d b y L o n d o n a s s o l e e x e m p l a r , a n d
w e r e generalised to register feelings about large t o w n s in general.
A l t h o u g h t h e t o w n - c o u n t r y d e b a t e c o n t i n u e d in e d u c a t e d o p i n i o n
a n d in l i t e r a t u r e , a n d i n d e e d w a s s h a r p e n e d u n d e r t h e i n f l u e n c e o f
Ruskin and William Morris, the 'country party' increasingly focussed
t h e i i p o l e m i c o n t h e u g l i n e s s , filth, a n d s q u a l o r o f t h e g r e a t i n d u s t r i a l
16
cities w h i c h h o u s e d t h e s m o k e s t a c k i n d u s t r i e s . W h a t w a s left f r o m
the earlier tradition w a s a feeling of e n v y a n d r e s e n t m e n t of L o n d o n ' s
d o m i n a n c e , o f political p o w e r , o f w e a l t h , o f i n t e l l e c t u a l a n d c u l t u r a l
life, a f e e l i n g s h a r e d b y a n d p e r h a p s n u r t u r e d i n t h e g r e a t p r o v i n c i a l
cities. T h e t o w n - c o u n t r y d i c h o t o m y h a d b e c o m e overlayed b y the
c a p i t a l - p r o v i n c e s split, a n d f r o m t h e 1 8 7 0 s t h e m a j o r i t y o f t h e p r o v i n
cial p o p u l a t i o n w a s itself u r b a n .
15
Alexander Pope: 'this dear, damn'd distracting town' ('Farewell to London').
Samuel Johnson: 'When a m a n is tired of London he is tired of life' (Boswell's
Life of Johnson, 20 Sept. 1777).
16
F. M. L . Thompson, 'Towns, Industry, and the Victorian Landscape', in S. R. J.
Woodell, ed., The English Landscape (Oxford, 1985), pp. 168-72.

16 F . M. L . T H O M P S O N
It is u n d e r s t a n d a b l e t h a t m a n y p e o p l e t h o u g h t o f e i g h t e e n t h - c e n t u r y
L o n d o n a s s o m e s t r a n g e a n d u n f a m i l i a r m o n s t e r , a n d it is t r u e t h a t
it c o n t a i n e d m a n y m y s t e r i o u s a n d d a n g e r o u s c o u r t s a n d w a r r e n s , a n d
w h o l e districts, w h i c h w e r e s e l d o m p e n e t r a t e d b y o u t s i d e r s . Y e t o n e
socially i m p o r t a n t p a r t o f L o n d o n life w a s s i m p l y a n a n n u a l m i g r a t i o n
f r o m t h e c o u n t r y s i d e . T h e r o o t s o f t h e L o n d o n s e a s o n g o b a c k to
the m o v e m e n t s of the Court and the meetings of Parliament, just
as t h e t o w n h o u s e s o f t h e n o b i l i t y a n d g e n t r y c a n b e t r a c e d b a c k
to t h e i n n s a n d p a l a c e s k e p t b y m e d i e v a l b i s h o p s a n d m a g n a t e s , m a i n l y
along the strand connecting the City and Westminster. T h e establish
m e n t of the regular, and lengthy, winter and spring season, h o w e v e r ,
was an eighteenth-century development, strongly influenced b y the
regularity of parliamentary sessions that followed the Glorious Revo
l u t i o n a n d t h e a r i s t o c r a t i c d o m i n a n c e w h i c h it, a n d its s e q u e l o f t h e
H a n o v e r i a n s u c c e s s i o n , e n t r e n c h e d . T h e social life o f t h e s e a s o n , w i t h
plays, operas, concerts, m a s k e d balls, soirees, salons, a n d firework
displays, b e c a m e increasingly elaborate, and required an increasing
s u p p l y o f i m p o s i n g r e s i d e n c e s , a s w e l l as s p e c i a l i s e d p u b l i c b u i l d i n g s ,
t o s u p p o r t it. M a n y o f t h e w e a l t h i e s t a n d m o s t p o w e r f u l a r i s t o c r a t s
built a n d re-built t h e i r L o n d o n h o t e l s i n t h e I t a l i a n a t e o r P a l l a d i a n
m o d e o n the grand scale; D e v o n s h i r e , Chesterfield, Burlington, a n d
S p e n c e r H o u s e s d u r i n g t h e r e i g n o f G e o r g e II, for e x a m p l e , a n d L a n s -
d o w n e , C h a n d o s , D e r b y , a n d Carlton H o u s e s in the 1770s a n d 1780s;
B u c k i n g h a m H o u s e , built b y J o h n Sheffield, D u k e of B u c k i n g h a m ,
in t h e e a r l y e i g h t e e n t h century and subsequently purchased by
G e o r g e III, w a s a r e d b r i c k m e m b e r o f t h i s g r o u p . M o s t o f t h e n o b i l i t y
a n d t h e c o u n t y f a m i l i e s w h o c a m e t o L o n d o n for P a r l i a m e n t a n d t h e
season were content with more modest, though still s u b s t a n t i a l ,
h o u s e s in the fashionable W e s t E n d squares; the m a i n thrust b e h i n d
the development of elegant Georgian London, indeed, came from
1 7
their d e m a n d .
T h e s e a s o n w a s a n a n n u a l g a t h e r i n g o f t h e c o u n t r y ' s elite for p u r

p o s e s o f political, social, s e x u a l , a n d c o m m e r c i a l i n t e r c o u r s e . It w a s
a t i m e for b u s i n e s s a n d for p l e a s u r e , for p o l i t i c k i n g , m a t c h m a k i n g ,
horse-trading, seeing bankers, raising loans, consulting family
l a w y e r s , g a m b l i n g , d a n c i n g , a n d i n t r i g u i n g . It w a s a t i m e w h e n a r c h i
t e c t s a n d artists, a c t o r s a n d m u s i c i a n s , m e d i c a l m e n a n d a m b i t i o u s
preachers found patrons and audiences and secured employment,
17
John Summerson, Georgian London (1945) remains the standard work on the architec
tural history of 'polite' eighteenth-century London.

Town and city 17
w h i l e w i t s a n d c o u r t e s a n s m a d e t h e i r r e p u t a t i o n s . Its start b r o u g h t
a n a n n u a l flurry o f o r d e r s a n d activity to a n a r r a y o f l u x u r y t r a d e s ,
in d r e s s m a k i n g , m i l l i n e r y , t a i l o r i n g , a n d h a t m a k i n g , i n j e w e l l e r y a n d
clockmaking, in cabinetmaking and coachbuilding; and its end
b r o u g h t a s l a c k s u m m e r a n d u n e m p l o y m e n t . T h e r i p p l e effects o f
the s e a s o n e x t e n d e d m o r e widely than this, into the food a n d drink,
a n d s e r v i c e , t r a d e s a n d o c c u p a t i o n s ; a n d t h e p a r t i c i p a n t s i n t h e social
life o f h i g h s o c i e t y w e r e n o t l i m i t e d t o a r i s t o c r a c y a n d g e n t r y , t h e
financial a n d m e r c a n t i l e elite o f t h e C i t y b e c o m i n g m o r e n e a r l y o n
1 8
t e r m s o f social e q u a l i t y i n t h e c o u r s e o f t h e c e n t u r y . The important
p o i n t , h o w e v e r , is t h a t t h e elite w h i c h w e n t in a n d o u t o f L o n d o n
like t h e t i d e w a s t h e c o u n t r y elite, t h e l a n d e d elite o f l a n d e d m a g n a t e s ,
county families, and knights of the shires. Eighteenth-century
E n g l a n d is o f t e n d e p i c t e d as b e i n g g o v e r n e d b y a n e t w o r k o f c o u n t r y
h o u s e s ; for n e a r l y h a l f o f e v e r y y e a r t h i s n e t w o r k m o v e d t o L o n d o n
a n d b e c a m e a n e t w o r k o f t o w n h o u s e s . T h e elitist e x p e r i e n c e o f
L o n d o n a n d t h e elitist v i e w o f u r b a n s o c i e t y , w a s d i s t i n c t l y l i m i t e d
a n d c a l c u l a t e d to a v o i d u n p l e a s a n t n e s s . B u t it is i m p o r t a n t t h a t t h e
m o s t p o w e r f u l , i n f l u e n t i a l a n d w e a l t h y l a y e r o f s o c i e t y w a s at h o m e
i n b o t h rural a n d u r b a n w o r l d s , e v e n if s c r e e n e d f r o m t h e p o o r e s t
a n d m o s t d i s t r e s s i n g p a r t s o f e i t h e r . T h e y d i s p l a y e d in t h e i r o w n
p e r s o n s a n d life s t y l e t h e i n t e r d e p e n d e n c e o f t o w n a n d c o u n t r y , a n d
their outlook w a s unlikely to encourage the d e v e l o p m e n t of any strong
or p o w e r f u l a n t i - u r b a n or a n t i - L o n d o n f e e l i n g s .
A t t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y it is q u i t e p r o b a b l e t h a t
t h o s e p e r s o n s o f q u a l i t y w h o h a d a n y e x p e r i e n c e o f t o w n life at all
w e r e m o r e familiar w i t h L o n d o n , a n d a c c u m u l a t e d a m o r e p r o l o n g e d
a c q u a i n t a n c e w i t h it, t h a n w i t h t h e i r o w n local t o w n . It is t r u e t h a t
t h e f u n c t i o n a l l i n k s b e t w e e n t h e local g e n t r y a n d m a r k e t a n d c o u n t y
t o w n s , in m a t t e r s o f t r a d e a n d j u s t i c e , w e r e o f l o n g - s t a n d i n g , and
b e c a m e stronger as the administrative role of the justices of the peace,
m e e t i n g i n q u a r t e r s e s s i o n s in t h e c o u n t y t o w n , i n c r e a s e d . S o c i a l l i n k s ,
h o w e v e r , d i d n o t b e g i n to d e v e l o p s t r o n g l y u n t i l t h e l a t e r s e v e n t e e n t h
century; by the mid-eighteenth century most county towns had
b e c o m e i m p o r t a n t s o c i a l c e n t r e s for t h e g e n t r y , a n d m a n y h a d d e v e
l o p e d r e g u l a r s o c i a l s e a s o n s , p r o v i d i n g for t h o s e w h o c o u l d n o t afford
t h e visit to L o n d o n a n a t t e n u a t e d v e r s i o n o f its r o u n d o f c u l t u r e d
pleasure and entertainment. In the eighteenth century m a n y of the
18
N. Rogers, 'Money, Land and Lineage: The Big Bourgeoisie of Hanoverian London',
Social History, 4 (1979), pp. 437-54.

18 F. M. L . T H O M P S O N
county gentry and s o m e of the lesser nobility cultivated the habit

of r e s i d i n g in t h e i r c o u n t y t o w n for p a r t o f t h e y e a r , a n d a c q u i r e d
t o w n h o u s e s , to w h i c h the surviving G e o r g i a n parts of m a n y provin
cial t o w n s still b e a r s o m e w i t n e s s . T h e m o r e a t t r a c t i v e a n d i m p r e s s i v e
c a t h e d r a l cities, w h e r e d i g n i f i e d c a t h e d r a l c l o s e s p o p u l a t e d w i t h c o n
genial social b r e t h r e n in the s h a p e of the gentry-clergy of d e a n a n d
c h a p t e r w e r e at h a n d , w h e r e p e r h a p s t h e p r e f e r r e d s i t e s for t h i s f o r m
of a r i s t o c r a t i c u r b a n i s a t i o n : t h e b u i l d i n g o f s u c h t o w n h o u s e s i n Y o r k ,
C h e s t e r , L i n c o l n , N o r w i c h , S a l i s b u r y , a n d W i n c h e s t e r is p a r t i c u l a r l y
notable. Non-cathedral towns, h o w e v e r , w e r e also the subject of con
temporary c o m m e n t o n the n u m b e r a n d style of their resident gentry:
Preston, Derby, Shrewsbury, Stamford and Bury St Edmunds would
19
figure in a n y l i s t .
The gentry w h o o w n e d t o w n h o u s e s w e r e greatly outnumbered
b y t h e g e n t r y w h o c a m e as v i s i t o r s for t h e m a j o r s o c i a l e v e n t s , as
to r a c e w e e k at Y o r k f r o m t h e 1 7 3 0 s , o r s i m p l y for t h e e v e n i n g , a s
2 0
to t h e a n n u a l 'stuff ball' in Lincoln from the 1 7 8 0 s . S o c i a l life
required special cultural buildings, a n d the central features of the
gentrification of the t o w n s w e r e the theatre a n d the a s s e m b l y r o o m ,
meeting the d e m a n d of the country gentry and the cultured town
elite for e n t e r t a i n m e n t , d a n c i n g , m u s i c , c a r d s , a n d g o s s i p . P u r p o s e -
built t h e a t r e s , r e p l a c i n g e a r l i e r m a k e s h i f t a n d t e m p o r a r y r o o m s i n
i n n s a n d b a r n s u s e d b y t r a v e l l i n g c o m p a n i e s , b e g a n to a p p e a r i n t h e
l a r g e s t p r o v i n c i a l t o w n s in t h e 1 7 4 0 s a n d 1 7 5 0 s . It is i n d i c a t i v e o f
the general, a n d not exclusively aristocratic-gentry, complexion of this
n e w stage in urban culture that the earliest provincial theatres w e r e
built i n ' n o n - g e n t r y ' t o w n s like B i r m i n g h a m , L i v e r p o o l a n d P l y m o u t h ,
a s w e l l as i n N o r w i c h , w h i c h a l t h o u g h a c o u n t y t o w n o f g e n t r y r e s o r t
w a s also the largest manufacturing t o w n in the country until the 1780s.
In t h e l a t e r e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y t h e a t r e - b u i l d i n g b e c a m e w i d e s p r e a d ,
and b y 1815 there were well over 100 provincial theatres: they were
part of the u r b a n furniture of every self-respecting t o w n with cultural
a s p i r a t i o n s . It is n o t s u r p r i s i n g t h a t t h e l a r g e r t o w n s w i t h a p r o s p e r o u s
resident commercial and professional middle class could support
19
Peter Clark, 'Introduction', in Peter Clark, ed., The Transformation of English Provincial
Towns, 1600-1800 (1984), pp. 2 7 - 9 . 48. J. V. Beckett, The Aristocracy in England, 1660-
1914 (Oxford, 1986), p. 368.
20
Peter Borsay, ' "All the Town's a Stage": Urban Ritual and Ceremony, 1660-1800',
in Clark, ed., Transformation p. 233. Olney, Nineteenth-Century Lincolnshire, p. 14:
the stuff ball was so-named because each year the patroness of the ball chose the
colour of the year, and the purchase of woollen ball dresses was meant to encourage
the local cloth industry.

Town and city 19
t h e a t r e s . T h e i m m e d i a t e p o i n t is t h a t s o a l s o c o u l d t h e s m a l l e r c o u n t y
t o w n s a n d lesser places, drawing in their gentry patronage: places
such as Colchester, Stamford, Salisbury, Chichester, W i n c h e s t e r ,
2 1
Devizes, Maidstone and Newbury.
S o a l s o , at a r a t h e r m o r e rarified l e v e l , w i t h a s s e m b l y r o o m s , w h i c h
d r e w for t h e i r m o d e l n o t o n L o n d o n , w h o s e p o l i t e s o c i e t y w a s far
t o o l a r g e a n d c o m p l e x t o fit i n t o a s i n g l e m u l t i - p u r p o s e s o c i a l b u i l d i n g ,
b u t o n t h e s p a s , e s p e c i a l l y B a t h w h o s e first a s s e m b l y r o o m w a s built
in 1 7 0 8 . M a j o r r e g i o n a l c e n t r e s like Y o r k , L i n c o l n , C a n t e r b u r y , a n d
Norwich h a d acquired assembly rooms b y the 1750s and smaller
c e n t r e s s u c h a s B e v e r l e y o r N e w a r k f o l l o w e d suit l a t e r i n t h e c e n t u r y .
As with theatres, assembly rooms were not an exclusive gentry pre
serve, a n d the rising industrial and port t o w n s equipped themselves
w i t h t h e m in t h e s e c o n d h a l f o f t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y . I n t h e l o n g -
established a n d m u c h slower g r o w i n g provincial t o w n s , w h i c h in 1815
still c o n t a i n e d p e r h a p s h a l f o f t h e c o u n t r y ' s u r b a n p o p u l a t i o n o u t s i d e
London, the theatre and the assembly room, along with the elegant
t o w n h o u s e s , w e r e t h e a r c h i t e c t u r a l e v i d e n c e o f t h e e n t r y o f t h e aris
tocracy a n d gentry into u r b a n society in the course of the e i g h t e e n t h
century. Their simultaneous appearance in B i r m i n g h a m and Liver
pool, M a n c h e s t e r a n d N e w c a s t l e , L e e d s a n d P l y m o u t h , signified that
there w a s s o m e t h i n g of a c o m m o n u r b a n culture, in artefacts p e r h a p s
m o r e t h a n i n t h e i r m a n n e r o f u s e , at a t i m e w h e n u r b a n e c o n o m i e s
a n d social structures w e r e rapidly diverging o n t o increasingly separate
paths.
T h e m a i n g r o w t h p a t h b e t w e e n 1 7 5 0 a n d 1 8 1 5 , a s it w a s to c o n t i n u e
to b e thereafter, lay with industrial a n d commercial t o w n s w h i c h h a d
n o direct links with or d e p e n d e n c e o n the countryside or agriculture
a n d its f o r t u n e s , a n d w h o s e s o c i a l s t r u c t u r e s h a d at t h e i r a p e x a b o u r
geois elite. T h e older regional centres, the county t o w n s , the t o w n s
with a gentry p r e s e n c e a n d a distinct reliance o n the prosperity of
their agricultural hinterlands, w e r e o n a path of slow growth; the
s m a l l e s t m a r k e t t o w n s , w i t h little o r n o g e n t r y p a t r o n a g e , w e r e a l r e a d y
o n a s t a g n a n t o r d e c l i n i n g p a t h as b e t t e r r o a d , a n d a b o v e all c a n a l ,
transport rendered t h e m redundant. T h e r e w a s o n e group of rapidly
g r o w i n g t o w n s , h o w e v e r , in w h i c h the l a n d e d aristocracy supplied
t h e e n g i n e o f g r o w t h : t h e s p a s a n d r e s o r t s . T h e f a s h i o n for t a k i n g
21
C. W . Chalklin, 'Capital Expenditure on Building for Cultural Purposes in Provincial
England, 1730-1830', Business History, 22 (1980), pp. 51-70. The resident populations
of Stamford, Chichester, and Devizes, for example, were under 4,000 in 1801.

the waters spread rapidly from the chronic invalids seeking cures
to the leisured classes seeking pleasure in Restoration E n g l a n d , and
for a t i m e in t h e late s e v e n t e e n t h c e n t u r y w e a l t h y L o n d o n e r s m a d e
the wells and springs of Hampstead, E p s o m , and Dulwich into the
f o c u s o f lively little r e s o r t s for m o d i s h d a y - t r i p p e r s .
It w a s t h e h u g e l y s u c c e s s f u l e x p l o i t a t i o n o f t h e r e d i s c o v e r y o f t h e
t h e r m a l b a t h s at B a t h , h o w e v e r , a n d t h e i n v e n t i o n o f a n attractive
a n d h i g h l y m a n n e r e d social ritual o f a m u s e m e n t s , d i s t r a c t i o n s , a n d
i n d u l g e n c e s to s u r r o u n d t h e s u l p h u r o u s b u s i n e s s o f b a t h i n g a n d p u r g
i n g , w h i c h l a u n c h e d t h e first f r e e - s t a n d i n g s p a t o w n o n its e i g h t e e n t h -
c e n t u r y c a r e e r as t h e r e s o r t at w h i c h t h e a r i s t o c r a c y a n d t h e f a s h i o n
able h a d to b e s e e n . N e x t to t h e L o n d o n s e a s o n a s t a y in B a t h b e c a m e
a l m o s t o b l i g a t o r y for t h e social elite, a n d in t h e p e r m a n e n t l y l e i s u r e d
atmosphere and close quarters of a holiday town Bath m a y even,
for a w h i l e , h a v e s u p e r s e d e d L o n d o n as t h e a r i s t o c r a c y ' s m o s t effec
tive m a r r i a g e m a r k e t . In t h e 1 6 6 0 s B a t h h a d a p o p u l a t i o n o f s c a r c e l y
m o r e t h a n 1,000; b y 1 7 5 0 it w a s in t h e r e g i o n o f 7 , 0 0 0 a n d b y 1 8 0 1
w a s only just short of 35,000 - growth rates which more than m a t c h e d
t h o s e o f m o s t o f t h e ' n e w ' i n d u s t r i a l t o w n s , a n d a n a b s o l u t e size
w h i c h p u t it o n a p a r w i t h N e w c a s t l e a n d P o r t s m o u t h , a n d w e l l a h e a d
of B r a d f o r d , Halifax, o r H u l l , at t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n
t u r y . T h e s e figures are for t h e r e s i d e n t p o p u l a t i o n , w h i c h b y t h e m i d -
e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y i n c l u d e d n u m b e r s o f r e t i r e d , or p e r m a n e n t l y i n v a
lid, g e n t r y a n d rich b o u r g e o i s , a l t h o u g h b y far t h e g r e a t e r p a r t o f
t h e p o p u l a t i o n w a s e m p l o y e d in t h e s e r v i c e s w h i c h s u s t a i n e d t h e
r e s o r t ' s a m e n i t i e s , n o t l e a s t in t h e b u i l d i n g t r a d e s w h i c h w e r e e n g a g e d
in m a k i n g B a t h i n t o E n g l a n d ' s e i g h t e e n t h - c e n t u r y a r c h i t e c t u r a l s h o w
piece.
T h e n u m b e r of visitors to Bath, m a n y of w h o m spent a w h o l e sum
m e r s e a s o n t h e r e , is n o t r e c o r d e d . T h e y w e r e n u m e r o u s e n o u g h to
s u p p o r t a t h i r d set o f a s s e m b l y r o o m s , l a u n c h e d in 1 7 6 9 , as w e l l as
a n u n r i v a l l e d c o n c e n t r a t i o n o f v a l e t u d i n a r i a n a n d social facilities in
the baths, p u m p rooms, several theatres, promenades, bowling green,
a n d p u b l i c g a r d e n s ; a n d t h e y w e r e l a r g e l y aristocratic, or m e m b e r s
of f a s h i o n a b l e L o n d o n s o c i e t y . B a t h h a d i m i t a t o r s b u t n o s e r i o u s rivals,
b e f o r e 1 8 1 5 , as a r e s o r t t o w n . T u n b r i d g e W e l l s w a s r e a d i l y a c c e s s i b l e
f r o m L o n d o n , a n d a t t r a c t e d s o m e r o y a l , a n d aristocratic, a t t e n t i o n ;
it c o p i e d m a n y o f B a t h ' s a r r a n g e m e n t s , f r o m q u i t e e a r l y in t h e e i g h
t e e n t h c e n t u r y , b o t h for a m e n i t i e s a n d for a carefully m a n a g e d social
c a l e n d a r , b u t it n e v e r a c h i e v e d t h e s a m e k i n d o f f a s h i o n a b l e g l a m o u r .

Town and city 21
T o w a r d s t h e e n d o f t h e c e n t u r y it w a s b e c o m i n g m o r e o f a n u p p e r - c l a s s
retirement t o w n a n d less of a smart resort. With rather u n d e r 5,000
i n h a b i t a n t s in 1 8 0 1 it w a s m o d e s t l y t h r i v i n g , b u t s o m e w h a t l e s s s o
t h a n its n o r t h e r n e q u i v a l e n t , S c a r b o r o u g h , w h i c h d e v e l o p e d initially
as a s p a m o r e t h a n as a s e a s i d e t o w n , a n d w h i c h a t t r a c t e d m a n y o f
t h e n o r t h e r n n o b i l i t y a n d g e n t r y to its s u m m e r s e a s o n s a r o u n d m i d -
c e n t u r y . A m o n g t h e i n l a n d s p a s o n l y C h e l t e n h a m h a d b e g u n to g r o w
r a p i d l y b e f o r e 1 8 1 5 (its p o p u l a t i o n i n c r e a s e d f o u r f o l d b e t w e e n 1 8 0 1
a n d 1 8 2 1 ) , b u t it w a s still a v e r y s m a l l p l a c e at t h e e n d o f t h e e i g h t e e n t h
c e n t u r y e v e n t h o u g h w e l l e n o u g h k n o w n as a s e d a t e a l t e r n a t i v e to
B a t h for G e o r g e III to h a v e m a d e a visit in 1 7 8 8 . Its d a y l a y a h e a d
i n t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , as d i d t h a t o f L e a m i n g t o n , H a r r o g a t e , o r
Buxton, in times w h e n the patronage of the ever-expanding n u m b e r s
of l e i s u r e d w e a l t h y , r a t h e r t h a n t h e c u s t o m o f t h e l i m i t e d a n d a l m o s t
finite r a n k s o f t h e l a n d e d c l a s s e s , b e c a m e t h e k e y t o s u c c e s s .
In the longer run Bath, the high society resort, w a s o v e r s h a d o w e d
b y t h e e x p a n s i o n o f t h e affluent m i d d l e c l a s s e s a n d t h e diffusion o f
the holiday habit, o u t n u m b e r e d b y the n e w resorts w h i c h catered
for t h i s m a r k e t , a n d f o r s a k e n b y t h e f a s h i o n a b l e s e t w h o s o u g h t n o v e l
and more exclusive watering holes on the Continent. In the short
run the challenge, in the closing years of the eighteenth century, arose
from the sea, b a t h i n g in w h i c h h a d b e e n g r o w i n g in popularity since
the 1740s. S c a r b o r o u g h w a s obviously well placed to m a k e the switch
from spa to sea-bathing town, a n d did so. But b y general c o n s e n t
t h e s e a s i d e p h e n o m e n o n o f t h e a g e w a s B r i g h t o n . It a l r e a d y h a d s e a
w a t e r b a t h s a n d a s s e m b l y r o o m s b y t h e 1 7 7 0 s ; b u t its d i z z y r i s e a s
a f a s h i o n a b l e , r a c y , b u t a r i s t o c r a t i c , r e s o r t d a t e d f r o m t h e arrival o f
the Prince of W a l e s (Prince R e g e n t , later G e o r g e IV) a n d his entourage
i n 1 7 8 3 , a n d h i s b u i l d i n g o f t h e R o y a l P a v i l i o n , at o n c e e x o t i c , m y s t e r
i o u s , risque, a n d r o y a l . B e t w e e n 1 7 8 3 a n d 1 8 0 1 B r i g h t o n ' s p o p u l a t i o n
d o u b l e d , t o r e a c h 7 , 0 0 0 ; it d o u b l e d a g a i n b e t w e e n 1 8 1 1 a n d 1 8 2 1 ,
to 24,000 and in the following decade grew b y another 70 per cent,
s h o w i n g the highest growth rates of a n y t o w n in Britain. Already
b y the early 1820s Cobbett w a s remarking disapprovingly and incre-
duously on the stock-jobbers w h o 'skip backward and forward on
the c o a c h e s , a n d actually carry o n stock-jobbing in C h a n g e Alley,
2 2
t h o u g h t h e y r e s i d e at B r i g h t o n ' . N o doubt extremely few stock
jobbers, or a n y o n e else, attempted regular c o m m u t i n g before the
22
Quoted by J. H. Clapham, An Economic History of Modern Britain: The Early Railway
Age, 1820-50 (Cambridge, 1950 edn), p. 9.

r a i l w a y , t h o u g h it is j u s t c o n c e i v a b l e t h a t t h e o d d o n e m a y h a v e k e p t
a w e e k e n d h o u s e i n B r i g h t o n ; b u t t h e m o r e g e n e r a l i m p l i c a t i o n is
quite true, that the majority of B r i g h t o n ' s well-to-do residents, a n d
of h e r v i s i t o r s , w e r e n o t g e n t r y at all. M a n y o f t h e P r i n c e R e g e n t ' s
c r o n i e s , after all, w e r e m o r e t h a n a s h a d e v u l g a r , a l t h o u g h o t h e r s
of t h e m w e r e a r i s t o c r a t i c W h i g s . N e v e r t h e l e s s , B r i g h t o n w a s m u c h
f r e q u e n t e d b y t h e l e s s u n b e n d i n g a r i s t o c r a c y a n d g e n t r y i n its e a r l y
d a y s ; a n d it c o n t i n u e d to h a v e a f o r m a l M a s t e r o f C e r e m o n i e s o n
the Bath m o d e l , orchestrating the major social events, until 1855, while
a d e c i d e d l y aristocratic a u t u m n a n d p r e - C h r i s t m a s s e a s o n l i n g e r e d
2 3
o n until a b o u t 1 8 7 0 . If ' o l d o c e a n ' s b a u b l e ' w a s t h e g a y e s t a n d
m o s t fashionable place in R e g e n c y E n g l a n d , W e y m o u t h w a s t h e p r e m
ier r e s o r t o f t h e o l d e r a n d m o r e e l d e r l y a r i s t o c r a c y w h o h a d g o t u s e d
to its q u i e t e r a n d m o r e d e c o r o u s w a y s w h i l e a c c o m p a n y i n g G e o r g e
III o n h i s a n n u a l s e a s i d e trips f r o m 1 7 8 9 o n w a r d s . W e y m o u t h w a s
s m a l l a n d it d i d n o t e x p e r i e n c e a n y p e r i o d o f h e c t i c g r o w t h ; y e t i n
1 8 0 1 it w a s a s m u c h as h a l f t h e s i z e o f B r i g h t o n , w h i l e b e f o r e 1 8 5 1
it h a d s h r u n k , r e l a t i v e l y , to o n e e i g h t h o f B r i g h t o n ' s p o p u l a t i o n .
Apart from these three, Brighton, Scarborough, and W e y m o u t h ,
t h e o n l y s e a s i d e r e s o r t o f n o t e in t h e first d e c a d e o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h
c e n t u r y , a n d i n t h e s a m e p o p u l a t i o n l e a g u e as t h e m , w a s M a r g a t e .
In the early, exploratory, days of sea-bathing M a r g a t e h a d attracted
s o m e aristocratic visitors, but b y the 1790s this p h a s e w a s past. In
1 8 0 0 it w a s e s t i m a t e d t h a t t h e K e n t h o y s , w h i c h w e r e b a r g e s t a k i n g
T h a n e t g r a i n t o L o n d o n , b r o u g h t b a c k a r e t u r n c a r g o , b a l l a s t as it
w e r e , o f 1 8 , 0 0 0 v i s i t o r s to M a r g a t e . T h i s m a d e it t o o p o p u l o u s a r e s o r t
for h i g h s o c i e t y , t h o u g h n o t e x a c t l y a p l e b e i a n o n e ; t h e c r o w d s w e r e
w e l l - d r e s s e d L o n d o n e r s , ' d e c e n t t r a d e s m e n ' a n d t h e like, a n d M a r
gate was a long w a y yet from b e c o m i n g Whitechapel b y the sea. For
traditional high society of aristocracy, gentry, a n d court to have scored
t h r e e r e s o r t s o u t o f f o u r w a s i m p r e s s i v e , b u t l e s s significant t h a n its
c o n t r i b u t i o n t o t h e t o t a l i t y o f t h e a r i s t o c r a t i c p a r t i c i p a t i o n in, a n d f a m i
liarity w i t h , a l a r g e slice o f e i g h t e e n t h - c e n t u r y u r b a n life, in L o n d o n ,
c o u n t y t o w n s , spas, a n d seaside resorts. T h e y did not dominate
s u c h t o w n s , b y a n d l a r g e t h e y w e r e n o t p e r m a n e n t r e s i d e n t s in t h e m ,
a n d o n l y i n s m a l l e r r e s o r t s c o u l d it b e a r g u e d t h a t t h e i r c u s t o m w a s
t h e b a s i s o f a n y t o w n ' s e c o n o m y . T h e p o i n t is, h o w e v e r , t h a t t h e
l a n d e d c l a s s e s far f r o m b e i n g a l i e n a t e d o r d i s t a n c e d f r o m towns
23
Waller, Town, City and Nation, p. 143. J. A. R. Pimlott, The Englishman's Holiday
(Hassocks, Sussex, 1976 edn), p. 122.

Town and city 23
b e c a m e m o r e closely involved with t h e m in the course of the eigh

teenth-century, a n d got into the w a y of thinking of t o w n s as pleasant
p l a c e s a r r a n g e d for t h e i r c o m f o r t , c o n v e n i e n c e , p l e a s u r e , a n d a m u s e
m e n t . V i e w e d from the top, while there w e r e physical differences,
in the m a i n agreeable, b e t w e e n t o w n a n d country, there w e r e n o
t e n s i o n s o r conflicts b e t w e e n rural s o c i e t y a n d u r b a n s o c i e t y ; t h e y
were simply seasonally c o m p l e m e n t a r y parts of society.
U n p l e a s a n t t o w n s w e r e t h o s e o u t s i d e t h e a r i s t o c r a t i c orbit; a l t h o u g h
occasionally visited out of curiosity b y explorers, they remained largely
u n k n o w n territory not o n a n y social route, w h e r e n e w forms of u r b a n
society d e v e l o p e d with minimal links with agriculture or rural society.
Individuals naturally might have strong preferences and prejudices,
a n d n o t all a r i s t o c r a t s l i k e d or a d m i r e d t h e ' p l e a s a n t ' t o w n s . W h e n
o n e o f t h e o l d s c h o o l , L o r d T o r r i n g t o n , c o m m e n t e d in 1 7 8 8 t h a t
'Brighton a p p e a r ' d in a fashionable, u n h a p p y , bustle, with such a
h a r p y s e t o f p a i n t e d h a r l o t s , as t o a p p e a r to m e as b a d as B o n d S t .
in t h e s p r i n g ' , h e m i g h t a l m o s t h a v e b e e n a n t i c i p a t i n g t h e d i s d a i n
24
of C o b b e t t , t h e a g r a r i a n r a d i c a l . Torrington's view of Manchester
in 1 7 9 0 , h o w e v e r , w o u l d h a v e b e e n s h a r e d b y m a n o f f a s h i o n a n d
old-fashioned dyspeptic n o b l e m a n alike: 'this great, nasty, manufac
turing t o w n ; looking exactly like Spitalfields, a n d t h o s e environs . . .
w h o b u t a m e r c h a n t c o u ' d live i n s u c h a h o l e ; w h e r e t h e s l a v e w o r k i n g
a n d d r i n k i n g a s h o r t life o u t , is e t e r n a l l y r e a l i n g [sic] b e f o r e y o u f r o m
2 5
f a t i g u e , or d r u n k e n n e s s . ' Cobbett, on the other h a n d , since his chief
g r o u n d for c o n d e m n i n g B r i g h t o n w a s t h a t it w a s a p a r a s i t e , a n e x c r e s
cence, which produced nothing - 'a place of n o trade; of n o c o m m e r c e
at all; it h a s n o h a r b o u r ; it is n o p l a c e o f d e p o s i t o r o f t r a n s i t for
c o r n o r for g o o d s or for c a t t l e ' - w o u l d h a v e b e e n l o g i c a l l y o b l i g e d
to h a v e approved of M a n c h e s t e r , p e r h a p s only grudgingly b e c a u s e
26
t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e w h i c h it p r o c e s s e d w a s o f f o r e i g n o r i g i n .
A t t e m p t s to sort t o w n s into s h e e p a n d goats o n s o m e criterion of
utility, c l a s s i n g as w o r t h y t h o s e w h i c h m a d e u s e f u l t h i n g s o r h a n d l e d
useful c o m m o d i t i e s , a n d the others as frivolous a n d harmful, appealed
to neo-physiocrats a n d M a n c h e s t e r m e n , w h o divided m a n k i n d into
the industrious and the idle, but w e r e inherently flawed. Cobbett
h i m s e l f , for e x a m p l e , d i d n o t r e c k o n t e a w a s a u s e f u l article at all,
24
C. Bruyn Andrews, ed., (a selection from) The Torrington Diaries (1954 edn), 'A
Tour into Sussex, 1788', p. 127.
25
Ibid.,' A Tour in the Midlands, 1790', pp. 2 5 8 - 9 .
26
Quote by Pimlott, Englishman's Holiday, p. 10.

r e g a r d i n g it as d e b i l i t a t i n g a n d d e g r a d i n g . S o c i a l a n d m o r a l j u d g m e n t s
of t o w n s did i n d e e d r e l a t e to t h e i r f u n c t i o n s , b u t r e f l e c t e d n o t i o n s
of a c c e p t a b i l i t y a n d familiarity w h i c h in t u r n d e p e n d e d o n t h e s t a n d
p o i n t o f t h e o b s e r v e r a n d w h e t h e r t h e r e w a s a n y t h i n g t o d o or s e e
in t h i s t o w n or t h a t .
' U n p l e a s a n t ' t o w n s , in t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y , w e r e o n t h e w h o l e
n o t e s p e c i a l l y g r u b b y or s q u a l i d ; t h e y w e r e m e r e l y u n f a m i l i a r to p o l i t e
society. T h e y w e r e of two main kinds: ports (with w h i c h dockyard
t o w n s c a n b e b r a c k e t e d , slightly artificially, s i n c e t h e s e w e r e distincti
vely royal naval creations) and manufacturing towns. T h e ports were
o n e o f t h e striking u r b a n g r o w t h p o i n t s o f t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y .
L o n d o n , naturally, was the country's unrivalled premier port w h i c h
h a n d l e d t h r e e - q u a r t e r s of E n g l a n d ' s e n t i r e o v e r s e a s t r a d e at t h e b e g i n
n i n g o f t h e c e n t u r y . N o t o n l y did t h e v o l u m e o f o v e r s e a s t r a d e i n c r e a s e
d r a m a t i c a l l y d u r i n g t h e c e n t u r y , p e r h a p s sixfold, b u t w i t h L o n d o n ' s
s h a r e o f t h e i n c r e a s e d total falling to p e r h a p s 6 0 p e r c e n t b y 1 8 0 0
a n d c o n t i n u i n g to d e c l i n e u n t i l it s t a b i l i s e d at a r o u n d o n e t h i r d f r o m
1850 onwards, the outports flourished mightily. This redistribution
of t r a d e c h a n n e l s s t e m m e d f r o m t h e n a t u r e o f t h e g o o d s b e i n g
h a n d l e d , t h e i r o r i g i n s a n d d e s t i n a t i o n s w h e t h e r for p r o c e s s i n g , c o n
s u m p t i o n , or e x p o r t , a n d t h e m e a n s a n d c a p a c i t y of i n l a n d t r a n s p o r t ;
it d i d n o t c u t L o n d o n o u t f r o m t r a d i n g in s u g a r , t e a , coffee, t o b a c c o ,
c o t t o n , or g r a i n , o r f r o m e x p o r t i n g w o o l l e n s , c o t t o n s , h a r d w a r e , o r
p o t t e r y , b u t it g a v e o p e n i n g s for s o m e o u t p o r t s to rival o r s u r p a s s
L o n d o n in p a r t i c u l a r l i n e s . T h e effects w e r e t o b e s e e n clearly in t h e
g r o w t h o f Bristol f r o m a p o p u l a t i o n o f a b o u t 2 2 , 0 0 0 in 1 7 0 0 to 5 0 , 0 0 0
b y 1 7 5 0 a n d 6 1 , 0 0 0 in 1 8 0 1 ; a n d m o s t clearly o f all in t h e rise o f L i v e r
p o o l , its g r e a t rival in t h e A t l a n t i c t r a d e , w h i c h h a d p e r h a p s 5 , 0 0 0
or 6 , 0 0 0 p e o p l e in 1 7 0 0 , 2 2 , 0 0 0 in 1 7 5 0 a n d 8 3 , 0 0 0 in 1 8 0 1 . T h e t h i r d
p o r t o f t h i s size a n d i m p o r t a n c e , N e w c a s t l e u p o n T y n e , w h i c h w i t h
G a t e s h e a d h a d a p o p u l a t i o n o f a b o u t 2 9 , 0 0 0 in 1 7 5 0 a n d 4 2 , 0 0 0 in
1 8 0 1 , p r o s p e r e d as a r e s u l t of L o n d o n ' s g r o w t h n o t as a reflection
of L o n d o n ' s relative d e c l i n e in o v e r s e a s t r a d e , a n d w a s e n g a g e d in
t h e c o a s t a l t r a d e in c o a l far m o r e t h a n in e x p o r t s , a l t h o u g h it w a s
far f r o m b e i n g m e r e l y a coal p o r t . T h e s e t h r e e w e r e j o i n e d b e f o r e
1 8 0 1 , as p o r t s w i t h o v e r 2 0 , 0 0 0 p e o p l e , b y H u l l a n d S u n d e r l a n d , a n d
by 1811 Y a r m o u t h h a d just slipped into the same c o m p a n y . T h e dock
y a r d t o w n s , b y c o n t r a s t , did n o t g r o w o u t o f t r a d e flows b u t o u t
of s t r a t e g i c a n d a d m i n i s t r a t i v e n a v a l d e c i s i o n s . C h a t h a m w a s t h e ear
liest, m u c h f a v o u r e d in t h e later s e v e n t e e n t h c e n t u r y w h i l e t h e D u t c h

Town and city 25
w e r e t h e c h i e f n a v a l e n e m i e s , a n d b y 1 7 0 0 it h a d at l e a s t 5 , 0 0 0 p e o p l e .
In t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y t h e A d m i r a l t y ' s a t t e n t i o n t u r n e d to F r a n c e
a n d t h e C h a n n e l , a n d t h e C h a t h a m d o c k y a r d s c e a s e d to b e t h e m a i n
point of expansion. Along with the other M e d w a y t o w n s Rochester
and Gillingham, C h a t h a m formed part of an expanding Victorian
u r b a n a r e a w h i c h w a s to r e a c h a c o m b i n e d p o p u l a t i o n o f o v e r 1 0 0 , 0 0 0
b y 1 9 0 1 , b u t its e c o n o m i c drive c a m e m u c h m o r e f r o m c e m e n t a n d
agricultural m a c h i n e r y than from naval work. T h e favoured dockyards
of t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y w e r e P o r t s m o u t h a n d P l y m o u t h , a n d m u c h
A d m i r a l t y i n v e s t m e n t w a s c o n c e n t r a t e d t h e r e ; at P l y m o u t h , i n d e e d ,
t h e A d m i r a l t y f o u n d e d a n e w t o w n , D o c k , for t h e s h i p y a r d w o r k e r s
in 1 6 8 9 , w h i l e P o r t s m o u t h p r o p e r l y d e n o t e d t h e d o c k y a r d a r e a w i t h
t h e m a j o r i t y o f t h e i n h a b i t a n t s l i v i n g in P o r t s e a w h i c h o r i g i n a t e d as
a suburb in the 1730s. B y mid-century both h a d populations of over
2 7
10,000 and by 1801 Plymouth h a d 40,000 and Portsmouth 3 3 , 0 0 0 .
T h e p o r t s b e l o n g e d to a v e r y o l d a n d t r a d i t i o n a l t y p e o f t o w n w i t h
a w e l l - e s t a b l i s h e d social s t r u c t u r e h e a d e d b y d y n a s t i e s o f g r e a t e r m e r
c h a n t s , filled in t h e m i d d l i n g r a n k s w i t h t h o s e i n v o l v e d in t h e fitting
out a n d provisioning of ships a n d sailors, a n d largely supplied with
shipyard and boatyard workers, s e a m e n and their hangers-on, and
dockers, in the lower levels. T h e y h a d corporations of long-standing,
a n d if t h e s e w e r e o f v a r y i n g d e g r e e s o f c o m p e t e n c e a n d c o r r u p t i o n
t h e y w e r e at l e a s t a r e c o g n i s e d f o r m o f e s t a b l i s h e d m u n i c i p a l a u t h
o r i t y . T h e f a s t - g r o w i n g p o r t s c e r t a i n l y f a c e d social s t r e s s e s a s w e l l
as e c o n o m i c o p p o r t u n i t i e s d u r i n g t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y ; t h e y w e r e
d i g e s t i n g a g r e a t i n c r e a s e a n d d i v e r s i f i c a t i o n in t h e n u m b e r s a n d t y p e s
of ' q u a y s i d e ' i n d u s t r i e s a n d t h e i r w o r k e r s , at t h e s a m e t i m e as h o u s i n g
and services c a m e u n d e r pressure from straightforward trade and
port expansion. Expansion, h o w e v e r , w a s within the framework of
a n e s s e n t i a l l y s t a b l e a n d o r d e r l y s o c i e t y ; if t h e d o c k y a r d t o w n s c o u l d
n o t d r a w o n t h e s a m e t r a d i t i o n o f social o r d e r a s t h e p o r t s , t h e y c o u l d
substitute the disciplines of naval control. T h e r e w a s h e r e not so m u c h
a n e w f o r m o f u r b a n s o c i e t y as a n o l d o n e w r i t l a r g e .
T h e n e w f o r m o f s o c i e t y w a s i n t h e m a n u f a c t u r i n g t o w n s , itself
a novel t e r m in the early eighteenth century, although m a n y instances
27
Population figures from Corneld, Impact of Towns, pp. 15, 44; Chalklin, Provincial
Towns pp. 13, 20, 2 3 - 4 , 44, 4 8 - 5 1 . Southampton did not top the 20,000 mark until
the 1830s; its great growth period, as an Atlantic terminal, came in the second
half of the nineteenth century.

26 F . M. L. T H O M P S O N
c o u l d h a v e b e e n c i t e d b e f o r e 1 7 0 0 o f c o n c e n t r a t i o n s o f textile m a n u f a c
t u r e in o l d t o w n s : N o r w i c h , t h e l a r g e s t o f t h e m all, b u t a m o n g t h e
second-rank regional centres Canterbury, Colchester, Coventry, or
E x e t e r w o u l d c e r t a i n l y h a v e b e e n n u m b e r e d a m o n g t h e textile t o w n s .
D e f o e , o n e o f t h e first t o s p e a k o f ' m a n u f a c t u r i n g t o w n s ' , captured
t h e i r n o v e l t y in t h e 1 7 2 0 s :
Let the Curious examine the great Towns of Manchester, Warrington, Maccles
field, Hallifax, Leeds, Wakefield, Sheffield, Birmingham, Froom, Taunton,
Tiverton, and many Others. Some of these are meer Villages; the highest
Magistrate in them is a Constable, and few or no Families of Gentry among
them; yet they are full of Wealth and full of People, and daily encreasing
in both; all of which is occasion'd be the meer Strength of Trade, and the
28
growing Manufactures establish'd in them.
D e f o e ' s g l i m p s e i n t o t h e future w a s i n s p i r e d if n o t 1 0 0 p e r c e n t a c c u r
ate; h e c o u l d b e a w a r d e d e i g h t o u t o f t e n (literally, o u t o f e l e v e n )
for s p o t t i n g i n d u s t r i a l w i n n e r s , four w h i c h w e r e d e s t i n e d t o l e a d t h e
first d i v i s i o n a n d four to b e c o m e s o l i d m e m b e r s o f t h e s e c o n d e l e v e n .
H i s f o r e c a s t i n g m i s t a k e s are at l e a s t as i n t e r e s t i n g a s h i s e m p h a s i s
o n t h e a b s e n c e of g e n t r y p a t r o n a g e o r t r a d i t i o n s o f c o r p o r a t e g o v e r n
m e n t , a n d its c u s t o m a r y a c c o m p a n i m e n t o f craft o r g a n i s a t i o n s , a s
c o m m o n i n g r e d i e n t s in c o m m e r c i a l s u c c e s s . F r o m e , T a u n t o n , and
T i v e r t o n c e r t a i n l y d o n o t a p p e a r o n a n y o n e ' s list of t h e g r e a t i n d u s t r i a l
t o w n s o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y . Y e t in t h e 1 7 2 0 s T i v e r t o n w a s t h e
chief manufacturing centre of serges, in the s e r g e m a k i n g district,
which included Taunton, that w a s centred commercially o n the Exeter
m a r k e t a n d w h o s e t r a d e , m a i n l y in e x p o r t s , w a s o r c h e s t r a t e d b y E x e t e r
merchants. With a population of around 9,000 Tiverton was a more
considerable manufacturing t o w n than Birmingham, Manchester, or
L e e d s at t h i s t i m e . I n t h e e v e n t it s t a g n a t e d i n t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y ,
w i t h a c o l l a p s e in t h e d e m a n d for s e r g e s w h i c h h a d a l r e a d y b e g u n
w h e n Defoe w a s writing, a n d actually lost population. F r o m e , the
c e n t r e of S o m e r s e t ' s fine c l o t h i n d u s t r y , w e n t t h r o u g h a s i m i l a r c y c l e
2 9
of p r o s p e r i t y a n d d e c l i n e , w i t h a fifty-year l a g .
T h e s e t h r e e textile t o w n s w h i c h fell b y t h e w a y s i d e in t h e c o u r s e
of t h e e i g h t e e n t h o r e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r i e s , h o w e v e r , w e r e at t h e
28
Quoted by Corfield, Impact of Towns, p. 23.
29
C. Wilson, England's Apprenticeship, 1603-1763 (1965), pp. 189, 290. Clark, 'Introduc
tion', in Clark, ed., Transformation, p. 26. Chalklin, Provincial Towns, p. 33. Clapham,
Early Railway Age, p. 46.

Town and city 27
time of D e f o e ' s writing using precisely the s a m e spinning and weaving

t e c h n o l o g y , a n d p r e c i s e l y t h e s a m e m e r c a n t i l e o r g a n i s a t i o n , as t h o s e
w i t h w h o m t h e future l a y . O f D e f o e ' s ' w i n n e r s ' o n l y t w o , B i r m i n g h a m
a n d Sheffield, w e r e non-textile t o w n s . T h e e x p a n s i o n a n d prosperity
of t h e r e s t d e p e n d e d , at l e a s t u n t i l t h e 1 7 8 0 s , o n h a n d s p i n n i n g a n d
handloom weaving and on the enterprise of merchant-manufacturers
w h o organised and financed increasingly elaborate and extensive put
ting-out s y s t e m s . M a n c h e s t e r p a s s e d the 20,000 population m a r k in
the 1750s a n d L e e d s in the 1780s, a n d probably b o t h h a d equalled
or surpassed Norwich, also reliant o n traditional m e t h o d s a n d organi
s a t i o n i n its c l o t h m a n u f a c t u r i n g , b e f o r e t h e f a c t o r y a n d m e c h a n i s e d
production made much impact.The urbanisation of industry, in
other words, p r e c e d e d ' m o d e r n industrialisation' of factories a n d
m a c h i n e s , chiefly b e c a u s e u r b a n l o c a t i o n s offered a d v a n t a g e s i n a c c e s s
to markets, m e r c h a n t s , services, a n d labour supplies, particularly of
skilled labour, w h i c h o u t w e i g h e d the c h e a p e r labour of cottage a n d
village i n d u s t r y . T h e n e w m a c h i n e s o f t h e i n d u s t r i a l r e v o l u t i o n , p a r
ticularly t h e s p i n n i n g m a c h i n e s , w e r e i n a n y c a s e w a t e r p o w e r e d ,
a n d p e r h a p s a m a j o r i t y o f t h e g r e a t n e w s p i n n i n g mills o f t h e 1 7 7 0 s
a n d 1780s, employing their h u n d r e d s of w o m e n and children, w e r e
to b e f o u n d i n i s o l a t e d rural or s m a l l v i l l a g e l o c a t i o n s r a t h e r than
in the major t o w n s . At the s a m e time u r b a n water-power sources
w e r e d e v e l o p e d w i t h c o n s i d e r a b l e e n g i n e e r i n g i n g e n u i t y , for e x a m p l e
i n t h e s m a l l t o w n s o f t h e G l o u c e s t e r s h i r e c l o t h district i n a n d a r o u n d
S t r o u d , b u t a b o v e all i n t h e r i n g o f satellite c o t t o n t o w n s r o u n d M a n
c h e s t e r t h a t w e r e g r o w i n g v e r y fast i n t h e c l o s i n g d e c a d e s o f t h e c e n
t u r y , a n d i n t h e s e c o n d tier o f W e s t R i d i n g w o o l l e n a n d worsted
towns.
It w a s in 1 7 8 1 t h a t t h e M a n c h e s t e r m a n u f a c t u r e r s w e n t , ' S t e a m
Mill M a d ' , a s B o u l t o n r e p o r t e d to W a t t o n t h e effects o f t h e i n t r o d u c
t i o n o f t h e r o t a t i v e s t e a m e n g i n e w h i c h c o u l d b e a p p l i e d to d r i v i n g
3 0
spinning machinery. Before then there had b e e n scarcely a handful
of m i l l s a c t u a l l y i n M a n c h e s t e r , w h i c h a c t e d r a t h e r a s t h e c o m m e r c i a l
c e n t r e o f t h e c o t t o n i n d u s t r y a n d t h e p l a c e w h e r e t h e s p e c i a l i s e d finish
ing p r o c e s s e s w e r e carried out, t h a n as the location of the primary
spinning and weaving. Thereafter mill-building w e n t o n apace; b y
1 8 0 2 M a n c h e s t e r a n d S a l f o r d h a d m o r e t h a n fifty s p i n n i n g m i l l s , a n d
30
Quoted by A. E. Musson, 'Industrial Motive Power in the United Kingdom, 1800-70',
Economic History Review, 2nd ser., 29 (1976) p. 429.

b y 1 8 1 5 h a l f a s m a n y a g a i n , v i r t u a l l y all s t e a m - d r i v e n , b y t h i s t i m e
i n c l u d i n g t h e first f e w mills h o u s i n g p o w e r l o o m s . T h e mill c h i m n e y
h a d b e c o m e the characteristic, dominant, feature of the skyline; but
it w a s still m u c h l e s s d o m i n a n t in t h e s e c o n d a r y c o t t o n t o w n s like
Bury or O l d h a m , w h i c h u s e d a high proportion of water power, or
in t h e o t h e r textile t o w n s s u c h as t h o s e o f t h e W e s t R i d i n g w o o l l e n s
a n d w o r s t e d s , N o t t i n g h a m w i t h its l a c e , o r C o v e n t r y w i t h its r i b b o n s ,
w h e r e t h e a d o p t i o n o f t h e mill o r f a c t o r y f o r m o f o r g a n i s a t i o n a s w e l l
31
as the adoption of s t e a m p o w e r w e r e m u c h m o r e gradual.
A s late as 1 8 5 0 w e l l o v e r h a l f t h e s t e a m p o w e r u s e d in m a n u f a c t u r i n g
- t h a t is, e x c l u d i n g m i n i n g , w h i c h g e o l o g y m a d e i n t o a l a r g e l y n o n -
u r b a n i n d u s t r y - w a s in t h e textile i n d u s t r i e s , a n d a t h i r d or m o r e
3 2
w a s in t h e c o t t o n m i l l s a l o n e . Before 1815 the concentration of the
e a r l y s t e a m e n g i n e s in c o t t o n s p i n n i n g m i l l s , a n d o f c o u r s e i n c o p p e r
3 3
m i n e s a n d collieries, w a s m u c h m o r e m a r k e d . This might prompt
the conclusion that factory c h i m n e y s , s m o k e , a n d grime w e r e b e c o m
i n g p a r t o f t h e u r b a n s c e n e in t h e v e r y late e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y , a n d
before 1815, only in a few, exceptional, cotton t o w n s . This w o u l d
c e r t a i n l y b e t r u e o f t h e c h i m n e y s , b u t n o t o f t h e s m o k e . It w a s S h e f f i e l d
w h i c h s t r u c k L o r d T o r r i n g t o n i n 1 7 8 9 as ' a g r e a t b l a c k m a n u f a c t u r i n g
t o w n ' , a n d Sheffield h a d n o f a c t o r i e s , n o s t e a m e n g i n e s ; it w a s a
t o w n o f s m a l l w o r k s h o p s , a n d its c u t l e r y , files, a n d c h i s e l s w e r e m a d e
with h a n d tools and water-driven tilt-hammers and grinding w h e e l s .
It w a s b l a c k , as T o r r i n g t o n o b s e r v e d f r o m o n e o f t h e surrounding
hills, b e c a u s e t h e r e w e r e ' i n t h e v a l l e y b e n e a t h , t h e f u r n a c e s v o m i t i n g
f o r t h t h e i r a m a z i n g fires, w h i c h m a k e t h i s c o u n t r y in a n eternal
3 4
smoke'. It w a s , i n d e e d , t h e i n d u s t r i e s w h i c h u s e d c o a l as a fuel
w h i c h w e r e c r e a t i n g d a r k a n d dirty t o w n s , n o t t h o s e w h i c h w e r e
a d o p t i n g p o w e r e d m a c h i n e r y . B i r m i n g h a m , w i t h its m e t a l - w o r k i n g
w o r k s h o p s , its b u t t o n s , a n d its s c r e w s , w a s o n e s u c h , b u t t h e r e a l
dirt w a s in t h e s m a l l e r satellite t o w n s w h e r e t h e h e a v y f o r g e w o r k
31
Ibid., pp. 417, 431.
32
Ibid., p. 435. The precise figures, but not the general proportions of industrial distri
bution, are modified by J. W . Kanefsky, 'Motive Power in British Industry and
the Accuracy of the 1870 Factory Return', Economic History Review, 2nd ser., 32
(1979), pp. 360-75.
33
For the industrial distribution of the early steam engines, see J. R. Harris, 'The
Employment of Steam Power in the Eighteenth Century', History, 52 (1967).
34
Andrews, ed., Torrington Diaries, 'A Tour in the Midlands, 1789', p. 170. Wolver
hampton, in 1792, was termed 'a large black ill-paved town' by Torrington, and
Wednesbury 'another overgrown village, blacken'd with its trees and hedges by
the forge fires', pp. 449-50.

Town and city 29
w a s d o n e a n d w h e r e t h e r e w e r e collieries a n d i r o n w o r k s : W o l v e r
hampton, Walsall, Willenhall,Wednesbury, Darlaston, Dudley, and
t h e r e s t w h i c h w e r e a l r e a d y g e t t i n g k n o w n as t h e B l a c k C o u n t r y .
M e r t h y r Tydfil w a s a n o t h e r , t h e classic o n e - i n d u s t r y i r o n t o w n , g r o w
i n g f r o m n o t h i n g in 1 7 5 0 to b e t h e s e c o n d l a r g e s t t o w n in W a l e s b y
1 8 0 1 a n d t h e l a r g e s t b y 1 8 2 1 , all b l a s t f u r n a c e s a n d rolling mills a n d
17,000 people entirely dependent o n them. T h e Potteries, notoriously
five t o w n s as w e l l as S t o k e a n d n e v e r h a p p i l y u n i t e d i n t o a s i n g l e
city e v e n in t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y , m a d e a f o u r t h g r i m y district, a n
embryonic conurbation which housed more than 20,000 people by
1 8 0 1 a n d in 1 8 1 1 w a s l a r g e r t h a n B o l t o n or B r a d f o r d , Huddersfield
or O l d h a m . T h e r e w e r e s o m e e n g i n e h o u s e s a n d c h i m n e y s in t h e
P o t t e r i e s b y t h e late e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y , b u t t h e y w e r e u s e d in p r e p a r a
t o r y p r o c e s s e s for d r i v i n g clay a n d flint mills a n d c o l o u r g r i n d i n g
pans, while the main production processes remained practically
u n t o u c h e d b y m e c h a n i s a t i o n until t h e 1 8 4 0 s ; t h e d o m i n a n t feature
of t h e i n d u s t r i a l l a n d s c a p e b e f o r e t h e n w a s t h e coal-fired b o t t l e o v e n .
M a n u f a c t u r i n g t o w n s b e f o r e 1 8 1 5 w e r e t h u s n o t , in e s s e n c e , factory
towns; and only the minority a m o n g t h e m w h o s e industries centred
r o u n d furnaces, forges, and ovens were b e c o m i n g visually unattrac
tive a n d p h y s i c a l l y r e p e l l e n t t h r o u g h t h e i r s m o k e a n d g r i m e . E v e n
this factor c a n b e e x a g g e r a t e d , s i n c e in all t h e l a r g e r t o w n s d o m e s t i c
fires w e r e t h e m a i n s m o k e p r o d u c e r s , a n d t h e h o u s e h o l d m a r k e t p r o
b a b l y a c c o u n t e d for m o r e t h a n h a l f o f total B r i t i s h c o a l c o n s u m p t i o n
at t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y . T h e d i s t i n c t i o n is useful,
h o w e v e r , for it i n d i c a t e s t h a t this initial p h a s e o f u r b a n g r o w t h , b y
a n d l a r g e b e f o r e factories a n d b e f o r e s t e a m - p o w e r e d m a c h i n e r y , p r o
d u c e d o n l y a h a n d f u l o f t o w n s w h i c h w e r e s t r a n g e , alien, a n d p o t e n
tially a l a r m i n g . T h u s o f t h e s e v e n t e e n l a r g e s t p r o v i n c i a l t o w n s w h i c h
h a d p o p u l a t i o n s o f o v e r 2 0 , 0 0 0 in 1 8 1 1 , e i g h t w e r e p o r t s or d o c k y a r d
t o w n s , a m o n g w h i c h o n l y S u n d e r l a n d , w h o l l y d e v o t e d to t h e c o a l
t r a d e a n d c o a l s h i p p i n g , w a s p e r h a p s e n t i r e l y alien to t r a d i t i o n a l e l i t e s .
T h e o t h e r n i n e w e r e m a n u f a c t u r i n g t o w n s , a n d t h e y are h a r d e r to
c a t e g o r i s e ; b u t o n l y t w o , Sheffield a n d S t o k e , w e r e definitely, a n d
a further t w o , B i r m i n g h a m a n d M a n c h e s t e r , p o s s i b l y , s e r i o u s l y s o o t
b l a c k e n e d ; six o f t h e n i n e , i n c l u d i n g B i r m i n g h a m , M a n c h e s t e r a n d
Sheffield, h a d t h e a t r e s a n d a s s e m b l y r o o m s as early as t h e 1 7 7 0 s ,
a n d m e r c h a n t - g e n t r y elites t h a t w e r e c u l t u r e d a n d h a d s o m e c o n t a c t s
with neighbouring gentry society; only three, the cotton t o w n s of
S t o c k p o r t a n d B o l t o n , a n d S t o k e , m a y h a v e b e e n alien in t h e w a y

35
that S u n d e r l a n d was alien. It m a y i n d e e d b e m o r e u s e f u l to v i s u a l i s e
the groups of secondary manufacturing towns, of which only Bolton
a n d S t o c k p o r t h a d as y e t p a s s e d t h e 2 0 , 0 0 0 p o p u l a t i o n m a r k , as t h e
radically n e w feature of the period before 1815, p h e n o m e n a r e m o t e
from previous urban experience, r a w in their stark structure of indus
trial w o r k e r s a n d e m p l o y e r s u n r e l i e v e d b y a n y c o n s i d e r a b l e c o m m e r
cial o r p r o f e s s i o n a l e l e m e n t s , v i s u a l l y a n d a r c h i t e c t u r a l l y m e a n a n d
m o n o t o n o u s , c o m m i t t e d t o u n r e m i t t i n g w o r k a n d d e v o i d o f cultural trap
pings. T h e s e were the cotton t o w n s of south-east Lancashire, outside
Manchester; the towns of the Black Country, outside Birmingham;
a n d in lesser degree, b e c a u s e m a n y of t h e m h a d ancient urban
traditions and were not m u s h r o o m growths, the W e s t Riding cloth
t o w n s , o u t s i d e L e e d s . T h e y d i d n o t c a u s e m u c h o f a stir, s i m p l y
b e c a u s e t h e y w e r e n o t as y e t v e r y l a r g e a n d h e n c e w e r e fairly u n o b t r u
sive; b u t t h e y c o n t a i n e d t h e e s s e n c e o f i n d u s t r i a l - u r b a n s o c i e t y .
T h e n e w - s t y l e m a n u f a c t u r i n g t o w n s o f t h e front r a n k w h i c h w e r e
e m e r g i n g in t h e s e c o n d half of t h e e i g h t e e n t h century w e r e obviously
different i n e c o n o m i c f u n c t i o n s a n d o c c u p a t i o n a l s t r u c t u r e s f r o m t h e
l a r g e r s e a p o r t s , w h i c h t h e y w e r e b e g i n n i n g t o e q u a l in s i z e . B u t w h i l e
c o n t e m p o r a r i e s w e r e correct to stress t h e essential distinction that t h e
former w e r e p e o p l e d a l m o s t entirely b y t r a d e s m e n a n d manufacturers,
w h i l e t h e l a t t e r h a d m o r e v a r i e t y a n d c o l o u r in t h e i r social s t r u c t u r e s ,
t h e b r o a d s i m i l a r i t i e s s h o u l d n o t b e o v e r l o o k e d . T o start w i t h , n o n e
of t h e m w e r e n a r r o w l y b a s e d e c o n o m i c a l l y o n a s i n g l e i n d u s t r y o r
b r a n c h o f a n i n d u s t r y : t h e i r d i r e c t l y m a n u f a c t u r i n g activities w e r e
d i v e r s e , t e n d i n g to a c o n c e n t r a t i o n o n t h e m o r e s k i l l e d a n d s p e c i a l i s e d
f i n i s h i n g a n d a s s e m b l i n g p r o c e s s e s , a n d i n a d d i t i o n t h e y w e r e all
important regional centres with the variety a n d r a n g e of trades that
i m p l i e d . M a n c h e s t e r , for e x a m p l e , a l t h o u g h i n m a n y w a y s t h e l e a d i n g
e x e m p l a r o f a ' n e w t o w n ' o f t h i s sort, w a s a l r e a d y a c o n s i d e r a b l e
e n o u g h t o w n in 1 6 5 3 t o h a v e b e e n m a d e a p a r l i a m e n t a r y b o r o u g h ,
36
short-lived, in the P r o t e c t o r a t e . T o b e sure, in the second-rank m a n u
f a c t u r i n g t o w n s it m a y a l s o h a v e b e e n literally t r u e t h a t t h e i n d u s t r i a l
w o r k e r s did n o t f o r m a m a j o r i t y o f t h e w o r k i n g p o p u l a t i o n ; b u t in
their case the supporting a n d economically d e p e n d e n t role of the
35
Torrington visited the new theatre in Sheffield (built in 1773 to replace the original
1763 building) in 1789 and approved of it warmly: ibid., 'A Tour in the Midlands,
1789', p. 171. For the merchant-gentry of Leeds see R. G. Wilson, Gentlemen
Merchants: The Merchant Community in Leeds, 1700-1830 (Manchester, 1971).
36
The Instrument of Government, 1653, ci. X, S. R. Gardiner, The Constitutional Docu
ments of the Puritan Revolution, 1625-60 (Oxford, 1947 edn), p. 408.

Town and city 31
non-manufacturing labourers and tradesmen was obvious. O f greater

significance, t h e m a n u f a c t u r e r , as a n e n t r e p r e n e u r a n d e m p l o y e r , w a s
typically a m e r c h a n t - m a n u f a c t u r e r . The modern industrialist, as
o w n e r o f t h e m e a n s of p r o d u c t i o n a n d direct e m p l o y e r a n d m a n a g e r
of t h e p r o d u c t i o n w o r k e r s , w a s o f c o u r s e b e g i n n i n g to a p p e a r : t h i s
is w h a t R i c h a r d A r k w r i g h t , R o b e r t P e e l , S a m u e l O l d k n o w , B e n j a m i n
Gott, James Marshall, Josiah W e d g w o o d , Matthew Boulton, and the
o t h e r s in t h e w e l l - k n o w n g a l l e r y o f t h e e a r l y c a p t a i n s o f i n d u s t r y
w e r e all a b o u t . T h e y w e r e t h e h a r b i n g e r s of t h e future, b u t down
t o 1 8 1 5 , a n d i n d e e d for m a n y f u r t h e r d e c a d e s , t h e g r e a t b u l k o f i n d u s
trial p r o d u c t i o n w a s o r g a n i s e d a n d m a n a g e d o n m o r e t r a d i t i o n a l l i n e s ,
while the early industrialists themselves w e r e successful precisely
b e c a u s e t h e y w e r e g o o d at t r a d i n g a n d m a r k e t i n g . T h e l a r g e s t i n d u s
trial e m p l o y e r s in 1 8 1 5 w e r e t h e m a n u f a c t u r e r s w h o h a d t h o u s a n d s
of o u t w o r k e r s , h a n d l o o m w e a v e r s , o n t h e i r b o o k s , p e r h a p s c o m b i n i n g
t h i s w i t h t h e m o r e direct e m p l o y m e n t o f a f e w h u n d r e d s p i n n e r s
in s p i n n i n g mills w h i c h t h e y o w n e d .
T h e i m p l i c a t i o n s o f t h i s w e r e t w o f o l d . First, t h e m e r c h a n t - m a n u f a c
t u r e r s in t h e o r d i n a r y r u n n i n g of t h e i r b u s i n e s s e s h a d to m a i n t a i n
extensive and regular contacts not merely with a multitude of
o u t w o r k e r s b o t h in t o w n a n d in t h e s u r r o u n d i n g c o u n t r y v i l l a g e s ,
but also with the rest of the country, particularly with L o n d o n , w h e r e
t h e y f o u n d t h e i r m a r k e t s . E s p e c i a l l y if t h e s e m a r k e t s i n c l u d e d e x p o r t s
t h e y m o v e d in t h e s a m e orbit as t h e g r e a t o v e r s e a s m e r c h a n t s w h o
f o r m e d t h e m e r c a n t i l e a r i s t o c r a c y o f t h e s e a p o r t s . It w o u l d b e u n d u l y
mechanistic to claim that the w h o l e aura of sophisticated and refined
mercantile culture, itself enmeshed with aristocratic t a s t e and
i n f l u e n c e s in f a s h i o n , m a n n e r s , a n d fine arts, a u t o m a t i c a l l y r u b b e d
off o n e v e r y o n e in t h e p r o v i n c e s w h o b e c a m e a m e r c h a n t o n a l a r g e
scale; b u t clearly t h e c h a n n e l s w e r e o p e n for t h i s cultural flow. S e c o n d ,
s i n c e factory or mill w o r k e r s still f o r m e d s u c h a s m a l l e l e m e n t o f
t h e i n d u s t r i a l w o r k f o r c e , t h e g r e a t m a j o r i t y o f w o r k e r s in t h e m a n u f a c
turing t o w n s , despite the obvious occupational differences b e t w e e n
t h o s e in c o t t o n , w o o l , m e t a l s , a n d p o t s , l i v e d in b r o a d l y similar c o n
d i t i o n s w i t h similar social a n d i n d u s t r i a l r e l a t i o n s . T h e s e in t u r n did
n o t differ g r e a t l y f r o m c o n d i t i o n s in t h e g r e a t s e a p o r t s . T h i s w a s v e r y
e v i d e n t in h o u s i n g , w h e r e t h e r e w a s a s i m u l t a n e o u s d e v e l o p m e n t
in t h e last q u a r t e r o f t h e c e n t u r y o f b u i l d i n g o n a large s c a l e specifically
for w o r k i n g - c l a s s o c c u p a t i o n , as distinct f r o m earlier i m p r o v i s a t i o n s
a n d t e n e m e n t i n g of once-grander h o u s e s . Courtyard tenements,

32 F. M. L . T H O M P S O N
c r a m m i n g the m a x i m u m n u m b e r of dwellings o n to narrow plots with

tunnel access to a street, a n d back-to-backs, placing the largest a m o u n t
of h o u s i n g o n r a t h e r l a r g e r p l o t s , m a d e t h e i r a p p e a r a n c e at t h i s t i m e
in L i v e r p o o l , M a n c h e s t e r , L e e d s , H u l l , B i r m i n g h a m , a n d N o t t i n g h a m ,
3 7
for e x a m p l e .
T h e r e w e r e differences within the family of large t o w n s . Liverpool,
for i n s t a n c e , a l r e a d y w e n t i n for cellar d w e l l i n g s o n a s c a l e o f i n s a l u
brity u n k n o w n e l s e w h e r e ; a n d there appears to h a v e b e e n a north-
s o u t h d i v i s i o n , if B i r m i n g h a m is t e m p o r a r i l y m a d e a n h o n o r a r y m e m
ber of the north, in t h e s e n s e that the back-to-back n e v e r b e c a m e
c o m m o n in L o n d o n , B r i s t o l , P o r t s m o u t h , o r P l y m o u t h , w h e r e t e r r a c e d
c o t t a g e s for t h e w o r k e r s w e r e t h e n o r m . T h e r e w e r e a l s o g r e a t differ
ences in working conditions a n d in the pattern of e m p l o y m e n t . T h e r e
w e r e m a n y m o r e o p e n i n g s for w o m e n t o h a v e j o b s i n t h e textile t o w n s
t h a n in t h e m e t a l t o w n s - t h o u g h i n t h e B l a c k C o u n t r y t h e y w o r k e d
in t h e n a i l m a k i n g f o r g e s - o r i n t h e s e a p o r t s , w h e r e t h e g a i n f u l l y
e m p l o y e d w e r e t h o u g h t t o b e all d o m e s t i c s e r v a n t s o r p r o s t i t u t e s .
W o r k o n the quays, a n d later docks, w a s m o r e intermittent and casual
t h a n in a n y o t h e r o c c u p a t i o n . A t t h e o t h e r e x t r e m e s k i l l e d a r t i s a n s
in t h e m e t a l t r a d e s o r i n t h e d o c k y a r d s c o u l d e x p e c t t o b e i n r e g u l a r
work; while domestic outworkers w h o o w n e d their o w n equipment
were m o r e i n d e p e n d e n t than t h o s e w h o did not, but hired l o o m a n d
f r a m e f r o m a n e m p l o y e r . D i f f e r e n c e s a n d d i s t i n c t i o n s in g r a d e s a n d
conditions, s u c h as t h e s e , m e a n t that there w a s n o t h i n g like a uniform
or c o h e r e n t u r b a n w o r k i n g c l a s s , e v e n if t h e difficulties o f c o m m u n i c a t
ing b e t w e e n the separate t o w n s h a d not b e e n so great. O n the w h o l e ,
at t h e l o w e r l e v e l , e a c h t o w n w a s its o w n s o c i e t y , w i t h l i n k s t o t h e
surrounding country from which so m a n y of the t o w n ' s inhabitants
had migrated and with which there were m a n y working connections,
r a t h e r t h a n l i n k s w i t h o t h e r t o w n s ; e x c e p t t h a t i n s o m e o f t h e traditio
n a l crafts, e s p e c i a l l y i n t h e s k i l l e d b u i l d i n g t r a d e s , m e n t r a m p e d f r o m
t o w n to t o w n o n r e c o g n i s e d j o b - f i n d i n g r o u t e s . A n d o n t h e w h o l e
that society w a s small scale a n d cellular, revolving r o u n d family,
neighbourhood, pub, a n d small w o r k s h o p , l o o m - s h e d , or w o r k r o o m ,
in a m a n n e r w h i c h for t h o s e w h o did n o t h a v e t h e h i s t o r i a n ' s a d v a n
t a g e o f k n o w i n g w h a t w a s t o c o m e after e x h i b i t e d m u c h stronger
37
S. D. Chapman, 'Working-Class Housing in Nottingham', and M. W . Beresford,
'The Back-to-Back House in Leeds, 1787-1937', both in S. D. Chapman, ed., The
History of Working-Class Housing (Newton Abbot, 1971). Chalklin, Provincial Towns,
pp. 196-220.

Town and city 33
signs of continuity with traditional forms than marks of revolutionary

changes. In a somewhat paradoxical w a y the period w h e n urban
e x p a n s i o n first b e c a m e m a r k e d , b u t w h e n u r b a n s o c i e t y still r e m a i n e d
in a minority position w h i c h m i g h t h a v e b e e n e x p e c t e d to highlight
its p e c u l i a r i t i e s , w a s i n fact a p e r i o d w h e n it s e e m e d familiar, c o m f o r
t a b l e , a n d u n t h r e a t e n i n g , i n a r e m a r k a b l e n u m b e r o f different w a y s ,
to aristocracy, gentry, bourgeoisie, a n d working people.
Ill
U r b a n s o c i e t y b e c a m e m o r e c o m p l i c a t e d , m o r e stratified a n d m o r e
r e g u l a t e d i n t h e c o u r s e o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y . It b e c a m e m o r e
settled a n d accepted, in t h e s e n s e that b y 1900 t h e great majority
of its m e m b e r s w e r e t o w n - b o r n a n d t h e d a y s w h e n f i r s t - g e n e r a t i o n
towndwellers w h o h a d m o v e d in from the country, or from Ireland,
formed from half to nearly three-quarters of the adult populations
3 8
o f a l m o s t all t h e l a r g e r t o w n s , w e r e h a l f a c e n t u r y a w a y . Whether
it h a d g r o w n t o m a t u r i t y m a y b e d o u b t e d , if t h e c o n c e p t o f m a t u r i t y
i m p l i e s stability, for t h a t h a d n o t b e e n a t t a i n e d . W h a t c a n n o t b e
d o u b t e d is t h a t at s o m e p o i n t i n t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , c l o s e r to
1881 than 1851, urban society b e c a m e the normal setting of more than
h a l f o f t h e B r i t i s h p e o p l e , a n d t h a t b y 1 9 1 4 it s o d o m i n a t e d t h e n a t i o n
t h a t i n f i g u r e s , if n o t i n s e n t i m e n t , it w a s t h e n a t i o n . Y e t o n e o f t h e
p a r a d o x e s of the century w a s that as u r b a n living b e c a m e normal
a n d typical, rather t h a n unusual a n d unrepresentative, t o w n s b e c a m e
l e s s familiar, l e s s u n d e r s t o o d , a n d less acceptable to the educated
and propertied classes. M o r e precisely, the triumph of urbanisation
p r o v e d to b e a socially divisive m o r e t h a n a socially unifying process,
and the divisions within Victorian urban society, b e t w e e n the agree
able a n d the disagreeable, the comfortable a n d the bleak, the amusing
and the shocking, the pleasing and the menacing, were sharper than
any eighteenth-century divisions b e t w e e n t o w n and country.
T h e social divisions a n d tensions within the nation - never so simple
as the c o n v e n t i o n a l three-class w i s d o m suggests - h a d m a n y roots:
t h e o w n e r s h i p a n d o r g a n i s a t i o n o f i n d u s t r y a n d b u s i n e s s , t h e distribu
tion of wealth a n d property, the distribution of incomes, education,
o c c u p a t i o n , a n d r e l i g i o n a r e t h e c h i e f e l e m e n t s . T h e specifically u r b a n
e l e m e n t in the d e v e l o p m e n t of social structure a n d in the expression
38
Michael Anderson, Family Structure in Nineteenth-Century Lancashire (Cambridge,
1971), p. 73.

34 F . M. L. T H O M P S O N
of social conflict l a y in t h e p h y s i c a l e n v i r o n m e n t o f t h e t o w n s , w h i c h
w a s t h e m o s t t y p i c a l s e t t i n g w i t h i n w h i c h t h e p r i m a r y factors o p e r
a t e d ; in t h e r e s i d e n t i a l s o c i a l s e g r e g a t i o n , w h i c h c a m e to c h a r a c t e r i s e
all t h e l a r g e r t o w n s , a n d w h i c h e m p h a s i s e d t h e s e p a r a t e i d e n t i t i e s
of different social g r o u p s e v e n if it d i d n o t n e c e s s a r i l y stir u p conflict
b e t w e e n t h e m ; a n d i n t h e p h y s i c a l p r o x i m i t y o f g r o u p s at t h e m a r g i n ,
w h i c h n u r t u r e d t h e p a s s i o n for fine d i s t i n c t i o n s a n d s u b t l e n u a n c e s
of differentiation o f s t a t u s w h i c h m a r k e d all l e v e l s o f V i c t o r i a n s o c i e t y ,
a n d w e r e only slightly less cherished b y the working classes t h a n
b y t h e m i d d l e c l a s s e s . T o w e r i n g o v e r all t h e s e u r b a n f e a t u r e s w a s
t h e g r o w t h in t h e s h e e r size o f t h e l a r g e s t t o w n s a n d t h e s e c o n d - r a n k
i n d u s t r i a l a n d c o m m e r c i a l t o w n s , w h i c h s o far o u t d i s t a n c e d the
c o u n t r y t o w n s t h a t r e m a i n e d s i m p l e m a r k e t c e n t r e s as to l e a v e t h e m
in a different, traditional, ' B a r c h e s t e r ' w o r l d - m o r e p a r t o f rural or
ecclesiastical s o c i e t y t h a n o f V i c t o r i a n u r b a n s o c i e t y .
T h e i n c r e a s e in s c a l e l a y at t h e r o o t o f a p r o f o u n d c h a n g e in t h e
u r b a n c o n s c i o u s n e s s o f t h e i n t e l l e c t u a l a n d political c l a s s e s , w h i c h
s u r f a c e d in p u b l i c d i s c o u r s e a n d p o l i c y p r o p o s a l s in t h e 1 8 3 0 s a n d
1 8 4 0 s n o t o n l y directly c o n c e r n i n g h e a l t h a n d h o u s i n g in t o w n s , b u t
also r e l a t i n g to e d u c a t i o n , r e l i g i o n , a n d p o l i c i n g , w h i c h all c a m e t o
b e s e e n as p r i m a r i l y u r b a n p r o b l e m s ; o n l y t h e p o o r l a w , a n a c h r o n i s t i -
39
cally, w a s still t r e a t e d as e s s e n t i a l l y a rural m a t t e r . There were many
r e a s o n s for t h i s c o n c e r n w i t h t h e t o w n s , a n d m o t i v e s o f self-interest
a n d s e l f - p r e s e r v a t i o n m a y w e l l h a v e o u t w e i g h e d t h e stirrings o f social
c o n s c i e n c e o r t h e p r o m p t i n g s o f b r o t h e r l y l o v e : fear o f t h e d i s o r d e r l y ,
subversive, and perhaps insurrectionary potential of unregulated and
masterless urban masses, and dread of the uncontrollable spread of
d i s e a s e f r o m t h e g r e a t u n w a s h e d to p o l i t e s o c i e t y , w e r e powerful
r e a s o n s for c o n c e r n . B u t at t h e s a m e t i m e as t h e r u l e r s , t h e p o l i c y
m a k e r s , t h e critics, a n d t h o s e i n v o l v e d i n f o r m i n g w h a t t h e y c o n v i n c e d
o n e another w a s 'informed public opinion' w e r e paying increasing
attention to the towns - b y which were meant the s o m e w h a t loosely
d e f i n e d T a r g e ' t o w n s - t h e y , a n d t h e i r social g r o u p s , w e r e b e c o m i n g
i n c r e a s i n g l y d i s t a n c e d f r o m , a n d d e t a c h e d f r o m , l a r g e districts in
t h e t o w n s a n d l a r g e a r e a s o f u r b a n life, w h i c h t h e y t h e r e u p o n p e r
c e i v e d as ' p r o b l e m s ' . T h e o t h e r p r i m e effect o f t h e i n c r e a s e in s c a l e ,
b e s i d e s s e r v i n g t o f o c u s a t t e n t i o n o n t o w n s , w a s to d i v i d e a n d a t o m i s e
u r b a n s o c i e t y i n t o s e p a r a t e social p a r t s , s o t h a t i n m a n y l o c a t i o n s
39
For fuller treatment of these topics, see Volumes 2 and 3.

Town and city 35
a n d in m a n y r e s p e c t s u r b a n s o c i e t y c e a s e d t o e x i s t a s a c o h e r e n t s t r u c
ture a n d b e c a m e m o r e of a collection of distinct c o m m u n i t i e s or social
structures sharing a c o m m o n infrastructure of buildings and services,
cohabiting in an a t m o s p h e r e of m u t u a l i g n o r a n c e a n d suspicion.
D i s e n g a g e m e n t and retreat into select segregation w a s most obvious
a m o n g aristocratic a n d gentry circles. B y the 1850s t h e habit of k e e p i n g
t o w n h o u s e s h a d all b u t v a n i s h e d , e x c e p t i n L o n d o n a n d , for a r e m
nant of non-metropolitian lairds, in E d i n b u r g h . In E d i n b u r g h , indeed,
it is m o r e a c c u r a t e t o s a y t h a t t h e g r a n d e s t a n d m o s t e l e g a n t o f t h e
t o w n h o u s e s in t h e N e w T o w n w e r e t a k e n o v e r b y a p r o f e s s i o n a l
a n d e c c l e s i a s t i c a l elite, for it r e m a i n e d a c a p i t a l c i t y for a d v o c a t e s a n d
m i n i s t e r s o f t h e C h u r c h o f S c o t l a n d t h o u g h n o t o n e for a r i s t o c r a t i c
h i g h s o c i e t y o r for p o l i t i c i a n s . E l s e w h e r e s o m e t o w n s b e c a m e s o
a l t e r e d i n c h a r a c t e r t h a t t h e g e n t r y w e r e d r i v e n a w a y b y t h e dirt a n d
s m o k e : t h u s the c h a r m s of P r e s t o n as a m a r k e t t o w n , port, a n d social
c e n t r e w e r e o b l i t e r a t e d b y t h e r i s e o f t h e mill c h i m n e y s w h i c h h a d
m a d e it i n t o a l a r g e c o t t o n s p i n n i n g t o w n b y m i d - c e n t u r y . I n m o s t
cases, h o w e v e r , the gentry o p t e d out of continuing to k e e p h o u s e s
in t h e provincial t o w n s , a n d w e r e n o t s q u e e z e d out b y the growth
of m a n u f a c t u r i n g o r a n y o t h e r e c o n o m i c c h a n g e t h a t m i g h t r e n d e r
a t o w n disagreeable. T h e y opted out of the likes of York a n d Stamford,
Shrewsbury and Carmarthen, if a n y t h i n g because such towns
r e m a i n e d t o o q u i e t , dull, o l d - f a s h i o n e d , a n d u n e x c i t i n g , n o t b e c a u s e
4 0
they b e c a m e too p o p u l o u s or p l e b e i a n . C o u n t y families c o n t i n u e d
to patronise race m e e t i n g s , assemblies, a n n u a l balls, a n d other social
e v e n t s w i t h a c o u n t y t o w n s e t t i n g , b u t t h e y c a m e as v i s i t o r s a n d
n o longer as seasonal residents. I m p r o v e m e n t s in c o m m u n i c a t i o n s ,
oiling the w h e e l s of fashion, c o n c e n t r a t e d the s e a s o n s of t o w n resi
dence more and more exclusively on L o n d o n and on the more agree
a b l e r e s o r t s , at h o m e o r o n t h e C o n t i n e n t , w h e r e t h e g e n t r y and
aristocracy could congregate together.
In L o n d o n t h e a r i s t o c r a t i c p r e s e n c e w a s h i g h l y v i s i b l e , h i g h l y c o m
pact, a n d increasingly divorced from the rest of the city. T h e 1820s
w e r e a t i m e o f g r o w i n g rivalry in p o m p a n d d i s p l a y a m o n g t h e t o w n
m a n s i o n s o r a r i s t o c r a t i c h o t e l s , t h e r e s p o n s e o f t h e p r i v a t e s e c t o r to
t h e s c h e m e s o f N a s h a n d G e o r g e I V for g i v i n g t h e i m p e r i a l capital
a suitably royal and m o n u m e n t e d facelift. The extravagance and
40
David W. Howell, Patriarchs and Parasites: The Gentry of South-West Wales in the Eigh
teenth Century (Cardiff, 1986), p. 190, noting the town houses of the gentry in
Carmarthen.

s p l e n d o u r of the c o n v e r s i o n of H o l d e r n e s s e H o u s e into L o n d o n d e r r y
H o u s e , Park Lane, b y the third M a r q u e s s , and the refacing and exten
s i o n o f A p s l e y H o u s e for t h e D u k e o f W e l l i n g t o n , w e r e b u t l e a d i n g
examples of a general process of enlarging and embellishing the lead
i n g t o w n h o u s e s to c a t e r for h i g h s o c i e t y ' s c o m p e t i t i v e d r i v e for p r i v a t e
b a l l r o o m s o r p r i v a t e art g a l l e r i e s . B u i l d i n g , or e x t e n s i v e r e b u i l d i n g ,
c o n t i n u e d , as w i t h H e r t f o r d H o u s e off P a r k L a n e w h i c h t h e M a r q u e s s
of H e r t f o r d built in t h e 1 8 5 0 s l a r g e l y to h o u s e h i s art c o l l e c t i o n , a n d
w h i c h h e left to h i s i l l e g i t i m a t e s o n S i r R i c h a r d W a l l a c e , w h o s e w i d o w
in t u r n left t h e c o l l e c t i o n to t h e n a t i o n . A f e w o f t h e g r e a t h o u s e s
v a n i s h e d , as w h e n t h e m a g n i f i c e n t s i x t e e n t h - c e n t u r y Northumber
l a n d H o u s e w a s d e m o l i s h e d in 1 8 7 4 t o m a k e w a y for N o r t h u m b e r l a n d
A v e n u e , a n d t h e D u k e w a s f o r c e d b a c k o n S y o n H o u s e as h i s n e a r e s t
a p p r o a c h to a t o w n r e s i d e n c e . O n t h e w h o l e , t h e g r e a t a r i s t o c r a t i c
t o w n m a n s i o n s s u r v i v e d in full r e s i d e n t i a l a n d s o c i a l w o r k i n g o r d e r
u n t i l 1 9 1 4 . T h e y h a d to s h a r e t h e i r s p a c e i n P i c c a d i l l y a n d M a y f a i r
with clubs, w h i c h in s o m e respects w e r e t h e poorer g e n t r y ' s substitute
for a private residence, with hotels - the Ritz appeared in 1906 -
a n d with the wealthiest, m o s t socially acceptable, or m o s t deter
minedly aspiring m e m b e r s of the non-landed m o n i e d and propertied
classes. D e n i e d continued exclusive possession of their eighteenth-
c e n t u r y territory, b y c o m m e r c i a l p r e s s u r e s a n d r i s i n g p r o p e r t y v a l u e s ,
t h e aristocratic a n d f a s h i o n a b l e w o r l d r a p i d l y s e t t l e d B e l g r a v i a as it
d e v e l o p e d f r o m t h e late 1 8 2 0 s t h r o u g h to t h e 1 8 5 0 s , a district o f e l e g a n t
squares and frontages, not of individual palaces, but emphatically
a n aristocratic district.
T h e r u l i n g c l a s s did n o t m a k e as e m p h a t i c a n d i m p o s i n g a n a r c h i t e c
tural s t a t e m e n t in t h e i r c a p i t a l city as did, for e x a m p l e , t h e H a b s b u r g
4 1
nobility in nineteenth-century V i e n n a . O n e reason was that the
r u l i n g c l a s s in B r i t a i n w a s l e s s a m a t t e r o f s t a t u s a n d p r e c e d e n c e ,
which required outward show, than of influence and connections,
w h i c h r e q u i r e d i n d o o r s p l e n d o u r a n d facilities; a n o t h e r w a s t h a t t h e
English (and the Scottish and W e l s h ) lavished their main architectural
attentions on their country houses, which were their p o w e r bases.
E v e n so, Victorian L o n d o n h a d a well defined, and opulent, aristocra
tic q u a r t e r ; a n d its d e m a n d s for s e r v i c e , f o o d a n d d r i n k , f a s h i o n a b l e
clothes, luxuries of m a n y kinds, and entertainment, while seasonal,
w e r e of decisive importance to the e c o n o m y of the entire W e s t E n d .
41
Donald J. Olsen, The City as a Work of Art: London, Paris, Vienna (1986), pp. 13-15.

Town and city 37
In that part of the year which was not appropriated b y the winter
a n d s p r i n g s e a s o n in L o n d o n , or b y r e s i d e n c e o n t h e i r c o u n t r y e s t a t e s
for s h o o t i n g a n d h u n t i n g , t h e n o m a d i c g e n t r y c a m e to c o n c e n t r a t e
their periods of recuperation a n d refreshment on a relatively small
s e l e c t i o n o f r e s o r t s w h i c h w e r e a b l e to m a i n t a i n t h e r i g h t t o n e of
seclusion and enjoyability. Bath was largely abandoned, having
b e c o m e t o o c o m m o n ; e v e n C h e l t e n h a m , g r o w i n g fast in t h e 1 8 2 0 s
as a m o r e s e d a t e a n d l e s s c r o w d e d v e r s i o n o f B a t h , a t t r a c t e d r e t i r e d
p e o p l e o f m e a n s , m i l i t a r y a n d n a v a l officers, a n d I n d i a n a n d c o l o n i a l
servants, rather than the aristocracy. Alone a m o n g the inland spas
in t h e late n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , H a r r o g a t e e n j o y e d a r e p u t a t i o n for
attracting aristocratic society, England's answer to Wiesbaden,
M a r i e n b a d , or K a r l s b a d , w h i c h w e r e t h e m o s t s t y l i s h a n d c o s m o p o l i -
4 2
t i a n c u r i n g - g r o u n d s for t h e n o b i l i t y o f E u r o p e f r o m t h e 1 8 6 0 s . At
t h e s e a s i d e , a l s o , t h e a r i s t o c r a c y a n d g e n t r y c e a s e d t o visit t h e w i d e l y
s c a t t e r e d s m a l l r e s o r t s , in f a m i l y g r o u p s , as t h e y h a d d o n e in t h e
late eighteenth century; w i t h d r e w from Brighton a n d W e y m o u t h b y
the 1840s, with the demise of royal patronage; and a b a n d o n e d the
g r e a t m a j o r i t y o f t h e r e s o r t s to t h e m i d d l e c l a s s e s a n d t h e s u p e r i o r
working classes. B y 1871 probably only Hastings and Torquay, out
of t h e f o r t y - e i g h t s e a s i d e r e s o r t s l i s t e d in t h e c e n s u s , e n j o y e d a r i s t o c r a
tic f a v o u r ; H a s t i n g s b e c a u s e it w a s q u i e t , dignified, a n d at t h e s a m e
t i m e sufficiently i n e x p e n s i v e to a p p e a l to i m p o v e r i s h e d g e n t r y , a n d
T o r q u a y b e c a u s e it offered a w i n t e r s e a s o n for t h o s e w h o c o u l d n o t
4 3
afford L o n d o n .
F r o m the 1830s o n w a r d s the aristocracy might be wintering in
C a n n e s o r N i c e , a n d t h i r t y y e a r s later c o u l d b e h e a d i n g for D e a u v i l l e
o r Biarritz o r a n y o n e o f a d o z e n F r e n c h a n d Italian r e s o r t s . Rail t r a v e l
a n d C h a n n e l s t e a m e r s h a d o p e n e d o u t , a n d virtually c r e a t e d o u t o f
f o r m e r t i n y fishing v i l l a g e s , a w h o l e n e w a r r a y o f e m i n e n t l y a g r e e a b l e
t o w n s which greatly expanded t h e h o r i z o n s of aristocratic u r b a n
e x p e r i e n c e , a l t h o u g h i n t r o d u c i n g little g r e a t e r v a r i e t y i n t o its q u a l i t y .
T h e effect w i t h i n B r i t a i n , h o w e v e r , w a s to n a r r o w d o w n a n d restrict
t h e r a n g e o f t o w n s o f w h i c h a r i s t o c r a c y a n d g e n t r y h a d t h e direct
e x p e r i e n c e o f r e s i d e n c e a n d o f f o r m i n g , for c o n s i d e r a b l e p a r t s o f t h e
y e a r , p a r t o f a n u r b a n c o m m u n i t y . T h i s c o n t r a c t i o n o f t h e aristocratic
e l e m e n t i n u r b a n s o c i e t y , a n d its n e a r total c o n c e n t r a t i o n o n t h e c a p i t a l
42
Waller, Town, City and Nation, p. 134; E . J. Hobsbawm, The Age of Capital, 1848-75
(1975), pp. 204-5.
43
Pimlott, Englishman's Holiday, pp. 114, 269.

38 F . M. L . T H O M P S O N
a n d j u s t o n e o r t w o o t h e r t o w n s , i n s o m e w a y s left t h e s t a g e c l e a r
for t h e n o n - t r a d i t i o n a l , n o n - l a n d e d , u p p e r m i d d l e c l a s s t o s u p p l y t h e
d o m i n a n t u r b a n e l i t e s . B u t it w a s a l s o offset, i n s o m e d e g r e e , b y t h e
role of s o m e l a n d o w n e r s , as individual estate o w n e r s rather than as
m e m b e r s o f a social g r o u p , a s u r b a n l a n d l o r d s .
This w a s a role w h i c h e x p a n d e d almost automatically with the
g r o w t h a n d p h y s i c a l e x p a n s i o n o f t o w n s , b u t f o r t u i t o u s l y i n its parti
c u l a r l o c a t i o n s s i n c e it d e p e n d e d v e r y l a r g e l y o n t h e l u c k y a c c i d e n t s
of l o n g - o w n e d a n d i n h e r i t e d fields a n d f a r m s c h a n c i n g t o lie i n t h e
path of urban development. Thus, Sir J o h n R a m s d e n o w n e d the major
part of Huddersfield in t h e 1880s not b e c a u s e h e h a d created the t o w n
but b e c a u s e the R a m s d e n family estate already controlled m o s t of
the land in t h e direction of Huddersfield's r a p i d e x p a n s i o n after
the 1830s; although b e i n g a s h r e w d b u s i n e s s m a n Sir J o h n did take
the precaution of acquiring o n e or t w o small adjoining estates in order
4 4
to p r o t e c t h i s l a n d m o n o p o l y . M u c h the s a m e can b e said of the
m a n y other l a n d o w n e r s w h o w e r e t u r n e d into very large, often locally
dominant, urban landlords b y the process of urban growth. A ques
tionnaire a d d r e s s e d to 2 6 1 provincial t o w n s in E n g l a n d a n d W a l e s
in 1 8 8 6 r e v e a l e d t h a t at l e a s t 1 0 9 o f t h e m h a d T a r g e a r e a s ' o w n e d
by individual ground landlords, m o s t of w h o m w e r e also large land
owners of the landed classes. O n the other hand, n o less than 134
t o w n s r e p l i e d t h a t t h e y d i d n o t h a v e a n y l a r g e g r o u n d l a n d l o r d s at
all; H a l i f a x , for e x a m p l e , c l o s e t o H u d d e r s f i e l d g e o g r a p h i c a l l y a n d
industrially, a n d in size a n d rate of growth, claimed to h a v e n o large
4 5
or p a r t i c u l a r l y n o t i c e a b l e g r o u n d o w n e r s .
It w a s t h u s l a r g e l y a m a t t e r o f c h a n c e w h e t h e r a n y p a r t i c u l a r t o w n
h a d any strategically placed large l a n d o w n e r s , m a d e wealthy and
influential b y t h e c o u r s e o f n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y e x p a n s i o n , j u s t a s it
was a matter of c h a n c e w h e t h e r a n y particular large l a n d o w n e r found
himself e n r i c h e d b y crops of h o u s e s o n his estate. T h e o n e area in
which landowners perhaps created their o w n urban wealth by their
o w n i n i t i a t i v e s , a s d i s t i n c t f r o m r e c e i v i n g it a s a p r e s e n t f r o m m a r k e t
forces w h i c h t h e y did not control, w a s in the creation of s o m e of
44
Richard Dennis, English Industrial Cities of the Nineteenth Century (Cambridge, 1984),
pp. 1 4 8 - 9 , 1 5 7 .
45
SC on Town Holdings, PP 1887, XIII, questionnaire circulated by Charles Harrison,
solicitor, pp. 677-812. Many of the large landowners who were significant urban
landlords are listed by D. Spring, 'English Landowners and Nineteenth-Century
,
Industrialism , in J. T. Ward and R. G. Wilson, eds., Land and Industry (Newton
Abbot, 1971), pp. 39-40, 4 2 - 3 .

Town and city 39
the n e w resorts which grew o n virgin sites. Classic examples were

E a s t b o u r n e , c o n j u r e d b y the D u k e of D e v o n s h i r e out of virtually
n o t h i n g b u t fields a n d cliffs i n t h e t h i r t y y e a r s after 1 8 4 9 ; S k e g n e s s ,
raised b y the Earl of S c a r b o r o u g h o n s o m e u n p r o m i s i n g Lincolnshire
sand dunes from the 1870s; and Bexhill, propelled into unlikely but
successful h i g h - c l a s s rivalry with neighbouring Eastbourne and
H a s t i n g s b y t h e efforts o f E a r l d e la W a r r i n t h e 1 8 8 0 s a n d 1 8 9 0 s .
There were many more landowner promotions among the nineteenth-
century resorts, s o m e successful, s o m e not. T h e r e w e r e also m a n y
n e w , or rapidly expanding, resorts w h i c h w e r e not the creatures of
l a n d o w n e r initiatives: Brighton, Blackpool, Clacton, or S o u t h e n d , to
46
cite e x a m p l e s a c r o s s t h e s p e c t r u m o f s o c i a l r e p u t a t i o n s .
There has b e e n m u c h discussion a m o n g u r b a n a n d social historians
of t h e effects o f t h e s t r u c t u r e o f l a n d o w n e r s h i p o n t h e p h y s i c a l a n d
s o c i a l c h a r a c t e r o f u r b a n d e v e l o p m e n t s . T h e p i c t u r e is a c o m p l i c a t e d
o n e , b u t it is c l e a r t h a t u n i f i e d o w n e r s h i p o f a s i z e a b l e tract o f p o t e n t i a l
b u i l d i n g l a n d d i d n o t n e c e s s a r i l y a n d u n i f o r m l y l e a d to t h e d e v e l o p
m e n t o f h i g h - c l a s s r e s i d e n t i a l districts o r t o w n s o f a s u p e r i o r and
elegant style e v e n a m o n g s t the n e w resorts; in the w o r k i n g towns,
w h e r e industry, trade, c o m m e r c e , a n d the professions w e r e carried
on, the c o n n e c t i o n b e t w e e n unified o w n e r s h i p a n d fashionable, or
c o m f o r t a b l e m i d d l e - c l a s s , districts w a s e v e n l e s s c e r t a i n . L o c a l t o p o
graphy, accessibility, proximity of industries, especially the obnoxious
ones, and the character of adjoining areas were a m o n g the determi
nants of the social configuration of n e w u r b a n d e v e l o p m e n t s w h i c h
frequently cut across or n e g a t e d the influence of patterns of land-
4 7
ownership. It is a l s o c l e a r t h a t i n m a n y t o w n s t h o s e w h o b e c a m e
l a r g e u r b a n l a n d l o r d s a l s o b e c a m e p o w e r f u l a n d i n f l u e n t i a l figures
i n t h e p o l i t i c a l a n d s o c i a l life o f t h e t o w n , a n d t h i s h a p p e n e d w h e t h e r
or not t h e l a n d o w n e r a t t e m p t e d to, or s u c c e e d e d in, p e o p l i n g his
urban property with a superior class of residents. T h e D u k e of D e v o n
s h i r e a n d h i s a g e n t d o m i n a t e d t h e life o f E a s t b o u r n e u n t i l t h e 1 8 9 0 s ,
a n d i n t h e 1 8 9 0 s t h e E a r l d e la W a r r w a s p e r s o n a l l y t h e l e a d e r o f
Bexhill society: these w e r e instances w h e r e the t o w n s w e r e indeed
successfully m o u l d e d in t h e i m a g e of their aristocratic o w n e r s . T h e
Earl of S c a r b o r o u g h a n d his agent, h o w e v e r , w e r e similarly h o n o u r e d
46
David Cannadine, Lords and Landlords: The Aristocracy and the Towns, 1774-1967
(Leicester, 1980), pp. 6 2 - 6 , 408-12. John K. Walton, The English Seaside Resort: A
Social History, 1750-1914 (Leicester, 1983), chap. 5.
47
Cannadine, Lords and Landlords, pp. 391-416, summarises this discussion and exam
ines its historiography.

40 F. M. L . T H O M P S O N
a n d t r e a t e d w i t h d e f e r e n c e b y S k e g n e s s , a l t h o u g h t h e t o w n w a s deli
b e r a t e l y d e v e l o p e d for l o w e r - c l a s s t r i p p e r s a n d h a d n o p r e t e n s i o n s
to a h i g h t o n e .
Moreover, individual aristocrats w e r e the u n c r o w n e d kings of
several of the largest t o w n s , a n d w h e t h e r their urban properties
h o u s e d t h e w e a l t h i e s t a n d s m a r t e s t q u a r t e r i n t o w n or t h e i n d u s t r i a l
a n d w o r k i n g - c l a s s a r e a s , t h e y w e r e t r e a t e d as g r a n d e e s . I n Cardiff,
virtually the creation of the s e c o n d M a r q u e s s of B u t e w h o built the
first c o a l d o c k s i n t h e 1 8 3 0 s a n d o w n e d m u c h o f t h e l a n d o n w h i c h
t h e e x p a n d i n g t o w n w a s built, t h e B u t e i n t e r e s t w a s d o m i n a n t u n t i l
t h e 1 8 7 0 s , w h i l e t h e E a r l s o f D e r b y w e r e c o n t i n u o u s l y i n f l u e n t i a l in
Liverpool society a n d politics e v e n t h o u g h their party allegiances
v e e r e d b a c k a n d forth b e t w e e n W h i g a n d T o r y . T h e s e t w o f a m i l i e s
h a d d i g n i f i e d s e a t s in o r c l o s e to t h e i r t o w n s , C a r d i f f C a s t l e a n d
K n o w s l e y , j u s t as t h e D e v o n s h i r e s a n d d e la W a r r s h a d r e s i d e n c e s
in E a s t b o u r n e a n d Bexhill, a n d this real p r e s e n c e n o doubt h e l p e d
t h e aristocratic i n f l u e n c e . T h e D u k e s o f N o r f o l k , h o w e v e r , w e r e r a r e l y
s e e n in S h e f f i e l d , w h e r e t h e y o w n e d a l a r g e i n d u s t r i a l a n d w o r k i n g -
c l a s s district, b u t n o n - r e s i d e n c e did n o t curtail t h e i r i n f l u e n c e i n t h e
town. T h e reverse could equally well b e true: Lord Calthorpe and
h i s a g e n t s carefully n u r s e d t h e t r a n s f o r m a t i o n o f h i s E d g b a s t o n e s t a t e
i n t o t h e h o m e o f B i r m i n g h a m ' s elite, b u t t h e C a l t h o r p e s , a l t h o u g h
t h e y t e m p o r a r i l y r e v e r t e d f r o m b e i n g a b s e n t e e l a n d o w n e r s l i v i n g in
H a m p s h i r e to r e s i d i n g i n r e a c h o f B i r m i n g h a m at P e r r y H a l l i n t h e
middle years of the century, n e v e r established t h e m s e l v e s as the
48
leaders of that elite.
T h e s o c i a l s i g n i f i c a n c e o f t h e rise o f t h e a r i s t o c r a c y as l a r g e u r b a n
l a n d o w n e r s t h u s v a r i e d w i d e l y f r o m p l a c e to p l a c e . I n e s s e n c e t h e r e
were three groups of towns: those which had no outstanding land
o w n e r s , w e r e built o n l a n d i n f r a g m e n t e d o w n e r s h i p , a n d w e r e p r e d o
minantly freehold towns; those w h i c h did h a v e large tracts of building
l a n d in s i n g l e , o f t e n a r i s t o c r a t i c , o w n e r s h i p , w e r e l e a s e h o l d t o w n s ,
b u t h a d n o d o m i n a n t a n d influential a r i s t o c r a t i c i n t e r e s t ; a n d finally
those w h e r e dominant estates and dominant influence w e n t h a n d
in h a n d . M a n c h e s t e r , L e e d s , N e w c a s t l e , a n d B r i s t o l w e r e l e a d i n g
m e m b e r s o f t h e first g r o u p , to w h i c h B r i g h t o n a n d B l a c k p o o l a l s o
48
M. J. Daunton, Coal Metropolis: Cardiff, 1870-1914 (Leicester, 1977), pp. 167-9.
P. J. Waller, Democracy and Sectarianism: A Political and Social History of Liverpool,
1868-1939 (Liverpool, 1981), pp. 7 1 - 4 , 179-80. Cannadine, Lords and Landlords, pp.
41-5,155.

Town and city 41
b e l o n g e d ; B i r m i n g h a m , B r a d f o r d (Earl o f R o s s e ) , S t o c k p o r t ( L o r d
Egerton of Tatton), and Sunderland (Bishop of Durham, Sir Hedworth
W i l l i a m s o m o f W h i t b u r n ) m a y b e p l a c e d in t h e s e c o n d c a t e g o r y ; w h i l e
B a r r o w - i n - F u r n e s s ( D u k e o f D e v o n s h i r e ) , P r e s t o n (Earl o f D e r b y ) ,
S o u t h p o r t ( t h e S c a r i s b r i c k s ) , or W h i t e h a v e n (Earl o f L o n s d a l e ) c a n
r e a d i l y b e a d d e d to Cardiff, H u d d e r s f i e l d , L i v e r p o o l , Sheffield, B e x -
hill, a n d E a s t b o u r n e in t h e final g r o u p w i t h o u t in a n y w a y c o m p l e t i n g
49
the roll-call.
W h e r e a n aristocratic p r e s e n c e o n t h e g r o u n d w a s t r a n s l a t e d i n t o
effective social a n d political l e a d e r s h i p it s e e m s to h a v e b e e n t h e r e s u l t
of a c o m b i n a t i o n o f f a c t o r s : t h e a b s o l u t e size a n d w e a l t h o f t h e p a r t i c u
lar u r b a n e s t a t e , a n d its relative size in r e l a t i o n to t h a t o f t h e t o w n
a n d t h e t o w n ' s b u s i n e s s a n d cultural a r e a s ; r e s i d e n c e a n d p e r s o n a l
appearances that were not too infrequent; and personal c o m m i t m e n t ,
or at l e a s t i n v o l v e m e n t o f a local e s t a t e office a n d a t e a m o f local
e s t a t e officials, in t h e c u l t i v a t i o n o f a n i n t e r e s t . T h r e e s t a g e s h a v e
b e e n d i s c e r n e d in t h e V i c t o r i a n life-cycle o f t h e s e ' a r i s t o c r a t i c ' t o w n s .
A p h a s e o f r a p i d e x p a n s i o n a n d b u i l d i n g o n t h e e s t a t e l a s t i n g , in
m o s t c a s e s , until t h e 1 8 6 0 s or 1 8 7 0 s , d u r i n g w h i c h p a t e r n a l i s t d i r e c t i o n
a n d c o n t r o l w e r e as e v i d e n t in local g o v e r n m e n t as in t h e p r o v i s i o n
of b a s i c utilities a n d a m e n i t i e s , a n d t h e l a n d o w n e r a c t e d as t h e f o c u s
b o t h for d e f e r e n t i a l a n d o b s e q u i o u s a d h e r e n t s s e e k i n g a d v a n c e m e n t
a n d p o w e r , a n d for radical o p p o n e n t s o f p r i v i l e g e a n d dependence
a l s o s e e k i n g a d v a n c e m e n t a n d p o w e r . T h e s e c o n d p h a s e , in t h e 1 8 7 0 s
a n d 1 8 8 0 s , s a w t h e t r i u m p h o f t h e m u n i c i p a l critics o f aristocratic
d o m i n a t i o n , t h e f l o w e r i n g o f civic i n d e p e n d e n c e , a n d t h e r e l e g a t i o n
of t h e l a n d o w n e r s to a l o w e r profile in social a n d political affairs.
Finally, f r o m 1 8 9 0 t o 1 9 1 4 , t h e l i b e r a t e d a n d self-confident cities t u r n e d
t o t h e i r e r s t w h i l e aristocratic p a t r o n s as d e c o r a t i v e a n d o r n a m e n t a l
f i g u r e h e a d s , a n d m a d e t h e m l o r d m a y o r s a n d m a y o r s , dignified c e r e
m o n i a l figures w h o s e r a n k r u b b e d off o n t h e m u n i c i p a l i t i e s b u t w h o
h a d b e c o m e harmless and powerless. T h e third Marquess of Bute,
b e c o m i n g m a y o r o f Cardiff in 1 8 9 1 , w a s ' t h e first p e e r to h o l d t h e
h i g h e s t m u n i c i p a l office in a n y E n g l i s h or W e l s h b o r o u g h for s e v e r a l
generations - certainly since the Reform A c t ' , and h e was followed
i n t h e n e x t t w e n t y y e a r s b y a p a r a d e o f t h e m a j o r local l a n d o w n e r s
The listing is illustrative, not comprehensive. Complete analysis would require,

in particular, detailed local knowledge of the society and politics of the 109 towns
which were stated, in 1886, to have one or more very considerable groundowners.

42 F . M. L . T H O M P S O N
into t h e mayoralties of Belfast, D u d l e y , L o n g t o n , Liverpool, Preston,

50
and Sheffield.
In theory a m a r k e d distinction might have b e e n expected b e t w e e n
t h e u r b a n e l i t e s o f t h e first t w o g r o u p s o f t o w n s , a b l e t o p r o d u c e
their o w n leaders, their o w n ethos, a n d their o w n culture without
a r i s t o c r a t i c i n t e r f e r e n c e a n d free f r o m a n y t a i n t o f t o a d y i n g t o a r i s t o
cratic w h i m s o r v a l u e s ; a n d t h o s e o f t h e t h i r d g r o u p , w h o s e s e p a r a t e
a n d i n d e p e n d e n t social d e v e l o p m e n t might h a v e b e e n stunted a n d
distorted b y deference a n d paternalism. In practice no such clear
differentiation b e t w e e n the u p p e r middle classes of the major Victor
i a n t o w n s is r e a d i l y a p p a r e n t , a l t h o u g h t h e s t r i k i n g i m p r e s s i o n m a d e
b y M a n c h e s t e r , B i r m i n g h a m , a n d L e e d s , at r a t h e r different t i m e s a n d
in different w a y s , i n n a t i o n a l political life, i n f o r m i n g p u b l i c o p i n i o n ,
a n d i n i n t e l l e c t u a l a n d c u l t u r a l life, i n c o n t r a s t t o t h e m o r e m u t e d
a n d conformist s h o w i n g of Liverpool or Sheffield, m a y o w e s o m e t h i n g
to t h e s e influences. Neither w a s a n y differentiation m o r e discernible
in t h e t i e r o f r a t h e r s m a l l e r t o w n s w h e r e d i r e c t c o n t a c t b e t w e e n l e a d i n g
business a n d professional m e n a n d the local l a n d o w n e r a n d his agents
w a s m o r e feasible as an i n s t r u m e n t of social control. T h e u p p e r middle
c l a s s o f Cardiff, t h e l e a d i n g c o a l s h i p p e r s a n d s h i p o w n e r s , w a s n o
m o r e deferential or subservient t h a n that of N e w c a s t l e , i n d e e d w a s
p o s s i b l y l e s s s o s i n c e a h i g h e r p r o p o r t i o n o f N e w c a s t l e ' s l e a d i n g citi
z e n s h a d family or property links with N o r t h u m b r i a n c o u n t y society,
a n d C a r d i f f ' s m e r c h a n t s w e r e , at l e a s t b y t h e 1 8 8 0 s , d e f i a n t l y i n d e p e n
51
dent of the Bute interest. M o r e o v e r , w h i l e it is t r u e t h a t t h e t o p
l a y e r o f s o c i e t y i n l a n d o w n e r - c r e a t e d r e s o r t s w a s v e r y different f r o m
that in the great manufacturing a n d port t o w n s , there w a s not a great
deal of difference b e t w e e n E a s t b o u r n e , w h e r e D e v o n s h i r e w a s an
active influence, a n d B o u r n e m o u t h , w h e r e t h e t w o or t h r e e consider
5 2
able l a n d o w n e r s c h o s e to r e m a i n passive a n d u n o b t r u s i v e . Differ
ences in the top level of urban society w e r e primarily functional.
Resort-town elites, heavily w e i g h t e d with retired people a n d rentiers,
w e r e m o r e socially conservative, m o r e preoccupied with the c o n v e n
tions of gentility a n d respectability, a n d m o r e derivative a n d imitative
in t h e i r o p i n i o n s , t h a n t h e e l i t e s o f t h e g r e a t i n d u s t r i a l a n d c o m m e r c i a l
towns with their business and professional leaders. T h e presence or
50
Cannadine, Lords and Landlords, pp. 46-52.
51
Daunton, Coal Metropolis, pp. 155-9.
52
Richard Roberts, 'The Corporation as Impresario: The Municipal Provision of Enter
tainment in Victorian and Edwardian Bournemouth', in John K. Walton and James
Walvin, eds., Leisure in Britain, 1780-1939 (Manchester, 1983), pp. 140-2

Town and city 43
a b s e n c e of an active a n d interventionist urban aristocrat w a s of mar

ginal importance.
T h e limited range of l a n d o w n e r influence w a s a function of t o w n
s i z e . I n a v e r y s m a l l t o w n it r e m a i n e d p o s s i b l e for t h e w h o l e c o m
m u n i t y to feel v e r y c o n s c i o u s t h a t it l i v e d i n t h e s h a d o w o f t h e c a s t l e ,
a n d in A r u n d e l o r P e t w o r t h , A l n w i c k o r S t a m f o r d , t h e s m a l l m i d d l e
class of lawyers, other professional m e n , a n d larger m e r c h a n t s w e r e
as deferential towards the D u k e of Norfolk, L o r d Leconfield, the D u k e
of N o r t h u m b e r l a n d , o r t h e M a r q u e s s o f E x e t e r a s w e r e t h e h u m b l e r
townsfolk, d o w n to 1914 a n d b e y o n d . T h e very large t o w n s w e r e
simply too big a n d too complicated in their b u s i n e s s a n d social
a r r a n g e m e n t s for t h i s t y p e o f p e r s o n a l a t t a c h m e n t t o f u n c t i o n , s o t h a t
t h e a r i s t o c r a t i c e l e m e n t , w h e r e it e x i s t e d at all, w a s n o m o r e t h a n
a m i n o r t h r e a d i n t h e fabric o f t h e u r b a n m i d d l e c l a s s e s , w h o s e p a t t e r n
was determined by more weighty, and more uniform, considerations
of i n c o m e , w e a l t h , r e l i g i o n , e d u c a t i o n , a n d political p a r t y . T h e a r i s t o
cratic i n f l u e n c e , at l e a s t a s a m a t t e r o f s e n t i m e n t a n d p r e j u d i c e , m a y
indeed have w o r k e d m o r e strongly o n the lower middle class a n d
the deferential working classes, especially w h e r e they s a w their pros
perity, a n d their t o w n ' s prosperity, as b e i n g closely identified with
a s i n g l e , p r e f e r a b l y titled, l a n d o w n e r .
O w n e r s h i p w a s , therefore, m o r e important as a b o n d joining certain
aristocrats a n d m e m b e r s of the gentry to the urban s c e n e a n d linking
t h e i r f o r t u n e to t h e h e a l t h o f c e r t a i n t o w n s , t h a n a s a factor i n m o u l d i n g
t h e t e x t u r e o f u r b a n s o c i e t y . T h e i d e a a n d p r a c t i c e o f t h e aristocratic
life w a s , h o w e v e r , a c o u n t e r v a i l i n g f o r c e w h i c h e x e r t e d a s u b s t a n t i a l
i n f l u e n c e o n V i c t o r i a n u r b a n s o c i e t y , b o t h i n f u r n i s h i n g s o m e o f its
v a l u e s a n d a t t i t u d e s , a n d i n i n d u c i n g s o m e o f its w e a l t h i e r m e m b e r s
into partially or c o m p l e t e l y deserting the city. T h e gentrification of
t h e b o u r g e o i s i e i n m a n n e r s , b e h a v i o u r , f a m i l y life, a n d s o c i a l c o n v e n
tions, frequently remarked and most marked a m o n g the upper middle
class of the leading b u s i n e s s m e n , industrialists, a n d m e m b e r s of the
5 3
older professions, w a s clearly s o m e t h i n g w h i c h h a p p e n e d in t o w n s .
It is n o t s o c l e a r t h a t it w a s a n u r b a n p h e n o m e n o n , i n t h e s e n s e o f
a s o c i a l i s i n g p r o c e s s d e r i v i n g f r o m t h e specifically u r b a n c h a r a c t e r
of t h e c o n d i t i o n s i n w h i c h t h e s e m i d d l e c l a s s e s h a d t h e i r b e i n g . A c c e p
t a n c e o f t h e m o d e l o f g e n t i l i t y , a n d o f its r u l e s o f s o c i a l c o n d u c t ,
e v o l v e d b y t h e a r i s t o c r a c y a n d g e n t r y c a m e , it c a n b e a r g u e d , b e c a u s e
53
Lawrence Stone and Jeanne C. Fawtier Stone, An Open Elite? England, 1540-1880
(Oxford, 1984), pp. 409, 411.

44 F. M. L . T H O M P S O N
t h a t a r i s t o c r a t i c elite w a s s o d o m i n a n t i n t h e political a n d s o c i a l life

of t h e n a t i o n a n d b e c a u s e its d o m i n a t i o n w a s n o t s o rigidly e x c l u s i v e
as to r e n d e r u n a t t a i n a b l e h o p e s o f s o m e d e g r e e o f s o c i a l a c c e p t a n c e
and assimilation, through emulation o n the part of the wealthy middle
54
classes. S u c h a c c e p t a n c e d i d n o t c o m e a u t o m a t i c a l l y n o r w a s it
unchallenged within the bourgeoisie. Otherwise there would have
b e e n n o call for M a t t h e w A r n o l d ' s c o n t e m p t u o u s d i s m i s s a l o f t h e
crass materialism a n d n a k e d m o n e y - w o r s h i p of the middle class in
Culture and Anarchy ( 1 8 6 8 ) ; n e i t h e r w o u l d it h a v e b e e n p o s s i b l e t o
c l a i m to i d e n t i f y a n i n d e p e n d e n t , n o n - d e f e r e n t i a l a n d n o n - a r i s t o c r a t i c ,
55
middle-class culture in mid-Victorian cities.
T h e c i t y p r o v i d e d a h o m e for b o t h t y p e s , a n d m a y b e c o n s i d e r e d
a m o r e or l e s s n e u t r a l e n v i r o n m e n t . T h e s t u r d i l y i n d e p e n d e n t m i d d l e -
class c u l t u r e w a s p e r h a p s m o r e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f t h e m a j o r p r o v i n c i a l
towns than of L o n d o n ; and, a m o n g t h e m , m o r e characteristic of the
great industrial t o w n s t h a n of the great ports, s u c h as Liverpool a n d
Bristol w h i c h w e r e s o c i a l l y m o r e i n t h e h a n d s o f t r a d i t i o n a l m e r c a n t i l e
elites w i t h t h e i r l e a n i n g s t o w a r d s g e n t r y v a l u e s . T h e i n d e p e n d e n c e
was e x p r e s s e d in p r o u d self-reliance, disdain of aristocratic patronage,
repudiation of idleness, luxury, a n d c o n s p i c u o u s display, belief in
t h e c a r e e r o p e n t o t a l e n t r a t h e r t h a n t o b r e e d i n g a n d r e w a r d s for
i n d i v i d u a l effort a n d m e r i t r a t h e r t h a n for g o o d c o n n e c t i o n s , a n d fer
vent c o m m i t m e n t to the virtues of work, earnestness, sobriety, and
strict s e x u a l m o r a l i t y . T h e w o r k e t h i c is t h e s h o r t h a n d p h r a s e c u s t o
marily u s e d to describe these qualities. T h e y have also b e e n enlisted
as t h e c o r e o f t h e e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l i d e a l w h i c h d e f i n e d m i d d l e - c l a s s
values; but t h e y are p e r h a p s b e s t u n d e r s t o o d as constituting the secu
lar a r m o f t h e e v a n g e l i c a l m o v e m e n t t h a t w a s p r o b a b l y t h e s i n g l e
m o s t p o w e r f u l f o r c e i n B r i t i s h s o c i e t y i n t h e first h a l f o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h
56
century. T h e t r o u b l e w i t h e v a n g e l i c a l i s m is t h a t it c u t a c r o s s t h e
c l a s s e s . It m a y i n d e e d h a v e a c h i e v e d a s o l i d a n d w i d e s p r e a d m i d d l e -
class b a s e b y t h e e a r l y V i c t o r i a n y e a r s , e v e n t h o u g h it h a d o r i g i n a t e d
54
Leonore Davidoff, The Best Circles: Society, Etiquette and the Season (1973), pp. 2 1 - 2 .
55
An independent middle-class culture, with strong sectarian and evangelical roots,
is identified in Leonore Davidoff and Catherine Hall, Family Fortunes: Men and Women
of the English Middle Class, 1780-1850 (1987); and, with intellectual roots, in
R. }. Morris, 'Middle-Class Culture, 1700-1914', in Derek Fraser, ed., A History
of Modern Leeds (Manchester, 1980), esp. pp. 212-14. In a different way, uneasily
linked to the emergence of an English national consciousness, it is the central theme
of Gerald Newman, The Rise of English Nationalism, 1740-1830(1987).
56
The 'entrepreneurial ideal' is defined and discussed by H. J. Perkin, The Origins
of Modern English Society, 1780-1880 (1969), esp. pp. 221-30, 276-81.

Town and city 45
a m o n g m e m b e r s of the gentry a n d the gentry fringe; b u t evangeli

c a l i s m c e r t a i n l y a p p e a l e d t o , a n d i n f l u e n c e d , a s e c t i o n o f t h e aristo
c r a c y , w h o t u r n e d f r o m frivolity a n d i n d o l e n c e t o s e r i o u s b u s i n e s s
a n d g o o d w o r k s , a n d its i n f l u e n c e i n s p r e a d i n g n o t i o n s o f s e l f - r e s p e c t
and respectability to sections of the working classes was i m m e n s e .
T h e p a n - c l a s s a p p e a l o f e v a n g e l i c a l i s m w a s a s o u r c e o f s t r e n g t h in
t h e r i s e o f V i c t o r i a n i s m a n d t h e V i c t o r i a n f a m i l y i d e a l , b u t its v e r y
diffusion, a s w e l l a s its s e c t a r i a n a s p e c t s , m a d e it a w e a k v e h i c l e for
defining a distinctive urban middle-class culture, capable of making
a sustained and independent contribution to the development of the
nation.
A s e c o n d , a n d e v e n t u a l l y m o r e s e r i o u s , s o u r c e o f w e a k n e s s in t h e
c o h e s i o n of the u r b a n middle class w a s that fractions of the class
n e v e r accepted the evangelical c a n o n s of behaviour, seeing comfort,
pleasure, a n d display as p r o p e r r e w a r d s a n d n e c e s s a r y confirmations
of t h e i r w o r l d l y s u c c e s s , a n d c a m e t o h a v e r e s e r v a t i o n s a b o u t living
i n t h e c i t y at all. A d u l t e r y , i n d e e d , m a y n e v e r h a v e b e c o m e a c c e p t a b l e ,
o r at l e a s t t o l e r a t e d , i n t h e f a m i l i e s o f t h e V i c t o r i a n civic patriciate;
o t h e r w i s e t h e r e w a s little d i f f e r e n c e b e t w e e n l i v e s i n t h e i r h o u s e s , w i t h
droves of servants, teams of gardeners, coach-houses, conservatories,
m u s i c r o o m s , billiard r o o m s , a n d b a l l r o o m s , a n d c o u n t r y - h o u s e l i v i n g .
T o b e sure, m a n y grandees continued to build their grand mansions
in t h e city or in t h e n e a r outskirts. T h u s , t h e blanket manufacturer
B e n j a m i n G o t t a n d t h e flax s p i n n e r J o h n M a r s h a l l b u i l t t h e m s e l v e s
l a r g e m a n s i o n s o n t h e hills a b o v e t h e A i r e , a l l e g e d l y t o d o m i n a t e
the w o r k e r s in their factories d o w n b e l o w in L e e d s ; Titus Salt's son
b u i l t a ' W a g n e r i a n r e t r e a t ' i n t h e w o o d s a b o v e h i s f a t h e r ' s mill c o m
p l e x o f S a l t a i r e , B r a d f o r d ; t h e c a r p e t m a n u f a c t u r i n g C r o s s l e y s built
i m p o s i n g h o u s e s o n t h e e d g e of Halifax, close to their mills, and
E d w a r d Akroyd, worsted manufacturer, placed his great h o u s e across
t h e s t r e e t f r o m h i s mill a n d m o d e l f a c t o r y v i l l a g e o f A k r o y d o n , Halifax;
J o h n Fielden, cotton manufacturer, built D o b r o y d Castle, towering
o v e r t h e f a m i l y t o w n o f T o d m o r d e n ; a n d l e a d i n g B i r m i n g h a m families,
t h e C h a m b e r l a i n s a n d t h e C a d b u r y s , l i v e d i n e n o r m o u s h o u s e s set
in private parks c o m p l e t e w i t h private golf c o u r s e s , t o w a r d s the south
5 7
ern edge of the city. V e r y m a n y m o r e o f t h e u p p e r m i d d l e class,
57
Morris, 'Middle-Class Culture', p. 208. C. Treen, 'The Process of Suburban Develop
ment in North Leeds, 1870-1914', in F. M. L. Thompson, ed., The Rise of Suburbia
(Leicester, 1982), p. 182. M. Girouard, The Victorian Country House (1979), pp. 10,
207-10, 404, 414.

affluent b u t l e s s w e a l t h y t h a n t h e n o t a b i l i t i e s , l i v e d in s l i g h t l y m o r e
m o d e s t g r a n d e u r i n t h e g r a n d villas o f E d g b a s t o n , V i c t o r i a P a r k i n
M a n c h e s t e r , S e f t o n P a r k in L i v e r p o o l , H e a d i n g l e y i n L e e d s , K e l v i n -
s i d e in G l a s g o w , B r o o m h a l l i n S h e f f i e l d , T h e P a r k i n N o t t i n g h a m ,
5 8
a n d t h e i r e q u i v a l e n t s in o t h e r l a r g e t o w n s . A f u r t h e r fraction, h o w
ever, took to living outside the city altogether, a n d t h u s established
a d e t a c h e d or s e m i - d e t a c h e d r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h t h e i r s o u r c e o f i n c o m e
and place of business.
B o t h E n g e l s a n d F a u c h e r , f r o m v e r y different i d e o l o g i c a l s t a n d
p o i n t s , o b s e r v e d o f M a n c h e s t e r i n t h e 1 8 4 0 s t h a t t h e g r e a t mill o w n e r s
and other leading citizens deserted the t o w n every evening, retiring
5 9
to t h e i r h o u s e s in t h e c o u n t r y at s o m e d i s t a n c e f r o m t h e c e n t r e .
This kind of wealthy c o m m u t i n g w a s not n e w to the nineteenth cen
t u r y ; for c e n t u r i e s s o m e o f t h e w e a l t h i e s t L o n d o n m e r c h a n t s h a d l i v e d
in c o u n t r y h o u s e s , or c o u n t r y v i l l a g e s , a d o z e n o r m o r e m i l e s f r o m
the City, either year-round or during the heat and stench of s u m m e r .
W h a t w a s p e r h a p s n e w w a s t h e a d o p t i o n o f t h e h a b i t in t h e p r o v i n c e s
a n d b y the prosperous middle class b e l o w the top level of wealth.
The very wealthiest, w h o acquired country houses and landed estates,
can b e divided into t w o groups: those w h o c o n t i n u e d in b u s i n e s s ,
o f t e n financial b u t i n s e v e r a l i n s t a n c e s i n d u s t r i a l , a n d b e c a m e c o m
m u t i n g a m p h i b i a n s , e q u a l l y at h o m e i n t h e w o r l d o f t h e h u n t i n g field
and the world of counting house; and those w h o transformed them
selves a n d their heirs into l a n d e d gentry. T h e n u m b e r s in the t w o
groups taken together w e r e small, a matter of n o m o r e t h a n 2 0 0 or
3 0 0 i n d i v i d u a l s o v e r t h e c e n t u r y ; b u t p o s s i b l y as m u c h as 8 0 p e r c e n t
of t h e v e r y w e a l t h i e s t m e m b e r s o f t h e u p p e r m i d d l e c l a s s , w h o left
p e r s o n a l f o r t u n e s at d e a t h o f £}/i m i l l i o n o r m o r e , b e l o n g e d t o o n e
6 0
or o t h e r g r o u p . T h i s m o v e m e n t w a s t h e c o n t i n u a t i o n o f a l o n g tra
d i t i o n , m a g n i f i e d i n s c a l e b y t h e n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y e x p a n s i o n in t h e
6 1
overall n u m b e r s of the very w e a l t h y . More novel was the settlement
58
Glasgow, Nottingham, and Sheffield are discussed in M. A. Simpson and T. H.
Lloyd, eds., Middle-Class Housing in Britain (Newton Abbot, 1977). See also Canna-
dine, Lords and Landlords pp. 124, 402; and Donald J. Olsen, 'House upon House',
in H. J. Dyos and Michael Wolff, eds., The Victorian City, vol. 1: Images and Realities
(1978 edn), pp. 341-5.
59
F. Engels, The Condition of the Working Class in England (Panther edn, 1969), pp.
79-80. L. Faucher, Manchester in 1844 (1844), p. 26.
60
F. M. L . Thompson, 'Life after Death: How Successful Nineteenth-Century Busi
nessmen Disposed of their Fortunes', Economic History Review (forthcoming).
61
W . D. Rubinstein, Men of Property: The Very Wealthy in Britain since the Industrial
Revolution (1981), esp. chap. 2.

Town and city 47
of t h e ' s t o c k b r o k e r b e l t ' o f S u r r e y a n d B e r k s h i r e f r o m t h e 1 8 5 0 s
o n w a r d s b y b u s i n e s s a n d p r o f e s s i o n a l m e n w h o d i d ' s o m e t h i n g in
62
the City' and were well-heeled without being super-wealthy. This
w a s a leap out of and b e y o n d suburbia, over intervening countryside
to d e s i r a b l e r e s i d e n c e s in L e a t h e r h e a d o r W o k i n g , S u n n i n g d a l e o r
W o k i n g h a m , a n d w a s o n l y m a d e p o s s i b l e b y t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f train
s e r v i c e s . A g e n e r a t i o n later t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f similar d o r m i t o r y
satellites, as distinct f r o m t h e earlier s u b u r b s , c o u l d b e s e e n r o u n d
the great conurbations of Merseyside and Manchester, the W e s t
Riding towns and Birmingham, and Clydeside.
T h e s e m o v e m e n t s m a y or m a y not h a v e p r o d u c e d a h a e m o r r h a g e
of w e a l t h a n d t a l e n t f r o m t h e city, b u s i n e s s , a n d i n d u s t r y , f l o w i n g
to w a s t e in t h e c o u n t r y s i d e : it is a l w a y s p o s s i b l e t o a r g u e t h a t s t o c k
b r o k e r s d o b e t t e r b u s i n e s s o n golf c o u r s e s . It is c l e a r , h o w e v e r , t h a t
t h e s e d e v e l o p m e n t s w e a k e n e d , d i l u t e d , or d e s t r o y e d a n y p s y c h o l o g i
cal, social, o r political i d e n t i f i c a t i o n w i t h t h e city in w h i c h b u s i n e s s
life w a s c a r r i e d o n , o n t h e p a r t o f a significant s e c t i o n o f t h e u p p e r
m i d d l e c l a s s , a n d w e a k e n e d it m o r e s e r i o u s l y a m o n g t h e p s e u d o -
g e n t r y c o u n t r y d w e l l e r s t h a n a m o n g t h o s e w h o m e r e l y l i v e d in leafy
s u b u r b s . I n e v i t a b l y affinities w i t h t h e p l a c e w h e r e h o m e w a s , w h e r e
the family lived, a n d w h e r e w e e k e n d s w e r e spent, p e r h a p s formerly
a s m a l l c o u n t r y t o w n o r o v e r g r o w n v i l l a g e , w e r e l i k e l y to b e s t r o n g e r
than those with the place where the working days were spent. Leader
s h i p o f t h e w o r k - t o w n p a s s e d b y default t o t h o s e w h o l i v e d t h e r e
all t h e t i m e : t h e local b u i l d e r s , t r a d e r s , s h o p k e e p e r s , p e r h a p s t h e resi
d e n t d o c t o r s a n d solicitors, e v e n t h e t e a c h e r s , all o f w h o m w e r e in
the middling to lower e n d of the middle class. Fractured in these
s e v e r a l w a y s t h e u p p e r m i d d l e c l a s s w a s n o t in a s t r o n g p o s i t i o n
to nourish a vigorous or coherent urban culture, or to form a powerful
i n d e p e n d e n t force in politics o r g o v e r n m e n t . T h e f r a g m e n t s o f t h e
b o u r g e o i s elites w h i c h d i d identify c l o s e l y w i t h t h e i r cities, for relati
v e l y s h o r t p e r i o d s a n d a g a i n s t t h e s e o t h e r t r e n d s , left t h e i r m a r k o n
t h e city c e n t r e s w i t h t h e i m p o s i n g , s e l f - c o n f i d e n t , a n d didactic m i d -
V i c t o r i a n t o w n h a l l s , libraries, a n d m u s e u m s t h a t w e r e p l a n t e d b y
s h o r t b u r s t s o f civic p r i d e a n d free s p e n d i n g in M a n c h e s t e r a n d L e e d s ,
B i r m i n g h a m a n d Sheffield, a n d m a n y o t h e r t o w n s . T h e y are a s m a l l
taste of w h a t might have b e e n achieved b y prolonged a n d consistent
civic l e a d e r s h i p a n d w i l l i n g n e s s t o s p e n d m o n e y o n p u b l i c p r o j e c t s ,
6 2
M. H. Ferguson, 'Land-Use, Settlement, and Society in the Bagshot Sands Region,
1840-1940' (unpublished PhD thesis, University of Reading, 1980), pp. 199-213.

48 F. M. L . T H O M P S O N
to counteract the prevailing impression of muddle, m e a n n e s s , a n d

materialism in Victorian cities. T h e p a t c h w o r k nature of the u r b a n
e n v i r o n m e n t , islands of dignity a n d g r a n d e u r in a great dreary sea
of t h e n o n d e s c r i p t , t h e m o n o t o n o u s , t h e d i n g y , a n d t h e s q u a l i d , w a s
s y m p t o m a t i c o f t h e f r a g m e n t e d n a t u r e o f u r b a n s o c i e t y a n d its failure
t o d e v e l o p a s t r u c t u r e a n d a s t y l e c l e a r l y d i f f e r e n t i a t e d f r o m rural
s o c i e t y , o r f r o m s o c i e t y at l a r g e . T h e failure w a s l e s s a p r o d u c t o f
social t e n s i o n s a n d conflicts w i t h i n t h e u r b a n e n v i r o n m e n t t h a n a
p r o d u c t o f t h a t e n v i r o n m e n t itself w h i c h i m p e l l e d t h o s e w h o c o u l d
e s c a p e it to quit, a n d a p r o d u c t o f t h e w i d e r s o c i a l a n d property
a r r a n g e m e n t s o f t h e c o u n t r y , w h i c h p e r m i t t e d t h o s e w h o w a n t e d to
q u i t to m a k e g o o d t h e i r e s c a p e .
U r b a n society, in the large t o w n s , w a s continually losing p e o p l e from

t h e t o p ; at t h e b o t t o m it w a s c o n t i n u a l l y r e c r u i t i n g , i n far g r e a t e r
numbers, from the surrounding countryside, from the smaller towns,
f r o m I r e l a n d , a n d in t h e 1 8 8 0 s f r o m E a s t e r n E u r o p e . T h e i m m i g r a n t s
w e r e a m i x e d b u n c h , far f r o m u n i f o r m i n c l a s s , e d u c a t i o n , o r skills.
S o m e u s e d the large t o w n s , especially L o n d o n a n d Liverpool, as stag
i n g p o s t s for e v e n t u a l l o n g - d i s t a n c e m i g r a t i o n to N o r t h A m e r i c a o r
Australasia, and were only transient m e m b e r s of British urban society.
The c o u n t r y girls w h o w e r e t h e f a v o u r e d d o m e s t i c s e r v a n t s o f t h e
c o m f o r t a b l e m i d d l e c l a s s e s w e n t t o live i n r e s p e c t a b l e districts a n d
amply-provided h o u s e h o l d s , e v e n t h o u g h their o w n living and work
ing conditions m a y have b e e n deplorable, a n d a few of t h e m r e m a i n e d
i n s e r v i c e for t h e r e s t o f t h e i r l i v e s . A f t e r a s p e l l o f s e v e r a l y e a r s
s p e n t i n p r o p p i n g u p t h e u r b a n m i d d l e - c l a s s life s t y l e t h e y m i g h t
marry into the urban lower middle class or respectable w o r k i n g class,
or t h e y m i g h t w i t h d r a w f r o m u r b a n s o c i e t y a l t o g e t h e r a n d r e t u r n
to t h e c o u n t r y . S o m e i m m i g r a n t s w e r e a l r e a d y e s t a b l i s h e d i n m i d d l e -
class careers, and m o v e d directly into n e w h o u s e s in the n e w e s t sub
u r b s o f t h e e d g e s o f t h e l a r g e t o w n s : it is a m i s t a k e t o s u p p o s e t h a t
n e w suburbs were entirely populated b y townsfolk moving out from
6 3
increasingly unattractive inner city areas. Others, with skilled
trades, m o v e d into quarters already appropriated by their brethren.
Urban growth was a very complicated process, physically and demo-
graphically, not a simple matter of incoming hordes of the penniless
m a k i n g for t h e c e n t r e a n d d i s p l a c i n g e s t a b l i s h e d r e s i d e n t s i n r i p p l e
63
J. M. Rawcliffe, 'Bromley: Kentish Market Town to London Suburb 1841-81', in
Thompson, ed., Rise of Suburbia, pp. 27-91.

Town and city 49
m o t i o n s t o w a r d s t h e o u t e r r i n g s ; t h e r e w a s a l s o a b e e - s w a r m i n g effect,
w i t h t h e l a t e s t arrivals c l i n g i n g t o t h e e d g e o f t h e u r b a n s w a r m .
Nevertheless, an inward m o v e m e n t of the poor migrants and an
o u t w a r d m o v e m e n t of the better-off a n d m o r e respectable w e r e the
r h y t h m s o f t h e u r b a n p r o c e s s m o s t v i s i b l e to c o n t e m p o r a r i e s , a n d
t h o s e m o s t l i k e l y t o a p p a l o r terrify t h e m w i t h t h e p r o s p e c t o f a
runaway growth and explosion of inner areas bursting with over
c r o w d i n g , d e s t i t u t i o n , dirt, d i s e a s e , a n d d i s c o n t e n t . T h e f a s t e s t g r o w
i n g t o w n s i n t h e first s i x t y o r s e v e n t y y e a r s o f t h e c e n t u r y w e r e b y
d e f i n i t i o n t o w n s d r a w i n g in a g r e a t a n d c o n t i n u o u s influx o f p e o p l e .
Levels of urban mortality, b e c o m i n g accurately established in the 1830s
a n d 1840s, w e r e s u c h that n o u r b a n population w a s capable of repro
d u c i n g itself let a l o n e f u r n i s h i n g a n y n a t u r a l i n c r e a s e . It w a s o n l y
in 1840 that William Farr, in the recently established Registrar
G e n e r a l ' s Office, e x p r e s s e d w h a t at t h e t i m e s e e m e d t h e v e r y o p t i m i s
tic v i e w t h a t ' t h e r e is r e a s o n t o b e l i e v e t h a t t h e a g g r e g a t i o n o f m a n k i n d
i n t o w n s is n o t i n e v i t a b l y d i s a s t r o u s ' p r o v i d e d s o m e t o l e r a b l e s t a n
6 4
dards of sanitation and limits o n overcrowding could b e a c h i e v e d .
P r e v i o u s l y , all l a r g e t o w n s h a d b e e n r e g a r d e d a s g r a v e y a r d s ; figures
m a d e f a m o u s b y E d w i n C h a d w i c k w h e n h e q u o t e d t h e m in his 1842
Report on the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population s h o w e d t h a t
t h e a v e r a g e a g e at d e a t h o f w o r k e r s in M a n c h e s t e r w a s l e s s t h a n
h a l f t h a t o f rural l a b o u r e r s i n R u t l a n d ; a n d c o n s t a n t r e p l e n i s h m e n t
65
was the sole m e a n s of sustaining urban populations. The general
perception of observers, w h o were mostly clergymen and medical
m e n , w a s that the replenishments w e r e young, inexperienced, and
unfamiliar with the t e c h n i q u e s a n d c o n v e n t i o n s of living in t o w n s ,
w h i c h w a s t r u e ; a n d t h a t t h e y h u d d l e d t o g e t h e r in u r b a n p o c k e t s
w h i c h t h e y swiftly m a d e i n t o s l u m s , a w a s h w i t h all m a n n e r o f filth,
ordure, irreligion, immorality, ignorance, a n d l a w l e s s n e s s , w h i c h w a s
a melodramatic distortion of the truth.
Irish i m m i g r a n t s s t u c k o u t l i k e s o r e t h u m b s f r o m t h e i r h o s t p o p u l a
t i o n s , b e i n g different in d r e s s , s p e e c h , a n d a b o v e all in r e l i g i o n , a n d
were readily identified as distinct, sub-standard, communities.
B e c a u s e t h e y c a m e f r o m a v e r y different c u l t u r a l b a c k g r o u n d , as w e l l
as f r o m a rural life, it w a s e a s i l y a s s u m e d t h a t t h e y b r o u g h t with
64
Second Annual Report of the Registrar-General, PP 1840, XVII, William Farr, Appendix,
p. xi.
65
Edwin Chadwick, Report on the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population of Great
Britain (1842), pp. 155-60.

50 F. M. L . T H O M P S O N
t h e m a s e t o f h a b i t s w h i c h w e r e w i l d l y i n a p p r o p r i a t e to u r b a n l i v i n g ,
a n d i n d e e d w e r e c a l c u l a t e d to foul t h e u r b a n n e s t . P e r h a p s t h e m o s t
remarkable expression of the conventional w i s d o m about the Rightful
n e s s o f t h e Irish a n d t h e i r u r b a n s q u a l o r c a m e f r o m E n g e l s , s u p p o s e d l y
t h e h u m a n e , r a t i o n a l , l a b o u r e r ' s f r i e n d , b u t n o m o r e i m m u n e t o racial
p r e j u d i c e t h a n t h e m o s t b i g o t e d c a p i t a l i s t . T h e m o s t h o r r i b l e district
w h i c h h e k n e w i n t h e M a n c h e s t e r o f t h e 1 8 4 0 s w a s c a l l e d Little I r e l a n d ,
a g r o u p o f a f e w h u n d r e d m e a n c o t t a g e s s e t in ' m a s s e s o f r e f u s e ,
offal, a n d s i c k e n i n g filth', i n h a b i t e d b y ' a h o r d e o f r a g g e d w o m e n
a n d c h i l d r e n s w a r m [ i n g ] a b o u t h e r e , as filthy a s t h e s w i n e t h a t t h r i v e
u p o n the garbage h e a p s a n d in the p u d d l e s ' . ' T h e race that lives
in t h e s e r u i n o u s c o t t a g e s , ' h e c o n c l u d e d , ' b e h i n d b r o k e n w i n d o w s ,
m e n d e d w i t h o i l s k i n s , s p r u n g d o o r s , a n d r o t t e n d o o r p o s t s , o r in d a r k ,
w e t , c e l l a r s , i n m e a s u r e l e s s filth a n d s t e n c h , in t h i s atmosphere
p e n n e d in a s if w i t h a p u r p o s e , t h i s r a c e m u s t r e a l l y h a v e r e a c h e d
the lowest stage of h u m a n i t y . ' That race, he argued, w a s disposed
b y n a t u r e a n d e n v i r o n m e n t to c a r e l e s s a n d f e c k l e s s b e h a v i o u r , a n d
h a d b r o u g h t its dirty h a b i t s w i t h it i n t o t h e h e a r t s o f t h e g r e a t E n g l i s h
and Scottish towns. 'Filth and drunkenness, too, they have brought
with t h e m ' , importing a mud-cabin level of existence into Britain a n d
degrading and corrupting the English workers through their presence
a n d their competition in the labour market. T h e Irishman, h e claimed,
deposits all garbage and filth before his house door here, as he was accustomed
to do at home, and so accumulates the pools and dirt-heaps which disfigure
the working-people's quarters and poison the air. He builds a pig-sty against
the house wall as he did at home, and if he is prevented from doing this,
he lets the pig sleep in the room with himself. This new and unnatural method
of cattle-raising in cities is wholly of Irish origin . . . he eats and sleeps with
it [his pig], his children play with it, ride upon it, roll in the dirt with it,
as anyone may see a thousand times repeated in all the great towns of England
. . . The Irishman is unaccustomed to the presence of furniture; a heap of
straw, a few rags, utterly beyond use as clothing, suffice for his nightly couch.
A piece of wood, a broken chair, an old chest for a table, more he needs
not . . . when he is in want of fuel, everything combustible within reach,
chairs, doorposts, mouldings, flooring, finds its way up the chimney . . . At
home in his mud-cabin there was only one room for all domestic purposes;
more than one room his family does not need in England. So the custom
of crowding many persons into a single room, now so universal, has been
66
chiefly implanted by the Irish immigration.
It is all t o o e a s y , w h e n s t r o n g e m o t i o n s are i n v o l v e d , t o m i s t a k e
the effects of poverty and ignorance for the effects of racial
66
Engels, Condition of the Working Class, pp. 9 3 , 1 2 3 - 5 .

Town and city 51
c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s , a n d E n g e l s h a d m a n y s u c c e s s o r s , a s w e l l as p r e d e
c e s s o r s , w h o a t t r i b u t e d i n c o r r i g i b l e w i c k e d n e s s to r a c e . H i s pig-effect
differed f r o m t h e c o m m o n i n t e r w a r c o a l s - i n - t h e - b a t h s y n d r o m e o n l y
i n t h a t t h e latter w a s a c l a s s , r a t h e r t h a n a racial, p r e j u d i c e , h o l d i n g
that the British working class was congenitally of too low intelligence
t o g r a s p t h e p r o p e r u s e o f b a t h s . T h e p h y s i c a l c o n d i t i o n s o f Little
Ireland undoubtedly existedasEngelsdescribedthem;whathesawwere
the living conditions of the poorest a n d m o s t destitute families cata
p u l t e d f r o m a rural m i d d e n - h e a p w h i c h t h e y h a d left u n d e r t h e p r e s
s u r e o f e x t r e m e w a n t a n d t h e h o p e o f f i n d i n g m o r e to eat in t h e
t o w n s , struggling to survive in an urban m i d d e n - h e a p . T h e y c h a n c e d ,
in this case, to h a v e c o m e from Ireland, a n d Irish immigrants with
t h e i r l a c k o f skills a n d l a c k o f u s e f u l c o n t a c t s in B r i t i s h t o w n s w e r e
e a s i l y p u s h e d to t h e b o t t o m o f t h e h e a p i n t h e B r i t i s h l a b o u r m a r k e t .
B y n o m e a n s all I r i s h i m m i g r a n t s , h o w e v e r , l i v e d in s u c h s u b - h u m a n
conditions. Disregarding the very small n u m b e r s w h o were already
in middle-class professions before t h e y migrated, a n d the s o m e w h a t
larger n u m b e r s w h o w e r e in skilled trades, m a n y immigrants found
r e a s o n a b l y regular e m p l o y m e n t , especially in the building, construc
t i o n , c l o t h i n g , a n d textile i n d u s t r i e s , e v e n if it t e n d e d to b e in t h e
lower-paid e n d s of those occupations, and lived above the midden-
h e a p l e v e l . T h e Irish n a v v i e s , b u i l d i n g m a n y o f t h e r a i l w a y s i n t h e
1 8 4 0 s a n d l a t e r , a l t h o u g h n o m a d i c a n d at m o s t o n l y t e m p o r a r i l y u r b a n ,
were highly paid and lived boisterously a n d extravagantly. Neither,
o n t h e o t h e r h a n d , w e r e all t h e i n h a b i t a n t s o f t h e n o t o r i o u s h u m a n
c e s s p i t s o f t h e l a r g e t o w n s I r i s h . K e e p i n g p i g s in t h e b a c k y a r d o r
in t h e h o u s e w a s h e l d b y m a n y b e s i d e s E n g e l s t o b e a n Irish b a d g e .
But in the 'Potteries' of N o r t h K e n s i n g t o n , a festering spot only
slightly less notorious than the rookeries of S t Giles, Holborn, there
w e r e three times as m a n y k e e p e r s of pigs as there w e r e Irish-born
h e a d s of families in 1851; a n d in t o w n s such as Ipswich, W e s t Hartle
pool, Stratford-upon-Avon, or Stirling, w h i c h h a d n o Irish colonies,
pig-keeping w a s a r a m p a n t n u i s a n c e until late in the century, strongly
67
d e f e n d e d b y t h e p o o r a s a c h e a p a n d efficient a d d i t i o n t o t h e i r d i e t s .
It is l e s s s u r p r i s i n g t h a t i n c o m i n g w a v e s o f c o u n t r y b u m p k i n s , i n n o
cent of previous urban experience, brought their country habits and
p r a c t i c e s t o t o w n , t h a n t h a t it t o o k m u n i c i p a l a u t h o r i t i e s a g e n e r a t i o n
67
Lynn Holies Lees, Exiles of Erin: Irish Migrants in Victorian London (Manchester, 1979),
pp. 93-115, 119-21. Anthony S. Wohl, Endangered Lives: Public Health in Victorian
Britain (1983), pp. 8 2 - 3 .

52 F . M. L. T H O M P S O N
or s o to g r a s p t h a t t h e t h r e a t to p u b l i c h e a l t h w a s s e r i o u s a n d t h a t
s o m e t h i n g h a d to b e d o n e a b o u t it. O p e n m i d d e n - h e a p s b e g a n t o
be tackled b y bye-laws and inspectors of nuisances from the 1840s,
b u t in s o m e p l a c e s it w a s n o t u n t i l t h e 1 8 7 0 s t h a t t h e p i g s c a m e i n
for official a t t e n t i o n . T h e Irish s p r e a d o u t o v e r m o s t o f u r b a n B r i t a i n ,
b u t in m o s t t o w n s t h e y w e r e t h i n o n t h e g r o u n d : o n l y in L o n d o n ,
Liverpool, M a n c h e s t e r , a n d G l a s g o w w e r e there large Irish colonies
in 1851 of m o r e t h a n 50,000 apiece, although there w e r e also several
r a t h e r s m a l l e r t o w n s , s u c h as N e w c a s t l e , B r a d f o r d , o r S t o c k p o r t ,
w h e r e t h e I r i s h - b o r n f o r m e d a r o u n d 10 p e r c e n t o f t h e total p o p u l a t i o n
68
a n d definitely m a d e t h e i r p r e s e n c e f e l t . Every large town, however,
h a d its b l a c k s p o t s , its s i n k s o f m i s e r y a n d d e g r a d a t i o n , its s l u m s ,
L e e d s , Sheffield, or B i r m i n g h a m with a r o u n d 4 per cent of their p o p u
l a t i o n s I r i s h - b o r n j u s t as m u c h as L i v e r p o o l o r M a n c h e s t e r . T h e v e r y
poorest, the friendless, the u n e m p l o y a b l e and the casually e m p l o y e d
g r a v i t a t e d to t h e s e a r e a s , e x c i t i n g p i t y , p h i l a n t h r o p y , evangelising
m i s s i o n s , a n d s o u p k i t c h e n s , w h e n t h e y d i d n o t i n s p i r e fear a n d dis
g u s t . V i c t o r i a n s o f t e n p i c t u r e d t h e s e e n c l a v e s as n e s t s o f t h e c r i m i n a l
class; they m a y well h a v e contained s o m e professional thieves a n d
f e n c e s , for F a g i n w a s n o t a n e n t i r e l y i m a g i n a r y c h a r a c t e r , e v e n if t h e
c r i m i n a l c l a s s itself w a s n o m o r e t h a n a n i r r a t i o n a l f a n t a s y . T h e i n h a b i
t a n t s a r e b e t t e r t h o u g h t o f as a n u r b a n u n d e r - c l a s s , e k i n g o u t a n e x i s
t e n c e in t h e t o w n s b u t b a r e l y p a r t o f u r b a n s o c i e t y . T h e y w e r e s o
little a t t a c h e d t o t h e m a i n s t r e a m o f s o c i e t y t h a t t h e f a v o u r e d s o l u t i o n
of s o c i a l r e f o r m e r s at t h e e n d o f t h e c e n t u r y to t h e p r o b l e m o f t h i s
r e s i d u u m , b o t h o f B o o t h o f t h e S a l v a t i o n A r m y a n d B o o t h o f Life
and Labour of the People in London, w a s to detach t h e m altogether and
b a n i s h t h e m to i s o l a t e d l a b o u r c o l o n i e s . T h e r e t h e y m i g h t b e r e f o r m e d
p h y s i c a l l y a n d m o r a l l y , b u t t h e l a b o u r m a r k e t w o u l d at l e a s t b e i n s u
69
l a t e d f r o m t h e i r baleful i n f l u e n c e s .
T h i s u n d e r - c l a s s c o n t a i n e d s o m e o f t h e n e w m i g r a n t s as w e l l a s
s o m e o f t h e l o n g e r - s e t t l e d u r b a n p o p u l a t i o n , b u t it l a c k e d t h e i n n e r
c o h e s i o n or stability o f o t h e r c l a s s e s i n s o c i e t y . Its m e m b e r s w e r e
constantly o n the m o v e , m o s t often in a ceaseless recycling process
as t h e y flitted f r o m s l u m t o s l u m t o e s c a p e t h e r e n t c o l l e c t o r o r t h e
bailiff, b u t o c c a s i o n a l l y m o v i n g u p w a r d s i n t o g r e a t e r s e c u r i t y o f j o b
68
Dennis, English Industrial Cities, pp. 36-7, Table 2.3, gives figures of the Irish-born
for 1851 and 1901 for a selection of thirty English and Welsh towns.
69
J. Brown, 'Charles Booth and Labour Colonies, 1889-1905,' Economic History Review,
2nd ser., 21 (1968). The Salvation Army also bought some farms to turn into labour
colonies.

Town and city 53
and h o m e ; they could hardly sink any lower, except into the grave,
for theirs was the basement l e v e l for t h e downwardly socially
7 0
mobile. T h e y p o s s e s s e d a s u b - c u l t u r e , d o m i n a t e d b y t h e tricks a n d
d o d g e s o f k e e p i n g alive o n n o r e s o u r c e s , t h e art o f ' s h o o t i n g the
m o o n ' a s m o o n l i g h t flitting w a s t e r m e d , a n d e s p e c i a l l y l a t e r in t h e
c e n t u r y b y p r a c t i s e d c u n n i n g in e x p l o i t i n g to m a x i m u m advantage
the multiplicity of charities b e n t o n alleviating distress. I m p e r m a n e n c e
of r e s i d e n c e , w h i c h f r e q u e n t l y c h a n g e d e v e r y f e w m o n t h s , i n h i b i t e d
the g r o w t h of c o m m u n i t y feeling a n d solidarity, a n d not surprisingly
t h i s g r o u p w a s n o t e a s i l y p o l i t i c i s e d a n d w a s m o r e n o t a b l e for its
c o n s i s t e n t a p a t h y t h a n for a n y t h r e a t t o r i s e u p a n d t e r r o r i s e and
r a n s a c k t h e r e s p e c t a b l e , d e s p i t e b o u r g e o i s a p p r e h e n s i o n s a n d , as i n
7 1
t h e r a m p a g e d o w n Pall M a l l i n 1 8 8 6 , o n e or t w o g e n u i n e a l a r m s .
This group was the most deprived, the most downtrodden, and the
m o s t d e g e n e r a t e in s o c i e t y , b u t a l s o p e r h a p s t h e l e a s t dangerous
b e c a u s e it w a s s o a t o m i s e d a n d d e m o r a l i s e d .
T h e h e r d i n s t i n c t o f h u d d l i n g t o g e t h e r for m u t u a l s u p p o r t , c o m f o r t ,
a n d s e l f - p r e s e r v a t i o n in a s t r a n g e a n d p o s s i b l y u n f r i e n d l y s u r r o u n d
i n g w o r l d w a s m u c h i n e v i d e n c e in t h e c h a n n e l l i n g o f t h e g r e a t m i g
r a t i o n f l o w s i n t o t h e cities; a n d o p e r a t e d in o n l y a r a t h e r m o r e s t a t e l y
a n d m e a s u r e d f a s h i o n in g u i d i n g t h e m o v e m e n t s o f m o r e s e t t l e d
towndwellers t o w a r d s socially h o m o g e n e o u s a n d segregated residen
tial d i s t r i c t s . It w a s p l a i n for all t o s e e t h a t all t h e m a j o r u r b a n r e c e p t i o n
c a m p s h a d d i s t i n c t i v e Irish q u a r t e r s in w h i c h n e w arrivals c o u l d e x p e c t
a w e l c o m e and help from compatriots w h o were frequently from the
s a m e c o u n t y o r v i l l a g e b a c k h o m e ; a n d t h a t t h e y t e n d e d to s t a y t h e r e ,
for t h e s a k e o f c o m p a n i o n s h i p , f r o m t h e s i m i l a r i t y o f j o b s , a n d a b o v e
all t o s u s t a i n t h e i r r e l i g i o n , n o t o f f e n d t h e i r p r i e s t , a n d - at l e a s t b y
the 1870s - conserve access to their Catholic schools. T h e m o r e the
Irish p r e s e r v e d t h e i r i n d i v i d u a l i t y t h e m o r e t h e y w e r e l i k e l y to b e
derided or disliked b y their Scottish or English fellow-workers, the
h a r d e r it b e c a m e t o m e l t a w a y i n t o t h e g e n e r a l s t r u c t u r e o f u r b a n
society a n d the more their separation w a s perpetuated. S o m e melting
a w a y , o r a s s i m i l a t i o n , a n d i n t e r m a r r i a g e d i d o c c u r , as a l s o d i d g e o g r a
p h i c a l d i s p e r s a l w i t h i n t h e city w i t h o u t l o s s o f I r i s h n e s s ; for in a n
urban way o f life i n w h i c h social n e t w o r k s and contacts could
70
David Englander, Landlord and Tenant in Urban Britain, 1838-1918 (Oxford, 1983),
pp. 9-10, 3 4 - 5 .
71
G. Stedman Jones, Outcast London: A Study in the Relationship between Classes in
Victorian Society (Oxford, 1971), pp. 291-2.

increasingly be maintained through associations which were not

necessarily rooted in tightly-knit residential c o m m u n i t i e s , spatially
c o m p a c t Irish quarters lost s o m e of their rationale. T h e size a n d scale
of t h e Irish q u a r t e r s is difficult t o e s t a b l i s h . T h e Irish p r o b a b l y c o l o n i s e d
discrete blocks of housing, enclaves of courtyard dwellings, or streets,
r a t h e r t h a n e n t i r e n e i g h b o u r h o o d s like t o w n w a r d s o r p a r i s h e s , s o
t h a t at t h e l e v e l o f c e n s u s e n u m e r a t o r s ' districts, e v e n i n 1 8 5 1 w h i c h
reflected a preceding period of p e a k immigration, the Irish-born s h o w
u p as a large minority in their places of concentration not as d e n i z e n s
of c o m p l e t e l y I r i s h g h e t t o e s . T h e flow o f f r e s h i m m i g r a n t s fell a w a y
i n t h e s e c o n d h a l f o f t h e c e n t u r y , p a r t i c u l a r l y as t h e I r i s h o u t f l o w
w a s increasingly directed across the Atlantic, and this explains the
d e c l i n e in t h e p r o p o r t i o n o f L i v e r p o o l ' s p o p u l a t i o n w h i c h w a s Irish-
b o r n from 22 per cent in 1851 to u n d e r 7 per cent in 1 9 0 1 , or in
B r a d f o r d ' s w h i c h fell f r o m 9 t o 1.5 p e r c e n t . T h e I r i s h , h o w e v e r , d i d
n o t d w i n d l e as a n e l e m e n t i n t h e u r b a n s c e n e at q u i t e t h e p a c e w h i c h
t h e s e figures s u g g e s t . T h e c e n s u s o n l y r e c o r d e d b i r t h p l a c e s , n o t reli
gion, nationality or ethnicity, a n d u n d o u b t e d l y a high proportion of
the second and third generation descendants of immigrants regarded
t h e m s e l v e s a s I r i s h . It w a s p r o b a b l y p a r t i c u l a r l y t h e c a s e i n t h e m a j o r
centres that the London-Irish, the Glasgow-Irish, or the Liverpool-
I r i s h , w h o c a r r i e d I r i s h c u l t u r a l a n d social t r a d i t i o n s i n t o t h e t w e n t i e t h
c e n t u r y , w e r e far m o r e n u m e r o u s t h a n m e r e l y t h e I r i s h - b o r n w h o
l i v e d i n t h o s e cities: it c o u l d b e p l a u s i b l y a s s e r t e d i n t h e e a r l y t w e n t i e t h
7 2
century that Liverpool w a s a quarter or a third ' I r i s h ' .
T h e I r i s h t e n d e d to r e m a i n t o g e t h e r a n d a p a r t f r o m t h e r e s t o f t h e
u r b a n c o m m u n i t y for d e c a d e s a n d g e n e r a t i o n s after t h e initial t r a n s i
t i o n s to t h e t o w n . D u r i n g t h e s e c o n d h a l f o f t h e c e n t u r y t h e i r s e t t l e
m e n t s t e n d e d to b e c o m e m o r e d i s p e r s e d , i n a l a r g e r n u m b e r o f s m a l l e r
c l u s t e r s , a n d t o l o o k m o r e like o t h e r w o r k i n g - c l a s s districts t h a n t h e
pig-sties w h i c h h a d so s h o c k e d E n g e l s , differentiated m a y b e only b y
their church, their school, a n d p u b s m o n o p o l i s e d b y Irish labourers.
T h e J e w s , arriving in large n u m b e r s from E a s t e r n E u r o p e a n d R u s s i a
in t h e 1880s a n d 1890s, f o r m e d the s e c o n d w a v e of foreign immi
gration, a n d very m u c h followed the Irish m o d e l as t h e y settled in
distinct quarters in Spitalfields a n d W h i t e c h a p e l , L e e d s a n d M a n c h e s
ter, a n d established their d o m i n a n c e of the clothing trades. English
migrants, o n the other h a n d , a n d in a slightly m o r e ambivalent w a y
72
Lees, Exiles of Erin, pp. 4 6 - 8 , and chap. 3

Town and city 55
t h e W e l s h m i g r a n t s w h o m o v e d i n c o n s i d e r a b l e n u m b e r s to L i v e r p o o l
a n d L o n d o n a s w e l l a s t o t h e t o w n s o f t h e S o u t h W a l e s coalfield,
pursued a strategy of clustering settlement which saw t h e m through
the first s h o c k o f u r b a n i s a t i o n and then rather rapidly became
a b s o r b e d a n d a s s i m i l a t e d i n t o t h e different o c c u p a t i o n a l a n d social
s t r a t a o f u r b a n life.
The capacity of urban society to absorb and assimilate incomers
did not only d e p e n d o n t h e ability t o f u r n i s h j o b s a n d housing,
a l t h o u g h t h a t w a s o b v i o u s l y v e r y i m p o r t a n t , a n d t h e fact t h a t t h e
expansion of jobs a n d h o u s e - r o o m not infrequently got out of p h a s e
w i t h t h e i n f l o w o f p e o p l e w a s a s e r i o u s c a u s e o f h a r d s h i p a n d social
friction. It a l s o d e p e n d e d , critically, o n t h e m i g r a n t s ' h a b i t o f m a k i n g
for t h e s a m e t o w n , a n d t h e s a m e s t r e e t w i t h i n it, as f o r e r u n n e r s f r o m
t h e i r f a m i l y o r v i l l a g e h a d d o n e . It h a s l o n g b e e n k n o w n t h a t a m a r k e d
feature of t o w n w a r d migration w a s the p r o m i n e n c e of short-distance
m o v e m e n t s from villages a n d lesser t o w n s in the i m m e d i a t e hinter
land of the larger, reception, t o w n s , with the longer distance m o v e
m e n t s o f t h e I r i s h f r o m a c r o s s t h e s e a s t a n d i n g o u t as e x c e p t i o n a l ,
73
a n d this pattern h a s b e e n confirmed in m a n y s t u d i e s . T h i s in itself
created a possibility that a n e w c o m e r w o u l d not b e a lonely and iso
l a t e d i n d i v i d u a l adrift i n a s t r a n g e a n d i n t i m i d a t i n g t o w n , b u t w o u l d
h a v e the opportunity of settling with, or near, relatives or friends.
Detailed confirmation that this opportunity w a s grasped c o m e s from
t h e s t u d y o f m i d - n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y P r e s t o n , w h i c h s h o w s t h a t it
w a s q u i t e c o m m o n for e x t e n d e d f a m i l i e s o f g r a n d p a r e n t s , uncles,
aunts a n d cousins to assemble t h e m s e l v e s a r o u n d the parent-child
n u c l e a r f a m i l y as t h e p r o d u c t o f s t a g e s o f m i g r a t i o n , n o t i n d e e d a l w a y s
u n d e r o n e roof or in a single h o u s e h o l d , but s o m e t i m e s in a n u m b e r
7 4
of a d j o i n i n g a n d n e i g h b o u r i n g h o u s e s . This arrangement provided
a life s u p p o r t s y s t e m i n w h i c h t h e m u t u a l , a n d p e r h a p s carefully reci
procated, aid of kin could h e l p with s u c h crises a n d catastrophes as
sickness, childbirth, job-finding, unemployment, baby-minding,
w i d o w h o o d a n d o l d a g e . It is p o s s i b l e t h a t t h e n e e d to c o n s t r u c t s u c h
73
A. Redford, Labour Migration in England, 1800-50, 2nd edn (Manchester, 1964). Den
nis, English Industrial Cities, pp. 33-4, and J. R. Kellett, The Impact of Railways on
Victorian Cities (1969), pp. 406-8, give summaries of several of the post-Radford
studies. The continuing dominance of comparatively short-distance migration post
1945 is shown by M. C. Carr, T h e Development and Character of a Metropolitan
Suburb: Bexley, Kent', in Thompson, ed., Rise of Suburbia, Table 19, p. 241. Among
some categories of skilled workers, and the professions, longer distance migration
was always present.
74
Anderson, Family Structure, esp. pp. 56-67, 136-61, 170-9.

56 F. M. L . T H O M P S O N
k i n s h i p n e t w o r k s as a f o r m o f b a s i c s o c i a l s e c u r i t y , i n t h e f a s t - g r o w i n g
t o w n s w h e r e e x t e r n a l a g e n c i e s like t h e p o o r l a w , d i s p e n s a r i e s , h o s p i
tals, a l m s h o u s e s , o r l a b o u r e x c h a n g e s w e r e u n r e l i a b l e , i n a d e q u a t e ,
h o s t i l e , or n o t y e t i n v e n t e d , w a s t h e c o m p e l l i n g r e a s o n for r e c o n s t i t u t
i n g t h e e x t e n d e d f a m i l y in a n u r b a n s e t t i n g . F o r in t h e rural s o c i e t y
from w h i c h m o s t migrants c a m e the e x t e n d e d family w a s completely
unknown as a k i n s h i p g r o u p l i v i n g in a s i n g l e h o u s e h o l d ; and
a l t h o u g h it u n d o u b t e d l y e x i s t e d as a s o c i a l c o n s t r u c t for o c c a s i o n s
of c o n v i v i a l i t y a n d s o c i a b i l i t y , it w a s e i t h e r u n n e c e s s a r y o r i m p o s s i b l e
as a s o c i a l s e c u r i t y n e t w o r k , d e p e n d i n g o n t h e e f f e c t i v e n e s s o f t h e
rural p a t e r n a l i s m o f s q u i r e a n d p a r s o n o r t h e d e p t h s o f rural p o v e r t y
w h i c h m i g h t p u t a i d i n g a r e l a t i v e in d i s t r e s s b e y o n d c o n t e m p l a t i o n .
T h e s e urban e x t e n d e d families w e r e characteristic of mid-century
7 5
O l d h a m as w e l l as P r e s t o n . It is p o s s i b l e t h a t t h e f o r m w a s m o r e
e x t e n s i v e in c o t t o n t o w n s t h a n i n o t h e r s , p e r h a p s b e c a u s e g r e a t e r
o p e n i n g s for t h e e m p l o y m e n t o f w o m e n a n d c h i l d r e n , a n d t h e g e n e r
ally h i g h e r l e v e l o f f a m i l y e a r n i n g s , m a d e aid m o r e affordable a n d
m o r e certain of being reciprocated. But unless the entire arrangement
is t h o u g h t to h a v e b e e n a p r o d u c t o f r a t i o n a l a n d financial c a l c u l a t i o n ,
w i t h little p l a c e for s e n t i m e n t , affection, a n d u n c o s t e d n e i g h b o u r
l i n e s s , it is r e a s o n a b l e t o s u p p o s e t h a t it w a s to b e f o u n d throughout
t h e V i c t o r i a n u r b a n s c e n e as a significant f o r m o f s o c i a l o r g a n i s a t i o n .
It m a y w e l l h a v e b e e n a t r a n s i e n t f o r m , l a s t i n g for a g e n e r a t i o n in
i n d i v i d u a l m i g r a n t f a m i l i e s a n d d w i n d l i n g i n g e n e r a l i m p o r t a n c e as
most t o w n s b e c a m e demographically self-sustaining and h e n c e less
r e l i a n t o n i n - m i g r a t i o n , in t h e l a t e r n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y . T h e c o n s t a n t
m o v i n g about of working-class households, with no m o r e than o n e
fifth r e m a i n i n g in t h e s a m e h o u s e f r o m o n e c e n s u s to t h e n e x t a n d
a b o u t a q u a r t e r s t a y i n g at t h e s a m e a d d r e s s for l e s s t h a n a y e a r as
the typical pattern of mobility in the middle of the century, w o u l d
i n a n y c a s e s e e m l i k e l y t o h a v e m a d e it difficult t o m a i n t a i n f a m i l y
c o n t a c t s , or i n d e e d t h e c o h e s i o n o f s t r e e t - n e i g h b o u r h o o d groups
7 6
b a s e d o n p r o p i n q u i t y r a t h e r t h a n , or as w e l l a s , k i n s h i p . It c o u l d
be argued with s o m e plausibility that the vigorous family n e t w o r k s
a n d the tightly-knit n e i g h b o u r h o o d c o m m u n i t i e s w e r e likely to b e
c o n f i n e d to t h e m i n o r i t y o f l o n g s t a y e r s w h o p u t d o w n r o o t s , t h e
o n e fifth w h o s t a y e d p u t for at l e a s t t e n y e a r s o r t h e o n e t h i r d o r
s o w h o l a s t e d for at l e a s t five y e a r s ; t h e m a j o r i t y w h o w e r e f o o t l o o s e
75
John Foster, Class Struggle and the Industrial Revolution (1974), pp. 96-7.
76
Dennis, English Industrial Cities, Table 8.1, pp. 256-7.

Town and city 57
m a y h a v e b e e n s o , at l e a s t in p a r t , p r e c i s e l y b e c a u s e t h e y l a c k e d t h e
attachment to particular h o u s e s a n d streets w h i c h w a s created b y
these arrangements.
F u t u r e r e s e a r c h m a y clarify t h e s e p r o b l e m s o f t y p i c a l i t y . M e a n t i m e ,
t h e p e r s i s t e n c e o f e x t e n d e d f a m i l y n e t w o r k s , a s c e n t r e s o f f a m i l y (fre
q u e n t l y g r a n d m o t h e r l y ) m o r a l a u t h o r i t y as w e l l as o f crisis m a n a g e
ment, and of n e i g h b o u r h o o d s o c i a l c e l l s , albeit s e l e c t i v e i n t h e i r
m e m b e r s h i p o n i n t e r n a l criteria o f r e s p e c t a b i l i t y a n d r o u g h n e s s , a r e
w e l l a t t e s t e d in t h e c l a s s i c s l u m i n S a l f o r d i n t h e 1 9 0 0 s , r e c o l l e c t e d
b y Robert Roberts, in the post-1945 B e t h n a l G r e e n studied b y Y o u n g
77
a n d W i l l m o t t , a n d in s e v e r a l o t h e r s t u d i e s . T h e r e is a s t r o n g s u g g e s
tion in this evidence of a highly durable social formation; originating
i n t h e h u d d l i n g t o g e t h e r o f m i g r a n t k i n for m u t u a l c o m f o r t a n d s u p
p o r t i n a s t r a n g e e n v i r o n m e n t , it w a s p e r p e t u a t e d in the c u s t o m s
of s e t t l e d a n d t o w n b r e d f a m i l i e s , a n d b e c a m e g r a f t e d o n t o , o r s h a d e d
a w a y into, the non-kinship groupings of friends and neighbours.
T h e s e networks, w h i c h b y the early twentieth century h a d c o m e to
b e t h o u g h t o f as t r a d i t i o n a l , b e g a n to b e s e r i o u s l y e r o d e d i n t h e i n t e r -
w a r y e a r s b y s l u m c l e a r a n c e s c h e m e s a n d r e h o u s i n g in c o u n c i l h o u s i n g
e s t a t e s , w h i c h split u p w i d e r f a m i l y g r o u p i n g s i n t o n u c l e a r cells a n d
a t o m i s e d a n d scattered street c o m m u n i t i e s . After 1950 t h e y virtually
collapsed, in the t o w e r block a n d n e w t o w n s p h a s e of massive decant
ing of population from the old inner city areas, aided a n d abetted
b y m a n y o t h e r f a c t o r s a m o n g w h i c h t h e r o l e o f t h e w e l f a r e s t a t e as
a s u b s t i t u t e for f a m i l i e s a n d n e i g h b o u r s m u s t b e r e c o g n i s e d .
In their prime t h e s e n e t w o r k s w e r e the m a i n sinews giving the social
fabric o f t h e t o w n s s o m e stability, c o h e s i o n , a n d o r d e r l i n e s s . T h e y
were the main reasons w h y the anomie, anarchy, and collapse of
social o r d e r , s o m u c h f e a r e d b y e a r l y V i c t o r i a n o b s e r v e r s o f t h e l a r g e
towns, never materialised. Investigators and reporters from the
middle classes - medical m e n , clergymen, social reformers - w e r e
s h o c k e d a n d horrified b y m a n y things w h i c h t h e y s a w a n d smelt
in the poor quarters of the major t o w n s : overcrowding, malnutrition,
r a g g e d n e s s , i g n o r a n c e , ill-health, t h e s t e n c h o f t h e g r e a t unwashed
a n d of s e w a g e suppurating in the courtyards a n d r u n n i n g in the
streets, all t h e s e things were evident and were described and
77
Robert Roberts, The Classic Slum (Manchester, 1971), esp. chap. 3. Michael Young
and Peter Willmott, Family and Kinship in East London (1957), pp. 104-16. See also
Standish Meacham, A Life Apart: The English Working Class, 1890-1914 (1977), pp.
45-59.

58 F. M. L . T H O M P S O N
measured. But what alarmed them most about what they saw was
the structural a n d moral collapse of society in the great cities. T h e y
s a w t h e c o m f o r t a b l e a n d e d u c a t e d c l a s s e s w i t h d r a w i n g to t h e i r o w n
e l e g a n t a n d s a l u b r i o u s p r e s e r v e s , a b d i c a t i n g t h e i r r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s for
the working classes and leaving t h e m to their o w n devices; a n d they
t h o u g h t t h e y s a w the working classes as m e r e l y t e e m i n g m a s s e s of
individuals promiscuously t h r o w n together, scurrying about b e t w e e n
work, pub, and lodgings in r a n d o m and rudderless throngs, an incho
ate h o r d e p o r t e n d i n g t h e b r e a k d o w n o f s o c i e t y a n d a r e t u r n to s o m e
t h i n g l i k e t h e l a w o f t h e j u n g l e . A n o b s c u r e cleric, g i v i n g e v i d e n c e
to a s e l e c t C o m m i t t e e , m a y s t a n d for t h e c o n v e n t i o n a l m i d - c e n t u r y
v i e w w h e n h e d r e w a t t e n t i o n to
the gradual separation of the classes which takes place in towns . . . whereas
formerly rich and poor live in proximity and the superior classes exercised
that species of silent but very efficient control over their neighbours . . . In
small towns there must be a sort of natural police . . . operating upon the
conduct of each individual who lives . . . under the public eye; but in a large
78
town he lives, if he chooses, in absolute obscurity.
T h e r e m e d i e s p r o p o s e d w e r e such things as s e w e r s a n d p i p e d water,

s t r e e t p a v i n g a n d h o u s i n g b y e - l a w s , for t h e p h y s i c a l c o n d i t i o n s ; a n d
p o l i c e , s c h o o l s , t e a c h e r s , c h u r c h e s , a n d m i n i s t e r s for t h e s o c i a l a n d
moral conditions. Providing t h e s e w a s w h a t Victorian social policy,
v o l u n t a r y as w e l l a s g o v e r n m e n t a l , w a s all a b o u t . I n c r e a s i n g s u p p l i e s ,
m a i n l y f r o m t h e 1 8 3 0 s a n d 1 8 4 0 s o n w a r d s , b u t in t h e c a s e o f s o m e
sewering a n d s o m e schooling from the earlier decades of the century,
definitely m a d e t o w n s h e a l t h i e r a n d p e o p l e b e t t e r e d u c a t e d b y t h e
early 1900s; less decisively, t h e y contributed to m a k i n g t o w n s m o r e
o r d e r l y a n d d i s c i p l i n e d p l a c e s w h e r e p o p u l a r b e h a v i o u r , at l e a s t in
p u b l i c , c o u l d for t h e m o s t p a r t b e r e l i e d u p o n n o t t o o f f e n d t h e m i d d l e
classes. S u c h agencies, however, played no more than a minor part
i n v a n q u i s h i n g a n o m i e or u r b a n a l i e n a t i o n , s i n c e t h o s e w e r e i m a g i n e d
r a t h e r t h a n r e a l d r a g o n s . T h e f a m i l y a n d s t r e e t n e t w o r k s w e r e affairs
of r e l a t i o n s h i p s , n o t o f v i s i b l e o b j e c t s a n d c o n d i t i o n s , a n d it is u n d e r
standable that they remained u n s e e n and u n r e m a r k e d b y observers
p r e o c c u p i e d w i t h t h e p h y s i c a l , s o c i a l , a n d m o r a l d e f e c t s o f u r b a n liv
ing conditions. T h e informal network communities were indeed sup
p l e m e n t e d b y , a n d i n t i m e t o a significant e x t e n t r e p l a c e d b y , m o r e
formal and selective associations that w e r e easily visible to outsiders.
78
SC on Criminal and Destitute Juveniles, PP 1852, XXIII evidence of M. D. Hill, q.
386.

Town and city 59
M o s t of these were generated from within the working classes, and

frequently rested on workplace contacts. Friendly societies and trade
u n i o n s w e r e o f this k i n d ; s a v i n g s g r o u p s like h o l i d a y c l u b s , c l o t h i n g
clubs, and the early 'terminating' building societies of the 1830s and
1840s, and mutual interest groups of the pigeon-fancying, dog-breed
i n g , or d a r t - p l a y i n g v a r i e t y , m i g h t s t e m f r o m e i t h e r w o r k p l a c e or p u b .
Other associations, notably the w o r k i n g m e n ' s clubs of the 1860s, were
i n i t i a t e d b y m i d d l e - c l a s s r e f o r m e r s b u t q u i c k l y a p p r o p r i a t e d b y self-
g o v e r n i n g w o r k i n g m e n ; w h i l e c h u r c h or c h a p e l d r e w in a s e c t i o n
of t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s e s , a n d a l t h o u g h c h u r c h r e m a i n e d firmly in t h e
c o n t r o l o f t h e s u p e r i o r c l a s s e s s o m e c h a p e l s at least w e r e in effect
r u n b y a n d for t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s e s . All t h e a s s o c i a t i o n s , s o c i e t i e s ,
clubs, and congregations of these types served - alongside their prim
ary p u r p o s e s - t o r e i n f o r c e t h e identification o f t h e i r i n d i v i d u a l m e m
b e r s w i t h a social g r o u p , a n d t h u s s t r e n g t h e n e d t h e fabric o f u r b a n
s o c i e t y as a c o h e s i v e social s t r u c t u r e a n d n o t a m e r e a g g r e g a t i o n o f
r o o t l e s s a n d shiftless i n d i v i d u a l s .
T h e overwhelming majority of these associations were male pre
s e r v e s - w o r k i n g w o m e n , for e x a m p l e in t h e c o t t o n m i l l s , p e r h a p s
finding a p l a c e in t h e mill h o l i d a y c l u b b u t in n o t h i n g e l s e - a n d ,
w i t h i n t h a t g e n d e r r e s t r i c t i o n , w e r e l a r g e l y c o n f i n e d t o t h e skilled
a n d m o r e h i g h l y p a i d m e n . T h e i r effects in w e l d i n g i n d i v i d u a l s i n t o
groups, although marked, were therefore limited. T h e informal
n e t w o r k s , b y c o n t r a s t , b y definition i n v o l v e d t h e active p a r t i c i p a t i o n
of w o m e n , w h o often c o n t r o l l e d t h e c o m p l i c a t e d a p p a r a t u s o f family
c u s t o m s , rituals, a n d o b l i g a t i o n s , a n d w h o m a n a g e d t h e f r i e n d s h i p s
a n d a n i m o s i t i e s o f t h e s t r e e t . M o r e o v e r , t h e s e n e t w o r k s s e e m to h a v e
b e e n s p r e a d w i d e l y a m o n g s t all l e v e l s o f t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s e s , a n d
m a y w e l l h a v e b e e n m o s t i m p o r t a n t for s u r v i v a l in t i m e s o f h a r d s h i p ,
a n d for c o m p a n i o n s h i p , a n d h a v e b e e n m o s t p e r s i s t e n t , in t h e p o o r e s t
s e c t i o n s . A p a r t f r o m t h e n u c l e a r f a m i l y itself t h e y w e r e t h e m o s t
w i d e s p r e a d f o r m o f social i n s t i t u t i o n in t h e g r e a t m a n u f a c t u r i n g a n d
commercial t o w n s of Victorian Britain, and arguably they were the
m o s t p u r e l y u r b a n e l e m e n t in u r b a n s o c i e t y . T h a t is, t h e e x t e n d e d
family, e v e n as a set o f r e g u l a r c o n t a c t s b e t w e e n m e m b e r s w h o l i v e d
in i n d e p e n d e n t h o u s e h o l d s , a p p a r e n t l y did n o t exist or w a s u n c o m
m o n in p r e - i n d u s t r i a l B r i t a i n , e x c e p t in h i g h e r social r e a c h e s s u c h
as t h e a r i s t o c r a c y , w h o s e k i n k e p t in t o u c h for financial, social or
political a d v a n t a g e , o r t h e c o u s i n h o o d s o f Q u a k e r s , U n i t a r i a n s , a n d
other sects, which underpinned very successful banking and trading

60 F. M. L . T H O M P S O N
services; while t h e s t r e e t - n e i g h b o u r h o o d w a s a product of the environ

7 9
m e n t o f s i n g l e - c l a s s s t r e e t s , itself a p r o d u c t o f t h e l a r g e t o w n s .
Residential social segregation m a y not h a v e b e e n entirely a nine
t e e n t h - c e n t u r y i n v e n t i o n , b u t if it e x i s t e d b e f o r e it w a s m a i n l y at a
h o u s e - b y - h o u s e level, a n d in small-scale t o w n s individual streets a n d
districts w e r e c o m m o n l y s o c i a l l y m i x e d in c h a r a c t e r . E i g h t e e n t h -
c e n t u r y L o n d o n p o i n t e d t h e w a y t o t h e f u t u r e , for t h e g r e a t W e s t
End d e v e l o p m e n t s w e r e u n m i s t a k a b l y d e s i g n e d for p r e d o m i n a n t l y
s i n g l e - c l a s s o c c u p a t i o n s , a l t h o u g h i n m a k i n g p r o v i s i o n for t h e s e r v i c e
needs and convenience of the wealthy residents the developments
also e n s u r e d s o m e degree of discreetly h i d d e n social mixture. Social
s e g r e g a t i o n c a m e to all t h e g r e a t n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y t o w n s , a n d it
s t r u c k e a r l y V i c t o r i a n s as a r e c e n t d e v e l o p m e n t . It w a s f u n d a m e n t a l l y
a p r o d u c t o f t h e p r e s s o f n u m b e r s , t h e r e s u l t i n g c o n g e s t i o n , dirt,
a n d s t e n c h o f t h e o l d e r c e n t r a l districts, a n d o f t h e E n g l i s h p r e f e r e n c e
for l o w - r i s e f a m i l y h o u s i n g . H i g h - r i s e a p a r t m e n t o r t e n e m e n t b l o c k s
offered a s o l u t i o n to p r o b l e m s o f dirt, n o i s e , a n d s m e l l b y r i s i n g a b o v e
t h e m , a n d c o u l d p r o d u c e a f o r m o f v e r t i c a l s o c i a l stratification o p e r a t
i n g t h r o u g h differential r e n t l e v e l s , a s h a p p e n e d in P a r i s ; t e n e m e n t s
in G l a s g o w , h o w e v e r , w e r e b r o a d l y o n e - c l a s s h a b i t a t i o n s , a l t h o u g h
a c c o m m o d a t i n g different l a y e r s o f s t a t u s a n d i n c o m e w i t h i n t h e w o r k
i n g c l a s s e s . T w o - or t h r e e - s t o r e y e d h o u s i n g , o n t h e o t h e r h a n d , n e c e s
sarily l e d t o lateral o r s p a t i a l s e g r e g a t i o n if t h e r e w a s t o b e any
s e g r e g a t i o n at all. T h e p r o c e s s o f s e g r e g a t i o n h a d g e n e r a l l y b e e n s e e n
as a m o v e b y t h o s e w h o c o u l d afford it t o e s c a p e f r o m i n s a l u b r i o u s
a n d u n p l e a s a n t a r e a s , a n d to c l u s t e r i n g r o u p s i n m o r e a t t r a c t i v e dis
tricts a c c o r d i n g to h o u s e v a l u e s a n d i n d i v i d u a l t a s t e s , l e a v i n g t h e
great residue of the working classes to m a k e do with w h a t e v e r h o u s i n g
w a s left u n c l a i m e d . T h e c l u s t e r i n g o f g r o u p s w i t h s i m i l a r s t a n d a r d s ,
a s p i r a t i o n s , a n d i n c o m e l e v e l s w a s a l s o s t i m u l a t e d , if n o t d i c t a t e d ,
f r o m t h e s u p p l y s i d e b y t h e t e n d e n c y o f b u i l d e r s a n d d e v e l o p e r s to
construct blocks or small n e i g h b o u r h o o d s of a uniform h o u s i n g type
for r e a s o n s o f c o n s t r u c t i o n e c o n o m i e s a n d profit m a x i m i s a t i o n , a n d
sometimes because ground landlords stipulated that they should do
so.
The working classes w e r e not relegated to vast undifferentiated

g h e t t o e s , as t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f t h e s t r e e t - n e i g h b o u r h o o d s showed
in social a n d cultural t e r m s . Physically there w e r e differences in the
79
Davidoff and Hall, Family Fortunes, pp. 86-7, 99-103, 321-2, discuss middle-class,
mainly Quaker, extended family networks.

Town and city 61
size a n d q u a l i t y o f t h e w o r k i n g - c l a s s h o u s i n g s t o c k b e t w e e n t w o - ,
four-, and six-roomed houses, between pre- and post-bye-law
h o u s i n g , a n d b e t w e e n all t h e s e a n d ' m a d e d o w n ' m i d d l e - c l a s s f a m i l y
h o u s i n g w h i c h w a s t e n e m e n t e d o f t e n i n o n e - r o o m u n i t s for w o r k i n g -
c l a s s u s e . A l l t h e s e g r a d e s a n d q u a l i t i e s w e r e m a r k e d b y different
r e n t s , a n d w e r e t e n a n t e d b y f a m i l i e s w i t h different e a r n i n g s a n d at
different stages o f their life-cycles. T h u s t h e r e w a s residential segrega
tion within the working classes, with strong occupational lines of
demarcation, so that railwaymen's quarters, bus and tram w o r k e r ' s
q u a r t e r s , a n d d o c k e r ' s districts c o u l d b e r e a d i l y d i s t i n g u i s h e d as w e l l
as t h e m o r e o b v i o u s l y s u p e r i o r districts f a v o u r e d b y s k i l l e d c r a f t s m e n ;
w h i l e s l u m s w h i c h a p p e a r e d i n d i s t i n g u i s h a b l y awful to t h e f a s h i o n
able visitors of the 1880s w e r e unerringly sorted out into the deserving
a n d the disreputable b y their residents. T h e working classes also
remained m u c h more intermixed with other classes than was sug
gested b y the clearcut separation and segregation which Engels
claimed to see in M a n c h e s t e r of the 1840s and other great industrial
8 0
towns. T h i s w a s p a r t l y a n effect o f t h e d e s i r e o f t h e s u p e r i o r c l a s s e s
to h a v e t h e i r s u p p o r t i n g s e r v i c e s a n d t h e i r l o w l y p r o v i d e r s c l o s e at
h a n d , b u t w a s chiefly t h e effect o f t h e s l o w p a c e o f d e v e l o p m e n t
o n a n y p a r t i c u l a r tract o f l a n d , a n d o f t h e f r a g m e n t e d a n d p o o r l y
targeted nature of building operations. T o w n s as entities g r e w a n d
e x p a n d e d t h e i r h o u s i n g s t o c k s at a s p a n k i n g p a c e ; b u t s o m a n y s e p a r
ate building estates w e r e likely to b e active simultaneously that every
s i z e a b l e o n e o f s a y 5 0 a c r e s or m o r e w a s liable t o b e fifty y e a r s in
8 1
t h e b u i l d i n g f r o m t h e first h o u s e s t o t h e c o m p l e t e l y b u i l t - u p s t a t e .
The result w a s that c o n s u m e r fashions and tastes c h a n g e d during
t h e p r o l o n g e d d e v e l o p m e n t p e r i o d , b u i l d e r s c a m e a n d w e n t w i t h dif
f e r e n t i d e a s a n d r e s o u r c e s , a n d it w a s u n l i k e l y t h a t a l a r g e tract c o u l d
s u s t a i n a u n i f o r m social c h a r a c t e r o r a v o i d h a v i n g d e s i r a b l e a n d l e s s
desirable sections. Moreover, the fragmented building industry, oper
a t i n g i n t h o u s a n d s o f s m a l l b u s i n e s s e s , t e n d e d t o b e h a v e l i k e a flock
of s h e e p , all s u r g i n g t o g e t h e r i n t o a n u p s w i n g in t h e b u i l d i n g c y c l e
a n d all s t o p p i n g t o g e t h e r w h e n t h e m a r k e t b e c a m e o v e r s u p p l i e d ,
a n d all t r y i n g to b u i l d h o u s e s o f t h e h i g h e s t v a l u e a n d h i g h e s t c l a s s
w h i c h a n o p t i m i s t m i g h t t h i n k s u i t a b l e for t h e i r p l o t s a n d l o c a t i o n s .
T h e r e s u l t o f t h i s w a s a c o n t i n u a l t e n d e n c y to o v e r s t o c k t h e m a r k e t
with h i g h e r class h o u s e s , a n d to force the least well capitalised builders
80
Engels, Condition of the Working Class, p. 79.
81
Thompson, ed., Rise of Suburbia, p. 22.

to let t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s e s i n t o h o u s e s , o r districts, w h i c h h a d initially

b e e n i n t e n d e d for h i g h e r c l a s s o c c u p a t i o n , in o r d e r t o g e t q u i c k r e t u r n s
o n their outlays.
T h e e n d product of these factors, despite the undoubtedly strong
h e r d i n s t i n c t i m p e l l i n g l i k e to s e e k t o live w i t h l i k e for a w h o l e c o m p l e x
of c u l t u r a l , financial, m o r a l , s a n i t a r y , a n d a e s t h e t i c r e a s o n s , w a s t h a t
the actual social g e o g r a p h y of Victorian t o w n s w a s m o r e of a mosaic
of s m a l l p i e c e s o f c l a s s p r e s e n c e t h a n a b o l d p a t t e r n o f b r o a d s w e e p s
8 2
of c l a s s s e p a r a t i o n s u c h as s e g r e g a t i o n t h e o r y m i g h t i m p l y . Within
t h i s s t r u c t u r e it w a s t h e u p p e r m i d d l e c l a s s o f t h e m o s t s u c c e s s f u l
p r o f e s s i o n a l a n d b u s i n e s s f a m i l i e s w h i c h w a s a b l e to l a y c l a i m to
u n d i s p u t e d p o s s e s s i o n o f t h e l a r g e s t c o n t i n u o u s slices o f u r b a n terri
tory and preserve t h e m from u n w e l c o m e intruders, because they were
t h e g r o u p b e s t a b l e to afford d e f e n c e s - s o m e t i m e s p h y s i c a l b a r r i e r s ,
like g a t e d r o a d s - a g a i n s t i n v a s i o n o r s o c i a l d e t e r i o r a t i o n o f t h e i r n e i g h
b o u r h o o d s , b e s t a b l e to afford t o m o v e to t h e m o s t u p - t o - d a t e h o u s e s
a n d t h e l a t e s t i n f a s h i o n a b l e districts, a n d b e s t a b l e t o afford l a r g e
h o u s e s , large gardens, and low densities which necessarily m a d e their
u r b a n q u a r t e r s m u c h l a r g e r in e x t e n t , p e r h o u s e h o l d , t h a n t h o s e o f
any other class. B e n e a t h this s u m m i t of exclusiveness, h o w e v e r , segre
gation w a s a matter of a street or small group of streets, rather than
a question of entire parishes, wards, or e v e n c e n s u s e n u m e r a t o r s '
districts ( w h i c h t y p i c a l l y h a d a p o p u l a t i o n o f 2 0 0 t o 3 0 0 h o u s e h o l d s )
having a single-class character. T h e socially m i x e d nature of m o s t
u r b a n p r e c i n c t s m a d e it difficult for l o y a l t i e s t o t h e city, t o political
c a u s e s , o r to r e l i g i o u s o r c u l t u r a l activities to g r o w o u t o f strictly l o c a
l i s e d territorial r o o t s . S o c i a l l y h o m o g e n e o u s o r l i k e - m i n d e d e l e m e n t s
r e q u i r e d to b e b r o u g h t t o g e t h e r a n d m o b i l i s e d t h r o u g h w o r k p l a c e ,
p u b , c h u r c h , c h a p e l , friendly s o c i e t y , t r a d e u n i o n , c l u b , a n d a s s o c i a
t i o n ; it c o u l d n o t b e a s s u m e d t h a t t h e y w o u l d b e in t o u c h t h r o u g h
living c h e e k b y jowl. W h e t h e r the proximity a n d intermixture of the
c l a s s e s f o s t e r e d s o c i a l h a r m o n y a n d t o l e r a n c e t h r o u g h familiarity a n d
mutual understanding, or e m p h a s i s e d class feelings a n d tensions
8 3
t h r o u g h t h e c o n s t a n t r e m i n d e r s o f d i f f e r e n c e s , is a n o t h e r q u e s t i o n .
T h e r e s i d e n t i a l p a t t e r n w h i c h m a t u r e d in t h e s e c o n d h a l f o f t h e
century c o n t a i n e d h u n d r e d s of internal frontiers b e t w e e n class a n d
82
Dennis, English Industrial Cities, pp. 211-21. Booth's 'Descriptive Maps of London
Poverty', 1889, in Charles Booth, ed., Life and Labour of the People in London, 1st
ser., Poverty, 4 vols. (1889-91) and the later 'Descriptive Maps' of 1897-8 in 3rd
ser., Religious Influences, 7 volumes (1902-3), show the mosaic effect in colour.
83
Waller, Town, City and Nation, p. 115.

Town and city 63
c l a s s , s o m e t i m e s c l e a r l y m a r k e d b y a p h y s i c a l f e a t u r e like a r a i l w a y
t r a c k , b u t as o f t e n a n i n v i s i b l e l i n e b e t w e e n t h e right s i d e a n d t h e
w r o n g s i d e o f a s t r e e t t h a t w a s v e r y a p p a r e n t to t h e r e s i d e n t s w h o
d e f e n d e d it. T h e m o s t j e a l o u s l y g u a r d e d frontier w a s t h e l i n e b e t w e e n
c l a s s e s w i t h m a r g i n a l d i f f e r e n c e s in i n c o m e s o r w e a l t h , t h e l o w e r m i d
dle class a n d the u p p e r w o r k i n g class. T h e l o w e r middle class of s h o p
keepers, small b u s i n e s s m e n and clerks rarely h a d i n c o m e s any higher
t h a n those of skilled workers, a n d family earnings m a y well h a v e
b e e n l o w e r s i n c e it w a s n o t d o n e for w i v e s t o g o o u t to w o r k . N e v e r t h e
less, the lower middle classes considered t h e m s e l v e s socially superior,
i n e d u c a t i o n , r e s p e c t a b i l i t y , r e f i n e m e n t , a n d life s t y l e . L o w e r m i d d l e -
class h o u s i n g and the better kind of artisan h o u s i n g w e r e very similar.
B o t h c l a s s e s l i v e d i n t e r r a c e h o u s e s w i t h front p a r l o u r s dignified w i t h
s e p a r a t e e n t r a n c e s l e a d i n g off d i m i n u t i v e front p a s s a g e s , o r h a l l s ;
both w o u l d h a v e back extensions housing a scullery with an extra
b e d r o o m o n top; a n d both w o u l d have to put up with outside privies,
at l e a s t u n t i l t h e 1 8 9 0 s . T h e l o w e r m i d d l e c l a s s e s m i g h t w e l l l o o k for
m o r e b a y w i n d o w s a n d a m o r e p r o m i n e n t display of fancy brickwork
or s t o n e w o r k for l i n t e l s a n d o t h e r e m b e l l i s h m e n t s , a n d m i g h t e x h i b i t
a greater e x p a n s e of lace curtains, t h a n their working-class rivals.
Inside, the working-class terraces probably housed a higher propor
t i o n o f l o d g e r s , s i n c e m i d d l e - c l a s s v a l u e s did n o t p e r m i t o p e n a c k n o w
l e d g m e n t o f r e l i a n c e o n t h i s s o u r c e o f s u b s i d i a r y i n c o m e as a m e a n s
of affording t h e r e n t , a l t h o u g h t h e p a y i n g - g u e s t e u p h e m i s m h e l p e d
to get r o u n d this obstacle. This difference b e t w e e n the t w o classes,
8 4
h o w e v e r , w a s not readily visible to the public e y e .
Lacking emphatic architectural statements of their superiority, and
b e i n g u n a b l e to afford, i n t h e l o w e r r u n g s o f c l e r k d o m , t h e e a s i l y
recognisable middle-class badge of servant-keeping, the lower middle
c l a s s d e v e l o p e d t h e cult o f t h e g e n t e e l a s t h e i r d i s t i n g u i s h i n g m a r k .
T h i s h a d m a n y e l e m e n t s , o f thrift, s o b r i e t y , a b s t e m i o u s n e s s , d i s a p p r o
v a l o f frivolity, a b h o r r e n c e o f d e b t , s u p p r e s s i o n o f s e x u a l i t y , careful
p a r a d i n g o f a t t e n d a n c e at c h u r c h o r c h a p e l , a n d e m p h a s i s o n k e e p i n g
u p a p p e a r a n c e s , w h i c h c o u l d b e f o u n d in o t h e r s o c i a l g r o u p s a s w e l l .
T h e distinctive feature w a s the merging of these values into a culture
of self-consciously virtuous small-mindedness w h o s e purity w a s pro
tected from contamination by elevating the practices of privacy and
84
The refinements, subtleties, and contortions in the architectural expression of class
and sub-class distinctions are graphically discussed by Stefan Muthesius, The English
Terraced House (1982), esp. pp. 236-56.

64 F. M. L . T H O M P S O N
of k e e p i n g o n e s e l f to o n e s e l f t o t h e l e v e l o f a d o c t r i n e . T h i s c r e e d
prevented strangers prying into the reality b e h i n d the facade, a reality
w h e r e m a t e r i a l p o s s e s s i o n s o r m o r a l c o n d u c t m i g h t differ f r o m t h e
claims of outward appearance. A w a y from the h o m e base y o u n g clerks
o n h o l i d a y i n M a r g a t e o r S o u t h e n d , o r o n a S a t u r d a y n i g h t o u t at
t h e m u s i c h a l l , m i g h t b e as l e c h e r o u s , v u l g a r , o r d r u n k e n as a n y o n e
else; but the prim a n d prudish respectability of the h o m e , hypocritical
or n o t , w a s t h e n e c e s s a r y g u a r a n t e e o f t h e i r s t a t u s . C a r e f u l l y i s o l a t i n g
themselves from the groups below, the lower middle class m a d e t h e m
s e l v e s i n t o t h e m o s t solitary, l e a s t n e i g h b o u r l y , a n d l e a s t g r e g a r i o u s
c l a s s in V i c t o r i a n s o c i e t y . T h e y c o u l d n o t j o i n i n t h e p u b culture,
or j o i n f r i e n d l y s o c i e t i e s o r g a r d e n i n g c l u b s , b e c a u s e o f t h e i r w o r k i n g -
class a s s o c i a t i o n s ; t h e y c o u l d s c a r c e l y b r i n g t h e m s e l v e s to u s e p u b l i c l y
subsidised or publicly provided services like voluntary schools, B o a r d
schools, the hospitals which grew out of poor law provisions from
the 1860s o n w a r d s , s o m e t i m e s e v e n the public libraries, b e c a u s e t h e s e
c o m p r o m i s e d self-reliance; and, except towards the u p p e r e n d of the
class a m o n g t h e r i c h e r s h o p k e e p e r s a n d t h e v e r y h i g h e s t p a i d s u p e r i o r
c l e r k s , t h e y c o u l d n o t j o i n t h e s e c u r e m i d d l e - c l a s s w o r l d o f lit. a n d
phil. societies, subscription libraries, local a t h e n a e u m s , c h a m b e r s of
c o m m e r c e , a n d , o f l o w e r e s t e e m a n d at t h e e n d o f t h e c e n t u r y , r o t a r y
clubs.
C h u r c h or c h a p e l w e r e t h e o n l y c o m m u n i t i e s t o w h i c h t h e l o w e r
middle class could b e l o n g without r u n n i n g a n y risk of tainting their
social s t a n d i n g o r r u i n i n g t h e i r p o c k e t s . T h i s m i g h t s e e m t o d e f i n e
t h e c l a s s in r e l i g i o u s r a t h e r t h a n i n s o c i a l o r o c c u p a t i o n a l t e r m s . Y e t
d e s p i t e t h e p r o m i n e n c e o f r e l i g i o n in f a m i l y life a n d i n t h e u p b r i n g i n g
of t h e i r c h i l d r e n , a n d d e s p i t e t h e c l o s e l i n k s b e t w e e n c h u r c h o r c h a p e l
membership and respectability, white-collar workers were by no
8 5
m e a n s c o n s p i c u o u s for r e g u l a r c h u r c h a t t e n d a n c e . Thus, although
a r e l i g i o u s b a s i s for t h e i r v a l u e s w a s vital, a s s i d u o u s participation
in o r g a n i s e d r e l i g i o n d o e s n o t s e e m t o h a v e b e e n e s s e n t i a l . H e n c e
the lower middle class did not balance their deliberate rejection of
tightly-knit s t r e e t o r n e i g h b o u r h o o d c o m m u n i t i e s , w h i c h w e r e w o r k
ing class, b y identification with c o h e s i v e religious c o m m u n i t i e s , a n d
could not aspire to integrate with the mutual interest clubs a n d associ
a t i o n s of t h e e s t a b l i s h e d m i d d l e c l a s s . T h i s left t h e m a s f u n d a m e n t a l l y
a class w i t h o u t cohesion, isolated in their family units where
85
Hugh McLeod, 'White Collar Values and the Role of Religion', in Geoffrey Crossick,
ed., The Lower Middle Class in Britain, 1870-1914 (1977), esp. pp. 6 1 - 8 , 8 6 - 8 .

Town and city 65
h o u s e h o l d s uncluttered with either servants or resident kin gave the

p u r e s t V i c t o r i a n p e r f o r m a n c e o f t h e n u c l e a r f a m i l y t u r n e d i n o n itself
a n d s u r v i v i n g o n its o w n m a t e r i a l , m o r a l a n d i n t e l l e c t u a l r e s o u r c e s .
This strongly individualistic existence h a d a tough fibre o f self-
discipline a n d self-improving motivation, a n d the urge to distance
themselves from the working classes was c o m p l e m e n t e d by an almost
o b s e q u i o u s deference to their social superiors a n d desire to emulate
their m a n n e r s , speech, dress, and p r e s u m e d opinions. T h e atomisa-
tion a n d fragmentation of the lower middle class did not, therefore,
threaten social order in a n y w a y with a rising tide of rootless,
u n a t t a c h e d , u n d i r e c t e d , i n d i v i d u a l s . N e v e r t h e l e s s , it r e p r e s e n t e d t h e
closest a p p r o a c h to the generation of an a m o r p h o u s a n o m i e in Victor
i a n u r b a n s o c i e t y ; a n d it w a s e s s e n t i a l l y a p r o d u c t o f t h e g r o w t h o f
l a r g e t o w n s , for w i t h o u t t h e m w h i t e - c o l l a r o c c u p a t i o n s h a r d l y e x i s t e d
at all o r at m o s t i n s u c h s m a l l n u m b e r s i n t h e l e s s e r c o u n t r y t o w n s
8 6
that n o distinct group could e m e r g e .
The l o w e r m i d d l e c l a s s , t h e m o s t a m o r p h o u s a n d m o s t cellular,
the least c o h e s i v e a n d least assertive, g r o u p in society, w e r e under
s t a n d a b l y n o t r e m a r k a b l e for t h e i r c u l t u r a l o r i n t e l l e c t u a l a c h i e v e m e n t s
or i n d e p e n d e n c e . S u c c e s s f u l m e n o f t a l e n t f r o m t h i s s o c i a l b a c k g r o u n d
w e r e , b y definition, propelled u p w a r d s b y their success into the mid
dle or u p p e r middle class, as H . G . W e l l s w a s propelled from his
d r a p e r ' s assistant b e g i n n i n g s into fashionable literary society. T h e
d o m e s t i c p r o b l e m s , s o c i a l life, a n d d a i l y little c r i s e s a n d a n x i e t i e s o f
t h e c l a s s w e r e i n d e e d p r e s e r v e d for all t i m e i n The Diary of a Nobody
( 1 8 9 2 ) , w h i c h m a d e M r P o o t e r i n t o t h e s t o c k figure o f h i g h V i c t o r i a n
petty gentility; b u t that did n o t h i n g to raise the standing of the class.
The great petty bourgeois colony of south L o n d o n was described by
W a l t e r B e s a n t in 1899 as
a city without a municipality, without a centre, without a civic history; it

has no newspapers, magazines or journals; it has no university, it has no
colleges, apart from the medical; it has no intellectual, artistic, scientific, musi
cal, literary centre . . . its residents have no local patriotism or enthusiasm
. . . it has no theatres except of a very popular or humble kind; it has no
87
clubs, it has no public buildings.
T h e y m a y h a v e created a cultural desert a n d attracted the nearly

86
Geoffrey Crossick, 'The Emergence of the Lower Middle Class in Britain: A Discus
sion', in Crossick, ed., Lower Middle Class, pp. 11-60; see also Geoffrey Crossick,
'Urban Society and the Petty Bourgeoisie in Nineteenth-Century Britain', in Derek
Fraser and Anthony Sutcliffe, eds., The Pursuit of Urban History (1983), pp. 306-25.
87
Walter Besant, South London (1899), quoted by Waller, Town,City and Nation, p.41.

66 F . M. L. L. T H O M P S O N
u n i v e r s a l c o n t e m p t o f t h e i n t e l l e c t u a l a n d literary c l a s s e s , b u t t h e s m a l l
shopkeepers, tradesmen, and businessmen, abetted by the growing
n u m b e r s o f w h i t e - c o l l a r w o r k e r s , v i r t u a l l y t o o k c o n t r o l o f t h e cities
in t h e c o u r s e o f t h e fifty y e a r s b e f o r e 1 9 1 4 .
T h e y did t h i s i n a t h r e e - p r o n g e d infiltration o f u r b a n affairs, as
r a t e p a y e r s , a s c o u n c i l l o r s , a n d as t h e h e a r t o f t h e n e w local g o v e r n
m e n t b u r e a u c r a c y . T h e first t w o r o l e s fell to t h e m l a r g e l y t h r o u g h
the voluntary withdrawal and retreat of the m o r e substantial middle
c l a s s e s , a n d t h e t h i r d as a r e s u l t o f t h e e x p a n s i o n o f m u n i c i p a l r e s p o n
sibilities o f w h i c h t h e y , as r a t e p a y e r s , g e n e r a l l y d i s a p p r o v e d on
grounds of expense and ideology. Municipal greatness, therefore, w a s
t h r u s t u p o n t h e l o w e r m i d d l e c l a s s , in m e a s u r e a g a i n s t its will if it
h a d b e e n c a p a b l e o f h a v i n g a will, n o t a c h i e v e d b y a c o l l e c t i v e s t r u g g l e
or as t h e fulfilment o f c h e r i s h e d c l a s s a s p i r a t i o n s . L o w e r m i d d l e - c l a s s
h o u s e h o l d e r s did n o t p a y l a r g e a m o u n t s o f r a t e s as i n d i v i d u a l s , c o m
p a r e d w i t h t h o s e h i g h e r u p t h e s c a l e w h o o c c u p i e d l a r g e villas a n d
m a n s i o n s , but collectively t h e y w e r e a considerable force with a con
s i d e r a b l e p o t e n t i a l for f e e l i n g a g g r i e v e d . S m a l l t r a d e r s a n d b u s i n e s s
m e n w e r e o p p r e s s e d b y t h e b u r d e n o f r a t e s o n t h e i r b u s i n e s s e s as
w e l l a s t h e i r h o m e s , a n d r e c k o n e d t h i s b e c a m e a triple i m p o s i t i o n
when they w e r e also small property o w n e r s with their savings
i n v e s t e d in a r o w o f c o t t a g e s o f t h e k i n d n o r m a l l y let to w o r k i n g - c l a s s
t e n a n t s w h o did n o t p a y r a t e s s e p a r a t e l y b u t c o m p o u n d e d for t h e m
as a n e l e m e n t i n t h e w e e k l y r e n t , l e a v i n g t h e h o u s i n g l a n d l o r d to
p a y t h e r a t e t o t h e c o u n c i l . Little w o n d e r t h a t r a t e p a y e r s ' a s s o c i a t i o n s
w e r e e n d e m i c in t h e m u n i c i p a l life o f V i c t o r i a n t o w n s , m a i n l y d r a w n
from the petty bourgeoisie, mainly short-lived, and mainly c o n c e r n e d
with o r g a n i s i n g r e s i s t a n c e to s o m e p a r t i c u l a r p i e c e o f proposed
municipal expenditure. T h e reputation of these associations, not
u n d e s e r v e d l y , w a s for b e i n g s m a l l - m i n d e d a n d s h o r t s i g h t e d , dedi
c a t e d to k e e p i n g r a t e s d o w n at t h e c o s t o f b e i n g t h e m a i n s t a y o f t h e
' d i r t y p a r t y ' w h i c h r e g a r d e d s e w e r s a n d s a n i t a t i o n as u n n e c e s s a r y ,
and the stand-by of the ' e c o n o m i s e r s ' w h o rejected any rate-provided
8 8
civic i m p r o v e m e n t s o r a m e n i t i e s .
N e v e r t h e l e s s , Victorian t o w n s w e r e s w e p t into the era of sanitary
i m p r o v e m e n t s , s e w a g e s c h e m e s , paved streets, n e w t o w n halls, pub
lic p a r k s , p u b l i c l i b r a r i e s , p u b l i c w a s h h o u s e s a n d b a t h s , rate-sup
p o r t e d s c h o o l s , a n d i n c r e a s i n g l y in t h e last q u a r t e r o f t h e c e n t u r y
88
Avner Offer, Property and Politics 1870-1914: Landownership, Law, Ideology and Urban
Development in England (Cambridge, 1981), pp. 297-301.

Town and city 67
municipally o w n e d w a t e r w o r k s , g a s w o r k s , t r a m w a y s , a n d electricity
undertakings. S o m e t i m e s they were swept kicking a n d screaming into
the nineteenth century, prodded and p u s h e d b y central government
a n d statute; but just as often t h e y m a d e their o w n w a y u n d e r local
leaders with larger views of the physical necessity, humanitarian
d e s i r a b i l i t y , a n d l o n g e r t e r m c o m m e r c i a l b e n e f i t s o f civic i m p r o v e
m e n t s . S o m e t i m e s these local leaders w e r e m e m b e r s of the urban
elite, p r o m i n e n t b u s i n e s s a n d professional m e n securely located in
the upper middle class. J o s e p h Chamberlain, mayor of B i r m i n g h a m
b e t w e e n 1 8 7 3 a n d 1 8 7 6 a n d t h e d r i v i n g f o r c e o f a civic g o s p e l o f d y n a
m i c i m p r o v e m e n t s a n d b e t t e r m e n t , is m o s t c o m m o n l y c i t e d a s t h e
p a r a d i g m o f t h i s t y p e . H e is i n d a n g e r o f b e i n g t h e s o l e e x a m p l e .
T h e attempt to elevate S a m u e l S m i t h , o n e of Bradford's leading m a n u
f a c t u r e r s , m a y o r f r o m 1 8 5 1 t o 1 8 5 4 , a n d m o v i n g spirit i n t h e b u i l d i n g
of S t G e o r g e ' s H a l l for p u b l i c c o n c e r t s , t o t h e C h a m b e r l a i n l e v e l h a s
89
not been notably successful. There were indeed other wealthy
b u s i n e s s m e n w h o b e c a m e civic b e n e f a c t o r s a n d d i g n i t a r i e s - S i r P e t e r
Fairbairn, brother of the better k n o w n engineer, William, w h o w a s
knighted b e c a u s e h e h a p p e n e d to b e mayor of L e e d s w h e n Victoria
o p e n e d the magnificent n e w t o w n hall in 1 8 5 8 , or Sir W . H . Wills,
tobacco millionaire a n d Bristol t o w n councillor in t h e 1870s a n d 1880s,
a r e c a s e s i n p o i n t - b u t t h e y t e n d t o b e r e m e m b e r e d for t h e i r b e n e f a c
9 0
t i o n s r a t h e r t h a n for t h e i r m u n i c i p a l a c h i e v e m e n t s . It is e v e n p o s s i b l e
t h a t t h e t i m e w a s n e v e r r i p e for t h e u r b a n m i d d l e c l a s s t o p l a y t h e
d e c i s i v e l e a d i n g r o l e i n civic affairs: u n t i l t h e 1 8 7 0 s t h e y w e r e o v e r
s h a d o w e d b y the landed patricians, and w e r e in general reluctant
t o d e v o t e t i m e t o p u b l i c life; after t h e 1 8 7 0 s t h e y i n c r e a s i n g l y w i t h d r e w
into the c o u n t r y a n d did not involve t h e m s e l v e s in t h e everyday
91
running of their cities.
S o m e t i m e s , h o w e v e r , the local leaders of municipal e x p a n s i v e n e s s
c a m e f r o m b e l o w t h e elite l e v e l , a n d t h i s m a y h a v e b e e n t h e m o r e
typical situation. T h e largest m e r c h a n t s a n d manufacturers h a d indus
try-wide regional, national, a n d world interests a n d markets, and their
fortunes w e r e not closely d e p e n d e n t o n the condition or standing
of a n y p a r t i c u l a r m u n i c i p a l i t y , u n l e s s it h a p p e n e d t o w i e l d direct
control over s u c h essentials as their transport services. T h e r e w a s ,
89
Asa Briggs, Victorian Cities (1963), p. 155.
90
H. E. Mellor, Leisure and the Changing City, 1870-1914 (1976), pp. 8 9 - 9 3 , 1 0 4 - 5 .
91
David Cannadine, 'Introduction', in David Cannadine, ed., Patricians, Power, and
Politics in Nineteenth-Century Towns (Leicester, 1982), pp. 8-11. Mellor, Changing
City, p. 93.

68 F . M. L . T H O M P S O N
t h e r e f o r e , n o s t r o n g e c o n o m i c m o t i v e for i n v o l v i n g t h e m s e l v e s in
m u n i c i p a l g o v e r n m e n t , a n d w h e n t h e y d i d d o s o it w a s l i k e l y t o b e
for reasons of political ambition, religious duty, humanitarian
i m p u l s e , o r social c o n s c i e n c e . T h e l i v e s a n d l i v e l i h o o d s o f l e s s e r m e n ,
by contrast, were centred o n and largely circumscribed by the o n e
p a r t i c u l a r t o w n in w h i c h t h e y l i v e d a n d c a r r i e d o n t h e i r b u s i n e s s e s ,
and their fortunes were b o u n d up with the good order, health, ameni
ties, a n d r e p u t a t i o n o f t h a t t o w n . I n a d d i t i o n t o a n y calls o f local
p a t r i o t i s m o r civic d u t y s u c h m e n c o u l d h a v e s t r o n g , b u t n o t n e c e s s a r
ily n a r r o w or v e n a l , s e l f - i n t e r e s t e d m o t i v e s for e n t e r i n g m u n i c i p a l
g o v e r n m e n t , m o t i v e s w h i c h c o u l d l e a d to s u p p o r t for civic i m p r o v e
m e n t s as b e i n g g o o d b u s i n e s s a l m o s t as e a s i l y as t h e y c o u l d l e a d to
c h e e s e - p a r i n g inaction as b e i n g g o o d for k e e p i n g t h e rates d o w n . Local
solicitors, d o c t o r s , e s t a t e a g e n t s , a n d o t h e r p r o f e s s i o n a l m e n , f r o m
t h e m i d d l i n g p a r t o f t h e m i d d l e c l a s s , w e r e f r e q u e n t l y to b e f o u n d
a m o n g t h e i m p r o v e r s , a n d w e r e p e r h a p s t h e m o s t disinterested parties.
But there w e r e also m e m b e r s of the petty bourgeoisie, s h o p k e e p e r s ,
t r a d e r s , b u i l d e r s , a n d t h e like w h o s e e n l i g h t e n e d s e l f - i n t e r e s t l e d t h e m
to s u p p o r t , a n d p a y for, n o t m e r e l y t h e utilitarian s a n i t a r y i m p r o v e
9 2
m e n t , o f t h e i r t o w n b u t also its e m b e l l i s h m e n t w i t h a m e n i t i e s .
Moreover, the tensions and oscillations b e t w e e n e c o n o m y and
i m p r o v e m e n t w e r e n o t t h e o n l y , or n e c e s s a r i l y t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t ,
issues affecting p a r t i c i p a t i o n in municipal government. Routine
administration of building bye-laws, housing regulations, street
c l e a n s i n g , l i g h t i n g , fire b r i g a d e s , a n d o t h e r f e a t u r e s o f m u n i c i p a l
h o u s e k e e p i n g appeared h u m d r u m a n d boring to the professional a n d
b u s i n e s s elites, a n d m a d e council w o r k s e e m petty, unattractive, a n d
u n r e w a r d i n g . B u t t h e s e t h i n g s affected t h e b u s i n e s s p r o s p e c t s , t r a d i n g
conditions and property-owning interests of the petty bourgeoisie
v e r y directly, a n d q u i t e a p a r t f r o m a n y s u s p i c i o n o f s e l f - s e e k i n g s u c h
as local b u i l d e r s w e r e p r o n e to attract, t h e y c o u l d l e g i t i m a t e l y find
t h e detail o f c o u n c i l w o r k i m p o r t a n t a n d r e w a r d i n g . T h e i r c o m m i t
m e n t to t h e t o w n a n d i d e n t i f i c a t i o n w i t h its i n t e r e s t s w a s m i r r o r e d
b y t h e m i g r a t i o n o f t h e w e a l t h y to leafy o u t e r s u b u r b s w h i c h m i g h t
n o t b e a d m i n i s t r a t i v e l y w i t h i n t h e c o r e b o r o u g h at all, or t o s m a l l
country t o w n s swelling into satellites u n d e r railway stimulation b y
t h e c l o s i n g d e c a d e s o f t h e c e n t u r y , w h i c h w e r e definitely i n a s e p a r a t e
m u n i c i p a l s p h e r e . T h e political t r a d i t i o n s a n d c o m p l e x i o n s o f b o t h
92
Daunton, Coal Metropolis, pp. 149-63.

Town and city 69
large and middle-rank t o w n s w e r e very varied, and so too w a s the

social c o m p o s i t i o n o f t h e i r c o u n c i l s . It w o u l d b e w r o n g to s u p p o s e
that there was a uniform trend towards domination by publicans,
high-street traders, a n d local builders; indeed, the study o f Bir
m i n g h a m a n d L e e d s s u g g e s t s t h a t a l o w e r m i d d l e - c l a s s grip was
b r o k e n b y t h e e n t r y , or r e - e n t r y , o f b i g b u s i n e s s i n t o t h e c o u n c i l
c h a m b e r in f o r c e i n t h e 1 8 7 0 s in t h e first city a n d t h e 1 8 9 0 s in t h e
9 3
second. T h a t m a y w e l l h a v e b e e n a n effect o f s w i n g s in l o c a l p a r t y
politics m o r e t h a n o f c h a n g e s in t h e a t t i t u d e s o f e i t h e r t h e b u s i n e s s
elite o r t h e b o r o u g h v o t e r s . I n a n y c a s e , it is w e l l e s t a b l i s h e d t h a t
s m a l l t r a d e r s a n d b u s i n e s s m e n f o r m e d a significant e l e m e n t o n t o w n
c o u n c i l s at l e a s t f r o m t h e 1 8 3 5 M u n i c i p a l R e f o r m A c t o n w a r d s , and
that b y the early 1900s they, plus the local professional m e n who
w e r e generally middling middle class rather than u p p e r middle class
in i n c o m e , status, a n d outlook, together normally furnished the clear
94
majority of t o w n councillors.
The m a j o r i t y , r e c k o n e d in t e r m s o f social a n d o c c u p a t i o n a l b a c k
g r o u n d s , did n o t n e c e s s a r i l y c o m m a n d p o w e r a n d i n f l u e n c e in t h e
b o r o u g h s . T h a t d e p e n d e d o n political a l i g n m e n t s , for it is a carefully
c u l t i v a t e d c o n s e r v a t i v e m y t h t h a t l o c a l g o v e r n m e n t w a s in s o m e w a y
apolitical a n d n o n - p a r t y u n t i l t h e r u d e i n t r u s i o n o f L a b o u r i n t o a p r e
v i o u s l y u n s u l l i e d h e l d . P a r t y spirit a n d o r g a n i s a t i o n , n o t a l w a y s c o i n
cident with national or parliamentary parties, w a s vigorously and
95
often viciously present t h r o u g h o u t the Victorian p e r i o d . It d e p e n d e d
o n l e a d e r s h i p , o f t e n p r o v i d e d b y i n d i v i d u a l s f r o m m i n o r i t y , elitist,
social g r o u p s . M o r e o v e r , effective p o w e r w a s t e n d i n g , f r o m a r o u n d
t h e 1 8 8 0 s o n w a r d s , to slip a w a y f r o m e l e c t e d c o u n c i l l o r s i n t o t h e h a n d s
of t h e p e r m a n e n t officials: t o w n c l e r k s , c o m m o n l y s o l i c i t o r s , h a d l o n g
b e e n important; they were joined by engineers, surveyors, architects,
and career administrators, who had great empires of gasworks,
93
E. P. Hennock, T h e Social Composition of Borough Councils in Two Large Cities,
,
1 8 3 5 - 1 9 1 4 in H. J. Dyos, ed., The Study of Urban History (1968); E . P. Hennock,
/
Fit and Proper Persons: Ideal and Reality in Nineteenth-Century Urban Government (1973),
part II, chap. 5.
94
Daunton, Coal Metropolis, pp. 152-3; Mellor, Changing City, p. 87; Waller, Democracy
and Sectarianism, pp. 151-2; Waller, Town, City and Nation, p. 291; Richard Roberts,
'Leasehold Estates and Municipal Enterprise: Landowners, Local Government, and
the Development of Bournemouth, c. 1850 to 1914', in Cannadine, ed., Patricians,
Power, and Politics, p. 198; R. Newton, 'Society and Politics in Exeter, 1837-1914',
in Dyos, ed., Study of Urban History, p. 313; Derek Fraser, Urban Politics in Victorian
England (Leicester, 1976), pp. 130-3.
95
Fraser, Urban Politics, pp. 13, 92-3; Derek Fraser, Power and Authority in the Victorian
City (1979), pp. 148-55.

70 F . M. L . T H O M P S O N
waterworks, sewage systems, power stations, tramways, schools,

libraries, parks, a n d from t h e 1890s, in a small w a y , h o u s i n g projects,
t o d e s i g n , c o n s t r u c t , a n d o p e r a t e . M u n i c i p a l b u r e a u c r a c y a n d its s e r
vants w e r e a large, e x p e n s i v e , a n d in their ' m u n i c i p a l trading' or
'municipal socialist' hats, very controversial sector of late Victorian
96
and Edwardian urban life. C h i e f officers' j o b s w e r e i m p o r t a n t o p e n
i n g s for t h e n e w p r o f e s s i o n s ; a l t h o u g h t h e i r s a l a r i e d n a t u r e p o s e d
p r o b l e m s for t h e c o n s u l t a n t - c l i e n t v e r s i o n o f t h e p r o f e s s i o n a l e t h i c ,
t h e s a l a r i e s t h e m s e l v e s w e r e h a n d s o m e e n o u g h i n t h e l a r g e s t cities,
at a r o u n d £ 1 , 0 0 0 a y e a r t o w a r d s t h e e n d o f t h e c e n t u r y , t o p l a c e s o m e
b o r o u g h e n g i n e e r s o r m e d i c a l officers o f h e a l t h s a f e l y i n t h e u p p e r
9 7
middle class. M a n y of the municipal servants, particularly w h e r e
a b o r o u g h e m p l o y e d direct labour o n construction w o r k s , w e r e part
of t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s e s , n o r m a l l y w i t h t h e p r i v i l e g e d s t a t u s o f s e c u r e
a n d r e g u l a r e m p l o y m e n t . I n b e t w e e n t h e r e c a m e a l a r g e slice o f
m i d d l e - t o l o w e r m i d d l e - c l a s s j o b s : t h e c h i e f officers o f t h e l e s s e r o r
m o r e p a r s i m o n i o u s b o r o u g h s , t h e s u b o r d i n a t e p r o f e s s i o n a l staff, t h e
clerical w o r k e r s , a n d , after 1 9 0 2 , t h e m a i n m a s s o f s c h o o l t e a c h e r s ,
w h o had previously been employees of the School Boards. The
b u s i n e s s o f t o w n g o v e r n m e n t , a s it m o v e d f r o m t h e m i n i m a l f u n c t i o n s
of t h e 1 8 3 0 s t o t h e w i d e a r r a y o f a c t i v i t i e s o f t h e 1 9 0 0 s , b e c a m e a n
important engine of middle- and lower middle-class growth, and m a d e
the genteel, respectable, unadventurous, conventional middle-brow
tone of urban society self-perpetuating.
As the p r o c e s s of urbanisation p e a k e d a n d levelled out in the years
j u s t b e f o r e 1 9 1 4 it w a s a p p a r e n t t h a t it h a d s p a w n e d a n u r b a n e n v i r o n
ment with considerable areas of squalor, nastiness, and drabness,
w h i c h p o s e d u n r e s o l v e d p r o b l e m s t h a t i n c r e a s i n g l y c l a m o u r e d for
attention. Urban society, on the other h a n d , h a d developed a reasona
bly s t a b l e s t r u c t u r e : t h e r e w e r e conflicts, c o m p l a i n t s , a n d d i s c o n t e n t s ,
b u t t h e s e o p e r a t e d w i t h i n a s o c i a l o r d e r w h i c h , a l t h o u g h its l e g i t i m a c y
m i g h t n o t b e u n i v e r s a l l y a c c e p t e d b y all c l a s s e s , w a s n o t l i k e l y t o
collapse into anarchy or social revolution, n o r yet the aimless incoher
ence w h i c h h a d b e e n the nightmare of s o m e intelligent early Victor
ians. That social order h a d outgrown its e a r l i e r a r i s t o c r a t i c and
p a t r i c i a n c o c o o n , o f w h i c h t h e o n l y s i g n i f i c a n t t r a c e s left w e r e i n L o n
d o n high society a n d in t h e o r n a m e n t a l a n d c e r e m o n i a l a p p e a r a n c e s
of i n d i v i d u a l a r i s t o c r a t s i n w h a t h a d o n c e b e e n ' t h e i r ' t o w n s . It h a d
96
Offer, Property and Politics, pp. 221-2, 302-8.
97
Wohl, Endangered Lives, pp. 186-7.

Town and city 71
also largely s h e d the urban aristocracy, w h i c h m a y b e variously t e r m e d

t h e aristocratic b o u r g e o i s i e , t h e b u s i n e s s a n d p r o f e s s i o n a l elite, or
t h e u p p e r m i d d l e c l a s s . T h i s c l a s s , i n s o f a r as it h a d n o t w i t h d r a w n
entirely into the country, might retain very large e c o n o m i c interests
w h i c h w e r e located in t o w n s , but w a s extensively gentrified in man
n e r s , e d u c a t i o n , v a l u e s , a n d r e s i d e n t i a l s t y l e ; it w a s n o m o r e t h a n
s e m i - u r b a n , a n d its m e m b e r s did n o t r e a d i l y identify w i t h t h e f o r t u n e s
a n d aspirations of any o n e particular t o w n . T h e m o s t purely urban
elements in urban society, substantially created b y urbanisation, were
t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s a n d t h e l o w e r m i d d l e c l a s s . N e i t h e r in fact w a s
a c l a s s w i t h a n y r e a d i l y p e r c e p t i b l e c o h e s i o n , c o n s c i o u s n e s s , or
culture. T h e working class of manual workers was a bundle of classes
d e f i n e d b y e a r n i n g s , skill, o c c u p a t i o n , r e g u l a r i t y o f e m p l o y m e n t ,
unionisation, or religion: distinctions w h i c h existed within urban
settings but did not derive from t h e m . T h e urban r e s p o n s e of the
working classes, the n e i g h b o u r h o o d community, tended to promote
a n i n w a r d - l o o k i n g cellular s t r u c t u r e , n o t c l a s s s o l i d a r i t y . E v e n m o r e ,
t h e l o w e r m i d d l e c l a s s w a s a s o c i a l a n a l y s t ' s c o n v e n i e n c e , as a c a t e g o r y
of discourse, rather than a s o c i a l reality; its m e m b e r s w e r e so
p e r m e a t e d with the introversion of family privacy and i n d e p e n d e n c e
t h a t t h e y h a d difficulty in r e l a t i n g at all c l o s e l y e v e n t o n e i g h b o u r s
in t h e s a m e o c c u p a t i o n a l a n d c u l t u r a l fraction o f t h i s m u c h f r a g m e n t e d
c l a s s . T h e e c o n o m i c , social, a n d political d y n a m i c s o f u r b a n i s a t i o n ,
however, h a d projected the lower middle class into a prominence
w h i c h far e x c e e d e d its e x p e c t a t i o n s a n d its c a p a c i t y t o develop
c o n s t r u c t i v e , r a t h e r t h a n m e r e l y n e g a t i v e , i d e a s o n h o w t o u s e this
position.
T h e w o r k i n g c l a s s e s w e r e t h e first t o m o v e , s e e k i n g u n i t y t h r o u g h
political a n d i n d u s t r i a l o r g a n i s a t i o n , a n d i n t h e t w e n t y y e a r s b e f o r e
1914 b e g i n n i n g to break into urban local g o v e r n m e n t o n a m u c h wider
front t h a n t h e y w e r e a c h i e v i n g n a t i o n a l l y at t h e p a r l i a m e n t a r y l e v e l .
After 1 9 1 8 t h e i r p o w e r i n t h e t o w n s , a n d n a t i o n a l p o l i c i e s i n t e n d e d
e i t h e r t o p r o p i t i a t e t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s or i m p r o v e its w e l f a r e , i n i t i a t e d
a destruction of the social texture a n d culture of the Victorian t o w n
that w a s m o r e widespread than the concomitant demolition of parts
of its p h y s i c a l fabric. T h e l o w e r m i d d l e c l a s s m o v e d l a t e , o f t e n s e e m e d
t o b e d e f e a t e d , e v e n a n n i h i l a t e d , i n detail, a n d n e v e r c a p i t a l i s e d o n
its u r b a n p o t e n t i a l w i t h i n strictly u r b a n l i m i t s . B u t w h e n it f o u n d
its v o t e s , a n d its v o i c e , it e n t e r e d i n t o its n a t i o n a l i n h e r i t a n c e i n 1 9 7 9 ,
w i t h far m o r e d e v a s t a t i n g effects.

72 F . M. L . T H O M P S O N
IV
In t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y t h e t o w n s r o s e to n u m e r i c a l dominance
w i t h o u t g r a v e l y e m b a r r a s s i n g t h e o l d o r d e r s a v e in t h e f e w y e a r s
before 1832 w h e n the unrepresented t o w n s s e e m e d to p o s e a r e a l
t h r e a t to t h e u n r e f o r m e d p a r l i a m e n t a r y s y s t e m . I n 1 8 8 5 t h e a n c i e n t
d i s t i n c t i o n b e t w e e n c o u n t y a n d b o r o u g h s e a t s in P a r l i a m e n t v a n i s h e d
w i t h o u t c a u s i n g a t r e m o r , e x c e p t a m o n g t h e political p a r t i e s j o c k e y i n g
for p o s i t i o n , a n d t h e c o u n t r y s e t t l e d a l m o s t w i t h o u t n o t i c i n g i n t o a
political s y s t e m in w h i c h t h e t y p i c a l c o n s t i t u e n c i e s w e r e , a n d a r e ,
c e n t r e d o n t o w n s or are s u b - d i v i s i o n s o f t h e l a r g e r t o w n s . N o t t h e
l e a s t o f t h e r e a s o n s for t h i s b a r e l y r e s i s t e d or r e g r e t t e d abandonment
of t r a d i t i o n w a s t h a t at t h e political l e v e l t h e t o w n s h a d t u r n e d o u t
to h o u s e b o t h p a r t i e s , L i b e r a l s a n d C o n s e r v a t i v e s , a n d t o offer p r o s
p e c t s a n d p i c k i n g s for b o t h , a n d h a d n o t d e v e l o p e d as t h e e x c l u s i v e
e l e c t o r a l p r o p e r t y o f o n e s i d e . M o r e o v e r , at t h e i d e o l o g i c a l a n d social
l e v e l it h a d t u r n e d o u t t h a t t h e t o w n s h a d n o t d e v e l o p e d a s t r o n g ,
independent, a n d separate identity or culture of a kind w h i c h could
rival a n d o v e r w h e l m t h e c o u n t r y - b a s e d f o r c e s o f t h e t r a d i t i o n a l r u l i n g
class. U r b a n elites, indeed, h a d s h o w n considerable p r o p e n s i t y to
m e r g e w i t h t h e a r i s t o c r a t i c - g e n t r y u p p e r c l a s s , s o t h a t in m a n y vital
respects urban society was a structure without a top storey.
This does not m e a n that s o m e general process of gentrihcation and
infiltration o f g e n t r y v a l u e s p r e c i p i t a t e d B r i t i s h e c o n o m i c d e c l i n e b y
98
s a p p i n g t h e spirit o f e n t e r p r i s e a n d o v e r t h r o w i n g t h e w o r k e t h i c .
F a r f r o m it. B u s i n e s s m e n c o n t i n u e d t o w o r k in t o w n s , s o m e v e r y
s u c c e s s f u l l y , s o m e l e s s s o , a n d a l m o s t all i n d u s t r i a l firms a n d t h e i r
w o r k s w e r e l o c a t e d in t o w n s : t h a t w a s w h e r e t h e w e a l t h c a m e f r o m .
M a n y b u s i n e s s m e n , h o w e v e r , a n d in t h e c o u r s e o f t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n
t u r y m o s t , d e t a c h e d t h e m s e l v e s for all o t h e r p u r p o s e s - r e s i d e n c e ,
social life, e d u c a t i o n , r e c r e a t i o n , i n v o l v e m e n t i n p u b l i c life - from
t h e i r w o r k p l a c e . T h e l o s s o f i n t e r e s t in m u n i c i p a l g o v e r n m e n t b y t h e
city f a t h e r s , a l r e a d y e v i d e n t i n t h e late n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , b e c a m e
9 9
a l m o s t total after t h e First W o r l d W a r . It is s y m p t o m a t i c t h a t w h e r e
as V i c t o r i a n m i l l i o n a i r e s w e r e likely to g i v e art g a l l e r i e s , p u b l i c p a r k s ,
or c o l l e g e s to t h e i r n a t i v e t o w n s , t w e n t i e t h - c e n t u r y t y c o o n s a r e m u c h
m o r e likely t o e n d o w O x b r i d g e c o l l e g e s o r set u p n a t i o n a l c h a r i t a b l e
98
The argument of Martin J. Wiener, English Culture and the Decline of the Industrial
Spirit, 1850-1980 (Cambridge, 1981).
99
B. T. Robson. 'Coming Full Circle: London versus the Rest, 1890-1980', in George
Gordon, ed., Regional Cities in the U.K. 1890-1980 (1986), pp. 227-8.

Town and city 73
or e d u c a t i o n a l f o u n d a t i o n s ; e v e n w h e n a n art c o l l e c t i o n is g i v e n to
a city, a s t h e B u r r e l l c o l l e c t i o n t o G l a s g o w , it is o u t h o u s e d i n a p a r k
w h e r e , in c o n s i d e r a b l e a r c h i t e c t u r a l p r e s e n c e , it a p p e a r s to b e l o n g
t o t h e p u b l i c at l a r g e m o r e t h a n to t h e c i t i z e n s o f G l a s g o w . B u t if
o n e t w e n t i e t h - c e n t u r y d e v e l o p m e n t h a s b e e n t h e e r o s i o n o f t h e parti
cularity of individual towns and the disappearance of loyalties
f o c u s s e d o n t h e m , e x c e p t for p o p u l a r a t t a c h m e n t s t o city f o o t b a l l
t e a m s w h i c h c a n b e savagely violent in their partisanship, another
h a s b e e n t h e c o m p l e t i o n o f t h e a l m o s t total u r b a n i s a t i o n o f B r i t i s h
s o c i e t y a n d its c u l t u r e .
This happened in s p i t e of, a n d i n d e e d to a c o n s i d e r a b l e e x t e n t
b e c a u s e of, t h e flight f r o m t h e c i t y o f t h e b e t t e r - o f f c o m m u t e r s , t h e
r e n t i e r s , a n d t h e r e t i r e d , w h o b e t w e e n t h e m c o m p r i s e d a l a r g e slice
of t h e u p p e r a n d m i d d l i n g m i d d l e c l a s s . M u c h o f t h i s d i s p e r s a l p e o
pled the outer suburbs w h o s e interwar sprawling w a s the chief instru
m e n t of the physical spread of the great conurbations, but m u c h of
it a l s o l e a p t b e y o n d t h e m i n t o w h a t a p p e a r e d t o g e o g r a p h e r s and
s t a t i s t i c i a n s t o b e t h e c o u n t r y s i d e . T h i s last p r o c e s s c e r t a i n l y h a d its
mid-Victorian origins in the appearance of the 'stockbroker belt' p h e
n o m e n o n f r o m t h e 1 8 6 0 s o n w a r d s , a n d its a n t e c e d e n t s i n t h e m o v e
of s o m e o f t h e v e r y r i c h i n t o ' h o u s e s i n t h e c o u n t r y ' ; b u t it m o v e d
i n t o a different g e a r w i t h t h e availability o f m o t o r v e h i c l e s . N i n e t e e n t h -
c e n t u r y dispersal w a s d e p e n d e n t o n railways, a n d the h o r s e a n d car
r i a g e for r e a c h i n g t h e s t a t i o n f r o m a n y d i s t a n c e , a n d t h i s l i m i t e d s e t t l e
m e n t i n t h e c o u n t r y b y t o w n s f o l k to t h e w e a l t h y a n d t h e v e r y r i c h ;
nevertheless, railways w e r e already creating country-village satellites,
1 0 0
like R a d l e t t i n H e r t f o r d s h i r e , b y t h e 1 8 8 0 s . Already before 1914
t h e m o t o r c a r s o f t h e v e r y rich w e r e o p e n i n g u p p a r t s o f t h e c o u n t r y
s i d e h i t h e r t o c o n s i d e r e d t o o r e m o t e for c o n v e n i e n t a c c e s s to t o w n :
the n e w country h o u s e of E w e l m e D o w n in the T h a m e s valley near
1 0 1
W a l l i n g f o r d w a s d e s c r i b e d as a n e x a m p l e o f t h i s in 1 9 1 2 . T h i s effect
m o v e d d o w n the social scale into the middle classes in the 1920s a n d
1 9 3 0 s a s m o t o r t r a n s p o r t s p r e a d . M o t o r b u s e s b e c a m e t h e k e y to o u t e r
suburbia, which was admittedly a form of low-density urban environ
m e n t usually lacking any town-like features b e y o n d the bare essentials
of s h o p s a n d a c i n e m a . M o t o r c a r s o p e n e d u p n e w p o s s i b i l i t i e s for
the evolution of n e w breeds of middle-class amphibians w h o lived
J. T. Coppock, 'Dormitory Settlements around London', in J. T. Coppock and

H. C. Prince, eds., Greater London (1964), pp. 279-84.
Country Life, 31 (1912), p. 430.

74 F . M. L . T H O M P S O N
i n t h e c o u n t r y a n d w o r k e d i n t h e t o w n ; t h e i r a p p e t i t e for r i b b o n d e v e
l o p m e n t , p a r t i c u l a r l y a l o n g arterial r o a d s i n t h e s o u t h - e a s t , w a s s o
v o r a c i o u s t h a t w i t h i n little m o r e t h a n a d e c a d e a n e w t e r m h a d b e e n
a d d e d t o t h e l a n g u a g e , t h e p r o c e s s itself h a d b e e n s u b j e c t e d to s o m e
a t t e m p t at official c o n t r o l i n 1 9 3 3 , a n d m u c h p r o f e s s i o n a l p l a n n i n g
o p i n i o n h e l d t h a t it w a s fast b e c o m i n g i m p o s s i b l e t o tell w h e r e t o w n
1 0 2
ended and country began.
F a n n i n g o u t i n t o t h e c o u n t r y s i d e h a d n o t p r o g r e s s e d v e r y far b e f o r e
it w a s h a l t e d b y t h e S e c o n d W o r l d W a r . It w a s r e s u m e d w i t h i n c r e a s
ing intensity in the 1950s a n d 1960s as car o w n e r s h i p spread widely
a n d two-car h o u s e h o l d s b e c a m e c o m m o n in t h e middle class, but
it r e s u m e d u n d e r a p o w e r f u l p l a n n i n g r e g i m e w i t h strictly e n f o r c e d
g r e e n b e l t p o l i c i e s , w h i c h at l e a s t m a d e it p l a i n p h y s i c a l l y a n d v i s u a l l y
w h e r e t h e l a r g e t o w n s e n d e d a n d t h e c o u n t r y b e g a n , e v e n if it c o u l d
not oblige country dwellers to abjure urban habits. Villages a n d small
towns in a n d b e y o n d the green belts w e r e colonised a n d taken over
by the middle classes w h o s e livelihoods w e r e e a r n e d in the nearest
larger t o w n s or conurbations, a n d n e w settlements w e r e carved out
b e y o n d the green belt fringe. T h e w o o d l a n d inhabitants of T e w i n
W o o d in Hertfordshire, with their large d e t a c h e d h o u s e s in individual
clearings in t h e w o o d , c o m m u t i n g to w o r k in n e a r b y W e l w y n G a r d e n
City or going u p to L o n d o n , e n j o y i n g their rural e n v i r o n m e n t a n d
their d e t a c h m e n t from a n y rural labours, b e c a m e the sociologist's par
1 0 3
adigm of the urban-rural middle class of the 1 9 6 0 s . These move
m e n t s c o n t r i b u t e d t o p r o d u c i n g t h e statistical effect o f a s h a r p s l o w i n g
d o w n o f t h e p r o c e s s o f u r b a n i s a t i o n after t h e 1 8 9 0 s , a n d its a r r e s t
or e v e n s l i g h t r e v e r s a l f r o m t h e 1 9 2 0 s , w h e n t h a t p r o c e s s is c o n s i d e r e d
s i m p l y a s a g e o g r a p h i c a l q u e s t i o n o f c h a n g e s in t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n o f
1 0 4
people b e t w e e n u r b a n a n d rural s e t t l e m e n t s . T h e m o v e m e n t s also
suggest, h o w e v e r , that urbanisation as a social a n d cultural p r o c e s s
c o n t i n u e d u n a b a t e d , its i n f l u e n c e p e n e t r a t i n g d e e p i n t o t h e c o u n t r y
side o n t h e w h e e l s of t h e n e w transport t e c h n o l o g y without m a k i n g
the physical environment decisively and brutally non-rural. T h e n e w
urban-rural middle classes, moreover, w e r e part of a generalised a n d
102
The Ribbon Development Restrictions Act, 1933, was ineffective. In practice ribbon
development was ended by the Second World War, and was not resumed after
it, at least in such a crude manner. A. A. Jackson, Semi-Detached London: Suburban
Development, Life and Transport, 1900-39 (1973), p. 321; Gerald Dix, 'Patrick Aber-
crombie', in Gordon Cherry, ed., Pioneers in British Planning (1981), p. 113.
103
R. E . Pahl, Urbs in Rure (1965), esp. pp. 43-62.
104
See above, pp. 10-11, pp. 10-11.

Town and city 75
unspecific urban society, not m e m b e r s of the society of s o m e particular

a n d identifiable city. A m a j o r c o m p o n e n t o f t h e i r u r b a n n a t u r e w a s
d i s p l a y e d in t h e i r h o m e s a n d t h e i r c o n t e n t s , a n d t h e r e m a i n d e r w a s
e x p r e s s e d in a n u m b e r o f l i n k s a n d a t t a c h m e n t s to w h a t c o u l d b e
a w h o l e r a n g e o f different t o w n s w h i c h p r o v i d e d j o b s , s h o p s , s e r v i c e s ,
e n t e r t a i n m e n t , a n d w h a t are t e r m e d ' h i g h o r d e r ' cultural a n d c o m m e r
cial facilities o f a k i n d o n l y available in a m e t r o p o l i s . T h e s o c i e t y t o
which they belonged was emphatically urban, y e t it c o u l d not
m e a n i n g f u l l y b e l a b e l l e d w i t h a p l a c e - n a m e . It w a s t h e q u i n t e s s e n t i a l
twentieth-century phenomenon, the signal that the nation had
b e c o m e one great e x t e n d e d town.
T h e urban-rural divide has b e c o m e increasingly blurred and indis
tinct in t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y in a n o t h e r w a y . T h e p l a t e a u o f u r b a n i s a
t i o n left s o m e w h e r e b e t w e e n a fifth a n d a q u a r t e r o f t h e total
p o p u l a t i o n officially classified as n o n - u r b a n at e v e r y c e n s u s s i n c e 1 8 9 1 ,
but the proportion of this rather stable non-urban section w h i c h w a s
directly i n v o l v e d in f a r m i n g d e c l i n e d all t h e t i m e , s t e a d i l y a n d fairly
g r a d u a l l y until 1 9 4 5 , t h e r e a f t e r s t e e p l y . A g r i c u l t u r e itself, t a k i n g
f a r m e r s a n d l a b o u r e r s t o g e t h e r , still e m p l o y e d n e a r l y 1 0 p e r c e n t o f
t h e B r i t i s h m a l e l a b o u r force b e f o r e 1 9 1 4 . If it is a s s u m e d , for w a n t
of a n y direct statistics, t h a t as m a n y a g a i n o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n living
in t h e c o u n t r y w e r e e m p l o y e d in s e r v i c i n g a g r i c u l t u r e or p r o c e s s i n g
its p r o d u c t s , t h a n a c l e a r m a j o r i t y o f t h e p r e - 1 9 1 4 ' r u r a l ' p o p u l a t i o n
w a s still c l o s e l y c o n n e c t e d w i t h t h e l a n d . B y 1 9 5 1 a g r i c u l t u r e e m p l o y e d
l e s s t h a n 6 p e r c e n t o f t h e l a b o u r force, a n d s i n c e i n d u s t r i a l i s e d
m e t h o d s o f s e r v i c i n g f a r m i n g h a d l a r g e l y r e p l a c e d rural c r a f t s m e n
it m a y b e d o u b t e d w h e t h e r as m u c h as h a l f t h e ' r u r a l ' p o p u l a t i o n
a n y l o n g e r h a d e c o n o m i c ties w i t h t h e c o u n t r y s i d e in w h i c h it l i v e d .
T h e t r e n d w a s u n d e r w a y w h i c h b y t h e 1 9 7 0 s , w i t h a further m u c h -
s l i m m e d f a r m l a b o u r force, w o u l d r e d u c e f a r m i n g to a m i n o r , t h o u g h
h e a v i l y s u b s i d i s e d , o c c u p a t i o n in t h e c o u n t r y s i d e , w h i l e e l e v a t i n g t h e
g r e a t m a j o r i t y o f t h e ' r u r a l ' p o p u l a t i o n , p e r h a p s as m u c h as 7 5 p e r
c e n t o f it, i n t o o n e f o r m o r a n o t h e r o f u r b a n e x p a t r i a t e . T h e s e w e r e
retired people, remittance m e n living o n i n c o m e s d r a w n from invest
m e n t s in r e m o t e i n d u s t r i e s a n d p l a c e s , a n d p e o p l e w o r k i n g in t h e
i n d u s t r i e s w h i c h electrification a n d r o a d t r a n s p o r t b r o u g h t b a c k i n t o
t h e c o u n t r y s i d e , as w e l l as c o m m u t e r s . T h e i r e x i s t e n c e s h o w e d t h a t
m a n y p e o p l e f o u n d t h e c o u n t r y s i d e a p l e a s a n t a n d attractive p l a c e
t o live, s o l o n g as t h e y d i d n o t h a v e t o w o r k o n t h e l a n d . T h e y o f t e n
literally c h a n g e d p l a c e s w i t h f a r m w o r k e r s h e a d i n g for t h e city l i g h t s

and the higher living standards of industrial a n d urban jobs, w h o

d e s e r t e d t h e l o w w a g e s a n d l i m i t e d a m e n i t i e s o f f a r m w o r k j u s t as
m u c h as t h e y w e r e d r i v e n a w a y b y m e c h a n i s a t i o n : t h e i m p r o v e m e n t
a n d g e n t r i h c a t i o n o f f a r m l a b o u r e r s ' c o t t a g e s , s o m e as d e s i r a b l e m i d
dle-class r e s i d e n c e s a n d s o m e as h o l i d a y h o u s e s , a c c o r d i n g t o l o c a t i o n ,
b e g a n in a s e l e c t w a y i n t h e 1 9 3 0 s a n d b l o s s o m e d i n t o a s p e c u l a t o r ' s
and estate agent's paradise in the 1950s. B y the 1970s deserted barns
s u i t a b l e , w i t h s o m e i m a g i n a t i o n , for c o n v e r s i o n i n t o c o m f o r t a b l e c e n
t r a l l y - h e a t e d p r o p e r t i e s h a d b e c o m e p r i z e s for t h e u r b a n - r u r a l m i d d l e
class.
T h e g r e a t c l a s s s w i t c h , w h i c h i n g l o b a l t e r m s e n s u r e d t h a t rural
d e p o p u l a t i o n w a s r o u g h l y b a l a n c e d b y rural r e p o p u l a t i o n - a l t h o u g h
at t h e r e g i o n a l l e v e l t h e n e t effect w a s a d e c l i n e in p o p u l a t i o n in t h e
u p l a n d a r e a s a n d a shift t o w a r d s t h e s o u t h - e a s t - d e m o n s t r a t e d t h a t
m a n y of t h o s e w h o c o u l d afford it p r e f e r r e d t o live in t h e c o u n t r y ,
a n d r e j e c t e d s o m e u n c o n g e n i a l a s p e c t s o f t h e q u a l i t y o f life i n t h e
t o w n s . It a l s o d e m o n s t r a t e d t h a t m a n y o f t h o s e w h o d i d n o t live
w e l l in t h e c o u n t r y f o u n d its c h a r m s r e s i s t i b l e , a n d v o t e d w i t h t h e i r
feet for t h e s u p e r i o r a t t r a c t i o n s o f t h e q u a l i t y o f life i n t h e t o w n s .
T h e first g r o u p b r o u g h t t h e i r u r b a n v a l u e s w i t h t h e m i n t o t h e c o u n t r y
and, since they were never 'ruralised', b e c a m e o n e of the principal
a g e n c i e s , a l o n g s i d e s u c h e c o n o m i c a n d t e c h n o l o g i c a l factors as r a d i o ,
c i n e m a , a n d a d v e r t i s i n g , o f t h e diffusion o f a s t a n d a r d i s e d urban-
b a s e d c u l t u r e . T h e s e c o n d g r o u p , like t h e i r V i c t o r i a n p r e d e c e s s o r s ,
m a y h a v e b r o u g h t c o u n t r y - b r e d h a b i t s w i t h t h e m as i n d i v i d u a l s i n t o
the towns, but they rapidly b e c a m e thoroughly urbanised, merging
i n t o t h e u r b a n social s t r u c t u r e r a t h e r t h a n m o d i f y i n g o r a d d i n g to
it. U n l i k e t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , h o w e v e r , t h e u r b a n s t r u c t u r e in
t h e i n t e r w a r p e r i o d w a s c h a n g i n g in w a y s t h a t e n c o u r a g e d t h e a t o m i s -
ation o f s o c i e t y i n t o a c o l l e c t i o n o f i n d i v i d u a l s , r a t h e r t h a n f o s t e r i n g
the growth of tight-knit local c o m m u n i t i e s . T h e a n o m i e anticipated
a n d f e a r e d b y t h e e a r l y V i c t o r i a n s h a d at l e n g t h a r r i v e d . I n t h e s h o r t
r u n , c e r t a i n l y u n t i l 1 9 3 9 a n d p e r h a p s u n t i l t h e 1 9 6 0 s , t h e effect w a s
to s t r e n g t h e n c l a s s c o n s c i o u s n e s s a n d c l a s s a n t a g o n i s m b y w e a k e n i n g
t h e p o w e r o f a l t e r n a t i v e foci o f g r o u p l o y a l t i e s , s o t h a t w h a t c a m e
to b e s e e n as t h e t r a d i t i o n a l c l a s s s t r u c t u r e o f B r i t i s h s o c i e t y w a s
more a result of the decay of Victorian urban society t h a n an intrinsic
part of that s o c i e t y ' s m a k e - u p . I n t h e l o n g e r r u n , f r o m t h e b o o m i n g
Britain o f t h e 1 9 6 0 s o n w a r d s , t h e effect w a s m o r e t o b l u r t h e d i s t i n c
tions b e t w e e n classes, encourage the d e v e l o p m e n t of an almost

Town and city 77
classless low-brow version of standardised urban culture, coupled

w i t h t h e s e g r e g a t i o n o f a d e - c l a s s e d a n d r e - s t y l e d r e s i d u u m in t h e
crumbling inner cities.
P a r a d o x i c a l l y t h e q u a l i t y o f life i n t h e l a r g e t o w n s w a s b y a n d l a r g e
i m p r o v i n g m a r k e d l y , i n m a t e r i a l t e r m s , at t h e v e r y m o m e n t when
l a r g e r n u m b e r s o f t h e m i d d l e c l a s s e s t h a n e v e r b e f o r e d e c i d e d t o quit.
T h e i m p r o v e m e n t w a s m o s t visible in housing, but w a s also noticeable
in other areas like health care, nutrition, schooling, a n d social security.
F r o m t h e standpoint of t h e 1980s conditions in t h e late 1930s w e r e
appalling, or o n a charitable v i e w primitive, as t h o s e w e r e reflected
i n s t a n d a r d m e a s u r e s o f m o r t a l i t y , life e x p e c t a n c y , i n f a n t m o r t a l i t y ,
school leaving age, or average level of educational attainment. There
w e r e i n d e e d m a n y t r e n c h a n t critics o f t h e s t a t e o f s o c i e t y i n t h e 1 9 3 0 s ,
w h o revealed the gross inequalities in the incidence of infant mortality,
m a j o r d i s e a s e s l i k e t u b e r c u l o s i s , a n d i n t h e q u a l i t y a n d availability
o f e d u c a t i o n , b e t w e e n different s o c i a l c l a s s e s ; a n d w h o w e r e p i o n e e r
ing the thinking w h i c h b e c a m e e m b o d i e d in w a r t i m e nutritional m e a
s u r e s a n d t h e p o s t - 1 9 4 5 w e l f a r e s t a t e . N e v e r t h e l e s s , s h o c k i n g as t h e
i n f a n t m o r t a l i t y r a t e o f 5 3 p e r t h o u s a n d live b i r t h s i n 1 9 3 8 m a y n o w
a p p e a r , it w a s a g r e a t d e a l l e s s s h o c k i n g t h a n t h e 1 9 1 0 r a t e o f 1 0 9 ,
a n d t h e d e c l i n e is a fair i n d i c a t i o n o f t h e g e n e r a l i m p r o v e m e n t i n
health in t h e interwar years. Similarly, the state of education obviously
left m u c h t o b e d e s i r e d i n 1 9 3 9 , w h e n t h e g r e a t m a j o r i t y o f c h i l d r e n
left s c h o o l at f o u r t e e n a n d u n t o l d a m o u n t s o f p o t e n t i a l t a l e n t w e r e
allowed to go u n d i s c o v e r e d a n d u n d e v e l o p e d : but a near doubling
in t h e a m o u n t of public m o n e y , central a n d local, spent o n education
b e t w e e n 1 9 2 0 a n d 1 9 3 9 , a n d a n i n c r e a s e o f t w o a n d a h a l f t i m e s in
the n u m b e r of pupils in secondary schools b e t w e e n 1914 and 1938,
spoke of considerable c h a n g e s . All these, since the overwhelming
majority of the population was urban, were things which mainly hap
1 0 5
p e n e d in t o w n s .
O t h e r g r e a t c h a n g e s i n t h e q u a l i t y o f life, a n d p o s s i b l y t h o s e w h i c h
m a d e m o s t impact o n m o s t p e o p l e like t h e s p r e a d of c i n e m a s or the
rise of g r e y h o u n d tracks in the 1930s, w e r e the w o r k of private enter
p r i s e ; a f e w , o f l e s s p o p u l a r a p p e a l , l i k e t h e C a r n e g i e g r a n t s to t h e
less flourishing public libraries, w e r e the w o r k of philanthropy. M o s t
of t h e i m p r o v e m e n t s i n h e a l t h a n d w e l f a r e , h o w e v e r , w e r e c o n n e c t e d
with the work of local government, backed by some central
105
B. R. Mitchell and P. Deane, Abstract of British Historical Statistics (Cambridge, 1962),
pp. 37, 3 9 8 - 9 , 418.

g o v e r n m e n t f i n a n c e - itself l e s s a p p a r e n t to m a n y b o r o u g h s t h a n strin
g e n t a n d u n f e e l i n g financial c o n t r o l b y t h e T r e a s u r y w h i c h w a s a n
1 0 6
interwar anticipation of the m o r e refined rate-capping of the 1 9 8 0 s .
A b o v e all l o c a l g o v e r n m e n t - a n d t h i s m e a n t p r i m a r i l y b o r o u g h s a n d
u r b a n districts - a c q u i r e d a n a l t o g e t h e r n e w r o l e f r o m 1 9 1 9 o n w a r d s as
providers a n d controllers of working-class h o u s i n g . All this m e a n t that
local g o v e r n m e n t w a s o f i n c r e a s i n g l y d i r e c t i m p o r t a n c e to t h e l i v e s
of o r d i n a r y p e o p l e . C e n t r a l g o v e r n m e n t a l s o l o o m e d m u c h l a r g e r after
t h e First W o r l d W a r , e s p e c i a l l y in p r o v i d i n g , f i n a n c i n g , a n d p o l i c i n g
t h e s e v e r a l s y s t e m s o f u n e m p l o y m e n t relief, b u t a l s o i n p r o v i d i n g
p e n s i o n s , a l a r g e p a r t o f t h e f i n a n c e for t h e p u b l i c e d u c a t i o n s y s t e m ,
and the framework of the ' p a n e l ' system of national health insurance
doctors; in addition there w a s a growing public perception that the
g o v e r n m e n t w a s r e s p o n s i b l e for t h e g e n e r a l s t a t e o f t h e e c o n o m y ,
if o n l y b e c a u s e it h a d e n a c t e d , u n d e r w a r t i m e p r e s s u r e s , t h e m e a s u r e s
that h a d disrupted the allegedly self-regulating pre-1914 e c o n o m y .
Nevertheless, the interwar years w e r e the h e y d a y of local g o v e r n m e n t ,
i n t h e r a n g e a n d c o n t e n t o f its s e r v i c e s if n o t i n t h e q u a l i t y o f its
a d m i n i s t r a t i o n . A f t e r 1 9 3 9 c e n t r a l g o v e r n m e n t s t e p p e d in, f r o m 1 9 4 5
p e r m a n e n t l y ( i n s o f a r a s forty y e a r s a m o u n t to ' p e r m a n e n c e ' ) , a s t h e
a l l - i m p o r t a n t p r o v i d e r a n d c o n t r o l l e r o f u n e m p l o y m e n t relief, h e a l t h ,
education, h o u s i n g , a n d social security, using local g o v e r n m e n t as
its a g e n t i n a d m i n i s t e r i n g t h e s e p o l i c i e s o n l y w h e r e s p e c i a l i s e d a n d
centrally controlled agencies did not appear m o r e convenient.
One g e n e r a l r e s u l t w a s t h a t it m a t t e r e d w h o w a s in t h e t o w n h a l l .
M o r e p r e c i s e l y , i n t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y c o n t r o l o f t h e t o w n hall
h a d mattered to ratepayers, w h o sought local p o w e r either to cut
m u n i c i p a l s p e n d i n g or to s e e t h a t it w a s efficiently m a n a g e d , and
to m i n o r i t y g r o u p s like s a n i t a r y i m p r o v e r s or r e f o r m e r s o f p u b l i c
m o r a l s . I n t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y it m a t t e r e d to t h e i m p o v e r i s h e d a n d
t h e d e p r i v e d , a n d t o t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s e s i n g e n e r a l , a n d it b e c a m e
w o r t h w h i l e for t h e r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s o f t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s e s to s e e k
p o w e r . T h e politicisation of local g o v e r n m e n t w a s a direct c o n s e
q u e n c e o f m a k i n g its f u n c t i o n s a p r i z e w o r t h fighting for, a n d o f
m a k i n g a large proportion of rate-financed expenditure into a form
of i n c o m e a n d w e l f a r e r e d i s t r i b u t i o n . T h e effects w e r e s e e n i n t h e
widespread entry of Labour into the council chambers, broadening
out in the 1920s from the n a r r o w b r i d g e h e a d s established before 1914
106
Pat Thane, Foundations of the Welfare State (1982), pp. 185-9; John Stevenson, British
Society, 2924-45(1984), pp. 318, 398-9.

Town and city 79
in t h e m o s t t h o r o u g h l y w o r k i n g - c l a s s w a r d s o f t h e l a r g e s t c i t i e s .
L a b o u r t o o k t e m p o r a r y c o n t r o l o f a f e w b o r o u g h s in 1 9 2 0 a n d in 1 9 2 9
e s t a b l i s h e d a f i r m e r grip o n a s c o r e o r s o ; a g r e a t t r i u m p h c a m e i n
the local elections of 1933 a n d 1934 w h e n , with the parliamentary
p a r t y still s h a t t e r e d after t h e 1 9 3 1 split, L a b o u r w o n c o n t r o l o f L e e d s ,
s o m e f o r t y o t h e r b o r o u g h s , a n d t h e g r e a t e s t p r i z e o f all, t h e L o n d o n
C o u n t y C o u n c i l . A f t e r 1 9 4 5 L a b o u r e n t e r e d i n t o its u r b a n i n h e r i t a n c e ,
b e c o m i n g t h e n o r m a l r u l i n g p a r t y i n all t h e n o r t h e r n a n d M i d l a n d
t o w n s , a n d L o n d o n , a n d e l s e w h e r e i n t h e s o u t h at l e a s t t h e a l t e r n a t i v e
ruling party.
W h e t h e r L a b o u r control m a d e m u c h difference to w h a t actually h a p
1 0 7
p e n e d in the t o w n s h a s b e e n q u e s t i o n e d . T h a t is i m p o r t a n t in
a s s e s s i n g t h e r e c o r d o f l o c a l g o v e r n m e n t o r political p a r t i e s , b u t is
n e i t h e r h e r e n o r t h e r e b e s i d e t h e k e y p o i n t t h a t in o r g a n i s i n g s u p p o r t
at t h e w a r d l e v e l t h e L a b o u r p a r t y w a s t h e a g e n t o f c l a s s f o r m a t i o n ,
a n d i n d e e d , t h r o u g h e q u a l b u t o p p o s i t e s t i m u l a t i o n o f its rivals, t h e
c a t a l y s t for a g e n e r a l c l a s s p o l a r i s a t i o n i n t h e t o w n s . T o b e s u r e , t h e
rise o f t h e L a b o u r p a r t y h a d m a n y f a c e t s a n d t h e m o v e m e n t had
m a n y sources of nourishment, notably the trade unions and the broth
e r l y i d e a l i s m o f t h e left s t i f f e n e d b y t h e c o m r a d e l y d i s c i p l i n e o f 1 9 1 7 .
T h e peculiarly urban element, however, s t e m m e d from the structure
of m u n i c i p a l g o v e r n m e n t a n d t h e u r g e to fight l o c a l e l e c t i o n s , w h i c h
c a l l e d f o r t h a political o r g a n i s a t i o n t h a t w e l d e d t o g e t h e r g r o u p s a n d
individuals from a b r o a d b a n d of roughly similar e c o n o m i c a n d social
conditions w h o h a d previously lacked either the m e a n s or the n e e d
for a s p i r i n g t o t h e c o h e s i o n o f c l a s s . It d i d n o t g r e a t l y signify t h a t
t h e l e v e l o f t u r n o u t at l o c a l e l e c t i o n s w a s l o w , w i t h 3 0 o r 4 0 p e r c e n t
p o l l s b e i n g u s u a l , a l t h o u g h t h i s d i d s u g g e s t t h a t political a n d c l a s s
c o n s c i o u s n e s s h a d its l i m i t s . O f g r e a t e r i m p o r t a n c e , l o c a l e l e c t i o n s
w e r e annual, except in L o n d o n w h e r e they w e r e triennial, and called
for m o r e c o n t i n u o u s political activity a n d o r g a n i s a t i o n t h a n t h e m u c h
more widely spaced parliamentary elections. T h e fundamental fact
of s o c i a l i m p o r t a n c e , h o w e v e r , w a s t h a t t h e f o r m o f political o r g a n i s a
tion w a s widely perceived, b y w o r k i n g m e n a n d w o m e n a n d b y anti-
socialists alike, as b e i n g s h a p e d o n class lines. T h e politics w e r e e s s e n
tially n a t i o n a l p o l i t i c s , a l t h o u g h t h e r e w e r e u s u a l l y p a r t i c u l a r b u r n i n g
local issues as well, a n d t h e general object w a s to gain control of
For example by A. J. P. Taylor, English History, 1914-1945 (Oxford, 1965), p. 367,

for the 1930s, or Anthony Sutcliffe, 'The "Midland Metropolis": Birmingham,
1890-1980', in Gordon, ed., Regional Cities, p. 32, for the 1950s and 1960s.

80 F . M. L . T H O M P S O N
c e n t r a l g o v e r n m e n t ; b u t it w a s i n t h e u r b a n s e t t i n g t h a t a n i d e n t i t y
w a s f o r g e d for t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s , a n d b y r e a c t i o n for t h e l o w e r m i d d l e
class. U r b a n society m o v e d a long w a y in the interwar years from
b e i n g a cellular society to b e i n g a class society.
That process, nurtured in the w o m b of municipal government,
q u i c k e n e d u n d e r t h e i n f l u e n c e o f c h a n g e s i n t h e fabric o f t h e u r b a n
environment which were largely shaped b y municipal government
itself e v e n t h o u g h it w a s l a r g e l y c e n t r a l g o v e r n m e n t w h i c h c a l l e d t h e
t u n e a n d p a i d t h e bills. It is n o a c c i d e n t t h a t m o s t a c c o u n t s o f t o w n s
a n d municipal corporations in the interwar period concentrate o n
h o u s i n g , a n d m o r e specifically o n c o u n c i l h o u s i n g in t h e 1 9 2 0 s , p r i v a t e
s e c t o r h o u s i n g in t h e 1 9 3 0 s , a n d t h e r e a f t e r c o u n c i l h o u s i n g a g a i n f r o m
1 0 8
1945 i n t o t h e 1 9 5 0 s . Publicly subsidised h o u s i n g w a s the o n e great
n e w departure of the projected post-1918 reconstruction which pro
d u c e d a m a j o r a n d l a s t i n g i m p r e s s i o n o n B r i t i s h s o c i e t y . It h a d s o m e
impact on the countryside, where m a n y farm workers were rehoused
in starkly sanitary cottages, but the m a i n thrust w a s in the larger
t o w n s . T h e initial p h a s e , i n t h e 1 9 2 0 s , w a s i n t e n d e d to b r i n g t h e c o u n
trified ideal o f t h e g a r d e n city a n d g a r d e n s u b u r b t o t h e w o r k e r , suita
bly filtered t h r o u g h t h e T u d o r W a l t e r s r u l e s o n m i n i m u m standards
109
for r o o m s i z e s a n d n u m b e r s , a n d a d j u s t e d t o t h e f i n a n c e s a v a i l a b l e .
The result w a s an e c o n o m y version, or p e r h a p s m o r e accurately a
proletarianised version, of the ideal, in w h i c h council h o u s i n g estates
concentrated o n providing the greatest n u m b e r of dwellings a n d elimi
nated most of the community-building features and amenities that
h a d b e e n i n t e g r a l t o t h e o r i g i n a l g a r d e n city b l u e p r i n t s . T h e i n d i v i d u a l
h o u s e s , built to T u d o r Walters specifications, low-rise, g r o u p e d in
pairs or small blocks, set in gardens, a n d e q u i p p e d with indoor w a t e r
closets, baths a n d b a t h r o o m s , a n d arranged in curves, contours, a n d
corners rather t h a n gridiron street layouts, w e r e a great advance o n
most pre-1914 working-class housing; only the improvement over the
See, for example, Waller, Democracy and Sectarianism, pp. 287-90, for Liverpool
in the 1920s: Michael Meadowcraft, 'The Years of Political Transition, 1914-39',
in Fraser, ed., Modern Leeds, pp. 416-22; Gordon, ed., Regional Cities, for chapters
on Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Leeds, Newcastle, Edinburgh,
Cardiff, and Belfast.
The Tudor Walters Report, 1918, was the report of a departmental committee on
'the provision of dwellings for the working classes of England and Wales, and
Scotland', and amongst other things made the first official recommendation that
working-class houses ought to have bathrooms: Mark Swenarton, Homes Fit for
Heroes: The Politics and Architecture of Early State Housing in Britain (1981), esp. chap.
5.

Town and city 81
best of prewar terraced parlour houses could be considered aesthetic

m o r e t h a n m a t e r i a l . T h e earliest c o t t a g e e s t a t e s o f 1 9 1 9 - 2 2 , s u c h as
R o e h a m p t o n a n d a s m a l l p a r t o f B e c o n t r e e ( D a g e n h a m ) for t h e L C C
110
a n d T a n g H a l l in Y o r k , w e r e a r c h i t e c t u r a l l y r e a s o n a b l y s a t i s f y i n g .
W i t h t h e r e d u c e d s u b s i d i e s a n d c o s t - c u t t i n g later in t h e 1 9 2 0 s t h e
c o t t a g e e s t a t e s e n m a s s e , as in t h e b u l k o f t h e D a g e n h a m e s t a t e o r
i n t h e v a s t o u t - c i t y H u y t o n e s t a t e built b y L i v e r p o o l C o r p o r a t i o n ,
b e c a m e m o n o t o n o u s , architecturally unadventurous, a great deal less
bosky, and featureless and characterless. B y the 1930s, 30,000 people
w e r e l i v i n g in H u y t o n w i t h o u t a s i n g l e c o m m u n i t y c e n t r e h a v i n g b e e n
built. H e r e w a s t h e f r a m e w o r k for u r b a n o r s e m i - u r b a n anomie,
erected by authority.
T h e c o t t a g e e s t a t e s , a l t h o u g h s u b s i d i s e d , still h a d r e n t s b e y o n d t h e
r e a c h o f t h e p o o r e s t . M o r e o v e r , c o u n c i l h o u s i n g m a n a g e r s , after a n
initial p e r i o d o f g i v i n g a p r e f e r e n c e t o e x - s e r v i c e m e n , t e n d e d to s e l e c t
as t e n a n t s t h o s e o f g o o d c h a r a c t e r a n d a c l e a n r e c o r d w h o c o u l d c o n
v i n c i n g l y c l a i m ability to p a y r e n t r e g u l a r l y , t h u s at a s t r o k e e l i m i n a t i n g
m o s t o f t h o s e w i t h t h e m o s t p r e s s i n g n e e d for h o u s i n g a n d s h e l t e r
ing b e h i n d the convenient theory that the poorest and most deprived
w o u l d b e n e f i t b y 'filtering u p ' i n t o t h e a c c o m m o d a t i o n left v a c a n t
b y the better-paid w h o h a d m o v e d out. T h u s , although the cottage
estates normally contained a mixture of two-, three-, and four-bed-
r o o m e d h o u s e s w h i c h c o u l d c a t e r for families o f different i n c o m e s
a n d different life-cycle s t a g e s t h e y b e c a m e s i n g l e - c l a s s s e t t l e m e n t s
of r e g u l a r l y e m p l o y e d a n d m o d e r a t e l y w e l l - p a i d w o r k e r s t o t h e e x c l u
sion of both the best-paid w h o were quite comfortable w h e r e they
w e r e a l r e a d y , a n d t h e w o r s t - p a i d . T h i s c a r r i e d r e s i d e n t i a l social s e g r e
g a t i o n t o a m o r e r e f i n e d a n d h i g h e r p i t c h t h a n it h a d a t t a i n e d in
the free-market conditions of the nineteenth century. A n d , because
t h e t r a n s p l a n t i n g w a s o f i n d i v i d u a l families a n d n o t o f e x i s t i n g n e i g h
b o u r h o o d s o r n e t w o r k s , m o v i n g i n t o w h a t w e r e often h o u s i n g d e s e r t s
d e v o i d o f o a s e s o f c o m m u n i t y or c u l t u r a l r e f r e s h m e n t , t h e e s t a t e s
w e a k e n e d or d e s t r o y e d ties o f k i n s h i p o r o c c u p a t i o n a n d e n c o u r a g e d
a social r e s p o n s e w h i c h w a s e i t h e r i n w a r d - t u r n i n g t o r e s i g n a t i o n a n d
a p a t h y , o r o u t w a r d - l o o k i n g to a c l a s s c o n s c i o u s n e s s w h i c h r a n in
n a t i o n a l a n d n o t p a r t i c u l a r l y u r b a n , o r i n d i v i d u a l city, g r o o v e s .
C o u n c i l h o u s i n g efforts in t h e 1 9 3 0 s , s t e e r e d b y g o v e r n m e n t p o l i c y ,
c h a n g e d d i r e c t i o n a n d b r o a d l y w e r e directly e n g a g e d in t a c k l i n g t h e
Swenarton, Homes, pp. 166-86.

82 F . M. L. T H O M P S O N
n e e d s o f t h e p o o r e s t , in c e n t r a l - d i s t r i c t s l u m c l e a r a n c e a n d r e h o u s i n g
s c h e m e s . T h e s e h a d a n a l o g o u s s o c i a l effects to t h e c o t t a g e e s t a t e s ,
w h i l e affecting a different l a y e r o f t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s e s . I n c e n t r a l dis
tricts l a n d w a s t o o v a l u a b l e t o i n d u l g e in t h e l u x u r i e s o f l o w - d e n s i t y
r e d e v e l o p m e n t with two-storey housing, a n d large blocks of council
flats b e c a m e t h e t y p i c a l i n s t r u m e n t s o f t h e s e s c h e m e s . F l a t - l i v i n g o r
t e n e m e n t - d w e l l i n g w a s u n f a m i l i a r i n t h e E n g l i s h w o r k i n g - c l a s s tra
d i t i o n , u n l i k e t h e S c o t t i s h , a n d i n itself t e n d e d t o i n d u c e d i s c o n t e n t
a n d alienation, quite apart from the disturbance a n d breaking u p of
established local c o m m u n i t i e s usually inseparable from slum clear
a n c e s . T h e h e i g h t o f 1 9 3 0 s h i g h - r i s e for t h e w o r k e r s ( a l t h o u g h n o t
for s o m e o f t h e f a s h i o n a b l e o c c u p a n t s o f l u x u r y flats) w a s a l m o s t i n s i g
nificant if s e t a l o n g s i d e t h e s y s t e m - b u i l t t o w e r b l o c k s w h i c h w e r e
to r i s e i n t h e 1 9 6 0 s a n d b e c o m e a b y w o r d for d i l a p i d a t i o n a n d d e s p a i r
in t h e 1 9 7 0 s . B u t t h e y w e r e h i g h e n o u g h , cell-like e n o u g h , a n d b l e a k
e n o u g h i n t h e i r c o m m o n s t a i r w a y s a n d facilities, n o t t o b e l o v e d a n d
c h e r i s h e d a n d t o p l a y t h e i r p a r t in b r e e d i n g s o c i a l d i s l o c a t i o n a n d
its h a r v e s t o f e i t h e r h e i g h t e n e d c l a s s f e e l i n g o r a s u b - c u l t u r e t h a t r e p u
diated normal standards of behaviour.
The private sector consistently out-built the local authorities in
numbers of h o u s e s c o m p l e t e d per year in every year from 1924
o n w a r d s , a n d c a m e i n t o its o w n i n t h e 1 9 3 0 s , w i t h a n n u a l n u m b e r s
far surpassing the highest pre-1914 years and consistently ranging
1 1 1
b e t w e e n t w i c e a n d six t i m e s a s m a n y a s t h e p u b l i c s e c t o r . These
w e r e the h o u s e s of t h e n e w w a v e s of owner-occupiers in the middle
a n d l o w e r m i d d l e c l a s s e s , s p r e a d o u t in t h e o u t e r s u b u r b s spawned
by all t h e l a r g e r t o w n s , i n w h a t m a y b e t e r m e d t h e s p e c u l a t i v e
builders' s e m i - d e t a c h e d version of the garden city d r e a m . B y 1938
a b o u t 3 5 p e r c e n t o f all t h e h o u s e s in B r i t a i n w e r e o w n e r - o c c u p i e d ,
a n d although this average conceals a large spread from 14 per cent
in N o t t i n g h a m to 6 8 p e r c e n t i n P l y m o u t h t h e c o n c e n t r a t i o n o f t h e
high ratings in the b o o m t o w n s of the period like C o v e n t r y , Oxford,
a n d B r i s t o l , a n d t h e l o w r a t i n g s o f t h e o l d i n d u s t r i a l t o w n s s u c h as
M a n c h e s t e r , Hull, Sheffield, M e r t h y r , B i r m i n g h a m , W o l v e r h a m p t o n ,
or S t o k e , let a l o n e t h e e v i d e n c e o f t h e r i n g o f o u t e r s u b u r b s a n d s a t e l
lites w h i c h s p r o u t e d r o u n d L o n d o n f r o m P o t t e r s B a r , R i c k m a n s w o r t h ,
and Ruislip, to Surbiton, Sanderstead, Orpington, and Bexley,
B. R. Mitchell and H. G. Jones, Second Abstract of British Historical Statistics (Cam

bridge, 1971), p. 117. After 1945 the private sector did not overtake the local authori
ties in annual numbers of houses built until 1958.

Town and city 83
suggests t h e strongly middle-class character of t h e surge in o w n e r -

1 1 2
occupation. T h i s T u d o r i s e d , electrified, a n d m o t o r i s e d (at l e a s t i n
b u s s e r v i c e s ) r e n d e r i n g o f t h e g a r d e n city v i s i o n m i g h t b e h e l d to
h a v e paid slightly m o r e attention to c o m m u n i t y n e e d s , in a basic c o m -
mercial-philistine way, t h a n the council cottage estates, in the lavish
provision of shopping parades and super-Tudorised roadhouses; and
the actual semi-detached h o u s e s , energetically plugged as 'ideal
h o m e s ' in high-pressure s a l e s m a n s h i p , w e r e u n d o u b t e d l y superior.
It c a n a l s o b e a r g u e d t h a t t h e s e m a s s - p r o d u c e d e s t a t e s , r u n u p at
i n c r e d i b l e s p e e d b y n e w l y e m e r g i n g l a r g e - s c a l e b u i l d i n g firms w h i c h
b e c a m e h o u s e h o l d n a m e s - Costain, Ideal H o m e s t e a d , Laing, Taylor-
W o o d r o w , a n d W i m p e y , for e x a m p l e - p r o v i d e d for t h e first t i m e
a semi-urban environment which exactly suited the tastes and the
p e n t - u p l a t e n t d e m a n d o f t h e m i d d l e a n d l o w e r m i d d l e c l a s s e s for
comfort, refinement, privacy, and detachment from the unpleasant
social a n d industrial features of u r b a n living.
T h e s e h o u s i n g e s t a t e s a t e i n t o t h e c o u n t r y s i d e at a r a t e w h i c h d e e p l y
alarmed the proto-environmentalists of the time. Their alarm, coupled
w i t h c o n c e r n at t h e u n f o r t u n a t e r e g i o n a l d i s t r i b u t i o n o r m a l d i s t r i b u
t i o n o f f r e e - m a r k e t i n d u s t r i a l a n d office d e v e l o p m e n t i n t h e i n t e r w a r
y e a r s , l a y at t h e r o o t o f t h e t o w n p l a n n i n g l e g i s l a t i o n o f 1 9 4 7 a n d
the planning system which controlled the main lines of physical urban
1 1 3
development into the 1 9 8 0 s . T h e system altered the contours and
t h e d e t a i l e d l o c a l g e o g r a p h y o f n e w d e v e l o p m e n t , b u t d i d n o t seri
o u s l y affect, o r curtail t h e c o n t i n u e d g r o w t h of, t h e c o m m u t i n g h a b i t s
o n which these dispersed settlements ultimately depended. For there
w a s n o d o u b t t h a t t h e s e h o u s i n g e s t a t e s w e r e p l e a s a n t p l a c e s to live
for f a m i l i e s w h o s e c h i e f a m b i t i o n w a s to k e e p t h e m s e l v e s t o t h e m
s e l v e s , t o a v o i d a n y p r e s s u r e s for a n u n d u e s h o w o f n e i g h b o u r l i n e s s ,
a n d to c o n d u c t their social lives a w a y from h o m e territory, a n o n y
mously, and among networks which were not necessarily based on
residential propinquity. T h e conflicting desires to express individu
ality a n d y e t t o s e e k s a f e t y i n c o n f o r m i t y w e r e r e f l e c t e d i n t h e s p e c u l a
tive b u i l d e r s ' gimcrack differentiation of near-identical h o u s e s b y
112
Mark Swenarton and Sandra Taylor, T h e Scale and Nature of the Growth of
Owner-Occupation in Britain between the Wars', Economic History Review, 2nd
ser., 38 (1985), p. 377 and Table 4, p. 387. No pre-1914 figure can be given: the
notion that there were 10 per cent of owner-occupiers before 1914 is a myth or
a guess, there being no reliable data or estimates.
113
For an informative, critical, assessment of the post-1947 period see Alison Ravetz,
The Government of Space (1986).

84 F . M. L. T H O M P S O N
arbitrary v a r i a t i o n s in t h e s h a p e o r a m o u n t o f J a c o b e t h a n o r G o t h i c
f e a t u r e s p i n n e d t o t h e i r fabrics, a n d b y a d j o i n i n g o w n e r s ' careful
c h o i c e o f c l a s h i n g c o l o u r s for t h e i r p a i n t w o r k . P r i v a c y w a s safe
guarded more b y garden fences than b y the lace curtains that h a d
b e e n t h e m a r k o f V i c t o r i a n r e s p e c t a b i l i t y in h o u s e s w h i c h h a d f r o n t e d
directly o n to t h e s t r e e t . F i n a l l y , r e s p e c t a b i l i t y n o l o n g e r d e m a n d e d
regular S u n d a y parades to church or chapel, w h i c h h a d b e e n the
c h i e f v e h i c l e for f o r m i n g c o m m u n i t i e s in m i d d l e - a n d l o w e r m i d d l e -
class Victorian suburbs. W h e r e a church or chapel or probably
several of t h e m , h a d b e e n essential to the tone and prospects of any
substantial nineteenth-century suburban development of character,
n e w c h u r c h e s w e r e s o t h i n o n t h e g r o u n d in i n t e r w a r e s t a t e s as to
b e virtually i n v i s i b l e . T h e s e c u l a r a l t e r n a t i v e s , like t h e c i n e m a , w e r e
p l a c e s for i n d i v i d u a l s or c o u p l e s to r e t r e a t i n t o r o m a n t i c f a n t a s y , n o t
c e n t r e s o f c o m m u n i t y life; a n d t h e f r a t e r n i s a t i o n o f t h e golf c l u b d i d
n o t b e g i n to p e r c o l a t e b e l o w t h e l e v e l o f t h e affluent m i d d l e - c l a s s
elite b e f o r e t h e 1 9 6 0 s .
F o r n o n - w o r k i n g w i v e s in p a r t i c u l a r - a n d t h e y w e r e t h e g r e a t m a j o r
ity o f w i v e s - t h e s e a c r e s o f s e m i s c r e a t e d a c u l t u r a l d e s e r t a n d a
life o f e x t r e m e m o n o t o n y , s o m e w h a t r e l i e v e d b y t h e r a p i d spread
of r a d i o i n t o t h e h o m e in t h e later 1 9 2 0 s a n d t h e 1 9 3 0 s , w h i c h itself
w a s a foretaste of the standardisation and nationalisation of culture,
centrally produced b y professionals and individually absorbed inside
t h e h o m e , t h a t w a s to s w e e p all b e f o r e it in t h e p o s t - 1 9 5 0 t r i u m p h
of t e l e v i s i o n . I n o n l y l e s s e r d e g r e e for t h e m e n a l s o , a n d for t h e u n m a r
r i e d w o m e n w h o in t h e m a i n d i d g o o u t t o w o r k , t h e s e e s t a t e s e m b o
d i e d a w a y o f life w h i c h w a s a t o m i s e d a n d i n d i v i d u a l i s e d , t h a t l a c k e d
social c o h e s i o n e x c e p t o f a p a s s i v e , f l o c k - o f - s h e e p , v a r i e t y , a n d w h i c h
generated no networks o f a s s o c i a t i o n s o r c o m m u n i t i e s to stand
b e t w e e n individuals, or families, and the state. T h e s e suburbanites,
a l t h o u g h l i v i n g in g r e a t e r m a t e r i a l c o m f o r t , w e r e f u n d a m e n t a l l y n o
l e s s i s o l a t e d , n o l e s s d e t a c h e d f r o m t h e i r p r e v i o u s social, a n d u r b a n ,
m o o r i n g s , t h a n t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s e s in t h e c o u n c i l e s t a t e s o v e r w h i c h
t h e y w e r e s o k e e n t o p r o c l a i m t h e i r s u p e r i o r i t y . O n l y t h e i r politicisa-
tion, their d e v e l o p m e n t of anything approaching a class identity a n d
class c o n s c i o u s n e s s , w a s m o r e hesitant a n d m u t e d , a n d m u c h slower
in b e c o m i n g a s s e r t i v e . T o b e s u r e , 'villa T o r y i s m ' , t h e p r o p e n s i t y o f
t h e s u b u r b s to v o t e C o n s e r v a t i v e , h a d b e e n a p p a r e n t s i n c e t h e 1 8 8 0 s ,
a n d w a s p r a c t i c a l l y a x i o m a t i c in t h e n e w s u b u r b s o f t h e 1 9 3 0 s , o n e
of t h e n e c e s s a r y c o n v e n t i o n s as it w e r e o f r e s p e c t a b i l i t y . T h i s s u b u r b a n

Town and city 85
C o n s e r v a t i s m , h o w e v e r , w a s n o t m u c h m o r e t h a n that, a reflex a c t i o n
b y m u t e f o l l o w e r s c o n t e n t to act as reliable b a l l o t - b o x f o d d e r w h i l e
l e a v i n g p o w e r in t h e h a n d s o f a g e n t r y , p r o f e s s i o n a l , a n d b u s i n e s s
elite. It w a s t h e s h o c k a n d h o r r o r o f t h e L a b o u r v i c t o r y in 1 9 4 5 , a n d
t h e r e s p o n s e t o it, w h i c h m a d e it t h i n k a b l e t o c h a l l e n g e a n d e v e n t u a l l y
supplant the p o w e r and authority within the party of the old guard.
It w a s a l o n g , s l o w , b u s i n e s s , w o r k i n g t h r o u g h p e r m e a t i o n o f c o n s t i t u
e n c y a s s o c i a t i o n s a n d p e n e t r a t i o n o f a d o p t i o n c o m m i t t e e s , a n d o n to
the enthronement of lower middle-class values - though n o w held by
key individuals w h o h a d risen personally above lower middle-class
l e v e l s o f e d u c a t i o n o r i n c o m e - in t h e 1 9 8 0 s . It is fair to s a y t h a t b y
t h e 1 9 6 0 s t h e s u b u r b a n m a s s e s h a d m a t u r e d f r o m b e i n g a s i m p l e col
l e c t i o n o f politically p a s s i v e i n d i v i d u a l s i n t o a c o h e r e n t n a t i o n a l e n t i t y :
t h e y c o h e r e d in t h e c o n t e x t o f P a r l i a m e n t , c e n t r a l g o v e r n m e n t , a n d
a n a t i o n a l p o w e r s t r u g g l e , n o t in t h e c o n t e x t o f a n u r b a n e n v i r o n m e n t .
T h e n e w kinds of interwar housing - the council cottage estates,
t h e c o u n c i l flats, a n d t h e o u t e r s u b u r b s o f s e m i - d e t a c h e d s for o w n e r -
o c c u p i e r s - h a d a g r e a t i m p a c t o n s o c i e t y , for b y 1 9 3 9 t h e y w e r e p r o v i d
i n g o v e r o n e t h i r d o f t h e total h o u s i n g s t o c k in B r i t a i n . W h e n b u i l d i n g
w a s r e s u m e d after t h e w a r t h e i m p a c t w a s i n t e n s i f i e d , w i t h s o m e
l a r g e l y superficial c h a n g e s : s t r i p e d t r o u s e r s a n d b o w l e r h a t s f a d e d
f r o m t h e s c e n e a n d c o m m u t e r trains w e r e p a c k e d w i t h a h i g h e r p r o
p o r t i o n t h a n b e f o r e o f s e c r e t a r i e s , t y p i s t s , a n d o t h e r f e m a l e office-
w o r k e r s . I n 1 9 5 0 m a j o r c h a n g e s still l a y in t h e future: l a r g e - s c a l e i m m i
g r a t i o n , t h e d e c a y o f i n n e r cities, t h e rise a n d fall o f t o w e r b l o c k s ,
a n d t h e gentrification, o r re-gentrification, o f r u n - d o w n b u t f o r m e r l y
e l e g a n t p a r t s o f t h e o l d c e n t r a l a n d i n n e r d i s t r i c t s . T h e s e further m o d i
fied a n d t r a n s f o r m e d t h e u r b a n s e t t i n g . It w a s a l r e a d y abundantly
clear b y 1 9 5 0 , h o w e v e r , t h a t ' u r b a n s o c i e t y ' h a d b e c o m e little m o r e
t h a n a l o o s e l y d e f i n e d d e s c r i p t i v e t e r m for t h e l o c a t i o n a n d t y p e o f
physical environment in w h i c h people, groups, and classes lived, a n d
h a d c e a s e d t o b e a t e r m d e n o t i n g a specific k i n d o f social s t r u c t u r e
t h a t differed f r o m s o m e o t h e r k i n d s o f social s t r u c t u r e e l s e w h e r e in
114
Britain.
It c a n r e a s o n a b l y b e d o u b t e d w h e t h e r t h e r e e v e r w a s a p e r i o d w i t h i n
t h e t w o c e n t u r i e s e n d i n g in t h e 1 9 5 0 s w h e n B r i t i s h t o w n s collec
tively s u s t a i n e d a c o m p l e t e s o c i a l s t r u c t u r e , w i t h i n t e r r e l a t e d and
114
Although it remained meaningful to call British society as a whole an 'urban
society' in contrast to 'peasant societies' or 'rural societies' in other parts of the
world.

86 F . M. L . T H O M P S O N
c o h e r i n g c l a s s e s a n d s o c i a l c i r c l e s a n d its o w n i n t e r l o c k i n g e l i t e s , o f
the kind that constituted a distinctive a n d i n d e p e n d e n t urban society.
In t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y , a n d w e l l i n t o t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , m u c h
of t h e t o p l a y e r w a s a r i s t o c r a t i c , w i t h r o o t s i n t h e c o u n t r y s i d e a n d
a primary role in rural society, while m u c h of the l o w e r layers consisted
of r e c e n t , a n d s o m e t i m e s t r a n s i e n t , t r a n s p l a n t s f r o m r u r a l life. I n t h e
nineteenth century m u c h of the top layer w h i c h h a d b e e n generated
f r o m w i t h i n t h e city r e m o v e d itself f r o m t h e s c e n e , b y g e n t r i f i c a t i o n
or b y h i g h - c l a s s s u b u r b a n i s a t i o n , a n d left t h e u r b a n s o c i a l s t r u c t u r e
i n c o m p l e t e . It w a s i n t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y t h a t t h e u r b a n s o c i a l s t r u c
t u r e b e c a m e n o t s o m u c h m o r e i n c o m p l e t e a s m o r e diffused a n d m o r e
i n d i s t i n g u i s h a b l e f r o m s i m p l y t h e s o c i a l s t r u c t u r e o f B r i t a i n at l a r g e .
Plenty of urban problems remained, a n d intensified: poor housing
a n d health, inner city decay, crime a n d violence, h i g h u n e m p l o y m e n t ,
e d u c a t i o n a l n e g l e c t , s q u a l o r , traffic c o n g e s t i o n , a n d a l o n g list o f
d e p r i v a t i o n s . U r b a n r e g i o n s r e m a i n e d , a s u n i t s for b u r e a u c r a t s a n d
p l a n n e r s to m a r k o u t a n d e x a m i n e . U r b a n s o c i e t y , h o w e v e r , had
1 1 5
m e r g e d into the n a t i o n .
115
Andrew Lees, Cities Perceived: Urban Society in European and American Thought, 1820-
1940 (Manchester, 1985), pp. 258-68, examines the question why 'the British
evinced relatively low levels of interest in and concern about the specifically urban
aspects of their society' in the 1920s and 1930s.

CHAPTER 2
The countryside
W. A. ARMSTRONG
' E n g l a n d w a s e a r l y i n t h e field w i t h a p r o d u c t i v e , e x p a n s i b l e a g r i c u l
1
ture.' Among specialists in agrarian history there are diverse
opinions c o n c e r n i n g the extent of c h a n g e s in farming practices a n d
t h e r a t e at w h i c h i n c r e a s e s i n o u t p u t w e r e a c h i e v e d b e f o r e a n d d u r i n g
the e i g h t e e n t h century, but n o o n e disputes that E n g l a n d s t o o d in
t h e v a n g u a r d o f a g r a r i a n p r o g r e s s . M o r e o v e r it is g e n e r a l l y a g r e e d
that the agrarian sector w a s commercialised to an extent u n m a t c h e d
e l s e w h e r e , except in Holland. T h e s e a d v a n c e s h a d b e e n a c c o m p a n i e d
a n d n o d o u b t i n s o m e r e s p e c t s facilitated b y c h a n g e s i n t h e c o m p o
sition of rural society. F r o m the v a n t a g e point of t h e later e i g h t e e n t h
c e n t u r y a m a r k e d contrast with the position in c o n t e m p o r a r y E u r o p e
w a s discernible. English rural society in n o w a y r e s e m b l e d that of
territories east of the Elbe, characterised b y e n o r m o u s estates w o r k e d
b y h o r d e s o f u n e m a n c i p a t e d s e r f s ; n o r d i d it e x h i b i t t h e p a t t e r n c o m
m o n to m u c h of W e s t e r n E u r o p e , w h e r e m u c h land c o n t i n u e d to
be held in relatively tiny units farmed b y peasants. In E n g l a n d ,
t h r o u g h a l e n g t h y p r o c e s s o f e v o l u t i o n t h e r e h a d e m e r g e d a tripartite
system, featuring landlords w h o were essentially rent receivers but
w h o b o r e c e r t a i n r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s for t h e p r o v i s i o n o f fixed c a p i t a l ;
s u b s t a n t i a l t e n a n t f a r m e r s , d i r e c t l y r e s p o n s i b l e for t h e w o r k i n g o f
the land through the application of their entrepreneurial energies and
w o r k i n g capital; a n d landless or virtually landless w a g e earners w h o s e
c o n t r i b u t i o n d e r i v e d f r o m t h e i r a p p l i c a t i o n o f s t r e n g t h a n d skill a n d
2
w h o w e r e surprisingly n u m e r o u s e v e n in the sixteenth c e n t u r y .
Implicit in t h e commercialisation of agriculture w a s a powerful
1
E. L. Jones, Agriculture and Economic Growth in England, 1650-1850 (1967), p. 47.

2
A. M. Everitt, 'Farm Labourers', in J. Thirsk, ed., The Agrarian History of
England
and Wales, vol. 4: 1500-1640 (Cambridge, 1967), p. 462.
87

88 sW. A. A R M S T R O N G
t e n d e n c y for t h e s w e e p i n g a w a y o f m e n w h o d i d n o t fit n e a t l y i n t o
these categories. T h e s e included small owner-occupiers ( ' y e o m e n ' ) ,
lesser tenants and cottagers occupying a position intermediate
b e t w e e n the w a g e earner and the small farmer. Small occupiers were
e s p e c i a l l y v u l n e r a b l e to m a r k e t f o r c e s , a n d it is n o w a p p a r e n t t h a t
t h e e r a o f l o w p r i c e s , 1 6 5 0 - 1 7 5 0 , h a d s e e n a t e n d e n c y for l a n d to
3
accumulate in the h a n d s of larger proprietors. Such commercial
i n f l u e n c e s w e r e p r o b a b l y m o r e effective t h a n t h e G e o r g i a n e n c l o s u r e
acts i n r e d u c i n g t h e n u m b e r o f p e t t y f a r m e r s . I n t h e c a s e o f t h e s m a l l
o w n e r s , it is a c c e p t e d t h a t t h e c o s t s o f e n c l o s u r e m u s t a l w a y s h a v e
b e e n disproportionately h e a v y , yet t h e y w e r e also variable, as w a s
t h e c a p a c i t y to b e a r t h e m . A t all e v e n t s t h e a g g r e g a t e n u m b e r o f indivi
d u a l h o l d i n g s a p p e a r s to h a v e h e l d u p after 1 7 8 0 in a c l i m a t e o f r i s i n g
4
p r i c e s , a s s t u d i e s b a s e d o n t h e l a n d t a x s u g g e s t . A s for s m a l l t e n a n
c i e s , e n c l o s u r e a f f o r d e d g o o d o p p o r t u n i t i e s for l a n d l o r d s t o e m b a r k
u p o n c o n s o l i d a t i o n , b u t s u c h s t e p s w e r e n o t u n k n o w n in u n e n c l o s e d
villages and i n d e e d other considerations might w e i g h with landlords,
s u c h as t h e fact t h a t o c c u p a n t s o f t e n h a d v o t e s a n d p a i d a h i g h e r
rent per acre. Today, few historians consider that enclosure invariably
s p e l t c a t a s t r o p h e for t h e s m a l l o c c u p i e r . E v e n a m o n g t h o s e w h o r e g a r d
e n c l o s u r e as socially r e g r e s s i v e , t h e talk is o f t h e ' l i k e l y e x i s t e n c e o f
a filter d o w n t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l l a d d e r p r o d u c i n g s o m e d e g r e e o f l a n d -
5
l e s s n e s s ' . T h e p o s i t i o n is l e a s t c l e a r w i t h r e s p e c t to c o t t a g e r s , t h o u g h t
especially vulnerable b e c a u s e of their d e p e n d e n c e o n c o m m o n land
for g r a z i n g a n d fuel. S i n c e t h e r e is n o q u a n t i f i a b l e s o u r c e w h i c h b e a r s
d i r e c t l y o n t h i s p r o b l e m , h i s t o r i a n s h a v e to j u d g e b e t w e e n c o n t e m p o r
a r y c h a r g e s a n d c o u n t e r - c h a r g e s . H o w e v e r , it is g e n e r a l l y a g r e e d t h a t
for m a n y i n d i v i d u a l s , l o s s e s m a y h a v e b e e n s e r i o u s . N o t for n o t h i n g
d i d a n e x p e r i e n c e d e n c l o s u r e c o m m i s s i o n e r c o m e to l a m e n t t h a t h e
h a d b e e n a n a c c e s s o r y to i n j u r i n g at l e a s t 2 , 0 0 0 p o o r p e r s o n s at t h e
rate of t w e n t y families per parish, a n d this a n d similar evidence even
tually led A r t h u r Y o u n g to the conclusion that, in m a n y cases, 'the
poor had unquestionably been injured': however, he continued,
' t h e s e i n j u r i e s . . . are n o t m e n t i o n e d t o s h o w t h a t s u c h e n c l o s u r e s
s h o u l d n o t h a v e t a k e n p l a c e ; n o r to a s s e r t t h a t a n i n c r e a s e in r e g u l a r
e m p l o y m e n t . . . m i g h t n o t m o r e t h a n m a k e a m e n d s for t h e m , w h i c h
3
G. E . Mingay, Enclosure and the Small Farmer in the Age of the Industrial Revolution
(1968), pp. 26-30.
4
See J. A. Yelling, Common Field and Enclosure in England, 1450-1850 (1977), pp. 103-9.
5
M. E. Turner, in Agricultural History, papers presented to the Economic History Con
ference (Canterbury, 1983), p. 50.

The countryside 89
6
is another question'. The suggestion that enclosure, especially
where it entailed the cultivation of former wastelands (which
a c c o u n t e d for s o m e 2 8 p e r c e n t o f l a n d e n c l o s e d b e f o r e 1 7 9 3 a n d m o r e
7
thereafter ), lifted t h e a g g r e g a t e l e v e l o f w a g e p a i d employment
f o r m s a m a j o r p l a n k in t h e a r g u m e n t s w h i c h s e v e r a l m o d e r n h i s t o r i a n s
h a v e o p p o s e d to earlier c a t a c l y s m i c v i e w s . T h e w e l l - k n o w n s e a s o n a l
i m b a l a n c e s i n t h e l a b o u r r e q u i r e m e n t for a r a b l e c u l t i v a t i o n s h o u l d ,
8
h o w e v e r , b e b o r n e in m i n d . T h u s , the impact of enclosure w a s
far f r o m s i m p l e a n d in v i e w o f t h e u n e v e n n e s s o f c h a n g e , t h e tripartite
s c h e m e m u s t b e t r e a t e d w i t h c i r c u m s p e c t i o n . It h a s v a l u e a s a m o d e l ,
summarising s o m e essential features of English agrarian relationships,
t o w a r d s w h i c h t h e c u r r e n t s o f c h a n g e w e r e r u n n i n g . It d o e s n o t offer
a c o m p r e h e n s i v e d e s c r i p t i o n o f a g r a r i a n s o c i e t y at a n y p a r t i c u l a r p o i n t
i n t i m e . E v e n at t h e c l o s e o f t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y , t h e r e r e m a i n e d
t w e l v e c o u n t i e s in w h i c h s m a l l f a r m s o f 1 0 0 a c r e s o r l e s s a c t u a l l y
p r e d o m i n a t e d a n d t h e y w e r e c o m m o n in six m o r e , w h i l e f a r m s o f
9
o v e r 3 0 0 a c r e s w e r e v e r y u n u s u a l in m a n y p a r t s o f t h e c o u n t r y .
In a n o t h e r r e s p e c t , o v e r e m p h a s i s o n t r i p a r t i s m c a n m i s l e a d . E s s e n
tially, it p r e s e n t s a s e t o f f u n c t i o n a l e c o n o m i c c a t e g o r i e s , e a c h p e o p l e d
by individuals of very varying rank or status.
At the p e a k of the land-owning pyramid stood a nobility w h i c h
in E n g l a n d w a s tightly defined to include n o m o r e t h a n about 170
i n d i v i d u a l s , at l e a s t b e f o r e t h e p e e r a g e c a m e t o b e e x t e n d e d w i t h
n e w c r e a t i o n s b y t h e y o u n g e r Pitt. M o d e r n e s t i m a t e s w o u l d s u g g e s t
t h a t t h e i r a v e r a g e a n n u a l i n c o m e s w e r e a b o u t £ 5 , 0 0 0 to £ 6 , 0 0 0 i n t h e
1 6 9 0 s a n d p e r h a p s d o u b l e t h a t a c e n t u r y later, a l t h o u g h in c a s e s s u c h
as t h e D u k e s o f B e d f o r d , D e v o n s h i r e , a n d N o r t h u m b e r l a n d , they
1 0
might reach £ 4 0 , 0 0 0 or £ 5 0 , 0 0 0 . T h e exclusivity of their marriage
a l l i a n c e s is l e g e n d a r y . S t r i c t s e t t l e m e n t s w e r e u s e d t o a d v a n c e t h e
l o n g - r u n i n t e r e s t s o f t h e s e f a m i l i e s a n d j o i n t u r e s a n d p o r t i o n s for
w i v e s a n d c h i l d r e n o n r e a c h i n g m a j o r i t y w e r e carefully s p e c i f i e d . L e s s
6
A. Young, General Report on Enclosures, 1808 (reprint, New York, 1971), pp. 12,
13,158.
7
M. E. Turner, English Parliamentary Enclosure (Folkestone, 1980), p. 71.
8
E.g. J. D. Chambers and G. E Mingay, The Agricultural Revolution, 1750-1880 (1966),
pp. 98-9; see also K. D. M. Snell, 'Agricultural Seasonal Employment, the Standard
of Living, and Women's Work in the South and East, 1690-1860', Economic History
Review, 2nd ser., 34 (1981), or his Annals of the Labouring Poor: Social Change and
Agrarian England, 1660-1900 (Cambridge, 1985), chap. 1.
9
G. E . Mingay, 'The Size of Farms in the Eighteenth Century', Economic History
Review, 2nd ser., 14 (1962), p. 469.
10
G. E. Mingay, English Landed Society in the Eighteenth Century (1963), p. 21.

90 W. A. A R M S T R O N G
discrimination was practised by the gentry w h o were technically com

m o n e r s , yet they included s o m e of the greatest landowners, including
T. W . C o k e the famous agricultural improver of H o l k h a m in Norfolk.
Their ranks w e r e repeatedly infused with n e w e l e m e n t s w h i c h in Lin
colnshire included b a n k e r s a n d m e r c h a n t s such as the Ellisons from
Hull, the Becketts and D e n n i s o n s of L e e d s , a n d the Abel S m i t h s and
Wrights from Nottingham; but they also e n c o m p a s s e d numerous
m i n o r squires in C u m b e r l a n d , W e s t m o r l a n d , a n d W a l e s w h o , t h o u g h
relatively impoverished, maintained a considerable pride in their
o r d e r . T h e l o w e r b o u n d a r y l i n e w a s e s p e c i a l l y difficult t o d r a w . S o m e
890 baronets and knights and 6,000 esquires were accorded indubitable
gentry status, but m a n y others laid claim to b e c o n s i d e r e d gentlefolk.
T o s u s t a i n s u c h p r e t e n s i o n s s u c c e s s f u l l y , h o w e v e r , it is s u g g e s t e d ,
a n i n c o m e o f £ 1 , 0 0 0 a y e a r w o u l d b e e x p e c t e d i n E n g l a n d at t h e c l o s e
of t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y . S o m e 7 0 0 - 8 0 0 f a m i l i e s m i g h t b e c o n s i d e r e d
to fall w i t h i n t h e h i g h e r g e n t r y , r e c e i v i n g £ 3 , 0 0 0 o r m o r e , w i t h a n o t h e r
3 , 0 0 0 - 4 , 0 0 0 families of lesser gentry, with estates s o m e t i m e s confined
to a s i n g l e s u b s t a n t i a l r e s i d e n c e a n d a c o u p l e o f f a r m s c a p a b l e o f
11
being let. A s w e l l as e x e r c i s i n g t h e i r r i g h t s a s p r o p e r t y holders,
t h e n o b i l i t y a n d g e n t r y a l s o e n j o y e d i n f l u e n c e o v e r all t h o s e w h o
w e r e in s o m e s e n s e their clients or d e p e n d a n t s . Patronage was
e x t e n d e d to c o v e r v i r t u a l l y all p o s i t i o n s i n s o c i e t y , e x t e n d i n g e v e n
to t h e p o o r e s t t h r o u g h t h e d i s b u r s e m e n t o f c h a r i t y to t h e d e s e r v i n g .
T h e proper exercise of such responsibilities w a s regarded as a major
l e g i t i m a t i o n o f l a n d o w n e r s ' a u t h o r i t y a n d in r e t u r n s u c h f a m i l i e s
claimed and usually received due deference. T h e s e relationships were
strong e n o u g h to survive a long-standing t e n d e n c y o n the part of
the wealthy to detach t h e m s e l v e s from too intimate an involvement
i n v i l l a g e life, a s t h e y s e t t h e m s e l v e s a p a r t i n w a l l e d a c r e s o f p a r k l a n d ,
and, as well, their seasonal migrations to L o n d o n a n d s u n d r y watering
p l a c e s for m o n t h s at a t i m e .
A m o n g the tenantry too, there existed m a n y gradations of status.

W h e n t h e y o u t h f u l M a r q u i s d e la R o c h e f o u c a u l d w a s b e i n g c o n d u c t e d
by Arthur Y o u n g on a tour of East Anglia he visited a n u m b e r of
l a r g e h o l d i n g s i n c l u d i n g a 3 , 0 0 0 - a c r e f a r m at R o u g h a m ( N o r f o l k ) ,
e m p l o y i n g f o r t y - s e v e n p e r s o n s , a n d a n o t h e r at S o u t h C r e a k e c o n s i s t
i n g o f 1 , 3 0 0 a c r e s w i t h a r e g u l a r staff o f t h i r t y - s i x , i n t h i s c a s e f a r m e d
b y a tenant w h o o w n e d another, e v e n larger, farm elsewhere. Not
Ibid., p. 23.

The countryside 91
surprisingly the y o u n g Marquis was impressed by the answers given

by such m e n to Y o u n g ' s questions, w h i c h w e r e replied to 'with m o r e
1 2
intelligence than one would expect from p e a s a n t s ' . It w a s m e n s u c h
as t h e s e w h o w e r e t h o u g h t e s p e c i a l l y at risk f r o m b u r g e o n i n g s o c i a l
p r e t e n s i o n s . Y o u n g b e g r u d g e d n o efficient f a r m e r a r o o m y k i t c h e n ,
a r o a r i n g fire, a b o t t l e o f g o o d p o r t after d i n n e r w h e n c o m p a n y w a s
being entertained, a n d a g o o d nag. But his strictures against 'shew
of a n y k i n d ' faithfully r e f l e c t e d p r e v a i l i n g c o n c e p t i o n s o f s o c i e t y : 'all
these things imply a departure from that line w h i c h separates these
different o r d e r s o f b e i n g s , let all t h e s e t h i n g s a n d all t h e folly, f o p p e r y
1 3
e x p e n s e a n d a n x i e t y t h a t b e l o n g s to t h e m r e m a i n a m o n g g e n t l e m e n ' .
As we have seen, however, tenant farmers on the grand
scale w e r e b y n o m e a n s typical. T h e extensive farms of w e s t Norfolk
w e r e b a l a n c e d b y n u m e r o u s s m a l l o n e s e s p e c i a l l y o n t h e w e t t e r soils
of t h e e a s t , a n d r e a d e r s o f t h e General Views o f a g r i c u l t u r e p u b l i s h e d
f r o m t h e 1 7 9 0 s w e r e left in n o d o u b t a b o u t t h e i n e f f i c i e n c y a n d p r e c a r -
i o u s n e s s of farmers of a n o t h e r sort - the 'miserably indigent' of north
D e v o n ; o r t h e little f a r m e r s o f H e r e f o r d s h i r e w h o o f t e n l i v e d l e s s
comfortably t h a n cottagers a n d w h o s e only advantage over the latter
w a s t h a t t h e y c o u l d b e idle for a d a y w h e n t h e y p l e a s e d .
Finally, important distinctions m a y be d r a w n a m o n g the hired h a n d s
at t h e b e d r o c k o f a g r a r i a n s o c i e t y . O n e l a y b e t w e e n l i v i n g - i n s e r v a n t s
who a c c o u n t e d for b e t w e e n one third and o n e h a l f o f all f a r m
1 4
e m p l o y e e s in an array of parish listings m a d e b e t w e e n 1599 a n d 1 7 9 6 .
For most, farm service was an interlude e n t e r e d i n t o at adoles
c e n c e , for a l t h o u g h t h e life-long f a r m s e r v a n t w a s n o f i g m e n t o f t h e
i m a g i n a t i o n , t h e m a j o r i t y left u p o n m a r r i a g e . N e v e r t h e l e s s , among
married labourers occupying farm cottages there remained important
d i s t i n c t i o n s b a s e d o n a c q u i r e d s p e c i a l i s t skills. H o r s e m e n , plough
m e n , and shepherds c o m m a n d e d higher levels of remuneration and
perquisites, a n d could rely on greater security of e m p l o y m e n t than
d a y - m e n , i n c r e a s i n g l y l i k e l y to b e p a i d b y t h e p i e c e . T h e e x i s t e n c e
of p o s i t i o n s o f s p e c i a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t y afforded a s o c i a l l a d d e r o f a l i m i t e d
sort, a l t h o u g h w i t h t h e l o n g - r u n t r e n d t o t h e r e d u c t i o n o f s m a l l f a r m s ,
o p p o r t u n i t i e s to c l i m b o u t o f t h e r a n k s o f a g r a r i a n w a g e e a r n e r s w e r e
12
S. C. Roberts, ed., A Frenchman in England, 1784: Being the 'Melanges sur VAngleterre'
ofFranqois de la Rochefoucauld (Cambridge, 1933), pp. 173, 217, 229, 233-4.
13
A. Young, 'Gleanings in an Excursion to Lewes Fair', Annals of Agriculture, 27 (1792),
pp. 152-7.
14
A. Kussmaul, Servants in Husbandry in Early Modern England (Cambridge, 1981),
p. 4.

s c a n t . A r a r e s t u d y o f m o b i l i t y i n d i c a t e s t h a t at C a r l t o n H u s t h w a i t e
(Yorkshire) t w e n t y - o n e of twenty-six farmers h a d fathers w h o h a d
b e e n f a r m e r s , a n d o n l y t h r e e h a d f a t h e r s w h o w e r e l a b o u r e r s ; at R a s -
k e l f all b u t o n e o f t w e n t y - f i v e w e r e f a r m e r s ' s o n s a n d if a n y t h i n g ,
t h e t e n d e n c y w a s for y o u n g e r s o n s t o d e s c e n d i n t o t h e r a n k s o f
15
labourers. T h e p o s i t i o n in l a r g e f a r m districts m u s t h a v e b e e n still
more unfavourable.
V i e w e d f r o m a n o t h e r a n g l e , all a g r i c u l t u r a l i s t s fell w i t h i n t h e e m b r a c
ing c o n c e p t of an 'agricultural interest' w h i c h in principle e x t e n d e d
f r o m t h e r i c h e s t l a n d l o r d to t h e h u m b l e s t d a y - l a b o u r e r . T h e t h e o r y
w a s e x p r e s s e d b y N a t h a n i e l K e n t , in 1 7 9 6 :
In the prosperity of agriculture there are three persons who have a natural
tye upon each other: the gentleman of landed interest - the farmer - and
the labourer. Their degrees of interest are different, but their connection must
be permanent as they cannot subsist without the aid of each other. Protection
is due from the first - humanity from the second - and obedience from the
16
third.
M o r e o v e r the concept of an 'agricultural interest' m a y b e extended

to cover a wide range of occupations and so enables our discussion
of rural s o c i e t y to b e b r o a d e n e d b e y o n d t h e a g r a r i a n e l e m e n t s w h o ,
so far, h a v e h e l d t h e c e n t r e o f t h e s t a g e . T h e o u t l a y s o f f a r m e r s a n d
l a n d o w n e r s s u p p o r t e d a w i d e r a n g e of services in villages a n d country
t o w n s . Their variety a n d sophistication varied according to size of
settlement, but e v e n villages with a population of 5 0 0 or so usually
exhibited a group of craftsmen or retailers including the ubiquitous
b l a c k s m i t h , c a r p e n t e r , m i l l e r , p u b l i c a n , s h o e m a k e r , a n d tailor. O f t e n ,
t r a d e s m e n w o u l d c o m b i n e t h e s e activities w i t h r u n n i n g s m a l l h o l d i n g s
a n d t h e i r s t a t u s fell u s u a l l y b e t w e e n t h a t o f t h e f a r m e r a n d t h e c o t t a g e r
or b e t t e r - o f f l a b o u r e r . A t a h i g h e r l e v e l o f p o p u l a t i o n , for e x a m p l e
at P e t w o r t h ( S u s s e x ) , w i t h 2 , 0 0 0 s o u l s , w e r e t o b e f o u n d m o r e s p e c i a l
i s e d t r a d e s p e o p l e s u c h as f o u r b a k e r s , six b u t c h e r s , a b r e w e r , t h r e e
maltsters, four saddlers, a n d e v e n a c o u p l e of clock a n d w a t c h m a k e r s .
H e r e a l s o w e r e t w o s u r g e o n - a p o t h e c a r i e s w h o t o d a y w o u l d b e dis
t i n g u i s h e d as ' p r o f e s s i o n a l s ' a l t h o u g h s u c h c l a i m s m i g h t t h e n h a v e
b e e n sustained m o r e easily b y attorneys, or land agents a n d surveyors
e n t r u s t e d w i t h t h e affairs o f e s t a t e s b o t h g r e a t a n d s m a l l . A c o u n t y
t o w n w i t h a h i g h e r p o p u l a t i o n a g a i n , t h o u g h still d e p e n d e n t o n rural
15
B. A. Holderness, 'Personal Mobility in Some Rural Parishes of Yorkshire, 1 7 7 7 -
1812', Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, 42 (1971), pp. 447-50.
16
Quoted in E. J. Hobsbawm and G. Rude, Captain Swing (1969), pp. 4 7 - 8 .

The countryside 93
d e m a n d , m i g h t b e e x p e c t e d to f e a t u r e all t h e s e t r a d e s a n d p r o f e s s i o n s
a n d s o m e o f a n a l t o g e t h e r m o r e e x o t i c n a t u r e . T h u s , in t h e 1 7 7 0 s
York (population about 16,000) could boast booksellers, engravers,
17
jewellers, musicians, tobacco-pipe makers, and an optician. The
social s t a n d i n g o f t r a d e s p e o p l e v a r i e d e n o r m o u s l y a c c o r d i n g to t h e i r
wealth, w h e t h e r they actually h a n d l e d processed goods, and o n the
r a n g e o f t h e i r s o c i a l c o n n e c t i o n s . W e m a y b e s u r e t h a t r e l a t i v e l y little
w a s n o r m a l l y a c c o r d e d t o i t i n e r a n t v e n d o r s , w h o still a c c o u n t e d for
a s i z e a b l e p r o p o r t i o n o f all retail t r a n s a c t i o n s , t h r o u g h p e d d l i n g a n d
h a w k i n g , a n d a t t e n d a n c e at c o u n t r y fairs.
The church, too, b l e n d e d into the c o n t e m p o r a r y social landscape.
Benefices worth several h u n d r e d a year w e r e comparatively rare and,
m u c h in the w a y that progressive farmers s o u g h t to add o n e holding
to another, clerics e n g a g e d t h e m s e l v e s in the vigorous pursuit of plural
l i v i n g s . S e v e r a l c h o i c e o n e s , e s p e c i a l l y if h e l d i n c o n j u n c t i o n w i t h
a c a t h e d r a l office, c o u l d y i e l d a n i n c o m e h a n d s o m e b y a n y s t a n d a r d s
t h o u g h o n t h e o t h e r h a n d J a m e s H a k e w e l l in O x f o r d s h i r e , h o l d i n g
1 8
four, c o u l d still a t t a i n o n l y £ 1 1 7 p e r a n n u m i n t h e 1 7 8 0 s . To achieve
a d v a n c e m e n t , c o n n e c t i o n s w e r e a l l - i m p o r t a n t , a n d n o n - r e s i d e n c y left
m a n y parishes tended only b y curates subsisting on tiny stipends
w h o c o u l d b e r e g a r d e d as a clerical p r o l e t a r i a t . W h i l s t t h e d e g r e e
of a t t e n t i o n g i v e n to t h e s o u l s u n d e r t h e i r c a r e b y e i g h t e e n t h - c e n t u r y
c l e r g y m e n defies e a s y g e n e r a l i s a t i o n , P a r s o n W o o d e f o r d e o f W e s t o n
19
L o n g u e v i l l e i n N o r f o l k is o f t e n t a k e n as t y p i c a l . H i s e x t e n s i v e d i a r i e s
b e a r w i t n e s s to a n a b s o r b i n g i n t e r e s t i n f o o d a n d i n f o s t e r i n g c l o s e
relations with Squire C u s t a n c e . T h e y also suggest a h u m a n e disposi
t i o n t o w a r d s l o w - r a n k i n g v i l l a g e r s , b u t v e r y little o f a p e n c h a n t for
spiritual reflection. A s a w h o l e , the c h u r c h perfectly mirrored the
salient features of eighteenth-century rural social structure. B y virtue
of t h e t i t h e , t h e c l e r g y m a n w a s a p a r t o f t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l i n t e r e s t ,
a n d t h e c h u r c h m a i n t a i n e d a n h i e r a r c h i c a l s t r u c t u r e w h i c h fitted p e r
fectly i n t o t h e p y r a m i d i c a l c o n c e p t i o n o f E n g l i s h s o c i e t y . I n 1800, W i l
liam Scott defended t h e m a n i f e s t l y i n e q u i t a b l e d i s t r i b u t i o n o f its
r e v e n u e s a r g u i n g t h a t ' t h e c l e r g y , a s a p r o f e s s i o n , find a n e a s y a n d
i n d e p e n d e n t a c c e s s to e v e r y g r a d a t i o n o f s o c i e t y . . . A l t e r t h e m o d e
of d i s t r i b u t i o n , a n d y o u r u n t h e risk o f p r o d u c i n g a b o d y o f c l e r g y
17
G. H. Kenyon, T e t w o r t h Town and Trades, 1610-1760', Sussex Archaeological Collec
tions, 95 (1958), p. 63; P. M. Tillott, ed., Victoria County History: City of York (1961),
p. 219.
18
D. McClatchey, Oxfordshire Clergy, 1777-1869 (Oxford, 1960), pp. 42, 53.
19
J. Beresford, ed., The Diary of a Country Parson, 5 vols. (Oxford, 1924-31).

2 0
resembling only the lower orders of s o c i e t y / His argument implied
t h a t as w e l l a s offering spiritual g u i d a n c e , t h e c l e r g y h a d a l e a d i n g
r o l e to p l a y in p r o m o t i n g s o c i a l c o h e s i o n .
T h i s t a s k w a s n o t e a s i l y d i s c h a r g e d , for a p a r t f r o m i n d i v i d u a l s h o r t
c o m i n g s a m o n g t h e c l e r g y , v i l l a g e s w e r e m o r e d i v e r s e in c h a r a c t e r
t h a n is u s u a l l y a s s u m e d . T h e r e w e r e , i n d e e d , n u m e r o u s s e t t l e m e n t s
dominated b y a single landed proprietor, w h e r e villagers acquiesced
in h i s a u t h o r i t y w i t h o u t d e m u r . A f e w s u c h p r o p r i e t o r s f o l l o w e d a
c o n s c i o u s p o l i c y o f ' c l o s i n g ' t h e i r p a r i s h e s to o u t s i d e r s . O n e m e a n s
of a c h i e v i n g t h i s w a s to pull d o w n v a c a n t c o t t a g e s t h a t m i g h t h a r b o u r
potential paupers. In this the objective of the landlord might agree
with that of the overseers representing village ratepayers, and there
w a s a s i d e - b e n e f i t to l a n d l o r d s in t h a t t h e i r grip o n v i l l a g e s o c i e t y
w a s t h e r e b y likely to b e e n h a n c e d . Yet n o village, h o w e v e r tightly
r u n , c o u l d b e e n t i r e l y self-sufficient a n d , c e r t a i n l y , n o n e w e r e c h a r a c
t e r i z e d b y a total l a c k o f m o b i l i t y , w h i c h w a s p a r t i c u l a r l y m a r k e d
a m o n g y o u n g f a r m s e r v a n t s w h o w e r e r e n o w n e d for t h e i r r o v i n g
d i s p o s i t i o n albeit o v e r s h o r t d i s t a n c e s . M o r e o v e r , t h e v e r y s u c c e s s
of s o m e l a n d l o r d s in c l o s i n g t h e i r p a r i s h e s i m p l i e d t h e e x i s t e n c e o f
a v e r y different t y p e o f s e t t l e m e n t , u s u a l l y in t h e n e a r v i c i n i t y . ' O p e n '
parishes w e r e characterised b y a multiplicity of small freeholders,
w h e r e village t r a d e s m e n followed their short-term interests b y run
ning up rows of cottages or patching up hovels w h i c h a respectable
l a n d l o r d w o u l d c e r t a i n l y h a v e r e g a r d e d a s a b l o t o n his e s t a t e . S u c h
places w e r e often nests of n o n c o n f o r m i t y a n d w e r e also regarded
as p l a c e s o f r e f u g e b y p o a c h e r s a n d p e t t y c r i m i n a l s .
A n o t h e r c a t e g o r y o f v i l l a g e s h a v i n g m u c h in c o m m o n w i t h ' o p e n '
agricultural settlements w e r e t h o s e primarily c o n c e r n e d with m a n u
factures. T h o u g h the m a y p o l e o n the village green s y m b o l i s e d the
still e s s e n t i a l l y r u r a l n a t u r e o f B u r s l e m i n 1 7 5 0 , n i n e t e e n y e a r s l a t e r
Arthur Y o u n g r e c k o n e d that hereabouts pot-manufacture provided
2 1
w o r k for n e a r l y 1 0 , 0 0 0 p e r s o n s . S o m e 5 0 m i l e s to t h e e a s t , l a y
n u m e r o u s v i l l a g e s d e v o t e d to f r a m e w o r k k n i t t i n g , w h i c h , it h a d b e e n
d i s c o v e r e d , c o u l d b e p e r f o r m e d h e r e m o r e c h e a p l y t h a n in L o n d o n .
By 1782 the three counties of Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, and
D e r b y s h i r e a c c o u n t e d for o v e r 8 5 p e r c e n t o f 2 0 , 0 0 0 f r a m e s in t h e
2 2
United Kingdom and Chambers's pioneering work on the buoyant
20
W. R. Ward, Religion and Society in England, 1790-1850 (1972), pp. 106-7.
21
J. Thomas, The Rise of the Staffordshire Potteries (Bath, 1971), pp. 7, 9.
22
J. D. Chambers, Nottinghamshire in the Eighteenth Century, 2nd edn (1966), pp. 9 4 - 5 .

The countryside 95
population growth of the industrial villages of the East Midlands h a s

r e c e i v e d c o n f i r m a t i o n f r o m m o r e r e c e n t w o r k , n o t a b l y in a n e x h a u s
tive study of S h e p s h e d (Leicestershire). In this village, consisting of
unregulated freehold land, a population of s o m e 600 or 700 in the
s e v e n t e e n t h c e n t u r y r o s e a b o u t fivefold b y 1 8 1 2 , at w h i c h d a t e a b o u t
2 3
1,000 f r a m e s w e r e i n u s e . Ironically, the n e w factory villages asso
c i a t e d w i t h t h e first, w a t e r - p o w e r e d p h a s e o f t h e i n d u s t r i a l r e v o l u t i o n
in t e x t i l e s f r o m t h e 1 7 7 0 s r e s e m b l e d m o r e c l o s e l y t h e c h a r a c t e r o f
tightly controlled estate villages. A case in point w a s Mellor in
Cheshire, w h e r e S a m u e l O l d k n o w controlled and directed the lives
of a w h o l e c o m m u n i t y b y t h e e x e r c i s e o f b e n e v o l e n t d e s p o t i s m . H e r e
the master cotton spinner could be seen, each S u n d a y morning, escort
ing his parish apprentices to Marple church, well breakfasted and
dressed in t h e i r b e s t c l o t h e s . E q u a l l y p a t r i a r c h a l were the mill
c o m m u n i t i e s o f t h e D e r w e n t v a l l e y in D e r b y s h i r e . A l t h o u g h firm disci
p l i n e w a s e n f o r c e d o u t s i d e t h e f a c t o r y w a l l s as w e l l a s w i t h i n t h e m ,
u s u a l l y b y fines, e m p l o y e r s s u c h a s t h e S t r u t t s p a i d c o n s i d e r a b l e a t t e n
t i o n t o t h e m a t e r i a l as w e l l as t h e m o r a l w e l f a r e o f t h e i r w o r k p e o p l e .
At Cromford, Arkwright annually entertained his p e o p l e to a feast
a n d w a s g e n e r o u s in distributing b o n u s e s , receiving due deference
in the form of c h o r u s e s with a positively 'feudal' ring:
To our noble master, a Bumper then fill,

24
The matchless inventor of this cotton mill.
W h i l s t a c k n o w l e d g i n g t h e e x i s t e n c e o f t e n d e n c i e s t o w a r d s a simplifi
c a t i o n o f its a g r a r i a n c o r e , o u r p o r t r a y a l o f E n g l i s h r u r a l s o c i e t y h a s
s t r e s s e d its h e t e r o g e n e i t y a n d e m p h a s i s e d t h e e x i s t e n c e o f a s e r i e s
of g r a d a t i o n s o f s t a t u s a n d r a n k . C o n t e m p o r a r i e s , it s e e m s , h a d y e t
to learn the language of class. However, influenced by M a r x ' s sugges
t i o n t h a t t h e h i s t o r y o f all h i t h e r t o e x i s t i n g s o c i e t y is t h e h i s t o r y o f
c l a s s s t r u g g l e s , s o m e s u s p e c t t h a t t h e u n d e r l y i n g realities a r e o b s c u r e d
by uncritically adopting the vocabulary of social gradation. In a recent
contribution to the debate E . P. T h o m p s o n h a s argued that c o n v e n
tional models of eighteenth-century society do not take account of
t h e c o m m o n p e o p l e ' s p e r c e p t i o n s a n d t h a t it is t h e b u s i n e s s o f t h e
historian to articulate their views b y decoding their behaviour. He
23
J. D. Chambers, The Vale of Trent, 1670-1800 (Economic History Review, Supplement
No. 3,1957), pp. 19-35, 53; D. Levine, Family Formation in an Age of Nascent Capitalism
(1977), pp. 4, 6.
24
G. Unwin, Samuel Oldknow and the Arkwrights (Manchester, 1924), pp. 135, 159,
174; R. S. Fitton and A. P. Wadsworth, The Strutts and the Arkwrights (Manchester,
1958), pp. 99-100, 232-9, 249-60.

g o e s o n to d i s c u s s e v i d e n c e o f t h e e x i s t e n c e o f a l i v e l y p l e b e i a n c u l t u r e
w h i c h t h e ' h e g e m o n y ' o f t h e g e n t r y d i d n o t s u c c e e d i n stifling,
through paternalism, or repression, a n d suggests that w e m a y 'read
eighteenth c e n t u r y social history as a s u c c e s s i o n of confrontations
between an innovative market e c o n o m y and the customary moral
e c o n o m y o f t h e p l e b s ' . H e r e , h e c o n c l u d e s , is e v i d e n c e o f c l a s s s t r u g
gle w h i c h p r e c e d e d t h e f o r m a t i o n o f s e l f - c o n s c i o u s c l a s s e s i n t h e n i n e
2 5
teenth-century sense. C e r t a i n l y t h e r e is n o s h o r t a g e o f i n s t a n c e s
of conflict, a n d a t t e n t i o n h a s f o c u s s e d c h i e f l y o n t h e c r o w d d i s t u r
bances p r o v o k e d occasionally b y the operations of the Militia Acts,
e n c l o s u r e s , o r t u r n p i k i n g , b u t e s p e c i a l l y (in t w o c a s e s o u t o f e v e r y
2 6
three) by s u d d e n rises in the price of f o o d . P r o b l e m s r e m a i n in
assessing the broader significance of such incidents, h o w e v e r , and
amongst historians opinion ranges from t h o s e w h o are p e r s u a d e d
t h a t t h e r e w a s c l a s s conflict i n t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y , t h r o u g h t h o s e
w h o think the evidence 'fragmentary, but e n o u g h to leave a question-
2 7
mark against the " c l a s s l e s s n e s s " of the eighteenth c e n t u r y ' to others
s c e p t i c a l o f t h e v a l u e o f s u c h a n a p p r o a c h b e c a u s e it e m b o d i e s s u c h
v e n t u r e s o m e inferential leaps. G i v e n the subjective nature of this
d e b a t e , t h e r e is a s t r o n g c a s e for d e f e r r i n g f u r t h e r d i s c u s s i o n o f c l a s s
at t h i s p o i n t , a n d for t u r n i n g t o a l e s s s h a d o w y e n g i n e o f c h a n g e .
Despite experiencing net losses of population b y migration, e v e n
counties relatively u n t o u c h e d b y industrialisation e x p e r i e n c e d con
siderable population increases from the mid-eighteenth century.
Between 1751 and 1789 sixteen such counties exhibited an increase
2 8
of t h e o r d e r o f 2 2 p e r c e n t . This w a s part of a national increase
w h i c h h a s b e e n t r a c e d r e c e n t l y t o a fall in m o r t a l i t y , b u t more
e s p e c i a l l y t o a n i n c r e a s e i n fertility c o n s e q u e n t u p o n a r i s i n g i n c i d e n c e
2 9
of and falling a g e at m a r r i a g e . Whether the balance of these
influences w a s similar in t o w n a n d country, a n d as b e t w e e n industria
lising a n d p r e d o m i n a n t l y a g r i c u l t u r a l d i s t r i c t s , r e m a i n s to b e s e e n .
25
E . P. Thompson, 'Eighteenth-Century English Society: Class Struggle without
Class?', Social History, 3 (1978), pp. 33-65.
26
See G. Rude, The Crowd in History, 1730-1848 (1964), pp. 33-7, and A. Charlesworth,
An Atlas of Rural Protest in Britain, 1548-1900 (1983), pp. 83-106.
27
R. J. Morris, Class and Class Consciousness in the Industrial Revolution (1979), p. 18.
28
W. A. Armstrong, 'La Population de l'Angleterre et du Pays de Galles, 1789-1815',
Annates de Demographic Historique, 1 (1965), pp. 184-6, using the list of counties
identified as agricultural in P. Deane and W. A. Cole, British Economic Growth 1688-
1959 (Cambridge, 1962), p. 103.
29
E . A. Wrigley and R. S. Schoheld, The Population History of England, 1541-1871:
A Reconstruction (1981), pp. 240-4.

The countryside 97
L o n g - t e r m shifts i n t h e s t r u c t u r e o f r u r a l s o c i e t y m a y w e l l h a v e s e r v e d
to w e a k e n traditional constraints o n marriage a n d procreation. Thus,
at T e r l i n g ( E s s e x ) , w h i c h i n t h e e a r l y s e v e n t e e n t h c e n t u r y a l r e a d y
s h o w e d large farms a n d m a n y landless labourers, stable and mode
r a t e l y y o u t h f u l a g e s at m a r r i a g e w e r e t h e o r d e r o f t h e d a y u n t i l 1 7 7 5 ,
after w h i c h t h e y fell. Y e t t h e y w e r e e v e n l o w e r ( t w e n t y - t h r e e for m e n ,
t w e n t y - t w o for w o m e n ) at M e l b o u r n e , a n o p e n o r ' p e a s a n t ' village
set i n t h e c o r n - g r o w i n g a r e a o f C a m b r i d g e s h i r e w h i c h r e m a i n e d u n e n
3 0
closed until 1 8 3 9 . O b v i o u s l y m u c h w o r k r e m a i n s t o b e d o n e in clari
fying t h e l i n k s b e t w e e n s o c i o - e c o n o m i c c h a n g e a n d m a r r i a g e a n d ferti
lity. M o r e o v e r , t h e p a r t p l a y e d b y falling m o r t a l i t y m a y also h a v e
b e e n considerable in rural areas. A valuable study of infant mortality
i n r u r a l n o r t h S h r o p s h i r e h a s s h o w n t h a t it r a n at 2 0 0 p e r t h o u s a n d
at r i s k b e t w e e n t h e m i d - s i x t e e n t h a n d e a r l y e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r i e s , fall
i n g t o 1 6 0 - 7 0 i n t h e m i d - e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y a n d t o 1 3 0 b e f o r e its
3 1
close. W h a t e v e r t h e p r o v e n a n c e of the rural u p s w i n g in population,
it c o u l d h a r d l y fail t o s w e l l t h e n u m b e r o f l a b o u r e r s a n d to w e a k e n
their market position. Already, from the middle of the century more
e l a b o r a t e a r r a n g e m e n t s for t h e r e l i e f o f t h e p o o r w e r e s e e n to b e
r e q u i r e d i n s o m e d i s t r i c t s , as e v i d e n c e d i n t h e b u i l d i n g o f n e w w o r k
h o u s e s in Dorset, Norfolk, a n d Suffolk. In s o m e parishes, well before
the F r e n c h W a r s , recourse w a s h a d to the ' r o u n d s m a n ' s y s t e m which
a p p e a r e d to involve an undesirable e l e m e n t of w a g e subsidisation
c a l c u l a t e d t o l o w e r t h e r e c i p i e n t s ' s e l f - r e s p e c t a n d m a k e for indifferent
standards of performance. T h e twin impact of population growth and
p r i c e i n c r e a s e s m a d e itself a p p a r e n t i n a d o u b l i n g o f p e r c a p i t a relief
i n m a n y E n g l i s h v i l l a g e s , for e x a m p l e at M e l b o u r n e , b e t w e e n t h e 1 7 5 0 s
and the 1780s. Both causes w e r e a c k n o w l e d g e d b y the rector of Bark-
h a m ( B e r k s h i r e ) , i n a f a m o u s t r e a t i s e w h i c h a l s o a d d u c e d as f a c t o r s ,
enclosures, engrossing, ale-houses, an insufficiency of e m p l o y m e n t
for m e n in w i n t e r , a n d for f e m a l e s at all s e a s o n s . It i n c l u d e d a n o v e l
series of family b u d g e t s w h i c h m o s t l y s h o w e d deficiencies w h e n
3 2
annual i n c o m e s w e r e c o m p a r e d to annual o u t l a y s . This approach
30
Levine, Family Formation, pp. 120-4; D. Mills, T h e Quality of Life in Melbourne,
Cambs., in the Period 1800-50', International Review of Social History, 23 (1978), p.
402.
31
R. E . Jones, 'Infant Mortality in Rural North Shropshire, 1561-1810', Population
Studies, 30 (1976), p. 313.
32
D. Davies, The Case of the Labourers in Husbandry Stated and Considered (1795), pp.
50-66, 7 8 - 9 4 , 1 3 0 - 2 0 0 .

was emulated b y E d e n w h o substantially endorsed Davies's conclu

s i o n s s o far as t h e s o u t h e r n l a b o u r e r w a s c o n c e r n e d , b u t s t r e s s e d
t h a t t h e n o r t h e r n l a b o u r e r w a s b e t t e r p l a c e d w i t h r e s p e c t to reliability
33
of e m p l o y m e n t , w a g e l e v e l s , a n d d i e t s , a v i e w w h i c h is s u p p o r t e d
by m o d e r n w o r k o n dietary patterns, w a g e levels, and the regional
34
incidence of poor law relief.
S u c h w a s t h e s t a t e a n d c o n d i t i o n o f E n g l i s h rural s o c i e t y at t h e o n s e t
of t h e F r e n c h W a r s . B e t w e e n 1 7 8 9 a n d 1 8 1 5 t h e r u r a l population
increased b y a further 26 per cent, but the influence of the d e m o g r a p h i c
factor w a s o v e r l a i d b y t h e d r a m a t i c i m p a c t o f i n f l a t i o n a r y w a r t i m e
c o n d i t i o n s u p o n a g r i c u l t u r e . F a r m p r i c e s , h a v i n g g e n t l y a s c e n d e d for
s o m e t i m e , r o s e s m a r t l y , in t h e c a s e o f w h e a t b y s o m e 1 0 6 p e r c e n t
if 1 7 9 0 - 4 is c o m p a r e d w i t h 1 8 1 0 - 1 4 ; t h o u g h a n y s u c h figure m a y m i s
l e a d , b e c a u s e i n y e a r s o f b a d h a r v e s t s , s u c h as 1 7 9 5 - 6 , 1 8 0 0 - 1 a n d
1812-13, prices rose very high indeed. T h e pace of agrarian improve
m e n t l i k e w i s e q u i c k e n e d . A b o u t 4 9 p e r c e n t o f all l a n d e n c l o s e d u n d e r
parliamentary acts b e t w e e n 1750 a n d 1829 w a s dealt with during the
w a r y e a r s , i n v o l v i n g s o m e 2 . 9 m a c r e s in a d d i t i o n to o t h e r a r e a s
e n c l o s e d u n d e r p r i v a t e a g r e e m e n t . T h e s e activities w e r e p a r t i c u l a r l y
m a r k e d in e a s t e r n E n g l a n d , b u t w e r e b y n o m e a n s c o n f i n e d t h e r e ,
n o r to o p e n field a r a b l e . A n i n c r e a s e d p r o p o r t i o n c o n s i s t e d o f c o m
m o n s a n d w a s t e s , as m o r e m a r g i n a l l a n d w a s b r o u g h t i n t o u s e , s u c h
as S h e r w o o d Forest (Nottinghamshire), Enfield C h a s e (Middlesex),
3 5
Canford Heath (Dorset), and Bexley Heath (Kent). In the early years
of t h e w a r f a r m e r s p r o s p e r e d : as o n e , f r o m N o r t h u m b e r l a n d , put
it, T h e f a r m e r s in y e district a r e full o f m o n e y . . . as e v e r y t h i n g
3 6
t h e f a r m e r s h a v e to sell are at a h i g h e r p r i c e t h a n I e v e r k n e w b e f o r e /
In d u e c o u r s e , l a n d l o r d s m o v e d t o t a p t h e i n c r e a s e d r e v e n u e s o f t h e i r
t e n a n t s , a n d w i t h m u c h v a r i a t i o n f r o m o n e e s t a t e t o a n o t h e r , it is
thought that rent increases over the war years averaged about 90 per
3 7
cent. M o r e o v e r , d e s p i t e t h e i m p r e s s i o n g i v e n b y s o m e a u t h o r s , it
33
F. M. Eden, The State of the Poor, 3 vols., vol. 1, pp. viii, 496-548.
34
See the discussions by W. A. Armstrong and J. B. Huzel in G. E . Mingay, ed.,
The Agrarian History of England and Wales, vol. 6: 1750-1850 (Cambridge, 1989),
p p . 6 9 6 - 8 , 738-40, 762-6.
35
Turner, Parliamentary Enclosure, pp. 71, 77-9; A. Redford, Labour Migration in England,
1800-50, 2nd edn (Manchester, 1964), pp. 72-3.
36
Quoted in S. MacDonald, 'Agricultural Response to a Changing Market during
the Napoleonic Wars', Economic History Review, 2nd ser., 33 (1980), p. 64.
37
F. M. L. Thompson, English Landed Society in the Nineteenth Century (1963), pp. 218-20.

The countryside 99
is n o t o b v i o u s t h a t t h e p o s i t i o n o f t h e f a r m l a b o u r e r s deteriorated
absolutely in c o n s e q u e n c e of the w a r s . T o s o m e degree, t h e y w e r e
protected b y p a y m e n t s in k i n d from t h e worst of t h e price fluctuations,
a n d t h e y did not feature to a n y great extent in the disorders arising
from food prices, in 1795, 1800, a n d 1812. T h e diversion of m a n y
m e n into the a r m e d services ( a m o u n t i n g to 4 3 0 , 0 0 0 b y 1809) t e n d e d
t o curtail t h e g r o w t h o f l a b o u r s u p p l y at a t i m e w h e n t h e demand
w a s relatively buoyant, a n d brought m a n y complaints of seasonal
labour shortages. In these circumstances, wages broadly kept pace
with prices and, t h o u g h variable, m a y in m a n y cases h a v e m a t c h e d
3 8
the doubling experienced b y landlords and farmers. S u c h a conclu
sion would be consistent with evidence collected b y the Board of Agri
c u l t u r e , w h i c h s u g g e s t e d t h e e x p e n s e s o f c u l t i v a t i n g 1 0 0 a c r e s attribu
t a b l e t o r e n t ( 2 1 p e r c e n t ) , t i t h e s a n d r a t e s (9 p e r c e n t ) , a n d l a b o u r
3 9
( 2 1 p e r c e n t ) w a s v i r t u a l l y t h e s a m e i n 1 8 1 3 a s it h a d b e e n i n 1 7 9 0 .
T h i s s a i d , it w a s i n e v i t a b l e t h a t a d o u b l i n g o f m o n e y i n c o m e s all
r o u n d w o u l d s e r v e v i s i b l y t o i n c r e a s e d i s c r e p a n c i e s i n life s t y l e a n d
enlarge the social distance b e t w e e n major constituent e l e m e n t s in rural
society. S o m e landlords laid t h e m s e l v e s o p e n to c h a r g e s of rapacity
i n e x p l o i t i n g t h e t e n a n t r y w h i l e at t h e s a m e t i m e , it w a s h e l d , b e c o m
i n g l e s s m i n d f u l o f t h e i r s o c i a l o b l i g a t i o n s , a n d tart o b s e r v a t i o n s o n
the demeanour of progressive farmers b e c a m e commonplace. How
e v e r , t h e b u l k o f r e c o r d e d c r i t i c i s m w a s a i m e d at t h e l o w e r o r d e r s
a n d at c h a n g e s i n t h e i n s t i t u t i o n a l a r r a n g e m e n t s for t h e r e l i e f o f t h e
able-bodied poor, notably against t h e ' S p e e n h a m l a n d s y s t e m ' insti
t u t e d b y a g r o u p o f B e r k s h i r e m a g i s t r a t e s i n t h e crisis y e a r o f 1 7 9 5
w h i c h c a m e to b e widely imitated in southern a n d eastern E n g l a n d
in t h e y e a r s t h a t f o l l o w e d . U n d e r t h i s s y s t e m r e l i e f p a y m e n t s w e r e
tied to the price of b r e a d a n d t h e size of a m a n ' s family. T h o u g h
h u m a n e i n i n t e n t i o n , it w a s t h o u g h t t o f u r t h e r d e m o r a l i s e t h e p o o r
a n d , a s w e l l , t o e n c o u r a g e r e c k l e s s b r e e d i n g . L o o k i n g b a c k , it is n o w
e v i d e n t t h a t c o n t e m p o r a r y f e a r s w e r e e x a g g e r a t e d . N o t o n l y is t h e r e
no evidence linking S p e e n h a m l a n d with excessive procreation, the
increase in t h e p o o r rates (which r e a c h e d £ 5 . 7 m b y 1815) w a s general
throughout E n g l a n d a n d not especially m a r k e d in the ' S p e e n h a m l a n d '
38
M. W . Flinn, 'Trends in Real Wages, 1750-1850', Economic History Review, 2nd ser.,
27 (1974), pp. 404, 407; P. H. Lindert and J. G. Williamson, 'English Workers'
Living Standards during the Industrial Revolution: A New Look', Economic History
Review, 2nd ser., 36 (1983), pp. 1 0 , 1 3 .
39
Calculated from the table in Chambers and Mingay, Agricultural Revolution, p. 118.

counties. Moreover, modern research o n three of t h e m (Kent,

S u s s e x a n d E s s e x ) s u g g e s t s t h a t t h e r e a l i n c i d e n c e o f p o o r l a w relief
barely rose o n c e the impact of price c h a n g e s a n d population g r o w t h
4 1
are t a k e n i n t o a c c o u n t . S u c h nice calculations were not within the
c o m p e t e n c e o f a n y o n e to m a k e at t h e t i m e , w h e n it w a s c o m m o n l y
suggested that the poor were simply ' m o r e importunate than their
n e c e s s i t i e s r e q u i r e d ' o r t h a t i n c r e a s e s in p o o r l a w e x p e n d i t u r e r e
4 2
flected ' a r e l a x a t i o n o f d i s c i p l i n e a n d a c o r r u p t i o n o f m o r a l s ' . In
short, while the war years scarcely transformed the character of Eng
lish rural s o c i e t y , t h e y c e r t a i n l y p r o v i d e d a s e t t i n g w i t h i n w h i c h s o m e
s o u r i n g o f s o c i a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s is l i k e l y to h a v e o c c u r r e d .
II
' B e t w e e n 1813 a n d the accession of Q u e e n Victoria', wrote Ernie,

'falls o n e o f t h e b l a c k e s t p e r i o d s o f E n g l i s h f a r m i n g . P r o s p e r i t y n o
l o n g e r s t i m u l a t e d p r o g r e s s . . . falling p r i c e s , d w i n d l i n g r e n t s , v a n i s h
43
i n g profits . . . c r u s h e d t h e spirit o f a g r i c u l t u r a l i s t s . ' Enquiries con
d u c t e d b y t h e B o a r d o f A g r i c u l t u r e i n 1816 a n d b y p a r l i a m e n t a r y S e l e c t
C o m m i t t e e s in 1 8 2 1 , 1 8 3 3 , a n d 1 8 3 6 p r o d u c e d s u p p o r t i n g e v i d e n c e
of w i d e s p r e a d d i s t r e s s . T o b e s u r e , m o d e r n r e s e a r c h h a s m o d i f i e d
these impressions of sustained and comprehensive adversity. Within
t h e a r a b l e s e c t o r , t h e g r e a t e r a d a p t a b i l i t y o f l i g h t soils as a g a i n s t c o l d
wet claylands has b e e n stressed by agrarian historians. Moreover,
it h a s b e e n s h o w n t h a t t h e a n i m a l r e a r i n g a n d d a i r y districts, p a r t i c u
larly t h o s e a d j a c e n t to l a r g e u r b a n m a r k e t s , w e r e n o t n e a r l y s o s e r
i o u s l y affected; i n d e e d it is s u g g e s t e d t h a t t h e y b a r e l y suffered
44
d e p r e s s i o n at a l l . Despite these important reservations, the climate
of deflation w a s a d i s a g r e e a b l e e x p e r i e n c e a g a i n s t a b a c k g r o u n d o f
forty y e a r s o f r i s i n g p r i c e s , a n d w a s p a r t i c u l a r l y hurtful t o t h o s e w h o
h a d incurred heavy c o m m i t m e n t s u n d e r the assumption that swollen
wartime prices w o u l d b e permanent. T h e Corn L a w of 1815, w h i c h
40
J. B. Huzel, 'The Demographic Impact of the Old Poor Law: More Reflexions on
Malthus', Economic History Review, 2nd ser., 33 (1980), pp. 369-75; J. D. Marshall,
The Old Poor Law, 1795-1834 (1968), p. 23.
41
D. A. Baugh, 'The Cost of Poor Relief in South-East England, 1790-1834', Economic
History Review, 2nd ser., 28 (1975), p. 60.
42
Correspondent to the Gentleman's Magazine (1792), pp. 1194-5; T. Ruggles, 'On
the Police and Situation of the Poor', Annals of Agriculture, 16 (1791), p. 367.
43
Lord Ernie, English Farming, Past and Present, 5th edn (1936), p. 319.
44
E. L. Jones, The Development of English Agriculture, 1815-73 (1968), pp. 12-13.

The countryside 101
s o u g h t t o p r o t e c t a g r i c u l t u r e b y f o r b i d d i n g t h e i m p o r t a t i o n of w h e a t
w h e n t h e m a r k e t p r i c e w a s b e l o w 8 0 s . a q u a r t e r , t u r n e d o u t to b e
l e s s effective t h a n h a d b e e n h o p e d a n d p e r i o d i c c l a m o u r s for a h i g h e r
l e v e l o f p r o t e c t i o n w e r e a f e a t u r e o f t h e p e r i o d . It w a s p r e s s u r e f r o m
a n e w A s s o c i a t i o n o f A g r i c u l t u r a l i s t s c l a i m i n g to r e p r e s e n t fifty local
g r o u p s in t w e n t y E n g l i s h c o u n t i e s t h a t b r o u g h t a b o u t a n e n q u i r y i n t o
t h e o p e r a t i o n o f t h e c o r n l a w s in 1 8 2 1 . A g a i n , i n t h e y e a r s after 1 8 3 2
w h e n p r i c e s s t a g e d a fall c o i n c i d i n g w i t h t h e a d v e n t o f a n e n l a r g e d
electorate (the C h a n d o s clause of the Reform Act having enfranchised
the £ 5 0 tenant), a rash of agricultural associations flourished, whilst
in 1 8 4 3 - 4 a lively a n t i - l e a g u e w h i c h s o u g h t to c o m b a t t h e a r g u m e n t s
of t h e A n t i - C o r n L a w L e a g u e w a s b u s y in t h e rural c o n s t i t u e n c i e s .
W i t h i n p r o t e c t i o n i s t circles P e e l ' s r e p e a l o f t h e c o r n l a w s ( J a n u a r y
1 8 4 6 ) w a s v i e w e d as a n act o f b e t r a y a l a n d w h e n p r i c e s o n c e a g a i n
fell s h a r p l y at t h e c l o s e o f t h e d e c a d e , h u g e m e e t i n g s a n d e v e n o n e
o r t w o f a r m e r s ' r i o t s o c c u r r e d , c a u s i n g G r e v i l l e t o n o t e i n h i s diary
' t h e r e is g o o d r e a s o n to fear . . . t h a t t h e y will . . . b r e a k t h r o u g h all
t h e o l d p a t r i a r c h a l ties a n d g o to a n y l e n g t h s w h i c h t h e y /may f a n c y
45
t h e y c a n m a k e i n s t r u m e n t a l to t h e i r r e l i e f ' . This, no doubt, was
a n e x a g g e r a t e d v i e w . I n r e t r o s p e c t it c a n b e s e e n t h a t s u p p o r t for
protection a m o n g farmers w a x e d a n d w a n e d with price fluctuations;
t h a t t h e e c o n o m i c i n t e r e s t s of c e r e a l p r o d u c e r s a n d l i v e s t o c k f a r m e r s
w e r e n o t i d e n t i c a l ; a n d t h a t t h e s e m o v e m e n t s did n o t s e e k to s u p p l a n t
e x i s t i n g ' n a t u r a l ' l e a d e r s b u t m e r e l y to p r e s s t h e m to b e a r in m i n d
their responsibilities towards the land. At the s a m e time farmers
e v i n c e d a c a p a c i t y for i n d e p e n d e n t t h o u g h t a n d a c t i o n w h i c h a m p l y
d e m o n s t r a t e d t h a t t h e i r o p i n i o n s n e e d n o t p a s s i v e l y reflect t h e w i s h e s
of t h e i r l a n d l o r d s .
If a g r i c u l t u r a l deflation w a s o n e p r i m e d e t e r m i n a n t o f c o n d i t i o n s
in t h e E n g l i s h c o u n t r y s i d e d o w n to t h e m i d - c e n t u r y , t h e o t h e r w a s t h e
c o n t i n u i n g g r o w t h of t h e r u r a l p o p u l a t i o n . I n N o r f o l k , Suffolk, and
E s s e x , e a c h of t h e fifty-six registration districts exhibited increases in 1 8 1 1 -
2 1 , 1 8 2 1 - 3 1 a n d 1 8 3 1 - 4 1 , w i t h o n l y four s h o w i n g d e c r e a s e s in t h e
following decade. In D e v o n , Wiltshire, and S o m e r s e t the n u m b e r of
districts i n d i c a t i n g d e c l i n e s r o s e f r o m t w o ( 1 8 2 1 - 3 1 ) to four ( 1 8 3 1 - 4 1 )
a n d r a t h e r n o t i c e a b l y , to t w e n t y - f o u r (1841-51). Overall the rural
population c o n t i n u e d to s w e l l in n u m b e r s . A l t o g e t h e r , t h e c o u n t i e s
45
T. L. Crosby, English Farmers and the Politics of Protection, 1815-52 (Hassocks, Sussex,
1977), pp. 37, 8 4 - 5 , 101, 130, 162.

102 W . A. A R M S T R O N G
identifiable as primarily agricultural in 1811 i n c r e a s e d their aggregate

4 6
p o p u l a t i o n b y n o l e s s t h a n 5 3 p e r c e n t i n t h e e n s u i n g forty y e a r s .
In s o m e districts t h e n u m b e r of small occupations was further
reduced. Without producing any figures, Davies suspected that
n u m e r o u s small o w n e r s paying from 4 s . - £ 1 0 in land tax, s u c c u m b e d
47
in the bleak years w h i c h followed the cessation of hostilities. In
C u m b e r l a n d G r a h a m described h o w consolidation w a s applied to his
30,000 acres b e t w e e n 1822 and 1827 and b y 1850 the Lowther and
Carlisle estates h a d also s u c c e e d e d in reducing the n u m b e r of indivi
dual tenancies, in o n e case forming a 300-acre farm out of e l e v e n
small-holdings. O n t h e L e v e s o n - G o w e r estates in Staffordshire the
p r o p o r t i o n o f h o l d i n g s o v e r 2 0 0 a c r e s i n s i z e i n c r e a s e d f r o m 5 2 to
5 9 p e r c e n t b e t w e e n 1 8 0 7 - 1 3 a n d 1 8 2 9 - 3 3 at t h e e x p e n s e o f t h o s e
4 8
in the r a n g e 2 0 - 1 0 0 acres. H o w c o m m o n such tendencies were
r e m a i n s u n c l e a r , b u t at l e a s t w e m a y b e s u r e t h a t i n c r e a s e d s u b - d i v
i s i o n d i d n o t o c c u r . C o n s e q u e n t l y , it w a s i n e v i t a b l e t h a t t h e n u m b e r
s e e k i n g e m p l o y m e n t w o u l d i n c r e a s e i n c i r c u m s t a n c e s t h a t w e r e far
from propitious. Shifts in the balance of farm e m p l o y m e n t were
e n c o u r a g e d . Contrary to popular belief, servants w e r e not generally
o u s t e d f r o m f a r m h o u s e s d u r i n g t h e F r e n c h W a r s ; it w a s i n t h e p o s t w a r
situation of labour a b u n d a n c e that the pent-up desire of farmers to
rid t h e m s e l v e s o f s e r v a n t s m a d e r a p i d h e a d w a y . B y 1 8 5 1 i n d o o r s e r
vants as a proportion of the hired agricultural labour force w e r e
reduced to 4 a n d 7 per cent in Hertfordshire a n d Northamptonshire,
a n d i n o n l y six E n g l i s h c o u n t i e s ( D e v o n , C o r n w a l l , C u m b e r l a n d , Staf
fordshire, W e s t m o r l a n d , and the East Riding) did they e x c e e d 4 0 per
4 9
cent. A l t h o u g h an approximation to farm service conditions conti
n u e d t o e x i s t for c h o i c e m e n ( h i r e d o n a y e a r l y b a s i s , w i t h a c o t t a g e ,
higher wages, and s o m e perquisites), the decay of indoor service could
serve only to increase the social distance b e t w e e n master a n d m a n .
F u r t h e r , it w a s c o n d u c i v e t o d e m o g r a p h i c i n c r e a s e ; t h i s is s t r o n g l y
s u g g e s t e d b y a m o d e r n s t u d y i n w h i c h a v e r a g e a g e at m a r r i a g e is
46
G. B. Longstaff, 'Rural Depopulation', Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 56 (1893),
pp. 385-6; B. R. Mitchell and P. Deane, Abstract of British Historical Statistics (Cam
bridge, 1962), p. 20, using data for the counties mentioned in n. 28, above.
47
E. Davies, 'The Small Landowner, 1780-1832, in the Light of the Land Tax Assess
ments', Economic History Review, 1 (1927), p. 112.
48
B. A. Holderness, 'The Victorian Farmer', in G. E. Mingay, ed., The Victorian Country
side, 2 vols. (1981), vol. 1, p. 230; J. R. Wordie, 'Social Change on the Leveson-Gower
Estates, 1714-1832', Economic History Review, 2nd ser., 27 (1974), p. 596.
49
Kussmaul, Servants in Husbandry, pp. 2 0 , 1 2 5 .

The countryside 103
estimated to h a v e b e e n lower b y t w o years (males) a n d s e v e n t e e n

m o n t h s ( f e m a l e s ) i n r u r a l r e g i s t r a t i o n districts c h a r a c t e r i s e d a s u n d e r
15 p e r c e n t ' t r a d i t i o n a l ' , i . e . w h e r e l a b o u r e r s w e r e a b u n d a n t a n d c o r
respondingly fewer of the labour force consisted of farmers, their rela
5 0
tives, and servants.
F o r t h e d a y - l a b o u r e r t h e s e w e r e y e a r s o f u n u s u a l difficulty i n r e t a i n
ing regular employment. With the coming of peace the problems of
reintegrating men discharged from the forces were frequently
remarked u p o n and the cry of 'surplus population' c a m e to b e widely
v o i c e d . W e m e e t it, for e x a m p l e , i n t h e e v i d e n c e g i v e n b y t w o B e d f o r d
shire magistrates to the 1817 Select C o m m i t t e e o n t h e P o o r L a w s .
The 'superfluous part of the population' w a s said to b e due in part
t o p e r s o n s m a r r y i n g i m p r u d e n t l y , a n d it w a s f e a r e d t h a t t h e p o p u l a
tion w a s 'likely to increase b e y o n d the e m p l o y m e n t , a n d perhaps
m o r e in agricultural parishes t h a n in m o s t o t h e r s ' . T h e i r worst fears
w e r e fulfilled i n c e r t a i n o f t h e y e a r s t h a t f o l l o w e d , e s p e c i a l l y i n 1 8 2 9 -
32. Thirteen parishes of the R e d b o r n e s t o k e h u n d r e d exhibited as m a n y
as 5 2 3 ' a l m o s t w h o l l y in the h a n d s of the o v e r s e e r s ' in 1829 whilst
at W e s t o n i n g l a t e t h e f o l l o w i n g y e a r o n l y 2 0 m e n a n d a s i m i l a r n u m b e r
of b o y s o u t o f a t o t a l a v a i l a b l e o f 9 0 l a b o u r e r s , w e r e i n r e g u l a r e m p l o y
5 1
ment. D e t a i l e d e v i d e n c e for K i r d f o r d ( S u s s e x ) s h o w s 1 1 8 l a b o u r e r s
o n the parish in the winter of 1 8 3 0 - 1 leaving only 72 to w o r k 12,000
a c r e s o f c u l t i v a t e d l a n d a n d w o o d l a n d . M e a n w h i l e at P u l b o r o u g h 1 3 0
l a b o u r i n g m e n f r o m 3 0 8 ( i n c l u d i n g a r t i s a n s ) w e r e o u t o f w o r k for
n i n e m o n t h s , w h i l s t at W i s b o r o u g h G r e e n t h e a v e r a g e n u m b e r o f
5 2
u n e m p l o y e d i n five w i n t e r s p r e v i o u s t o t h a t o f 1 8 3 1 - 2 w a s 80.
W i n t e r u n e m p l o y m e n t w a s c o m m o n p l a c e also in Wiltshire, Bucking
hamshire, Kent, Surrey, a n d East Anglia, proving persistent in m a n y
v i l l a g e s t h r o u g h o u t t h e 1 8 4 0 s a n d b e y o n d , if n o t o n t h e h o r r e n d o u s
scale of 1 8 2 9 - 3 2 .
The years immediately following the war saw considerable increases
in e x p e n d i t u r e o n the p o o r . A n i n d e x of real per capita relief suggests
t h a t if t h e y e a r s 1 8 2 0 - 3 4 a r e c o m p a r e d w i t h 1 7 9 2 - 1 8 1 4 , e x p e n d i t u r e
ran 20 a n d 30 per cent higher in S u s s e x and E s s e x respectively, a n d
50
M. Anderson, 'Marriage Patterns in Victorian Britain: An Analysis Based on Regis
tration District Data for England and Wales', Journal of Family History, 1 (1976),
pp. 65, 76.
51
N. Agar, The Bedfordshire Farm Worker in the Nineteenth Century (Bedfordshire Historical
Record Society, 60 (1981), pp. 50, 52, 56, 78; A. F. Cirket, 'The 1830 Riots in Bedford
shire', in Bedfordshire Historical Record Society, 57 (1978), pp. 7 7 - 8 .
52
N. Gash, 'Rural Unemployment, 1815-34', Economic History Review, 6 (1935), pp.
90-1.

5 3
b y as m u c h as 5 4 p e r c e n t in K e n t . A spate of pamphlets dwelt
u p o n t h e d e f i c i e n c i e s o f t h e relief s y s t e m a n d o n t h e m o r a l d e f e c t s
of t h e l a b o u r e r w h o , in t h e w o r d s o f D a v i d R i c a r d o , w a s all t o o fre
5 4
quently 'cruelly calumniated'. T h e 1820s s a w considerable local var
i a t i o n s o f p r a c t i c e . F o l l o w i n g a S e l e c t C o m m i t t e e in 1 8 1 7 , l e g i s l a t i o n
w a s p a s s e d e m p o w e r i n g p a r i s h e s t o a p p o i n t s e l e c t v e s t r i e s to s u p e r
v i s e t h e w o r k o f t h e o v e r s e e r s , a n d in s o m e p l a c e s , n o t a b l y at S o u t h
w e l l a n d B i n g h a m in N o t t i n g h a m s h i r e , d r a c o n i a n p o l i c i e s a i m e d at
t h e a b o l i t i o n o f o u t d o o r relief w e r e p i o n e e r e d . E l s e w h e r e r e c o u r s e
w a s h a d to t h e r o u n d s m a n s y s t e m , t h e l e v y i n g o f a ' l a b o u r r a t e ' ( u n d e r
w h i c h o c c u p i e r s w e r e a s s e s s e d a s liable t o p a y a c e r t a i n s u m i n w a g e s ,
or, failing t h i s , to r e m i t t h e d i f f e r e n c e to t h e o v e r s e e r ) , a n d t o s c a l e
allowances. However, no decisive steps were taken before 1834 w h e n ,
following the r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s of a Royal C o m m i s s i o n o b s e s s e d with
the problem of the able-bodied, the Poor L a w A m e n d m e n t Act remo
delled the system. Parishes w o u l d henceforth b e grouped into unions
a d m i n i s t e r e d b y e l e c t e d B o a r d s o f G u a r d i a n s w h i c h , it w a s a s s u m e d ,
w o u l d offer relief o n a r i g o r o u s b a s i s i n c o r p o r a t i n g , for t h e a b l e -
bodied, the infamous principles of the w o r k h o u s e test a n d less-eligibi
lity. T h e n e w a r r a n g e m e n t s w e r e o p p o s e d w i t h v i g o u r in n o r t h e r n
i n d u s t r i a l a r e a s a n d a l s o , to a d e g r e e w h i c h is s o m e t i m e s u n d e r e s t i
mated, in the south. Popular r e s e n t m e n t taking the form of d e m o n
s t r a t i o n s o r riots o c c u r r e d i n s e v e r a l c o u n t i e s , m o s t n o t a b l y p e r h a p s
5 5
in the Milton u n i o n of K e n t in M a y 1 8 3 5 . In the event, existing
p r a c t i c e s did n o t n e c e s s a r i l y c h a n g e s o r a d i c a l l y a s h a d b e e n i n t e n d e d .
I n E a s t A n g l i a , for e x a m p l e , t h e g u a r d i a n s r e v e r t e d w i t h i n a f e w y e a r s
to t h e p o l i c y o f p r o f f e r i n g o u t d o o r relief u n d e r v a r i o u s g u i s e s , f r o m
5 6
mixed motives of e c o n o m y and humanity. N e v e r t h e l e s s , as the sys
t e m s e t t l e d d o w n , r e d u c t i o n s in a g g r e g a t e e x p e n d i t u r e d i d o c c u r , b y
s o m e 2 6 p e r c e n t if t h e p u b l i c o u t l a y o f 1 8 4 0 - 4 is c o m p a r e d w i t h t h a t
of 1 8 3 0 - 4 . H o w far t h i s w a s d u e to t h e s a l u t a r y d i s c i p l i n e s o f t h e
n e w p o o r l a w , as a g a i n s t a p e r c e p t i b l e ( t h o u g h i n c o m p l e t e ) s t r e n g t h
e n i n g o f t h e l a b o u r m a r k e t d u e t o f a c t o r s s u c h as r a i l w a y b u i l d i n g
f r o m t h e late 1 8 3 0 s , it w o u l d b e difficult t o s a y .
S i n c e t h e official v i e w o f t h e n e w c o m m i s s i o n e r s w a s t h a t t h e s u r p l u s
53
Baugh, 'Cost of Poor Relief, p. 62.
54
J. R. Poynter, Society and Pauperism: English Ideas on Poor Relief, 1795-1834 (1969),
p. 240.
55
N. C. Edsall, The Anti-Poor Law Movement, 1834-44 (Manchester, 1971), pp. 27-31,
36-9.
56
A. Digby, Pauper Palaces (1978), pp. 109-13.

The countryside 105
p o p u l a t i o n w a s a m i r a g e , it is n o t s u r p r i s i n g to find t h a t t h e y r e s
p o n d e d cautiously towards alternative steps proposed b y s o m e land
l o r d s to e a s e t h e p r o b l e m s p o s e d b y t h e l a b o u r glut in t h e s o u t h .
D u r i n g t h e e a r l y m o n t h s o f 1 8 3 5 t h e y a g r e e d to act as i n t e r m e d i a r i e s
in t h e l o c a l l y i n i t i a t e d t r a n s f e r o f s e v e r a l f a m i l i e s f r o m t h e p a r i s h o f
B l e d l o w ( B u c k i n g h a m s h i r e ) to mills at S t y a l ( C h e s h i r e ) a n d B o l t o n .
O t h e r s w e r e soon p a s s e d from the Bedfordshire parishes of Cranfield,
W o b u r n , a n d A m p t h i l l to C l a y t o n ' s mill at M e l l o r . U l t i m a t e l y t h e
commissioners appointed two full-time agents under an official
s c h e m e w h i c h lasted until M a y 1837. A s u b s e q u e n t analysis of 4,684
m i g r a n t s i n d i c a t e d t h e y w e r e d r a w n chiefly f r o m Suffolk ( 4 9 p e r c e n t ) ,
57
Norfolk, Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire. O f m u c h g r e a t e r sig
n i f i c a n c e t h a n t h e s e s h o r t - l i v e d s c h e m e s w a s a s s i s t a n c e g i v e n to s e n d
i n d i v i d u a l s a n d f a m i l i e s a b r o a d . A l r e a d y in t h e 1 8 2 0 s p a r i s h a u t h o r i
t i e s w e r e a d o p t i n g t h i s p o l i c y , n o t a b l y in W e a l d e n K e n t , a n d s u b s e
q u e n t l y t h e i n i t i a t i v e s o f l o c a l a s s o c i a t i o n s in w h i c h contributing
landlords and clergymen could nominate prospective emigrants were
supported by the n e w poor law authorities. T h e y assisted s o m e 14,000
p e r s o n s to m i g r a t e to t h e c o l o n i e s b e t w e e n 1 8 3 6 a n d 1 8 4 6 , s o c o m p l e
m e n t i n g the work of the Colonial C o m m i s s i o n e r s of L a n d and Emig
r a t i o n , s e t u p in 1 8 4 2 to a s s i s t s e l e c t e d p e r s o n s u s i n g f u n d s r a i s e d
5 8
f r o m t h e sale o f c r o w n l a n d s i n t h e c o l o n i e s . However, these expe
d i e n t s w e r e n o t c o n d u c t e d o n a s c a l e s u c h as t o h a v e m o r e t h a n a
m a r g i n a l effect o n t h e rural l a b o u r m a r k e t a n d d o w n to t h e m i d - c e n
t u r y w a g e s m o v e d as m i g h t b e e x p e c t e d at a t i m e m a r k e d b y d e f l a t i o n
a n d labour a b u n d a n c e . T h e average earnings of agricultural labourers
i n E n g l a n d a n d W a l e s s a n k f r o m 1 0 5 ( 1 8 0 6 - 1 2 ) to a n a d i r o f 7 2 ( 1 8 2 4 )
5 9
a n d thereafter averaged 77 over the next twenty-eight y e a r s .
A g a i n s t t h i s b a c k g r o u n d , it is n o t s u r p r i s i n g t h a t m a n y felt t h a t
t h e f i s s u r e s in E n g l i s h a g r a r i a n s o c i e t y w e r e b e i n g o p e n e d u p . F r o m
B u r g h c l e r e ( H a m p s h i r e ) it w a s r e p o r t e d to t h e P o o r L a w C o m m i s s i o n
that 'All friendly relation b e t w e e n the farmers a n d the p o o r c e a s e s ' ,
whilst the s a m e source s p o k e of a 'spirit of r e v e n g e ' a n d ' w a n t of
g o o d f e e l i n g ' at B r a m s h a w a n d M i n s t e a d i n t h e s a m e c o u n t y . I n t h e
1 8 4 0 s l a b o u r e r s in t h e n e i g h b o u r h o o d o f B u r y S t E d m u n d s t o l d a
57
Agar, Bedfordshire Farm Worker, pp. 129-32; Redford, Labour Migration, pp. 102, 108.
58
C. Erickson, Emigration from Europe, 1815-1914 (1976), pp. 121, 127; D. Woodruff,
'Expansion and Emigration', in G. M. Young, ed., Early Victorian England, vol. 2
(Oxford, 1934), pp. 359-60.
59
A. L. Bowley's figures, in Mitchell and Deane, Abstract, p. 349 (1891 = 100), and
see Lindert and Williamson, 'Living Standards', pp. 7, 13.

106 W . A. A R M S T R O N G
Morning Chronicle investigator that the farmers would seldom conde

scend to speak to t h e m , except in terms of reproach or abuse, a n d
the R e v . S i d n e y G o d o l p h i n r e c k o n e d that a m o n g the labourers of
t h e W e s t C o u n t r y , a t t a c h m e n t t o t h e i r s u p e r i o r s , r e s p e c t for t h e i r
6 0
e m p l o y e r s , loyalty to their rulers, w a s 'fast p a s s i n g a w a y ' . For both
c o n t e m p o r a r i e s a n d m o d e r n historians, c h a n g e s in t h e incidence of
rural c r i m e a r e t h o u g h t t o p r o v i d e a b a r o m e t e r o f social m a l a i s e , a n d
although the statistics relate to committals rather t h a n offences, t h e y
l e a v e little r o o m t o d o u b t t h a t c r i m e w a s i n c r e a s i n g f a s t e r t h a n t h e
6 1
r u r a l p o p u l a t i o n , e s p e c i a l l y after 1 8 1 5 . Although m a n y felonies were
p e r p e t r a t e d b y t h e p o o r a g a i n s t t h e p o o r , o t h e r s fell ' w i t h i n a b r o a d
definition of social crime in that the object w a s a particular target
of c o m m u n i t y g r i e v a n c e a n d t h e a c t i o n h a d b r o a d b a s e d c o m m u n i t y
6 2
support' . This w a s undeniably true of poaching w h i c h in the eyes
of t h e c o m m o n p e o p l e d i d n o t c o n s t i t u t e a c r i m e , it b e i n g a s s u m e d
t h a t w i l d c r e a t u r e s w e r e free for a n y o n e w h o c o u l d c a t c h t h e m . T h e r e
w a s m o r e to this issue than the taking of an occasional hare or rabbit
for t h e h u n g r y l a b o u r e r ' s p o t . E v e r s i n c e 1 7 5 5 , w h e n P a r l i a m e n t h a d
ill-advisedly a t t e m p t e d to b a n trading in g a m e , so m a k i n g i n n k e e p e r s
a n d u r b a n p o u l t e r e r s d e p e n d e n t o n illicit s o u r c e s o f s u p p l y , a l i v e l y
commercial trade h a d flourished. Y e t the p r o b l e m does not s e e m to
h a v e significantly increased during the w a r years, p e r h a p s b e c a u s e
m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e s i p h o n e d off m a n y p o t e n t i a l p o a c h e r s . T h e r e a f t e r
committals soared dramatically. In Wiltshire the average annual
n u m b e r during the w a r years w a s about twelve rising to ninety-two
by the early 1820s. In Bedfordshire over 1,300 p e r s o n s w e r e impris
o n e d u n d e r the g a m e laws in the years 1 8 1 5 - 3 0 , m o r e than twice
t h e n u m b e r c o m m i t t e d i n t h e p r e v i o u s fifty y e a r s . W h i l e d o u b t l e s s
there was no single grand cause of poaching, any more than there
w a s o n e for s m u g g l i n g o r p i c k p o c k e t i n g , t h e s e i n c r e a s e s w e r e l i n k e d ,
in t h e e y e s of observers such as L o r d C a e r n a r v o n a n d Sir T h o m a s
6 3
Baring, with want of e m p l o y m e n t . Y e t h o w e v e r infuriating to t h e
60
Hobsbawm and Rude, Swing, p. 61; P. E . Razzell and R. J. W . Wainwright, eds.,
The Victorian Working Class: Selections from the Morning Chronicle (1973), p. 51; Report
of Special Assistant Commissioners on Women and Children in Agriculture, PP 1843, XII,
p. 77.
61
Hobsbawm and Rude, Swing, pp. 77-8; J. Glyde, Suffolk in the Nineteenth Century
(1856), pp. 116-17.
62
J. Rule, 'Social Crime in the Rural South in the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth
Centuries', Southern History, 1 (1979), p. 140.
63
P. B. Munsche, Gentlemen and Poachers: The English Game Laws 1671-1831 (Cambridge,
1981), pp. 1 3 8 - 9 , 1 4 7 - 8 .

The countryside 107
g e n t r y , p o a c h i n g at l e a s t a p p e a r e d t o e m b o d y t h e intelligible p u r s u i t
of s e l f - i n t e r e s t , w h e r e a s i n c e n d i a r i s m l a c k e d a n y s e m b l a n c e o f r a t i o n a
lity. I n t h e 1 8 2 0 s , b u t m o r e e s p e c i a l l y i n t h e 1 8 3 0 s a n d 1 8 4 0 s , u n p o p u
lar f a r m e r s , p o o r l a w g u a r d i a n s a n d u n f e e l i n g c l e r g y m e n as w e l l a s
l a n d l o r d s w e r e p r i m e t a r g e t s . R u r a l i n c e n d i a r i s m in N o r f o l k a n d S u f
folk h a s b e e n t r a c e d in detail in a s t u d y w h i c h d i s c o v e r e d n o f e w e r
t h a n 1,745 c a s e s for t h e p e r i o d 1 8 3 0 - 7 0 . T h e p e a k i n c i d e n c e o c c u r r e d
in 1 8 4 3 - 4 w i t h o v e r 3 0 0 fires r e c o r d e d , w h i c h c o i n c i d e s w i t h r e p o r t s
in The Times n e w s p a p e r o f i n c e n d i a r i s m in B e d f o r d s h i r e , E s s e x , K e n t
6 4
and Nottinghamshire. B y J u l y 1 8 4 4 , t h e N o r w i c h U n i o n Fire Office
w a s i n s t r u c t i n g its s u r v e y o r s t o e n q u i r e i n t o l a b o u r e r s ' w a g e s in vil
l a g e s w h e r e i n c e n d i a r i s m h a d t a k e n p l a c e a n d t h r e e y e a r s later t h e
village of Withersfield w a s blacklisted due to the p o o r relations existing
b e t w e e n farmers and labourers, so that n o farmer could take out a
n e w policy. At n o time thereafter w a s incendiarism perpetrated on
q u i t e t h i s s c a l e , a l t h o u g h n o f e w e r t h a n 3 9 p e r c e n t o f rural p r i s o n e r s
in t h e g a o l s o f B u r y S t E d m u n d s a n d I p s w i c h in 1 8 4 8 - 5 2 w e r e a r s o
6 5
nists.
B y its v e r y n a t u r e , fire-raising w a s u s u a l l y t h e w o r k o f a n i s o l a t e d
i n d i v i d u a l fearful o f o p e n c o n f r o n t a t i o n . T h e first g e n e r a l i s e d distur
b a n c e s o f t h e p e r i o d t o o k p l a c e in E a s t A n g l i a in 1 8 1 6 , a y e a r o f w i d e
spread unemployment coupled with high prices. Pressure for
r e d u c t i o n s at H a v e r h i l l , B r a n d o n , a n d E l y w a s in l i n e w i t h e i g h t e e n t h -
c e n t u r y t r a d i t i o n s o f p o p u l a r p r o t e s t ; h o w e v e r , d e m a n d s for m o n e y
with menaces, and the destruction of threshing machines also
o c c u r r e d . A t l e a s t o n e p e r s o n d i e d in t h e m o s t s e r i o u s o u t b r e a k o f
v i o l e n c e at L i t t l e p o r t a n d o f t h e s e v e n t y - f i v e p r i s o n e r s s u b s e q u e n t l y
b r o u g h t to trial, m o s t l y l a b o u r e r s , t w e n t y - f o u r w e r e c a p i t a l l y c o n
v i c t e d . O f t h e s e , five w e r e h a n g e d , n i n e t r a n s p o r t e d a n d t e n i m p r i
6 6
s o n e d for t w e l v e m o n t h s . Further attacks o n threshing m a c h i n e s
o c c u r r e d i n t h e n e i g h b o u r h o o d o f D i s s a n d E y e in t h e t h i r d w e e k
of F e b r u a r y 1 8 2 2 a n d w e r e m e t b y t h e r a i s i n g o f a f o r c e o f 2 5 0 s p e c i a l
6 7
constables and by troop m o v e m e n t s . Perhaps the labourers were
c o w e d b y t h e s e d i s p l a y s o f a d e t e r m i n a t i o n b y t h e civil a u t h o r i t i e s
in E a s t A n g l i a . A t all e v e n t s , t h e c e n t r e o f g r a v i t y o f t h e m u c h b e t t e r
k n o w n S w i n g riots o f 1 8 3 0 - 1 l a y f u r t h e r t o t h e s o u t h ; 6 0 p e r c e n t
64
J. E . Archer, 'Rural Protest in Norfolk and Suffolk, 1830-70' (unpublished PhD
thesis, University of East Anglia, 1982), pp. 163-5; The Times, 30 Dec. 1843.
65
Archer, 'Rural Protest', pp. 186, 191; Glyde, Suffolk, pp. 144-5.
66
A . J . Peacock, Bread or Blood: The Agrarian Riots in East Anglia, 1816 (1965), p. 127.
67
Charlesworth, Atlas, p. 122.

108 W . A. A R M S T R O N G
of 1,475 i n c i d e n t s e x a m i n e d i n t h e m o d e r n s t a n d a r d a c c o u n t o c c u r r e d
in five c o u n t i e s ( B e r k s h i r e 1 6 5 , H a m p s h i r e 2 0 8 , K e n t 1 5 4 , S u s s e x 1 4 5 ,
Wiltshire 208). O n the other h a n d , comparatively few were located
in t h e M i d l a n d s a n d t h e n o r t h ( W a r w i c k s h i r e 2 , S h r o p s h i r e 4 , N o t
6 8
tinghamshire 5, C h e s h i r e 4, e t c . ) . T h e S w i n g riots w e r e triggered
by exceptional cold, hunger, and u n e m p l o y m e n t during the fearsome
winter of 1829 a n d a n o t h e r m o d e s t harvest in prospect m u s t h a v e
increased the labourers' pessimism during the summer of 1830,
c o u p l e d , it is t h o u g h t , b y v a g u e l y s t i r r e d e x p e c t a t i o n s t u r n i n g on
e v e n t s a c r o s s t h e C h a n n e l ( t h e J u l y R e v o l u t i o n ) a n d talk o f r a d i c a l
r e f o r m . W h e n a s k e d o n a s e m i - s y s t e m a t i c b a s i s t w o y e a r s l a t e r for
their views o n the causes of the 1830 riots, local worthies concentrated
overwhelmingly u p o n l o w w a g e s a n d u n e m p l o y m e n t a n d to a lesser
extent on the operations of the poor law, though H o b s b a w m and
R u d e t e n d to see t h e s e as m e r e l y s y m p t o m a t i c of long-run t e n d e n c i e s
towards proletarianisation and the degradation of the labourers' posi
69
tion. Y e t S w i n g - r e l a t e d i n c i d e n t s w e r e far f r o m b e i n g u n i v e r s a l
e v e n in v i l l a g e s o f t h e s o u t h a n d e a s t , a n d i n a s s e s s i n g t h e f a c t o r s
p r e d i s p o s i n g s o m e t o riot a n d n o t o t h e r s , it is g e n e r a l l y a g r e e d t h a t
m u c h w o r k remains to b e d o n e to isolate the relevant causes. V e r y
m u c h c l e a r e r is t h e f o r m t h a t a c t i o n t o o k ; it w a s a g a i n d i r e c t e d c h i e f l y
against the threshing m a c h i n e w h i c h h a d spread with rapidity during
t h e w a r o n a c c o u n t o f l a b o u r s h o r t a g e s a n d c o n t i n u e d t o d o s o (in
the interest of s p e e d in getting grain o n to the market) in t h e years
that f o l l o w e d , to t h e d e t r i m e n t o f w i n t e r e m p l o y m e n t a m o n g t h e
labourers. Despite the blood-curdling nature of s o m e of the S w i n g
l e t t e r s , n o t a s i n g l e life w a s l o s t a m o n g t h e g e n t r y , c l e r g y , a n d f a r m e r s .
Notwithstanding this moderation, and the obvious hardships w h i c h
h a d impelled the labourers to such drastic courses of action, stern
r e t r i b u t i o n w a s m e t e d o u t b o t h i n t h e r e g u l a r c o u r t s a n d at t h e h a n d s
of s p e c i a l c o m m i s s i o n e r s . A m o n g 1 , 9 7 6 S w i n g r i o t e r s b r o u g h t to trial,
7 w e r e fined, 1 w h i p p e d , 6 4 4 g a o l e d , a n d 5 0 5 w e r e s e n t e n c e d t o t r a n s
portation. A n o t h e r 2 5 2 w e r e s e n t e n c e d to death, and execution w a s
7 0
actually c a r r i e d o u t i n 1 9 c a s e s .
A s w e h a v e s e e n , c o v e r t p r o t e s t c o n t i n u e d for s o m e t i m e t o c o m e ,
but nothing in t h e nature of a cohesive social m o v e m e n t occurred
68
Hobsbawm and Rude, Swing, pp. 304-5.
69
Ibid., pp. 8 1 - 2 .
70
Ibid., pp. 308-9.

The countryside 109
a m o n g farm w o r k e r s before the advent of u n i o n i s m in the 1870s. T o

explain w h y the S w i n g riots did not presage a series of ever-deepening
conflicts a n u m b e r o f e x p l a n a t i o n s m a y b e c o n s i d e r e d . O n e h a s b e e n
c h a r a c t e r i s e d a s t h e ' j a c k b o o t ' t h e o r y , w h e r e i n forcible r e p r e s s i o n
7 1
looms large. This m a y b e illustrated b y reference to the retribution
following the riots; to the role of w h a t r e m a i n e d in the postwar period
of t h e Y e o m a n r y , a n d ad hoc civil d e f e n c e f o r c e s f o r m e d in 1 8 3 0 ; to
the appearance of the police forces w h i c h county authorities were
e m p o w e r e d to s e t u p after 1 8 3 9 ; a n d t o t h e o c c a s i o n a l i n v o c a t i o n o f
t h e law in a palpably unjust w a y , notably in t h e f a m o u s case of the
T o l p u d d l e M a r t y r s i n 1 8 3 4 , w h e n at t h e i n s t i g a t i o n o f a p a r t i c u l a r l y
v i g o r o u s m a g i s t r a t e h a l f a d o z e n l e a d i n g spirits i n a n e m b r y o n i c village
u n i o n w e r e c o n v i c t e d a n d t r a n s p o r t e d for a d m i n i s t e r i n g ' s e c r e t o a t h s '
u n d e r a n act p a s s e d i n 1 7 9 7 t o c o m b a t n a v a l m u t i n i e s . Y e t a s H o b s
b a w m a n d R u d e p o i n t o u t , e v e n at t h e h e i g h t o f t h e S w i n g riots
72
responses to the labourers' actions were 'uncertain and divided',
a n d a m o r e p l a u s i b l e v i e w is t h a t in t h e p o s t - S w i n g e r a s o c i a l t e n s i o n s
w e r e c o n t a i n e d b y m o r e subtle m e a n s of paternalistic social control.
For e x a m p l e , the distribution of charity lay in the h a n d s of Anglican
p a r s o n s as trustees or administrators a n d in the later reflections of
Joseph Arch, 'with b o w e d head and b e n d e d knee the poor learned
to receive from the rich w h a t w a s only their due, h a d t h e y but k n o w n
7 3
it'. T h e d e v i c e o f a l l o t m e n t s w a s u s e d t o s i m i l a r effect. T h e s e h a d
l o n g b e e n a d v o c a t e d b y w e l l - i n t e n t i o n e d p e r s o n s , b u t it w a s n o coinci
d e n c e that Parliament decided, in O c t o b e r 1831, to e x t e n d the existing
s c o p e for p a r i s h e s t o f o r m a l l o t m e n t s , w h i l s t n u m e r o u s p r i v a t e l a n d
lords took similar steps in t h e i m m e d i a t e aftermath of S w i n g . T h e
u p s h o t w a s that allotment s c h e m e s w e r e k n o w n in 4 2 per cent of
E n g l i s h p a r i s h e s b y 1 8 3 3 a n d i n s o m e i n s t a n c e s ( e . g . O a k l e y in B e d
fordshire) h a d b e e n introduced with the a v o w e d aim of 'curing the
7 4
place'. W h a t e v e r b e n e f i t s w e r e c o n f e r r e d o n t h e l a b o u r e r s ( a n d in
certain circumstances these could b e considerable) proponents of the
t h e s i s o f s o c i a l c o n t r o l t e n d to s e e i n a l l o t m e n t s y e t a n o t h e r l e v e r
o v e r t h e c o n d u c t o f t h e m e n s e l e c t e d . A n o t h e r a g e n c y c o n d u c i v e to
71
F. M. L . Thompson, 'Landowners and the Rural Community', in Mingay, ed.,
Victorian Countryside, vol. 2, p. 457.
72
Hobsbawm and Rude, Swing, p. 258.
73
J. G. O'Leary, ed., The Autobiography of Joseph Arch (1966), p. 24.
74
D. C. Barnett, 'Allotments and the Problem of Rural Poverty', in E. L. Jones and
G. E . Mingay, eds., Land, Labour and Population in the Industrial Revolution (1967),
p. 172; Agar, Bedfordshire Farm Worker, p. 22.

110 W . A. A R M S T R O N G
social d i s c i p l i n e w a s t h e v i l l a g e s c h o o l . A t t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e n i n e
teenth century m a n y parishes lacked a day school, and the S u n d a y
s c h o o l s w h i c h h a d r e c e n t l y s p r u n g i n t o e x i s t e n c e in l a r g e n u m b e r s
w e r e often o p p o s e d b y the clergy, suspicious of the m o t i v e s of the
nonconformists w h o usually ran t h e m . Increasingly the view gained
g r o u n d that schooling should b e e n c o u r a g e d so as 'to c o m m u n i c a t e
to t h e p o o r g e n e r a l l y . . . s u c h k n o w l e d g e a n d h a b i t s as are sufficient
to g u i d e t h e m t h r o u g h life i n t h e i r p r o p e r s t a t i o n s . . . a n d t o t r a i n
75
t h e m to a p e r f o r m a n c e o f t h e i r r e l i g i o u s d u t i e s b y e a r l y d i s c i p l i n e ' .
Progress was especially rapid from the 1820s. In D e v o n nineteen
s c h o o l s w e r e e s t a b l i s h e d , chiefly u n d e r t h e a u s p i c e s o f t h e N a t i o n a l
7 6
S o c i e t y , in 1 8 2 1 - 3 0 , f o r t y - t h r e e in 1 8 3 1 - 4 0 a n d sixty-four i n 1 8 4 1 - 5 0 ,
a t r e n d g e n e r a l i n E n g l a n d to a g r e a t e r o r l e s s e r e x t e n t . T h e n o n c o n
f o r m i s t s p l a y e d a m o r e significant r o l e i n S u n d a y s c h o o l p r o v i s i o n
a l t h o u g h , it m a y b e a r g u e d , t h e i r e s s e n t i a l o b j e c t i v e w a s t h e s a m e :
t o p r e p a r e t h e offspring o f l a b o u r i n g m e n t o m e e k a c c e p t a n c e o f a
life o f h o n e s t toil. Y e t , it s e e m s , l a n d l o r d s w e r e erratic s u p p o r t e r s
of village s c h o o l s a n d m a n y f a r m e r s r e m a i n e d p o s i t i v e l y h o s t i l e to
t h e i d e a t h a t e d u c a t i o n c o u l d b e o f v a l u e to t h e l a b o u r i n g p o o r . T h e
c l e r g y m e n w h o played a disproportionate role in initiating a n d sus
t a i n i n g s c h o o l s o f t e n h a d t o fight a c o n s t a n t b a t t l e a g a i n s t a p a t h y
a n d s h o r t a g e s o f f u n d s , all o f w h i c h p o s e s a q u e s t i o n m a r k o v e r t h e
persistence with w h i c h the goal of social control w a s positively pur
s u e d . I n d e e d it h a s b e e n s u g g e s t e d t h a t a g r e a t m a n y , p e r h a p s t h e
s i l e n t m a j o r i t y , o f l a n d l o r d s w e r e s i m p l y n o t sufficiently a c t i v e , i m a g i
n a t i v e , o r r e s p o n s i b l e to try to u s e t h e i r p o s i t i o n t o m a s s a g e t h e rural
7 7
c o m m u n i t y in a n y systematic w a y .
A Professor of Sociology h a s s u g g e s t e d that in gauging t h e potential
of p e a s a n t m o v e m e n t s , it is i m p o r t a n t t o a s s e s s ' t h e number . . . who
might b e c o n s c i o u s o f t h e c o m m u n a l i t y o f t h e i r p r o b l e m s , a n d t h e
quality o f t h a t c o n s c i o u s n e s s . . . as c o m p a r e d w i t h t h e n u m b e r w h o
7 8
are t h u s c o n s c i o u s ' . T h i s a p p r o a c h , a s w e l l as t h r o w i n g s o m e l i g h t
o n t h e m o d e s t a c h i e v e m e n t s o f t h e S w i n g r i o t e r s , offers a t h i r d e x p l a
nation of the relative q u i e s c e n c e of the e n s u i n g d e c a d e s . T o b e g i n
75
First Annual Report of the National Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor in
the Principles of the Established Church, 1812, quoted in P. Horn, The Rural World,
1780-1850(1980), p. 134.
76
R. R. Sellman, Devon Village Schools in the Nineteenth Century (Newton Abbot, 1967),
p. 25.
77
Thompson, 'Landowners and the Rural Community', pp. 458-9.
78
H. A. Landsberger, ed., Rural Protest: Peasant Movements and Social Change (1974),
p. 20.

The countryside 111
w i t h , it is e a s y t o u n d e r e s t i m a t e t h e n u m b e r o f t h o s e w h o s e i n t e r e s t
( w h e t h e r correctly perceived or not) lay in u p h o l d i n g t h e forces of
o r d e r a n d stability. T h e y i n c l u d e d as w e l l a s all l a n d l o r d s , c l e r g y m e n ,
and farmers, the great majority of professional m e n , tradespeople,
a n d c r a f t s m e n w h o w e r e i n a m i n o r i t y at t h e l e v e l o f t h e i n d i v i d u a l
village, but a b o u n d e d in e v e n m i n o r market t o w n s a n d thus formed
a c o n s i d e r a b l e p r o p o r t i o n o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n o f e v e r y r u r a l district.
Like the s h o p k e e p e r s of O l d h a m w h o w e r e reluctant to offend their
7 9
working-class customers, these m e n h a d to consider the mainstay
of t h e i r a c t i v i t i e s . T o c o u r t t h e d i s f a v o u r o f a l a n d l o r d w a s u n l i k e l y
t o b e h e l p f u l at t h e r e n e w a l o f a l e a s e a n d e v e n w h e r e a m a n w a s
a f r e e h o l d e r t h e r e w a s n o t h i n g to b e g a i n e d f r o m g i v i n g o f f e n c e t o
h i s b e s t c u s t o m e r s . T h e s e tacit a l l i a n c e s w e r e c e m e n t e d in c h u r c h
a n d in chapel. In the p r e d o m i n a n t l y A n g l i c a n counties of s o u t h e r n
E n g l a n d s u c h l a y offices as t h e C h u r c h o f E n g l a n d p r o v i d e d were
monopolised by tradespeople and farmers, and the position was
s c a r c e l y different i n t h o s e p a r t s o f t h e c o u n t r y w h e r e n o n c o n f o r m i t y
was more strongly entrenched. Thus, a m o n g the Wesley an congre
g a t i o n s o f S o u t h L i n d s e y , c r a f t s m e n a n d s h o p k e e p e r s a c c o u n t e d for
3 5 p e r c e n t o f all circuit s t e w a r d s a n d 3 4 p e r c e n t o f c l a s s l e a d e r s
i n 1 8 5 1 , c l o s e l y a p p r o a c h i n g t h e n u m b e r o f office h o l d e r s w h o w e r e
f a r m e r s . A t B a r d n e y i n t h e s a m e district, s o m e s h r e w d m e n w e r e
s a i d to a t t e n d b o t h c h u r c h a n d c h a p e l , ' f o r t h e s a k e o f c u s t o m ' . E v e n
a m o n g the Primitive Methodists, craftsmen with farmers accounted
for 4 9 p e r c e n t o f l o c a l p r e a c h e r s a n d 5 8 p e r c e n t o f c h i e f s u p p o r t e r s
80
identified. A m o n g these n u m e r o u s people, w e m a y be sure, the
perpetration or e n c o u r a g e m e n t of acts of social protest w a s rare i n d e e d
a n d , a l t h o u g h H o b s b a w m a n d R u d e identify 1 4 2 c r a f t s m e n among
1,000 S w i n g p r i s o n e r s w h o s e o c c u p a t i o n s w e r e a n a l y s e d , w e may
surmise that these w e r e j o u r n e y m e n and, perhaps, out of employ,
for t h e t r a d e s w e r e n o t i m m u n e f r o m t h e e c o n o m i c p r e s s u r e s o f t h e
t i m e . A s a w h o l e , t h e i r figures s e r v e a s a r e m i n d e r t h a t t h e e p i s o d e
w a s , as t h e H a m m o n d s c h a r a c t e r i s e d it, e s s e n t i a l l y a l a b o u r e r s ' m o v e
8 1
ment a n d to these m e n w e m a y n o w turn our attention with L a n d s -
b e r g e r ' s w o r d s in m i n d .
First, t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l l a b o u r e r s w e r e n o t i n a m a j o r i t y i n r u r a l
79
J. Foster, Class Struggle and the Industrial Revolution (1974), pp. 1 5 0 , 1 6 9 - 7 0 .
80
J. Obelkevich, Religion and Rural Society: South Lindsey, 1825-75 (Oxford, 1976), pp.
195, 202, 239.
81
Hobsbawm and Rude, Swing, p. 245; J. L and B. Hammond, The Village Labourer,
new edn (1978), chaps. 1 0 , 1 1 .

112 W . A. A R M S T R O N G
England. Although they were the largest single occupational group

in t h e c o u n t r y s i d e , t h e i r n u m b e r s w e r e i n c r e a s i n g o n l y s l o w l y a n d
t h e y d i d n o t p r e d o m i n a t e a b s o l u t e l y o v e r all o t h e r c a t e g o r i e s , a p o i n t
w h i c h is s o m e t i m e s o v e r l o o k e d w h e n a t t e n t i o n is f o c u s s e d o n h i g h
l a b o u r e r - f a r m e r r a t i o s at t h e v i l l a g e l e v e l . T a k i n g t h e fifteen E n g l i s h
counties d e e m e d primarily agricultural b y D e a n e a n d Cole, in only
t w o ( B e d f o r d s h i r e a n d Suffolk) d i d a g r i c u l t u r a l l a b o u r e r s , a s a p r o p o r
tion of m a l e s over the age of t w e n t y , r e a c h 5 1 per cent in 1831. For
the rest the proportion averaged 45 per cent a n d in m o s t English
8 2
c o u n t i e s it w a s m u c h l o w e r . Secondly, distress w a s strongly regiona-
lised. For r e a s o n s already t o u c h e d on, w a g e s in the north w e r e consis
t e n t l y b e t t e r ; i n 1 8 5 1 t h e y w e r e a c c o u n t e d b y C a i r d to b e 3 7 p e r c e n t
h i g h e r n o r t h o f a l i n e falling b e t w e e n t h e W a s h a n d t h e D e e e s t u a r y .
S t u d e n t s of the position of the labourer in Lancashire, N o t t i n g h a m
shire, a n d C h e s h i r e h a v e inferred increases in real w a g e s a m o n g farm
w o r k e r s t h r o u g h t h e y e a r s o f t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l d e p r e s s i o n , d u e chiefly
8 3
to p r i c e m o v e m e n t s , and that argument appears capable of being
e x t e n d e d t o t h o s e s o u t h e r n e r s (a m i n o r i t y , n o d o u b t , b u t perhaps
m o r e s u b s t a n t i a l t h a n is s o m e t i m e s a s s u m e d ) w h o , as ' c o n s t a n t m e n ' ,
could d e p e n d on regular work. Moreover, a m o n g the day-labourers,
it is a l m o s t c e r t a i n t h a t t h o s e m o s t v u l n e r a b l e t o u n d e r e m p l o y m e n t
or u n e m p l o y m e n t w e r e t h e a g e d o r s e m i - i n f i r m a n d y o u n g m e n w h o ,
not having families to support, w e r e accorded lowest priority a n d
s u f f e r e d t h e m o s t i n c o n s i d e r a t e t r e a t m e n t at t h e h a n d s o f t h e p o o r
law. Y o u t h s feature p r o m i n e n t l y in m a n y c o n t e m p o r a r y accounts of
the S w i n g riots, t h o u g h not to the s a m e extent a m o n g t h o s e b r o u g h t
t o trial, a n d a m o n g t h e a r s o n i s t s w h o a p p e a r e d b e f o r e t h e a s s i z e s
i n 1 8 4 4 , t h e average a g e o f t h o s e c o n v i c t e d w a s o n l y 2 4 . 3 a n d o f t h o s e
8 4
acquitted, 2 2 . 3 . Taken together, these points somewhat narrow the
s c o p e for c o n t e m p o r a r y r e c o g n i t i o n o f t h e ' c o m m u n a l i t y o f p r o b l e m s '
i n rural E n g l a n d , a n d it r e m a i n s t o a d d that the quality of the
82
1831 Census of Great Britain, Enumeration Abstract, II, relating (by county), 'Labourers
Employed in Agriculture' to 'Males Twenty Years of Age'. All towns of 10,000
or more are excluded from these calculations.
83
J. Caird, English Agriculture in 1850-51, 2nd edn (1968), pp. 511-12; J. D. Marshall,
'The Lancashire Rural Labourer in the Early Nineteenth Century', Transactions of
the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society, 71 (1961), pp. 115,117; J. D. Marshall,
'Nottinghamshire Labourers in the Early Nineteenth Century', Transactions of the
Thornton Society, 64 (1961), pp. 6 0 - 1 , 69; C. S. Davies, The Agricultural History of
Cheshire, 1750-1850 (Manchester, 1960), p. 86.
84
Hobsbawm and Rude, Swing, p. 247; D. Jones, 'Thomas Campbell Foster and the
Rural Labourer: Incendiarism in East Anglia in the 1840s', Social History, 1 (1976),
p. 20.

The countryside 113
c o n s c i o u s n e s s o f e v e n t h e m o s t d e s p e r a t e w a s l o w . E s s e n t i a l l y , all
t h a t t h e y s o u g h t w a s g r e a t e r s e c u r i t y o f e m p l o y m e n t at a m o d e s t l y
i m p r o v e d w a g e l e v e l . T h e r e w a s n o v i s i o n o f o v e r t h r o w i n g t h e rural
social o r d e r a n d , i n p a r t i c u l a r , n o call for t h e e x p r o p r i a t i o n a n d redistri
b u t i o n o f t h e l a n d . C o n s e q u e n t l y , it is n o t s u r p r i s i n g t h a t t h e f o u n d a
tions of English rural society survived their m o s t searching test in
modern times, substantially unaltered.
Ill
A b o u t 1 8 5 1 t h e n u m b e r e n g a g e d in B r i t i s h a g r i c u l t u r e r e a c h e d its
r e c o r d e d p e a k , at 2 . 0 m o r 1 9 . 4 p e r c e n t o f t h e o c c u p i e d p o p u l a t i o n
a n d t h e n fell to 1 . 3 8 m i n 1 9 1 1 . M e a n w h i l e , a l t h o u g h t h e r e a l o u t p u t
of a g r i c u l t u r e c o n t i n u e d to i n c r e a s e ( m o d e s t l y i n a g g r e g a t e a l t h o u g h ,
o b v i o u s l y , m u c h m o r e r a p i d l y o n a p e r c a p i t a b a s i s ) , it c o n t r i b u t e d
a d i m i n i s h i n g p r o p o r t i o n to t h e n a t i o n a l i n c o m e , r e d u c i n g to u n d e r
8 5
6 p e r c e n t b y t h e first d e c a d e o f t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y . Such were
t h e s e c u l a r t r e n d s ; h o w e v e r , w h e n a t t e n t i o n is f o c u s s e d o n v a r i a t i o n s
in t h e p r o s p e r i t y o f f a r m i n g it is u s u a l to d i s t i n g u i s h t h r e e b r o a d
p h a s e s . T h e first, o f t e n c h a r a c t e r i s e d a s t h e ' G o l d e n A g e ' o f f a r m i n g ,
c o m m e n c e d e a r l y i n t h e 1 8 5 0 s . It f e a t u r e d c o r n p r i c e s w h i c h w e r e
at l e a s t r e m u n e r a t i v e d e s p i t e t h e a b o l i t i o n o f t h e c o r n l a w s a n d t h e
e n l a r g e m e n t a n d consolidation of holdings, i m p r o v e m e n t s in m a n u r
ing, d r a i n a g e a n d f a r m b u i l d i n g s , a n d a b r i s k t r a d e in m a c h i n e r y .
M o n e y p o u r e d i n t o l a n d , a n d r e n t a l s r o s e w h i l e still a l l o w i n g f a r m e r s
to m a k e profits. M o d e r n a u t h o r s h a v e s t r e s s e d t h e critical s i g n i f i c a n c e
of b u o y a n t m e a t a n d d a i r y p r i c e s b a c k e d b y r i s i n g u r b a n demand.
T h e s e i n d u c e d a d i s c e r n i b l e shift t o w a r d s l i v e s t o c k p r o d u c t i o n b a s e d
on intensifying animal enterprises within mixed farming, using con
s i d e r a b l e q u a n t i t i e s o f g r a i n s t u f f s g r o w n w i t h t h e aid o f h e a v y c o s t s
8 6
for l a b o u r a n d artificial i n p u t s to f a t t e n s t o c k . However, adjustments
to c h a n g i n g p r i c e - r e l a t i v i t i e s w e r e b y n o m e a n s c o m p l e t e , a n d m a n y
f a r m e r s w e r e left w i t h a n o v e r c o m m i t m e n t t o c e r e a l p r o d u c t i o n w h i c h
they w o u l d c o m e to regret w h e n , during the e n s u i n g period of the
' G r e a t D e p r e s s i o n ' , a f l o o d o f i m p o r t s , facilitated b y m a s s i v e r e d u c
t i o n s i n freight r a t e s b y l a n d a n d s e a , l e d t o a c o l l a p s e o f p r i c e s .
Between 1873 and 1 8 9 4 t h e p r i c e o f w h e a t fell f r o m 5 7 s . 8 d . to
85
F. D. W . Taylor, 'United Kingdom: Numbers in Agriculture', The Farm Economist,
8 (1955), pp. 3 8 - 9 , related to total occupied population in Mitchell and Deane,
Abstract, p. 60; Deane and Cole, British Economic Growth, p. 175.
86
Jones, Development of English Agriculture, pp. 17-25.

114 W. A. ARMSTRONG
2 2 s . 1 0 d . p e r q u a r t e r a n d t h e a r e a u n d e r c o r n c u l t i v a t i o n in E n g l a n d
shrank by some 24 per cent. Undoubtedly the Royal Commissions
on the State of Agriculture (1879,1892) w e r e biased towards large-scale
c e r e a l p r o d u c e r s a n d t h e fall in c o r n p r i c e s c e r t a i n l y w o r k e d t o t h e
a d v a n t a g e o f t h o s e l i v e s t o c k f a r m e r s for w h o m g r a i n s t u f f s w e r e s i m p l y
a n i n p u t . T h e y a l s o s e r v e d to b e n e f i t t h e u r b a n c o n s u m e r b y g i v i n g
h i m a n e x t r a m a r g i n for e x p e n d i t u r e u p o n foodstuffs other than
8 7
bread. It is t r u e t h a t t h e s e e x p a n d i n g m a r k e t s h a d to b e s h a r e d w i t h
f o r e i g n p r o d u c e r s , as t h e a d v e n t o f r e f r i g e r a t i o n b r o u g h t r i s i n g i m p o r t
ations of dead meat from America, N e w Zealand, and the Argentine
f r o m t h e 1 8 8 0 s . E v e n s o t h e r e is n o d o u b t t h a t t h e ' G r e a t D e p r e s s i o n '
w a s u n e v e n in its i n c i d e n c e o n b o t h a s e c t o r a l a n d r e g i o n a l b a s i s .
After 1 8 9 4 t h e c o r n e r w a s t u r n e d as w o r l d d e m a n d for grainstuffs b e g a n
to c a t c h u p w i t h t h e v a s t i n c r e a s e s in s u p p l y t h a t h a d c o m e a b o u t
since the 1870s. A slow but steady a d v a n c e in farm prices w a s evident,
a n d r e f l e c t e d in a s t a b i l i s a t i o n o f c r o p p i n g a g g r e g a t e s in g r a z i n g a n d
a r a b l e districts a l i k e . H o w e v e r , by the Edwardian period British
f a r m e r s r e t a i n e d a m o n o p o l y o f t h e h o m e m a r k e t in o n l y m i l k a n d
market garden produce. By 1905-9 h o m e producers supplied only
25 per cent of the wheat, 60 per cent o f barley, a n d 74 per cent of
o a t s c o n s u m e d in B r i t a i n , a n d s o m e 4 7 p e r c e n t o f b e e f , m u t t o n , a n d
8 8
lamb, 76 per cent of cheese, and 87 per cent of butter w a s i m p o r t e d .
In t h e e y e s o f a g r a r i a n h i s t o r i a n s , t h e y e a r s f r o m t h e G r e a t E x h i b i t i o n
to t h e First W o r l d W a r t h u s s h o w e d a d i v e r s i t y o f e x p e r i e n c e , y e t
f r o m t h e s t a n d p o i n t of t h e s o c i a l h i s t o r i a n t h e p e r i o d h a s a c e r t a i n
u n i t y , v i e w e d f r o m at l e a s t t h r e e a n g l e s . J u s t as a g r i c u l t u r e w a s left
to its o w n d e v i c e s , to r e s p o n d o r n o t t o m a r k e t c o n d i t i o n s u n d e r
free t r a d e , s o a l s o w a s laissez-faire t h e o r d e r o f t h e d a y i n r e l a t i o n
to rural s o c i a l affairs. T h e m a j o r r e o r d e r i n g e n t a i l e d in t h e 1 8 3 4 r e f o r m
of t h e p o o r l a w s w a s n o t m a t c h e d b y f u r t h e r c h a n g e s o f s i g n i f i c a n c e
u n t i l t h e a d v e n t o f c o u n t y c o u n c i l s ( 1 8 8 8 ) f o l l o w e d s o o n b y rural dis
trict a n d p a r i s h c o u n c i l s ( 1 8 9 4 ) . O t h e r w i s e , t h e o n l y i m p o r t a n t l e g i s l a
t i o n p a s s e d w i t h specifically rural p r o b l e m s i n m i n d r e l a t e d t o t h e
u s e of the labour of minors, in the G a n g s Act of 1869 a n d the Agricul
tural C h i l d r e n ' s A c t o f 1 8 7 3 . T h e a g e n c i e s w h i c h p o s i t i v e l y s h a p e d
changes in rural society were, first, urban-industrial influences
87
T. W. Fletcher, 'The Great Depression of English Agriculture, 1873-96', Economic
History Review, 2nd ser., 13 (1961), pp. 418-19, 423-4, 425-30.
88
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, A Century of Agricultural Statistics, Great
Britain, 1866-1966 (1968), pp. 47, 57.

The countryside 115
including i m p r o v e d s y s t e m s of distribution in w h i c h the railway w a s

especially important and secondly, the persistent drain of population
from rural areas to the t o w n , often referred to as ' T h e Flight from
the Land'.
B y 1 8 5 0 , a l t h o u g h a g g r e g a t e r a i l w a y m i l e a g e w a s still o n l y 6 , 2 0 0 , t h e
m a i n l i n e s w e r e a l r e a d y laid a n d t h e s e c o n d h a l f o f t h e c e n t u r y s a w
a great multiplication of local a n d feeder services w h i c h approximately
tripled railway mileage in Britain b y 1900. E v e r y w h e r e railways w e r e
w e l c o m e d as the very s y m b o l of progress. T h e y gave farmers easier
access to urban markets and reduced costs. Increasingly the railway
b e c a m e t h e e s s e n t i a l l i n k b e t w e e n t h e r e a r e r s o f s t o r e cattle a n d s h e e p
i n t h e hill districts a n d l o w l a n d f a t t e n e r s , w h i l s t t h e l a t t e r s t o o d to
g a i n a l s o f r o m e c o n o m i e s m a d e in d e s p a t c h i n g t h e b e a s t s t o t h e i r
final d e s t i n a t i o n s . J o h n H u d s o n , a m a j o r t e n a n t o f L o r d L e i c e s t e r at
H o l k h a m told Caird that his s h e e p h a d lost an average of 101b a n d
b u l l o c k s 2 8 1 b o n t h e i r j o u r n e y s to L o n d o n , c o s t i n g h i m s o m e £ 6 0 0
per a n n u m , w h i c h loss w a s virtually eliminated with the advent of
89
the railways. T h e i r s e c o n d effect w a s t o i m p r o v e t h e p r o s p e c t s o f
d a i r y m e n a s m o r e r e m o t e districts w e r e p u t in t o u c h w i t h p o t e n t i a l
u r b a n m a r k e t s . T h e cattle p l a g u e o f 1 8 6 5 - 6 , w h i c h s w e p t a w a y m a n y
u r b a n c o w k e e p e r s , c o u p l e d w i t h t h e i n c r e a s i n g l y b u s y activities o f
p u b l i c a n a l y s t s a n d m e d i c a l officers o f h e a l t h , p r o m p t e d m i l k d e a l e r s
t o s e e k s u p p l i e s f r o m d i s t a n t s o u r c e s , a t r a d e s o o n facilitated b y s p e c i a l
milk trains carrying tin-plated metal churns w h i c h rapidly replaced
w o o d e n t u b s for c o n v e n i e n c e o f h a n d l i n g . Jefferies i n s t a n c e d t h e
' g e n e r a l stir a n d m o v e m e n t ' i m p a r t e d t o t h e w e s t e r n d a i r y districts,
a n d in t h e north, t h e c o m i n g of the railway to W e n s l e y d a l e in 1877
c r e a t e d a n e w m a r k e t i n L e e d s , N e w c a s t l e , a n d L i v e r p o o l for m i l k
9 0
that would previously have b e e n m a d e into butter and c h e e s e . Other
b e n e f i t s d i r e c t l y a t t r i b u t a b l e t o t h e r a i l w a y s i n c l u d e d t h e arrival i n
t h e south of c h e a p e r coal; great i m p r o v e m e n t s in postal services (the
p e n n y post w o u l d not otherwise have b e e n possible); cheap rates
for t h e t r a n s m i s s i o n o f n e w s p a p e r s i n b u l k a n d t h e g r o w t h o f t h e
telegraph s y s t e m , originating in the n e e d to transmit information
a b o u t t h e m o v e m e n t o f t r a i n s . A l l t h e s e s e r v e d to r e d u c e r u r a l i s o l a t i o n
a n d t h e h o r i z o n s o f v i l l a g e r s w e r e b r o a d e n e d b y t h e availability o f
89
Caird, English Agriculture, pp. 169-70.
90
R. Jefferies, Hodge and his Masters, new edn (1979), p. 296; P. S. Bagwell, T h e
Decline of Rural Isolation', in Mingay, ed., Victorian Countryside, vol. 1, p. 37.

c h e a p d a y t i c k e t s t o t o w n , t o m a r k e t , a n d , f r o m t i m e to t i m e , b y
o r g a n i s e d e x c u r s i o n s . B y 1 8 9 2 , it w a s s a i d , i n t h e v i l l a g e p u b l i c h o u s e
the absorbing topics were 'no longer bucolic themes, but remi
9 1
n i s c e n c e s o f t h e l a t e s t trip t o t o w n ' . Finally, the railway provided
a s o u r c e o f n e w j o b s . T h i s o c c u r r e d first in t h e initial s t a g e s o f c o n s t r u c
t i o n ; t h e r a i l w a y , it is c l a i m e d , first g a v e t h e N o r f o l k l a b o u r e r a n o p p o r
t u n i t y to e s c a p e h i s u n e n v i a b l e lot, w i t h t h e N o r w i c h - B r a n d o n a n d
92
W y m o n d h a m - D e r e h a m lines of 1845 and 1846 respectively. They
a l s o offered p e r m a n e n t posts with unusual security, which were
a m o n g t h e m o s t attractive a l t e r n a t i v e s t o w o r k o n t h e l a n d .
H o w e v e r , it b e c a m e i n c r e a s i n g l y a p p a r e n t t h a t , like e n c l o s u r e s , t h e
r a i l w a y s w e r e n o t a n u n m i t i g a t e d b o o n . It w a s n o t t h e i r i m p a c t o n
existing systems of transport w h i c h g a v e c a u s e for c o n c e r n , for
although coaching soon succumbed and numerous inns descended
to t h e s t a t u s o f p o t - h o u s e s , t h e r a i l w a y s e x p a n d e d t h e l o c a l c a r r y i n g
93
trade. Rather, the p r o b l e m lay in the exposure of village s h o p
k e e p e r s a n d c r a f t s m e n to t h e d r a u g h t o f u r b a n a n d f a c t o r y c o m p e
t i t i o n . I n p r i n c i p l e , t h e g r o w t h o f retail s h o p k e e p i n g w a s favoured
not only b y the expansion of the market but also b y a persistent long-
t e r m d e c l i n e in t h e n u m b e r o f fairs, w h o s e n u m b e r s a r e c a l c u l a t e d
to h a v e d e c l i n e d i n E n g l a n d a n d W a l e s f r o m 1 , 6 9 1 i n 1 7 9 2 t o 1,055
in 1 8 8 8 , a g o o d l y n u m b e r failing t o s u r v i v e t h e F a i r s A c t o f 1 8 7 1 w h i c h
e n a b l e d local authorities, with the c o n s e n t of the H o m e Secretary,
9 4
to a b o l i s h t h e m . H o w e v e r , t h e b e n e f i t s to r e t a i l e r s w e r e u n e q u a l l y
d i s t r i b u t e d . S m a l l v i l l a g e s h o p s c o n t i n u e d t o p l a y a significant r o l e ,
n o t l e a s t (like t h e c o r n e r - s h o p s o f l a r g e cities) b y e x t e n d i n g c r e d i t
to t h e i r h u m b l e r p a t r o n s , b u t i n e v i t a b l y t h e y c h a r g e d p r i c e s c o n s i d e r a
bly h i g h e r t h a n t h o s e ruling in the t o w n s , a point r e m a r k e d o n by,
a m o n g others, M a u d e Davies comparing Corsley (Wiltshire) and York
9 5
in 1 9 0 9 . Y e t increasing proportions of perishable g o o d s a n d factory-
m a d e p r o d u c t s c a m e to b e s o l d a c r o s s t h e c o u n t e r s o f s h o p s i n s u c h
r e g i o n a l c e n t r e s as C a n t e r b u r y , w i t h a p o p u l a t i o n o f 2 2 , 0 0 0 in 1 8 8 9 .
H e r e w e r e , inter alia, fifty-eight g r o c e r s a n d t e a d e a l e r s ( i n c l u d i n g
P. A. Graham, The Rural Exodus (1892), pp. 77-8.

L. M. Springall, Labouring Life in Norfolk Villages, 1834-1914 (1936), p. 48.
A. M. Everitt, ed., Perspectives in English Urban History (1973), chap. 8, offers a
useful study of the village carrier in Leicestershire.
R. H. Rew, An Agricultural Faggott (1913), pp. 4 4 - 5 .
M. F. Davies, Life in an English Country Village: An Economic and Historical Survey
of the Parish of Corsley in Wiltshire (1909), p. 140.

The countryside 117
a branch of the International T e a C o m p a n y ) ; sixteen m e n ' s clothiers

a n d outfitters; t h i r t e e n b o o t a n d s h o e ' w a r e h o u s e s ' i n c l u d i n g a b r a n c h
of F r e e m a n , H a r d y , a n d W i l l i s ; five d e a l e r s i n l a m p s , oil, a n d paraffin;
four s e w i n g m a c h i n e a g e n t s ; a b i c y c l e s h o p ; t h r e e p r e c o c i o u s a n t i q u e
dealers; and, h a p p y to note, a 'cricket bat, ball a n d s t u m p w a r e h o u s e ' .
W i t h r a i l w a y s f e e d i n g c u s t o m e r s i n t o C a n t e r b u r y f r o m five d i r e c t i o n s ,
96
it w a s w e l l p l a c e d t o s e r v e m a n y o f t h e n e e d s o f d o z e n s o f v i l l a g e s .
In t h e s p h e r e o f p r o d u c t i o n t h e b r o a d - b a s e d t e c h n o l o g i c a l c h a n g e s
of t h e V i c t o r i a n a g e t e n d e d n o t o n l y t o u n d e r m i n e t h e p o s i t i o n o f
the village craftsmen, but also favoured concentration into larger units,
not least in industries processing farm products. At H o r s h a m , H e n r y
Mitchell b r e w e d about 4 0 0 quarters of malt annually in the 1830s a n d
by 1868, 3,075; during the intervening years he had acquired a n e w
b r e w e r y , e n l a r g e d t w i c e a n d a d a p t e d to s t e a m , a n e w malthouse,
a n d a succession of tied public h o u s e s . At Banbury, H u n t ' s brewery
b y 1 9 0 0 h a d t a k e n o v e r f o u r s m a l l e r e n t e r p r i s e s a n d a c q u i r e d at l e a s t
9 7
114 t i e d h o u s e s . Corn milling, too, was transformed. In 1850 there
w e r e a f e w s t e a m - p o w e r e d u n i t s in t h e l a r g e r t o w n s , b u t m o s t flour
w a s still g r o u n d i n m i l l s r e l i a n t o n w i n d a n d w a t e r p o w e r . A f t e r 1 8 7 5
t h e i n d u s t r y w a s v i r t u a l l y r e v o l u t i o n i s e d b y roller m i l l i n g , w h i c h w a s
f o u n d n e c e s s a r y i n o r d e r t o t a k e a d v a n t a g e o f t h e s e e m i n g l y illimitable
s u p p l i e s o f A m e r i c a n w h e a t a n d to b e a t off t h e t h r e a t o f f o r e i g n m i l l e r s
u n l o a d i n g flour o n t h e B r i t i s h m a r k e t . T h e first a u t o m a t i c r o l l e r mill
i n B r i t a i n w a s o p e n e d at M a n c h e s t e r i n 1 8 7 9 a n d i n c r e a s i n g l y t h e
i n d u s t r y c a m e to b e c o n c e n t r a t e d i n t h e m o r e i m p o r t a n t m a r k e t t o w n s ,
l a r g e cities, a n d , a b o v e all, t h e p o r t s . M e a n w h i l e t h e n u m b e r o f i n d e
p e n d e n t country mills rapidly declined. At Bridlington w h e r e there
w e r e n o fewer t h e n ten mills in 1853, only three w e r e operational
9 8
by 1 9 0 0 . In the boot and shoe industry, the clearest case of c o n c e n
tration c o m e s from S o m e r s e t . At Street, C. and J . Clark s u c c e e d e d
by using m e c h a n i s e d m e t h o d s in quadrupling their annual production
(to 8 0 0 , 0 0 0 p a i r s ) b e t w e e n 1 8 6 1 a n d 1 9 0 1 . T h i s w a s a c c o m p l i s h e d w i t h
o n l y a m o d e s t i n c r e a s e i n t h e l a b o u r f o r c e , f r o m 9 0 0 to 1 , 2 5 0 . Signifi
c a n t l y , t h e y e m p l o y e d i n 1 9 0 9 o v e r h a l f t h e s h o e m a k e r s in t h e c o u n t y ,
w h o s e n u m b e r s i n t h e a g g r e g a t e h a d d e c l i n e d f r o m 5 , 0 2 9 in 1 8 4 1
Stevens' Directory of Canterbury and Neighbourhood (1889), pp. 183-210.

C. W. Chalklin, 'Country Towns', in Mingay, ed., Victorian Countryside, vol. 2,
p. 284.
Ibid., p. 283.

t o 2 , 2 2 6 i n 1 9 0 1 . " T h e list o f crafts affected d i r e c t l y b y n e w , u s u a l l y

u r b a n - b a s e d , i n d u s t r y is v i r t u a l l y e n d l e s s . W i t h t h e c o m i n g o f t h e
r a i l w a y , l o c a l p o t t e r s a b o u t F a r n b o r o u g h ( S u r r e y ) f o u n d it i n c r e a s i n g l y
difficult to c o m p e t e w i t h p r o d u c e r s o n t h e s c a l e o f D o u l t o n ' s o f L a m
b e t h . T h e u s e of n e w building materials s u c h as concrete, mild steel,
a n d galvanised roofing sheets, a n d the rise to p r o m i n e n c e of large-
s c a l e brick-fields a n d s l a t e q u a r r i e s , i n c r e a s i n g l y t o o k toll o f l o c a l b r i c k -
makers and thatchers. Almost universally, craftsmen had recourse
to non-local sources of semi-finished products such as iron axles, lead
p i p i n g o r s a d d l e r ' s i r o n m o n g e r y , w h i l e i n The Wheelwright's Shop S t u r t
n o t e d the u s e of deal from N o r w a y in place of locally s a w n e l m boards
1 0 0
for t h e floors o f c a r t s a n d w a g o n s .
In m o s t c a s e s , m a l e - d o m i n a t e d crafts w e r e c o m i n g u n d e r s e r i o u s
p r e s s u r e for t h e first t i m e d u r i n g t h e s e c o n d h a l f o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h
century. W i t h female e m p l o y m e n t in t h e o u t w o r k industries t h e chro
n o l o g y of decline w a s m o r e attenuated. Already, from the late eigh
t e e n t h c e n t u r y cottage industry h a d b e e n profoundly affected b y the
t r a n s i t i o n t o m a c h i n e s p i n n i n g i n t h e textile t r a d e s , a n d f r o m o n e
e n d of the country to the other c a m e complaints that w o r k of this
k i n d w a s e i t h e r d i s a p p e a r i n g o r e l s e b e i n g offered at o n l y d e r i s o r y
w a g e s . O t h e r i n d u s t r i e s s h o w e d m o r e p r o n o u n c e d c a p a c i t i e s for sur
vival a n d s o m e regions c o n t i n u e d to feature m a r k e d c o n c e n t r a t i o n s
of f e m a l e o u t w o r k . A c a s e i n p o i n t w a s g l o v i n g i n W o r c e s t e r s h i r e
a n d S o m e r s e t . In the 1860s the m a n a g e r of o n e of the largest L o n d o n
w a r e h o u s e s referred to ' w h o l e villages of b o r n glove m a k e r s . . . w e
h a v e h a d as m a n y as 6,000 w o m e n o n our b o o k s . . . in a n y o n e y e a r '
a n d as late a s 1 9 0 7 , t h e Select Committee on Homework c l a i m e d t h a t
in order to s u p p l e m e n t l o w agricultural w a g e s , ' e v e r y h o u s e w a s glov
101
ing' in the Yeovil district. Another was pillow lacemaking,
f a v o u r e d b y a n i n s a t i a b l e d e m a n d for l a c e o f all k i n d s a n d q u a l i t i e s .
A decline in the n u m b e r of l a c e m a k e r s in t h e south M i d l a n d counties
a n d i n D e v o n w a s s t a v e d off for l o n g e r t h a n m i g h t h a v e b e e n e x p e c t e d ,
t h e r e b e i n g still s o m e 2 5 , 0 0 0 i n 1 8 7 1 ; h o w e v e r , b y t h e 1 8 9 0 s t h e i n c r e a s
ing sophistication of m a c h i n e - m a d e lace, importations from France
99
M. A. Havinden, T h e South-West: A Case of De-Industrialisation?', in M. Palmer,
ed., The Onset of Industrialisation (Nottingham University, Department of Adult
Education, 1976), p. 6.
100
G. Sturt, William Smith, Potter and Farmer (1919), p. 221; J. A. Chartres and G.
L. Turnbull, 'Country Craftsmen', in Mingay, ed., Victorian Countryside, vol. 1,
pp. 326-7; G. Sturt, The Wheelwright's Shop (Cambridge, 1923), pp. 6 4 - 5 .
101
D. Bythell, The Sweated Trades: Outwork in Nineteenth Century Britain (1978), pp.
117-18.

The countryside 119
a n d Belgium, a n d a capricious turn of fashion against lace coupled

w i t h difficulties i n o b t a i n i n g f r e s h r e c r u i t s , h a d d e c i d e d l y r e d u c e d
102
the importance of the industry. Straw-plaiting, particularly c o n c e n
trated in Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, a n d Essex,
a l s o d e c l i n e d i n t h e c l o s i n g d e c a d e s o f t h e c e n t u r y i n t h e face o f c h e a p
i m p o r t s o f F a r E a s t e r n o r i g i n a n d a shift i n f a s h i o n t o w a r d s h a t s m a d e
from other fabrics. Bedfordshire's 20,701 female plaiters of 1871 w e r e
r e d u c e d to 4 8 5 b y 1 9 0 1 , w o r k i n g for w a g e s far b e l o w t h o s e r u l i n g
1 0 3
in the 1 8 6 0 s .
F r o m the standpoint of the economist, m a n y of the changes des
cribed c a n b e interpreted as straightforward cases of industrial ration
alisation, a n d in s o m e villages, n e w growth w a s the order of the day.
F o r e x a m p l e , it w a s r a p i d i n t h e n e i g h b o u r h o o d o f t h e g r e a t b r i c k w o r k s
a r o u n d P e t e r b o r o u g h a n d in south Bedfordshire, a n d along the M e d -
w a y v a l l e y w i t h its p r o f u s i o n o f c e m e n t w o r k s , f o u n d a l s o a r o u n d
P o r t l a n d Bill a n d n e a r R u g b y . H e r e a n d t h e r e f o o d p r o c e s s i n g p l a n t s
of a d e c i d e d l y m o d e r n n a t u r e m a d e t h e i r a p p e a r a n c e . T h e first B r i t i s h
c h e e s e f a c t o r i e s w e r e e s t a b l i s h e d in D e r b y s h i r e i n 1 8 6 9 - 7 0 , a n d b y
1 8 7 5 n i n e t e e n w e r e e i t h e r i n o p e r a t i o n o r u n d e r c o n s t r u c t i o n i n five
1 0 4
counties. A l s o n o t e w o r t h y w e r e t h e i n t e g r a t e d e n t e r p r i s e s o f soft
fruit c u l t u r e a n d p r e s e r v e s o f W i l k i n s o f T i p t r e e ( E s s e x ) a n d C h i v e r s
at H i s t o n ( C a m b r i d g e s h i r e ) w h e r e R i d e r H a g g a r d w a s i m p r e s s e d b y
t h e e m p l o y m e n t o f f e r e d t o 1,000 o u t d o o r h a n d s a n d 2 5 0 w o m e n , a n d
b y t h e f a c t o r y w i t h its s i l v e r - l i n e d b o i l e r s , p a t e n t filling a p p a r a t u s ,
105
t r a m w a y s , a n d p a c k i n g a n d p r i n t i n g p l a n t , all lit b y e l e c t r i c i t y .
Foundries a n d agricultural m a c h i n e r y enterprises, often initiated b y
e n t e r p r i s i n g b l a c k s m i t h s , m i g h t flourish m o d e s t l y i n s i t u a t i o n s far
r e m o v e d f r o m t h e i n d u s t r i a l h e a r t l a n d s o f B r i t a i n , for e x a m p l e t h e
Reeves family business at Bratton (Wiltshire) which gradually
e x p a n d e d its r a n g e o f a c t i v i t i e s , a c t i n g a s ' a m e e t i n g p l a c e o f o l d a n d
n e w , o f t r a d i t i o n a l v i l l a g e skills a n d a t t i t u d e s a n d t h e advancing
1 0 6
machine age'. T w o of the m o s t important agricultural m a c h i n e r y
makers, Garretts of Leiston and S m y t h s of Peasenhall, w e r e located
i n w h a t c o u l d still b e d e s c r i b e d a s v i l l a g e s . A l l w e r e a b l e t o h o l d
102
G. F. R. Spenceley, 'The English Pillow-Lace Industry, 1840-80: A Rural Industry
in Competition with Machinery', Business History, 19 (1977), pp. 69, 79-82.
103
P. Horn, 'Women's Cottage Industries', in Mingay, ed., Victorian Countryside, vol.
1, p. 348.
104
C. S. Orwin and E. H. Whetham, History of British Agriculture, 1846-1914 (1964),
pp. 146-7.
105
H. R. Haggard, Rural England, 2nd edn, 2 vols. (1906), vol. 2, p. 52.
106
M. Reeves, Sheep Bell and Ploughshare (1980), p. 131.

t h e i r o w n w i t h m o d e r a t e s u c c e s s in face o f u r b a n - b a s e d enterprises
s u c h as R a n s o m e s o f I p s w i c h a n d R u s t o n s at L i n c o l n .
T h e salient features of migratory m o v e m e n t s , b a s e d o n the analysis

of c e n s u s r e t u r n s a n d t h e civil r e g i s t r a t i o n details w h i c h b e c a m e avail
a b l e after 1 8 3 7 , a r e as f o l l o w s .
(i) O n l y five W e l s h ( A n g l e s e y , B r e c k n o c k s h i r e , C a r d i g a n s h i r e , P e m
brokeshire, Radnorshire) a n d four English counties (Cornwall,
Herefordshire, Huntingdonshire, Rutland) showed absolute
d e c r e a s e s b e t w e e n 1 8 5 1 a n d 1 9 1 1 , b u t s u c h figures o b s c u r e t h e
factor o f u r b a n c o n c e n t r a t i o n w i t h i n c o u n t i e s . T h u s , i n N o r f o l k ,
the aggregate population of the main urban centres (Norwich,
Yarmouth, K i n g ' s Lynn) grew by 84 per cent, 1851-1911, whilst
t h e r e m a i n d e r fell b y 10 p e r c e n t .
(ii) At the scale of the registration districts, n u m b e r i n g several
h u n d r e d , one calculation suggests that the aggregate population
of ' r e s i d u a l ' r u r a l a r e a s (that is, after s u b t r a c t i n g predominantly
u r b a n r e g i s t r a t i o n districts a n d t h o s e w i t h e x t e n s i v e c o l l i e r i e s )
w a s a c t u a l l y r a t h e r h i g h e r in 1 9 1 1 ( b y 1 8 . 5 p e r c e n t i n t h e n o r t h ,
9 . 2 p e r c e n t in t h e s o u t h ) t h a n i n 1 8 4 1 . H o w e v e r , t h e i r n e t l o s s e s
b y migration h a d b e e n considerable, a m o u n t i n g to s o m e 79 per
cent of calculated natural increases (births m i n u s deaths) in the
1 0 7
n o r t h a n d 8 9 p e r c e n t in t h e s o u t h .
(iii) A t a s m a l l e r s c a l e a g a i n , c a s e s o f a b s o l u t e d e c l i n e w e r e q u i t e c o m
m o n . F o r e x a m p l e , T r u r o , C h i c h e s t e r , a n d S t I v e s , all o f w h i c h
h a d doubled their respective populations b e t w e e n 1801 and 1861,
s u s t a i n e d l o s s e s of 1 1 - 1 4 p e r c e n t i n t h e e n s u i n g t h i r t y y e a r s ;
a n d at t h e l e v e l o f t h e i n d i v i d u a l v i l l a g e , t h e t r e n d c o u l d at t i m e s
b e very spectacular, as in the case of C e r n e A b b a s (Dorset) w h e r e
t h e p o p u l a t i o n g r e w to r e a c h 1 , 3 4 1 i n 1 8 4 1 b u t w o u l d d e c l i n e
1 0 8
to 5 8 2 , i n c l u d i n g 4 6 in t h e u n i o n w o r k h o u s e , b y 1 9 1 2 .
T h e fall in t h e n u m b e r o f a g r i c u l t u r a l i s t s w a s far m o r e s p e c t a c u l a r
t h a n t h e r u r a l figures a s a w h o l e m i g h t l e a d o n e to a s s u m e , a l t h o u g h
t h e r e w a s n o significant r e d u c t i o n i n t h e n u m b e r of f a r m e r s . W h i l e
t h e r e are m a n y i n d i c a t i o n s t h a t t h e r a t e o f t u r n o v e r o f t e n a n c i e s
107
Mitchell and Deane, Abstract, pp. 20-7; A. K. Cairncross, Home and Foreign Invest
ment, 1870-1913 (Cambridge, 1953), p. 78.
108
T. Welton, 'On the Distribution of Population in England and Wales, 1801-91',
Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 63 (1900), p. 539; H. Aronson, The Land and
the Labourer (1914), p. 18.

The countryside 121
i n c r e a s e d , for e x a m p l e o n t h e H o l k h a m e s t a t e f r o m t h e 1 8 8 0 s , t h e
a g g r e g a t e n u m b e r i d e n t i f i e d in t h e 1 9 1 1 c e n s u s o f E n g l a n d a n d W a l e s
1 0 9
was, at 2 2 9 , 0 0 0 , w i t h i n 8 p e r c e n t o f t h a t o f 1 8 7 1 or, i n d e e d , 1 8 5 1 .
H o w e v e r , t h e n u m b e r o f t h e i r e m p l o y e e s , if w e e x c l u d e f a m i l y l a b o u r ,
fell b y 4 6 p e r c e n t f r o m its m i d - n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y p e a k . F o r t h i s r e a
son most contemporary discussions of 'rural depopulation' focussed
u p o n t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l l a b o u r e r . O t h e r t h i n g s b e i n g e q u a l , shifts in
l a n d - u s e p a t t e r n s t o w a r d s p a s t o r a l activities w o u l d s e r v e to r e d u c e
t h e a m o u n t o f l a b o u r r e q u i r e d ; m o r e o v e r m e c h a n i s a t i o n w a s a factor,
s o m e claimed, working to depress the n u m b e r of farm workers. H e r e
w e h a v e t o r e c k o n w i t h , chiefly, t h e a p p e a r a n c e o f m o w i n g a n d r e a p
i n g m a c h i n e s f r o m t h e 1 8 5 0 s a n d 1 8 6 0 s , a n d t h e a d v e n t o f t h e self-
binding reaper in the 1880s, while sets of steam-ploughing tackle,
still s o m e t h i n g o f a rarity in t h e 1 8 6 0 s , b e c a m e c o m p a r a t i v e l y c o m m o n
p l a c e b y t h e e n d o f t h e c e n t u r y . I n h i s History of the English Agricultural
Labourer ( 1 8 9 4 ) H a s b a c h s u p p o r t e d t h e v i e w t h a t m e c h a n i s a t i o n h a d
a n i n e x o r a b l e t e n d e n c y to r e d u c e t h e d e m a n d for l a b o u r , a l t h o u g h
there w a s n o uniformity of c o n t e m p o r a r y opinion o n this matter.
I n d e e d R . C . L i t t l e , s u r v e y i n g a m a s s i v e b o d y o f e v i d e n c e i n t h e final
r e p o r t o f t h e R o y a l C o m m i s s i o n o n L a b o u r ( 1 8 9 4 ) w a s i n c l i n e d to
t h i n k t h a t t h e r e d u c t i o n o f f a r m staffs w a s a c o n s e q u e n c e a n d n o t
110
the cause of migration. T h i s is n o t t o d e n y a n y i m p a c t o f m e c h a n i s a
t i o n o n t h e f a r m l a b o u r f o r c e : it c e r t a i n l y a s s i s t e d f a r m e r s t o c u t d o w n
o n t h e n u m b e r o f c a s u a l w o r k e r s u s e d at critical t i m e s i n t h e y e a r
a n d r e d u c e d t h e s e a s o n a l w o r k a v a i l a b l e to t h e w i v e s a n d c h i l d r e n
of f a r m w o r k e r s , s o t e n d i n g t o b r i n g d o w n t h e h a r v e s t e a r n i n g s o f
the regular labour force.
T h e r e is a c o n s i d e r a b l e l i t e r a t u r e o n o t h e r c a u s e s w h i c h d i s p o s e d
t h e l a b o u r e r to t u r n h i s b a c k o n t h e l a n d . A m o n g t h o s e adduced
by various contemporaries were the poor condition of farm cottages,
comparative level of farm w a g e s (too low), h o u r s of w o r k (too long),
and, m o r e generally, ' w a n t of outlook', i.e. the very limited prospects
of social m o b i l i t y o r b e t t e r m e n t for t h e f a r m w o r k e r . A n e q u a l l y r i c h
b u t i n c o n c l u s i v e l i t e r a t u r e w a s a d d r e s s e d t o its effects. T h e s e w e r e
said to include a deterioration in t h e quality o f farm staffs ( ' W e retain t h e
sediment . . .'; ' F e w except the doodles remain . . .' and much more
109
S. W . Martins, A Great Estate at Work (Cambridge, 1980), pp. 111-12; Taylor
'Numbers in Agriculture', p. 38.
110
W . Hasbach, A History of the English Agricultural Labourer (1894; Eng. edn 1908),
pp. 256, 258; RC on Labour: The Agricultural Labourer, V (I), General Report, P P 1 8 9 3 - 4 ,
XXXVIII, p. 40.

1 1 1
in t h e s a m e v e i n ) . Yet farmers h a d always complained that each
g e n e r a t i o n o f w o r k e r s w a s i n f e r i o r t o its p r e d e c e s s o r a n d w o u l d c o n
t i n u e to v o i c e s u c h v i e w s far i n t o t h e f u t u r e . T h e o n l y s o l i d fact i n t h i s
a r e a is t h a t t h e r e w e r e definite s i g n s o f a g i n g a m o n g a g r i c u l t u r a l w o r k e r s .
In 1 8 9 1 e l d e r l y e m p l o y e e s ( t h o s e a g e d fifty-five a n d o v e r ) w e r e 5 9 p e r
cent m o r e n u m e r o u s o n the land t h a n in the rest of t h e male labour
f o r c e , a n d a p p r o x i m a t e l y t h r e e t i m e s m o r e c o m m o n t h a n a m o n g rail
w a y e m p l o y e e s or c o a l m i n e r s . T h e i m p l i c a t i o n s for l a b o u r efficiency
r e m a i n s o m e w h a t u n c e r t a i n , for, a s C a n o n B u r y c o n t e n d e d , a l t h o u g h t h e
older m a n might b e a little w e a k e r in bodily strength, his experience w a s
1 1 2
m o r e valuable than hitherto 'because of the advent of m a c h i n e r y ' .
A t l e a s t t h e r e is n o r e a s o n t o d o u b t t h a t t h e o u t f l o w w a s b e n e f i c i a l
to t h o s e w h o r e m a i n e d o n t h e l a n d a s , b y d e g r e e s , ' t h e p l e t h o r i c
population b o g e y of 1 8 3 0 ' c a m e to b e 'replaced b y the lean-exodus
1 1 3
skeleton of 1 9 0 2 ' . P r i o r t o 1 8 7 0 it is p r o b a b l e t h a t i m p r o v e m e n t s
in earnings w e r e modest, a n d contingent u p o n greater regularity of
e m p l o y m e n t t o g e t h e r w i t h a n i n c r e a s i n g s o l i c i t u d e for t h e w e l f a r e
of labourers on the part of more enlightened landlords and
1 1 4
employers. Between 1867-70 and 1907 earnings m o v e d up notice
a b l y in all r e g i o n s o f E n g l a n d a n d W a l e s , b y s o m e 3 0 p e r c e n t o n
average, and b y more t h a n that in terms of their purchasing power,
g i v e n c o n t e m p o r a r y t r e n d s i n p r i c e s . M o r e o v e r , t h e r e is e v i d e n c e to
s u g g e s t t h a t m i g r a t i o n c o n t r i b u t e d fairly s u b s t a n t i a l l y t o t h e e r o s i o n
of r e g i o n a l differentials i n a g r i c u l t u r a l w a g e l e v e l s w h i c h w e r e s u b
1 1 5
stantially reduced b e t w e e n the t w o d a t e s . E v e n so, farm workers'
w a g e s remained barely half those earned b y the average industrial
w o r k e r , a n d in t h e E d w a r d i a n p e r i o d p r o m p t e d s e v e r a l p i o n e e r i n g
1 1 6
i n v e s t i g a t i o n s i n t o t h e e x t e n t o f p o v e r t y i n rural E n g l a n d .
C o m p a r a t i v e l y little w o r k h a s b e e n d o n e o n t h e d e c l i n i n g n u m b e r s
of rural c r a f t s m e n . H o w e v e r , a r e c e n t s t u d y c o v e r i n g s e v e r a l E n g l i s h
111
Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, Report on the Decline of the Agricultural Population
of Great Britain, 1881-1906, P P 1 9 0 6 , XCVI, pp. 11-21; W. A. Armstrong, 'The Flight
from the Land', in Mingay, ed., Victorian Countryside, vol. 1, pp. 120-4.
112
W. A. Armstrong, 'The Workfolk', in Mingay, ed., Victorian Countryside, vol. 2,
p. 502; RC on Aged Poor, PP 1895, XIV, p. 239.
113
Haggard, Rural England, vol. 2, p. 565.
114
E . L . Jones, 'The Agricultural Labour Market in England, 1793-1872', Economic
History Review, 2nd ser., 17 (1964), pp. 328-32, 338.
115
E. H. Hunt, Regional Wage Variations in Britain, 1850-1914 (Oxford, 1973), pp. 59-64,
248-9.
116
Most notably Davies, Life in an English Country Village; H. H. Mann, 'Life in an
Agricultural Village in England', Sociological Papers, 1 (1905); B. S. Rowntree and
M. Kendall, How the Labourer Lives: A Study of the Rural Labour Problem (1913).

The countryside 123
c o u n t i e s h a s c o n f i r m e d t h a t in m o s t c a s e s t h e i n c i d e n c e o f c o u n t r y
crafts in r e l a t i o n t o p o p u l a t i o n w a s falling after 1 8 6 1 or 1 8 7 1 , a n d
i n m a n y f r o m a s e a r l y as 1 8 5 1 , w h i l s t e m p h a s i s i n g t h e c o m p a r a t i v e
r e s i l i e n c e o f b l a c k s m i t h s a n d w h e e l w r i g h t s w h o s e activities r e l a t e d
d i r e c t l y to t h e still e x p a n d i n g n u m b e r s o f h o r s e s u s e d in V i c t o r i a n
1 1 7
and Edwardian England. E v e n l e s s a t t e n t i o n h a s b e e n p a i d to t h e
m i g r a t o r y p a t t e r n s o f w o m e n . Y e t a n o t e w o r t h y f e a t u r e o f t h e rural
e x o d u s w a s t h a t f e m a l e s p l a y e d t h e l a r g e r r o l e statistically, s o t h a t
b y 1 9 1 1 , t h e s e x ratio i n t h e fifteen to n i n e t e e n a g e g r o u p s t o o d at
8 6 4 a n d 1,062 f e m a l e s p e r 1,000 m a l e s in rural a n d u r b a n r e g i s t r a t i o n
118
districts r e s p e c t i v e l y . A d o l e s c e n t girls w e r e c h a n n e l l e d i n d r o v e s
i n t o d o m e s t i c s e r v i c e . C h a r a c t e r i s t i c a l l y , t h e y w e r e first f o u n d p l a c e s
locally i n t h e h o u s e h o l d s o f t r a d e s m e n , bailiffs or s c h o o l m a s t e r s w h i c h
w e r e c o n s i d e r e d a s t e p p i n g - s t o n e t o s e r v i c e f u r t h e r afield. N o d o u b t
this reflected the a b s e n c e of alternative sources of female e m p l o y m e n t
b u t it w a s at l e a s t as w e l l m a r k e d i n W a l e s , a b a s t i o n o f ' p e a s a n t '
1 1 9
a g r i c u l t u r e , as i n t h e rural s o u t h e r n c o u n t i e s o f E n g l a n d . It w a s
c o n s i d e r e d n a t u r a l t h a t t h e v a s t c o n c e n t r a t i o n o f f e m a l e s e r v a n t s in
t o w n s w o u l d s e r v e t o ' a c t as m a g n e t s to t h e l a d s t h e y l e a v e b e h i n d
t h e m ' , a n d n o t i c e d t h a t o n c e t h e y h a d a c q u i r e d a t a s t e for t o w n life,
few r e l i s h e d t h e i d e a o f r e t u r n i n g t o t h e h a r d s h i p s o f life a s f a r m
labourers' wives. Consequently, their influence t e n d e d to b e ' t h r o w n
1 2 0
decidedly into the scale in favour of m i g r a t i o n ' .
The interaction b e t w e e n town and country cannot be s u m m e d up

b y s i m p l y s e t t i n g t h e t i d e o f f a c t o r y - m a d e p r o d u c t s in o n e d i r e c t i o n ,
a g a i n s t t h a t o f h u m a n r e s o u r c e s in t h e o t h e r . S o m e a c c o u n t n e e d s
t o b e t a k e n o f t h e e v e r - i n c r e a s i n g infiltration o f u r b a n v a l u e s i n t o
t h e r e m o t e s t c o r n e r s o f E n g l i s h rural life. T h e i r a b s o r p t i o n b e g a n i n
the schools w h e n country-bred children c a m e into contact with
teachers from an urban background, dedicated to the task of improv
ing their youthful charges. O n e manifestation of this w a s attempts
to m a k e children adopt standardised English. ' T h e r e ' s w o r Alice',
c o m p l a i n e d o n e N o r t h u m b r i a n , ' s h e ' s l e a r n i n ' m e t o t a l k like a p r i e s t
117
Chartres and Turnbull, 'Country Craftsmen', pp. 318-25.
118
J. Saville, Rural Depopulation in England and Wales, 1851-1951 (1957), p. 110.
119
Snell, Annals of the Labouring Poor, pp. 51-7, 317; A. W . Ashby and I. L . Evans,
The Agriculture of Wales and Monmouthshire (Cardiff, 1944), p. 76.
120
M. Winstanley, Life in Kent at the Turn of the Century (Folkestone, 1978), p. 27;
RCon Labour: The Agricultural Labourer, I, England, Report ofW. E. Bear, PP 1893-4,
XXXV, p. 18.

1 2 1
. . . t e a c h e r s a y s yebble is n o t a w o r d . Y o u m u s t call it a b l e / However,
in t h e l o n g r u n c h a n g e s i n t h e p a t t e r n o f e m p l o y m e n t d i d m o r e t o
e r o d e l o c a l d i a l e c t s t h a n t h e efforts o f t h e s c h o o l m a s t e r s , a n d m u c h
m o r e i n s i d i o u s , in t h e e y e s o f m a n y critical l a n d l o r d s a n d f a r m e r s ,
w a s the t e n d e n c y of teachers to provide an 'irrelevant' curriculum.
A r g u m e n t s to t h e effect t h a t v i l l a g e e l e m e n t a r y e d u c a t i o n s h o u l d b e
g i v e n a n explicit r u r a l o r v o c a t i o n a l b i a s w e r e c o u n t e r e d b y t h e v i e w
that a n y such principle w o u l d b e ' a c k n o w l e d g e d as absolutely vicious
1 2 2
for t h e c h i l d r e n o f t h e r i c h ' . N o r e s o l u t i o n o f t h e p r o b l e m w a s forth
c o m i n g e i t h e r b e f o r e o r after 1 9 1 4 , a n d c h i l d r e n c o n t i n u e d t o b e t a u g h t
w i t h o u t a significant p o s i t i v e r u r a l b i a s , w h i c h m a y h a v e i m p r o v e d
t h e p r o s p e c t s o f t h e s m a r t e r girls a n d b o y s , b u t left o t h e r s r e f l e c t i n g
on the uselessness of their pre-1914 schooling and looking forward
1 2 3
to l e a v i n g s o t h a t t h e y c o u l d g e t e d u c a t e d . Institutions serving the
n e e d s of a d u l t s a l s o d e v e l o p e d a l o n g t h e l i n e s o f u r b a n m o d e l s . A n
o b v i o u s c a s e is t h a t o f t h e f r i e n d l y s o c i e t i e s . A l r e a d y , at t h e c l o s e
of t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y t h e s e h a d a b o u n d e d i n t h e v i l l a g e s , b u t
s o o n t h e village c l u b s h a d to m e e t t h e c o m p e t i t i o n o f l a n d l o r d - s p o n
s o r e d ' c o u n t y ' s o c i e t i e s , t h e first o f w h i c h w a s f o u n d e d i n E s s e x i n
1 8 1 8 f o l l o w e d b y e i g h t m o r e w i t h i n t h e n e x t forty y e a r s . M o r e detri
m e n t a l still w a s t h e r a p i d diffusion o f t h e g r e a t affiliated o r d e r s , e p i
tomised b y the Manchester Unity of Oddfellows. Dorset m a y be taken
a s a c a s e in p o i n t : b y 1 8 7 2 t h e C o u n t y S o c i e t y a c c o u n t e d for a b o u t
a fifth o f total m e m b e r s h i p a n d t h e r e m a i n d e r w a s s h a r e d b e t w e e n
a vastly increased n u m b e r of ' l o d g e s ' operating from small t o w n s
s u c h as B e r e a n d B l a n d f o r d a n d s u r v i v i n g l o c a l c l u b s i n v i l l a g e s s u c h
1 2 4
as M e l b u r y A b b a s a n d M o t c o m b e . D o u b t l e s s t h e affiliated o r d e r s
offered s o m e m a j o r a d v a n t a g e s i n c l u d i n g t h e i r s e e m i n g l y u n q u e s t i o n
a b l e stability a n d , b y v i r t u e o f t h e i r d i s p e r s e d l o d g e s , t h e flexibility
v a l u a b l e to p o t e n t i a l l y m i g r a t o r y y o u n g m a l e s . T h e r e w a s , h o w e v e r ,
s o m e social loss. W i t h the collapse of local clubs older m e m b e r s w e r e
o f t e n left o u t s i d e t h e affiliated o r d e r s a n d t h e j o l l i f i c a t i o n s a s s o c i a t e d
with club anniversaries and public h o u s e meetings withered away.
H o w e v e r , w h a t s h o u l d b e e m p h a s i s e d h e r e is t h a t t h e c h a n g e s w e r e
an instance of the displacement of a myriad of local initiatives b y
a standardised, more bureaucratic model.
121
Graham, Rural Exodus, pp. 34-5.
122
E. N. Bennett, Problems of Village Life (n.d. 1913?), p. 101.
123
R. Blythe, Akenfield (Harmondsworth, 1972), pp. 36-7.
124
P. H. J. H. Gosden, The Friendly Societies in England, 1815-75 (Manchester, 1961),
pp. 66-7.

The countryside 125
The o n w a r d m a r c h o f t h e affiliated o r d e r s w a s n o t l i k e l y t o b e
o p p o s e d b y landlords a n d farmers, favourable as t h e y frequently w e r e
to promoting the ideals of individualism and self-help. Far less
welcome was the intrusion of trade unionism into agriculture.
Although disputes b e t w e e n farmers a n d their e m p l o y e e s resulting
i n t h e c e s s a t i o n o f w o r k at h a r v e s t t i m e w e r e far f r o m unknown,
the view c o m m o n a m o n g established labour leaders of the capacities
of t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l l a b o u r e r w a s c o n d e s c e n d i n g t o a d e g r e e : T n i n t e l l e c t
h e is a c h i l d , i n p o s i t i o n a h e l o t , in c o n d i t i o n a s q u a l i d o u t c a s t . . .
t h e s q u i r e is h i s K i n g , t h e p a r s o n h i s d e i t y , t h e t a p r o o m h i s h i g h e s t
1 2 5
conception of earthly b l i s s / I r o n i c a l l y , a m o n t h after t h e s e w o r d s
w e r e w r i t t e n , t h e first q u a s i - n a t i o n a l l a b o u r e r s ' u n i o n l e d b y t h e
Warwickshire hedger, J o s e p h Arch, w a s b o r n in February 1 8 7 2 .
Initially, s u c c e s s w a s a c h i e v e d i n r a i s i n g w a g e s o n a r i s i n g m a r k e t ,
but the u n i o n ' s inability to resist an organised e m p l o y e r s ' lock-out
in Suffolk in 1874 s o o n led to disillusionment, while relations w e r e
n e v e r g o o d w i t h c o n t e m p o r a n e o u s b u t rival o r g a n i z a t i o n s s u c h as
the Lincolnshire Labour League and the Kent and Sussex Labourers'
U n i o n . B y 1 8 7 9 m e m b e r s h i p o f A r c h ' s N a t i o n a l U n i o n is b e l i e v e d
t o h a v e d e c l i n e d b y as m u c h as t w o - t h i r d s f r o m its 1 8 7 4 p e a k o f 7 9 , 0 0 0 ,
a n d t h e a t t e n t i o n o f t h e u n i o n s w a s f o c u s s e d to a v e r y g r e a t e x t e n t
o n t h e p r o m o t i o n o f e m i g r a t i o n . T h i s tactic, w h i c h h e l p e d to p r o m o t e
a far g r e a t e r o u t f l o w t h a n i n earlier d e c a d e s m a y h a v e w o r k e d t o
t h e a d v a n t a g e o f t h e l a b o u r e r s w h o r e m a i n e d , b u t it a l s o h a d a c o n
1 2 6
s i d e r a b l e p o t e n t i a l t o affect u n i o n m e m b e r s h i p a d v e r s e l y . Another
fillip w a s i m p a r t e d t o u n s k i l l e d u n i o n i s m o n all f r o n t s b y t h e D o c k e r s '
S t r i k e o f 1 8 8 9 a n d i n a g r i c u l t u r e t h e r e is e v i d e n c e , b y 1 8 9 2 , o f t h e
e x i s t e n c e o f six f u r t h e r u n i o n s as w e l l as t h o s e a l r e a d y m e n t i o n e d .
H o w e v e r , w i t h i n a c o u p l e o f y e a r s all h a d e i t h e r d i s a p p e a r e d , i n c l u d
ing the r e m n a n t s of the National a n d K e n t a n d S u s s e x U n i o n s , or
1 2 7
were moribund. A t n o t i m e h a d t h e y m a d e a n y significant h e a d w a y
i n n o r t h e r n E n g l a n d o r in W a l e s w h e r e f a r m s e r v a n t s c o n t i n u e d to
b e h i r e d o n l o n g c o n t r a c t s . I n v a r i a b l y t h e a r a b l e districts w e r e m o r e
125
Lloyd Jones, former Owenite and advocate of trade unionism, writing in The Bee
hive. Quoted in R. Groves, Sharpen the Sickle: The History of the Farm Workers' Union,
2nd edn (1981), p. 36.
126
J. P. D. Dunbabin, 'The Incidence and Organisation of Agricultural Trades Union
ism in the 1870s', Agricultural History Review, 16 (1968), pp. 117-18, 138; and idem,
'The Revolt of the Field: The Agricultural Labourers' Movement in the 1870s',
Past & Present, 26 (1963), p. 85.
127
Hasbach, Agricultural Labourer, p. 302; F. E. Green, History of the English Agricultural
Labourer, 1870-1920(1920), p. 140.

r e c e p t i v e a n d in t h e n e w c e n t u r y t r a d e u n i o n i s m w a s a l m o s t w h o l l y
c o n f i n e d to N o r f o l k , w h e r e G e o r g e E d w a r d s l e d a n E a s t e r n C o u n t i e s
L a b o u r L e a g u e n u m b e r i n g , in 1 9 1 2 , 4 , 0 0 0 m e m b e r s . I n t h e p r e s e n t
c o n t e x t i n t e r e s t a t t a c h e s chiefly t o t h e w a y i n w h i c h agricultural
u n i o n i s m s e e m e d , i n t h e e y e s o f its e n e m i e s , t o call i n t o q u e s t i o n
t h e i n t e g r i t y o f r u r a l s o c i e t y a n d to b e s u c c o u r e d b y a l i e n , p r e d o m i
n a n t l y u r b a n , i n f l u e n c e s . T h u s i n 1 8 7 2 w e find t h e W a i n f l e e t b r a n c h
of t h e L i n c o l n s h i r e L a b o u r L e a g u e a c k n o w l e d g i n g s m a l l d o n a t i o n s
from such quarters as the N o t t i n g h a m D y e r s Association, the Circular
Hosiery Society and the Lace Association from the same city.
Meanwhile the National Union drew voluntary subscriptions from
as far afield as B o u r n e m o u t h a n d W o r t h i n g in t h e s o u t h a n d J a r r o w
a n d M a n c h e s t e r in t h e n o r t h as w e l l a s o n t h e a c t i v e s u p p o r t o f
Birmingham Liberal politicians. Again, in 1 8 9 0 - 2 , agents of the
Dockers' Union busied themselves setting ' m e n against masters and
1 2 8
masters against m e n ' in Lincolnshire, Oxfordshire, a n d e l s e w h e r e .
In t r u t h , t h e s u p p o r t o f u r b a n t r a d e u n i o n i s t s w a s fitful, b u t t o m a n y
it s e e m e d m o s t o b j e c t i o n a b l e . M o r e o v e r , t h e h i s t r i o n i c fury w i t h w h i c h
the u n i o n s w e r e assailed, especially in the early 1870s, w a s attributable
to t h e fact t h a t i n r e c e n t y e a r s p h i l a n t h r o p y h a d b e e n p r a c t i s e d to
an unprecedented extent, and that 'instead of being met with gratitude
1 2 9
it w a s e n c o u n t e r i n g r u d e n e s s a n d a n e w k i n d o f d e m a n d ' . This
c o m m e n t t a k e s u s to t h e h e a r t o f t h e d e e p o f f e n c e w h i c h u n i o n i s m
gave e v e n to those n u m e r o u s landlords a n d farmers w h o w e r e ready
to a d m i t t h a t t h e l a b o u r e r ' s c o n d i t i o n left m u c h to b e d e s i r e d . B y
its very nature trade u n i o n i s m in agriculture a p p e a r e d to deny
implicitly a n y local c o m m u n i t y of interest. T h e point w a s neatly put
b y a B e d f o r d s h i r e l a n d l o r d , C a p t . P o l h i l l - T u r n e r , at h i s h a r v e s t h o m e
i n 1 8 7 4 , w h o d r e w a c o n t r a s t b e t w e e n t h e sort o f u n i o n i s m a b o u t
w h i c h so m u c h h a d b e e n h e a r d lately a n d 'the h a p p y b o n d and
u n i o n i s m t h e y h a d at R e n h o l d - u n i o n i s m b e t w e e n l a n d l o r d a n d t e n
1 3 0
ant, master a n d m e n ' .
T h e s e explicit e x a m p l e s o f t h e p e n e t r a t i o n o f u r b a n i n f l u e n c e s c e r
tainly do not exhaust the t h e m e . Undoubtedly m o r e important than
agents of the D o c k e r s ' U n i o n in the dissemination of urban values
128
R. C. Russell, The Revolt of the Field in Lincolnshire (Lincoln, 1956), p. 37; RC on
Labour: The Agricultural Labourer, I (II), England, Report ofC. M. Chapman, P P 1 8 9 3 - 4 ,
XXXV, p. 56.
129
M. S. Gretton, A Corner of the Cotswolds through the Nineteenth Century (1914), pp.
183-4, and see Jones, 'Agricultural Labour Market', pp. 330-2.
130
Agar, Bedfordshire Farm Worker, p. 195.

The countryside 127
a n d m o d e s o f t h o u g h t w e r e t h o s e c a u g h t u p in a c o n t r a f l o w o f p o p u l a
tion from t o w n to countryside. In the closing decades of the century
t h e s o c i a l s t r u c t u r e o f rural E n g l a n d w a s b e g i n n i n g t o b e n o t i c e a b l y
affected b y r e s i d e n t i a l g r o w t h . T h e d i s p e r s i o n o f p e r s o n s w h o had
b e e n c i t y d w e l l e r s all t h e i r l i v e s , or at l e a s t h a d s u b s t a n t i a l e x p e r i e n c e
of u r b a n life, t o o k m a n y f o r m s . W e m a y i n s t a n c e t h e e x t r e m e l y r a p i d
r a t e o f g r o w t h o f c o u n t r y t o w n s s u c h as W a t f o r d ( w h i c h q u a d r u p l e d
i n size t o r e a c h 2 9 , 0 0 0 b y 1 9 0 1 ) , o r t h e S u r r e y t o w n s d e s c r i b e d as
b e c o m i n g ' a s c o u n t r i f i e d as W i m b l e d o n or B l a c k h e a t h ' , b u t t h e s p r e a d
of v i l l a d o m a l s o affected t h e v i l l a g e s . C o n s i d e r i n g F a r n h a m ( S u r r e y ) ,
w h i c h a l s o q u a d r u p l e d in p o p u l a t i o n to r e a c h 2 , 0 0 0 b e t w e e n 1 8 9 1
and 1 9 1 1 , Sturt remarked on the w a y in which allotments received
b y c o t t a g e r s at its r e c e n t e n c l o s u r e ( 1 8 6 1 ) w e r e o f t e n s o l d for b u i l d i n g
plots: 'the stealthiness of the process, h o w e v e r , blinded us to w h a t
1 3 1
was happening'. Such changes were most obvious within commut
i n g d i s t a n c e o f L o n d o n , b u t w e r e a l s o a p p a r e n t f u r t h e r afield, for
example a r o u n d the fringes of the N e w Forest w h e r e 'weird b u n g a
lows a n d suburban cottages of the dreariest red brick' w e r e springing
1 3 2
up by 1910. I n d e e d e v e n v e r y m o d e s t t o w n s far r e m o v e d f r o m L o n
d o n w e r e b e g i n n i n g t o d e v e l o p s m a l l s u b u r b s , o r e l s e to c o l o n i s e
neighbouring villages into w h i c h the retired a n d wealthy could with
d r a w , as t h e i r c e n t r e s w e r e i n c r e a s i n g l y g i v e n o v e r to offices, s h o p s ,
w o r k s h o p s , a n d hotels. A further feature w a s the t e n d e n c y of farmers
t o let t h e i r b e t t e r c o t t a g e s t o ' w e e k e n d e r s ' , for e x a m p l e a r o u n d E p p i n g
a n d Billericay i n E s s e x . W r i t i n g in 1 9 1 5 , S a v a g e t h o u g h t t h a t t h e r e d i s
covery of the country by those with no immediate concern with the
1 3 3
land h a d b e e n a notable feature of the preceding thirty y e a r s .
If it is a c c e p t e d t h a t t h e diffusion o f u r b a n i d e a s , v a l u e s , a n d life
s t y l e s w a s m a k i n g h e a d w a y i n r u r a l E n g l a n d , t h e n per contra, w e m i g h t
e x p e c t t o find e v i d e n c e o f t h e d e c a y o f t r a d i t i o n a l r u r a l c u l t u r e , u s i n g
t h e t e r m in a b r o a d , a n t h r o p o l o g i c a l s e n s e t o e n c o m p a s s n o r m s o f
b e h a v i o u r a n d r e c e i v e d w i s d o m . S u c h , i n d e e d , a p p e a r s to h a v e b e e n
t h e c a s e a n d m a n y a u t h o r s a l l u d e d to a s o f t e n i n g o f m a n n e r s . V i l l a g e
c h i l d r e n i n t h e C o t s w o l d s w e r e l e s s g i v e n to t h e ' c e a s e l e s s b a i t i n g
of t h e v i l l a g e idiot a n d c r i p p l e a n d c r u e l t y t o e v e r y b i r d a n d b e a s t
131
R. E . Pahl, Urbs in Rure (1965), pp. 19-20; G. Sturt, Lucy Bettesworth (1913), p.
264; idem, The Memoirs of a Surrey Labourer (1907), p. 133; and idem, Change in
the Village (Readers Library edn, 1920), p. 6.
132
A. D. Hall, A Pilgrimage of British Farming, 1910-12 (1912), pp. 33-4.
133
J. C. Thresh, The Housing of the Agricultural Labourer, with Special Reference to Essex
(Chelmsford, 1919), pp. 73, 74; W. G. Savage, Rural Housing (1915), pp. 135-6.

128 W . A. A R M S T R O N G
in t h e i r r a n g e ' . O t h e r s c o m m e n t e d o n t h e g r e a t e r c o n s i d e r a t i o n s h o w n
by m e n towards their wives and children, while b y the Edwardian
period Sturt wrote of a 'surprising equality' and 'dogged companion-
1 3 4
ship' among married couples. Polite forms of address were rapidly
replacing the use of n i c k n a m e s so that even the humblest labourers
a n d t h e i r w i v e s i n c r e a s i n g l y e x p e c t e d t o b e a d d r e s s e d as M r a n d M r s .
It is p o s s i b l e , o f c o u r s e , t o v i e w t h e s e d e v e l o p m e n t s i n a l e s s t h a n
f a v o u r a b l e l i g h t : O b e l k e v i c h h o l d s t h a t a m o r e p r i v a t i s e d f a m i l y life
w a s a facet o f t h e t r i u m p h o f c a p i t a l i s t i n d i v i d u a l i s m a n d h a d b e e n
a c h i e v e d at t h e e x p e n s e o f l o y a l t y t o ' t h e c r o w d ' t h o u g h n o t , h e t h i n k s ,
1 3 5
of c l a s s . B e t h a t a s it m a y , m o r e c i v i l i s e d b e h a v i o u r a l p a t t e r n s w e r e
paralleled b y a decline in the incidence of rural criminality. L a b o u r e r s
n o w i n v a r i a b l y h e l p e d t o e x t i n g u i s h fires, a n d r e p o r t e d c a s e s o f s h e e p
stealing declined from 6 4 9 in 1857 to 119 in 1892 while e v e n p o a c h i n g
d i m i n i s h e d , t h o u g h n o t t o t h e s a m e e x t e n t . F i g u r e s for 1 8 9 1 - 1 9 0 1
comparing eight agricultural counties with certain manufacturing
t o w n s s h o w e d m a r k e d l y l o w e r rural r a t e s i n r e s p e c t o f d r u n k e n n e s s ,
1 3 6
homicidal crime, and assaults and suicide. Since under-thirties had
always featured disproportionately in the criminal statistics, s o m e part
1 3 7
of t h e d e c r e a s e w a s d o u b t l e s s a t t r i b u t a b l e t o m i g r a t i o n . Concur-
r e n t l y t h e r e w a s a c o n s i d e r a b l e e r o s i o n o f v e r n a c u l a r c u s t o m s , tra-
ditions, a n d beliefs. C o n s c i o u s , p e r h a p s , of an acceleration in the
rate o f t h e i r d e c a y , u r b a n V i c t o r i a n s m a d e v i g o r o u s a t t e m p t s t o r e c o r d
t h e m , e s p e c i a l l y after t h e f o r m a t i o n o f t h e F o l k l o r e S o c i e t y i n 1 8 7 8 .
Their interests w e r e decidedly antiquarian and their work unsystema-
tic, s o t h a t n o c l e a r p i c t u r e o f t h e r a t e o f d e c l i n e o f a n c i e n t rituals
a n d beliefs c a n b e a r r i v e d at. M u c h o f w h a t w a s p a s s i n g a w a y w a s
represented by progressives as primitive superstition, although
t o d a y ' s h i s t o r i a n s a r e m o r e l i k e l y t o refer c a u t i o u s l y to ' t h e p r i o r c u l -
1 3 8
t u r e ' or ' p r e - s c i e n t i ñ c a t t i t u d e s o f m i n d ' . M a n y of these observances
w e r e q u i t e h a r m l e s s if i n e f f e c t u a l , s u c h a s b e l i e f in t h e efficacy o f
h o r s e s h o e s a n d r o w a n t w i g s t o w a r d off evil a n d b r i n g g o o d f o r t u n e .
O t h e r s w e r e h a r d o n a n i m a l s , for e x a m p l e t h e ritual r e m e d y r e p o r t e d
134
Gretton, Corner of the Cotswolds, p. 213; Sturt, Change in the Village, pp. 39, 44.
135
Obelkevich, Religion and Rural Society, pp. 100-2.
136
P. Horn, Labouring Life in the Victorian Countryside (Dublin, 1976), p. 227; W. Sullivan,
Alcoholism (1906), cited in D. J. Davies, 'Condition of the Rural Population in Eng-
land and Wales, 1870-1928' (unpublished PhD thesis, University of Wales, 1931),
p. 157.
137
Archer, 'Rural Protest', pp. 274-5; Glyde, Suffolk, pp. 130-1.
138
E.g. C. Phythian-Adams, 'Rural Culture', in Mingay, ed., Victorian Countryside,
vol. 2, pp. 617, 623.

The countryside 129
from t h e L a k e District a n d C o r n w a l l in the 1860s against brucellosis

a m o n g calving c o w s , w h i c h involved either t h e live burial or roasting
o f y o u n g c a l v e s . L e a s t r e g r e t t a b l e o f all, p e r h a p s , w a s a d e c l i n e o f
belief in witchcraft, w h i c h G l y d e believed to h a v e prevailed a m o n g
t h r e e - q u a r t e r s o f S u f f o l k l a b o u r e r s e v e n i n t h e 1 8 4 0 s ; a n d w h i c h as
r e c e n t l y a s 1 8 2 6 , h a d r e s u l t e d i n a n e l d e r l y b e n t m a n at W i c k h a m
1 3 9
H e a t h b e i n g ' s w a m ' for a w i z a r d o n t h e v i l l a g e p o n d . In later times,
belief in witchcraft b e c a m e an increasingly private matter and never
r e s u l t e d i n c o m m u n a l a c t i o n o f t h i s k i n d . It is p r o b a b l y safe to infer
that the structure of ancient beliefs and observances survived most
s t r o n g l y at t h e l e v e l o f t h e c o t t a g e a n d t h a t m i g r a t i o n m u s t h a v e c o n s i
d e r a b l y i n t e r r u p t e d t h e i r t r a n s m i s s i o n t h r o u g h t h e g e n e r a t i o n s , as
w e l l a s a c t i n g s i m p l y t o r e d u c e t h e n u m b e r o f p e o p l e a v a i l a b l e to h o l d
1 4 0
t h e m in c o m m o n . In addition, s o m e powerful forces were ranged
a g a i n s t t h e ' p r i o r c u l t u r e ' . S c h o o l s t e n d e d t o o p p o s e t h e m s e l v e s , as
H a r d y o b s e r v e d , to t h e ' f a s t - p e r i s h i n g l u m b e r o f s u p e r s t i t i o n s , folk
1 4 1
lore, dialect a n d orally-transmitted b a l l a d s ' , as did m e n of the
cloth, A n g l i c a n a n d nonconformist alike. B y the s e c o n d half of the
n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y plural livings a n d n o n - r e s i d e n c y h a d very largely
vanished, and m a n y of the clergy were distinguished by personal
austerity and seriousness of purpose springing from evangelical
i n f l u e n c e s . B e l l - r i n g i n g , for p u r p o s e s u n c o n n e c t e d w i t h s u m m o n i n g
p e o p l e t o c h u r c h , w a s a t a r g e t o f s o m e c l e r g y m e n fearful t h a t t h e
r i n g e r s w o u l d s p e n d t h e m o n e y s o e a r n e d at t h e a l e - h o u s e . A n o t h e r
objective w a s the reform of church music, entailing the ousting of
fiddle-players a n d other self-taught (but adult male) musicians in the
i n t e r e s t o f g r e a t e r d e c o r u m , a n d it w a s n o t i c e a b l e t h a t w o m e n a n d
children m a d e u p the greater part of the church choirs and organ
1 4 2
players w h o replaced t h e m . S o m e customs were laundered and
i n d e e d a n n e x e d at t h e i n s t i g a t i o n o f t h e c l e r g y : t h e c l a s s i c c a s e w a s
the transformation of the raucous harvest h o m e traditionally given
at f a r m h o u s e s , o r a s w a s s o m e t i m e s t h e c a s e w i t h e v e n w o r s e m o r a l
c o n s e q u e n c e s , at p u b l i c h o u s e s . F r o m t h e 1 8 4 0 s d a t e t h e first h a r v e s t
t h a n k s g i v i n g s e r v i c e s , o r i g i n a t i n g , it is t h o u g h t , at E a s t B r e n t ( S o m e r
set) a n d M o r w e n s t o w e (Cornwall) a n d ' C o m e ye thankful people
139
J. Glyde, Autobiography of a Suffolk Farm Labourer (East Suffolk Record Office, q.
S9), pp. 2 5 - 6 .
140
Phythian-Adams, 'Rural Culture', pp. 623-4.
141
T. Hardy, less ofthed'Urbervilles, new edn (1974), p. 50.
142
B. Bushaway, ByRite: Custom, Ceremony and Community in England, 1700-1880(1982),
pp. 49, 5 1 - 6 , 248; A. Jessopp, Arcady: For Better for Worse (1887), p. 233.

c o m e ' a n d ' W e p l o u g h t h e fields a n d s c a t t e r ' w e r e first p u b l i s h e d

1 4 3
in, respectively, 1843 and 1 8 6 1 . C o m p l e m e n t a r y social a r r a n g e
m e n t s i n c r e a s i n g l y t e n d e d to t a k e t h e f o r m o f a p a r i s h feast or s u p p e r
conducted with propriety, and b y 1889, the R e v . B a r i n g - G o u l d could
w r i t e , ' T h e h a r v e s t h o m e is n o m o r e . W e h a v e i n s t e a d h a r v e s t festi
v a l s , t e a a n d c a k e at s i x p e n c e a h e a d in t h e s c h o o l - r o o m , a n d a c h o r a l
1 4 4
s e r v i c e a n d a s e r m o n in t h e c h u r c h . '
Unfortunately, the moral earnestness exhibited b y an increasing pro

p o r t i o n o f rural c l e r g y m e n , n o w o n a p a r w i t h t h a t o f m i n i s t e r s o f
t h e n o n c o n f o r m i s t c h u r c h e s , w a s n o t c o n d u c i v e to s t r e n g t h e n i n g t h e
a p p e a l o f t h e c h u r c h to v i l l a g e p o p u l a t i o n s at l a r g e . D e s p i t e t h e ire
a r o u s e d a g a i n s t i n d i v i d u a l c l e r g y m e n - m a g i s t r a t e s in t h e 1 8 2 0 s a n d
1830s, and the resentment caused a m o n g m a n y farmers by the work
i n g s o f t h e t i t h e s y s t e m p r i o r to t h e c o m m u t a t i o n m e a s u r e o f 1 8 3 6 ,
the 1851 religious census s h o w e d that attendances m a y have b e e n
as m u c h as 4 2 p e r c e n t h i g h e r i n rural a r e a s a n d s m a l l t o w n s t h a n
1 4 5
in t h o s e o f o v e r 1 0 , 0 0 0 i n s i z e , t a k i n g all d e n o m i n a t i o n s t o g e t h e r .
No comparable census was taken subsequently, but educated guesses
s u g g e s t e d s o m e d e c l i n e i n p e r c e n t a g e if n o t in a b s o l u t e t e r m s . B e n n e t t
r e c k o n e d t h a t c h u r c h a n d c h a p e l a t t e n d a n c e in t h e v i l l a g e s in 1 9 1 3
did not normally e x c e e d 2 5 - 3 5 per cent of the adult population, a n d
e v e n t h e s e w e r e u n l i k e l y to b e a r e p r e s e n t a t i v e c r o s s - s e c t i o n o f vil
1 4 6
lagers. In the 1890s G r a h a m ' s characterisation of a typical A n g l i c a n
c o n g r e g a t i o n w a s o n e w h i c h i n c l u d e d , if n o t t h e s q u i r e , t h e n at a n y
rate the ladies a n d servants of his h o u s e h o l d ; m o s t of the larger tenants
a n d t h e i r d e p e n d a n t s ; e s t a t e f u n c t i o n a r i e s s u c h as t h e g a m e k e e p e r
(evincing loyalty to the established order) and the very poor, hobbling
u p t h e aisle a n d ' m a k i n g a fine s h o w o f r h e u m a t i c p a i n s a n d n o t
forgetting the prospect of Christmas coals'. At the chapel, m e a n w h i l e ,
one might encounter s o m e smaller tenants, artisans, and shopkeepers
1 4 7
t o g e t h e r w i t h a s p r i n k l i n g o f free l a b o u r e r s a n d f a r m servants.
A l t h o u g h s o m e r e s e n t m e n t w a s c a u s e d b y t h e failure o f t h e A n g l i c a n
Bushaway, By Rite, pp. 265-71; J. Julian, A Dictionary of Hymnology (1907), pp.

237, 254.
S. Baring-Gould, Old Country Life (1913), quoted in Bushaway, By Rite, p. 272.
K. S. Inglis, 'Patterns of Religious Worship in 1851', Journal of Ecclesiastical History,
11 (1960), p. 80.
Bennett, Problems of Village Life, p. 122.
Graham, Rural Exodus, p. 52.

The countryside 131
clergy (with a few h o n o u r a b l e exceptions) to side o p e n l y with the

l a b o u r e r s at t h e t i m e o f t h e i r ' R e v o l t ' i n t h e 1 8 7 0 s , it is g e n e r a l l y
agreed that positive anti-clericalism in the continental s e n s e w a s rare.
B u t s o m e felt t h a t t h e l o w c h u r c h p a r t y h a d d o n e i m m e n s e harm
' b y s u p p r e s s i n g all g e n i a l j o v i a l n a t u r e s a n d m a k i n g a b l e a k p a r s o n i c
g l o o m the passport to Christianity' a n d b y the E d w a r d i a n period there
w a s ' a g e n e r a l f e e l i n g ' t h a t t h e c h u r c h w i t h its i n c o m p r e h e n s i b l e litur
1 4 8
gies and ancient formularies w a s quite out of touch with the t i m e s .
P a r t o f t h e difficulty l a y , n o d o u b t , i n t h e fact t h a t p a r s o n s w e r e
still c l o s e l y a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e g e n t r y a n d t h u s s o c i a l l y d i s t a n c e d
from those occupying the lower reaches of village hierarchies w h o s e
e x i s t e n c e w a s still a c c u r a t e l y r e f l e c t e d in, s a y , n i c e d i s t i n c t i o n s i n t h e
f o x - h u n t i n g field o r e v e n i n t h e d e g r e e o f a t t e n t i o n t h a t c a l l e r s at
1 4 9
a s o l i c i t o r ' s office m i g h t r e c e i v e . T h i s is n o t t o s u g g e s t t h a t the
rural social order w a s i m m u t a b l e , h o w e v e r , a n d in s o m e respects
c h a n g e s w e r e e s p e c i a l l y v i s i b l e at its a p e x . I n c r e a s e s i n r e n t s w e r e
t h e o r d e r o f t h e d a y u n t i l t h e G r e a t D e p r e s s i o n b e g a n to b i t e in t h e
mid-1870s, and sample studies have s h o w n that the average decrease
w h i c h e n s u e d d o w n to the mid-1890s w a s about 26 per cent, though
very m u c h greater in the south a n d east of the country (41 per cent)
1 5 0
t h a n in the north a n d w e s t (12 per c e n t ) . S u c h a fall c o u l d s e r i o u s l y
embarrass e v e n m e m b e r s of the aristocracy but those most severely
affected w e r e t h e g e n t r y i n t h e a r a b l e districts w h o i n m a n y c a s e s
found that their reduced incomes could no longer stretch to cover
t h e full r a n g e o f activities e x p e c t e d o f t h e m . I n c a s e s w h e r e e s t a t e s
w e r e sold, they w e r e likely to pass into the h a n d s of industrialists
or f i n a n c i e r s s u c h a s t h e B r a d f o r d m a n u f a c t u r e r w h o b o u g h t a 7 , 0 0 0 -
1 5 1
acre estate in Lincolnshire from t h e M a r q u e s s of R i p o n in 1889.
Several consequences followed. There was s o m e blurring of the con
cept of gentility. M o r e t h a n ever, the chink of ready m o n e y c a m e
t o c o u n t for m o r e t h a n l o n g d e s c e n t , h e r a l d i c q u a r t e r i n g s , o r a n c e s t r a l
crusaders. D e v o t i n g m o r e time to their private b u s i n e s s interests or
to the pursuit of c o m p a n y directorships, the h i g h e r gentry b e c a m e
m o r e r e m o t e , o n l y o c c a s i o n a l l y flitting a c r o s s t h e v i l l a g e s c e n e w i t h
t h e i r g o r g e o u s l y a t t i r e d f a m i l i e s , Tike k i n g f i s h e r s c r o s s i n g a flock o f
148
G. Cresswell, Norfolk and its Squires, Clergy, Farmers and Labourers (1875), p. 23;
Bennett, Problems of Village Life, pp. 134-5.
149
D. C. Itzkowitz, Peculiar Privilege: A Social History of English Foxhunting, 1753-1885
(Hassocks, Sussex, 1977), pp. 2 5 - 6 , 6 5 , 1 0 1 , 1 7 7 ; Jefferies, Hodge, pp. 176-7.
150
Thompson, Landed Society, p. 310.
151
Ibid., p. 319.

1 5 2
hedgerow sparrows'. T o s o m e extent, the older generation lost their
a p p e t i t e for a s s u m i n g t h e b u r d e n s o f s o c i a l a n d political l e a d e r s h i p ,
w h i l s t t h e n e w m e n w o u l d s h o u l d e r t h e m o n l y if t h e y p l e a s e d r a t h e r
t h a n r e c o g n i s i n g a n y s t r o n g o b l i g a t i o n to d o s o . T h e s e a r e , o f c o u r s e ,
gross generalisations. There were numerous villages w h e r e tight
s q u i r e a r c h i c a l c o n t r o l r e m a i n e d in e v i d e n c e , d i s p l a y i n g t h a t m i x t u r e
of b e n e f i c e n c e a n d f i r m n e s s w h i c h , i n t h e e y e s o f h o s t i l e critics e n t a i l e d
1 5 3
t h e forfeiture o f e v e r y p a r t i c l e o f f r e e d o m . Y e t , t a k e n as a w h o l e ,
t h e r e is n o d o u b t t h a t t h e g e n t r y w e r e p l a y i n g a d i m i n i s h i n g p u b l i c
role. T h e proportion of M P s w h o were l a n d o w n e r s was reduced from
r o u g h l y t w o - t h i r d s to o n e t h i r d b e t w e e n t h e 1 8 5 0 s a n d 1 8 9 0 s , a n d
to s o m e e x t e n t t h e y also r e l a x e d t h e i r g r i p o n l o c a l g o v e r n m e n t . S i n c e
1 8 3 4 , t h e t e d i o u s a d m i n i s t r a t i o n o f t h e p o o r l a w h a d b e e n left i n c r e a s
i n g l y to f a r m e r s a n d t r a d e s m e n , a n d fears w e r e e x p r e s s e d t h a t t h e
c o u n t y c o u n c i l s o f 1 8 8 8 w o u l d fail to attract g e n t l e m e n a p p r e h e n s i v e
of u n d e r g o i n g t r i e n n i a l e l e c t i o n s c o n t e s t e d b y t h e i r s o c i a l i n f e r i o r s .
I n t h e e v e n t , l a r g e n u m b e r s did s u b m i t t h e m s e l v e s t o t h i s i n d i g n i t y
and were rewarded for their public-spiritedness by being duly
1 5 4
returned. H o w e v e r , g e n t l e m e n w e r e far l e s s in e v i d e n c e o n t h e
rural district c o u n c i l s o f 1 8 9 4 , a n d w o u l d b e r e p r e s e n t e d b y a bailiff
or a g e n t , if at all, o n t h e h u m b l e p a r i s h c o u n c i l s i n s t i t u t e d in t h e
s a m e y e a r . Y e t , d e s p i t e s o m e t e n d e n c y for t h e i r d i r e c t p a r t i c i p a t i o n
i n politics t o b e r e d u c e d , t h e i n f l u e n c e e x e r c i s e d b y l a n d l o r d s r e m a i n e d
e n o r m o u s . T h r o u g h o u t the Victorian age tenant farmers l o o k e d to
t h e m for g u i d a n c e in t h e e x e r c i s e o f t h e i r v o t e s . C a s e s o f direct i n t i m i
dation, through threat of dismissal, etc., were not u n k n o w n , although
it t o o k a v e r y d e t e r m i n e d t e n a n t a n d a n e q u a l l y o b d u r a t e landlord
b e f o r e m a t t e r s c a m e to s u c h a h e a d . T h e y r a r e l y d i d s o , e s p e c i a l l y
after t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n o f t h e s e c r e t b a l l o t ( 1 8 7 2 ) a n d t h e p a s s i n g o f
the Corrupt Practices Act of 1883, the reason being that most farmers
accepted 'the p r e m i s e of the social superiority of the gentry and
r e g a r d e d d e f e r e n c e as a n a t u r a l e l e m e n t o f g o o d g r a c e ' a s it h a s b e e n
1 5 5
neatly put.
M o r e v u l n e r a b l e to w i l d i d e a s , it w a s f e a r e d , w e r e t h e l a b o u r e r s
newly enfranchised in 1 8 8 4 . Being but semi-literate, they were
f r e q u e n t l y j u d g e d to b e i n c a p a b l e o f h o l d i n g i n d e p e n d e n t political
152
F. Thompson, Lark Rise to Candleford (1954 edn), p. 278.
153
See comments of the Daily News reporter on Ardington and Lockinge in M. A.
Havinden, Estate Villages (1966), pp. 113-17.
154
D. C. Moore, 'The Gentry', in Mingay, ed., Victorian Countryside, vol. 2, pp. 395-6.
155
Holderness, 'The Victorian Farmer', p. 232.

The countryside 133
o p i n i o n s a n d , t h o u g h n o t b y n a t u r e f a n a t i c a l , o p e n to t h e a p p e a l s
of d e m a g o g u e s . C e r t a i n l y t h e y w e r e c a n v a s s e d w i t h v i g o u r , e s p e c i a l l y
in t h e e a r l y 1 8 9 0 s w h e n , c o i n c i d i n g w i t h t h e b r i e f r e v i v a l o f a g r i c u l t u r a l
u n i o n i s m , u r b a n radicals sent out into the villages a stream of red
(Land Restoration League) and yellow (Land Nationalisation Society)
vans m a n n e d b y speakers openly saying that landlords were robbers
w h o h a d s t o l e n t h e l a n d f r o m t h e p e o p l e , a n d c a l l i n g for fair r e n t s ,
fair w a g e s , a n d t h e l a n d for all. O c c a s i o n a l l y t h e y w e r e t u r n e d a w a y
b y landlords, but m o s t l y w e n t u n m o l e s t e d , continuing until their
m o m e n t u m and funds ran out. B y and large the Liberals expected
to g a i n m o s t f r o m t h e e x t e n s i o n o f t h e v o t e t o t h e l a b o u r e r s , t h o u g h
t o a c o n s i d e r a b l e e x t e n t t h e i r h o p e s w e r e d i s a p p o i n t e d . T h i s is w e l l
i l l u s t r a t e d in t h e v o t i n g figures r e l a t i n g to J o s e p h A r c h ' s c o n t e s t o n
b e h a l f o f t h e L i b e r a l s for n o r t h - w e s t N o r f o l k in 1 8 8 5 . H e r e , m a n y
of t h e 8 , 2 8 2 e l e c t o r s w h o v o t e d w e r e l a b o u r e r s a n d A r c h did w e l l
t o s e c u r e 4 , 4 6 1 v o t e s to L o r d H e n r y B e n t i n c k ' s 3 , 8 2 1 . H i s t r i u m p h ,
h o w e v e r , w a s d e s t i n e d to b e s h o r t - l i v e d a n d w h e n t h i s r e s u l t w a s
reversed in t h e following year, intimidation of the labourers w a s said
1 5 6
to h a v e b e e n p r a c t i s e d , e s p e c i a l l y b y T o r y f a r m e r s . This was a com
m o n c o m p l a i n t b y L i b e r a l w r i t e r s d o w n to t h e w a r a n d n o d o u b t
t h e r e is t r u t h in m a n y o f t h e i n s t a n c e s g i v e n o f u n i o n o r radical a c t i v i s t s
being denied work or otherwise intimidated. However, many
l a b o u r e r s d e f e r r e d i n s t i n c t i v e l y to t h e w i s h e s o f t h e i r e m p l o y e r s . S o m e
of t h e m e n w i t h w h o m H o l d e n b y c a m e i n t o c l o s e c o n t a c t t o l d h i m
t h a t t h e y n e v e r u s e d t h e i r v o t e : T k n o w ' s as ' e b e t ' o t h e r w a y o '
1 5 7
t h i n k i n ' a n d I w o u l d n o ' l i k e to ' u r t ' i s f e e l i n ' s . ' In other respects,
too, a p p r e h e n s i o n s of the i m m i n e n t politicisation of the labourers
h a d b e e n exaggerated. Financial considerations prevented t h e m from
s t a n d i n g for c o u n t y or district c o u n c i l e l e c t i o n s , a n d a l t h o u g h t h e r e
w a s s o m e initial e n t h u s i a s m for p a r i s h c o u n c i l s (fifty-four l a b o u r e r s
1 5 8
w e r e e l e c t e d t o office in W a r w i c k s h i r e in 1 8 9 4 ) , this s o o n evaporated
w h e n t h e i r v e r y l i m i t e d p o w e r s o f effecting c h a n g e i n t h e v i l l a g e s t o o d
revealed.
T o s u m u p t h e c o n d i t i o n o f E n g l i s h rural s o c i e t y o n t h e e v e o f t h e
Great W a r w o u l d be no easy task. T h e dynamic forces of c h a n g e
m a y b e identified readily, but t h e y h a d operated u n e v e n l y . S o m e
districts h a d b e e n m o r e t r o u b l e d b y t h e v i c i s s i t u d e s o f a g r i c u l t u r a l
156
P. Horn, Joseph Arch (Kineton, Warwicks., 1971), pp. 170-1, 183-4.
157
C. Holdenby, Folk of the Furrow (1913), p. 226.
158
Horn, Labouring Life, pp. 142-3.

prosperity than others. S o m e villages r e m a i n e d relatively i m m u n e

from urban influences o n account of poor accessibility, e v e n in the
age of the railway. M a n y , o n account of rural de-industrialisation h a d
b e c o m e m o r e exclusively agrarian a n d others, in an occupational
sense, m o r e cosmopolitan. Against ' o p e n ' settlements which pre
served e l e m e n t s of an unspecialised, ' p e a s a n t ' e c o n o m y to a late date
and t h e n in s o m e cases s u c c u m b e d rapidly to suburbanising influences
might b e set estate villages featuring enduring 'feudal' relationships,
while there were m a n y variations lying b e t w e e n these extremes. T h e
heterogeneity of English villages, w h i c h s o m e believe to h a v e b e e n
greater than ever, gave enormous scope, of which contemporaries
t o o k a d v a n t a g e , for c o n t r a s t i n g p o r t r a y a l s o f t h e q u a l i t y o f c o u n t r y
life. B u t it w a s u n i v e r s a l l y r e c o g n i s e d t h a t r u r a l s o c i e t y h a d l o s t s o m e
of its vitality, a n d , c e r t a i n l y , m u c h o f its c a p a c i t y for independent
d e v e l o p m e n t a s t h e B r i t i s h i n d u s t r y - s t a t e , still b a r e l y a d o l e s c e n t i n
1851, m o v e d rapidly towards maturity.
IV
I n N o v e m b e r 1 9 1 4 , t h e Farmer and Stockbreederforecast that 'Agriculture

1 5 9
of all i n d u s t r i e s is t h e l e a s t l i k e l y t o b e affected b y t h e w a r . ' In
t h e e v e n t , t h o u g h n o t b e f o r e 1 9 1 6 b y w h i c h d a t e t h e retail f o o d p r i c e
index had risen b y s o m e 60 per cent and a more serious view was
taken of the G e r m a n submarine threat, the war necessitated a reversal
i n t h e t r a d i t i o n a l p o s t u r e o f l a i s s e z faire t o w a r d s a g r i c u l t u r e . T h e
government t h e n put together a food production p r o g r a m m e featuring
a s y s t e m o f g u a r a n t e e d p r i c e s , a n n o u n c e d i n F e b r u a r y 1 9 1 7 a n d fol
l o w e d in A u g u s t b y the C o r n P r o d u c t i o n Act w h i c h set m i n i m u m
p r i c e s , o n a d e c l i n i n g s c a l e , t o e x t e n d t o 1 9 2 2 . It a l s o a s s u m e d u n p r e c e
dented p o w e r s to control cropping, stocking, a n d the allocation of
labour, machinery, and s c a r c e fertilisers t h r o u g h hastily formed
County Agricultural Committees consisting of leading landowners
a n d f a r m e r s . B y t h e c l o s e o f t h e w a r B r i t i s h a g r i c u l t u r e w a s effectively
f e e d i n g t h e p o p u l a t i o n for t h e e q u i v a l e n t o f 1 5 5 d a y s i n t h e y e a r c o m
pared t o 1 2 5 at its o u t b r e a k . H o w e v e r in 1 9 2 1 , the government
d r o p p e d g u a r a n t e e d prices, a step w h i c h w a s bitterly r e s e n t e d as an
act o f b e t r a y a l . T h r o u g h o u t t h e 1 9 2 0 s , a p a r t f r o m a n e x c e p t i o n a l m e a
s u r e t o s u b s i d i s e s u g a r b e e t p r o d u c t i o n i n 1 9 2 4 , a g r i c u l t u r e w a s left
159
E . H. Whetham, The Agrarian History of England and Wales, vol. 8: 1914-39
(Cambridge, 1978), p. 70.

The countryside 135
t o its fate i n a c o n t e x t o f falling p r i c e s w h i c h b e t w e e n 1 9 2 0 a n d 1 9 3 3

1 6 0
sank from 2 9 2 to 107 ( 1 9 1 1 - 1 3 = 1 0 0 ) . A Diss auctioneer recollects
t h a t m e n ' f a r m i n g l a n d t h a t w a s a bit u g l y w e n t u n d e r b y t h e s c o r e s .
E v e n o n the g o o d land w h e r e the farmer h a d n ' t e n o u g h capital to
l o o k after it a n d h a v e it p r o p e r l y d r a i n e d h e c o u l d n ' t h o l d o n . . .
1 6 1
a g o o d deal of the land w e n t b a c k . ' T h e de-rating of agricultural
land a n d buildings in 1928 w a s not e n o u g h to prevent bankruptcies
a m o n g English a n d W e l s h farmers from averaging 397 in 1 9 2 1 - 3 1 ,
1 6 2
rising to a p e a k of 600 in 1 9 3 2 . T h e r e a f t e r , s o m e s u p p o r t w a s forth
c o m i n g , b e c a u s e it w o u l d h a v e b e e n i n v i d i o u s t o i g n o r e a g r i c u l t u r e
w h e n the n e w National Government was busy erecting a comprehen
s i v e s y s t e m o f i m p o r t tariffs i n t h e w a k e o f t h e e c o n o m i c b l i z z a r d
of 1931. In 1932 c a m e the W h e a t Act assuring producers of a guaran
teed price (45s. a quarter) while horticultural produce received a mea
sure of protection under the Import Duties Act of 1932. B y 1937,
c o m p a r e d to 1 9 2 7 - 9 , total food imports from foreign countries h a d
b e e n reduced by 21 per cent in volume, although under imperial pre
ference arrangements a 42 per cent increase in imports from the Empire
1 6 3
offset t h i s , s o t h a t , o v e r a l l , i m p o r t s w e r e 3 p e r c e n t h i g h e r . Another
i n t e r v e n t i o n i s t s t e p , u n d e r a n act o f 1 9 3 1 , e n a b l e d t w o - t h i r d s o f t h e
producers of a n y agricultural c o m m o d i t y to control o u t p u t as well
a s s e t p r i c e s . B y 1 9 3 4 t h e first m a r k e t i n g b o a r d s , for h o p s , p o t a t o e s ,
milk, a n d b a c o n , h a d appeared, to b e characterised b y varying degrees
of success.
T h e s e m e a s u r e s d i d n o t s u c c e e d i n lifting p r i c e s t o l e v e l s at w h i c h
profits c o u l d b e e a s i l y w o n , for i n 1 9 3 7 - 9 t h e y r e m a i n e d 1 0 p e r c e n t
b e l o w e v e n t h e level of 1 9 2 7 - 9 , a n d in 1938 t h e total acreage of agricul
1 6 4
tural land u n d e r crops or grass w a s 6 per cent l o w e r t h a n in 1 9 2 0 .
N e v e r t h e l e s s t h e y d i d b e t o k e n t h e final d e t h r o n e m e n t o f laissez-faire
in the sphere of agricultural e c o n o m i c s , e v e n before the exigencies
of t h e S e c o n d W o r l d W a r w e r e c o n f r o n t e d . W a r t i m e s t r a t e g y w a s
directed towards achieving a coherent food p r o g r a m m e and minimis
i n g t h e u s e o f s c a r c e s h i p p i n g r e s o u r c e s for f o o d i m p o r t s . A g r i c u l t u r e
w a s obliged to concentrate o n grainstuffs, potatoes, a n d milk a n d
with increasing expertise, the government deployed a variety of
160
Ibid., p. 230.
161
G. E. Evans, Where Beards Wag All (1970), pp. 108-9.
162
Whetham, Agrarian History, p. 238.
163
K. A. H. Murray, Agriculture: History of the Second World War, Civil Series (1955),
p. 31.
164
Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural Statistics, pp. 85, 93.

136 W . A. A R M S T R O N G
m o n e t a r y i n c e n t i v e s a n d d i r e c t s u b s i d i e s to r e a c h its g o a l s . O n c e a g a i n
land utilisation w a s put u n d e r the control of W a r Agricultural C o m
mittees, a n d o n this occasion the g o v e r n m e n t recognised from the
o u t s e t t h a t its p l a n s w o u l d r e q u i r e c o n s i d e r a b l e l a b o u r i n p u t s , s o t h a t
f a r m w o r k e r s w e r e l a r g e l y e x e m p t e d f r o m m i l i t a r y s e r v i c e a n d effec
tively l o c k e d i n t o a g r i c u l t u r e b y o r d e r s o f 1 9 4 0 a n d 1 9 4 1 . W o r k i n g
a l o n g s i d e t h e m w e r e g r e e n - j e r s e y e d l a n d g i r l s a n d Italian a n d G e r m a n
prisoners of war and b e t w e e n t h e m these categories made up nearly
o n e s i x t h o f a w h o l e - t i m e l a b o u r force t h a t i n c r e a s e d b y n e a r l y 2 0
per cent during the war. B y such m e a n s , coupled with lavish increases
in t h e a m o u n t o f fertiliser u s e d a n d i n c r e a s e d m e c h a n i s a t i o n ( t h e r e
w e r e t e n t r a c t o r s to e v e r y s e v e n t e e n B r i t i s h f a r m s b y 1 9 4 5 ) , r e a l n e t
output was raised b y b e t w e e n 8 and 20 per cent (depending on h o w
1 6 5
i n p u t s are e v a l u a t e d ) . N o t unjustifiably, farmers w e r e p r o u d of their
a c h i e v e m e n t a n d h o p e d that this s e c o n d d e m o n s t r a t i o n of agricul
ture's indispensability within a generation w o u l d result in a n e w
a p p r e c i a t i o n o f its i m p o r t a n c e to t h e n a t i o n . I n t h i s t h e y w e r e n o t
disappointed. Urgent balance of p a y m e n t s problems necessitated that
i m p o r t s s h o u l d b e strictly h e l d d o w n . It w a s a g a i n s t t h i s b a c k g r o u n d
that the Labour g o v e r n m e n t passed an Agriculture Act of 1947 w h i c h
set u p t h e p o s t w a r f r a m e w o r k for a g r i c u l t u r e a n d c o m p r i s e d a n a n n u a l
p r i c e r e v i e w a n d g u a r a n t e e d m a r k e t for t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t farm
products.
T h r o u g h t h e s e y e a r s o f w a r a n d p e a c e , t h e p a c e o f c h a n g e in rural
s o c i e t y a c c e l e r a t e d , y e t it is s t r i k i n g h o w far t h e d i r e c t i o n it t o o k fol
l o w e d l i n e s a l r e a d y c l e a r l y laid d o w n b e f o r e 1 9 1 4 . T h e i n t r o d u c t i o n
of d e a t h d u t i e s ( 1 8 9 4 ) , t h e i r s t r e n g t h e n i n g ( 1 9 0 8 ) , a n d t h e i n c r e m e n t a l
value and undeveloped land duties p r o p o s e d in L l o y d G e o r g e ' s
' P e o p l e ' s B u d g e t ' of 1909 q u i c k e n e d a p p r e h e n s i o n s about the likely
trend of Liberal legislation a n d already, in 1 9 1 0 - 1 4 , p r o m p t e d n e r v o u s
p e r s o n s t o sell. T h e G r e a t W a r b r o u g h t a c o n j u n c t u r e o f c i r c u m s t a n c e s
c a l c u l a t e d t o h a s t e n t h e b r e a k - u p o f e s t a t e s . A m o n g j u n i o r officers,
casualties on the W e s t e r n Front were especially high and estates
p a s s e d o f t e n t o d i s t a n t r e l a t i v e s w i t h n o s p e c i a l local t i e s , w h o w e r e
p a r t i c u l a r l y v u l n e r a b l e t o d e a t h d u t i e s w h i c h w e r e r a i s e d to a l l e g e d
' c o n f i s c a t o r y ' l e v e l s o f u p to 4 0 p e r c e n t o n e s t a t e s v a l u e d at £ 2 m
a n d o v e r , in 1 9 1 9 . T h e i m p a c t o f h i g h e r t a x a t i o n g e n e r a l l y h a d a l s o
165
Ibid., pp. 19-20, 22, 62, 7 1 - 2 , 79; Murray, Agriculture, p. 243. The tractor-farm
ratio given here excludes holdings with 5 or less acres of crops or grass, and the
real net output figures relate to the United Kingdom.

The countryside 137
b e e n k e e n l y felt; o n t h e W i l t o n a n d S e v e r n a k e e s t a t e s l a n d t a x , r a t e s
a n d i n c o m e t a x r o s e f r o m 9 p e r c e n t o f g r o s s r e n t a l b e f o r e 1 9 1 4 to
1 6 6
some 30 per cent by 1919. O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , w a r t i m e r e n t s did
n o t rise s o fast as p r i c e s , a n d t h e e a g e r n e s s w h i c h f a r m e r s s h o w e d
to p u r c h a s e land in 1919 a n d 1920 w a s remarkable. A n avalanche
of s a l e s t o o k p l a c e in 1 9 1 9 a n d at t h e c l o s e o f 1 9 2 1 , t h e Estates Gazette
e s t i m a t e d that as m u c h as o n e quarter of E n g l a n d m u s t h a v e c h a n g e d
1 6 7
h a n d s in the preceding four y e a r s . I n t h e s e c i r c u m s t a n c e s it is u n s u r
p r i s i n g t h a t w h a t w a s left o f t h e c o n c e p t o f ' s t e w a r d s h i p ' w a s i n r a p i d
retreat a n d a moral superiority over the other inhabitants of the rural
world could n o longer b e claimed so confidently b y inheritors or pur
chasers of l a n d in the interwar period. Old-fashioned demeanours
w e r e c o m i n g t o b e c o n s i d e r e d ' m o r e g r o t e s q u e t h a n i n t o l e r a b l e , for
1 6 8
in 1925 their " i n f e r i o r s " l a u g h ' .
F o r a t i m e t h e n u m b e r o f o w n e r - o c c u p i e r s i n c r e a s e d r a p i d l y : in 1 9 2 7
the proportion of English a n d W e l s h agricultural land so h e l d w a s
1 6 9
36 per cent, against 11 per cent in 1 9 1 4 . However, the trend could
s c a r c e l y b e e x p e c t e d to c o n t i n u e i n d e f i n i t e l y , g i v e n t h e s t a t e o f agricul
t u r e , a n d a fall in l a n d v a l u e s o c c u r r e d , f r o m 1 3 4 i n 1 9 2 0 to a n a d i r
1 7 0
in 1929 of 82 ( 1 9 3 7 - 9 = 1 0 0 ) . T h e L o f t s H a l l e s t a t e at E l m d o n , E s s e x ,
p a s s e d through the h a n d s of two speculative purchasers, in 1927 and
1929, o n e of w h o m ripped out the Elizabethan panelling in the m a n
sion, w h i c h e n d e d in the Hearst collection in America; although the
f a r m s a n d c o t t a g e s w e r e e v e n t u a l l y s o l d off at r o c k - b o t t o m p r i c e s ,
it is s i g n i f i c a n t t h a t n o n e o f t h e t e n a n t s a c t u a l l y b o u g h t t h e i r f a r m s ,
1 7 1
t h o u g h several continued to occupy t h e m . A census of farm land
t a k e n in 1 9 4 1 w o u l d r e v e a l t h a t t h e p r o p o r t i o n h e l d b y o w n e r - o c c u
p i e r s s c a r c e l y c h a n g e d after 1927, w h i c h a t t e s t s a l s o to t h e l i m i t a t i o n s
of t h e s m a l l h o l d i n g s m o v e m e n t s o d e a r to t h e h e a r t s o f t h e L i b e r a l s ,
w h o h a d l o n g f a v o u r e d t h e i r e x t e n s i o n as l i k e l y to e n c o u r a g e t h e
g r o w t h o f a c l a s s o f v o t e r s free f r o m s u b s e r v i e n c e to m a i n l y T o r y
l a n d l o r d s . Little h a d c o m e o f A c t s o f 1 8 9 2 a n d 1908 w h i c h e m p o w e r e d
c o u n t y c o u n c i l s to c r e a t e s u c h h o l d i n g s , n o r d i d a n y g r e a t s u c c e s s
attend the 1919 Act which aimed to provide smallholdings for
166
Thompson, Landed Society, pp. 321-2, 327-30.
167
Ibid., p. 332.
168
J. W. Robertson-Scott, England's Green and Pleasant Land (1925), p. 35.
169
Whetham, Agrarian History, pp. 160-1.
170
J. T. Ward, 'Changes in the Sale Value of Farm Real Estate in England and Wales',
The Farm Economist, 7 (1953), p. 151.
171
J. Robin, Elmdon: Continuity and Change in a North-West Essex Village, 1861-1964
(Cambridge, 1980), pp. 65, 73.

e x - s e r v i c e m e n . T h r o u g h o u t its h i s t o r y t h e m o v e m e n t h a d b e e n criti
cised as b a c k w a r d - l o o k i n g a n d liable to p r o d u c e d a n g e r o u s l y unviable
holdings a n d in the e c o n o m i c circumstances of the interwar period
it is n o t s u r p r i s i n g t o find t h a t t h e r a t e at w h i c h s m a l l f a r m s d i s a p
p e a r e d i n t o l a r g e r u n i t s e x c e e d e d t h a t at w h i c h n e w o n e s w e r e c r e a t e d
u s i n g p u b l i c f u n d s . I n E n g l a n d a n d W a l e s , h o l d i n g s i n t h e r a n g e 1-5
acres d e c r e a s e d b y 18 per cent b e t w e e n 1914 a n d 1925, a n d b y a further
8 per cent b y 1935; and those of 5 - 5 0 acres b y 5 and 9 per cent respect
172
ively.
T h u s , the retreat of the squirearchy a n d decline of the landed estates
increased the number of owner-occupiers; but reductions in the
n u m b e r o f s m a l l f a r m s m a d e it l e s s l i k e l y t h a n e v e r t h a t a n o r d i n a r y
worker could a s c e n d the agricultural ladder b y b e c o m i n g established
as a s m a l l f a r m e r . T h e Land Worker, a n e w s p a p e r p u b l i s h e d b y t h e
National Agricultural W o r k e r s ' Union, viewed smallholdings with
predictable scepticism a n d sought to contrast e m p l o y e r s w h o w e r e
up-to-date and ' e m p l o y e d science and forethought' with the other
sort w h o d r a g g e d d o w n t h e a v e r a g e a n d m a d e profits l o o k b a d . T h i s
s a i d , it d i d n o t h e s i t a t e t o criticise t h e c o n d u c t o f i n d i v i d u a l f a r m e r s ,
a n d m a d e a point of monitoring the size of farmers' wills. In the
seven years ending April 1 9 3 3 , 1 , 8 1 5 each bequeathing £ 8 , 0 0 0 or more
left i n t o t a l £ 3 9 . 4 m : T f w e r e c k o n t h a t t h e r e a r e 8 6 , 6 0 0 f a r m e r s i n
England, Wales and Scotland with farms over 100 acres, w e estimate
1 7 3
that half of t h e m w h o die leave fortunes of m o r e t h a n £ 5 , 0 0 0 e a c h . '
W h a t e v e r t h e m e r i t s o f t h e s e c a l c u l a t i o n s , it is c l e a r t h a t v a l i d g e n e r a l
i s a t i o n s a b o u t t h e p o s i t i o n o f f a r m e r s i n t h e i n t e r w a r p e r i o d a r e diffi
cult t o m a k e . I n D e v o n , t h e p e r c e n t a g e i n a s a m p l e o f 1 8 6 f a r m e r s
w h o o w n e d motor-cars rose from thirteen in 1928 to thirty-four in
1 7 4
1934, b y w h i c h date o n e in t w o holding over 150 acres u s e d t h e m .
A f a r m e r ' s life s t y l e m i g h t c o n v e y t h e i m p r e s s i o n t h a t h e w a s d o i n g
well w h e n , considered from another standpoint, the return on his
capital e m p l o y e d w a s rather l o w t h u s enabling h i m to g r u m b l e p u b
licly a b o u t t h e u n r e m u n e r a t i v e b u s i n e s s o f f a r m i n g . A t all e v e n t s ,
those w h o survived the interwar period found greater prosperity dur
i n g t h e w a r , w h i c h , a c c o r d i n g t o a N o r f o l k w o m a n w h o s p o k e for
many, 'made most of t h e m ' . B e y o n d a doubt farmers' net incomes
172
Whetham, Agrarian History, p. 45.
173
Land Worker, October 1927, December 1931, April 1933.
174
W . H. Long and S. H. Carson, 'Farmers and Motor Cars', The Farm Economist,
1 (1935), p. 243.

The countryside 139
rose m o r e rapidly t h a n w a g e s in general (including farm w o r k e r s '

w a g e s ) , s a l a r i e s , p r o f e s s i o n a l e a r n i n g s , a n d c o m p a n y profits, and
1 7 5
approximately doubled their share of the national i n c o m e . N o r did
f a r m e r s s h a r e fully i n t h e p r i v a t i o n s o f t h e r e s t o f s o c i e t y . T h o u g h
h a r a s s e d b y a variety of orders c o n c e r n i n g the killing of a n d disposal
of a n i m a l s a n d p e t r o l a l l o c a t i o n s , t h e r e is a m p l e t e s t i m o n y t h a t t h e s e
w e r e n o t difficult to e v a d e .
D e s p i t e t h e l o n g - s t a n d i n g drift f r o m t h e l a n d , t h e ratio o f e m p l o y e e s
t o e m p l o y e r s r e m a i n e d o f t h e o r d e r o f 3 : 1 in 1 9 1 1 . D u r i n g t h e G r e a t
War t h o u s a n d s of y o u n g e r m e n w e r e d r a w n into military service,
t h o u g h n o t w i t h q u i t e t h e effect o n c e b e l i e v e d , for in o n e w a y o r
a n o t h e r , a b o u t 9 7 p e r c e n t o f total l a b o u r i n p u t o f t h e p r e - w a r p e r i o d
w a s still b e i n g a c h i e v e d in 1 9 1 8 . A d u l t m a l e w o r k e r s w h o r e m a i n e d
o n t h e f a r m s e x p e r i e n c e d initially a fall in real w a g e s o f a b o u t 13
p e r c e n t b y t h e e n d o f 1 9 1 6 , d u e in p a r t to t h e u n d e r - c u t t i n g o f t h e i r
176
position by the use of auxiliaries. Thereafter they benefited from
the operations of an Agricultural W a g e s Board introduced along with
t h e C o r n P r o d u c t i o n A c t , s o t h a t , o v e r a l l , w a r t i m e i n c r e a s e s in e a r n
ings (some 95 per cent) kept pace with prices. Trade unionism b o o m e d
concurrently a n d N U A W m e m b e r s h i p rose from only 4 , 0 0 0 - 5 , 0 0 0 in
1 7 7
1 9 1 4 to r e a c h 9 3 , 0 0 0 b y 1 9 2 0 . At about this date, an E s s e x labourer
e x p r e s s e d h i s s a t i s f a c t i o n : 'all m y life t h e f a r m e r ' s b i n s i t t i n ' o n w e ,
1 7 8
a n ' n o w its o u r t u r n a n ' w e ' r e s i t t i n g o n t h e l i k e s o f h i m ' . Such
o p t i m i s m w a s d e s t i n e d to b e s h o r t - l i v e d . W i t h t h e r e p e a l o f t h e C o r n
Production Act c a m e the replacement of statutory wage-fixing ma
chinery b y voluntary county conciliation committees; these proved
t o b e d i s a s t r o u s l y ineffective, t h e a v e r a g e c a s h w a g e s o f o r d i n a r y
w o r k e r s falling f r o m 3 7 s . in 1 9 2 1 to 2 8 s . t h e f o l l o w i n g y e a r , as f a r m e r s
s o u g h t to r e t r e n c h . W a g e s w e r e p a r t i c u l a r l y l o w i n N o r f o l k w h e r e ,
in 1 9 2 3 , a f u r t h e r a t t e m p t w a s m a d e to r e d u c e t h e m , t o 5\d. a n h o u r ,
which would have yielded a wage of 24s. 9d. on the assumption of
a full fifty-four-hour w e e k w h i c h , h o w e v e r , e m p l o y e r s w o u l d not
g u a r a n t e e . T h e e n s u i n g strike m a r k s a n o t h e r f a m o u s c h a p t e r in t h e
history of agricultural trade u n i o n i s m , a n d saw intimidation o n b o t h
175
N. Longmate, How We Lived Then (1971), p. 235; Murray, Agriculture, pp. 289-90.
176
P. E. Dewey, 'Agricultural Labour Supply in England and Wales during the First
World War', Economic History Review, 2nd ser., 28 (1975), pp. 104, 107-8.
177
H. Newby, The Deferential Worker (1977), p. 228. See also A. Howkins, Poor Labouring
Men: Rural Radicalism in Norfolk 1870-1923 (1985), chaps. 7, 8.
178
S. L. Benusan, Latterday Rural England (1927), p. 24.

140 W . A. A R M S T R O N G
sides, the u s e of blacklegs, s o m e limited violence, a n d n u m e r o u s cases

of v i c t i m i s a t i o n i n t h e a f t e r m a t h o f a s e t t l e m e n t w h i c h , s i n c e it f e a t u r e d
a 2 5 s . w e e k l y w a g e for a g u a r a n t e e d w e e k o f fifty h o u r s , c o u l d b e
represented b y the N U A W as successful. Y e t the episode served also
to i n d i c a t e t h e w e a k n e s s o f a g r i c u l t u r a l t r a d e u n i o n i s m . I n t h i s , t h e
s t r o n g e s t district o f t h e c o u n t r y , o n l y a b o u t a q u a r t e r o f t h e m e n
called u p o n to do so actually struck, a n d t h e benefits payable to t h o s e
179
w h o did cost the u n i o n the equivalent of t w o years s u b s c r i p t i o n s .
H o w e v e r , t h e s t r i k e h e l p e d b y its i m p a c t o n p u b l i c o p i n i o n t o p a v e
t h e w a y for t h e r e s t o r a t i o n o f s t a t u t o r y w a g e l e g i s l a t i o n i n a g r i c u l t u r e
by a Labour g o v e r n m e n t the following year. T h e rates agreed b y
c o u n t y w a g e c o m m i t t e e s t h e r e a f t e r d i d n o t a l w a y s h o l d i n face o f
often g e n u i n e i g n o r a n c e o n t h e p a r t o f e m p l o y e r s a n d e m p l o y e e s ,
for in 1 9 3 5 - 6 t h e p r o p o r t i o n o f E n g l i s h w o r k e r s still u n d e r p a i d w a s
1 8 0
p r o b a b l y as h i g h a s 2 1 p e r c e n t . F o r all t h a t , t h e d e c i s i o n to r e s u r r e c t
wage-fixing m a c h i n e r y w a s helpful to t h e farm w o r k e r : in particular,
w a g e s w e r e h e l d steady in 1 9 3 1 - 4 w h e n t h e y w o u l d o t h e r w i s e h a v e
t u m b l e d , a n d b y t h e l a t e r 1 9 3 0 s c a s h w a g e s h a d lifted a little. A v e r a g e
e a r n i n g s o f o r d i n a r y w o r k e r s s t o o d at 3 5 s . 3 d . i n 1 9 3 6 - 7 , w i t h t h o s e
of s p e c i a l i s t w o r k e r s s o m e 3 - 5 s . h i g h e r . I n v i e w o f c o n t e m p o r a r y
m o v e m e n t s in the cost of living, their real value m a y h a v e increased
b y as m u c h a s 2 0 p e r c e n t b e t w e e n 1 9 2 5 a n d 1 9 3 8 w h i l e f a r m w o r k e r s '
birth rates w e r e also c o m i n g d o w n (by 2 1 per cent b e t w e e n 1921 a n d
1 8 1
1931) albeit m o r e s l o w l y t h a n i n m o s t o t h e r o c c u p a t i o n a l g r o u p s .
These gains w e r e to s o m e extent reflected in rising standards of con
sumption. Margaret A s h b y allowed that their h o m e s b y the thirties
w e r e 'all well-equipped with c o o k i n g utensils w h e r e a s in pre-war
y e a r s frying p a n a n d s a u c e p a n w e r e all t h a t w e r e a v a i l a b l e . I m p r o v e d
s o a p s , t h e m a n t l e l a m p , t h e oil s t o v e . . . a r e n o t d e s p i c a b l e a s c o n t r i b u
1 8 2
tions to the decent l i f e . ' Raleigh bicycles complete with Dunlop
tyres a n d S t u r m e y - A r c h e r t h r e e - s p e e d gears w e r e b e i n g advertised
at £ 8 . 1 0 s - o r 1 2 s . a m o n t h - i n t h e p a g e s o f t h e Land Worker i n t h e
1920s, a n d m a n y y o u n g e r m e n in the 1930s acquired motor-cycles,
179
Newby, Deferential Worker, p. 225.
180
A. W . Ashby and J. H. Smith, 'Agricultural Labour in Wales under Statutory
Regulation of Wages, 1924-37', Welsh Journal of Agriculture, 14 (1938), p. 20. In
Wales the proportion was still higher.
181
W. H. Pedley, Labour on the Land (1942), pp. 35, 38; J. W. Innes, 'Class Birth Rates
in England and Wales, 1921-31', Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly, 19 (1941), p. 87.
182
M. K. Ashby, 'Recent Rural Changes as they Affect the Younger Generation',
Journal and Proceedings of the Agricultural Economics Society, 2 (1933), p. 229.

The countryside 141
if u s u a l l y s e c o n d - h a n d o n e s . D u r i n g t h e S e c o n d W o r l d W a r m i n i m u m
w a g e s w e r e r e v i s e d i n l i n e w i t h f a r m p r o d u c t p r i c e s , a n d r o s e to
72s. 2d. with m a n y m e n earning over £ 4 . E v e n so the farm worker
r e m a i n e d relatively poorly paid. T h u s t h e average w a g e in seven
skilled industrial occupations in 1937 w a s rather over double what
the ordinary agricultural worker could expect to receive, whilst
u n s k i l l e d l a b o u r e r s w o r k i n g for l o c a l a u t h o r i t i e s a n d o n b u i l d i n g sites
1 8 3
earned 5 3 - 4 s . and on the railways, 4 7 s . It is n o t , t h e r e f o r e , surpris
i n g t h a t t h e h i s t o r i c t r e n d t o w a r d s t h e r e d u c t i o n o f f a r m staffs c o n t i
n u e d , until interrupted b y the restrictions of the S e c o n d W o r l d W a r .
From 1921 the outflow can be monitored from the Agricultural
R e t u r n s , w h i c h s h o w , in t h e 1920s, a m a r k e d decline in farmers'
r e l i a n c e o n c a s u a l l a b o u r , b o t h m a l e a n d f e m a l e , a l t h o u g h n o t , at
that stage, of regular male workers; thereafter, however, their
1 8 4
n u m b e r s p l u m m e t e d b y s o m e 17 per cent in nine years, 1 9 3 0 - 9 .
C e r t a i n l y d e s p e r a t e efforts t o s e e k e c o n o m i e s i n e x p e n d i t u r e o n l a b o u r
w e r e m a d e a s f a r m e r s s t r o v e t o r e s p o n d t o c h a n g i n g p r i c e relativities
b y shifting t h e c o m p o s i t i o n o f f a r m o u t p u t a w a y f r o m c e r e a l p r o d u c
t i o n . I n E a s t A n g l i a t h e c o s t o f p o o r l a w relief q u a d r u p l e d b e t w e e n
1 8 5
1931 and the year ending March 1 9 3 3 . H o w e v e r , in general, those
w h o left t h e l a n d d i d s o b e c a u s e t h e y w a n t e d t o . T h e r e w e r e s o m e
interesting variations o n this ancient t h e m e . B y the interwar period
d e p r e s s e d c o n d i t i o n s i n h e a v y i n d u s t r y , m i n i n g , a n d textile p r o d u c
tion severely limited the extent to which the remaining labour on
t h e l a n d w a s d r a w n a w a y i n t h e n o r t h , w h i l e i n W a l e s after 1 9 2 6
t h e r e w a s a p o s i t i v e b a c k f l o w i n t o a g r i c u l t u r e . H o w e v e r , i n districts
c h a r a c t e r i s e d b y a m i x t u r e o f o l d a n d n e w i n d u s t r i e s ( s u c h as Bir
m i n g h a m , C o v e n t r y , o r R u g b y ) , f a r m e r s c o n t i n u e d t o feel s o m e c o m
1 8 6
p e t i t i o n for l a b o u r a n d a b o v e all, it w a s i n s o u t h e r n c o u n t i e s , far
r e m o v e d from the traditional industrial heartlands, t h a t l o s s e s of
labour were n o w most considerable and well above any necessitated
by c h a n g e s in agrarian practices. In Oxfordshire, which sustained
the greatest loss in 1 9 2 1 - 3 8 (48 per cent) o n e survey s h o w e d that
o n l y a q u a r t e r o f a g r i c u l t u r a l l a b o u r e r s ' s o n s w e r e s u c c e e d i n g their
f a t h e r s ' o c c u p a t i o n s , a n d h e r e , t h e M o r r i s w o r k s at C o w l e y w e r e a
s t r o n g a t t r a c t i o n . I n B e r k s h i r e t h e M G p l a n t at A b i n g d o n p l a y e d t h e
183
Pedley, Labour on the Land, p. 13.
184
Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural Statistics, p. 62.
185
Whetham, Agrarian History, pp. 236-7.
186
Ashby and Evans, Agriculture of Wales, pp. 80, 231; W . Irons, 'Agriculture in War
wickshire', Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society, 91 (1930), p. 48.

s a m e role on a smaller scale, while in B u c k i n g h a m s h i r e , substantial

n u m b e r s o f m e n w e r e l o s t t o f u r n i t u r e f a c t o r i e s at H i g h W y c o m b e ,
1 8 7
p a p e r mills a n d b r i c k w o r k s . M o r e o v e r , as a s t u d y s e t in t h e C o t s -
w o l d s r e m a r k e d , r e s i d e n c e in a r u r a l a r e a w a s ' n o w v e r y far f r o m
b e i n g s y n o n y m o u s w i t h e m p l o y m e n t in a g r i c u l t u r e ' . B a s e d o n a n
a n a l y s i s o f c h i l d r e n w h o h a d left v i l l a g e s c h o o l s at t h e a g e o f f o u r t e e n ,
it f o l l o w e d t h e c a r e e r s o f thirty-six m e n , h a l f b e i n g t h e s o n s o f a g r i c u l
tural l a b o u r e r s . T e n y e a r s o n , t h e t h i r t y - s i x i n c l u d e d o n l y e l e v e n agri
c u l t u r a l w a g e e a r n e r s ( n i n e at h o m e a n d t w o a w a y ) ; t h o s e a b s e n t
included t w o soldiers a n d t w o p o l i c e m e n in B i r m i n g h a m , a n d t h o s e
r e m a i n i n g at h o m e b u t n o t e m p l o y e d o n f a r m s i n c l u d e d t w o e s t a t e
gardeners, one groom, one footman, one independent grocer, a garage
1 8 8
m e c h a n i c , a l o r r y driver, t h r e e r o a d w o r k e r s , a n d t h r e e h a n d y m e n .
T h e r e is a c o n s p i c u o u s a b s e n c e o f m e n t i o n o f r u r a l crafts o f a tradi
t i o n a l sort. B e t w e e n 1 9 1 1 a n d 1 9 3 1 t h e n u m b e r o f r u r a l c r a f t s m e n
1 8 9
w a s still falling, i n t h e c a s e o f R u t l a n d b y s o m e 4 2 p e r c e n t ; and
it w a s i n c r e a s i n g l y felt t h a t t h e i r ' m o r i b u n d c o n d i t i o n . . . m a y h a v e
to b e r e c o g n i s e d a s t h e p r i c e o f i n d u s t r i a l p r o g r e s s i n o t h e r c e n t r e s ' .
The study prefaced b y these w o r d s m a d e particular reference to the
v i r t u a l e n d i n g o f o u t w o r k i n d u s t r i e s for w o m e n . L a c e m a k i n g w a s
c o n s i d e r e d a craft d o o m e d t o e x t i n c t i o n s o far a s w o r k i n g w o m e n
w e r e c o n c e r n e d ; l i k e h a n d l o o m w e a v i n g , it w o u l d r e m a i n o n l y a s
a ' d e l i g h t f u l h o b b y for l e i s u r e d p e o p l e ' a t t r a c t e d b y its artistic p o s s i b i l i
1 9 0
ties. W h e r e v e r p o s s i b l e , girls, t o o , w e r e l o o k i n g for s o m e t h i n g m o r e
m o d e r n . T h e artistic p o s s i b i l i t i e s offered i n t h e t w o f a c t o r i e s o f t h e
A m b r o s i a M i l k C o . i n D e v o n w e r e p r e s u m a b l y l i m i t e d , b u t t h e girls
w e r e reported to b e taking h o m e an average of £ 1 7s. 6d. a w e e k ,
1 9 1
a n d in s o m e cases m o r e t h a n their fathers working o n f a r m s .
R e l e v a n t t o t h e falling n u m b e r s i n a g r i c u l t u r e w a s a n i n c r e a s i n g g a p
w h i c h appeared to b e o p e n i n g u p b e t w e e n the levels of rural a n d u r b a n
a m e n i t i e s . T h i s is n o t t o s a y t h a t t h o s e a v a i l a b l e i n r u r a l a r e a s w e r e
187
Pedley, Labour on the Land, p. 5; Viscount Astor and B. S. Rowntree, British Agricul
ture (1938), p. 308; Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Report of Proceedings
under the Agricultural Wages (Regulation) Act, 1924, for the Two Years Ending 1931
(1931), pp. 116-34.
188
M. A. Abrams, 'A Contribution to the Study of Occupational and Residential
Mobility in the Cotswolds, 1921-31', Journal and Proceedings of the Agricultural Econ
omics Society, 2 (1932), pp. 6 4 - 5 , 68.
189
Saville, Rural Depopulation, p. 74.
190
H. E. Fitzrandolph and M. D. Hay, The Rural Industries of England and Wales, vol.
3 (Oxford, 1927), pp. vi, 7 0 - 1 .
191
F. G. Thomas, The Changing Village (1939), pp. 116-17.

The countryside 143
devoid of i m p r o v e m e n t . O n e obvious gain c a m e with the proliferation

of b u s r o u t e s c o v e r i n g m a n y v i l l a g e s n o t a l r e a d y s e r v e d b y r a i l w a y s .
W h e r e s e r v i c e s w e r e sufficiently f r e q u e n t , v i l l a g e e m p l o y m e n t p a t
terns were considerably enlarged and even where they were only
occasional, they m a d e t o w n shopping and access to urban entertain
m e n t s s u c h as c i n e m a s a g r e a t d e a l e a s i e r for rural folk. A c o n s i d e r a b l e
i m p r o v e m e n t occurred in library services. In 1915 Professor A d a m s ' s
report to the Carnegie Trust suggested that only 2.5 per cent of the
rural population, as against 79 per cent of townsfolk, h a d access to
p u b l i c l i b r a r i e s . T h e T r u s t p r o c e e d e d t o offer g r a n t s t o c o u n t y c o u n c i l s
to inaugurate services, a n d subsequently u n d e r the Public Library
Act of 1919 c o u n t y authorities w e r e permitted to s u p p o r t libraries
from the rates. All but three counties w e r e doing so b y 1931, usually
by distributing b o o k - b o x e s to village schools: u n d e r t h e s e arrange
m e n t s , s o m e 48 million issues were m a d e to 2 million registered bor
1 9 2
rowers from over 17,000 centres in 1 9 3 4 - 5 .
M o r e significant t h a n the advent of n e w amenities, t h o u g h , was
t h e e x t r e m e l y s l o w r a t e at w h i c h o l d o n e s w e r e i m p r o v e d . A c a s e
in point w a s education. T h a t t h e standards of village schools w e r e
l o w e r t h a n t h o s e o f t h e t o w n s w a s s u g g e s t e d b y t h e fact t h a t w h i l e
o n l y 3 4 p e r c e n t o f all c e r t i f i c a t e d t e a c h e r s i n p u b l i c e l e m e n t a r y s c h o o l s
w e r e e m p l o y e d in rural areas, over 71 per cent of uncertificated, a n d
87 per cent of supplementary teachers, were employed there.
A l t h o u g h m a n y m a d e u p i n d e d i c a t i o n for w h a t t h e y l a c k e d i n f o r m a l
q u a l i f i c a t i o n s , s o m e o f t h e o l d b a r r i e r s t o p r o g r e s s , s u c h a s erratic
a t t e n d a n c e , w e r e still i n e v i d e n c e . M o r e o v e r , d e s p i t e t h e Hadow
report of 1926 w h i c h r e c o m m e n d e d splitting e l e m e n t a r y education
b e t w e e n j u n i o r a n d senior schools, in 1936 about 65 per cent of rural
1 9 3
c h i l d r e n w e r e still e d u c a t e d i n all-age s c h o o l s . T h e war limited
further progress a n d i n d e e d brought n e w p r o b l e m s with the s u d d e n
a p p e a r a n c e o f u r b a n e v a c u e e s , a n d s h o r t a g e s o f e q u i p m e n t a n d staff.
Further education in rural areas w a s likewise limited a n d strongly
o r i e n t a t e d t o a g r i c u l t u r e . A l t h o u g h b y 1 9 3 8 it w a s p o s s i b l e t o u n d e r
t a k e d e g r e e a n d d i p l o m a c o u r s e s in a g r i c u l t u r e at s e v e n u n i v e r s i t i e s ,
or t o t a k e a d v a n t a g e o f t h e facilities o f f o r t y - t h r e e F a r m I n s t i t u t e s
or Experimental Stations run b y local authorities, few students
e m e r g e d from a m o n g farm workers' children; the cleverer children
w e r e in a n y case t h o s e m o s t likely to b e d r a w n out of agriculture.
192
Pedley, Labour on the Land, pp. 127-8.
193
Ibid., pp. 113,117.

H o w e v e r , t h e m o s t o b v i o u s r u r a l d i s a m e n i t i e s r e l a t e d to h o u s i n g .
Few f a r m w o r k e r s w e r e a b l e t o afford t o b u y , o r e v e n r e n t , l i v i n g
a c c o m m o d a t i o n in the 871,000 n e w h o u s e s constructed in rural areas
( m o s t l y a d j a c e n t to t o w n s ) b e t w e e n 1 9 1 9 a n d 1 9 4 3 . N i n e o u t o f t e n
relied o n existing stock, including m a n y tied cottages, w h i c h often
h a d b e e n n e g l e c t e d for y e a r s a n d r e m a i n e d s o d e s p i t e t h e advent
of g r a n t s for r e c o n d i t i o n i n g i n 1 9 2 6 . A s y e t , f e w c o t t a g e s b o a s t e d
electricity a n d t h i s w a s b y n o m e a n s t h e i r m o s t c o n s p i c u o u s d e f i c i e n c y
for in 1 9 3 9 n o f e w e r t h a n 2 5 p e r c e n t o f E n g l i s h p a r i s h e s still l a c k e d
a p i p e d w a t e r s u p p l y w h i l e p r o g r e s s w a s still s l o w e r w i t h r e s p e c t
to m o d e r n sanitation. Wells, cess-pools, a n d earth closets w e r e b e c o m
i n g w i d e l y r e g a r d e d a s relics o f a b a r b a r o u s a g e a n d w e r e e s p e c i a l l y
1 9 4
resented by women. Again, the w a r did nothing to help matters.
The w e a k n e s s of institutions thought essential to the m a i n t e n a n c e
of s o c i a l c o h e s i o n , w a s a n o t h e r t h e m e p o p u l a r i n c o n t e m p o r a r y dis
c u s s i o n s o f t h e p r o b l e m s o f v i l l a g e life. M o s t a g r e e d t h a t t h e f o r t u n e s
of t h e c h u r c h e s w e r e b y n o w at a l o w e b b . A l l t o o o f t e n , s a i d t h e
report of a committee appointed b y the A r c h b i s h o p of Canterbury
in 1920, the clergy h a d e v i n c e d a 'blind indiscriminating solidarity
1 9 5
of v i e w s w i t h t h e r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s o f p r o p e r t y ' . T h e roots of this
p r o b l e m l a y far b a c k i n t i m e a n d a n a t t i t u d e o f s u s p i c i o u s i n d i f f e r e n c e
w a s n o t t o b e w o n d e r e d at, o b s e r v e d t h e Land Worker in a r e v i e w
w h i c h contrasted the record of gluttony in P a r s o n Woodeford's
r e c e n t l y p u b l i s h e d d i a r i e s w i t h t h e p i c t u r e o f t h e late e i g h t e e n t h c e n
1 9 6
tury revealed b y the H a m m o n d s . S u c h a n a t t i t u d e w a s difficult
for e v e n t h e m o s t d e d i c a t e d a n d s i n c e r e p a r s o n t o b r e a k d o w n , a n d
the m o r e h e strove to do so the m o r e u n p o p u l a r h e might well b e c o m e
with the chief supporters of the church w h o , whatever their defects
of c h a r a c t e r a n d u n d e r s t a n d i n g , d i d m o s t t o k e e p it g o i n g . M o r e o v e r ,
although old animosities w e r e rapidly abating, the chapels scarcely
f a r e d a n y b e t t e r , for n o n c o n f o r m i s t m e m b e r s h i p f i g u r e s w e r e a l s o
1 9 7
d e c l i n i n g after 1 9 2 7 .
In o t h e r r e s p e c t s v i l l a g e life c o n t i n u e d to e x h i b i t a g r e a t e r air o f
l i v e l i n e s s . A l t h o u g h m a n y o l d g a m e s h a d fallen i n t o d i s u s e , o r g a n i s e d
194
Ministry of Health, Rural Housing. Third Report of the Rural Housing Sub-Committee
of the Central Housing Advisory Committee (1944), p. 10; Pedley, Labour on the Land,
pp. 7 2 - 3 , 94, 99-100.
195
196
Land Worker, April 1926.
197
R. Currie, A. Gilbert and L. Horsley, Churches and Churchgoers: Patterns of Church
Growth in the British Isles since 1700 (Oxford, 1977), pp. 25, 31.

The countryside 145
sport, particularly football a n d cricket, w a s well supported. I n d e e d ,

e a s i e r t r a n s p o r t p r o v i d e d b e t t e r o p p o r t u n i t i e s for i n t e r - v i l l a g e c o n
tests, a n d the generalisation of the half-holiday, e x t e n d e d e v e n to
f a r m w o r k e r s i n 1 9 3 8 , u s h e r e d o r g a n i s e d s p o r t i n t o its g o l d e n e r a
e x t e n d i n g from the 1930s t h r o u g h to the advent of television in rural
areas in the mid-1950s. N o doubt sport could dispel status distinctions
m o r e easily t h a n anything else. Likewise, the Y o u n g F a r m e r s ' Clubs,
initiated in 1922 b y L o r d Northcliff e a n d n u m b e r i n g 4 0 0 b y 1939, w e r e
o p e n t o all w i t h a n i n t e r e s t , a g e d t e n to t w e n t y - o n e , a n d t h e i r S a t u r d a y
n i g h t d a n c e s a n d r e c r e a t i o n a l activities c e r t a i n l y a t t r a c t e d y o u t h s a n d
girls f r o m all social l e v e l s . O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l t r a i n i n g
e l e m e n t o f t h e i r p r o g r a m m e w a s c a l c u l a t e d to a p p e a l t o t h e s o n s a n d
d a u g h t e r s o f f a r m e r s a n d in 1 9 4 0 P e d l e y w a r n e d a g a i n s t a c e r t a i n
c l i q u i s h n e s s , a n d a t e n d e n c y for t h e m o v e m e n t t o d e v e l o p i n t o a
1 9 8
'youth branch of the National Farmers' Union'. Most nearly
a p p r o a c h i n g u n i v e r s a l i t y w e r e t h e W o m e n ' s I n s t i t u t e s w h i c h origi
n a t e d i n C a n a d a a n d r a p i d l y e x t e n d e d i n E n g l a n d a n d W a l e s after
1 9 1 5 . I n t h e 1 9 2 0 s t h e Land Worker d a r k l y w a r n e d t h a t a t t e m p t s t o
instruct w o r k e r s ' wives h o w to m a k e a hat from the sleeve of a jacket,
o r t r i m m i n g s for t h e i r b o n n e t s f r o m t h e e d g e s o f d i s c a r d e d s h i r t s
1 9 9
w e r e b u t p a r t o f a p r e p a r a t i o n for r e d u c e d w a g e s for t h e i r m e n f o l k .
Y e t t h e fact t h a t t h e i n s t i t u t e s w e r e u s u a l l y l e d b y l a d i e s o f p o s i t i o n
did not prevent total m e m b e r s h i p rising to 328,000 b y 1939, w h e n
200
there were nearly 6,000 separate institutes. If o n l y a q u a r t e r o f
t h e s e w e r e l a b o u r e r s ' w i v e s , t h e r e s u l t a n t figure w o u l d b e t w i c e t h e
contemporary membership of the N U A W .
It s h o u l d b e n o t i c e d , h o w e v e r , t h a t t h e s e m o r e s u c c e s s f u l v i l l a g e
o r g a n i s a t i o n s t e n d e d to s e g r e g a t e v i l l a g e r s o n t h e l i n e s o f g e n e r a t i o n ,
occupation, or sex. T h e o n l y fresh d e v e l o p m e n t w h i c h h a d some
p o t e n t i a l t o s t r e n g t h e n t h e o v e r a l l c o h e s i o n o f r u r a l s o c i a l life w a s
the appearance of village halls. T h e s e should not b e confused with
'reading r o o m s ' , a legacy in s o m e favoured parishes of nineteenth-
century landlord benevolence, which had usually degenerated by the
i n t e r w a r p e r i o d i n t o p l a c e s w h e r e m e n p l a y e d d a r t s o r billiards t o
while a w a y long e v e n i n g s . Village halls proper w e r e usually acquired
for t h e first t i m e i n t h e 1 9 2 0 s , m a n y b e i n g e x - a r m y h u t s , a n d w e r e
e n c o u r a g e d b y n e w voluntary rural c o m m u n i t y councils w h i c h w e r e
198
199
Land Worker, May 1922.
200
Pedley, Labour on the Land, p. 148.

to b e f o u n d in t w e n t y - o n e c o u n t i e s b y 1 9 3 9 . U s i n g C a r n e g i e T r u s t
F u n d s a n d limited s u b v e n t i o n s from local authorities, t h e s e councils
a s s i s t e d l o c a l i n i t i a t i v e s w i t h g r a n t s a n d b y t h e late 1 9 3 0 s w e r e p r o c e s s
ing s o m e 2 0 0 - 3 0 0 such applications per year. At that date village halls
w e r e still far f r o m u n i v e r s a l ; h o w e v e r , w h e r e t h e y did e x i s t , t h e y
a p p e a r to h a v e b e e n w e l l u s e d . O n e u n n a m e d hall in G l o u c e s t e r s h i r e
h o s t e d in 1 9 3 9 t e n c o n c e r t s , f o r t y - e i g h t d a n c e s , fifty w h i s t d r i v e s ,
four first-aid c l a s s e s , air raid w a r d e n s ' l e c t u r e s , five e d u c a t i o n a l l e c
tures and children's dancing, amateur theatrical, and keep fit
2 0 1
classes. T h e r e was an obvious contrast b e t w e e n b u s y villages of
this kind a n d others, poorly served b y c o m m u n i c a t i o n s a n d almost
e n t i r e l y d e p e n d e n t o n a g r i c u l t u r e as a m e a n s o f s u p p o r t , whose
vitality e b b e d a s y o u n g p e o p l e drifted a w a y a n d r e d u c t i o n s in t h e
b i r t h r a t e o c c u r r e d e v e n a m o n g t h e f a r m w o r k e r s . ' T h e r e is n o t a
q u a r t e r o f t h e m e n in t h e v i l l a g e t h e r e u s e d to b e l o o k at t h e b i g
f a m i l e s [sic] t h e r e u s e d to b e . . . n o w t h e r e is h a r d l y a n y y o u n g s t e r s
on the farms' wrote Frederick Swafheld of Stoke Abbott, Dorset, about
1 9 2 4 , w h i l e e v e n in W a r w i c k s h i r e , s e v e n t y - s e v e n p a r i s h e s w i t h a
p o p u l a t i o n b e l o w 5 0 0 in 1 8 5 1 s h o w e d a 3 0 p e r c e n t d e c l i n e b y 1 9 3 1
2 0 2
a n d forty-four c o n t i n u e d to d o s o d o w n t o 1 9 5 1 . This suggested
to s o m e t h a t , b y d i n t o f s e l e c t i v e m i g r a t i o n , r u r a l f e e b l e - m i n d e d n e s s
w a s o n the increase and intelligence o n the decline. Doubtless this
view accorded well with the general i m p r e s s i o n s of rural primitiveness
c o m m o n a m o n g u r b a n i t e s , b u t t h e e v i d e n c e s c a r c e l y s t o o d u p t o criti
cal s c r u t i n y . A l t h o u g h I Q t e s t s s e e m e d t o c o n c u r in a s s e s s i n g rural
s c h o o l c h i l d r e n as ' a y e a r b e h i n d ' t h e i r u r b a n c o u n t e r p a r t s , w e l l b e f o r e
t h e w a r t h o u g h t f u l m e n w e r e a l r e a d y b e g i n n i n g t o q u e s t i o n t h e i r vali
d i t y a s m e a s u r e s o f i n h e r e n t a b i l i t y , n o t i n g t h e difficulty o f m a k i n g
t h e m free o f c u l t u r e - b i a s a n d t h e effect o f t h e a p p l i c a t i o n o f differential
2 0 3
teaching resources.
I n h i s Problems of the Countryside (1945) O r w i n imagined a m o d e r n

Rip v a n W i n k l e arising from a sleep lasting since 1 8 8 0 . Visiting the
v i l l a g e o f h i s b o y h o o d , R i p w o u l d find t h e l a n e s , fields, a n d h e d g e r o w s
201
Ibid., pp. 1 5 9 - 6 0 , 1 6 2 .
202
'Reminiscences of Frederick Swaffield, 1895-1924' (Dorset Record Office, D459/1)
(unpaginated); Saville, Rural Depopulation, p. 87.
203
See B. S. Bosanquet, 'Quality of the Rural Population', Eugenics Review, 42 (1950),
pp. 78, 82-90.

The countryside 147
s u b s t a n t i a l l y u n a l t e r e d , a n d r e c o g n i s e at o n c e m o s t o f t h e f a r m h o u s e s
a n d b u i l d i n g s , p e r h a p s a little s h a b b i e r t h a n h e h a d k n o w n them
in his youth. H e m i g h t w o n d e r w h a t h a d b e c o m e of the windmill,
w h y nettles w e r e g r o w i n g in the w h e e l w r i g h t ' s yard a n d the black
s m i t h ' s s h o p w a s s h u t t e r e d o r w h e r e all t h e y o u n g p e o p l e w e r e , b u t
t h e o n l y t h i n g s to s u r p r i s e h i m w o u l d b e p a s s i n g m o t o r v e h i c l e s a n d
t r a c t o r s . B y c o n t r a s t , w e r e h e t o visit t h e n e a r b y t o w n , p l a t e - g l a s s
f r o n t a g e s , n e w s h o p p i n g districts, a n d f a c t o r i e s w o u l d m a k e h i m feel
a s t r a n g e r , w h i l e t h e h o u s e h o l d a m e n i t i e s t a k e n for g r a n t e d i n m o d e r n
housing estates would certainly astound him. Pursuing the contrast,
O r w i n argued that the smallness of m a n y English villages and their
t e n d e n c y in recent years to shrink w a s fundamental to their lack of
virility a n d i n a b i l i t y t o k e e p a b r e a s t o f c h a n g i n g s t a n d a r d s in s o c i e t y
at l a r g e . L i k e w i s e , i n a g r i c u l t u r e , h e c o n s i d e r e d a n y t h i n g b e l o w 2 5 0
a c r e s t o b e inefficient a n d o u t m o d e d , f a v o u r i n g t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t
of l a r g e r u n i t s w h i c h w o u l d afford g r e a t e r s c o p e t o m a n a g e m e n t a n d
better opportunities to labour. Rural reconstruction could not b e led
b y p r i v a t e l a n d o w n e r s , m a n y o f w h o m h a d d i s a p p e a r e d ; i n d e e d it
s e e m e d likely that the r e m a i n i n g country h o u s e s w o u l d b e 'as obsol
ete, b e f o r e l o n g . . . a s t h e m e d i e v a l c a s t l e s w h i c h m a n y o f t h e m h a d
s u p e r s e d e d ' . Rather, revitalisation w o u l d require the decentralisation
of i n d u s t r y a n d c o m p r e h e n s i v e p l a n n i n g a n d c o n t r o l to f u s e t o w n
2 0 4
a n d c o u n t r y e l e m e n t s i n t o o n e c o m m u n i t y for social p u r p o s e s .
O r w i n ' s criticisms w e r e pertinent e n o u g h . W h e n , about 1950, a pio
n e e r i n g attempt w a s m a d e to quantify the extent of rural disamenities
i n W i l t s h i r e , a n ' i n d e x o f social p r o v i s i o n ' s h o w e d a r e g u l a r r e l a t i o n
s h i p w i t h s i z e a n d d r o p p e d b e l o w h a l f t h e m a x i m u m 3 6 p o i n t s at
2 0 5
a population level of 5 0 0 - 6 0 0 . M o r e o v e r , the average size of farms
r e m a i n e d m o d e s t b y i n t e r n a t i o n a l if n o t b y c o n t i n e n t a l E u r o p e a n s t a n
dards; in 1951 o n l y 3,500 English a n d W e l s h farms included 5 0 0 acres
or m o r e o f l a n d d e v o t e d t o c r o p s a n d g r a s s a n d i n 1 9 4 6 h o r s e s w e r e
206
still t w o a n d a h a l f t i m e s a s n u m e r o u s a s t r a c t o r s . Country houses
s h o w e d every sign of further decline; thus, b y 1951 only o n e third
of t h e g e n t r y f a m i l i e s o f 1 8 7 1 i n t h e c o u n t i e s o f E s s e x , O x f o r d , a n d
2 0 7
S h r o p s h i r e still r e t a i n e d t h e i r s e a t s .
For all t h a t , s t r a n d s o f p r o g r e s s a n d r e t u r n i n g c o n f i d e n c e w e r e
204
C. S. Orwin, Problems of the Countryside (Cambridge, 1945), pp. 1 - 4 , 1 1 , 45, 99-100.
205
H. E. Bracey, 'Rural Planning: An Index of Social Provision', Journal and Proceedings
of the Agricultural Economics Society, 9 (1951), pp. 210-21.
206
Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural Statistics, pp. 19, 55, 61.
207
Thompson, Landed Society, p. 342.

interwoven with those of decay, making a c o m p l e x tapestry. In the

public sphere rural transport facilities w e r e m o v i n g t o w a r d s t h e i r
a p o g e e at t h i s t i m e , in t e r m s o f t h e f r e q u e n c y o f b u s a n d rail s e r v i c e s .
The almost universal c o n v e y a n c e of children to secondary schools
in t h e l a r g e r v i l l a g e s or t o w n s afforded t o a d o l e s c e n t s , e s p e c i a l l y t h o s e
c o n s i d e r e d to b e sufficiently a b l e t o qualify for s e l e c t i v e p l a c e s i n g r a m
m a r s c h o o l s , a w i d e r r a n g e o f o p p o r t u n i t i e s . A l t h o u g h left o u t s i d e
t h e u m b r e l l a o f earlier w e l f a r e p r o v i s i o n for t o o l o n g , f a r m w o r k e r s
w e r e full p a r t i c i p a n t s i n t h e p o s t - B e v e r i d g e e r a a n d b y 1 9 5 1 a m u c h
h i g h e r p r o p o r t i o n o f t h e i r h o m e s w a s w a t e r e d , d r a i n e d , a n d lit t h a n in
1939. U n d e r t h e shelter p r o v i d e d b y post-war strategies for s t r e n g t h e n
ing agriculture, their industry w a s buoyant. T h e net i n c o m e generated
b y a g r i c u l t u r e c o n t i n u e d to i n c r e a s e , b y s o m e 3 2 p e r c e n t b e t w e e n
1945 a n d 1 9 5 0 , a n d t h e v a l u e o f l a n d w a s r i s i n g , r e a c h i n g a n i n d e x
o f 2 5 2 i n 1 9 5 1 , a g a i n s t 8 2 in 1 9 2 9 a n d 1 0 0 in 1 9 3 7 - 9 . M o s t r e m a i n i n g
craftsmen h a d plenty of w o r k a n d agricultural engineers gained from
t h e w i d e r diffusion o f m a c h i n e r y : t h e n u m b e r o f t r a c t o r s o n B r i t i s h
farms increased b y 129,000 b e t w e e n 1946 and 1950 and surpassed
t h e a g g r e g a t e n u m b e r o f h o r s e s u s e d , for t h e first t i m e , i n t h a t y e a r .
Moreover, agriculture w a s giving m o r e e m p l o y m e n t . T h e n u m b e r of
r e g u l a r w o r k e r s , i n 1 9 4 9 , w a s 6 8 5 , 0 0 0 o r 1 2 p e r c e n t h i g h e r t h a n in
1 9 3 9 , a n d t h e n u m b e r o f c a s u a l s o r p a r t - t i m e r s , at 1 7 1 , 0 0 0 , w a s 5 5
per cent up. Between 1938 and 1950, though the purchasing power
of t h e p o u n d h a d a p p r o x i m a t e l y h a l v e d , f a r m w a g e s v i r t u a l l y t r i p l e d
2 0 8
to g i v e a b o u t a 4 3 p e r c e n t g a i n i n r e a l t e r m s . In these circumstances
m e m b e r s h i p o f N U A W r o s e s i g n i f i c a n t l y a n d i n 1 9 4 8 a n all-time p e a k
m e m b e r s h i p w a s r e a c h e d at 1 3 7 , 0 0 0 , o r o v e r t h r e e t i m e s t h e l e v e l
2 0 9
in 1 9 3 8 . However, militancy was not the order of the day. Since
the early 1930s the executive h a d increasingly sought c o m m o n cause
with the National F a r m e r s ' U n i o n o n agricultural policy matters. T h e
w a r h a d s e e n f u r t h e r s i g n s o f r a p p r o c h e m e n t a n d it is n o t g o i n g t o o
far to s a y t h a t t h e n o t i o n o f a n ' a g r i c u l t u r a l i n t e r e s t ' w a s partially
rehabilitated. W h e n , in 1951, S t a n l e y E v a n s , Parliamentary Secretary
of t h e M i n i s t r y o f F o o d i n t h e L a b o u r g o v e r n m e n t , m a d e h i s f a m o u s
c o m m e n t s o n the 'feather-bedding' of farmers, the N U A W G e n e r a l
Ministry of Agriculture, Agricultural Statistics, pp. 62, 71, 73, 76; Ward, 'Real Estate',
p. 151; E. Mejer, Agricultural Labour in England and Wales, Part II, Farm Workers'
Earnings, 1917-51 (Nottingham University, Department of Agricultural Economics,
1951), pp. 9 4 , 1 0 7 .

The countryside 149
Secretary complained through his Executive Committee and publicly

i n a s p e e c h c a s t i g a t i n g L a b o u r ' s f a r m i n g critics.
Standards of c o n s u m p t i o n were rising. A g o v e r n m e n t enquiry into
t h e h o u s e h o l d diets of h e a v y m a n u a l w o r k e r s carried out in the late
1940s s h o w e d that their energy value and nutrient content was
s c a r c e l y a n y different for f a r m w o r k e r s t h a n a m o n g c o m p a r a b l e u r b a n
2 1 0
groups, a n d f u r t h e r i n t e r e s t i n g d e t a i l s o f rural c o n s u m p t i o n p a t
t e r n s e m e r g e d f r o m a s u r v e y o f 1 9 4 8 . V e r y f e w rural h o u s e w i v e s at
any social level n o w b a k e d their o w n bread, or m a d e their o w n clothes.
Greater mobility w a s reflected in the h i g h proportion of c o n s u m e r
g o o d s , s u c h as s a u c e p a n s a n d b e d l i n e n , p u r c h a s e d i n t h e m a r k e t
t o w n o r n e a r e s t l a r g e city, a s w e r e i r o n s a n d fires, t h e l i k e l y first
p u r c h a s e s of t h o s e n e w l y linked with the electricity grid. T h e o w n e r
ship of bicycles, c i n e m a attendances a n d football pool ' i n v e s t m e n t '
all r a n h i g h e s t a m o n g t h o s e i n s o c i a l c a t e g o r i e s D a n d E , w h o , h o w
e v e r , w e r e m u c h l e s s l i k e l y to t a k e h o l i d a y s , a n d t w e n t y - s i x t i m e s
m o r e l i k e l y t o r e a d t h e News of the World t h a n t h e Daily Telegraph.
S u c h 'class' b a s e d differences w e r e not always paramount: with
r e s p e c t to t h e u s e o f l i p s t i c k , nail v a r n i s h a n d p e r m a n e n t waves,
y o u n g e r w o m e n in rural a r e a s b e h a v e d l i k e t h e i r u r b a n c o u n t e r p a r t s ,
any rural-urban differences b e i n g due largely to 'the resistance to
2 1 1
c h a n g e o f t h e o v e r - 4 5 a g e g r o u p i n rural a r e a s ' . These elements
of d e c a y a n d p r o g r e s s w e r e m i r r o r e d i n B e t j e m a n ' s p o e m , The Dear
Old Village, a p e r s p i c a c i o u s if h e a v i l y i r o n i c a n d v a l u e - l a d e n e v o c a t i o n
of v i l l a g e life a b o u t 1 9 5 0 .
As w e n o w k n o w , t h e rural w o r l d w a s t e e t e r i n g o n t h e b r i n k o f
c h a n g e s o f l i g h t n i n g r a p i d i t y a n d for t h e t i m e b e i n g t h e s e m a y b e
left t o s o c i o l o g i s t s a n d e c o n o m i s t s w h o a r e t a k i n g a n i n c r e a s i n g i n t e r
212
est in t h e field. A b o u t 1 9 5 0 it s t o o d at a c r o s s r o a d s f r o m w h i c h
the historian m a y conveniently gaze back d o w n the path traversed
over t w o centuries or m o r e . Despite variations in agricultural con
ditions and practices and the widely a c k n o w l e d g e d heterogeneity of
E n g l i s h v i l l a g e s , it is g e n e r a l l y a g r e e d t h a t t h e drift o f s o c i a l c h a n g e
210
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Studies in Urban Household Diets, 1944-9.
Second Report of the National Food Survey Committee (1956), pp. 6 2 - 5 .
211
J. W . Hobson and H. Henry, The Rural Market: A Compilation of Facts Related to
the Agricultural Industry and Rural Standards of Living and Rural Purchasing Habits
(1948), pp. 85, 86, 93, 1 0 0 , 1 0 3 , 1 0 4 - 5 , 1 1 0 - 1 3 , 1 2 1 .
212
Of particular value are the works of H. Newby including The Deferential Worker
and Green and Pleasant Land? Social Change in Rural England (Harmondsworth, 1980).

150 W . A. A R M S T R O N G
w a s not directionless, a n d that e c o n o m i c progress along capitalistic

l i n e s w a s i n s o m e s e n s e p u r c h a s e d at t h e c o s t o f t h e d é s t a b i l i s a t i o n
of a n o l d e r o r d e r . F o r m a n y , t h e n a t u r e o f t h e s e c h a n g e s is a p t l y
s u m m a r i s e d b y t h e s u b o r d i n a t i o n o f ' c o m m u n i t y ' t o ' c l a s s ' . T h e first
of t h e s e c o n c e p t s , w h i c h are i n t h e n a t u r e o f a b s t r a c t i o n s r a t h e r t h a n
h i s t o r i c a l facts, c o n n o t e s t h e e x i s t e n c e o f s t a b l e , h a r m o n i o u s , and
o r d e r l y r e l a t i o n s h i p s b e t w e e n i n d i v i d u a l s o f w i d e l y differing s t a t u s ,
a c t e d o u t in t h e s m a l l - s c a l e e n v i r o n m e n t o f t h e v i l l a g e ; t h e s e c o n d
i m p l i e s a r e c o g n i t i o n o f d i v i s i o n o f i n t e r e s t a n d is e s s e n t i a l l y conflic-
t u a l . A t o n e t i m e it s e e m e d p o s s i b l e t o t a l k i n t e r m s o f a s t a r k d i c h o
t o m y a n d i n d e e d to pin-point the change with accuracy. As an
a n t h r o p o l o g i s t p u t it i n 1 9 2 2 , ' w i t h t h e e n c l o s u r e o f t h e C o m m o n
F i e l d s a n d W a s t e t h e c o m m u n i t y life o f t h e v i l l a g e c a m e t o a n e n d .
Village society b e c a m e divided into two c a m p s , often t w o hostile
2 1 3
camps.' T o d a y ' s historians prefer to view c h a n g e s in village society
as the c o n s e q u e n c e of capitalist d e v e l o p m e n t s in agriculture going
b a c k t o t h e l a t e M i d d l e A g e s . T h e y are l i k e l y t o k n o w t h a t t h e c o n c e p t
of c o m m u n i t y h a s b e e n d e f i n e d i n at l e a s t n i n e t y - f o u r different
2 1 4
senses a n d will c e r t a i n l y b e a w a r e t h a t l a m e n t a t i o n s a b o u t the
lost ' o r g a n i c ' social relationships of 'old E n g l a n d ' are a m o v a b l e feast,
c a p a b l e o f b e i n g t r a c e d b a c k i n l i t e r a t u r e t o t h e s i x t e e n t h c e n t u r y at
2 1 5
least. T h e c o n c e p t o f c l a s s g i v e s r i s e t o e q u a l l y fierce difficulties.
Although most sociologists respect the Weberian differentiation
b e t w e e n class a n d status, everyday English recognises n o nice distinc
t i o n ; i n o r d i n a r y p a r l a n c e t h e w o r d ' c l a s s ' , e v e r s i n c e its n i n e t e e n t h -
c e n t u r y i n t r o d u c t i o n , h a s b e e n u s e d b y m a n y a s a s y n o n y m for s t a t u s -
ranking.
N o t w i t h s t a n d i n g s u c h pitfalls, t h e e m e r g e n c e o f c l a s s h a s r e m a i n e d
a central t h e m e in s o m e of the m o s t influential m o d e r n w o r k s o n rural
social h i s t o r y . T h u s H o b s b a w m a n d R u d é s e e t h e l a b o u r e r s a s a l r e a d y
constituting a class in the e i g h t e e n t h century and, as w e h a v e seen,
i n t e r p r e t t h e e v e n t s o f 1 8 3 0 as a s p o n t a n e o u s r e s p o n s e to o p p r e s s i o n
and proletarianisation. H o w e v e r , this reaction w a s archaic a n d a m o r e
m o d e r n form of m o v e m e n t , built in part o n village n o n c o n f o r m i t y
a n d p r e s a g e d b y the organisation of friendly societies, emerged
only with the labourers' u n i o n s in t h e 1870s. In the meantime,
213
H. Peake, The English Village: The Origin and Decay of its Community (1922), p. 214.
214
G. A. Hillery, 'Definitions of Community: Areas of Agreement', Rural Sociology,
20 (1955), cited in C. Bell and H. Newby, Community Studies (1971), pp. 2 7 - 9 .
215
R. Williams, The Country and the City (1973), pp. 18-22.

The countryside 151
e n d e m i c a c t s o f t e r r o r i s m r e f l e c t e d a spirit o f h a t r e d a n d r e v e n g e
2 1 6
which, they say, was 'universally f e l t ' . In a less widely k n o w n but
extremely able study Obelkevich suggests that classes w e r e forged
not only b y m e n acting o n the basis of c o m m o n economic interest
but also b y their withdrawal from the village c o m m u n i t y a n d retreat
i n t o t h e p r i v a t e life o f t h e f a m i l y . T h e first c l a s s t o d o s o w a s t h e
g e n t r y , e m p a r k e d at s o m e d i s t a n c e f r o m t h e v i l l a g e s w h o s e d e s t i n i e s
t h e y n e v e r t h e l e s s c o n t r o l l e d ; n e x t c a m e t h e f a r m e r s (at l e a s t , t h e ' n e w -
s t y l e ' p r o g r e s s i v e s ) , b u s y d i s t a n c i n g t h e m s e l v e s d u r i n g t h e first h a l f
of t h e n i n e t e e n t h century, b y expelling their servants, r e m o v i n g their
children from village schools, retreating into isolated f a r m h o u s e s sur
r o u n d e d b y ring fences, etc. This isolated the labourers, w h o were
o b j e c t i v e l y a c l a s s b u t s u b j e c t i v e l y u n s u r e o f t h e i r p o s i t i o n vis-d-vis
the other classes, w h o s e behaviour frequently disappointed and some
t i m e s i n f u r i a t e d t h e m . B y d e g r e e s a s t h e y b e c a m e m o r e l i t e r a t e , disci
p l i n e d , a n d self-reliant, t h e y t o o d e v e l o p e d ' s o m e t h i n g o f a c l a s s
c o n s c i o u s n e s s ' and unionisation in the 1870s m a r k e d the c o n s u m m a
2 1 7
tion of their e m e r g e n c e as a c l a s s . This phasing of the evolution
of c l a s s s o c i e t y a c c o r d s r a t h e r n e a t l y w i t h t h a t p u t f o r w a r d b y P e r k i n
in a m o r e general study of m o d e r n English society, a n d to s o m e extent
is r e f l e c t e d in t h e w o r k o f o t h e r m o d e r n h i s t o r i a n s . F o r e x a m p l e
M i n g a y writes that towards the e n d of the nineteenth century the
country labourer was 'no longer a m e m b e r of the lower orders but
o f t h e l o w e r c l a s s e s , a n d a w o r l d o f d i f f e r e n c e is r e f l e c t e d in t h a t
2 1 8
slight c h a n g e of t e r m i n o l o g y ' .
In m a n y r e s p e c t s , a m o n g w h i c h v e r y l i m i t e d o p p o r t u n i t i e s for self-
a d v a n c e m e n t and low w a g e s were the most obvious, the situation
o f t h e f a r m l a b o u r e r r e m a i n e d d i s a d v a n t a g e d c o m p a r e d to t h a t o f
w o r k e r s in other industries, w h o , indeed, w e r e p r o n e to j u d g e their
o w n social a n d e c o n o m i c progress b y the extent that t h e y distanced
t h e m s e l v e s f r o m h i s s t y l e a n d s t a n d a r d o f life. T o t h e e x t e n t t h a t
a s e n s e o f i n f e r i o r i t y w a s b o r n e i n o n t h e l a b o u r e r s it is s c a r c e l y s u r p r i s
ing that t h e y d e v e l o p e d a form of class c o n s c i o u s n e s s , in the s e n s e
of s h o w i n g a n i n c r e a s e d a w a r e n e s s of their lowly status. H o w e v e r ,
there are few indications that class consciousness of that kind carried
over into active class hostility. According to Holdenby, many
216
Hobsbawm and Rude, Swing, pp. 287, 292.
217
Obelkevich, Religion and Rural Society, pp. 2 5 - 6 .
218
H. J . Perkin, The Origins of Modern English Society, 1780-1880 (1969), chap. 9;
G. E . Mingay, Rural Life in Victorian England (1977), p. 226.

E d w a r d i a n labourers took a pride in their local gentry, a n d G r e e n

c o u l d n o t b e l i e v e t h a t ' t h o s e w h o tie t h e i r t r o u s e r s w i t h s t r i n g . . .
a r e filled w i t h c l a s s h a t r e d for t h e b o o t e d a n d s p u r r e d ' . I n t h e s a m e
v e i n S t u r t c l a i m e d t h a t a g a i n s t t h e r i c h t h e l a b o u r e r s h a d ' n o sort
of a n i m o s i t y ' a n d e v i n c e d little h o s t i l i t y e v e n t o w a r d s t h e i r e m p l o y e r s
( a l t h o u g h , s a d l y , t h e c o n v e r s e w a s n o t t r u e ) ; w h i l e at S l e d m e r e ( Y o r k
s h i r e ) Fairf a x - B l a k e b o r o u g h r e m a r k e d o n t h e w a y i n w h i c h t h e g e n t r y
at t h e H a l l w e r e still l o o k e d u p t o in 1 9 2 9 w i t h ' a l m o s t f e u d a l h o m a g e '
219
by the inhabitants of the village. L e s t all t h e s e o b s e r v e r s are c o n
s i d e r e d s u s p e c t b y v i r t u e o f t h e i r o w n c l a s s affiliations, w e m i g h t
n o t e a l s o h o w , at T y s o e , J o s e p h A s h b y f o u n d it difficult t o m a i n t a i n
a h o s t ' s courtesy w h e n faced with the 'politics of class and h a t e '
preached by students (mostly y o u n g urban trade unionists) brought
back b y his son Arthur from Ruskin College; the observation (by a
L a b o u r p a r t y o r g a n i s e r ) t h a t in i n t e r w a r S u s s e x t h e r e w a s c l a s s differ
entiation, but n o class feeling; and the conclusion of W i n s t a n l e y , b a s e d
u p o n oral e v i d e n c e f r o m K e n t , t h a t a l t h o u g h l a b o u r e r s w e r e c o n s c i o u s
220
of t h e i r c l a s s , f e w s h o w e d o p e n h o s t i l i t y . W h e n i n t h e late 1 9 6 0 s
N e w b y i n v e s t i g a t e d w i t h all t h e f i n e s s e o f t h e m o d e r n s o c i o l o g i s t
t h e i m a g e s o f s o c i e t y h e l d b y f a r m w o r k e r s i n Suffolk h e f o u n d a
m o r a s s o f v i e w s a n d a m b i v a l e n t a t t i t u d e s . T h e n u m b e r o f c l a s s e s dis
t i n g u i s h e d r a n g e d f r o m nil t o five a n d t h e r e w e r e t w e n t y - f o u r dis
tinguishable types of nomenclature, though with s o m e heaping on
a ' d i c h o t o m o u s a s c r i p t i v e m o d e l ' ( 5 9 p e r c e n t ) . N e a r l y all t h o s e i n t e r
v i e w e d r e g a r d e d c l a s s d i f f e r e n c e s as i n e v i t a b l e a n d m o s t r e s e r v e d
t h e i r c r i t i c i s m for s n o b b e r y , i . e . t h e f l a u n t i n g o f s o c i a l d i s t i n c t i o n s
or i n c o n s i d e r a t e d e m e a n o u r , e s p e c i a l l y if e x h i b i t e d b y t h e n e w v i l l a g e
2 2 1
middle class. T h e s e findings, N e w b y thought, reflected very recent
changes which had brought employers and their m u c h reduced
n u m b e r s o f w o r k e r s c l o s e r t o g e t h e r , in face o f t h e n e w i n t r u d e r s i n t o
v i l l a g e life. T h e f a r m w o r k e r ' s p e r c e p t i o n o f h i s e c o n o m i c i n t e r e s t
as contrary to that of his e m p l o y e r h a d t h u s b e e n clouded, a n d c o n s e
q u e n t l y c l a s s conflict a n d c l a s s c o n s c i o u s n e s s h a d d i m i n i s h e d . S o m e
h i s t o r i a n s m i g h t w o n d e r h o w c h a r a c t e r i s t i c it h a d e v e r b e e n ; K e r r i d g e ,
219
Holdenby, Folk of the Furrow, pp. 226-7; Green, English Agricultural Labourer, p.
224; Sturt, Change in the Village, pp. 104-5, 161; J. Fairf ax-Blakeborough, Sykes
of Sledmere (1929), p. 183.
220
M. K. Ashby, Joseph Ashby of Tysoe, 1859-1919 (Cambridge, 1961), p. 258; P.
Ambrose, The Quiet Revolution: Social Change in a Sussex Village, 1871-1971 (1974),
p. 56; M. Winstanley, 'Voices from the Past: Rural Kent at the Close of an Era',
inMingay, ed., Victorian Countryside, vol. 2, pp. 633-4.
221
Newby, Deferential Worker, pp. 335-6, 361, 387-8, 391-5, 408.

The countryside 153
for e x a m p l e , i n s i s t s i n a r e v i e w o f a r e c e n t c o m p e n d i u m o f r u r a l s o c i a l
history that E n g l a n d h a d n o classes in the Marxist s e n s e a n d that
a t t e m p t s to i n t e r p r e t h e r h i s t o r y i n t h e l i g h t o f c l a s s s t r u g g l e s a r e
222
f o r e d o o m e d to failure.
T h i s is n o t to s a y t h a t t h e c o n c e p t o f c l a s s h a s n o p a r t to p l a y in
f u r t h e r i n g o u r u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f rural s o c i a l c h a n g e . R a t h e r , it is s u g
g e s t e d that future research strategies s h o u l d follow N e w b y ' s r e c o m
m e n d a t i o n that instead of concentrating u p o n the attitudinal attributes
o f i n d i v i d u a l s f r o m w h i c h t h e i r p u t a t i v e b e h a v i o u r is t h e n i n f e r r e d ,
it is m o r e i m p o r t a n t to s t u d y t h e s i t u a t i o n a l f a c t o r s w h i c h t y p i c a l l y
c o n f r o n t t h e m a n d h o w t h e s e affect t h e n a t u r e o f t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p s
2 2 3
i n w h i c h t h e y are e n g a g e d . T h i s a d v i c e is o f f e r e d t o s o c i o l o g i s t s ,
b u t is n o l e s s r e l e v a n t to h i s t o r i a n s . T h e a n a l y s i s o f l o c a l l a b o u r
markets, patterns of residential persistence and migration, marriage
h o r i z o n s (in b o t h a g e o g r a p h i c a l a n d s o c i a l s e n s e ) , f a m i l y c o m p o s i t i o n ,
a n d kinship networks, to m e n t i o n just a few possibilities, should
t h r o w considerable light o n social attitudes t h r o u g h the behavioural
p a t t e r n s t h e y r e v e a l . A priori, it m i g h t b e s u s p e c t e d t h a t s o c i a l t e n s i o n s
t e n d e d to run higher in the south a n d east than the north a n d w e s t
a n d w e r e m o r e l i k e l y t o b e a r t i c u l a t e d in t e r m s o f c l a s s . O r it m i g h t
be supposed that, regardless of broad regional divisions, village
t y p o l o g i e s h a v e m o s t t o tell u s . A t all e v e n t s , u n t i l m u c h m o r e w o r k
h a s b e e n c a r r i e d o u t o n t h e l i n e s s u g g e s t e d it will r e m a i n i m p o s s i b l e
to generalise with a n y great confidence about historical trends in social
p e r c e p t i o n s , a n d i n t h e m e a n t i m e , b r o a d i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s o f rural s o c i a l
c h a n g e m a y b e pivoted m o r e safely o n agrarian conditions, the impact
of i n d u s t r i a l i s a t i o n , a n d a s s o c i a t e d d e m o g r a p h i c c h a n g e s .
222
Review of Mingay, Victorian Countryside, in Economic History Review, 2nd ser., 35
(1982), p. 314.
223

CHAPTER 3
Scotland
1750-1850
ROSALIND MITCHISON
I n s p i t e o f a c o n t i n u i n g s e n s e o f n a t i o n a l i d e n t i t y , S c o t l a n d in t h e
e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y w a s a c o u n t r y o f m a r k e d r e g i o n a l a n d e t h n i c differ
ences. T h e major division w a s b e t w e e n the English-speaking areas,
all in w h a t is c a l l e d t h e L o w l a n d s , a n d t h e a r e a o f G a e l i c u s a g e , t h e
Highlands. T h e line dividing English from Gaelic speech h a d b e e n
narrowing down the G a e l t a c h t for c e n t u r i e s , and by the mid-
e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y l a y v e r y n e a r t o t h e g r e a t g e o l o g i c a l fault w h i c h
m a k e s the highland edge, though even so there were English-speaking
a r e a s t o t h e n o r t h o f t h e fault: m o s t o f t h e p l a i n f o r m i n g t h e s o u t h e r n
coast of the M o r a y Firth, the t o w n of Inverness, the triangle of Caith
ness lying b e y o n d the county of Sutherland. T h e division w a s not
simply o n e of speech, but of culture, social structure a n d the m e a n s
of d i s s e m i n a t i n g c u l t u r e . T h e r e w e r e , b e f o r e t h e 1 7 8 0 s , p r a c t i c a l l y
n o p r i n t e d b o o k s in G a e l i c : a t r a n s l a t i o n o f t h e p s a l m s e x i s t e d , b u t
w a s n o t r e a d i l y a v a i l a b l e , s i n c e it h a d n e v e r b e e n p r o p e r l y d i s t r i b u t e d .
T h e l a c k o f a n O l d T e s t a m e n t in G a e l i c m e a n t t h a t t h e i m a g e r i e s u s e d
in S c o t t i s h a n d in G a e l i c l i t e r a t u r e w e r e totally s e p a r a t e . F e w e v e n
o f e d u c a t e d m e n in t h e H i g h l a n d s c o u l d e x p r e s s t h e m s e l v e s in G a e l i c
on paper with accepted orthography. Gaelic culture was mostly con
v e y e d in song, a n d usually b y the physical p r e s e n c e of the singer.
The poetic base of these songs might be the creation of either sex,
t h o u g h m a l e a s s u m p t i o n s h a v e s o m e t i m e s left t h e n a m e o f w o m e n
poets u n k n o w n . T h e highland area was poor and economically back
w a r d , f e e d i n g itself m a r g i n a l l y o n its o w n g r a i n a n d t h e erratic s u p p l y
o f m i l k a n d b l o o d f r o m its c a t t l e . Difficulties in l a n d t r a n s p o r t p e r p e
tuated poverty. Yet within the Highlands there were considerable
d i f f e r e n c e s i n p r o s p e r i t y . S o m e p l a c e s , s u c h as t h e i s l a n d o f T i r e e ,
h a d g o o d soil a n d r e l a t i v e l y l o w rainfall a n d t h e c o a s t a l strip e v e r y
w h e r e w a s fertile, t h o u g h in m a n y a r e a s v e r y n a r r o w .
155

156 ROSALIND MITCHISON
T h e social a n d political o r g a n i s a t i o n o f t h e H i g h l a n d s , t h e c l a n , h a d
d e v e l o p e d in t h e a b s e n c e o f effective c e n t r a l g o v e r n m e n t . It w a s a
fictitious ' f a m i l y ' , c o m b i n i n g social a n d political d o m i n a n c e in t h e
chief, a n d , if o n l y for s e l f - p r o t e c t i o n , c l a n s m e n h a d to b e r e a d y to
follow t h e i r c h i e f i n military v e n t u r e s a n d p r i v a t e q u a r r e l s . T h i s
n e c e s s a r y o b e d i e n c e in a r e g i o n o u t w i t h t h e i n f l u e n c e o f t h e c r o w n
h a d b e e n exalted b y a tradition of h o n o u r into an acceptance of the
d u t y of self-sacrifice for t h e chief, t h o u g h t h i s d i d n o t p r e v e n t c l a n s
m e n e v a d i n g t h e i r explicit i n s t r u c t i o n s . C l a n s h i p as a n o r g a n i s a t i o n
w a s b r o k e n b y t h e g o v e r n m e n t after t h e r i s i n g o f 1 7 4 5 , b y t h e life-long
exile o f t h e c h i e f s i n v o l v e d , b y t h e c o n f i s c a t i o n o f a s a m p l e o f e s t a t e s ,
b y the compulsory purchase of feudal franchises and b y the presence
of g o v e r n m e n t f o r c e . B u t m u c h o f t h e p o s i t i v e s u p p o r t for t h e i n s t i t u
tion a m o n g c l a n s m e n h a d already evaporated. K n o w l e d g e of opportu
n i t i e s o u t s i d e t h e H i g h l a n d s a n d t h e p r e s s u r e s o f m a n y c h i e f s for
higher m o n e y rents had b e e n increasing during the previous fifty
years. T h e success of the 'pacification' of the area, not the immediate
a n d often b r u t a l o c c u p a t i o n b y s o l d i e r y , b u t t h e l o n g e r t e r m a s s i m i l a
tion of the area into law, order, religious discipline and s o m e element
of e c o n o m i c e n t e r p r i s e , w a s s o r a p i d t h a t it is difficult t o e s c a p e t h e
idea that clanship h a d already w o r n pretty thin before 1745. But the
c l a n d i v i s i o n s t h a t h a d e x i s t e d left o n e e n d u r i n g m a r k . H i g h l a n d e r s ,
t h o u g h p r e p a r e d after 1 7 5 0 t o g o l o n g d i s t a n c e s for t e m p o r a r y w o r k
in t h e L o w l a n d s o r for t h e d r i v i n g o f c a t t l e , a n d a l s o to j o i n t h e a r m y
o r e m i g r a t e , w e r e r e l a t i v e l y u n u s e d to t h e p a t t e r n o f s m a l l - s c a l e
m o b i l i t y s o c o n s p i c u o u s in t h e l o w l a n d p e a s a n t r y . F o r m i d a b l e g e o
g r a p h i c b a r r i e r s a n d f r e q u e n t i n t e r - c l a n rivalries m e a n t t h a t t h e r e w a s
n o h i s t o r y o f m o v e m e n t , e i t h e r as t e n a n t o r f a r m s e r v a n t , f r o m o n e
agricultural s e t t l e m e n t to a n o t h e r .
It is o f t e n f o r g o t t e n t h a t b e s i d e s t h e o b v i o u s A n g l o - S a x o n a n d Celtic
c u l t u r e s in S c o t l a n d , t h e r e is a t h i r d , t h e N o r s e . I n L e w i s t h i s e l e m e n t
h a d b e c o m e s u b m e r g e d in G a e l i c c u l t u r e , b u t i n C a i t h n e s s a n d still
m o r e in t h e N o r t h e r n I s l e s it w a s a s s i m i l a t e d o n l y partially to E n g l i s h -
s p e a k i n g l o w l a n d n o r m s . T h e d i s t i n c t n e s s , in p a r t i c u l a r , o f S h e t l a n d
s o c i e t y , d e p e n d e d o n its u s e o f t h e s e a as a r e s o u r c e , b u t a l s o p a r t l y
o n the hostility of the bulk of the population to the governing group
of i n t r u d e d S c o t t i s h l a n d o w n e r s . I n b o t h O r k n e y a n d S h e t l a n d t h e
m e m o r y o f l i n k s w i t h N o r w a y w a s k e p t alive b y p a t t e r n s o f life a n d
landowning, a n d also b y trading contacts.
Even within English-speaking lowland areas there were sharp

Scotland 1750-1850 157
d i v i d i n g l i n e s , s o m e t i m e s f r o m p a s t r e l i g i o u s or political a d h e r e n c e ,
s o m e t i m e s from the variations in exposure to the influence of central
g o v e r n m e n t in a state w h e r e feudal judicial franchises h a d b e e n abol
i s h e d only in the 1740s. T h e city of A b e r d e e n h a d a distinguished
i n t e l l e c t u a l t r a d i t i o n , a n d h a d e x p e r i e n c e d t h e s t e a d y shift o f political,
e c c l e s i a s t i c a l a n d e c o n o m i c p o w e r f r o m t h e n o r t h o f S c o t l a n d to t h e
s o u t h o v e r t h e last c e n t u r y a n d a half. G a l l o w a y h a d a t r a d i t i o n o f
r e l i g i o u s a n d political e x t r e m i s m , a n d a r e p u t a t i o n for l a w l e s s n e s s
and banditry. T h e Borders h a d h a d their incipient clan system b r o k e n
comparatively late b y the c r o w n , a n d w e r e an area of c o m b i n e d
thievery and a m o r e t h a n usually market-oriented society. In the Loth-
ians the peasantry w e r e conformist a n d energetic. T h e local patterns
of s o c i a l v a r i a t i o n i n S c o t l a n d w e r e to l e a v e t r a c e s i n t o t h e s e c o n d
h a l f o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y in t h e r a n g e o f s i z e a n d s t r u c t u r e o f
l a n d o w n e r s h i p u n i t s , i n e d u c a t i o n a l a c h i e v e m e n t , in v o c a b u l a r y a n d
accent a n d in sharply differentiated levels of marital a n d non-marital
1
f e r t i l i t y . It is t h e r e f o r e n o t s u r p r i s i n g t h a t t h e cities a n d l a r g e r t o w n s
of S c o t l a n d c a m e i n t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y t o b e s o c i a l l y v e r y d i s t i n c t .
Part of this variety c a m e from local recruitment of their population,
part from differences in e c o n o m i c function. Altogether as a small
population, not m u c h m o r e t h a n o n e a n d a quarter million in the
mid-eighteenth century, dispersed t h r o u g h a relatively large area of
land with poor c o m m u n i c a t i o n s , S c o t l a n d m u s t b e s e e n as a varied
group of cultures held together by strong national consciousness.
The 1 7 4 0 s s a w t h e start o f a l o n g - t e r m m o v e m e n t o f p o p u l a t i o n
g r o w t h . C u r r e n t o p i n i o n is t h a t b y 1 7 4 0 n u m b e r s h a d b a r e l y r i s e n
e n o u g h to recreate the level of population that h a d existed before
t h e g r e a t f a m i n e o f t h e 1 6 9 0 s . I n A b e r d e e n s h i r e t h e p o p u l a t i o n still
stood b e l o w the level of the early 1690s. After 1740 growth accelerated,
so t h a t b y t h e e n d o f t h e d e c a d e a n d i n t h e e a r l y 1 7 5 0 s it w a s o n l y
a little u n d e r 0 . 5 p e r c e n t a y e a r . T h e e v i d e n c e for t h i s c o m e s f r o m
parish information collected through the church b y the enterprising
D r A l e x a n d e r W e b s t e r w h o c o m b i n e d i n f o r m a t i o n f r o m all p a r i s h e s
2
i n t o a c e n s u s i n 1 7 5 5 . It is s u p p o r t e d b y t h e e v i d e n c e o f t h e s h a r p
1
L. Timperley, 'The Pattern of Landholding in Eighteenth Century Scotland', in
M. L . Parry and T. R. Slater, eds., The Making of the Scottish Countryside (1980);
L. J. Saunders, Scottish Democracy, 1815-1840 (Edinburgh, 1950), pt 1; M. W. Flinn,
ed., Scottish Population History from the 17th Century to the 1930s (Cambridge, 1977),
pt 5, chaps. 3 a n d 4 .
2
Flinn, ed., Scottish Population History, pt 3, chap. 7, pt 4, chaps. 3 and 4.

drop in the grain exports of t h e c o u n t r y in the mid-1740s w h i c h , occur

r i n g in y e a r s free o f h a r v e s t failure, s u g g e s t s a g e n e r a l rise in
demand.
It s e e m s l i k e l y t h a t t h i s p o p u l a t i o n g r o w t h w a s r e l a t e d to t h e e x p a n
s i o n o f l i n e n a s t h e m a j o r d o m e s t i c i n d u s t r y , b u t it is n o t a b l e t h a t
m a n y e c o n o m i c c o n c e r n s m o v e d i n t o a h i g h e r l e v e l o f activity i n t h e
l a t e 1 7 4 0 s a n d e a r l y 1 7 5 0 s , for i n s t a n c e t h e t o b a c c o i m p o r t a n d r e
3
export trade, malt manufacture, p a p e r m a k i n g . Linen was already
i n 1 7 4 0 t h e d o m i n a n t i n d u s t r y , w i t h r a m i f i c a t i o n s all t h r o u g h t h e L o w
lands, a n d the sale of products from this industry e x p a n d e d sharply
at t h i s t i m e . O f c o u r s e t h e l i n e n w h i c h c a m e t o s a l e o n t h e o p e n
m a r k e t w a s o n l y a f r a g m e n t o f t h e total p r o d u c e d , for m a n y h o u s e
h o l d s e i t h e r p r o d u c e d d i r e c t l y for t h e i r o w n n e e d s o r m a d e p r i v a t e
c o n t r a c t s w i t h s p i n n e r s a n d w e a v e r s . It w a s l i n e n a s m u c h a s a n y
c o m m o d i t y which sustained the n e w industrial p l a n n e d villages of
4
the mid-eighteenth century. T h e significance of the development
of textile i n d u s t r i e s w a s t h a t t h e y c r e a t e d b o t h n e w full-time e m p l o y
m e n t a n d p e r i p h e r a l p a r t - t i m e e a r n i n g s . M e n w e n t i n t o w e a v i n g full
time; the labour force of a bleachfield, mainly female, w o u l d b e from
t h i r t y to s i x t y i n t h e s u m m e r m o n t h s , b u t m a n y f e w e r in w i n t e r ;
t h e p r i n t i n g o f l i n e n , a n a r e a o f e x p a n s i o n in t h e late 1 7 5 0 s a n d after
w a r d s , w a s a s o u r c e o f r e l a t i v e l y h i g h w a g e s for full-time w o r k . T h e r e
were also the initial p r o c e s s e s o f flax preparation which were
m o v i n g f r o m b e i n g p a r t - t i m e activities o f c u l t i v a t o r s to c o n c e n t r a t i o n
in m i l l s . M o s t b r a n c h e s o f w o r k g a v e full-time o p p o r t u n i t i e s , and
so did the supervisory and instructional w o r k p r o m o t e d b y the B o a r d
of T r u s t e e s . A s i g n o f t h e w a y t h a t m e n w e r e c o m m i t t e d to w e a v i n g
c a m e in t h e r e c e s s i o n o f t h e 1 7 5 0 s , w h e n u n e m p l o y e d m a l e w e a v e r s
in t h e e a s t o f S c o t l a n d c h o s e t o e n t e r t h e a r m y , a m o v e w h i c h , g i v e n
the c o n t e m p o r a r y opinion of the soldier, indicates that there w a s n o
alternative source of i n c o m e . B y contrast spinning gave w o m e n mainly
p a r t - t i m e w o r k . S o m e o f t h i s w a s d o n e for t h e h o m e , s o m e for t h e
m a r k e t , s o m e w i t h t h e s p i n n e r s as t h e e m p l o y e e s o f w e a v e r s . All
s p i n n i n g for w a g e s w a s u n d e r p a i d for t h e h o u r s i n v o l v e d . A f e w
full-time w o m e n c o u l d e x i s t o n t h i s a l o n e , b u t t h e t e n d e n c y for
3
H. Hamilton, An Economic History of Scotland in the Eighteenth Century (Oxford, 1963),
chap. 5 and apps.
4
T. C. Smout, T h e Landowner and the Planned Village in Scotland, 1730-1830',
in N. T. Phillipson and Rosalind Mitchison, eds., Scotland in the Age of Improvement
(Edinburgh, 1970).

Scotland 1750-1850 159
p r o d u c t i o n to fall off a s p r i c e s , a n d h e n c e w a g e s , r o s e , s h o w s h o w
l o n g t h e h o u r s n e c e s s a r y for s u b s i s t e n c e w e r e . E v e r y h o m e for w h i c h
w e h a v e an inventory of furniture contained a spinning wheel.
Textiles, especially linen, but also the stocking knitting particularly
a s s o c i a t e d w i t h A b e r d e e n s h i r e , r a i s e d t h e c a s h i n c o m e s o f m a n y agri
c u l t u r a l f a m i l i e s , a n d t h e r e b y t h e i r s t a n d a r d o f l i v i n g , a n d g a v e specific
e m p l o y m e n t slots to a wide range of w o r k e r s . B o t h aspects of t h e s e
industries w o u l d play a part in e n c o u r a g i n g population growth, but
p r o b a b l y t h e l a t t e r w a s t h e m o r e i m p o r t a n t . W e c a n n o t p r o v e , for
S c o t l a n d in general, that the d e v e l o p m e n t of domestic industry raised
population b y e n c o u r a g i n g earlier marriage, but in the o n l y parish
i n S c o t l a n d for w h i c h e v i d e n c e o f t h e a g e o f m a r r i a g e e x i s t s , K i l m a r
nock, a centre of w o o l l e n s in Ayrshire, there w a s already in the 1730s
a n d 1740s a low marriage age, with the m e d i a n just u n d e r twenty-two,
for girls i n t h e i n d u s t r i a l s e c t o r m a r r y i n g m e n i n t h e s a m e s e c t o r ,
w h e r e a s i n t h e rural p a r t o f t h e p a r i s h t h e m e d i a n a g e for girls w a s
5
over twenty-seven. M a n y m i d - e i g h t e e n t h - c e n t u r y s o u r c e s refer t o
t h e b e n e f i c i a l effects o f t h e textile i n d u s t r i e s o n e m p l o y m e n t for t h e
poor, often stressing the moral advantages of h a r d w o r k a n d the social
advantages of the reduction in b e g g i n g a n d stealing, features w h i c h
m a y w e l l h a v e b e e n o f m o r e direct i n t e r e s t to t h e i r s u p e r i o r s t h a n
to the workers, but these sources also recognise the i m p r o v e m e n t
6
in standards of living.
E v e n with the advantages of m o n e y from domestic industry material
c o n d i t i o n s o f t h e b u l k o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n r e m a i n e d p o o r for t h e c e n t r a l
d e c a d e s o f t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y . D i e t w a s n a r r o w i n its r a n g e ,
m o s t l y b a s e d o n o a t m e a l w i t h t h e a d d i t i o n o f kail a n d s m a l l a m o u n t s
of d a i r y p r o d u c e . E v e n t h e s p e c i a l o c c a s i o n d i s h o f h a g g i s , B u r n s ' s
' g r e a t c h i e f t a i n o f t h e p u d d i n g r a c e ' , is u n m i s t a k a b l y t h e f o o d o f a
poor nation. T h e occasional devastations of epidemics suggest a popu
l a t i o n at r i s k f r o m u n d e r n o u r i s h m e n t : for i n s t a n c e t h e o u t b r e a k o f
m e a s l e s in E d i n b u r g h a n d K i l m a r n o c k in the early m o n t h s of 1 7 4 1 ,
after t h e d i s a s t r o u s c r o p s o f 1 7 4 0 . T h a t s m a l l p o x k i l l e d m a n y c h i l d r e n
u n d e r t h e a g e o f t w o i n o u t b r e a k s e v e r y f o u r y e a r s , is n o t a p r o o f
of m a l n u t r i t i o n , b u t t h a t i n K i l m a r n o c k t h e m e a s l e s e p i d e m i c o f 1 7 5 2
took a disproportionate share of the children of the industrial side
of the parish suggests that these families suffered from poor
5
Flinn, ed., Scottish Population History, pt 4, chap. 5.
6
P. Lindsay, The Interest of Scotland Considered (Edinburgh, 1733); A. J. Youngson,
After the Forty Five (Edinburgh, 1973), chap. 2.

nourishment: the crop of 1751 h a d not created particularly high prices.

I n y e a r s o f k n o w n s h o r t a g e t h e r e is e v i d e n c e o f s t a r v a t i o n i n t h e
r e m o t e r a r e a s . It l o o k s as if D u m f r i e s h a d a t y p h u s e p i d e m i c i n 1 7 4 1
a n d D u r n e s s o n e of dysentery, while in 1772 T h o m a s P e n n a n t touring
the Highlands w a s deeply m o v e d b y visible starvation in the Small
7
Isles.
Poverty s h o w s in c o m m e n t s o n the standard of clothing, o n the
w e a r i n g o f h a r n s h i r t s b y e v e n fairly s u b s t a n t i a l f a r m e r s , o n t h e h a b i t
of w o m e n w h o d i d n o t d o t h e t y p e o f field w o r k t h a t n e e d e d s h o e s
of k e e p i n g t h e i r s i n g l e p a i r for b e s t . It is p o s s i b l e t h a t t h e r i s e o f
s p i n n i n g for t h e m a r k e t r e d u c e d t h e s t a n d a r d o f a f a m i l y ' s c l o t h i n g
b y d e f l e c t i n g t h e w o r k o f t h e w o m e n for c a s h . P o v e r t y is m o r e c o n s p i
c u o u s in c o m m e n t s o n h o u s i n g . I n t h e e a r l y e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y g l a s s
w a s c o m i n g i n for u s e at l e a s t i n t h e w i n d o w s o f t h e b i g g e r f a r m h o u s e s ,
as w e l l as i n c h u r c h e s , a n d w a s b e c o m i n g m o r e c o m m o n i n t h e t o w n s ,
b u t w a s still n o t w i t h i n t h e s c o p e o f t h e s m a l l e r t e n a n t s o r c o t t a r s .
G e o r g e R o b e r t s o n w a s later to describe the cottar h o u s e s of the 1760s
as ' m e a n h o v e l s ' p u t u p i n a s i n g l e d a y , m e a s u r i n g a b o u t 1 2 foot
s q u a r e i n s i d e , w i t h w a l l s o f 5 foot h e i g h t , a r o o f o f s t r a w a n d t u r f
8
laid o v e r r o u g h b r a n c h e s , a n d b y n o m e a n s a l w a y s a c h i m n e y .
A l m o s t all w e r e o f o n e r o o m o n l y . W h e r e efforts w e r e m a d e for s o m e
t h i n g b e t t e r , for i n s t a n c e b y t h e officials o f t h e A n n e x e d E s t a t e s , t h e r e
w a s great trouble in getting reliable p e r f o r m a n c e b y w o r k m e n . But
i m p r o v e m e n t s in furniture reveal t h e existence of s o m e choice in
e x p e n d i t u r e . I n t h e 1 7 4 0 s it w a s c o m m o n for t h e b e s t p o s s e s s i o n to
be a mirror. Tables a n d chairs w e r e often present, a n d hardwood
m i g h t b e u s e d i n c h e s t s o r t a b l e s . M a h o g a n y a n d o a k figure i n t h e
e q u i p m e n t o f t h e b e t t e r f a r m h o u s e s . If a c o t t a r i n a h o u s e w i t h o u t
glazing did not p o s s e s s a chest h e w o u l d h a v e n o dry place in w h i c h
to k e e p a n y b o o k o r p a p e r , a fact w h i c h h a s a b e a r i n g o n t h e l i m i t e d
v a l u e t h a t m i g h t e x i s t i n a c q u i r i n g t h e skill o f w r i t i n g .
U r b a n h o u s i n g w a s o f s t r o n g e r c o n s t r u c t i o n t h a n w a s rural, if o n l y
from t h e S c o t t i s h t r a d i t i o n o f life i n tall t e n e m e n t s . ' R e l i e f l a n d ' i n
I n v e r a r a y , p u t u p b y t h e D u k e o f A r g y l l i n 1 7 7 0 , is a g o o d e x a m p l e
9
of t h i s t e n e m e n t t y p e . Skilled craftsmen and clerks can be seen
from t h e e v i d e n c e o f E d i n b u r g h i n v e n t o r i e s t o h a v e l i v e d w i t h t h e i r
7
Flinn, ed., Scottish Population History, pt 4, chaps. 2 and 7; T. Pennant, Tour in Scotland
and Voyages to the Hebrides, 1772, 2 vols. (1790), vol. 1, pp. 312, 353.
8
G. Robertson, Rural Recollections (Irvine, 1829).
9
I. G. Lindsay and Mary Cosh, Inveraray and the Dukes of Argyll (Edinburgh, 1973),
pp. 259-63.

Scotland 1750-1850 161
f a m i l i e s o f t e n i n t w o r o o m s , p e r h a p s w i t h a d d i t i o n a l s p a c e in a corri
d o r . T h e y w o u l d b e a b l e t o afford s o m e g o o d f u r n i t u r e , l a r g e s t o c k s
o f l i n e n , a r a n g e o f c o o k i n g u t e n s i l s a n d e v e n s o m e silver o b j e c t s .
T h e limitations of this type of h o u s i n g w e r e not so m u c h of space,
for m a n y c i t y d w e l l e r s all o v e r t h e w o r l d h a v e u s e d n o m o r e , b u t
t h e l a c k o f s a n i t a r y facilities a n d w a t e r s u p p l y . W a t e r h a d to b e b o u g h t
off t r a v e l l i n g c a d d i e s , a n d all r e f u s e h a d s i m p l y t o b e p u t i n t h e s t r e e t
o r a l l e y at n i g h t : n e i t h e r o f t h e s e f e a t u r e s w a s a l l o w e d o n S u n d a y .
T h e e x p a n s i o n o f t e x t i l e i n d u s t r i e s h a d m o r e s u b t l e effects than
s i m p l y t h a t o f r a i s i n g s t a n d a r d s o f l i v i n g . It b r o u g h t t h e rural p o p u l a
tion closer to the market and encouraged the use of cash, meeting
t h e efforts o f m a n y l a n d o w n e r s t o i n c r e a s e t h e s h a r e o f m o n e y i n
r e n t p a y m e n t s . T h e m a r k e t w a s r e a c h i n g o u t i n t o t h e agricultural
sector. W i t h o u t b e c o m i n g rich m o r e people w o u l d often handle
m o n e y . C o m m u t a t i o n o f s e r v i c e s for c a s h r e d u c e d c o n t a c t b e t w e e n
t e n a n t a n d l a n d o w n e r , b u t rural w a g e s c o n t i n u e d t o b e m a d e i n k i n d
e x c e p t for t h e e x t r a w o r k o f t h e h a r v e s t p e r i o d . T h a t t h e r e w a s often,
t h o u g h not invariably, m o n e y in the h o u s e s of the farm population
is s h o w n b y t h e s u r p r i s i n g l y l a r g e s u m s t h a t p a r i s h e s c o u l d p r o d u c e
i n r e s p o n s e t o s p e c i a l a p p e a l s f r o m t h e c h u r c h ; for i n s t a n c e a s i n g l e
farm in t h e 1680s in Y e s t e r (East L o t h i a n ) h a d subscribed over £ 5
to an overseas cause. In 1764 the relatively p o o r upland parish of
Daviot in Aberdeenshire gave a subscription to the Aberdeen
i n f i r m a r y £ 5 . I s . 7\d. f and contributions o n this scale were not
1 0
unusual.
E x p a n s i o n o f t h e m a r k e t a s p e c t o f life w e n t w i t h r e d u c t i o n in t h e
c l a i m s o f l o r d s h i p . M e m b e r s o f t h e a r i s t o c r a c y still t h o u g h t o f t h e m
selves as h e a d s of s u r n a m e s . In 1746 the brother of the Earl of March-
m o n t , a staunch W h i g , w a s prepared to u s e influence to save the
life o f a r e b e l J a c o b i t e o f h i s s u r n a m e , a n d i n 1 7 3 2 t h e E a r l h a d o b t a i n e d
a r e p r i e v e for a c o n v i c t e d m u r d e r e r , a t o t a l s t r a n g e r , w h o s e r e l a t i v e s
1 1
a p p e a l e d to h i m as leader of the N a m e . In 1726 the exiled Earl
of M a r c o u l d w r i t e i n h i s T e g a c i e ' t o h i s s o n , a l o n g l e t t e r o f a d v i c e :
Clanshipe in our country is what ought to be encouraged and keept up as

much as possible . . . You are to be at the head of one which tho not so
numerous as those in the highlands, is perhaps as old . . . I doubt not but
that all of them will be assisting to you . . . Endeavour to keep them united.
10
Scottish Record Office (hereafter SRO) CH2/377/2 and CH2/549/1.
11
Historical Manuscripts Commission, Report on the Manuscripts of the Right Honourable
Lord Polwarth, vol. 5 (1961), pp. 3 2 - 4 1 , 1 8 2 .

In 1 7 6 7 t h e y o u n g J a m e s B o s w e l l , i n a fit o f r o m a n t i c r e v e r e n c e for
f a m i l y r i t e s , i n v e s t e d h i s y o u n g e r b r o t h e r w i t h a r i n g in a f o r m a l
c e r e m o n y , a n d extracted in return an oath of faithfulness to the
1 2
'ancient Family'. R i c h e r l a n d o w n e r s m i g h t i n d u l g e in t h e f a n c y o f
h o l d i n g t h e k i n t o g e t h e r as a u n i t o f p o w e r a n d l o r d s h i p , a n d i n d e e d
i n politics it w a s still n o r m a l for a m a n t o f o l l o w t h e l e a d o f t h e h e a d
of h i s n a m e . Y e t e v e n at t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y
Hamilton palace, the h o m e of the D u k e and D u c h e s s , bearers of a
w i d e s p r e a d s u r n a m e , w a s n o t e d a s m a k i n g little u s e o f s e r v a n t s a n d
1 3
office h o l d e r s o f t h e N a m e . T h e r e are n o signs that the b o n d of
the s u r n a m e m e a n t m u c h to the lowland peasantry, or that distant
kin links were preserved. T h e relationship of peasants to l a n d o w n e r s
w a s e x p r e s s e d in the paying, usually belatedly, of rent and, very belat
edly, the performing of labour services. Within landowning society
t h e p o w e r s o f t h e a r i s t o c r a c y , as f e u d a l s u p e r i o r s , w e r e b e i n g s y s t e m a
tically r e d u c e d . T h e j u d g e s , m o s t l y l a n d o w n e r s o f m o d e r a t e r a n k ,
h a d decided that rights of this kind w e r e an anachronism, a n d w e r e
freely r e m a k i n g t h e l a w to r e d u c e t h e m . W h i l e c l a i m i n g to a d m i n i s t e r
t h e l a w , t h e y a s s e s s e d t h a t l a w i n r e l a t i o n s h i p to r e a s o n a n d utility:
t h e s e p r i n c i p l e s h a d a s t r o n g t e n d e n c y to a g r e e w i t h t h e a d v a n t a g e s
of t h e i r o w n social o r d e r . L a w w a s r e c a s t as it w a s e n l a r g e d to m e e t
n e w n e e d s . A j u d g m e n t o f 1 7 4 4 s t a t e d t h a t 'it is t h e p r i v i l e g e o f p r o p
erty, that the proprietor can b e put u n d e r n o restraint'. This statement
did not record the existing state of things, but the intention of the
judiciary. This intention w a s to destroy the older pattern of lordship
14
a n d t h e special rights o f m a g n a t e s . T h e p r o c e s s h a d g o n e so far b y
t h e r i s i n g o f 1 7 4 5 t h a t it w a s g e n e r a l l y h e l d b y l a w y e r s t h a t n o g r e a t
l o r d h a d t h e r i g h t t o call u p h i s t e n a n t r y to o p p o s e t h e r e b e l a r m y .
N o militia o r v o l u n t a r y force c o u l d b e r a i s e d u n t i l t h e c r o w n g a v e
1 5
s p e c i a l p e r m i s s i o n s o m e t h r e e m o n t h s after t h e r i s i n g g o t u n d e r w a y .
This does not m e a n that the citizens of mid-eighteenth-century Scot
l a n d h a d e q u a l r i g h t s . It w a s as l a n d o w n e r s , o r ' h e r i t o r s ' - t h a t is
proprietors of land which carried the burden of supporting the parish
12
S. Erskine, ed., The Earl of Mar's Legacies to Scotland, Scottish History Society (here
after SHS), 26 (Edinburgh, 1896); F. Brady and R. A. Pottle, eds., Boswell in Search
of a Wife, 1766-1769 (1957), p. 102.
13
Rosalind Marshall, The Days of Duchess Anne (1973), p. 81.
14
Rosalind Mitchison, 'Patriotism and National Identity in Eighteenth Century Scot
land', inT. W. Moody, ed., Nationality and the Pursuit of National Independence (Belfast,
1978).
15
Rosalind Mitchison, 'The Government and the Highlands, 1707-1745', in Phillipson
and Mitchison, eds., Scotland in the Age of Improvement.

Scotland 1750-1850 163
c h u r c h a n d minister - that m e n h a d privileges, not, except in the

r i g h t t o v o t e i n c o u n t y e l e c t i o n s for P a r l i a m e n t , a s f e u d a l s u p e r i o r s .
T h e j u d g e s w e r e restricting the rights of superiors over the marriages
of t h e i r v a s s a l s a n d o v e r a l i e n a t i o n o f l a n d . I n 1 7 4 7 t h e h e r i t a b l e j u r i s
dictions, which m a n y superiors o w n e d , were b o u g h t up b y the crown,
leaving only t h e b a r o n courts, with r e d u c e d p o w e r s , as r e m n a n t s
of the s y s t e m of feudal franchises. In the s a m e decade the o w n e r s
o f f e u d a l s u p e r i o r i t y b e g a n m a k i n g n o m i n a l a l l o c a t i o n s o f it t o o w n e r s
of m e r e p r o p e r t y , t o c r e a t e fictitious v o t e s a n d b u i l d u p e l e c t o r a l s u p
16
port in line with their o w n landed significance. Influence, partly
purchased in this corrupt way, h a d replaced p o w e r .
P r o p r i e t o r s h a d a s p e c i a l s t a t u s i n l o c a l g o v e r n m e n t , for n o t o n l y
did they sustain the parish but they provided such county adminis
tration and justice as there w a s . Local authority could b e retained
o n l y b y r e g u l a r w o r k . I n t h e first h a l f o f t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y t h e
o r g a n s o f c o u n t y g o v e r n m e n t w e r e b e c o m i n g effective. C o n s i d e r a b l e
i n f l u e n c e r e s t e d w i t h t h e sheriffs, a n d t h e y a n d t w o o t h e r b o d i e s
of men, often overlapping in membership, made the effective
decisions. These were the justices of the peace and the commissioners
of supply. T h e s e w e r e appointed from o w n e r s of land worth respect
ively £200 and £ 1 0 0 Scots a year. T h e c o m m i s s i o n e r s controlled the
a s s e s s m e n t for t h e b a s i c t a x o n l a n d , t h e c e s s , a n d a l s o r a i s e d m o n e y for
l o c a l p u r p o s e s , a s ' r o g u e m o n e y ' for a r r e s t i n g o f f e n d e r s , a n d ' r o a d '
m o n e y for r e p a i r s . T h e y h a d a fairly free h a n d i n t h e w a y t h i s m o n e y
was used and so provided a genuine element of county government,
1 7
i n t h e e n d t o b e its m o s t i m p o r t a n t e l e m e n t . A s yet, mid-eighteenth
c e n t u r y , t h e p o w e r o f t h i s g r o u p w a s a p p r o x i m a t e l y e q u a l to t h a t
of the justices. T h e justices spent m o s t of the m o n e y raised b y the
commissioners, and met and acted more frequently than they. For
the m o s t part the meetings of the c o m m i s s i o n e r s w e r e scantily
a t t e n d e d a n d r o u t i n e i n activity, b u t t h e y b e c a m e m o r e l i v e l y i n w a r
t i m e , s i n c e t h e c o m m i s s i o n e r s h a d t o find t h e c o m p u l s o r y a r m y c o n
t i n g e n t s f r o m e a c h c o u n t y , a n d w o u l d b e r i c h l y a t t e n d e d b y all t h e
local g r e a t m e n w h e n a g e n e r a l e l e c t i o n w a s i n e v i t a b l e i n t h e f o l l o w i n g
y e a r , for o n t h e i r d e c i s i o n s o v e r v a l u a t i o n d e p e n d e d t h e v o t e c a r r y i n g
c a p a c i t y o f t h e fictitious a l l o c a t i o n s o f s u p e r i o r i t y .
C o u n t y g o v e r n m e n t w a s also sustained b y ' c o u n t y m e e t i n g s ' of
16
William Ferguson, Scotland, 1689 to the Present (Edinburgh, 1968), chap. 5.
17
Ann E. Whetstone, Scottish County Government in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centur
ies (Edinburgh, 1981).

all s u b s t a n t i a l l a n d o w n e r s . It w a s s u c h a b o d y in M i d l o t h i a n i n t h e
f o o d s h o r t a g e o f 1 7 4 0 t h a t r a i s e d £ 2 , 0 0 0 t o b r i n g i n g r a i n a n d sell
it b e l o w c o s t to t h e p a r i s h e s . A s i m i l a r m e e t i n g for A b e r d e e n s h i r e
in 1 7 8 2 p r o v i d e s u s w i t h a n a c c u r a t e d e s c r i p t i o n o f t h e shortfall o f
18
the harvest. In 1760 similar m e e t i n g s , the c o m p o s i t i o n of w h i c h
w a s u n d e f i n e d , m e t to p r o t e s t a g a i n s t t h e d e m a n d s m a d e b y u n r u l y
7
s e r v a n t s for ' v a i l s (tips) a n d to p e t i t i o n P a r l i a m e n t for a S c o t t i s h m i l
itia. A s t h e c e n t u r y w e n t o n s u c h m e e t i n g s h a d b e c o m e m o r e f r e q u e n t .
T h e y m i g h t c o n c e r t p l a n s to d e a l w i t h s t r i k e s b y a g r i c u l t u r a l l a b o u r e r s ,
a d d r e s s t h e c r o w n patriotically o v e r t h e A m e r i c a n i s s u e , o r , l e s s patri
otically, a b o u t t h e p r i c e l e v e l s at w h i c h t h e c o r n l a w s intervened,
urge modification of the s y s t e m of entail, discuss the n e e d to control
t h e i s s u e o f n o t e s b y b a n k s , or e v o l v e s c h e m e s for t h e m a i n t e n a n c e
of t h e p o o r . T h e y h a d n o e x e c u t i v e p o w e r , a n d financial c o n t r o l o v e r
o n l y t h e f u n d s t h e y r a i s e d t h e m s e l v e s , b u t t h e y filled a n i m p o r t a n t
gap in local g o v e r n m e n t a n d in the voicing of upper-class opinion.
The n e w system of county g o v e r n m e n t b y justices and c o m m i s
s i o n e r s w a s r e p l a c i n g t h e o l d e r s y s t e m o f r u l e b y territorial m a g n a t e s ,
b u t in w a y s n o t p a r t i c u l a r l y painful to t h e m a g n a t e s . O f t h e g r e a t
m e n , s o m e w e r e fully o c c u p i e d o n t h e political s c e n e in E n g l a n d ,
n o t a b l y t h e D u k e s o f A r g y l l a n d H a m i l t o n ; s o m e s u c h as t h e s e c o n d
1 9
D u k e of Q u e e n s b e r r y o n the L o n d o n social s c e n e . I n t e l l e c t u a l limi
tations p r e v e n t e d the D u k e of G o r d o n from having local influence,
a n d t h e s e c o n d D u k e o f A t h o l l , t h o u g h k e e n to p r e s e r v e h i s l o c a l
i m p o r t a n c e , c o u l d n o t g i v e it m u c h o f h i s t i m e s i n c e h e t o o w a s m o r e
i n t e r e s t e d in L o n d o n . T h e g r e a t h o u s e s p a i n l e s s l y d i v o r c e d t h e m
s e l v e s f r o m t h e d o m i n a t i o n o f t h e i r r e g i o n s in f a v o u r o f t h e a t t r a c t i o n s
of t h e c a p i t a l . T h e l e s s e r n o b i l i t y l i k e d to p l a y a p a r t i n c o u n t y as
w e l l a s i n n a t i o n a l p o l i t i c s , a n d for t h i s it h a d t o c u l t i v a t e t h e r i c h e r
lairds, u s i n g a n d c r e a t i n g t h e i r v o t e s , b u i l d i n g u p p a r t i e s b y p a t r o n a g e
a n d persuasion. W h e n the franchise holders lost their heritable juris
d i c t i o n s i n 1 7 4 7 t h e c a s h g i v e n in e x c h a n g e m o r e t h a n m a d e u p for
the disappearance of courts t h r o u g h w h i c h in the L o w l a n d s t h e y h a d
long ceased to exert power.
After 1 7 4 7 t h e o n e r e m a i n i n g p r i v a t e c o u r t w a s t h a t o f t h e b a r o n y .
This h a d limited criminal powers, being mostly involved in issues
18
L. M. Cullen and T. C. Smout, eds., Comparative Aspects of Irish and Scottish Economic
and Social History, 1600-1900 (Edinburgh, 1977), p. 27.
19
J. S. Shaw, The Management of Scottish Society 1707-1764 (Edinburgh, 1983),
chap. 1.

Scotland 1750-1850 165
s u c h a s local b r a w l s , s l a n g i n g m a t c h e s b e t w e e n t h e w i v e s o f t h e p e a s
antry a n d the e n f o r c e m e n t of statutes in w h i c h the b a r o n h a d a strong
sporting interest, s u c h a s that p r o h i b i t i n g t h e s o a k i n g o f lint in
s a l m o n r i v e r s ( b a d for t h e fish), or t h e b u r n i n g o f m o o r s late in t h e
s p r i n g t o p r o m o t e b e t t e r g r a z i n g ( b a d for fledgling g a m e b i r d s ) . T h e r e
w a s also, often within the b a r o n court, the birlaw court w h i c h sprang
from the necessities of farm co-operation and the promotion of good
neighbourhood. M o s t of the business of these courts was verbal and
h a s left little r e c o r d , b u t t h e s c r a p s w h i c h s u r v i v e s u g g e s t t h a t t h i s
t y p e o f c o u r t h a d c l o s e r c o n n e c t i o n s w i t h t h e m a i n s p r i n g s o f local
life t h a n h a d t h e b a r o n c o u r t . T h e b a r o n c o u r t c o n t i n u e d to b e t h e
p l a c e for t h e s e t t l i n g o f f a r m i n g i s s u e s , e n f o r c i n g t h e t y p e o f d e c i s i o n
w h i c h u n f e n c e d or intermixed farming m a d e necessary, but the spread
of s i n g l e - t e n a n t f a r m s , a l r e a d y d o m i n a n t in t h e s o u t h - e a s t a n d in
A b e r d e e n s h i r e , r e d u c e d t h i s n e e d . A f t e r 1 7 4 7 its m i n o r c r i m i n a l
p o w e r s w e r e v e r y s m a l l a n d t h e civil c a s e s it c o u l d h a n d l e w e r e o f
20
l e s s v a l u e t h a n 2 0 s . R e s t r i c t i o n a n d f a r m i n g c h a n g e s l e d to a t r o p h y .
E v e n before the c h a n g e s of 1747 the b a r o n y h a d c e a s e d to be an
effective social u n i t . T h e m e n o f a b a r o n y w o u l d g e t t o g e t h e r g r u d g
i n g l y t o p e r f o r m c e r t a i n n e c e s s a r y d u t i e s , s u c h as t h e b r i n g i n g in
of n e w millstones or the regulation of the celebrations of w e d d i n g s ,
but early in the e i g h t e e n t h century m a n y of the old functions of the
b a r o n y h a d b e e n s p o n t a n e o u s l y t r a n s f e r r e d e i t h e r to t h e sheriff c o u r t s ,
if s e c u l a r , o r t o t h e l o w e s t u n i t in t h e c h u r c h c o u r t s y s t e m , t h a t o f
the kirk session. T h e s e c h a n g e s s e e m to relate to the Act of U n i o n
of 1 7 0 7 , w h i c h w a s f o l l o w e d b y t h e d i s a p p e a r a n c e o f t h e P r i v y C o u n c i l ,
in the past the supervisor of the franchise courts. In the 1690s w h e n
a p a r i s h d e c i d e d t h a t it h a d to i m p l e m e n t t h e p o o r l a w b y i m p o s i n g
r a t e s , it s o m e t i m e s s i m p l y g a v e t h e o w n e r s o f t h e b a r o n i e s w i t h i n
t h e p a r i s h a list o f t h e n e e d y o n t h e i r l a n d , a n d left to t h e m t h e d u t y
of f u r n i s h i n g a d e q u a t e s u p p o r t . P a r l i a m e n t d e c r e e d t h a t t h e l a n d
o w n e r could raise half his contribution from his tenants, a n d h e w a s
left to a d m i n i s t e r t h e i r a n d h i s o w n m o n e y . B y t h e 1 7 4 0 s t h e p a r i s h
h a d , i n m o s t a r e a s , a s s u m e d t h i s d u t y : if a s s e s s m e n t b e c a m e n e c e s s a r y
a special c o m m i t t e e of heritors a n d kirk session w o u l d b e created
to raise a n d distribute m o n e y . This s y s t e m w o u l d t h e n b e u s e d to
S. Davies, 'Law and Order in Stirlingshire 1637-1747' (unpublished PhD thesis,

St Andrews University, 1984); D. G. Barron, ed., The Court Book of the Barony of
Urie, SHS, 12 (Edinburgh, 1892), Introduction.

c a r e for t h e c a s e s o f l o n g - s t a n d i n g p o v e r t y , w i d o w s a n d orphans,
the insane or the permanently incapacitated, the 'ordinary' poor,
w h i l e m o r e t e m p o r a r y o r c a s u a l n e e d s , p e o p l e suffering f r o m i l l n e s s
u n l i k e l y t o b e t e r m i n a l , o r f r o m o t h e r afflictions s u c h a s t h e d e a t h
of a w o r k h o r s e o r t h e d e s t r u c t i o n o f a h o u s e b y fire, a n d v a g r a n t s ,
w o u l d b e s u p p o r t e d as in an u n a s s e s s e d parish b y the kirk session
directly. Y e t i n s o m e a r e a s , n o t a b l y o n t h e A t h o l l e s t a t e , t h e a u t h o r i t y
of t h e l a n d o w n e r w a s s t r o n g e n o u g h still for h i s a g e n t t o act as h e
would h a v e d o n e in the seventeenth century.
T h e role of the kirk session w a s a survival of the seventeenth-century
e n t h u s i a s m for g o v e r n m e n t b y c o m m i t t e e . T h e s e s s i o n s u p e r v i s e d
t h e p a r i s h s c h o o l , finding t h e s c h o o l m a s t e r , p a y i n g h i m h i s s m a l l
fixed salary, ( b e t w e e n £ 5 l i s . a n d £ 1 1 2 s . a y e a r ) as w e l l as f e e s for
the teaching of poor children, and sometimes laying d o w n regulations
a b o u t t e a c h i n g . It a l s o s u p e r v i s e d m o r a l s a n d a c t e d as a l e g a l c o u r t
o v e r p a r t i c u l a r b r e a c h e s o f r u l e , s u c h a s failure o f S u n d a y o b s e r v a n c e ,
gross d r u n k e n n e s s a n d sexual irregularities w h i c h e n d e d in u n m a r r i e d
p r e g n a n c y . It c o u l d u s e s t r o n g w e a p o n s o f d i s c i p l i n e , n o t o n l y c e n s u r e
b u t fines a n d f o r m a l p e n a n c e i n c h u r c h : t h e s a n c t i o n o f referral to
t h e sheriff c o u r t h a d b e e n a b o l i s h e d i n 1 7 1 2 , b u t g e n e r a l a c c e p t a n c e
of t h e s e s s i o n ' s a u t h o r i t y c o n t i n u e d u n t i l t h e 1 7 7 0 s . T h e s e s s i o n d i d
not have the power of the baron court of ending the tenancy of a
t r o u b l e s o m e t e n a n t , b u t it h a d a n e g a t i v e p o w e r , for it c o u l d m a k e
it v e r y difficult for a m a n t o m o v e t o a n o t h e r p a r i s h if it d e n i e d h i m
a ' t e s t i f i c a t e ' o f g o o d c o n d u c t . It h a d a l s o , b e s i d e s d i s c i p l i n e , t h e
o p p o r t u n i t y for r e b u k e a n d p e r s u a s i o n , w h i c h if p e r s i s t e n t l y u s e d
could wear d o w n resistance. For instance, in the 1760s a n d 1770s
t h e kirk s e s s i o n o f M a u c h l i n e , A y r s h i r e , w o u l d d r a w u p e a c h y e a r
a list o f c o u p l e s w h o w o u l d n o t b e a l l o w e d t o t a k e c o m m u n i o n u n l e s s
they w e r e 'reconciled' to the church a n d t h e n apply c o n t i n u o u s per
21
s o n a l p r e s s u r e t o t h e m u n t i l t h e y g a v e w a y a n d a c c e p t e d its r u l i n g s .
C h u r c h d i s c i p l i n e w a s n o t as p o w e r f u l a w e a p o n as it h a d b e e n in
the seventeenth century a n d the area in w h i c h the session would
o p e r a t e h a d b e e n n a r r o w e d , b u t it w a s still a n i m p o r t a n t f e a t u r e o f
rural life i n t h e t h i r d q u a r t e r o f t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y .
I n directly e c c l e s i a s t i c a l m a t t e r s t h e s e s s i o n w a s s u b o r d i n a t e t o t h e
court of a larger area, the presbytery. T h e presbytery h a d the p o w e r
21
SRO CH2/896/4.

Scotland 1750-1850 167
o f e x c o m m u n i c a t i o n , a n d t o it difficult c a s e s o f d i s c i p l i n e w e r e r e f e r r e d
- m e n a p p a r e n t l y guilty o f f o r n i c a t i o n b u t w i l l i n g t o t a k e a n e x c u l p a
tory oath, cases of persistent adultery, practices w h i c h s e e m e d derived
f r o m w i t c h c r a f t , a n d g r o s s b r e a c h e s o f m a r r i a g e p r o m i s e s s u c h as
the selling of a wife. But the formality of the records of this court,
e x c e p t in c a s e s o f t h e d e v i a n c e o f m i n i s t e r s f r o m o r t h o d o x y , s h o w
t h a t it did n o t h a v e t h e v i g o u r o f t h e k i r k s e s s i o n .
There were areas of government where there could be clashes
b e t w e e n the structure of church courts and the lay organisation of
society. Parishes d e p e n d e d o n landowners, as 'heritors', discharging
t h e i r financial d u t i e s in p a y i n g t h e m i n i s t e r s ' s t i p e n d s , t h e s c h o o l m a s
t e r s ' salaries a n d m a i n t a i n i n g t h e fabric o f c h u r c h , s c h o o l a n d m a n s e .
W h e r e relations w e r e b a d or landowners high in self-esteem a n d short
of m o n e y t h e r e c o u l d b e friction f r o m l o n g d e l a y s in p a y m e n t . P r e s b y
teries h a d s o m e t i m e s to put pressure o n heritors to set u p a school,
a n d t h e r e h a d b e e n a s t e a d y d e m a n d for m a n s e s t o b e r e b u i l t t o h i g h e r
standards. In the 1750s an attempt b y the church to obtain higher
s t i p e n d s h a d b e e n f r u s t r a t e d b y t h e l a n d o w n e r s . B u t it w a s t h e p r e s
s u r e o f t h e l a y a u t h o r i t i e s , j u s t i c e s o f t h e p e a c e a n d sheriffs, w h i c h
had made the parishes improve the poor law and which had ensured
t h a t it c o u l d d e a l w i t h f o o d s h o r t a g e . I n m a n y l o w l a n d c o u n t i e s t h e s e
authorities h a d periodically set up c o u n t y s c h e m e s , ordering parishes,
a n d the parish l a n d o w n e r s , to control vagrancy a n d to support the
local p o o r . I n s o f a r as t h e s e w e r e activities s t a t u t o r i l y g i v e n t o t h e
k i r k s e s s i o n s , t h e l a y p o w e r s h a d n o direct a u t h o r i t y for s u c h o r d e r s .
S u c h s c h e m e s covered m u c h of lowland Scotland in the 1750s, and
though this generation of s c h e m e s faded there w a s a r e n e w e d enthusi
a s m for s e t t i n g u p s u c h s t r u c t u r e s in t h e 1 7 7 0 s . C l a s h e s b e t w e e n t h e
t w o s y s t e m s o f a u t h o r i t y w e r e r e d u c e d b y t h e fact t h a t t h e y w e r e
n o t c o m p l e t e l y s e p a r a t e . L a n d o w n e r s m i g h t act i n t h e c h u r c h c o u r t s
as ' r u l i n g e l d e r s ' , b u t in t h e l a t e r e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y t h i s b e c a m e l e s s
c o m m o n a s l a n d o w n e r s i n c r e a s i n g l y w e r e n o n - r e s i d e n t , a n d e v e n if
resident, increasingly d r a w n to a d h e r e n c e to the episcopal instead
of t h e e s t a b l i s h e d c h u r c h .
M o s t S c o t t i s h p a r i s h e s did n o t , m i d - e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y , h a v e a
nuclear village, but w e r e instead collections of farms, ' m u c k l e t o w n s '
in s o m e c a s e s , w h i c h w o u l d i n c l u d e s e v e r a l f a m i l i e s , s o m e a s t e n a n t s
or s u b - t e n a n t s a n d s o m e a s cottars. It w a s n o r m a l for t h e p a r i s h to
a r r a n g e for e a c h significant s e t t l e m e n t t o c o n t a i n a n e l d e r , w h o w o u l d
m a k e t h e r o u n d o f h i s ' b o u n d s ' c o l l e c t i n g m o n e y for t h e g e n e r a l p a r i s h

f u n d w h i c h , t h o u g h c a l l e d t h e ' p o o r ' s m o n e y ' , w a s u s e d for all m a n

n e r o f p u r p o s e s , a n d s o m e t i m e s for s p e c i a l c o l l e c t i o n s r e c o m m e n d e d
b y the higher courts of the church. H e w o u l d also receive information
for t h e p a r i s h ' s d i s c i p l i n a r y s i d e , v i s i b l e c a s e s o f u n m a r r i e d preg
nancy, audible and unmistakable evidence of bad neighbourhood,
r u m o u r o f u n s u i t a b l e S u n d a y a c t i v i t i e s . It w a s u s u a l l y h e w h o b r o u g h t
to t h e n e e d y t h e s u p p o r t a l l o t t e d . H e m i g h t h a v e t o collect o a t m e a l
for t h e m , b u t m o r e o f t e n relief c a m e i n t h e f o r m o f c a s h . It is o n e
of t h e r e m a r k a b l e a c h i e v e m e n t s o f t h e s e s s i o n s t h a t t h e i r m o n e t a r y
affairs, t h e r a i s i n g o f c o l l e c t i o n s , r e t e n t i o n o f it b y t h e e l d e r w h o a c t e d
as t r e a s u r e r , a n d d i s t r i b u t i o n , l e d in t h e c o u r s e o f t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n
t u r y to o n l y a h a n d f u l o f a l l e g a t i o n s o f e m b e z z l e m e n t . M o s t m e n
of sufficient local w e i g h t to b e e l d e r s w e r e b y m i d - c e n t u r y literate
and the treasurer capable of keeping s o m e w h a t disorderly accounts
of i n c o m i n g a n d o u t g o i n g m o n e y . I n a m i n i s t e r i a l v a c a n c y m o s t s e s
s i o n s w o u l d k e e p u p t h e i r r e c o r d s fairly c o h e r e n t l y for six o r n i n e
2 2
months. During this time besides carrying o n the b u s i n e s s of the
p o o r a n d t h e s c h o o l t h e s e s s i o n h a d t o a r r a n g e for o c c a s i o n a l v i s i t s
b y a n e i g h b o u r m i n i s t e r t o t a k e s e r v i c e s , a n d t o h i r e a h o r s e for h i m .
Local government within the church's realm required and received
a h i g h l e v e l o f c o n s c i e n t i o u s effort.
L a n d o w n e r s often h e l d the position of elder, t h o u g h this did not
m e a n t h a t s u c h m e n w o u l d b e a c t i v e i n p a r i s h affairs: t h e i r u s e to
t h e p a r i s h w a s as ' r u l i n g e l d e r ' , t h a t is t h e d e l e g a t e to h i g h e r c o u r t s .
T h e social p a t t e r n o f t h e e l d e r s h i p v a r i e d f r o m r e g i o n to r e g i o n , a n d
in m a n y places a considerable proportion of the l a n d o w n e r s had
m o v e d o u t f r o m t h e e s t a b l i s h e d c h u r c h to b e c o m e e p i s c o p a l i a n dis
senters. In m a n y of the eighteenth-century cases of dispute b e t w e e n
l a n d o w n e r s a n d k i r k s e s s i o n s , o v e r for i n s t a n c e t h e m a n a g e m e n t o f
the p o o r ' s m o n e y or the a p p o i n t m e n t of a n e w minister, there w a s
an element of this dissent. S o m e landowners were non-resident. A
series of disputes b e t w e e n 1749 a n d 1752 established the right of land
o w n e r s to i n s p e c t t h e r e c o r d s o f p a r i s h e x p e n d i t u r e a n d l a i d d o w n
t h a t t h e p o o r ' s m o n e y c o u l d n o t b e u s e d for a n y t h i n g b u t t h e s u p p o r t
of t h e p o o r , b u t it is c l e a r f r o m s u b s e q u e n t c o u r t c a s e s t h a t t h i s r e s t r i c
t i o n o f u s e o f p a r i s h m o n e y w a s i m p r a c t i c a b l e . It a l s o w a s b r o u g h t
h o m e to l a n d o w n e r s t h a t if t h e y i n t e r f e r e d t o o m u c h in k i r k s e s s i o n
22
H. Paton, ed., The Session Book of Rothesay 1658-1750 (privately published, 1931),
pp. 471-82.

Scotland 1750-1850 169
b u s i n e s s t h e y might get involved in the practical doling out of m o n e y

t o t h e p o o r a n d t h a t t h i s c o u l d n o t b e w o r k e d effectively f r o m t h e i r
2 3
social l e v e l .
T h e r e c e i p t o f p o o r relief d i d n o t y e t e s t a b l i s h a s o c i a l gulf b e t w e e n
t h e b u l k o f t h e p a r i s h a n d its p o o r . F o r o n e t h i n g t h e p o o r ' s m o n e y
o f t e n c o n t r i b u t e d to a b u r s a r y for u n i v e r s i t y e d u c a t i o n r u n b y a g r o u p
of p a r i s h e s . S u c h a n a w a r d c o u l d m a k e for a s m a l l c h a n c e o f u p w a r d
social m o b i l i t y , b u t u s u a l l y l e d t o t h e y o u t h r e t u r n i n g t o t h e r u r a l
s c e n e as a s c h o o l m a s t e r . O t h e r u s e s o f p a r i s h m o n e y w o u l d b e t h e
w e t - n u r s i n g o f a m o t h e r l e s s b a b y , a s u r g e o n ' s f e e , a i d in d i s a s t e r s ,
a n d i n t o t h e first d e c a d e o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y a p a r i s h m i g h t ,
in years of high prices or trade dislocation, give out m o n e y to h o u s e
h o l d e r s w h o w e r e n o t w i t h o u t e m p l o y m e n t . M o s t h o l d i n g s w e r e still
fairly s m a l l , a n d it w a s a r a r e f a m i l y w h i c h c o u l d c o u n t itself c o m p l e
t e l y s e c u r e o n its o w n r e s o u r c e s . S u b s c r i b i n g t o t h e p o o r ' s m o n e y
could b e s e e n as a form of insurance. I n c o m e s w h i c h did not m a k e
it p o s s i b l e for all i n a f a m i l y t o r e c e i v e a n a d e q u a t e diet d i d n o t p r e v e n t
e x p e n d i t u r e o n c h a r i t y o r o n s c h o o l i n g o f c h i l d r e n for a f e w y e a r s .
T h e s e p a y m e n t s e n a b l e d a f a m i l y to r e g a r d itself a s r e s p e c t a b l e , w h e r e
as c h i l d r e n b r o u g h t u p w i t h o u t at l e a s t t h e ability to r e a d w e r e at
a social disadvantage.
I n l o c a l affairs, i n e d u c a t i o n a n d i n w o r k w o m e n w e r e r e g u l a r l y
at a d i s a d v a n t a g e . T h e figures for t h e p r o p o r t i o n s o f b o t h s e x e s w h o
c o u l d s i g n t h e i r n a m e s s h o w t h i s d i s a d v a n t a g e at its m o s t s e v e r e :
for t h e 1 7 5 0 s t h o s e w h o l a c k e d t h i s skill h a v e b e e n g i v e n as 2 2 p e r
cent of m e n and 77 per cent of w o m e n , though of course there were
c o n s i d e r a b l e r e g i o n a l a n d o c c u p a t i o n a l d i f f e r e n c e s , a n d t h e figures
do not acknowledge any distinction b e t w e e n lowland and highland
c u l t u r e . B u t ability t o r e a d , w h i c h c o u l d b e a c q u i r e d i n a b o u t t w o
y e a r s o f s c h o o l i n g , o f t e n at a n a g e w h e n c h i l d r e n w e r e n o t l i k e l y
t o b e o f e c o n o m i c u s e , o r w h i c h m i g h t b e p i c k e d u p a f t e r w a r d s for
e c o n o m i c or religious reasons, w a s m o r e evenly p o s s e s s e d b e t w e e n
t h e t w o s e x e s . F o r i n s t a n c e all t h e ' c o n v e r t s ' , t h o s e w h o e x p e r i e n c e d
g r a c e , at t h e C a m b u s l a n g r e v i v a l o f 1 7 4 2 a n d w e r e s u b s e q u e n t l y a s k e d
2 4
to give an account of their conversion, could r e a d , approximately
23
Rosalind Mitchison, T h e Making of the Old Scottish Poor Law', Past & Present,
63 (1974).
24
R. Houston, 'The Literacy Myth? Illiteracy in Scotland, 1630-1760', Past & Present,
96 (1982); T. C. Smout, 'Born again at Cambuslang: New Evidence on Popular
Religion and Literacy in Eighteenth Century Scotland', ibid., 97 (1982).

t w o - t h i r d s o f t h e s e w e r e w o m e n , m o s t l y o f l o w social s t a t u s . M a n y
tasks in agriculture relied o n female labour, particularly dairying a n d
t h e u n p o p u l a r w o r k o f e w e m i l k i n g . S p i n n i n g w a s e x p e c t e d o f all
w o m e n w h e n not otherwise occupied. Illustrations of farm labour
s h o w us w o m e n helping with the sowing a n d also h a y m a k i n g a n d
25
harvest. A t t h e s e p e a k t i m e s o f y e a r l y effort t h e i r w a g e s m o s t n e a r l y
a p p r o a c h e d t h o s e of m e n . Mid-century in the harvest t e a m of the
b a n d win, w o m e n reapers w o u l d get 5d. a day, m e n reapers 6d. and
t h e m a n w h o b o u n d t h e s h e a v e s for six r e a p e r s w o u l d g e t 7 d . T h e
later e i g h t e e n t h century s e e m s to h a v e b e e n a period w h e n in relative
t e r m s w o m e n ' s e a r n i n g s fell off, t h o u g h s i n c e it w a s g e n e r a l l y a t i m e
of r i s i n g s t a n d a r d s o f l i v i n g , t h e i r a c t u a l p u r c h a s i n g p o w e r m a y h a v e
i m p r o v e d . A g r i c u l t u r a l i m p r o v e m e n t in t h e last q u a r t e r o f t h e c e n t u r y
increased the value of the tasks w h i c h w e r e regarded as male, such
as t h e c a r e a n d u s e o f h o r s e s , a n d m a l e l a b o u r b e c a m e m o r e a t t r a c t i v e
to e m p l o y e r s . F i g u r e s f r o m t h e 1 7 9 0 s s h o w w o m e n i n a g r i c u l t u r e
w o r k i n g for b e t w e e n 4 2 a n d 4 8 p e r c e n t o f m e n ' s w a g e s , b u t t h e s e
figures a p p l y o n l y t o t h e m i n o r i t y o f w o r k e r s c a l l e d l a b o u r e r s w h o
w e r e r e w a r d e d entirely in m o n e y , a n d this minority w a s o n the w h o l e
26
one of low status. M o r e of the labour force either lived a n d w o r k e d
as c o t t a r s , o r as s e r v a n t s , t h a t is l i v i n g w i t h i n t h e h o u s e h o l d o f t h e i r
e m p l o y e r . H o w l a r g e a s e c t i o n o f t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l p o p u l a t i o n w a s in
either category has not yet b e e n determined, and probably varied
regionally. W e h a v e occasional glimpses: in T r a n e n t (East Lothian)
in t h e 1 7 6 0 s 2 5 p e r c e n t o f t h e m e n w e r e c a l l e d l a b o u r e r s , b u t t h i s
w a s a s m a l l t o w n a s w e l l as a p a r i s h w i t h f a r m s . B a r r , i n A y r s h i r e ,
h a d i n 1 7 4 5 e i g h t y - o n e h o u s e h o l d s o f c o t t a r s to t h i r t y - o n e t e n a n t s ,
R o b e r t o n , i n L a n a r k s h i r e , in 1 7 4 7 h a d t h i r t y - s e v e n t o f o r t y - t h r e e ,
D a i r s i e , i n Fife, i n 1 7 4 0 h a d fifty-one c o t t a r s to t h i r t y - f o u r tenants
a n d tradesmen, a n d already the risks of the two positions h a d separ
a t e d sufficiently for t h e c o t t a r s t o b e t h e o n l y p e o p l e r e c e i v i n g p o o r
27
relief. Cottars w e r e clearly a large part of rural society but o n e o n
w h i c h m o s t f o r m s o f local r e c o r d k e e p i n g a r e s i l e n t . T h e c h i l d r e n o f
cottars a n d s o m e of the tenants provided the class of farm servant, not
always entering o n this form of labour with enthusiasm, as the orders
25
A. Fenton, Scottish Country Life (Edinburgh, 1976), chap. 3.
26
V. Morgan, 'Agricultural Wage Rates in Late-Eighteenth Century Scotland', Eco
nomic History Review, 2nd ser., 29 (1971).
27
Rosalind Mitchison, 'Death in Tranent', Transactions of the East Lothian Antiquarian
and Field Naturalists Society, 16 (1979); SRO C H I / 2 / 8 5 - 7 , C H 2 / 4 2 7 / 2 .

Scotland 1750-1850 171
of t h e j u s t i c e s o f t h e p e a c e o f D u n b a r t o n s h i r e i n t h e 1 7 5 0 s t o p a r t i c u l a r
28
a d o l e s c e n t s to l e a v e h o m e a n d h i r e t h e m s e l v e s as s e r v a n t s i m p l y .
T h e o r d e r s o f t h e j u s t i c e s reflect a c o n t i n u a t i o n i n t o t h e m i d - c e n t u r y
of t h e c o n c e p t t h a t t h e d e p l o y m e n t o f l a b o u r a n d its r e w a r d n e e d e d
g o v e r n m e n t i n t e r v e n t i o n . W a g e c o n t r o l s e e m s a l w a y s to h a v e m e a n t
f o r c i n g w a g e s d o w n , n o t u p , a n d it s e e m s to h a v e g o n e o n l o n g e r
in t h e w e s t t h a n in t h e e a s t . T h e r e w a s also p r e s s u r e to m a k e s e r v a n t s
h i r e t h e m s e l v e s for t h e w h o l e o r t h e h a l f y e a r , i n s t e a d o f t r y i n g s i m p l y
t o p i c k u p w a g e s i n t h e h a r v e s t p e r i o d . B u t all o v e r t h e c o u n t r y t h e
t e n d e n c y o f t h o s e in a u t h o r i t y w a s t o s u p p o r t t h e i n t e r e s t s o f t e n a n t s
a g a i n s t t h o s e o f t h e i r e m p l o y e e s . It w a s , for i n s t a n c e , m o s t u n u s u a l
in a c a s e w h e r e a t e n a n t , h i s s o n or h i s s e r v a n t h a d r o u g h l y s e d u c e d
a w o m a n s e r v a n t a n d m a d e h e r p r e g n a n t for t h e k i r k s e s s i o n to r e q u i r e
t h a t t h e w o m a n l e a v e t h e e m p l o y m e n t . T h e risk o f further illicit s e x u a l
e n c o u n t e r s w a s l e s s i m p o r t a n t t h a n t h e risk to a f a r m e r o f b e i n g s h o r t -
handed.
Y e t in o t h e r w a y s t h e c h u r c h t r e a t e d t h e s e x e s m o r e e q u a l l y t h a n
it h a d in t h e s e v e n t e e n t h c e n t u r y . I n v e s t i g a t i o n s i n t o s e x u a l irregu
larities b o r e m o r e i n e x o r a b l y o n w o m e n t h a n o n m e n b e c a u s e it w a s
u s u a l l y initiated w h e n p r e g n a n c y w a s v i s i b l e a n d t h e r e w a s n o r o o m
for d e n i a l . T h e m a n , o n t h e o t h e r h a n d , m i g h t d e n y a c c u s a t i o n s , a n d
his persistence, even w h e n the case w e n t higher up the system, would
frustrate d i s c i p l i n e . T h e s e s s i o n w o u l d p u r s u e t h e m a n as far as it
c o u l d , a n d try t o i m p o s e t h e s a m e p e n a l t y o n h i m as o n t h e w o m a n .
B u t t h e l a n g u a g e in w h i c h t h e t w o s e x e s w e r e r e p r o v e d w o u l d differ:
it w o u l d b e m u c h m o r e c o n d e m n a t o r y a n d a g g r e s s i v e to t h e w o m a n .
T h e church h a d an incipient double standard: overt sexuality was
t o b e t a k e n for g r a n t e d o n l y in m e n .
I n o t h e r social m a t t e r s t h e c h u r c h a i m e d at e q u a l i t y b e t w e e n t h e
s e x e s . T h o u g h p o v e r t y s t r u c k m o r e often at w o m e n t h a n m e n , p e r h a p s
b e c a u s e it w a s h a r d e r for a w o m a n to e a r n e n o u g h for s a v i n g , relief
w a s n o t d i s c r i m i n a t o r y , e i t h e r in q u a n t i t y o r in availability. S c h o o l i n g
w a s a n e x p e c t e d p a r e n t a l o b l i g a t i o n , b u t o n e s e e n as m o d i f i e d b y
financial n e e d . A s e s s i o n w o u l d u r g e p a r e n t s to s e n d c h i l d r e n to
s c h o o l , b u t it w o u l d n o t d i s c i p l i n e t h e m for failure t o d o s o . It w o u l d
m a k e s u r e t h a t t h e o r p h a n s it w a s r e a r i n g c o u l d r e a d w e l l . It is clear
t h a t m a n y families m a d e m o r e effort t o p a y for s c h o o l i n g for b o y s
t h a n for girls, b u t t h i s d i s c r i m i n a t i o n w a s n o t o v e r t l y s a n c t i o n e d b y
28
SROJP6/2/1.

the church. T h e parish school system could not, given the area covered
b y m a n y p a r i s h e s , offer e d u c a t i o n t o all c h i l d r e n , b u t t h e r e w e r e o f t e n
also s u p p l e m e n t a r y p a r i s h s c h o o l s , c h a r i t y s c h o o l s o r p r i v a t e l y r u n
'adventure s c h o o l s ' . T h e s e w e r e particularly necessary in the larger
b u r g h s , for b u r g h c o u n c i l s w e r e m o r e i n t e r e s t e d i n t h e grammar
schools they sustained than in spreading basic literacy. A s the t o w n s
e x p a n d e d in t h e e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y a n d t h e o p p o r t u n i t i e s for
child l a b o u r in f a c t o r i e s i n c r e a s e d , t h e e d u c a t i o n a l a t t a i n m e n t o f t h e
bulk of the population declined. B y the 1830s, in spite of a wide spec
t r u m o f available s c h o o l s , o n l y a b o u t a t h i r d o f G l a s g o w ' s c h i l d r e n
of s c h o o l a g e w e r e at s c h o o l . Y e t c o n c e p t u a l l y e v e n i n t h e n i n e t e e n t h
century Scottish education was more generous than English. The Scot
tish m i d d l e c l a s s d i d n o t h o l d t h a t t h e a c q u i s i t i o n o f l i t e r a c y w o u l d
e n c o u r a g e w o r k i n g - c l a s s r a d i c a l i s m , a n d t h o u g h o p p o r t u n i t i e s for
working-class children to attain higher levels of education w e r e nar
rowed, they were never completely closed.
By the mid-eighteenth century lowland parishes had developed a
system of coping with the problems of poverty w h i c h m e a n t that
d e s t i t u t i o n w a s f e n d e d off, b u t t h e s t a n d a r d o f l i v i n g o f t h e p o o r
w a s l o w a n d d e p e n d e d p a r t l y o n c a s u a l a i d . It w a s a c c e p t e d t h a t
t h e r e c i p i e n t o f relief w o u l d a l s o b e g . T h i s r e c o g n i t i o n w a s sufficiently
explicit, i n s p i t e o f v a r i o u s s t a t u t o r y p r o h i b i t i o n s o f b e g g i n g , for p a r
ishes to raise the level of the n o r m a l dole w h e n a p a u p e r h a d b e c o m e
t o o infirm t o l e a v e t h e h o u s e . M o s t o f t h e lists o f t h e p o o r w e r e e l d e r l y
spinsters or w i d o w s with y o u n g children, but there w e r e often
orphans a n d the insane. T h e r e might also b e comparatively y o u n g
p e o p l e w h o w e r e r e c o g n i s e d , w h e t h e r for m e n t a l o r p h y s i c a l r e a s o n s ,
as u n a b l e to k e e p t h e m s e l v e s s u p p l i e d . T o t h e s e , a n d t h e i n s a n e ,
parishes were often very g e n e r o u s . O r p h a n s a n d foundlings w e r e
usually supported until the n o r m a l age of apprenticeship. Often their
care w a s h a n d e d o v e r t o s o m e w o m a n a l r e a d y b e i n g s u p p o r t e d , as
a w a y o f r e d u c i n g t h e total c o s t .
T h e l e g a l b a s i s o f t h e p o o r l a w h a d c h a n g e d f r o m t h a t laid d o w n
in t h e f o r m a t i v e s t a t u t e o f 1 5 7 9 . It h a d b e c o m e a c c e p t e d t h a t t h e
requirement, there set out, of assessment, might not b e carried out.
A p a r i s h w o u l d a d o p t it if it felt t h a t it c o u l d n o t m a n a g e w i t h o u t ,
b u t t h e d e c i s i o n o f w h e t h e r v o l u n t a r y s u m s w o u l d suffice w a s its
o w n . T h e r e w a s n o e x t e r n a l c h e c k o n t h e l e v e l o f relief. P r e s s u r e
from j u s t i c e s o f t h e p e a c e m i g h t b e b r o u g h t t o b e a r o n a d e l i n q u e n t
p a r i s h w h i c h a l l o w e d its p o o r t o b e g e l s e w h e r e a n d t h e r e w e r e s u r g e s

Scotland 1750-1850 173
o f p r e s s u r e o n all p a r i s h e s t o c o n f o r m t o c o u n t y s c h e m e s w h i c h c o m
b i n e d efforts t o m a k e relief m o r e a d e q u a t e w i t h i n s t r u c t i o n s o n t h e
c o n t r o l o f v a g r a n t s . S u c h s u r g e s c a n b e f o u n d i n m a n y a r e a s in t h e
1750s a n d again in the 1770s. But the justices h a d n o executive auth
ority t o b a c k t h e m .
T h e r e w a s considerable variation in the w a y that a s s e s s m e n t s were
m a d e . M o s t p a r i s h e s l a i d t h e b u r d e n o n all l a n d b y f o r m a l v a l u a t i o n ,
b u t in s o m e it l a y o n l y o n t h e r e s i d e n t l a n d o w n e r s . T h e r e w a s also
d e v e l o p i n g a s y s t e m o f v o l u n t a r y c o n t r i b u t i o n s w h i c h w e r e n o t rates
but w h i c h the l a n d o w n e r s agreed to a n d m a d e o n the basis of the
valued rent. T h e advantage to l a n d o w n e r s w a s that this could b e
s t o p p e d w h e n e v e r t h e r e w a s felt t o b e n o n e e d w i t h o u t d i s c u s s i o n s
with the kirk session: the disadvantage w a s that l a n d o w n e r s could
not legally place half the b u r d e n o n their tenants.
Parishes' p o w e r w a s limited. There w a s n o statute empowering
t h e r e m o v a l o f p a u p e r s t o p l a c e s w h e r e t h e y h a d a s e t t l e m e n t , or
of r e m o v i n g p o t e n t i a l p a u p e r s . T r a n e n t in 1 7 5 0 d e c i d e d t o r e m o v e
a w o m a n w h o h a d c o m e to dwell with her son and w h o might have
b e c o m e c h a r g e a b l e , b u t it w a s a c t i n g as a b u r g h , n o t as a p a r i s h .
I n 1 7 5 9 t h e rural p a r i s h o f S t r a i t o n a p p l i e d t o t h e j u s t i c e s o f t h e p e a c e
for A y r s h i r e for a u t h o r i t y t o r e m o v e t w o e l d e r l y p e o p l e w h o h a d n o t
yet achieved the three y e a r s ' residence which w o u l d give a settlement
but w h o b e g g e d occasionally, but the action was suspended when
a c o u p l e o f p a r i s h i o n e r s g u a r a n t e e d t o p r o v i d e s u p p o r t . T h e c a s e illus
t r a t e s t h e w a y i n w h i c h p a r o c h i a l relief c o u l d s h a d e i n t o p r i v a t e c h a r
ity. T h e s a m e p a r i s h i n 1 7 6 7 o b t a i n e d t h e r e m o v a l o f a r a v i n g lunatic
t o g a o l i n G l a s g o w b e c a u s e h e w a s d a n g e r o u s . I n s t a n c e s c a n also
b e f o u n d o f p a r i s h e s p a y i n g for relief t o p e o p l e w h o h a d a s e t t l e m e n t
elsewhere, but m o r e usually they held b y the idea that the m o n e y
29
s u b s c r i b e d for t h e p o o r w a s t o b e u s e d w i t h i n t h e p a r i s h .
B e f o r e t h e s u r g e o f c o u n t y s c h e m e s i n t h e 1 7 7 0 s it is p r o b a b l e that
fewer than 10 per cent of parishes normally carried assessment, but
a l r e a d y t h i s figure i n c l u d e d m a n y o f t h e t o w n s . I n rural p a r i s h e s in
t h e e c o n o m i c t r a n q u i l l i t y o f t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y if a p a r i s h f o u n d
it n e c e s s a r y t o a s s e s s itself, it w a s u n l i k e l y t o b e a b l e t o r e v e r t to
a p u r e l y v o l u n t a r y relief s y s t e m . I n t h e t o w n s w h e r e a s s e s s m e n t w a s
often j o i n e d to m a n a g i n g a poor h o u s e , a n d thus removal of the poor
f r o m visibility, t h i s w a s e v e n m o r e t r u e . G l a s g o w h a d s e t u p a u n i t e d
29
SRO CH2/357/19, CH2/533/1, CH2/334/9.

174 ROSALIND M I T C H I S O N
s y s t e m for its v a r i e d p a r i s h e s i n t h e 1 7 3 0 s , u s i n g a c e n t r a l t o w n ' s

hospital, a n d in 1774 this s y s t e m w a s b a s e d o n a s s e s s m e n t . E d i n b u r g h
h a d d e c i d e d to a s s e s s for its C h a r i t y W o r k h o u s e i n 1 7 4 0 , b u t had
n o t u n i t e d its p a r i s h e s in s u p p o r t , a n d n e v e r s u c c e e d e d in r a i s i n g
e n o u g h m o n e y . A n a t t e m p t i n S t i r l i n g i n 1 7 3 9 to r a i s e f u n d s both
from the parishes and the town council foundered on the recalcitrance
of E b e n e z e r E r s k i n e , l e a d e r o f t h e n e w l y c r e a t e d d i s s e n t i n g c o m
m u n i o n , t h e A s s o c i a t e P r e s b y t e r y , w h o r e f u s e d to a c k n o w l e d g e t h e
3 0
elders of the established c h u r c h . It w a s a s i g n t h a t d i s s e n t and
p a r o c h i a l l y b a s e d p o o r relief w e r e u l t i m a t e l y i n c o m p a t i b l e . D i s s e n t i n g
c o m m u n i t i e s h a d to u s e w h a t e v e r m o n e y t h e y c o u l d r a i s e f r o m t h e i r
m e m b e r s h i p p r i m a r i l y for t h e s u p p o r t o f t h e m i n i s t r y , a n d tended
t o l e a v e t h e e s t a b l i s h e d c h u r c h to s u p p o r t t h e p o o r o f t h e d i s s e n t i n g
groups.
Dissent h a d b e c o m e a feature of Scottish religion in the 1730s, mostly
as a c o n s e q u e n c e o f refusal t o a g r e e to t h e a c c e p t a n c e o f u p p e r - c l a s s
p o w e r i n t h e p r a c t i c e o f l a y p a t r o n a g e in c h u r c h a p p o i n t m e n t s . S o m e
d i s s e n t i n g g r o u p s a l s o felt t h a t t h e m o r a l d i s c i p l i n e o f t h e e s t a b l i s h e d
c h u r c h w a s n o t strict e n o u g h . B u t t h e r e w a s a l s o a n e w s t r e a m i n
t h e e v a n g e l i c a l m e s s a g e : t h a t g r a c e w a s a r b i t r a r y a n d irresistible a n d
t h a t p e o p l e n o t n e c e s s a r i l y r e g a r d e d as r e s p e c t a b l e m e m b e r s o f s o c i e t y
might b e n u m b e r e d a m o n g the elect. At o n e extreme this opinion
w a s A r m i n i a n , h o l d i n g t h a t t h e r e w e r e i n s t r u m e n t s for t h e r e c e p t i o n
of g r a c e w h i c h s h o u l d n o t b e n e g l e c t e d . A s m a l l g r o u p o f d i s s e n t e r s
l e d b y J o h n G l a s s t o o k a l e s s e x t r e m e s t a n d , b u t r e f u s e d to a c k n o w
ledge the authority of the W e s t m i n s t e r C o n f e s s i o n or the existing
church g o v e r n m e n t as non-scriptural. T h e y m a d e a group of pious
but passive separatists. M o r e serious in n u m b e r s a n d influence w a s
t h e E r s k i n i t e s e c e s s i o n o f 1 7 3 3 , o v e r t h e c h u r c h ' s differential a t t i t u d e s
in cases of alleged h e r e s y . Erskine h a d c o m b i n e d a series of denuncia
t o r y s e r m o n s w i t h a refusal to a p o l o g i s e t o a n y o n e , a n d i n t h e e n d
h e a n d his supporters founded a presbytery w h i c h they h e l d to b e
the true church. In theology this group h e l d to standard neo-Calvi-
n i s m , t h a t is t h e y b e l i e v e d t h a t g r a c e w a s l i m i t e d t o t h e a p p a r e n t l y
g o d l y , b u t o p p o s e d t h e w i l l i n g n e s s o f g r o u p s w i t h i n t h e c h u r c h to
c o m p r o m i s e with society a n d the state, a n d since this attitude inspired
t h e M o d e r a t e p a r t y , influential i n t h e c h u r c h after 1 7 5 0 , t h e y w e r e
u n w i l l i n g t o r e - e n t e r i n t o c o m m u n i o n w i t h it. M o d e r a t i s m ' s k e y t h e m e
30
R. A. Cage, The Scottish Poor Law 1745-1845 (Edinburgh, 1981), chap. 3; National
Library of Scotland MS 1506 (Mackenzie of Delvine papers).

Scotland 1750-1850 175
w a s t h a t , s i n c e t h e c h u r c h l i v e d i n t h e w o r l d , it s h o u l d c o - o p e r a t e
with the various manifestations of secular authority. O n e of these
m a n i f e s t a t i o n s w a s p a t r o n a g e , s o t h i s c h u r c h p a r t y t e n d e d to s u s t a i n
t h e p o w e r o f l a n d o w n e r s . S u b s e q u e n t s c h i s m s in t h e c h u r c h i n v o l v e d
further b r e a k a w a y s o n the topic of patronage, a n d t h o u g h the M o d e r
ate party, never m o r e t h a n a minority group within the ministry,
m a n i p u l a t e d t h e G e n e r a l A s s e m b l y t o e n d its r o u t i n e p r o t e s t s a b o u t
patronage, the issue w a s not killed a n d r e m a i n e d a source of disquiet
31
and division.
II
The pressure of rising population o n grain prices and the example

of English landownership combined to encourage agricultural
reorganisation a n d ' i m p r o v e m e n t ' in late eighteenth-century Scot
land. T h e n e w experimental and exploitative approach h a d b y the
1 7 7 0 s b e c o m e c o m m o n i n t h e s o u t h - e a s t . It m e a n t b o t h different m e t h
o d s o f f a r m i n g a n d different s o c i a l a n d t e n u r i a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s . T e n u r e s
u s u a l l y c h a n g e d b e f o r e t e c h n i q u e s , s i n c e t h e l a t t e r i n v o l v e d a drastic
r e o r g a n i s a t i o n o f t i m e a n d l a b o u r a c c e p t a b l e o n l y to f a r m e r s w i t h
s o m e security. T h e single-tenant farm, already c o m m o n , b e c a m e the
3 2
n o r m all o v e r t h e L o w l a n d s , and the n e w farms were larger than
in the past, usually of over 150 acres (60 hectares), enclosed, w h i c h
in Scottish terminology m e a n s c o m p o s e d of fenced or walled rectangu
lar fields, a n d w i t h r o t a t i o n s u s i n g all s u i t a b l e l a n d a s a r a b l e . T h e r e
w e r e to b e n o cottars* o r s u b - t e n a n t s . F a r m s t e a d i n g s w e r e c e n t r a l l y
g r o u p e d , o f t e n l a r g e a n d s p e c i a l i s e d . T h e l e a s e w o u l d o f t e n b e for
n i n e t e e n years. R e n t s w e r e raised in a c k n o w l e d g e m e n t of the h i g h e r
capital value of the unit, a n d increasingly w e r e e x p r e s s e d in m o n e y
only. Servitudes of 'carriages' or of peat cutting w e n t out, a n d t h o u g h
t h e r e s t r i c t i o n s o f t h i r l a g e w e r e h a r d e r to a b o l i s h , i n t h e e a r l y n i n e
t e e n t h c e n t u r y l e g a l c h a n g e s g o t rid o f it.
T e n a n t s d i d n o t n e c e s s a r i l y p a s s all t h e s e c h a n g e s o n t o t h e i r l a b o u r
force. T h e w o r k w a s n o w done b y 'farm servants' w h o might b e
' h i n d s ' , t h a t is m a r r i e d m e n s e t t l e d i n c o t t a g e s , o r t h e r e m i g h t b e a
31
T. C. Smout, A History of the Scottish People, 1560-1830 (1969), chap. 9; Ian D. L.
Clark, 'From Protests to Reaction: The Moderate Regime in the Church of Scotland
1752-1805', in Phillipson and Mitchison, eds., Scotland in the Age of Improvement.
32
R. A. Dodgshon, Land and Society in Early Scotland (Oxford, 1981), chap. 7; I. D.
Whyte, Agriculture and Society in Seventeenth Century Scotland (Edinburgh, 1979),
chap. 6.

p r e p o n d e r a n c e of u n m a r r i e d m e n , living in separate ' b o t h i e s ' , squalid

d o r m i t o r i e s , or u n d e r t h e ' c h a u m e r s y s t e m ' e a t i n g w i t h t h e f a r m e r .
T h e r e w e r e a l s o d a y - l a b o u r e r s h i r e d for p a r t i c u l a r t a s k s . H i n d s w e r e
u s u a l l y p a i d m a i n l y in g r a i n , p o t a t o e s a n d g r a z i n g , a n d h a d t h e obli
g a t i o n o f p r o v i d i n g a w o m a n w o r k e r , a ' b o n d a g e r ' for p a r t i c u l a r t a s k s
or s e a s o n s . T h e r e l a t i o n s h i p o f a h i n d t o t h e f a r m e r c a r r i e d m a n y
of t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f t h e o l d e r c o t t a r c l a s s , a n d m e a n t t h a t t h i s
group w a s relatively i m m u n e to sharp fluctuations in grain prices.
E m p l o y m e n t w a s h x e d at t h e a n n u a l h i r i n g fair, a s y s t e m w h i c h , b y
m a k i n g it c l e a r t o t h e l a b o u r force e x a c t l y h o w m a n y full-time j o b s
there w e r e , p r e v e n t e d overpopulation of rural c o m m u n i t i e s a n d sub
s e q u e n t u n e m p l o y m e n t , b y r u t h l e s s p r u n i n g . T h e r e w a s still s o m e
winter u n e m p l o y m e n t in m a n y parishes w h e r e the bulk of the farming
w a s a r a b l e , a n d t h e r e w a s a drastic s e l e c t i o n o f t h e t y p e o f p o p u l a t i o n
to suit f a r m i n g n e e d s . T h u s w h i l e i n t h e L o t h i a n s , b e c a u s e o f t h e
u s e o f w o m e n for r o o t c r o p s , t h e m a r r i e d h i n d w a s t h e p r e f e r r e d t y p e
of r e g u l a r l a b o u r , i n t h e c e n t r a l a r e a s o f S c o t l a n d , s u c h a s s o u t h e r n
3 3
P e r t h s h i r e , t h e d e m a n d c a m e to b e for s i n g l e m e n o n l y .
T h e c h a n g e s t o t h e n e w f a r m i n g a n d h e n c e t h e n e w social s y s t e m s
d i d n o t h a p p e n at o n c e . T h e B o r d e r s h a d a l r e a d y e a r l y i n t h e e i g h
34
teenth century b e e n geared to market forces, a n d t h e effects o f t h e
n e w t e c h n i q u e s a n d c o n c e n t r a t i o n w a s t o m a k e for m o r e s p e c i a l i s a t i o n
in s h e e p f a r m i n g a n d h e n c e d e p o p u l a t i o n , s i n c e b e t t e r t r a n s p o r t m a d e
it p o s s i b l e to b r i n g in g r a i n . I n A b e r d e e n s h i r e a n d o t h e r northern
areas i m p r o v e m e n t w a s on a small scale, until the n i n e t e e n t h century,
a n d e v e n w h e n it o c c u r r e d i n s o m e p a r t s o f t h e n o r t h it d i d n o t s o
m u c h force o u t t h e o l d p e a s a n t s y s t e m as i n t e r m i x it w i t h l a r g e r f a r m s .
E v e n in p a r t s o f t h e c e n t r a l v a l l e y , for i n s t a n c e in s o u t h e r n A y r s h i r e ,
3 5
t h e r e w e r e still a r e a s u n i m p r o v e d in t h e 1790s. Yet elsewhere
specialised dairy farms w e r e being developed. In the Highlands the
n e w s p e c i a l i s e d s y s t e m o f s h e e p f a r m i n g h a d b e g u n to p e n e t r a t e s o m e
areas, notably Ross and Argyll, before the e n d of the century, but
f u r t h e r n o r t h its a d v e n t w a s l a t e r .
33
Malcolm Gray, 'Scottish Emigration: The Social Impact of Agrarian Change in the
Rural Lowlands, 1775-1875', Perspectives in American History, 8 (1973), pp. 132-8.
34
R. A. Dodgshon, 'Agricultural Change and its Social Consequences in the Southern
Uplands of Scotland, 1600-1780', in T. M. Devine and David Dickson, eds., Ireland
and Scotland 1600-1830 (Edinburgh, 1983).
35
Ian R. Carter, Farm Life in North East Scotland, 1840-1914 (Edinburgh, 1973), chap. 1;
W. Fullarton, General View of the Agriculture of the County of Ayr .. . (Edinburgh,
1793), pp. 17ff; W. Aiton, General View of the Agriculture of the County of Ayr (Glasgow,
1811), pp. 695-7.

Scotland 1750-1850 177
T h e c o l l e c t i o n o f p a r i s h r e p o r t s m a d e i n t h e 1 7 9 0 s , c o m p r i s i n g The
Statistical Account of Scotland ( t h e OSA), g i v e u s a g o o d b a s i s for s t u d y
of t h e d e g r e e o f c h a n g e a c h i e v e d b y t h a t d e c a d e a n d w h a t it m e a n t
36
for the people involved. In m a n y parishes in s o u t h e r n Scotland
it is c l e a r t h a t f a r m s h a d b e c o m e f e w e r a n d l a r g e r a n d i n s o m e a r e a s
there are reports of the deliberate destruction of cottages. W h e r e either
p r o c e s s h a d t a k e n p l a c e t h e rural p o p u l a t i o n h a d c o m e u n d e r c o n t r o l
in t h e i n t e r e s t s o f profitability for t h e f a r m e r , r e f l e c t e d in t h e n u m b e r
of f a m i l i e s a b l e t o r e m a i n . I n m o s t c a s e s t h i s w a s a c h i e v e d b y d e g r a d
ing part of the workforce in status, from tenant to labourer, or from
cottar to labourer or servant. Probably this c h a n g e w a s a c c o m p a n i e d
b y a n i m p r o v e d s t a n d a r d o f living, for f o o d s u p p l i e s b e c a m e m o r e
r e l i a b l e . T h e n a t u r a l i n c r e a s e o f p o p u l a t i o n h a d t o find j o b s e l s e w h e r e ,
a n d t h i s d i s p e r s e d f a m i l i e s . O p p o r t u n i t i e s for u p w a r d m o b i l i t y in t h e
f a r m s e c t o r w e r e r a r e , s i n c e t h e c a p i t a l n e c e s s a r y for t h e f a r m i n g o f
the n e w type of farm was about £ 5 an acre. T h e gap b e t w e e n tenant
farmer and his workforce h a d b e c o m e p e r m a n e n t .
T h e v i e w that material conditions h a d not deteriorated in the L o w
lands gains indirect support from the striking lack of protest over
r e o r g a n i s a t i o n . T h e i n s t a n c e s o f r e s i s t a n c e are s o f e w a s t o b e trifling,
i n s h a r p c o n t r a s t t o t h e r e a c t i o n s to e n c l o s u r e a c t s i n m i d l a n d E n g l a n d
or t o t h e n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y h i g h l a n d c l e a r a n c e s . If t h e c h a n g e o f
status h a d involved material loss o n e w o u l d h a v e to postulate an
u n u s u a l l y s u b s e r v i e n t rural p o p u l a t i o n . It is c l e a r t h a t t h e w a g e s o f
day-labourers w e n t u p faster than the cost of living b e t w e e n 1760
3 7
and the 1790s, a n d t h e i n c r e a s e w a s e n o u g h to c o m p e n s a t e f a m i l i e s
for t h e l o s s o f d o m e s t i c textile i n d u s t r y t o t h e f a c t o r i e s i n t h e 1 7 9 0 s .
Y e t if t h e s t a n d a r d o f l i v i n g h a d n o t g o n e d o w n , it w a s still u n c o m f o r
table and unhealthily low. In the best paid areas of southern Scotland
diet w a s n o t s u c h a s t o m e e t t h e full n e e d s , e v e n i n c a l o r i e s , o f a
m a r r i e d c o u p l e w i t h t h r e e c h i l d r e n , e v e n for t h e h o l d e r o f t h e m o s t
prestigious position within the labour force, that of hind. Insofar as
the i n c o m e of the w a g e earner h a d improved over the eighteenth
c e n t u r y t h i s h a d b e e n l a r g e l y n o t i n t h e g r a i n a l l o w a n c e , e x c e p t for
36
The Statistical Account of Scotland, usually referred to as the Old Statistical Account
(OSA) to distinguish it from the New Statistical Account (NSA) published in the 1840s,
was brought out haphazardly in 21 volumes from 1791 to 1799. A new edition,
arranged into regional volumes and given valuable introductory essays, is being
produced under the general editorship of Donald J. Withrington and Ian R. Grant,
from 1973. Unless otherwise stated references here will be to the original and com
plete edition.
37
Morgan, 'Agricultural Wage Rates'.

t h e i n c l u s i o n o f p o t a t o e s , b u t in t h e m o n e y f e e . F o r a n y f a m i l y w i t h
c h i l d r e n s o m e p a r t o f t h i s fee w o u l d h a v e to g o o n f o o d p u r c h a s e s ;
38
o t h e r w i s e t h e h i n d w a s i m m u n e to i n f l a t i o n . B y contrast the day-
labourer, who h a d h a d c o n s p i c u o u s increases in pay, w a s fully
e x p o s e d to t h e p r i c e rise o f t h e 1 7 9 0 s a n d t h e l a t e r f l u c t u a t i o n s . T h e
difference in r e a l t e r m s w a s t h a t t h e h i n d w a s likely to suffer c h r o n i c
minor undernourishment while the day-labourer could have periods
of s u d d e n h a r d s h i p .
N e i t h e r sort o f h a r d s h i p w o u l d , in m o s t y e a r s , b r i n g t h e s e f a m i l i e s
i n t o t h e s p h e r e o f p o o r relief, b u t in e x c e p t i o n a l y e a r s o f h i g h p r i c e s ,
parish aid b a c k e d often b y c o u n t y pressure w o u l d b e m a d e available.
F o r i n s t a n c e in P r e s t o n k i r k ( t h e m o d e r n E a s t L i n t o n ) in 1 8 0 0 in
r e s p o n s e to c o u n t y p r e s s u r e a n e l a b o r a t e s c h e m e w a s s e t u p to a l l o w
specific q u a n t i t i e s o f s u b s i d i s e d g r a i n to b e b o u g h t b y h o u s e h o l d s
of l o w i n c o m e . ' S i n g l e w o m e n , w i d o w s , t h e o l d , t h o s e w h o are u n a b l e
to or c a n n o t p r o c u r e w o r k a n d l a b o u r e r s a n d t r a d e s m e n w h o s e w a g e s
are at or b e l o w l s . 4 d . p e r d a y ' f o r m e d t h e g r o u p a l l o w e d m o s t
g e n e r o u s q u a n t i t i e s o f c h e a p f o o d , a n d t h e classification tells a lot
39
a b o u t w h e r e h a r d s h i p w a s a s s u m e d to l i e .
B a d h a r v e s t s w e r e still, at t h e e n d o f t h e c e n t u r y , t h e m a i n s o u r c e
of h a r d s h i p , a n d t h e b l e n d i n g o f 'official' a n d ' u n o f f i c i a l ' aid w h i c h
m a d e u p a relief s y s t e m , a n d t h e m i x t u r e o f a s s e s s m e n t a n d v o l u n t a r y
aid w h i c h p a i d for it, did n o t p r e v e n t s o m e real t h r e a t to s t a n d a r d s
of l i v i n g . A b a d y e a r w o u l d l e a d to t h e i n c u r r i n g o f d e b t s w h i c h m i g h t
p e r m a n e n t l y l o w e r a f a m i l y ' s s t a t u s , or l e a d to l o n g - t e r m i m p o v e r i s h
m e n t . T h e OSA s h o w s in r e p o r t s for t h e p a r i s h e s o f T r a n e n t a n d
S t N i n i a n s ( S t i r l i n g s h i r e ) a rise in p a u p e r s after t h e 1 7 8 2 h a r v e s t failure
w h i c h l a s t e d for e i g h t or n i n e y e a r s , a n d t h e c e n s u s o f 1 8 1 1 r e c o r d s
4 0
for I n s c h , A b e r d e e n s h i r e , t h e p e r m a n e n t l o s s o f h o l d i n g s .
Already in the 1780s the Edinburgh newspapers were carrying
c o r r e s p o n d e n c e critical o f t h e p o o r l a w , o c c a s i o n a l l y w i t h t h e a r g u
m e n t t h a t relief s a p p e d t h e spirit o f i n d e p e n d e n c e i n t h e l a b o u r i n g
class. This m a y h a v e b e e n a r e s p o n s e to the attack o n the English
p o o r l a w l a u n c h e d in 1 7 8 6 b y J o s e p h T o w n s h e n d , r a t h e r t h a n a
38
M. Goldie, 'The Standard of Living of Rural Labourers in Selected Counties of
Scotland as Shown in the Old and New Statistical Accounts' (unpublished MPhil.
thesis, Edinburgh University, 1971).
39
Caledonian Mercury, 5 Dec. 1800.
40
OSA, vol. 10, p. 96, and vol. 18, p. 401. British Library, Add. MS 6897 (this document
is the explanations by returning officials of the census of 1811 to the difference
between their figures then and those for 1801. These returns cover about two-thirds
of Scottish parishes).

Scotland 1750-1850 179
4 1
r e s p o n s e b y t h e u p p e r c l a s s to a n i n c r e a s i n g b u r d e n . Indeed, exam
i n a t i o n o f t h e l e v e l o f p o o r relief in t w e l v e p a r i s h e s w h i c h w e r e c o n
scientiously carrying out their duties in the central decades of the
e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y s h o w s t h a t t h e b u r d e n did n o t r i s e in real t e r m s .
W h a t had increased, though, was the number of parishes assessed.
This w a s partly b e c a u s e s o m e parishes relatively neglectful of their
d u t i e s m i d - c e n t u r y w e r e , b y t h e last d e c a d e , m a k i n g m o r e effective
i n t e r v e n t i o n , a n d c a l l i n g o n t h e l a n d o w n e r s for gifts o r a s s e s s m e n t .
The 1 7 9 0 s s a w c o m p l a i n t s a b o u t a s s e s s m e n t , b u t n o t in t h e f o r m
t h a t it w a s c r i p p l i n g l a n d o w n e r s , r a t h e r t h a t it w a s b a d for t h e m o r a l
character of the labourer. Occasionally a c o m p l a i n a n t might go further
a n d c l a i m t h a t t h i s d a m a g e to c h a r a c t e r m i g h t w e a k e n t h e u r g e to
s a v e , a n d s o i n c r e a s e t h e n u m b e r n e e d i n g relief. S o m e m i n i s t e r s writ
i n g i n t h e OSA t r o d t h e d e l i c a t e p a t h b e t w e e n c o m p l a i n i n g a b o u t
the lack of charitable aid from non-resident l a n d o w n e r s a n d a distaste
for a n y s y s t e m o f a s s e s s m e n t w h i c h w o u l d m a k e t h e m c o n t r i b u t e .
The restriction of the population w a n t e d on the farms and the
d e c l i n e o f d o m e s t i c i n d u s t r y c o n s e q u e n t o n t h e s p i n n i n g m i l l s , as
t h e s e d e v e l o p e d i n t h e 1 7 9 0 s , s e n t t h e s p a r e p o p u l a t i o n to t h e t o w n s .
We h a v e little critical e s t i m a t e i n t h e OSA o f h o w t h e t o w n s w e r e
coping with their expansion: the urban parishes could not b e adequa
t e l y u n d e r s t o o d b y t h e i r m i n i s t e r s . It is m o s t u n l i k e l y t h a t h o u s i n g
w a s b e i n g p r o v i d e d r a p i d l y e n o u g h to p r e v e n t o v e r c r o w d i n g . W e
k n o w t h a t s o m e o f t h e s m a l l e r t o w n s , s u c h as F o r f a r , w e r e f a c i n g
42
a n e w s c a l e o f n e e d for r e l i e f . G l a s g o w w a s recording a death rate
of o v e r t w e n t y - f i v e p e r t h o u s a n d , a n d t h e a n a l y s i s o f specific d i s e a s e s
i n t h e i r c o n t r i b u t i o n to c h i l d d e a t h s m a d e for t h a t city for t h e y e a r s
4 3
1783-1813 strongly suggests widespread undernourishment. Chil
d r e n p o o r l y f e d w e r e liable to s u c c u m b to t h e first s e r i o u s d i s e a s e
t h e y e n c o u n t e r e d : u n t i l v a c c i n a t i o n w a s i n t r o d u c e d i n t o t h e city o n
a large scale in 1805 this w a s likely to b e smallpox. E v e n before 1805
m e a s l e s w a s r i s i n g in its i m p a c t , a n d f r o m 1807 t o o k o v e r a s t h e l e a d i n g
c a u s e o f c h i l d d e a t h . I n 1 8 0 8 it k i l l e d 2 6 0 c h i l d r e n i n a s i n g l e m o n t h
i n t h e c i t y . W e c a n n o t tell w h e t h e r t h e p e o p l e w h o m i g r a t e d t o t h e
city w e r e p o o r e r t h a n t h e y h a d b e e n i n t h e c o u n t r y ; w e c a n s e e t h e
41
Debate in letters to the Caledonian Mercury, March and April 1786; Joseph Town-
shend, A Dissertation on the Poor Laws, 2nd edn (1787), Section XIII.
42
OSA, vol. 6, p. 525.
43
Ibid., vol. 5, p. 511; Robert Watt, An Inquiry into the Relative Mortality of Children
in Glasgow (Glasgow, 1813).

e p i d e m i o l o g i c a l e v i d e n c e s i m p l y as c l e a r e v i d e n c e o f t h e e x i s t e n c e
of u n d e r n o u r i s h m e n t .
O n e area of Scotland was resolutely by-passed b y prosperity. This
was the Highlands. T h e basic problem here was that the people were
m u c h m o r e fertile t h a n t h e l a n d . T h e total p o p u l a t i o n o f t h e a r e a s
geologically and geographically Highland h a d gone up from 115,000
in 1 7 5 5 to n e a r l y 2 0 1 , 0 0 0 in 1 8 3 1 . T h e b i r t h r a t e w a s h i g h e r t h a n e l s e
44
w h e r e in S c o t l a n d in s p i t e o f t h e e m i g r a t i o n o f y o u n g a d u l t s . Yet
m o s t h i g h l a n d a r e a s h a d p o o r soil, a n d n o t m u c h o f it. T h e h i g h l a n d
t e c h n i q u e s o f u s i n g t h e foot p l o u g h a n d s p a d e c u l t i v a t i o n b y l a z y
b e d s ( m a k i n g e n o u g h soil in strips b y t a k i n g u p t h e soil o n t h e g r o u n d
b e t w e e n ) are n o t o n e s w h i c h w o u l d b e a d o p t e d w h e r e n a t u r a l p r o
v i s i o n w a s g e n e r o u s . Efforts to d e v e l o p o t h e r r e s o u r c e s h a d h a d o n l y
t w o s u c c e s s e s : t h e cattle t r a d e , w h i c h w e n t i n t o d e p r e s s i o n in 1 8 1 5 ,
a n d t h e k e l p i n d u s t r y , for w h i c h p r i c e s s l u m p e d after 1 8 1 0 a n d w h i c h
w a s r e n d e r e d o b s o l e t e b y t h e r e p e a l o f t h e salt d u t i e s in 1 8 2 5 . T h e r e
s e e m s a l s o to h a v e b e e n a n u n w i l l i n g n e s s o n t h e p a r t o f l a n d o w n e r s
to i n v e s t i n t h e p r o d u c t i v i t y o f t h e i r e s t a t e s , s o t h a t o c c a s i o n a l p e r i o d s
of h i g h r e v e n u e , s u c h as t h a t e x p e r i e n c e d b y s e a g i r t e s t a t e s d u r i n g
the kelp b o o m , h a d not e n h a n c e d productivity.
T h e OSA r e p o r t s s h o w t h a t a l r e a d y b y t h e 1 7 9 0 s t h e a r e a w a s u n d e r
stress. F r o m m a n y parishes there w e r e reports of emigration, s o m e
t i m e s in p a r t i e s l e d b y t h e t a c k s m e n ( m e m b e r s o f t h e g e n t r y ) , r e s e n t f u l
of r a i s e d r e n t s w h i c h c a m e f r o m t h e l a n d o w n e r s t u r n i n g t h e i r a i m s
f r o m p o w e r to profit. T h e c o n s i d e r a b l e drafts o f m a n p o w e r w h i c h
w e n t i n t o t h e h i g h l a n d r e g i m e n t s , d i s p r o p o r t i o n a t e to t h e s h a r e o f
t h e H i g h l a n d s in t o t a l p o p u l a t i o n , w e r e a f o r m o f e m i g r a t i o n . T h e
shift f r o m c o m m u n a l f a r m i n g t o i n d i v i d u a l l y m a n a g e d crofts, w h i c h
w a s h a p p e n i n g f r o m t h e 1 7 9 0 s , left m a n y h o l d i n g s n o l a r g e r t h a n
45
3 or 4 acres of arable, a n d a large n u m b e r of cottar plots e v e n s m a l l e r .
T h e only w a y in w h i c h a family could subsist o n such a small patch
of l a n d w a s b y t h e c r e a t i o n o f a p o t a t o e c o n o m y . A p a r t , in s u p p o r t ,
w a s also played b y temporary migration: from the 1750s the High
l a n d e r s h a d f o l l o w e d t h e p a t t e r n o f u p l a n d p e o p l e s in o t h e r p a r t s
of E u r o p e in t a k i n g t h e i r a p p e t i t e s a n d w o r k c a p a c i t y e l s e w h e r e for
p a r t o f t h e y e a r , m o s t c o n s p i c u o u s l y to act as h a r v e s t l a b o u r in t h e
44
F. Fraser Darling, ed., West Highland Survey (Oxford, 1955), pp. 80-3; Flinn, ed.,
Scottish Population History, p. 270.
45
Malcolm Gray, The Highland Economy, 1750-1850 (Oxford, 1955), chap. 2.

Scotland 1750-1850 181
s o u t h . B u t it w a s t h e p o t a t o w h i c h g a v e t h e h i g h l a n d e c o n o m y a
4 6
breathing space of half a century, from the 1780s to the 1 8 3 0 s .
T h i s i n t e r l u d e w a s n o t u s e d to s e t t h e e c o n o m y o n a s t r o n g e r f o o t i n g ,
if s u c h a t h i n g h a d b e e n p o s s i b l e . I n m a n y a r e a s h i g h l a n d s o c i e t y
h a d b e e n m a d e m o r e vulnerable b y the disappearance of the inter
mediate class of lesser gentry, the tacksmen, either b y estate policy
or b y b a n k r u p t c y . T h e p a s s i n g o f t h i s g r o u p left h i g h l a n d s o c i e t y
split i n t o a l a r g e b o d y o f v e r y p o o r c u l t i v a t o r s , u s i n g G a e l i c l a n g u a g e
a n d its oral c u l t u r e , a n d a f e w i s o l a t e d i n d i v i d u a l s w h o m i g h t o r m i g h t
n o t b e a b l e to s p e a k G a e l i c b u t w h o s e m a i n i n s t r u m e n t o f c o m m u n i c a
t i o n w a s E n g l i s h : m i n i s t e r s , officials, t h o s e l a n d o w n e r s w h o w e r e
r e s i d e n t a n d t h e f a c t o r s o f t h o s e w h o w e r e n o t . P e r h a p s it w a s t h e
sense of a culture u n d e r stress which e n c o u r a g e d the adoption of
a severe form of evangelicalism. I n s t a n c e s of this, a n d in s o m e places
the appearance of a group of self-selected individuals w h o attained
a r e p u t a t i o n for e m i n e n t p i e t y b y a p o l i c y o f s e p a r a t i o n a n d c r i t i c i s m
(later t o b e k n o w n as ' t h e M e n ' ) , a r e t o b e f o u n d b e f o r e 1 8 0 0 , a n d
evangelical feeling about a ministerial appointment was part of the
4 7
i n s p i r a t i o n for a riot i n A s s y n t i n 1 8 1 3 . A widespread acceptance
of e v a n g e l i c a l i s m o f a n a u s t e r e k i n d , c o u p l e d w i t h e x t r e m e Sabbataria
n i s m a n d hostility to the traditional Gaelic expression of culture in
m u s i c a n d song, d e v e l o p e d in the early n i n e t e e n t h century. This
m o v e m e n t , b y its fierceness a n d a u s t e r i t y m a y h a v e g i v e n i n d i v i d u a l
H i g h l a n d e r s a s s u r a n c e o f s a l v a t i o n , but it d i d s o at t h e c o s t o f n a r r o w
ing their cultural inheritance.
T h e deterioration of highland standards of living raises the general
p r o b l e m o f w h e t h e r e c o n o m i c g r o w t h in o n e a r e a n o t o n l y w i d e n s
the gap in living standards b e t w e e n that area a n d t h o s e m o r e back
w a r d but also m e a n s actual i m p o v e r i s h m e n t of the latter. For the
H i g h l a n d s it is n o t c l e a r t h a t t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l a n d i n d u s t r i a l d e v e l o p
m e n t s o f t h e s o u t h m a d e for e n h a n c e d p o v e r t y , b u t t h e y m a d e it
h a r d e r for a n y n e w i n d u s t r y to start u p a n d c a t c h u p i n t h e r e m o t e r
districts. O v e r p o p u l a t i o n s e e m s to h a v e b e e n t h e m a i n c a u s e o f
e n h a n c e d poverty, a n d this w a s to s o m e degree relieved b y the capa
city o f t h e m o r e a d v a n c e d L o w l a n d s to u s e h i g h l a n d l a b o u r , e i t h e r
o n a t e m p o r a r y or a p e r m a n e n t b a s i s . B u t t h e l o w l a n d e x p a n s i o n
46
Flinn, ed., Scottish Population History, pt 5, chap. 7.
47
A. J. Drummond and J. Bulloch, The Church in Victorian Scotland, 1843-1874 (Edin
burgh, 1975), p. 322; R. J. Adam, ed., Papers on Sutherland Estate Management, SHS,
2 vols. (Edinburgh, 1972), vol. 2, pp. 1 9 4 - 5 .

of t e x t i l e s a n d t h e u r b a n d e m a n d for m e a t c e r t a i n l y c o n t r i b u t e d t o
t h e s m a l l n e s s o f m a n y h o l d i n g s after 1 7 9 0 , b y e n c o u r a g i n g l a n d o w n e r s
to w i t h d r a w t h e u s e o f l a r g e p a r t s o f t h e l a n d for s h e e p f a r m s . T h e s e
f a r m s u s e d n o t o n l y hill g r a z i n g , b u t a l s o s o m e o f t h e v a l l e y l a n d
c a p a b l e o f s u p p o r t i n g c r o p s . T h e k e l p i n d u s t r y , a l s o d e v e l o p e d for
lowland d e m a n d , h a d e n c o u r a g e d the m o v e m e n t of population to
t h e c o a s t , b u t a l s o its s e t t l e m e n t o n v e r y s m a l l h o l d i n g s ; i n l a n d s h e e p
f a r m s a n d e v i c t i o n l e d to t h e s a m e e n d , a n d f u r t h e r c o m p u l s o r y m o v e
m e n t s o f p e o p l e s h o r e w a r d s w e r e m a d e a s l a n d o w n e r s b e g a n t o face
t h e p r o b l e m o f s u p p o r t i n g t h e i r p e a s a n t r y in t i m e s o f c r o p failure.
T h e s e m o v e m e n t s w e r e o n such a large scale that the w o r d ' c l e a r a n c e s '
has b e e n taken to cover t h e m a n d also other m a s s evictions. T h e r e
is a s p e c i a l i s e d h i s t o r i o g r a p h y o f t h e w h o l e s e r i e s o f e v e n t s , c o n t a i n i n g
a h a r d c o r e o f s o c i a l d i s l o c a t i o n a n d d i s t r e s s , o n w h i c h is b u i l t m u c h
4 8
bitterness and s o m e historical m y t h . H e r e it is e n o u g h t o s a y t h a t
the Highlands provide an area w h e r e e c o n o m i c c h a n g e w a s accom
panied b y the lowering of material standards and the distortion of
social s t r u c t u r e .
T h e people no longer w a n t e d b y the n e w types of agriculture m o v e d
of c o u r s e to t h e t o w n s . N o n u m e r i c a l d e f i n i t i o n o f t o w n c a n b e f o u n d
w h i c h does not exclude s o m e small places of definitely urban culture,
b u t s e t t i n g t h e d i v i d i n g l i n e at 5 , 0 0 0 i n h a b i t a n t s , it w a s n o t u n t i l t h e
1 8 8 1 c e n s u s t h a t t h e u r b a n p o p u l a t i o n in S c o t l a n d o u t n u m b e r e d t h e
r u r a l . T h e e x p a n s i o n o f t r a d e a n d its c o n c e n t r a t i o n b u i l t u p t h e b i g
cities; G l a s g o w w i t h h e r s u b u r b s h a d b y t h e 1 7 9 0 s m o r e t h a n 6 0 , 0 0 0
p e o p l e , a n d w o u l d s o o n o v e r t a k e E d i n b u r g h in s i z e . It a l s o e n l a r g e d
the lesser centres. By 1821 Dunfermline had added about 5,000 and
P e r t h a b o u t 1 0 , 0 0 0 to p o p u l a t i o n s w h i c h h a d b e e n a r o u n d 9 , 0 0 0 in
4 9
the 1750s. T h e g r e a t e s t e x p a n s i o n w a s in P a i s l e y , w h e r e t h e n e w
c o t t o n i n d u s t r y c a m e to s e t t l e a n d w h i c h g r e w f r o m a little o v e r 4 , 0 0 0
in t h e 1 7 5 0 s to 2 4 , 0 0 0 in 1 8 0 0 a n d 4 7 , 0 0 0 in 1 8 2 1 . A l r e a d y b y t h e
t i m e o f t h e OS A P a i s l e y w a s c o n s p i c u o u s for fine fabrics a n d t h e l u x u r y
50
trade.
A m o n g t h e i n d u s t r i e s e x p a n d i n g in t h e t o w n s t h e m o s t c o n s p i c u o u s
w a s textiles, particularly the w e a v i n g of cotton. T h e r e w e r e said to
b e 4 , 0 0 0 w e a v e r s in P a i s l e y i n t h e 1 7 9 0 s . Still a h a n d c r a f t , it s u s t a i n e d
48
E . Richards, A History of the Highland Clearances: Agrarian Transformation and the
Evictions, 1746-1886 (1982), pt 4; J. Hunter, The Making of the Crofting Community
(Edinburgh, 1976), chap. 3.
49
Smout, History, p. 261.
50
R. Brown, The History of Paisley (Paisley, 1886); OSA, vol. 7, pp. 8 7 - 8 .

Scotland 1750-1850 183
a c o m f o r t a b l e s t a n d a r d o f l i v i n g for t h e w e a v e r s , o n r e l a t i v e l y l e i s u r e l y
h o u r s of w o r k . W e a v e r s w e r e the cultural leaders of the labour force,
e n j o y i n g g o o d m a t e r i a l s t a n d a r d s a n d a c o n s c i o u s n e s s o f skill. T h e i r
e f f l o r e s c e n c e p r o d u c e d s e v e r a l ' w e a v e r p o e t s ' r e s p o n s i b l e for s m a l l
v o l u m e s . O n e of t h e s e described Paisley as a 'perfect aviary c r o w d e d
w i t h s i n g i n g b i r d s ' , a p h r a s e w h i c h r e m i n d s t h a t m o s t b i r d s o n g is
fairly s t e r e o t y p e d . T h e m o s t c e l e b r a t e d o f t h e p o e t s , R o b e r t T a n n a h i l l ,
w r o t e little lyrics o n s c e n e r y , f r u s t r a t e d c o u r t s h i p a n d local s e n t i m e n t ,
sustained by obvious imagery, and kept a substantial following
h a p p y . A higher quality of writing w a s achieved b y William Thorn
of I n v e r u r i e , w h o s e a d u l t life w a s p a s s e d in t h e t i m e o f d e p r e s s i o n
for h i s craft. T h o r n d e s c r i b e d t h e w e a v i n g t r a d e a s ' m e r e p e r m i s s i o n
t o b r e a t h e ' . T h e s e m e n are i n t e r e s t i n g n o t s i m p l y for t h e m s e l v e s b u t
b e c a u s e t h e y p a r t i c i p a t e d in t h e s a m e t r a d i t i o n o f p o p u l a r v e r n a c u l a r
culture as Robert B u r n s , a n d b e c a u s e t h e y found a market within
51
the working population. B u t t h e s e w e a v e r p o e t s w e r e n o t as w e l l
e d u c a t e d as B u r n s , a n d l a c k e d a l s o t h e r a n g e o f m o o d f r o m satire
to sentiment.
The weaving golden age was the product of the technological gap
b e t w e e n the mechanisation of spinning and of weaving. T h e power-
l o o m did not b e c o m e c o m m o n until the 1820s. Well before t h e n the
craft o f w e a v i n g h a d b e e n s h o w n as t o o o p e n . W e a v i n g o f c o a r s e
fabrics w a s e a s i l y l e a r n t b y m i g r a n t w o r k e r s f r o m r u r a l S c o t l a n d o r
f r o m I r e l a n d , t h e o c c u p a t i o n b e c a m e o v e r s u b s c r i b e d a n d w a g e s fell.
T h e r e w e r e a b o u t 2 5 , 0 0 0 w e a v e r s a l t o g e t h e r i n 1 7 8 0 , 5 8 , 0 0 0 at t h e
t u r n o f t h e c e n t u r y , 7 8 , 0 0 0 in t h e 1 8 2 0 s , a n d t h e n u m b e r did n o t
fall u n t i l t h e l a t e r 1 8 4 0 s . E v e n b e f o r e t h e p o w e r l o o m t u r n e d t h e h a n d -
l o o m w e a v e r into a m e r e s u p p l e m e n t to factory production, n u m b e r s
h a d forced w a g e s d o w n . W a g e s t h e n approximately halved in real
5 2
terms between 1809 and 1816. T h e m o r e highly skilled w o r k h e l d
its v a l u e for a w h i l e , b u t t h e i n c r e a s i n g c a p a b i l i t y o f m a c h i n e r y a n d
c h a n g e s i n f a s h i o n s t r u c k e v e n t u a l l y at t h i s s e c t o r .
W e a v e r s w e r e i n v o l v e d i n all t h e e a r l y r a d i c a l m o v e m e n t s . Political
r a d i c a l i s m w a s n o t a n a t i v e S c o t t i s h activity: t h e r e w a s a g e n e r a l
a c c e p t a n c e in t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y o f t h e c o n c e n t r a t i o n o f e c o n o m i c
a n d political p o w e r i n t h e n a r r o w c l a s s o f l a n d o w n e r s , a n d t h o s e
51
R. Tannahill, Poems and Songs, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (1815); W. Thorn, Rhymes
and Recollections of a Hand Loom Weaver (1843); D. Craig, Scottish Literature and the
Scottish People (1961), chap. 3.
52
N. Murray, The Scottish Hand Loom Weavers 1790-1850: A Social History (Edinburgh,
1971), p. 23.

m o v e m e n t s w h i c h resisted authority did so within religion rather than

p o l i t i c s . A s e a r l y as 1 7 6 2 t h e p a r t i c u l a r l y m a r k e d o v e r t m a n i p u l a t i o n s
or p a t r o n a g e i n t h e D r y s d a l e affair i n E d i n b u r g h h a d u n i t e d i n p r o t e s t
53
a w i d e r a n g e of t h e l o w e r o r d e r s , b u t t h e i s s u e s of t h e A m e r i c a n
War a n d E c o n o m i c a l R e f o r m m a d e little stir. I n s o f a r as t h e r e w a s
p r e s s u r e for a n i m p r o v e d e l e c t o r a l s y s t e m it w a s f r o m l a n d e d g e n t r y
w h o disliked the w a y the franchise was manipulated b y spurious
q u a l i f i c a t i o n s . A n y d i s t u r b a n c e s , s u c h as t h e w e a v e r s ' strike in G l a s
g o w i n 1 7 8 7 o v e r a drastic c u t i n w a g e s , r o s e f r o m direct e c o n o m i c
pressure.
T h e m o r e v o c i f e r o u s n a t i o n a l m o v e m e n t s o f t h e 1 7 9 0 s b r o u g h t politi
cal r a d i c a l i s m i n t o S c o t l a n d . T h e r e w a s a riot in 1 7 9 2 o v e r t h e official
c e l e b r a t i o n o f t h e K i n g ' s b i r t h d a y , f r o m h o s t i l i t y to o r g a n i s e d a u t h
5 4
ority r a t h e r t h a n o n a l t e r n a t i v e o p i n i o n s . In the e n s u i n g year various
r a d i c a l o r g a n i s a t i o n s b a s e d e l s e w h e r e p r o d u c e d p a r t i c i p a t i o n in S c o t
l a n d . T r e e s o f L i b e r t y w e r e p l a n t e d , to b e d u g u p a g a i n b y s u p p o r t e r s
of g o v e r n m e n t . A s o c i e t y o f t h e F r i e n d s o f t h e P e o p l e in S c o t l a n d
w a s f o r m e d at a l o w e r social l e v e l t h a n t h e E n g l i s h S o c i e t y w h i c h
i n s p i r e d it, a n d its b r a n c h e s w e r e l i n k e d t o t h e L o n d o n C o r r e s p o n d i n g
S o c i e t y . T h e s u b s c r i p t i o n c o u l d b e as l o w as 3 d . a q u a r t e r , s o t h e s e
g r o u p s w e r e o p e n to a r t i s a n s a n d s e r v a n t s . T o m P a i n e ' s Rights of
Man c i r c u l a t e d freely a n d a l i n k w a s f o r m e d w i t h t h e s o c i e t y o f t h e
United Irishmen. A g o v e r n m e n t spy reported that the Perth Friends
of t h e P e o p l e w e r e a r t i s a n s , m o s t l y w e a v e r s , a n d t h i s m a y w e l l h a v e
b e e n t h e c a s e e l s e w h e r e . Y e t t h e a g i t a t i o n c a n n o t b e t a k e n as o n e
b y a c o n s c i o u s w o r k i n g c l a s s , b u t r a t h e r as t h e s m a l l - s c a l e e x t e n s i o n
of political i n t e r e s t i n t o a w i d e r s e c t i o n o f s o c i e t y .
W h a t is s t r i k i n g in t h e s t o r y o f t h i s e a r l y r a d i c a l i s m is n o t its w i l l i n g
n e s s to criticise, for i n fact it t r i e d h a r d to k e e p w i t h i n t h e l a w a n d
m a d e n o a t t a c k o n s o c i a l i n e q u a l i t y , b u t t h e p a n i c it p r o d u c e d in t h o s e
a b o v e . A fully o r c h e s t r a t e d r e s p o n s e w a s m a d e . T h e w o r l d s o f l a w
a n d o f p o l i t i c s , a l w a y s c l o s e t o g e t h e r in S c o t l a n d , u n i t e d . T h e l e g a l
s y s t e m a l l o w e d c o n s i d e r a b l e s c o p e for t h e h a n d p i c k i n g o f j u r i e s , s o
c o n v i c t i o n s for s e d i t i o n w e r e e a s i l y o b t a i n e d . T h e m o s t f a m o u s o f
the victims w a s T h o m a s Muir, a y o u n g advocate, in 1793. H e m a y
53
Richard B. Sher, 'Moderates, Managers and Popular Politics in Mid-Eighteenth Cen
tury Edinburgh: The Drysdale Bustle of the 1760s', in J. Dwyer, Roger A. Mason
and Alexander Murdoch, eds., New Perspectives on the Politics and Culture of Early
Modern Scotland (Edinburgh, 1982).
54
Smout, History, chap. 17; K. Logue, Popular Disturbances in Scotland 1780-1815 (Edin
burgh, 1979), chap. 5.

Scotland 1750-1850 185
h a v e b e e n selected simply b e c a u s e of his incautious r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s

of t h e w o r k o f P a i n e , b u t it is n o t e - w o r t h y t h a t h e did n o t t r u l y b e l o n g
to l a n d e d s o c i e t y as did a l m o s t all a d v o c a t e s a n d c o u l d b e t r e a t e d
as a n o u t s i d e r . Y e t e v e n o u t s i d e r s w e r e g e n t r y , a n d M u i r ' s t r a n s p o r
5 5
t a t i o n to A u s t r a l i a w a s as a c a b i n p a s s e n g e r .
The r a n k s o f p r o p e r t y c l o s e d a g a i n s t political i n n o v a t i o n , even
t h o u g h s o m e v o i c e s q u e r i e d t h e l e g a l i t y o f M u i r ' s s e n t e n c e . It is c l e a r
f r o m t h e t o n e o f t h e OSA v o l u m e s p r o d u c e d in a n d after 1 7 9 4 t h a t
t h e c l e r g y j o i n e d in s u p p o r t t o t h e s y s t e m . O n l y o c c a s i o n a l l y w a s
t h e r e d i s a g r e e m e n t s u c h as t h a t o f A l e x a n d e r C a r l y l e o f I n v e r e s k ,
w h o w a s b o l d e n o u g h to s u g g e s t t h a t e v e n in t h o s e d a n g e r o u s t i m e s
t h e r e w a s n o j u s t i f i c a t i o n for t h e S c o t t i s h s y s t e m o f b u r g h g o v e r n m e n t
by small, self-perpetuating cliques which excluded most of the 'respec
t a b l e ' c i t i z e n r y . A m u c h m o r e t y p i c a l c o m m e n t is t h a t o f t h e m i n i s t e r
of L a n a r k w h o e x c e p t e d f r o m h i s g e n e r a l a p p r o v a l o f h i s p a r i s h i o n e r s
the o n e or two w h o from ignorance, violence of t e m p e r or lack of
5 6
religion, agreed with 'the ravings' of the Friends of the P e o p l e .
All t h r o u g h t h e v o l u m e s o f t h e OSA i n l o w l a n d p a r i s h e s t h e r e p o r t s
show both the buoyancy produced by economic growth, and the
recognition that e c o n o m i c c h a n g e w a s creating n e w social pressures.
T h e n e w f a r m i n g k n e w w h a t sort o f l a b o u r f o r c e it w a n t e d a n d f o r c e d
the rest away. S o m e part of the m o v e m e n t of people w a s from the
positive draw of the t o w n s . In places w h e r e labour-intensive crops,
such as turnips, w e r e part of the rotation, the labour force w a s
retained, but not allowed to increase. In Calder (Lanarkshire) the
schoolmaster, w h o wrote the report, gave a general warning of the
neglect of educational investment. In Nielston (Renfrewshire), w h e r e
t h e r e w e r e a l r e a d y in 1 7 9 1 t w o c o t t o n m i l l s , a printfield a n d 1 5 2 l o o m s ,
t h e m i n i s t e r felt t h a t t h e r a t e o f c h a n g e w a s d a n g e r o u s ; i n d u s t r y r a i s e d
agricultural w a g e s a n d allowed the introduction of luxurious habits,
a n d t h e mill c h i l d r e n w e r e n o t g e t t i n g a n y s c h o o l i n g , i n h a l e d c o t t o n
fluff a n d l i v e d i n c l o t h e s i m p r e g n a t e d w i t h m a c h i n e oil. H e h a d fears
5 7
for t h e i r p h y s i c a l a n d m o r a l h e a l t h .
It w a s c o m m o n for t h o s e w i t h g o o d i n c o m e s t o e q u a t e m o r a l s w i t h
social a n d political c o n f o r m i t y a n d to r e g a r d h i g h w a g e s as a d a n g e r
to b o t h morals and the e c o n o m y . M a n y of the working class appear
t o h a v e a c c e p t e d t h e s e v i e w s . T h e r e is n o s i g n o f u n d e r g r o u n d
55
Christina Bewley, Muir of Huntershill (Oxford, 1981), chap. 8.
56 57
OSA, vol. 16, p. 48, vol. 15, p. 42. Ibid., vol. 8, p. 480, vol. 2, pp. 6 2 - 3 , 154-5.

r a d i c a l i s m c o n t i n u i n g after t h e trials o f 1 7 9 3 , e x c e p t for a s m a l l b o d y ,

t h e U n i t e d S c o t s m e n , a s e c r e t s o c i e t y i m i t a t i n g t h e Irish m o d e l a n d
a i m i n g at t h e s t a n d a r d f e a t u r e o f a n n u a l p a r l i a m e n t s . W e d o n o t s e e
in t h e r e c o r d o f its activities, e v e n a l l o w i n g for t h e fact t h a t s e c r e t
a n d illegal s o c i e t i e s l e a v e b a d r e c o r d s , a n y s i g n o f a r t i s a n activity
i n it, or a n y l i n k b e t w e e n political a g i t a t i o n a n d t h e t w o m a i n c a u s e s
of p o p u l a r d i s t u r b a n c e d u r i n g t h e w a r p e r i o d , r e s i s t a n c e to c o n s c r i p
t i o n to t h e n e w militia a n d t r a d e u n i o n a c t i v i t i e s . E v a n g e l i c a l o b j e c
t i o n s to t h e e x e r c i s e o f l a y p a t r o n a g e in t h e c h u r c h , w h i c h b e c a m e
m o r e m a r k e d as t h e M o d e r a t e m o v e m e n t d e t e r i o r a t e d i n t o m e r e s u b
5 8
s e r v i e n c e to p r o p e r t y and power, also did not establish a link
b e t w e e n t h e r e l i g i o u s a n d political v a r i e t i e s o f r a d i c a l i s m . B u t t h e
t e n d e n c y for t h e i n d u s t r i a l p a r t s o f t h e c o u n t r y to h a v e a v a r i e d p a t t e r n
of d i s s e n t i n g s e c t s , s h o w n m o s t c o n s p i c u o u s l y at P a i s l e y , w a s a likely
future s o u r c e o f t h i s link, for d i s s e n t i n S c o t l a n d o p p o s e d p a t r o n a g e
a n d state c o n t r o l o f r e l i g i o n a n d c r i t i c i s e d t h e b e h a v i o u r o f t h e u p p e r
ranks b y austere Calvinist standards.
In t h e later 1 7 9 0 s m o r e g e n e r a l a n d c o n s p i c u o u s u n r e s t t h a n r a d i c a l
ism could produce c a m e from the immediate pressures of food shor
tage a n d conscription. F o o d prices stood high, particularly in 1796
a n d 1 8 0 0 , c a u s i n g riots in t h e t o w n s o v e r t h e m o v e m e n t o f g r a i n
to o t h e r c e n t r e s . M o r e s e r i o u s w e r e t h e l a r g e l y r u r a l p r o t e s t s o v e r
t h e militia in 1 7 9 7 : t h i s f o r c e w a s to b e s e l e c t e d b y b a l l o t i n g f r o m
lists of y o u n g m e n w i t h o u t s e r i o u s f a m i l y o r p r o f e s s i o n a l r e s p o n s i
bilities, to s e r v e for t h e d u r a t i o n o f t h e w a r . C r o w d s g a t h e r e d and
t r i e d to d e s t r o y t h e lists a n d n e r v o u s a u t h o r i t i e s c a l l e d i n t h e m i l i t a r y
to k e e p o r d e r . I n t h e w o r s t e p i s o d e , at T r a n e n t , t h e D e p u t y L i e u t e n a n t
and the army grossly overreacted, and slaughter of m e n and children
59
resulted. T h e d i s t u r b a n c e s b e l o n g t o t h e e a r l y t r a d i t i o n o f riot a s
a d e m o n s t r a t i o n a i m e d at p e r s u a d i n g a g o v e r n m e n t to a b a n d o n s o m e
i n n o v a t i o n , n o t to t h e n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y p a t t e r n o f it a s a d e m a n d
for r a d i c a l c h a n g e .
In 1 8 1 2 , t h o u g h , a m a j o r i s s u e d i d for a t i m e p o l a r i s e o p i n i o n as
if o n a c l a s s b a s i s : t h i s w a s t h e c a s e o f t h e c o t t o n w e a v e r s i n t h e
west of Scotland. T h e s e m e n h a d obtained a declaration of m i n i m u m
w a g e s for t h e i r w o r k f r o m t h e G l a s g o w m a g i s t r a t e s ; t h e e m p l o y e r s
a p p e a l e d a g a i n s t t h i s to t h e c e n t r a l c o u r t o f s e s s i o n a n d lost, y e t w e r e
s u c c e s s f u l in r e f u s i n g to p a y b y t h e s c a l e a p p r o v e d as r e a s o n a b l e a n d
59 59
Clark, 'From Protests to Reaction'. Logue, Popular Disturbances, chap. 3.

Scotland 1750-1850 187
j u s t . A m a s s i v e s t r i k e r e s u l t e d , it is s a i d , o f as m a n y as 4 0 , 0 0 0 w o r k e r s .
T o g e t s u c h figures t h e r e w o u l d h a v e b e e n s o m e i n t i m i d a t i o n ; t h e r e
w a s a l s o s o m e s a b o t a g e . T h e e m p l o y e r s t u r n e d for s u p p o r t to W e s t
minster. O n e of the most powerful tycoons, Kirkman Finlay, urged
t h e g o v e r n m e n t to d e c l a r e t h a t j u s t i c e s o f t h e p e a c e h a d n o p o w e r
to r e g u l a t e w a g e s in t h e c o t t o n i n d u s t r y , a n d to b r i n g in a c o m b i n a t i o n
act. T h e r e w e r e n o r e a l g r o u n d s for d o u b t a b o u t t h e p o w e r o f j u s t i c e s
o v e r w a g e s , for t h e y h a d b e e n e x e r c i s e d for v a r y i n g o c c u p a t i o n s in
t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y . It w a s a l s o p o i n t e d o u t to t h e g o v e r n m e n t
t h a t t h e e m p l o y e r s as w e l l as t h e m e n h a d b e e n o p e r a t i n g a c o m b i
n a t i o n . I n t h e e v e n t t h e l a w w a s m a n i p u l a t e d in f a v o u r o f p r o p e r t y :
there was no prosecution of the employers but the leading weavers
w e r e t r i e d for c o m b i n i n g , a n d t h e l a w a l l o w i n g for t h e c o n t r o l o f
w a g e s w a s repealed. E v e n with relatively light s e n t e n c e s a n d the dec
laration b y the Lord A d v o c a t e that there w o u l d b e n o further prosecu
tions, the story clearly s h o w s gross distortion of law b y class interests.
T h e effect o f t h e s t o r y m a y h a v e b e e n f u r t h e r e n h a n c e d b y a w e a k
j u d g m e n t , g i v e n at a l m o s t t h e s a m e t i m e , a g a i n s t t w o c o t t o n m a n u f a c
turers w h o h a d b e e n defrauding t h e i r w e a v e r s b y false m e a s u r e
6 0
ments. It is not surprising that surreptitious trade unionism
c o n t i n u e d , n o r t h a t its m o s t effective s e c t o r , t h e c o t t o n s p i n n e r s , w h e n
t h e s e a r c h l i g h t o f j u s t i c e w a s n e x t s w i t c h e d o n for t h e i n d u s t r y , s h o u l d
b e f o u n d u s i n g v i o l e n c e , e v e n m u r d e r , a n d i n t i m i d a t i o n . R e s p e c t for
the law h a d got the w e a v e r s n o w h e r e .
In t h e d i s p u t e a u t h o r i t y h a d a l s o u s e d a p a r t i c u l a r l y p o w e r f u l w e a
pon, the ambiguities of the Scottish poor law. W h e n starving weavers
h a d w a n d e r e d t h r o u g h G l a s g o w b e g g i n g , t h e sheriff p r o d u c e d a p r o
c l a m a t i o n s t a t i n g t h a t t h o s e in h e a l t h a n d a b l e to p r o c u r e w o r k w e r e
n o t e n t i t l e d to p o o r relief, a n d t h a t b e g g i n g w a s illegal. T h i s i g n o r e d
t h e a m b i g u o u s s t a t u s o f t h e u n e m p l o y e d . T h e r e w a s n o clarity i n
statute law on the issue, and genuine division of opinion. A n impor
t a n t l e g a l d e c i s i o n o f 1 8 0 4 h e l d t h a t relief s h o u l d b e g i v e n to all i n
genuine need, whatever was the cause of the need. But since that
d a t e t h e v i e w s o f M a l t h u s , as e x p r e s s e d i n t h e s e c o n d e d i t i o n o f h i s
Essay on Population, h a d e n t e r e d S c o t l a n d , a n d t h e r e w a s a n i n c r e a s i n g
w e i g h t o f political o p i n i o n b e h i n d efforts to restrict t h e t o t a l l e v e l
of p o o r l a w e x p e n d i t u r e .
T h i s o p i n i o n w a s to b e f o u n d in t h e r i s i n g g r o u p o f p r o f e s s i o n a l
60
A. Aspinall, The Early English Trade Unions (1949), pp. 138-60; Scots Magazine (May
1813).

m e n in b u r g h life, l a w a n d t h e c h u r c h w h o m a d e u p t h e c o r e o f t h e
W h i g party and w h o were gaining ground. T h e conspicuous land
m a r k s o f t h e i r a d v a n c e w e r e t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f t h e Edinburgh Review
in 1 8 0 2 , w h i c h r a p i d l y b e c a m e t h e l e a d i n g i n t e l l e c t u a l j o u r n a l , a n d
of The Scotsman i n 1 8 1 7 a s a W h i g g i s h E d i n b u r g h p a p e r . T h e s e m e n
m a d e p o s s i b l e t h e r e o p e n i n g o f t h e d e b a t e o n political r e f o r m s i l e n c e d
s i n c e 1 7 9 4 , a n d t h e f o r c e t h a t c o u l d b e b r o u g h t t o it w a s e n h a n c e d
by the collapse of the b u r g h s into corruption a n d bankruptcy. O n e
after a n o t h e r t h e b u r g h s w e r e failing, y e t t h e y w e r e a k e y p a r t o f
the government's control over the parliamentary system.
The n e e d s of a d e m a n d i n g w a r h a d d o n e m u c h to r e d u c e the w a s t a g e
of g o v e r n m e n t f u n d s w h i c h h a d s u p p o r t e d t h e s y s t e m o f ' o l d c o r r u p
t i o n ' at t h e c e n t r a l l e v e l . T h e s a m e p r e s s u r e s h a d n o t b e e n felt i n
local affairs. F o r t h e m o s t p a r t t h e r o y a l b u r g h s w e r e n o t t h o s e p a r t s
of t h e e c o n o m y e x p e r i e n c i n g r a p i d g r o w t h , or, if t h e y w e r e , t h e t h r i v
i n g n e w activities did n o t b e l o n g to t h e g r o u p w h i c h h e l d l o c a l p o w e r .
This group h a d found less arduous w a y s of making m o n e y than m a n u
f a c t u r e or t r a d e . W h i l e b u r g h s d i d n o t s u p p l y aid w h i c h effective
g o v e r n m e n t c o u l d g i v e , i n r e g u l a t i o n s o n activity a n d s t a n d a r d s o f
sanitation, their governors w e r e dining out on the c o m m o n good,
p a y i n g t h e m s e l v e s for s e r v i c e s w h i c h m i g h t o r m i g h t n o t b e c a r r i e d
o u t , a n d s e l l i n g to t h e m s e l v e s at c u t p r i c e s t h e t o w n ' s p r o p e r t y . B y
1819, for i n s t a n c e , D u n f e r m l i n e r o y a l b u r g h w a s i n d e b t t o s o m e t h i n g
o v e r £ 2 0 , 0 0 0 w i t h a n o r m a l r e v e n u e o f a little o v e r £ 1 , 0 0 0 a n d t h e
burgh council had not seen any accounts. A b e r d e e n had b e e n bank
r u p t e d b y a d e b t o f n e a r l y a q u a r t e r o f a m i l l i o n ; b e f o r e t h a t it h a d
been kept apparently solvent by m e m b e r s of the council drawing
a c c o m m o d a t i o n bills u p o n e a c h o t h e r . F o r t r o s e w a s u n d e r t h e c o n t r o l
of a b o s s w h o l e n t h i m s e l f t h e b u r g h ' s m o n e y a n d k e p t v a r i o u s b o o k s
6 1
of fictitious a c c o u n t s . S o m e of this malfeasance in the b u r g h s might
b e s e e n as s i m p l y c r i m i n a l , b u t in t h e c a p i t a l E d i n b u r g h t h e b a n k r u p t c y
h a d b e e n a c h i e v e d for political p u r p o s e s . Yet s o m e small towns
m a n a g e d to c a r r y o n i n t o t h e m i d - n i n e t e e n t h century with very
little i n t h e w a y o f g o v e r n i n g a p p a r a t u s . G a l a s h i e l s h a d n o p o l i c e ,
c o u r t h o u s e or jail. K i r r i e m u i r h a d n o i n c o m e a n d n o d e b t : its s t r e e t s
w e r e k e p t in r e p a i r b y s t a t u t e l a b o u r m o n e y . H u n t l y h a d to rely o n
6 2
v o l u n t a r y s u b s c r i p t i o n s for its m i n i m a l n e e d s . But these were not
SC on Petitions from the Royal Burghs of Scotland, PP 1819, VI; RC on Municipal Corpor
ations, PP 1835, XXIX.
Saunders, Scottish Democracy, pt 2, chap. 4.

Scotland 1750-1850 189
places of rapid expansion, w h e r e problems of poverty, public health

a n d c r i m e w e r e c o m i n g to t h e f o r e , or p l a c e s w h i c h n e e d e d i n v e s t m e n t
i n d o c k s or d r a i n a g e to m a i n t a i n t h e i r activity.
Burgh collapse w a s usually m e t b y the creation of a governing
'police' commission, and s o m e part of this n e w governing b o d y w o u l d
h a v e to b e e l e c t e d . T h e p o r t i o n o f t h e e l e c t e d e l e m e n t i n c r e a s e d w i t h
t h e l a t e r b a n k r u p t c i e s , a n d a n y p o p u l a r e l e m e n t w a s a n affront t o
the established s y s t e m of power. T h e w h o l e series of episodes w a s
a visible d e m o n s t r a t i o n of t h e i n c o m p e t e n c e s of this s y s t e m a n d an
6 3
i l l u s t r a t i o n t h a t it w a s w e a k e n i n g .
Ill
T h e rising group of y o u n g W h i g s w a s of able a n d articulate m e n ,

s o m e c o n n e c t e d w i t h l a n d , b u t u s u a l l y w i t h l a w as w e l l , r e g a r d i n g
t h e m s e l v e s as professional i n c o m e earners. M o s t of t h e m w o u l d not
g e t i n t o P a r l i a m e n t u n t i l t h e s u r g e o f s u p p o r t f r o m W h i g g e r y in 1 8 3 0 ,
by which time they were a powerful and closely united group. T h e y
s a w n o r e a s o n t o m a i n t a i n t h e e x i s t i n g political s y s t e m , a n d though
t h e y w i s h e d o n e w i t h a w i d e r b a s e , s a w n o n e e d to i n c l u d e m o r e
than the level of m o d e r a t e property or i n c o m e . A s 'self-made' m e n
t h e y h a d little i n t e r e s t in t h o s e l e s s s u c c e s s f u l , p a r t i c u l a r l y i n t h e p r o b
l e m s o f t h e u n e m p l o y e d p o o r . R a i s i n g r a t e s w a s to t h e m a n a t t a c k
o n t h e i r o w n p o c k e t s . T h e y h a d little t r a c e o f t h e p a t e r n a l i s m w h i c h
l e d m a n y o f l a n d e d s o c i e t y to u s e t h e d e v i c e o f ' v o l u n t a r y ' c o n t r i b u
t i o n s . It w a s a W h i g l a n d o w n e r M e m b e r o f P a r l i a m e n t , y o u n g K e n
n e d y o f D u n u r e , w h o i n 1 8 1 5 h a d a q u e s t i o n n a i r e s e n t o u t b y sheriffs
t o all p a r i s h m i n i s t e r s a s k i n g a b o u t p o o r l a w e x p e n d i t u r e o v e r t h e
last t w e n t y - s i x y e a r s , a p p a r e n t l y to s h o w t h a t t h e b u r d e n o f relief
o n l a n d o w n e r s w a s r i s i n g : i n d e e d in m o n e y t e r m s , t h o u g h n o t i n
r e a l t e r m s , t h i s w a s t r u e . T h e u s e o f a s e c u l a r official for a n e c c l e s i a s t i c a l
i n q u i r y s h o w s t h e d a n g e r o u s i n s e n s i t i v i t y o f u p p e r - c l a s s s o c i e t y to
t h e c l a i m s o f t h e c h u r c h to b e i n d e p e n d e n t of the state. K e n n e d y
w e n t o n to a n u n s u c c e s s f u l a t t e m p t i n P a r l i a m e n t to d e s t r o y t h e r i g h t
of a p p e a l a g a i n s t p a r i s h d e c i s i o n s . T h i s w a s t o o o v e r t a n a t t a c k o n
64
t h e relief s y s t e m a n d it f a i l e d .
T h e r i s e o f t h e y o u n g W h i g s r e m o v e d t h e g a g o n S c o t t i s h political
63
W. L. Mathieson, Church and Reform in Scotland (Glasgow, 1911), pp. 170-6.
64
SC on the English Poor Law, PP 1817, VI, summary of the returns to the enquiry,
pp.145-53.

e x p r e s s i o n , b u t t h e m o v e m e n t o f t h e w o r k f o r c e i n t o t h e r e a l m o f poli
tics w a s still h e s i t a n t . T h e r e w a s a n inefficient G l a s g o w p l o t r e v e a l e d
b y s p i e s in 1 8 1 6 : it i n v o l v e d t h e u s u a l p a r a p h e r n a l i a o f s e c r e t o a t h s ,
p a s s w o r d s a n d a t t e m p t s t o l i n k u p w i t h r a d i c a l g r o u p s in E n g l a n d ,
65
as w e l l as e x t r e m e i n c o m p e t e n c e i n t h e p r o s e c u t i o n . M o r e signifi
c a n t w a s t h e S c o t t i s h r e s p o n s e to t h e s i t u a t i o n o f 1 8 1 9 , a y e a r o f p o s t
w a r s l u m p a n d , in E n g l a n d , political a g i t a t i o n . T h e r e w a s s e v e r e
d e p r e s s i o n in c o t t o n , p a r t i c u l a r l y in P a i s l e y w h e r e a b o d y o f u n e m
p l o y e d w e a v e r s , n u m b e r e d b y different s o u r c e s at 8 5 0 a n d 1,000,
o b t a i n e d a sheriff c o u r t d e c i s i o n o v e r r u l i n g t h e p a r i s h refusal o f relief.
The p a r i s h t o o k t h e c a s e to t h e c o u r t o f s e s s i o n w h i c h d e c i d e d , in
s p i t e o f a h e a l t h y list o f p r e c e d e n t s , t h a t t h e sheriff c o u r t h a d no
jurisdiction over kirk sessions. T h e decision did not touch the substan
tive q u e s t i o n o f w h e t h e r t h e u n e m p l o y e d w e r e e n t i t l e d t o relief, b u t
d e s t r o y e d t h e efficacy o f t h e p o o r l a w in a far m o r e f u n d a m e n t a l w a y ,
s i n c e it left t h e i n d i v i d u a l k i r k s e s s i o n e n t i r e l y to its o w n d i r e c t i o n ,
usually under heavy pressures from landowners, on w h e t h e r any
relief, a n d if s o h o w m u c h , s h o u l d b e g i v e n to c l a i m a n t s . H e n c e f o r t h
the only external appeal w a s to the court of session. A p p e a l there
w a s i m p r a c t i c a l for t h e d e s t i t u t e s i n c e it t o o k t i m e a n d m o n e y . T h e
p a r i s h e s , w h i c h in t e r m s o f a s s e s s m e n t m e a n t t h e l a n d o w n e r s , w e r e
left as s o l e j u d g e s as to w h a t relief t o p a y . It w a s a n e a t m a n o e u v r e
b y W h i g l a n d o w n e r s for t h e c h a n g e o f l a w w i t h o u t a p p l i c a t i o n to
66
Parliament.
The P a i s l e y p e t i t i o n e r s h a d b e e n careful, d u r i n g t h e i r a p p e a l , to
g i v e n o s u p p o r t to r a d i c a l a g i t a t i o n . Y e t s i n c e t h e y e a r w a s 1 8 1 9 , t h i s
took place there a n d e l s e w h e r e , in the aftermath of the violent disper
sal o f t h e c r o w d at 'Peter/loo' i n A u g u s t . ' P e t e r l o o ' p r o d u c e d p r o t e s t
m e e t i n g s a n d d e m o n s t r a t i o n s in G l a s g o w a n d P a i s l e y , w h i c h w e r e
not entirely peaceable. Reform societies expanded and b e c a m e overt.
T h e g o v e r n m e n t r e s p o n s e w a s a n a t t e m p t to r e p e a t t h e r e p r e s s i o n
of 1 7 9 3 b y t h e p r o s e c u t i o n o f a l i b e r a l - m i n d e d A n g u s gentleman,
George Kinloch, a parlour pink w h o had made an indiscreet speech
denouncing the government. Genuine popular indignation mostly
stayed well within conformist n o r m s , but this did not prevent an
u p p e r - c l a s s p a n i c a b o u t a p o s s i b l e r i s i n g . T h e r e w a s at l e a s t o n e real
65
Smout, History, p. 446; W. M. Roach, 'Alexander Richmond and the Radical Reform
Movement in Glasgow in 1816-17'', Scottish Historical Review, 51 (1972).
66
Rosalind Mitchison, 'The Creation of the Disablement Rule in the Scottish Poor
Law', in T. C. Smout, ed., The Search for Wealth and Stability: Essays in Economic
and Social History Presented to M. W. Flinn (1979).

Scotland 1750-1850 191
plot, w h i c h g o v e r n m e n t s p i e s e a s i l y p e n e t r a t e d , a n d a b o t c h e d u p r i s
ing in central S c o t l a n d . A few h u n d r e d w e a v e r s a n d other artisans
got t o g e t h e r a n d m a n a g e d to h a v e a fight w i t h t h e l o c a l y e o m a n r y .
M o r e a d v a n c e d w a s t h e s e c r e t l y o r g a n i s e d o u t b r e a k o f p o s t e r s in G l a s
g o w c a l l i n g for a g e n e r a l s t r i k e . T h e s e a p p e a r e d overnight and
6 7
o b t a i n e d a r e s p o n s e : 6 0 , 0 0 0 are s a i d to h a v e s t o p p e d w o r k .
T h e e v e n t s o f 1 8 1 9 - 2 0 s h o w t h a t t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s in S c o t l a n d ,
for t h e m o s t part, w i s h e d to m o v e o n l y w i t h i n t h e l a w , g a v e g e n e r a l
s u p p o r t to t h e i d e a o f a w i d e r f r a n c h i s e , b u t w a s o n l y to a l i m i t e d
degree prepared to get involved in organisations to this end.
Q u i e s c e n c e m a y h a v e p a r t l y b e e n d u e to t h e r e l a t i v e l y slight p a r t
in t h e e c o n o m y o f l a r g e u n i t s o f e m p l o y m e n t . M i n i n g w a s e x p a n d i n g ,
b u t m o r e s l o w l y t h a n in E n g l a n d , h e a v y i n d u s t r y still a w a i t e d t h e
d i s c o v e r y o f t h e h o t b l a s t in 1 8 2 8 . T h e m a j o r e m p l o y e r , c o t t o n , w h i c h
w a s said in 1812 to have a workforce of 150,000 h a d only about 20,000
of t h e s e , m o s t l y w o m e n a n d y o u n g p e o p l e , g a t h e r e d i n f a c t o r i e s .
M a n y o f t h e s e f a c t o r i e s w e r e still in t h e c o u n t r y . B u t a n o t h e r r e a s o n
w a s s u r e l y t h e l o n g t r a d i t i o n o f a u t h o r i t y in c h u r c h a n d s t a t e . E v e n
w i t h a r e f o r m i n g b o d y o f u p p e r - c l a s s m e n in e x i s t e n c e , t h e b u l k o f
Scottish people accepted the structure of control, but their sense of
c o m m o n interest was increasing.
O n e a r e a c o n s p i c u o u s l y did n o t c o n t r i b u t e to t h e d i s t u r b a n c e s a n d
d e m o n s t r a t i o n s a n d t h i s w a s E d i n b u r g h . T h e city l a c k e d l a r g e m a n u
facturers and the c o h e s i o n they could give to the working population.
T h e m a n u f a c t u r i n g t o w n s in t h e e a s t a l s o w e r e r e l a t i v e l y q u i e t , t h o u g h
i n v o l v e d in t h e d e p r e s s i o n .
U n r e s t a n d d i s t u r b a n c e , b u t for different r e a s o n s a n d w i t h o u t p r o l e t
a r i a n o v e r t o n e s , m a n i f e s t e d t h e m s e l v e s in t h e H i g h l a n d s . E a r l y in
the century there had b e e n 'clearances' of the eviction type, simply
t e l l i n g t h e i n h a b i t a n t s t o g e t out, o n v a r i o u s e s t a t e s , t h o s e o f M a c k e n
zie o f C o u l l , L o c h i e l a n d L o v a t . I n t h e s e c a s e s t h e p e o p l e h a d b e e n
left t o f e n d for t h e m s e l v e s w h i l e t h e l a n d w a s m a d e i n t o s h e e p f a r m s .
F r o m 1 8 0 8 to 1 8 2 1 t h e g r e a t S u t h e r l a n d e s t a t e , a l m o s t t h e w h o l e o f
the m o d e r n county, w a s the s c e n e , area b y area, of the m o r e enligh
t e n e d b u t e q u a l l y u n p o p u l a r p o l i c y o f c l e a r a n c e for r e s e t t l e m e n t a n d
r e o r g a n i s a t i o n . T h e p e o p l e w e r e m o v e d , o f t e n at v e r y s h o r t n o t i c e ,
f r o m t h e i n l a n d s t r a t h s to n e w c o a s t a l s e t t l e m e n t s . H e r e t h e y w e r e
e x p e c t e d to m i x s m a l l - s c a l e f a r m i n g w i t h fishing, a n d to w o r k as
67
H. Cockburn, Memorials of his Time (Edinburgh, 1909), pp. 342-5; Smout, History,
pp. 447-8; Mathieson, Church and Reform, pp. 157-62.

l a b o u r e r s in i n d u s t r y . T h e s c a l e o f m o v e m e n t w a s i m m e n s e : 6 0 0 f a m i
lies w e r e s a i d t o h a v e b e e n m o v e d f r o m L a i r g a n d R o g a r t in 1 8 0 8 ,
while more certain because better d o c u m e n t e d was the m o v e m e n t
of 7 0 0 f a m i l i e s f r o m v a r i o u s v a l l e y s in 1 8 1 9 . M a n y t h o u s a n d p e o p l e
in t h e s e m o v e m e n t s h a d t o c h a n g e t h e i r l o c a t i o n , o f t e n to s o m e w h e r e
they h a d never seen, their conception of their o w n status from that
of f a r m e r to l a b o u r e r o r c o t t a r , a n d t o a c q u i r e a n d u s e t o t a l l y n e w
skills. T h e p l a n n i n g o f t h e s e f o r c e d m i g r a t i o n s w a s c r u d e a n d d i l a t o r y ,
b e c a u s e t h e c o n c e p t i o n s w h i c h i n s p i r e d it w e r e o v e r s i m p l i f i e d . It w a s
a s s u m e d that population w a s the s a m e as labour force, a n d that labour
c o u l d b e a p p l i e d t o a n y t a s k . T h e l a c k o f skill a n d e x p e r i e n c e , t h e
e x i s t e n c e o f e l d e r l y t e n a n t s w h o c o u l d s u r v i v e as f a r m e r s o n m i n i m a l
activity b u t n o t a s f i s h e r m e n , w e r e facts i g n o r e d . T h e p r o v i s i o n in
advance of h o u s e s , fishing boats a n d e q u i p m e n t , harbours, e v e n land
m a r k s , w a s n o t m a d e , a n d in s o m e c a s e s t h e t i m e a v a i l a b l e for t h e
whole transformation was too short because the estate and s o m e of
t h e factors h a d a n i n t e r e s t in t h e i m m e d i a t e u s e o f t h e l a n d v a c a t e d .
In S t r a t h n a v e r , o n e o f t h e m o s t b i t t e r l y r e s e n t e d d e p o p u l a t i o n s , t h e
people h a d ten days actual notice in 1814, t h o u g h t h e y h a d b e e n
6 8
g i v e n g e n e r a l w a r n i n g s in t h e p r e v i o u s w i n t e r .
F o r t h e e s t a t e it c a n b e s a i d t h a t t h e r e h a d b e e n i n c r e a s i n g e m e r g e n
cies a n d t h e n e e d to b r i n g in f o o d s u p p l i e s - difficult w h e n t h e p e o p l e
lived i n l a n d . T h e o l d s y s t e m w a s n o t s u s t a i n i n g t h e p e o p l e it h a d
b r e d . If t h e e s t a t e w a s e v e r t o b e c o m e t r u l y p r o d u c t i v e c h a n g e w a s
i n e v i t a b l e . It w a s t h o u g h t t h a t , r e o r g a n i s e d , it c o u l d h o l d its o w n .
There was n o intention of sending the people away, t h o u g h many
fled u p t h e c o a s t to o c c u p y s m a l l crofts a n d h a m l e t s in C a i t h n e s s .
But the m a i n justification, that the estate w o u l d h a v e put forward
if a s k e d , w a s t h e c o n c e p t o f a b s o l u t e p r o p e r t y r i g h t s , a g a i n s t w h i c h
t h e social s t a n d i n g a n d w a y o f life o f t h e p e a s a n t r y h a d n o w e i g h t .
T h e p o l i c y w a s to d o in a n a u t h o r i t a t i v e w a y w h a t w a s t h o u g h t w o u l d
m a k e p e o p l e h a p p i e r as w e l l as m o r e p r o d u c t i v e ; t h e e s t a t e d i d n o t
feel o b l i g e d to a s k for a g r e e m e n t or for a p p r o v a l b y t h e p e o p l e or
the outside public.
I n t h e L o w l a n d s t h e r e o r g a n i s a t i o n o f t h e w o r k , l o c a t i o n a n d life
style o f t h e p e a s a n t r y w h i c h h a d m a d e for m o r e p r o s p e r o u s a n d p r o
ductive farming, h a d not b e e n prefaced b y discussion, yet h a d b e e n
c a r r i e d o u t p e a c e a b l y . B u t t h e r e w a s r e p e a t e d r e s i s t a n c e in t h e H i g h -
** Richards, History, chaps. 9-11.

Scotland 1750-1850 193
l a n d s . T h e r e w a s a spirited attempt in J u n e 1792 to drive out the

n e w s h e e p flocks f r o m R o s s a n d S u t h e r l a n d . It w a s p u t d o w n b y
69
bringing in the military. T h e r e w e r e r i o t s i n A s s y n t i n 1 8 1 3 at t h e
installation of a minister w h i c h w e r e as m u c h against the l a n d o w n e r
a s a g a i n s t t h e m i n i s t e r . T h e H i g h l a n d e r s c a m e to face ' c l e a r a n c e ' w i t h
a mixture of non-cooperation and semi-violent demonstration of a
t r a d i t i o n a l k i n d , w i t h t h e w o m e n i n t h e front o f t h e p r o t e s t e r s in
o r d e r t o p r e v e n t r e t a l i a t i o n . Officers o f t h e l a n d o w n e r o r t h e s t a t e
would be humiliated, demonstrations would verge on the violent with
ineffective s t o n e t h r o w i n g , b u t n o s e r i o u s f i g h t i n g w o u l d t a k e p l a c e ,
and no savagery would be exercised on the hated and intruded sheep.
It w o u l d b e left for t h e p a r i s h m i n i s t e r to o b t a i n s o m e m a r g i n a l modifi
cation to the p l a n n e d clearance, a n d peace, coupled with resentment,
w o u l d r e i g n . T h e d e m o n s t r a t i o n s a n d riots h a d b e e n a n a p p e a l to
outside public opinion, a statement that the 'right' use of land was
t o s u p p o r t t h e t r a d i t i o n a l life o f t h e p e a s a n t r y , n o t t h e e x t r a c t i o n o f
70
profit. O f l o n g - t e r m s o c i a l s i g n i f i c a n c e w a s t h e fact t h a t t h e ' c l e a r e d '
Highlanders retained an attachment to the land t h e y h a d occupied,
a n d b u i l t u p a t h e o r y o f h i s t o r i c r i g h t s t o it a n d o f a g o l d e n a g e in
t h e p a s t w h i c h c o u l d b e a n e x c u s e t o e v a d e e c o n o m i c effort.
T h e different c o u r s e o f a g r a r i a n h i s t o r y a n d t h e d i f f e r e n c e s in
material r e s o u r c e m e a n t that b y the 1840s t h e e x t r e m e s in types of
agrarian structure could b e found in S c o t l a n d , from the large farms
of t h e L o t h i a n s , a s f u r t h e r i n c r e a s e d i n t h e 1 8 2 0 s , w h i c h n e e d e d four
o r five h o r s e t e a m s c o n s t a n t l y at w o r k , t h r o u g h t h e s m a l l e r l a r g e f a r m s
of A b e r d e e n s h i r e , still o f t e n m e r i t i n g t h e t e r m ' m u c k l e t o o n ' , t o t h e
south-west w h e r e e v e n the larger farms were usually b e t w e e n 100
a n d 2 0 0 acres. In G a l l o w a y , Caithness, the N o r t h e r n Isles and Aber
d e e n s h i r e t h e l a r g e r u n i t s w e r e i n t e r s p e r s e d w i t h s m a l l f a r m s or e v e n
f a r m s s o s m a l l a s to b e c a l l e d c r o f t s . O n t h e s e , t h o u g h t h e m e t h o d s
of farming h a d c h a n g e d b y the use of better equipment, and by the
e n d i n g o f i n t e r m i x e d s t r i p s , t h e life o f t h e p e o p l e w a s m u c h as it
h a d b e e n a h u n d r e d years before, with the family providing most
of t h e l a b o u r a n d e a t i n g m o s t o f t h e p r o d u c e . ' I m p r o v e m e n t ' m e a n t
less scourging rotations, better stock and m o r e regular work. For the
big farms i m p r o v e m e n t m e a n t a sharp social gulf b e t w e e n the farmer,
a mini-capitalist, a n d his family o n o n e side a n d the hired labour
69
Logue, Popular Disturbances, chap. 2.
70
E . Richards, 'Patterns of Highland Discontent', in R. Quinault and J. Stevenson,
eds., Popular Protest and Public Order (1974).

force o n t h e o t h e r . I n t h e L o t h i a n s , a n d to a l e s s e r d e g r e e in c e n t r a l
Scotland, t h i s gulf h a d b e c o m e p e r m a n e n t . The same was true
b e t w e e n crofter a n d s h e e p f a r m e r in t h e H i g h l a n d s . T h e r e t h e crofter
n o w w o r k e d h i s i n d i v i d u a l p i e c e o f l a n d , b u t hill p a s t u r e w a s u s u a l l y
in c o m m o n , w h i c h m a d e a n y s e l e c t i v e s t o c k b r e e d i n g i m p o s s i b l e . It
w o u l d h a v e b e e n difficult for a n y H i g h l a n d e r t o e x p l o i t h i s l a n d
m o r e effectively t h a n w a s t h e c o m m o n s t y l e , b u t s i n c e t h e a t t i t u d e
of t h e H i g h l a n d e r s to s u g g e s t e d i m p r o v e m e n t s h a d , f r o m t h e m i d -
eighteenth century on, b e e n o n e of passive non-cooperation, the econ
o m i c gulf m e r e l y e n h a n c e d a n e x i s t i n g c u l t u r a l gulf. B u t t h e r e w e r e
parts of lowland Scotland w h e r e , before the more intensive farming
of t h e l a t e r n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y i n c r e a s e d t h e n e e d for c a p i t a l , s o m e
p a r t o f t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l l a b o u r force c o u l d a s p i r e to m o v e i n t o p o s
session of small farms.
I n t h e H i g h l a n d s t h e first h a l f o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y s a w d e t e r i o r
ating material standards of living, e v e n t h o u g h public c o n c e r n a n d
fund raising prevented actual starvation. By the second decade
p o t a t o e s w e r e t h e m a i n f o o d for t h r e e - q u a r t e r s o f t h e y e a r in m a n y
a r e a s , a n d t h i s d o m i n a t i o n s e e m s to h a v e e x t e n d e d e v e n f a r t h e r b y
t h e 1 8 4 0 s . T h e p o t a t o is t h e o n l y f o o d b y itself a d e q u a t e to m a i n t a i n
a d u l t h e a l t h , b u t d e p e n d e n c e o n it is p h y s i c a l l y i n c o n v e n i e n t , a n d
as a s i n g l e c r o p it w a s i n c r e a s i n g l y d a n g e r o u s . T h e c r o p failed partially
in 1836 a n d 1837, a n d this m e a n t severe hardship. T h e administrators
of a relief s u b s c r i p t i o n w h i c h r a i s e d £ 5 0 , 0 0 0 r e p o r t e d o f t h e o u t e r
isles ' p e o p l e . . . i n t h e v e r y e x t r e m i t y o f h u m a n w r e t c h e d n e s s ' , a n d
71
of A r d n a m u r c h a n as ' d e s p e r a t e ' in its s t a t e . Life o n t h e c o a s t m a d e
it p o s s i b l e to a u g m e n t diet w i t h s m a l l a m o u n t s o f fish, b u t o v e r c r o w d
ing o n the grazing r e d u c e d the e l e m e n t of dairy food a n d occasional
m e a t i n t h e diet. T o p a y r e n t s t h e p e o p l e h a d to restrict t h e i r p u r c h a s e s
of f o o d or to sell s o m e o f t h e i r p r o d u c e , s o t h e y b e n e f i t e d little f r o m
the n e w m o r e commercial e c o n o m y into which they h a d b e e n forced.
E l s e w h e r e real i n c o m e s w e r e , for m o s t g r o u p s , i m p r o v i n g after t h e
early decades of the century, with the striking exception of the h a n d -
l o o m w e a v e r s . Y e t w e a v i n g n u m b e r s h a d r i s e n u n t i l t h e 1 8 4 0 s . It
w a s difficult for a w e a v e r t o m a n a g e w i t h o u t a j u v e n i l e , a n d t h i s
l e d c h i l d r e n to f o l l o w t h e i r p a r e n t s i n t o p o v e r t y . T h e m o s t p r o s p e r o u s
w o r k e r s w e r e t h o s e in s k i l l e d w o r k w i t h i n t h e n e w t e c h n o l o g y ; t h e
71
letter by Robert Graham on Distress in the Highlands of Scotland, PP 1837, LI; SC on
Emigration, First Report, PP 1841, VI; Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural
Society of Scotland, new ser., XI (1837).

Scotland 1750-1850 195
G l a s g o w s p i n n e r s , or calico p r i n t e r s , for i n s t a n c e , m i g h t e a r n e n o u g h
with the w a g e s of their older children to support a family with s o m e
m o n e y to s p a r e for m e a t o r o t h e r g o o d f o o d o r c o m f o r t s . T h e risk
to these people w a s from injury or illness preventing work, or a d o w n
t u r n in t r a d e c a u s i n g u n e m p l o y m e n t . N u m e r o u s f r i e n d l y s o c i e t i e s
e x i s t e d t o r e d u c e t h i s risk, a n d m e n m i g h t b e l o n g t o s e v e r a l at t h e
s a m e time, but the limited actuarial k n o w l e d g e of the day m e a n t that
individual societies w e r e often short-lived. M i n e r s also e n j o y e d a g o o d
family w a g e , a n d w e r e o f t e n c r i t i c i s e d for t h e r a p i d e x p e n d i t u r e o f
it, b u t t h e s e w a g e s r e l i e d , at l e a s t u n t i l 1 8 4 2 , o n t h e w o r k o f w i v e s
a n d c h i l d r e n . M a s o n s r e p r e s e n t e d a l o n g - s t a n d i n g a r i s t o c r a c y o f skill,
b u t w i t h s h o r t life e x p e c t a n c y f r o m i n h a l i n g s t o n e d u s t . B e l o w t h e s e
c a m e a g r i c u l t u r a l w o r k e r s , w h o , if h i n d s , h a d u s u a l l y to s e e t h e i r
w i v e s w o r k for at l e a s t p a r t o f t h e y e a r . M e r e d a y - l a b o u r e r s o n t h e
f a r m a l s o n e e d e d a c o n t r i b u t i o n f r o m w o m e n a n d c h i l d r e n for t h e
family to get b y .
F o r m a n y o f t h e s e g r o u p s , t h o u g h n o t for t h e s k i l l e d m a n , i n c o m e
at b e s t m e a n t a d i e t p r e d o m i n a n t l y o f c e r e a l o r p o t a t o , a n d it w a s
still r a r e for t h e c e r e a l e l e m e n t to h a v e m u c h w h e a t e n b r e a d in it.
F i s h w a s a v a i l a b l e in m o s t t o w n s , a n d t o w n s f o l k a n d m a n y c o u n t r y
m e n c o u l d afford t e a a n d s u g a r . T h e p r o l i f e r a t i o n o f a l e - h o u s e s a n d
l i c e n s e d s h o p s - i n t h e c e n t r a l b e l t o f S c o t l a n d b y 1 8 4 3 at t h e r a t e
of o n e s u c h o u t l e t to e v e r y 1 5 0 i n h a b i t a n t s o r f e w e r - s h o w s t h a t
b e e r a n d spirits p l a y e d a b i g p a r t in diet. F u e l w a s a v a i l a b l e a n d fairly
c h e a p ; in m u c h o f t h e c e n t r a l v a l l e y t h e r e w a s c o a l e i t h e r l o c a l l y p r o
d u c e d o r i m p o r t e d f r o m T y n e s i d e ; in t h e B o r d e r s it c a m e f r o m t h e
T y n e at h i g h e r c o s t . E l s e w h e r e t h e r e w a s p e a t , l a b o u r i n t e n s i v e , b u t
7 2
at n o o t h e r c o s t . R e n t s w e r e n o t h i g h in t e r m s o f f a m i l y i n c o m e
t h o u g h t h e y m i g h t b e s o in t e r m s o f t h e s p a c e a n d a m e n i t y p r o v i d e d :
t h i s w a s m a r k e d l y s o for t h e f a c t o r y w o r k e r , w h o , e v e n if w o r k i n g
at a rural mill, w o u l d h a v e to fit h i s f a m i l y i n t o a s i n g l e r o o m in a
l a r g e t e n e m e n t b l o c k . T h e L i v i n g s t o n e m e m o r i a l at B l a n t y r e s h o w s
an unnaturally clean, tidy a n d well-furnished version of such a c c o m
m o d a t i o n , in m e m o r y o f D a v i d L i v i n g s t o n e ' s c h i l d h o o d t h e r e in t h e
1 8 2 0 s . W e k n o w f r o m o t h e r a c c o u n t s t h a t t h e w o m e n w e r e o f t e n fier
cely p r o u d of h o w well they could k e e p a c r a m p e d h o u s e , w h e t h e r
7 3
the single r o o m or the 'but and b e n ' . M o s t of the working class
72
I. Levitt and T. C. Smout, The State of the Scottish Working Class in 1843 (Edinburgh,
1979), chap. 3.
73
David Fraser, ed., The Christian Watt Papers (Edinburgh, 1983), pp. 5, 7 4 - 5 .

h a d to s p e n d o v e r t w o - t h i r d s o f i n c o m e o n f o o d b u t still f o u n d a
f e w p e n c e e v e r y w e e k for s c h o o l i n g , p e w r e n t s o r o t h e r g o o d c a u s e s .
B e l o w the various groups of skilled a n d unskilled earners c a m e the
r e a l p o o r , t h o s e w h o t h r o u g h p h y s i c a l or m e n t a l i n a d e q u a c y , the
w r o n g skill, a c c i d e n t , b e r e a v e m e n t or t r a d e d e p r e s s i o n did n o t c o m
m a n d e v e n t h e i n c o m e w h i c h c o u l d s u p p o r t a p u r e l y p o t a t o diet.
For these Scotland was a harsh environment, and becoming harsher.
I n a rural p a r i s h t h e r e s t r i c t i o n s o f t h e p o o r l a w w e r e n o t rigidly
a d h e r e d t o . O n l y h a l f o f t h e c h u r c h c o l l e c t i o n s h a d to b e h a n d l e d
as b y l a w , s o s m a l l s u m s c o u l d b e g i v e n f r o m t h e o t h e r h a l f to c a s e s
of o b v i o u s n e e d . M i n i s t e r s a n d e l d e r s c o u l d k n o w a b o u t t h e i r par
i s h i o n e r s , a n d m i n i s t e r s w o u l d act o n t h e i r o w n initiative a n d g i v e
h e l p . B u t s u c h m i n o r a i d w a s u s u a l l y late in c o m i n g . If t h e r e w a s
a g e n e r a l s o u r c e o f d i s t r e s s t h e m i n i s t e r a n d e l d e r s m i g h t call o n l a n d
o w n e r s to r a i s e e x t r a m o n e y . U n l e s s e s t a t e s w e r e in t h e h a n d s o f
trustees or of people p e r m a n e n t l y absent, there w a s usually r e s p o n s e
to s u c h r e q u e s t s , b u t o n e v e r y l a t e o u t b r e a k o f f o o d r i o t i n g , i n R o s s
in 1 8 4 7 , w h e r e t h e l a n d o w n e r s w e r e a l m o s t e n t i r e l y a b s e n t e e s , s h o w s
t h a t t h e r e w a s still s o m e p o p u l a r s a n c t i o n .
T h e r e a d i n e s s o f rural p a r i s h e s to h e l p t h e i r u n e m p l o y e d , at l e a s t
if t h e l a c k o f w o r k l a s t e d for m o r e t h a n a f e w w e e k s , w a s c l e a r l y
s h o w n in t h e e v i d e n c e p u b l i s h e d b y t h e R o y a l C o m m i s s i o n o n t h e
P o o r L a w ( S c o t l a n d ) in 1 8 4 4 . I n a l m o s t all p a r t s o f S c o t l a n d - t h e
exceptions were the Highlands, the north-east and some small
enclaves in the Borders a n d G a l l o w a y - the majority of parishes admit
t e d t h a t relief for t h e u n e m p l o y e d w a s n e e d e d , y e t i n m a n y a r e a s
m o r e than half the parishes w h i c h m a d e this admission did not give
74
such relief. A detailed study in 1841 of o n e of the m o s t g e n e r o u s
a r e a s , B e r w i c k s h i r e , s h o w e d t h a t in h a l f t h e p a r i s h e s ( s i x t e e n o u t
of t h i r t y - t w o ) t h e r e h a d b e e n n o u n e m p l o y m e n t for t h e last t e n y e a r s ,
or t h a t if t h e r e h a d b e e n u n e m p l o y m e n t it h a d n o t b e e n r e c o g n i s e d .
B u t in six p a r i s h e s t h e r e h a d b e e n a i d to t h e u n e m p l o y e d f r o m s u b
s c r i p t i o n a n d f r o m p o o r l a w f u n d s . Y e t all t h e p a r i s h m i n i s t e r s ' r e t u r n s
75
d e n o u n c e d t h e i d e a o f g i v i n g t h e u n e m p l o y e d a r i g h t to r e l i e f . Much
of t h e m i s e r y o f e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y S c o t l a n d c a n b e a s c r i b e d
to t h e inability o f m e n , s u c h a s t h e s e m i n i s t e r s , t o c o r r e l a t e t h e social
facts t h a t t h e y s a w w i t h t h e s o c i a l t h e o r i e s w i t h w h i c h t h e y h a d b e e n
imbued.
74
Levitt and Smout, Scottish Working Class, pp. 152-78.
75
Report on the State of the Poor in Berwickshire (Edinburgh, 1841).

Scotland 1750-1850 197
If t h i n g s c o u l d t h u s b e h a r d for t h e u n e m p l o y e d in t h e c o u n t r y ,
w h e r e t h e y w e r e i n d i v i d u a l l y k n o w n , a n d w h e r e t h e i m p a c t o f cyclical
d e p r e s s i o n w a s m u t e d , t h e y w e r e far w o r s e in t h e t o w n s . S u b s c r i p
t i o n s w e r e set u p d u r i n g d e p r e s s i o n , b u t n o t b e f o r e u n e m p l o y m e n t
was widespread and long-standing. By such a time most workers
laid off h a d s o l d u p t h e i r furniture a n d w e r e s t a r v i n g . T h i s p a t t e r n
of b e l a t e d c h a r i t a b l e activity b e a r s t h e a p p e a r a n c e m o r e o f a safety
v a l v e a g a i n s t riot a n d d i s t u r b a n c e t h a n a n a t t e m p t to s u c c o u r real
need.
E v e n without depressions there was a continual layer of destitution
a n d s q u a l o r in t h e l a r g e r t o w n s . S o m e o f t h e p e o p l e i n v o l v e d w e r e
s i m p l y n o t attractive as l a b o u r : w i d o w s w i t h c h i l d r e n , t h e o l d , d r u n k s ,
immigrant Irishmen, the weak-muscled and weak-minded throw-outs
of t h e n e w a g r i c u l t u r e . E v e n if m e d i c a l l y infirm m a n y o f t h e s e w o u l d
n o t qualify for relief for it t o o k t h r e e y e a r s ' r e s i d e n c e t o e s t a b l i s h
s e t t l e m e n t . I n a n y c a s e , in G l a s g o w , p a r i s h b o u n d a r i e s w e r e o f t e n
c r o s s e d in t h e s e a r c h for r o c k - b o t t o m r e n t s , s o t h a t e s t a b l i s h i n g s e t t l e
m e n t m i g h t b e i m p o s s i b l e . T h i s dreadful s t r a t u m o f p o v e r t y a n d its
l i n k s w i t h a l c o h o l a n d c r i m e w e r e s h o w n u p for E d i n b u r g h in t h e
B u r k e a n d H a r e c a s e in 1 8 2 8 , w h i c h r e v e a l e d t h e b u s i n e s s o f p r o v i d i n g
b y m u r d e r fresh c o r p s e s for m e d i c a l d i s s e c t i o n . T h e m e m o r y o f this
r e c e n t s c a n d a l o v e r c o r p s e s m a y e x p l a i n t h e social d i s t u r b a n c e s t h a t
accompanied the cholera epidemic of 1832, which were m u c h more
v i o l e n t in S c o t l a n d t h a n in E n g l a n d . I n P a i s l e y t h e riot c a u s e d b y
t h e d i s c o v e r y o f e m p t y coffins, a n d t h e a s s u m p t i o n built o n it t h a t
t h e d o c t o r s w e r e h o s p i t a l i s i n g c a s e s for t h e p u r p o s e o f g e t t i n g c o r p s e s ,
led t o t h e c a l l i n g in o f t h e d r a g o o n s . B u t it m a y a l s o b e t h a t c h o l e r a
s t r u c k w i t h e x c e p t i o n a l ferocity in t h e S c o t t i s h t o w n s . C e r t a i n l y t h e
o n l y reliable m o r t a l i t y figures, t h o s e for G l a s g o w , s h o w a d e a t h r a t e
7 6
e n h a n c e d b y a b o u t 7 0 p e r c e n t for t h e c h o l e r a y e a r .
C h a d w i c k ' s f a m o u s Report on the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring
Population of Great Britain of 1 8 4 2 m a r k s o u t t h e p u b l i c h e a l t h p r o b l e m s
of t h e S c o t t i s h cities, E d i n b u r g h , D u n d e e a n d G l a s g o w , m o s t p a r t i c u
7 7
larly t h e last, as m a r k e d l y w o r s e t h a n t h o s e o f a n y E n g l i s h t o w n .
This m a y have s t e m m e d from housing limitations. T h e economic
g r o w t h o f S c o t l a n d in t h e later e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y h a d n o t l e d to
76
R. J. Morris, Cholera 1832 (1976), chaps. 5 and 6.
77
E . Chadwick, Report on the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population of Great
Britain (1842; reprinted, M. W. Flinn, ed., Edinburgh, 1965), pp. 78, 9 7 - 9 .

the bulk of the working population enlarging their ideas of suitable

housing before the rapid urbanisation that followed on industrial
d e v e l o p m e n t . P e o p l e carried the o n e - r o o m h o u s e standard into city
life, b u t a l s o a c c e p t e d t h e t r a d i t i o n o f t e n e m e n t - b u i l d i n g . T h e r e s u l t
w a s a density of population w h i c h put a strain o n any s y s t e m of
water standpipes and the collection of waste. A s middle-class suburbs
developed, t h e u s e in t h e m of p i p e d w a t e r often led to r e d u c e d w a t e r
pressure e l s e w h e r e a n d cuts in t h e public provision. All t h e s e features
contributed to a high likelihood of gastro-intestinal infection.
B u t t h e c o m m e n t s a n d c r i t i c i s m s o f t h e u r b a n crisis w h i c h w a s
developing in S c o t l a n d do not confine t h e m s e l v e s to the results of
o v e r c r o w d i n g , n o r w a s it s i m p l y w a t e r - b o r n e d i s e a s e w h i c h m a d e
for t h e h i g h d e a t h r a t e s . T h o u g h t h e t e r m ' f e v e r ' w a s u s e d still t o
c o v e r s e v e r a l different d i s e a s e s t h e r e is n o d o u b t t h a t t h e m o s t l i k e l y
c a u s e o f e p i d e m i c s o f it r e q u i r i n g h o s p i t a l t r e a t m e n t w a s i n t h i s p e r i o d
typhus - a sure indication of extreme poverty. ' F e v e r ' cases in the
G l a s g o w Royal Infirmary h a d risen b y 1830 from 10 per cent of admis
s i o n s at t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e c e n t u r y t o 5 0 p e r c e n t . T h e d e a t h r a t e
for t h e city o f G l a s g o w r o s e f r o m j u s t u n d e r t w e n t y - f i v e p e r t h o u s a n d
7 8
in the late 1820s to j u s t u n d e r forty in t h e later 1 8 4 0 s .
A powerful voice w a s h e a r d in t h e 1840s asserting that this level
of d i s e a s e a n d d e a t h w a s t h e d i r e c t r e s u l t o f t h e h i g h i n c i d e n c e o f
total d e s t i t u t i o n . T h i s v i e w w a s s t a t e d i n a s e r i e s o f p a m p h l e t s b y
D r W . P . A l i s o n , P r o f e s s o r o f t h e I n s t i t u t e s o f M e d i c i n e at E d i n b u r g h
University. Destitution was the result of the inadequacies of the poor
law, the a b s e n c e of external force to m a k e parishes treat the poor
m o r e g e n e r o u s l y , a n d r e l a t i v e l y little c h a r i t y for t h e relief o f s i m p l e
poverty, partly b e c a u s e m a s s destitution dulled the urge to give
79
relief. There was, b y the 1840s, a wide range of charitable organisa
80
tions, medical, educational and religious. T h e r e w a s strong religious
p r e s s u r e o n t h e b e t t e r - o f f t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n t h e s e a n d a firmly h e l d
doctrine that voluntary giving w a s in every w a y a better form of
t r a n s f e r o f r e s o u r c e t h a n s t a t e relief. I n m i n o r m a t t e r s t h i s m a y h a v e
b e e n t r u e , for t h e s o c i e t i e s c o u l d afford t o l o o k for t h e r i g h t r e c i p i e n t s
a n d p r o v i d e a p p r o p r i a t e aid, b u t it did n o t m e e t t h e b a s i c i s s u e o f
78
Flinn, ed., Scottish Population History, p. 389; R. Cowan, Statistics of Fever in Glasgow
(Glasgow, 1838).
79
W. P. Alison, Observations on the Management of the Poor in Scotland (Edinburgh,
1840).
80
O. Checkland, Philanthropy in Victorian Scotland (Edinburgh, 1980).

Scotland 1750-1850 199
s u r v i v a l . P e o p l e s u b s c r i b e d t o t h e c h a r i t i e s w h i c h t h e y f o u n d inspirit
i n g , a n d t h e r o u t i n e t a s k o f k e e p i n g t h e dirty a n d d e s t i t u t e alive did
n o t r o u s e e n t h u s i a s m . A l i s o n i n fact a r g u e d t h a t t h e m i d d l e c l a s s e s
in S c o t l a n d were, b y international standards, u n g e n e r o u s . Quoting
the treasurer of a large-scale charity h e said 'the grand object kept
in v i e w b y a l m o s t a n y p a r i s h is t h e p o s s i b i l i t y o f evading, a s far as
their p o w e r admits, the duty of relieving the poor . . . T h e M a n a g e r s
. . . will b u r y t h e f a t h e r a n d m o t h e r o f a y o u n g f a m i l y a n d n e v e r i n q u i r e
about the o r p h a n s . ' H e w e n t o n to s h o w that almost every other
advanced country made better provision.
B e h i n d this attack lay c h a n g e s in law a n d opinion. T h e lawyer W h i g s
h a d stamped their version of the substantive law o n poverty into
t h e l e g a l t e x t b o o k s , w h e r e it w a s g i v e n a r e t r o s p e c t i v e s a n c t i t y as
w h a t h a d a l w a y s p r e v a i l e d . D e s t i t u t i o n w i t h o u t d i s a b l e m e n t n o w did
n o t qualify for relief. T h e S c o t s h a d t h u s c a r r i e d o u t , b e t w e e n 1 8 1 9
a n d 1 8 2 5 , a ' r e f o r m ' o f t h e i r p o o r l a w far m o r e drastic t h a n that
8 1
a c h i e v e d in 1 8 3 4 i n E n g l a n d . T h e other c h a n g e w a s in the opinion
of t h e m i n i s t r y , w h o w e r e d e c i s i v e in t h e a c t u a l p r o v i s i o n o f relief.
These men had a b s o r b e d , at v a r i o u s t i m e s s i n c e t h e 1 7 9 0 s , the
influence of frightened conservatism, the concern and propaganda
in E n g l a n d at t h e l e v e l o f p o o r relief t h e r e , a n d at t h e temporary
s y s t e m o f u s i n g r a t e s t o s u p p l e m e n t w a g e s , t h e a r g u m e n t s p u t for
w a r d b y T . R . M a l t h u s t h a t p o o r r a t e s w e r e liable t o i n c r e a s e t h e
q u a n t i t y o f p o v e r t y a n d t h e political a g i t a t i o n i n E n g l a n d i n t h e y e a r s
after t h e w a r for t h e total a b o l i t i o n o f t h e p o o r l a w . I n t h e e a r l y p a r t s
o f t h e OSA a f e w o f t h e m i n i s t r y still h e l d t h e v i e w s w h i c h h a d acti
v a t e d m a n y o f t h e m earlier i n t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y , t h a t it w a s
desirable to k e e p pressing the claims of the poor o n l a n d e d society,
a n d w e r e n o t c o n t e n t w i t h a s y s t e m i n w h i c h relief i n a n u n a s s e s s e d
parish w a s merely the transfer of funds from the n e e d y to the very
n e e d y . B u t this s t a n c e is r a r e in t h e l a t e r v o l u m e s . I n t h e p o o r l a w
inquiry of 1815, the 20 per cent or so of the ministry w h o answered
(and of course this m a y not b e a true cross-section of opinion) deplored
a s s e s s m e n t as leading to the decline in the ancient virtue of indepen
8 2
d e n c e a n d in t h e i n d u s t r y o f t h e l o w e r c l a s s e s . B y the time of the
Mitchison, 'The Creation of the Disablement Rule'.

An OSA report urging more adequate relief was that for Burntisland (Fife): vol. 2,
pp. 4 3 1 - 2 . The returns for the 1815 enquiry are in the possession of Lord Moncrieff
of Tulliebole, at Tulliebole Castle, and he has kindly allowed me access.

New Statistical Account, m o s t l y w r i t t e n in t h e 1 8 3 0 s , a l m o s t all m i n i s t e r s

83
a c c e p t e d a h i g h l y l o a d e d q u e s t i o n to t h i s effect, a n d c o n f i r m e d i t .
Politics h a d p l a y e d its p a r t in t h i s c h a n g e , p a r t i c u l a r l y t h e p o s t w a r
a g i t a t i o n in E n g l a n d , in w h i c h S c o t t i s h p r o p a g a n d i s t s t o o k u p a p o s
i t i o n t h e y w e r e to a d o p t o f t e n in t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , a s s e r t i n g
the superiority of Scottish institutions and, in particular, the contribu
t i o n o f t h e S c o t t i s h s y s t e m o f e d u c a t i o n to s o c i a l w e l l b e i n g . T h e d e
cisive i n f l u e n c e o n t h e o p i n i o n s in t h e c h u r c h w a s t h a t o f T h o m a s
Chalmers. Chalmers, through oratory, a strong sense of contemporary
political a n d m o r a l i s s u e s , a d e e p c o n v i c t i o n o f a n u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f
G o d ' s will a n d e n o r m o u s e n e r g y at l e a s t at t h e i n i t i a t o r y p e r i o d o f
any s c h e m e , h a d b e c o m e the d o m i n a n t voice in the c h u r c h . His
i n f l u e n c e lies a c r o s s t h e w h o l e o f n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y S c o t l a n d . H e
h a d a b s o r b e d t h e d o g m a s o f political e c o n o m y , i n p a r t i c u l a r t h e v i e w s
of M a l t h u s o n t h e d a n g e r o u s n a t u r e o f p o o r relief, a n d like M a l t h u s
h e s a w political e c o n o m y as a s e r i e s o f l a w s l a i d d o w n b y G o d . T h e
c h u r c h , h e h e l d , h a d b e e n i n r e t r e a t for a g e n e r a t i o n , a n d it w a s
h i s d u t y to call u p o n it to r e a s s e r t its p l a c e i n political a n d s o c i a l
life, a n d l e a d r e s p o n s e to t h e c h a n g e s w h i c h h a d o v e r t a k e n e c o n o m y
84
and society.
T h e c h u r c h h a d c e r t a i n l y let g o m u c h o f its m o r a l d i s c i p l i n e as far
b a c k as t h e 1 7 8 0 s , p a r t l y b e c a u s e t h e u p p e r c l a s s e s , w h i c h e v e n b e f o r e
t h e n w e r e n o t a n s w e r a b l e to t h i s d i s c i p l i n e , w e r e s t r e s s i n g t h e r i g h t
to p r i v a c y i n m a t t e r s o f m o r a l j u d g m e n t a n d b e h a v i o u r a b o v e t h e
claims of the church. T h e r e w a s also a long-standing anti-clericalism
in l a n d e d s o c i e t y . A n d t h e r e w a s t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f scientific a n d
philosophical t h o u g h t in the later eighteenth century w h i c h t u r n e d
some m e n ' s minds from the idea of a G o d monitoring personal behav
i o u r a n d i n t e r v e n i n g t o b r i n g h o m e H i s v i e w s , to t h e a l t e r n a t i v e i d e a
of a G o d r u l i n g b y g e n e r a l l a w s . B y t h e e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h century
there w a s a complex spectrum of secession churches, s o m e of t h e m
influenced b y the evangelical revival, a n d popular evangelicalism
was being organised on a congregationalist pattern by the Haldane
8 5
brothers. T h e s u c c e s s o f t h e l a y m e n in b u i l d i n g u p a n e w s t r u c t u r e
showed, inevitably, the problems of making the church establishment
fit t h e n e e d s o f t h e n e w d i s t r i b u t i o n o f p o p u l a t i o n .
83
A striking exception to the general line is the report of the minister of Fala and
Soutra (Midlothian): NSA, vol. 1, p. 540.
84
Stewart J. Brown, Thomas Chalmers (Oxford, 1982), esp. chap. 5.
85
A. J. Drummond and J. Bulloch, The Scottish Church, 1688-1843 (Edinburgh, 1973),
chap. 7.

Scotland 1750-1850 201
C h a r m e r ' s o w n specific c o n t r i b u t i o n w a s b o t h b a c k w a r d a n d for

ward looking. O n poor law matters he held that what h e believed
w a s t h e t r a d i t i o n a l rural s y s t e m o f m a n a g e m e n t , t a k i n g all p o s s i b l e
w a y s o f p e r s u a d i n g t h o s e i n n e e d to l o o k for p r i v a t e r a t h e r t h a n par
o c h i a l aid, c o u l d b e m a d e to w o r k in a m o d e r n i n d u s t r i a l city. O n l y
a s m a l l r e s i d u e o f c a s e s w o u l d n e e d p a r i s h h e l p f r o m c h u r c h collec
t i o n s . T o p r o v e t h i s h e h a d a l a r g e p a r i s h - S t J o h n ' s - s e t u p in
G l a s g o w , i n 1 8 1 9 , a n d built u p a s t r u c t u r e o f d e a c o n s to s u p e r v i s e
and keep d o w n the claims of the poor. T h e experiment was inherently
fraudulent, a n d did not convince a n y o n e not already in a g r e e m e n t .
S t J o h n ' s w a s n o t a p u r e l y w o r k i n g - c l a s s a r e a b u t a s u b u r b ; it w a s
also not the h o m e of a separate population. W h i l e the ' e x p e r i m e n t '
w h i c h C h a l m e r s h a d a l r e a d y d e s c r i b e d as s u c c e s s f u l w a s in o p e r a t i o n ,
relief d e m a n d s r o s e w i t h i n t h e n e i g h b o u r i n g p a r i s h e s . It is c l e a r t h a t
t h e d e a c o n s , m o s t l y m i d d l e - c l a s s m e n b r o u g h t in f r o m o u t s i d e , w e r e
8 6
helping from their o w n p o c k e t s . T h e e x p e r i m e n t a l s y s t e m d i e d in
r e c r i m i n a t i o n after a f e w y e a r s . B u t C h a l m e r s h a d f a s t e n e d o n e e l e
m e n t of evangelical thought on the Scottish church - the idea that
relief b a s e d o n l e g a l c l a i m s w a s socially a n d m o r a l l y p e r n i c i o u s .
O n the forward-looking side Chalmers p u s h e d the C h u r c h of Scot
l a n d i n t o a p r o g r a m m e for t h e c r e a t i o n a n d s u p p o r t of n e w p a r i s h e s :
' C h u r c h E x t e n s i o n ' it w a s c a l l e d . F o r t h i s h e h a d to d e v e l o p t e c h n i q u e s
of a p p e a l a n d r a i s e f u n d s , p i o n e e r i n g w h a t all c h u r c h e s s i n c e t h e n
h a v e d o n e , b o t h to g i v e t h e m s e l v e s m o n e y w i t h o u t s t r i n g s a t t a c h e d ,
a n d also to encourage participation. C h a l m e r s put forward 'penny
a w e e k ' p r o g r a m m e s for t h e p o o r l y p a i d , a n d it is a s t r i k i n g t r i b u t e
t o h i s p o w e r s as o r g a n i s e r a n d i n s p i r e r t h a t h e e x t r a c t e d p e n c e f r o m
families l i v i n g b e l o w a n y ' h u m a n n e e d s ' i n c o m e . H i s a t t e m p t s t o b r i n g
s u c h f a m i l i e s m o r e c l o s e l y i n t o t h e life o f t h e c h u r c h , to h a v e t h e m
a t t e n d s e r v i c e s , for i n s t a n c e , at a t i m e w h e n a p e w r e n t for a y e a r
m i g h t c o s t a w e e k ' s w a g e , failed. T h e n e w c h u r c h e s m i g h t b e p l a c e d
in the p o o r areas, w h i c h w e r e b e c o m i n g clearly defined within the
cities, b u t t h e i r c o n g r e g a t i o n s c a m e m a i n l y f r o m t h e m i d d l e a n d l o w e r
middle classes, a n d their eldership w a s recruited entirely from the
87
middle class. In this t h e y followed the path of dissent. Y e t the
language of public agitation and working-class debate shows a
86
R. A. Cage and O. Checkland, 'Thomas Chalmers and Urban Poverty: The St John's
Parish Experiment in Glasgow, 1819-1837', Philosophical Journal, 13 (1976).
87
Brown, Thomas Chalmers; A. A. MacLaren, Religion and Social Class: The Disruption
Years in Aberdeen (197'4).

w o r k i n g p o p u l a t i o n , at l e a s t i n t h e first t w o - t h i r d s o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h
c e n t u r y , fully a c c e p t i n g t h e C a l v i n i s t d o g m a s a n d p r e j u d i c e s o n w h i c h
it h a d b e e n r e a r e d .
T h e evangelical party c a m e to d o m i n a n c e in t h e politics of the c h u r c h
i n t h e 1 8 3 0 s , a n d s i g n a l l e d its p o w e r i n 1 8 3 4 b y a n A c t o f t h e G e n e r a l
A s s e m b l y a t t e m p t i n g t o limit p a t r o n a g e . T h i s , k n o w n a s t h e V e t o
Act, d e c l a r e d t h a t if t h e m a j o r i t y o f m a l e h e a d s o f c o m m u n i c a t i n g
households would n o t s u s t a i n a c a n d i d a t e for t h e m i n i s t r y , his
appointment should b e blocked. In this the A s s e m b l y took the
monitoring o f a p p o i n t m e n t s a w a y from the presbyteries a n d further
s t r e t c h e d its p o w e r s b y s e t t i n g u p n e w p a r i s h e s w i t h o u t o b t a i n i n g
the a g r e e m e n t of the l a n d o w n e r s , o n w h o s e financial support the
parochial system was based.
In t h e c o u r s e o f t h e n e x t t e n y e a r s t h e c h u r c h w a s t o d i s c o v e r t h a t
c a m p a i g n i n g for t h e r i g h t s o f c o n g r e g a t i o n s c o u l d b r i n g it i n t o conflict
with the rights of property a n d the anti-clericalism of landed society.
P a t r o n a g e w a s p a r t o f t h e l a w , c o u l d b e d e f e n d e d i n t h e civil c o u r t s
in the e n s u i n g series of clashes, a n d w a s . T h e c h u r c h ignored the
fact t h a t t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t d e p e n d e d o n t h e civil c o u r t , t h e c o u r t s
t h e fact t h a t it w a s n o t t h e f u n c t i o n o f j u d g e s t o d e c i d e w h o w a s
or w a s n o t a l l o w e d t o p r e a c h i n a p a r i s h . P a s s i o n l e d t o e s c a l a t i o n
of local i s s u e s i n t o c o n s t i t u t i o n a l o n e s , a n d all c a m e t o a h e a d in
the General A s s e m b l y of 1843 w h e n about a third of the ministers
broke with the establishment and set up the Free C h u r c h of Scotland.
In o n e s e n s e t h i s w a s a v a l u a b l e d e m o n s t r a t i o n t h a t t h e c h u r c h
s h o u l d b e l o n g t o t h e p e o p l e . B u t it f o r c e d t h e c h u r c h t o s u r r e n d e r
its g o v e r n i n g f u n c t i o n s i n m o r a l s , w e l f a r e a n d e d u c a t i o n , s i n c e t h e s e
could no longer b e sustained b y a b o d y comprising only about a third
of t h e n a t i o n , s h a r i n g w i t h O l d D i s s e n t a n d t h e F r e e C h u r c h o n fairly
e q u a l t e r m s . T h e split e n h a n c e d t h e g u l f b e t w e e n l a n d o w n e r s and
p e a s a n t r y i n t h e H i g h l a n d s for a l m o s t all t h e p e a s a n t r y w e n t i n t o
the Free C h u r c h . T h e social cleavage w a s e n h a n c e d w h e n owners
of l a r g e e s t a t e s m a d e it difficult for t h e F r e e C h u r c h t o g e t f e u s o f
l a n d for c h u r c h e s a n d m a n s e s , a n d o f c o u r s e t h e d e t e r m i n a t i o n o f
t h e F r e e C h u r c h t o i m i t a t e t h e e s t a b l i s h e d c h u r c h m a d e it u n w i l l i n g
to c o u n t e n a n c e the idea that G o d could b e w o r s h i p p e d a n d the minis
try h o u s e d i n a n y t h i n g l e s s s o l i d t h a n s t o n e - b u i l t b u i l d i n g s i n p e r m a
8 8
nent possession. T h e Free C h u r c h , while claiming to b e the true
88
SC on Sites for Churches in Scotland, PP1847, XIII.

Scotland 1750-1850 203
C h u r c h o f S c o t l a n d , h a d to b a s e its activities w h e r e f u n d s a n d p o t e n t i a l
e l d e r s c o u l d b e f o u n d , a n d this t i e d it to t h e m i d d l e c l a s s . It b e c a m e
c u t off from w o r k i n g - c l a s s p a r t i c i p a t i o n , a n d this led it to p l a c e u n d u e
e m p h a s i s o n m o r a l i s s u e s a t t r a c t i v e to t h e m i d d l e c l a s s , s u c h as t h e
r e p r e s s i o n o f d r u n k e n n e s s a n d drastic o b s e r v a n c e o f S u n d a y , in b o t h
of t h e s e a r e a s finding itself in o p p o s i t i o n to e a s y f o r m s o f w o r k i n g -
class recreation.
Well before mid-century Scotland had b e c o m e marked by a repu
t a t i o n for d r u n k e n n e s s . T h e c o u n t r y b y t h e e a r l y y e a r s o f t h e c e n t u r y
w a s t u r n i n g f r o m b e e r d r i n k i n g , g e n e r a l l y r e g a r d e d as a d e s i r a b l e
p r a c t i c e , to w h i s k y , d e p l o r e d b y all social c o m m e n t a t o r s . F r o m 1 8 2 9
s h e w a s to p r o v i d e in J o h n D u n l o p o n e o f t h e e a r l i e s t c a m p a i g n e r s
a g a i n s t t h e u s e o f spirits. D u n l o p , w h o did n o t w i s h to p r o m o t e total
a b s t i n e n c e , m a d e h i s m a i n a t t a c k o n w h a t h e c a l l e d 'artificial a n d
compulsory drinking usages', the conventions which brought dram
d r i n k i n g i n t o all s a l e s , c h a n g e s o f j o b , starts o f j o u r n e y s , w a g e p a y
m e n t s , f u n e r a l s , e t c . In S c o t l a n d t h e t e m p e r a n c e m o v e m e n t w a s to
b e c o m e c l o s e l y a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e d i s s e n t i n g c h u r c h e s ; its l e a d e r s
w e r e middle class. W h i s k y drinking b e c a m e an issue of sharp division
within Scottish society, and s o m e element within the polarisation was
89
from c l a s s .
S c o t l a n d e x p e r i e n c e d t h e effects o f t h e W h i g political v i c t o r y o f 1 8 3 0
in p a r l i a m e n t a r y a n d b u r g h r e f o r m , b u t n e i t h e r s e t o f m e a s u r e s w a s
w e l l t h o u g h t o u t in t e r m s o f S c o t t i s h l a w a n d s o c i a l n e e d s , a n d as
a r e s u l t b o t h h a d l i m i t e d effect. T h e R e f o r m A c t o f 1 8 3 2 b r o k e t h e
s y s t e m o f political d o m i n a n c e t h r o u g h c l o s e d a n d c o r r u p t b u r g h s b y
w i d e n i n g t h e v o t i n g b a s e to s o m e d e g r e e , a n d g i v i n g s o m e n e w ,
e x p a n d i n g b u r g h s a s h a r e in e l e c t i o n s . I n t h e c o u n t r y t h e o p e n i n g
of t h e v o t e to t h e m o r e s u b s t a n t i a l f a r m e r s m e a n t t h a t t h e s e w e r e
h e r d e d b y t h e l a n d o w n e r s to t h e p o l l s ; m i s a p p l i e d v o t e s c o u l d l e a d
to e v i c t i o n , a n a k e d u s e o f p o w e r rare in E n g l a n d . C o n t r o l t h u s
r e m a i n e d in t h e h a n d s o f t h e l a n d o w n i n g c l a s s , b u t t h i s w a s a w i d e r
section of society t h a n the old group of feudal superiors. T h e m e t h o d s
by which voting power was exercised were s o m e w h a t less dishonest
a n d illegal t h a n t h e y h a d b e e n , b u t w e r e still a d i s t o r t i o n o f t h e l a w .
I n b u r g h r e f o r m s o m u c h c o l l a p s e h a d a l r e a d y t a k e n p l a c e t h a t it
s e e m e d s i m p l e s t in t h e A c t o f 1 8 3 3 to c a r r y o n w i t h t h e m e t h o d o f
89
SC on Drunkenness, PP 1834, VIII; John Dunlop, Artificial and Compulsory Drinking
Usages in North Britain (Greenock, 1836); Bernard Aspinwall, Portable Utopia: Glasgow
and the United States, 1870-1920 (Aberdeen, 1984), chap. 4.

elected ' p o l i c e ' b u r g h s , a n d t h e s e w e r e inserted in parallel with the

existing burgh councils, with w i d e p o w e r s . T h e Royal C o m m i s s i o n
w h i c h l o o k e d i n t o b u r g h g o v e r n m e n t a y e a r later, p r e p a r i n g for t h e
Act that recreated u r b a n g o v e r n m e n t in E n g l a n d , found that rulings
m a d e b y the 1833 A c t to clean u p the existing b u r g h s w e r e b e i n g
ignored, but nothing was done. T h e old burgh councils were allowed
to l a p s e i n t o t h e i n a c t i v i t y t h e i r b a n k r u p t c i e s m a d e i n e v i t a b l e , a n d
t h e n e w p o l i c e b u r g h s g a v e s o m e m i n i m a l effective p r o v i s i o n for u r b a n
needs. T h e dual system continued almost to the e n d of the century.
In t h e 1 8 3 0 s , w h e n t h e r e w e r e s i g n s o f p r e c o c i o u s c l a s s c o n s c i o u s
ness in Britain, t h e w o r k i n g class in S c o t l a n d did not yet s h o w a
w i s h t o h o l d b y different s t a n d a r d s f r o m t h e r e s t o f s o c i e t y . T h e r i o t s
over the cholera epidemic sprang from traditional views o n the seemly
w a y o f c a r i n g for t h e d e a d . C h a r t i s m , w h e n it b e l a t e d l y a r r i v e d , i n
1838 (for i n t h e p r e - r a i l w a y e r a c o n t a c t w i t h t h e s o u t h o f E n g l a n d
by workers w a s sporadic), w a s entirely of the moral force variety,
p e r h a p s b e c a u s e it b r o u g h t E d i n b u r g h b a c k i n t o t h e c e n t r e o f r a d i c a l
90
activity, a n d E d i n b u r g h ' s t r a d i t i o n s w e r e l a w - a b i d i n g . The high
p r i o r i t y g i v e n b y t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s t o r e l i g i o u s i s s u e s is s h o w n i n
t h e fact t h a t t h e r e w e r e C h a r t i s t c h u r c h e s , a b o u t t w e n t y o f t h e m :
formally created Chartist congregations and lay and ordained
preachers. A minister of the established church, Patrick Brewster of
Paisley, preached Chartist s e r m o n s of an unusually intemperate
91
variety, a n d a t t a c k e d t h e failures o f t h e S c o t t i s h p o o r l a w i n t e r m s
which brought d o w n a formal reproof from the presbytery w h e r e
he was preaching.
T h e i d e a o f S c o t t i s h w o r k i n g - c l a s s l e g a l i s m is o p p o s e d b y t h e e v i
d e n c e p r o d u c e d b y a n i n q u i r y i n t o t r a d e u n i o n s in 1 8 3 8 . T h e sheriff
of L a n a r k s h i r e h e l d t h a t t h o u g h t h e w o r k m e n i n different i n d u s t r i e s
in G l a s g o w d i d n o t h a v e a c o n f e d e r a c y o f u n i o n s , t h e y all a c t e d
together because they were guided by the same interests. A worker
put up against this the claim that during strikes the masters a n d the
92
local a u t h o r i t i e s a n d m a g i s t r a t e s w e r e t h e m s e l v e s i n a l l i a n c e . It
is c l e a r t h a t t h e C o t t o n S p i n n e r s A s s o c i a t i o n h a d b e e n m a i n t a i n i n g
its p o w e r b y illegality a n d v i o l e n c e , b u t t h i s h a d p r o b a b l y s t a r t e d
l o n g b e f o r e , at a t i m e w h e n m e r e t r a d e u n i o n i s m itself w a s illegal.
90
A. Wilson, The Chartist Movement in Scotland (Manchester, 1970).
91
P. Brewster, The Seven Chartist and Military Discourses Libelled by the Marquis ofAbercorn
(Paisley, 1843); Drummond and Bulloch, The Scottish Church, p. 55.
92
SC on Combinations of Workers, P P 1 8 3 7 - 8 , VIII; Scotsman (January 1838).

Scotland 1750-1850 205
T h e r e is a l s o e v i d e n c e o f a d i s c r e e t a n d s u r r e p t i t i o u s t r a d e u n i o n i s m
o f l o n g - s t a n d i n g i n t h e m i n e s . A l t o g e t h e r t h e r e are s i g n s t h a t t h e
localisation of p o w e r a n d wealth in the middle class w a s producing
illegal o r g a n i s a t i o n , a n t a g o n i s m a n d e v e n t u a l l y c l a s s c o n s c i o u s n e s s
in a p e r i o d o f r e l a t i v e p r o s p e r i t y .
T h e 1840s w e r e to prove, like the 1740s, a period w h e n decisions
w e r e m a d e w i t h l o n g - t e r m effects. T h e D i s r u p t i o n o f t h e c h u r c h w o u l d
e v e n t u a l l y h a v e f o r c e d a r e f o r m u l a t i o n for t h e S c o t t i s h p o o r l a w as
it e x i s t e d after t h e s u r r e p t i t i o u s c h a n g e s o f t h e 1 8 2 0 s , b u t t h e r e n e w e d
d e p r e s s i o n i n P a i s l e y w h i c h b e g a n i n 1 8 4 1 b r o u g h t t h e m a t t e r to a
h e a d even before the church divided. T h e slump from 1841 to 1843
p u t o v e r 1 4 , 0 0 0 o n relief i n a t o w n w h e r e a s s e s s m e n t w a s s o b a d l y
o r g a n i s e d as t o b e b a s e d o n a b o u t o n l y h a l f t h e r e a l p r o p e r t y . A l l
local resources w e r e s o o n e x h a u s t e d , a n d a fund contributed to o n
an international basis also ran out. In the s e c o n d year of depression
w e e k l y a l l o w a n c e s h a d t o b e c u t t o d e r i s o r y l e v e l s : a w e a v i n g family
of five w e r e r e c e i v i n g l e s s t h a n 3 s . a w e e k , a n d e v e n t h i s w o u l d s o o n
h a v e to stop. B a n k r u p t c y h a d struck not only m a n y of the manufac
turers but also the p a w n b r o k e r s .
T h e r e s p o n s e o f t h e g o v e r n m e n t t o a p p e a l s for h e l p w a s t w o f o l d .
A civil s e r v a n t w a s d e s p a t c h e d w i t h a s u m b a s e d o n p r i v a t e s u b s c r i p
tions from the cabinet, w h i c h h e applied not in cash but in basic
stores. This m e a n t that the s u m lasted longer, but gave n o help to
t h e s m a l l s h o p k e e p e r s , w h o w e r e a l s o i n d i s t r e s s . G r u d g i n g l y also
t h e g o v e r n m e n t p u t r e f o r m o f t h e S c o t t i s h p o o r l a w o n its legislative
93
p r o g r a m m e , a n d set up a Royal C o m m i s s i o n to advise it.
T h e r e f o r m w h e n it c a m e , in 1 8 4 5 , w a s a d m i n i s t r a t i v e l y c l e v e r : it
set u p a s y s t e m o f c h e c k s a n d b a l a n c e s u n d e r a c e n t r a l B o a r d o f S u p e r
v i s i o n , w h i c h e n s u r e d t h a t t h o s e e n t i t l e d t o relief w o u l d g e t a d e q u a t e
s u p p o r t , i n p a r t i c u l a r t h a t m e d i c a l a i d w a s p r o v i d e d for t h e sick. B u t
it a c c e p t e d t h e m y t h t h a t t h e W h i g s h a d f a s t e n e d o n t h e l a w , t h a t
the poor law in Scotland h a d never supported the able-bodied, and
perpetuated this principle. In spite of D r A l i s o n ' s urgings, the view
o f t h e c o m f o r t a b l e m i d d l e c l a s s , t h a t m o r a l v i r t u e l a y in self-support,
a n d t h a t p r i v a t e c h a r i t y c o u l d t a k e t h e e d g e off s e v e r e d i s t r e s s , p r e
v a i l e d . I n l a w , t h e r e f o r e , S c o t l a n d h a d a relief s y s t e m u n s u i t a b l e for
a n i n d u s t r i a l i s e d c o u n t r y w h e r e l a r g e n u m b e r s c o u l d b e affected b y
9 3
T. C. Smout, 'The Strange Intervention of Edward Twistleton: Paisley in Depression,
1841-3', in Smout, ed., Wealth and Stability.

cyclical d e p r e s s i o n . Y e t i n p r a c t i c e t h e c e n t r a l B o a r d , a n d t h e m e d i c a l
p r o f e s s i o n w h o w o r k e d for it, w e r e a n x i o u s to i n c r e a s e its p o w e r s ,
9 4
a n d this m e a n t that various w a y s of b e n d i n g the law could b e f o u n d .
B e c a u s e t h e n e w s y s t e m f o r c e d h o m e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y for t h e sick p o o r ,
a large n u m b e r of parishes w h i c h h a d b e e n shirking their legal duties
n o w h a d to a s s e s s t h e m s e l v e s t o m e e t t h e m .
Each parish h a d to have an inspector and a Poor L a w Board, and
if t h e p a r i s h w a s a s s e s s e d t h i s B o a r d h a d to i n c l u d e all t h e h e r i t o r s .
Its c o n s t i t u t i o n w o u l d b e s o r i g g e d b y t h e c e n t r a l B o a r d a s p a r t l y
to balance this landed element with a small elected portion, not
e n o u g h to o p e n the control of policy to the working class but e n o u g h
to b l o c k l a n d o w n e r r e s i s t a n c e t o n e c e s s a r y e x p e n d i t u r e . T h e p a t t e r n
of a u t o m a t i c l a n d o w n e r p r e s e n c e o n l o c a l g o v e r n m e n t w a s l a t e r t a k e n
o v e r for o t h e r s e r v i c e s as t h e s e b e c a m e i n e s c a p a b l e . S a n i t a r y n e e d s
and highway needs borrowed the system. Only w h e n the recognition
t h a t u r b a n i s a t i o n h a d effectively d e s t r o y e d t h e w o r k i n g o f t h e p a r i s h
s c h o o l s y s t e m b r o u g h t in t h e E d u c a t i o n A c t o f 1 8 7 2 d i d t h e L i b e r a l
g o v e r n m e n t o m i t t h i s b u i l t in p o s i t i o n o f p r o p e r t y o w n e r s h i p .
T h e n e w p o o r l a w w a s h a r d l y set u p , a n d c e r t a i n l y n o t w o r k i n g
smoothly, w h e n Scotland was faced with the potato blight, w h i c h
s t r u c k t h e H i g h l a n d s in 1 8 4 6 , d e s t r o y i n g t h e c r o p a n d w i t h it t h e
f o o d o f t h e p e o p l e for n i n e o r m o r e m o n t h s i n t h e y e a r . I n a n y c a s e
t h e n e w p o o r l a w w a s n o t d e s i g n e d to h e l p w i t h d i s a s t e r s o f t h i s
m a s s k i n d , s i n c e t h e p e o p l e w e r e ' a b l e - b o d i e d ' , a n y m o r e t h a n it
w a s to cope with the urban destitution caused b y r e n e w e d depression
in 1 8 4 6 - 7 . H i g h l a n d e r s w e r e s u s t a i n e d t h r o u g h t h e f a m i n e y e a r b y
a m i x t u r e o f c h a r i t a b l e effort, g o v e r n m e n t a d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d l a n d
owner paternalism. T h e government stationed two depot ships on
the coast (and b y n o w most of the population lived there) and gave
9 5
o u t f o o d i n r e s p o n s e t o p r o m i s e s to p a y f r o m l a n d o w n e r s . Hard
s h i p w a s n o w o r s e t h a n u s u a l for m a n y o f t h e p e o p l e , w h i c h is n o t
to s a y t h a t it w a s n o t s e v e r e , a n d i n d e e d , b e c a u s e m o s t o f t h e l a n d
o w n e r s a c c e p t e d t h e o b l i g a t i o n o f s u p p o r t , t h e d e s t i t u t e crofter w a s
better sustained than the destitute industrial worker of the t o w n s .
But the process bankrupted s o m e estates, and led m a n y landowners
to d e c i d e t o r e d u c e p o p u l a t i o n . It a l s o left t h e crofters w i t h a b u r d e n
of d e b t a n d o n g r o u n d w h i c h w o u l d n e v e r a g a i n y i e l d a r e l i a b l e
94
T. Ferguson, Scottish Social Welfare, 1864-1914 (Edinburgh, 1958).
95
Flinn, ed., Scottish Population History, pp. 432-6.

Scotland 1750-1850 207
subsistence. Emigration, w h e t h e r enforced or voluntary, also m e a n t

96
hardship and stress.
S o b y mid-century long-term structural c h a n g e s in S c o t l a n d w e r e
b e g i n n i n g . A n a d m i n i s t r a t i o n o f a n a t i o n a l sort, a n d s o m e sort o f
local g o v e r n m e n t , in p a r o c h i a l P o o r L a w B o a r d s , h a d b e e n s e t u p .
O t h e r services w o u l d s o o n b e found to n e e d similar central a n d local
m a c h i n e r y , t h o u g h n o n e w o u l d b e m a d e t o c a r r y as m i s c e l l a n e o u s
a c o l l e c t i o n o f f u n c t i o n s as t h i s p i o n e e r o n e . T h e s h a p e a n d c h a r a c t e r
of t h e cities h a d b e e n f o r m e d . T h e shift o f p o p u l a t i o n t o t h e c e n t r a l
v a l l e y w a s a c c e l e r a t i n g , as t h e f a r m i n g s y s t e m s c o n t r o l l e d t h e n u m b e r s
a l l o w e d t o r e m a i n i n t h e rural a r e a s . C o t t o n h a d c e a s e d t o e x p a n d ,
but heavy industry in the west w a s supplying the n e w industrial spurt.
R e l i g i o u s i s s u e s c o u l d still r a i s e m o r e h e a t t h a n s e c u l a r o n e s , a n d
t h e political s p e c t r u m o f S c o t l a n d u n t i l t h e e n d o f t h e c e n t u r y w o u l d
be dictated b y allegiances forged during the Disruption. T h e urban
w o r k i n g c l a s s w a s c e a s i n g to p r o d u c e a c t i v e c h u r c h membership.
M i d d l e - c l a s s c o n t r o l o f s o c i e t y h a d k e p t t h e c o u n t r y t r a n q u i l b u t it
w a s ceasing to b e silent.
96
Hunter, Crofting Community, chaps. 4 and 5.

Scotland
1850-1950
T. C. SMOUT
In 1935, George Malcolm T h o m s o n , journalist and friend of the

recently formed Scottish National party, wrote the following percep
tive p a s s a g e a b o u t t h e r e c e n t h i s t o r y o f h i s c o u n t r y :
The belt of coal mines, blast furnaces, factories, shipyards, docks and railways
uniting one grim-faced town to another across the desecrated countryside
- this may be a part of our country which the alien visitor traverses with
averted eyes and all possible speed. But to us it is the outward and visible
sign of the labour, the courage, the foresight, the inventive genius of our
nation. Our political independence is gone, and we assure one another that
we are all the better without that for which our fathers in their folly fought
during a thousand years. The men are lifted from our glens like ripe berries
by the pickers, and we admire the enhanced desolation of the scenery. The
poorer quarters of our cities are a dishonour to God and a disgrace to man,
but they serve to set off for us the sharpness of the spiritual tension in which,
with no time to spare for less urgent things, we completed the building of
our great industrial structure. But tell us that the great structure is itself in
decay, convince us that our place among the thriving and busy of the earth,
won at such cost, is ours no longer, show us that the hands of the clock
have begun to move backwards, that there are no more high cards left in
the pack, and where can we look for comfort? . . . finis has been written
to a chapter two hundred years long. A new chapter begins. There are grand
dividing lines drawn in red ink across the history of all nations. In Scotland
there was the arrival of Queen Margaret in the year 1068, the battle of Flodden
Field in 1513. In Ireland there was the Famine of 1846. In England there
was the last of the Viking raids in 1066. The turn of the industrial tide in
Scotland must inevitably be for the Scottish nation an event of such propor
1
tions.
T h e s e remarks w e r e entirely appropriate. That ' g r a n d dividing line

d r a w n in r e d i n k ' c a m e at t h e e n d o f t h e First W o r l d W a r , a n d our
e x a m i n a t i o n o f t h e e c o n o m i c s t r u c t u r e s o n w h i c h t h e social h i s t o r y
of S c o t l a n d r e s t s m u s t d i v i d e at 1 9 1 8 . B e f o r e t h a t , all w a s c o n f i d e n c e
1
G. M. Thomson, Scotland, that Distressed Area (Edinburgh, 1935), pp. 4 - 6 .

210 T. c. S M O U T
a n d t h e e x p e c t a t i o n o f further e n r i c h m e n t , w h a t e v e r s h o r t c o m i n g s
t h e r e m a y h a v e b e e n in fact in t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n o f w e a l t h a n d l e v e l s
of d e p r i v a t i o n in t o w n a n d c o u n t r y . After it, all w a s d e s p a i r a n d t h e
a s s u m p t i o n t h a t , in t h e n a t u r a l o r d e r o f t h i n g s , S c o t l a n d w o u l d a l w a y s
n e e d s p e c i a l c a r e a n d a t t e n t i o n . T h a t c o n d i t i o n s c o n t i n u e d to i m p r o v e
for m o s t S c o t s in t h e last t h i r d o f t h e c e n t u r y 1 8 5 0 - 1 9 5 0 , j u s t as t h e y
h a d d o n e in t h e first t w o - t h i r d s , b u t o f t e n m o r e d r a m a t i c a l l y , w a s
generally overlooked.
T a b l e 3 . 1 (cols. 1 - 4 ) s h o w s t h e c h a n g i n g s t r u c t u r e o f e m p l o y m e n t
a n d total p o p u l a t i o n in S c o t l a n d , 1 8 5 1 - 1 9 1 1 , d u r i n g t h e classic p e r i o d
of e x p a n s i o n . O v e r t h e p e r i o d t h e p o p u l a t i o n o f S c o t l a n d g r e w b y
65 per cent, a n d the e m p l o y e d population b y 62 per cent. Neither
r a t e o f i n c r e a s e w a s a n y t h i n g like as fast as t h o s e o f t h e U n i t e d K i n g
d o m as a w h o l e , w h e r e p o p u l a t i o n g r e w b y 9 6 p e r c e n t b e t w e e n 1 8 5 1
a n d 1 9 1 1 , a n d total e m p l o y m e n t b y 9 5 p e r c e n t . T h e m a j o r r e a s o n
for t h e difference w a s S c o t t i s h e m i g r a t i o n t o o t h e r p a r t s o f t h e U K
a n d to t h e U S A a n d t h e w h i t e D o m i n i o n s , itself a reflection t h a t w h a t
ever the success of the Scottish e c o n o m y within this period c o m p a r e d
to p r e v i o u s e x p e r i e n c e , it w a s still j u d g e d b y m a n y S c o t s n o t to p r o v i d e
as g o o d a living as t h e w o r l d o u t s i d e .
T h e g e n e r a l t r e n d s e v i d e n t f r o m T a b l e 3 . 1 w e r e t h e s a m e as t h o s e
e v i d e n t for t h e U n i t e d K i n g d o m as a w h o l e - a v e r y m a r k e d fall in
t h e n u m b e r s o f t h o s e e m p l o y e d in a g r i c u l t u r e a n d t e x t i l e s , w i t h a
c o n c o m i t a n t rise in h e a v y i n d u s t r y a n d t h e s e r v i c e s e c t o r . I n S c o t l a n d ,
h o w e v e r , agriculture w a s always proportionately m o r e important a n d
t h e drift f r o m t h e l a n d , t h o u g h s c a r c e l y l e s s r a p i d , l a g g e d t w e n t y
2
y e a r s b e h i n d t h a t o f t h e U K as a w h o l e . C o n v e r s e l y , s e r v i c e s w e r e
a l w a y s m u c h l e s s i m p o r t a n t : t h e p r o p o r t i o n r e a c h e d in S c o t l a n d in
t h i s s e c t o r in 1 9 1 1 h a d a l r e a d y b e e n a c h i e v e d for t h e U K as a w h o l e
forty y e a r s earlier. I n t h e m a n u f a c t u r i n g s e c t o r , S c o t l a n d d e p e n d e d
p r o p o r t i o n a t e l y m o r e o n t e x t i l e s at t h e start o f t h e p e r i o d t h a n d i d
t h e U K as a w h o l e ( 2 0 . 2 p e r c e n t c o m p a r e d to 1 3 . 8 p e r c e n t ) , b u t
p r o p o r t i o n a t e l y m o r e o n h e a v y i n d u s t r y at t h e e n d ( 1 9 . 0 p e r c e n t
c o m p a r e d to 13.6 per cent). T h e s e comparisons suggest features of
t h e S c o t t i s h e c o n o m y in t h e late n i n e t e e n t h a n d e a r l y t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r
ies at o n c e r a t h e r m o r e b a c k w a r d a n d c e r t a i n l y m o r e u n b a l a n c e d t h a n
2
The proportion employed in agriculture in the UK was: 1851, 22.0 per cent; 1871,
15.2 per cent; 1891, 10.7 per cent; 1911, 7.8 per cent. The proportion in Scotland
in 1931 using the Series B classification was 9.0 per cent compared to a 1911 Series
B figure for the UK as a whole of 8.1 per cent.

Scotland 1850-1950 211
T a b l e 3 . 1 Percentage of employed population engaged in various

occupations, 1851-1971, all Scotland
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1851 1871 1891 1911 1911 1931 1951 1971
Agriculture 24.9 22.2 14.0 10.6 11.0 9.0 7.3 4.1

Heavy industry 8.1 12.1 13.8 19.0 16.9 16.5 15.7 10.5
Textiles 20.2 15.1 12.0 9.5 8.3 6.8 5.4 3.5
'New' industry n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 1.6 2.9 4.7 6.5
Transport and
services 19.9 21.7 26.2 28.0 34.9 44.6 44.8 52.2
Total employed
population (000s) 1,271 1,464 1,748 2,056 2,067 2,221 2,195 2,164
Total population
(000s) 2,889 3,360 4,026 4,760 4,760 4,843 5,096 5,229
Notes: 'Agriculture' includes fishing. 'Heavy industry' includes mining and

quarrying, metal manufacture, mechanical engineering and ship-building.
Transport and services' includes transport and communications, distributive
trades, insurance, banking, finance and business services, professional and
scientific services, miscellaneous services (including domestic service) and
public administration and defence.' "New" industry' in columns 5 - 8 includes
chemicals, instrument and electrical engineering and vehicles. The data origi
nates in census material, and the difficulties of a consistent interpretation
are fully discussed in C. H. Lee, British Regional Employment Statistics 1841-1971
(Cambridge, 1979), pp. 1-24. Perhaps the main point to be borne in mind
is that while a fairly consistent series 1851-1911 is possible (cols. 1-4), and
another 1911-71 (cols. 5 - 8 ) , it is not possible to obtain consistency over the
entire century due to alterations in definitions, particularly with regard to
the distributive trades. Whereas in the nineteenth century the manufacture
and distribution of many commodities were often carried on by the same
person, today this is much less frequently the case. By modern standards,
therefore, the nineteenth-century definitions used by Lee in compiling his
Series 'A' tables (cols. 1-4) would understate the service sector and slightly
overstate manufactures: this can be seen by comparing cols. 4 and 5 for 1911,
which show that by using twentieth-century definitions there would have
been 16.9 per cent in heavy industry (not 19 per cent), 8.3 per cent in textiles,
(not 9.5 per cent) and 34.9 per cent in services (not 28 per cent). The main
cause of distortion in cols 5 - 8 arises from the fact that in 1911, 132,000 people
were 'not classified'; by 1931 this had fallen to 33,000 and by 1951 to 1,600.
Most in this category, however, seem to have been subsequently classified
in the service sector, which would have the effect of understating the true
extent of services, earlier, especially in 1911.
Source: Calculated from Lee, Regional Statistics. Series 'A' (cols. 1-4) and Series
'B' (cols. 5 - 8 ) .

212 T. c. SMOUT
t h a t o f t h e n a t i o n a l e c o n o m y . It h a s b e e n a r g u e d e l s e w h e r e t h a t S c o t
tish G N P p e r c a p i t a m a y h a v e c o m e to w i t h i n 9 5 p e r c e n t o f t h e U n i t e d
K i n g d o m figure b y 1 9 1 1 , a n d t h a t ' S c o t l a n d t h e n s t o o d n e a r t h e h i s
toric p e a k o f h e r e c o n o m i c p e r f o r m a n c e r e l a t i v e to t h a t o f t h e o t h e r
3
regions and nations of the British I s l e s ' . S h e stood, however, on
a p e r i l o u s l y n a r r o w b a s e f r o m w h i c h it p r o v e d o n l y t o o e a s y to k n o c k
h e r d o w n w h e n i n t e r n a t i o n a l t r a d i n g c o n d i t i o n s a l t e r e d after t h e First
World War.
It m a y , o f c o u r s e , fairly b e o b j e c t e d t h a t t h e r e w a s n o t o n e S c o t t i s h
e c o n o m y b u t s e v e r a l , a n d t h a t s o m e o f t h e s e s h o w little d y n a m i s m
e i t h e r a s r e g a r d s i n d u s t r i a l i s a t i o n or g r o w t h o f p o p u l a t i o n . T a b l e s
3 . 2 a n d 3 . 3 ( c o l s . 1 - 4 ) b r e a k d o w n p o p u l a t i o n a n d e m p l o y m e n t statis
tics, 1 8 5 1 - 1 9 1 1 , to a r e g i o n a l l e v e l , a n d s h o w b o t h t h e t r u t h o f t h i s
o b s e r v a t i o n a n d its l i m i t a t i o n s . O n t h e o n e h a n d t h e s e v e n r e g i o n s
s h o w distinctive structures of e m p l o y m e n t (persistent over long per
iods) and varying demographic experiences ranging from a net
i n c r e a s e o f 1 1 8 p e r c e n t i n S t r a t h c l y d e t o a d e c l i n e o f 13 p e r c e n t
i n t h e H i g h l a n d s . O n t h e o t h e r , t h e y all, f r o m t h e m o s t rural to t h e
m o s t urban, shared the experience of dramatic decline in the propor
t i o n e m p l o y e d i n a g r i c u l t u r e a n d c l e a r g r o w t h o f t h e p r o p o r t i o n in
the service sector.
The central belt of Scotland w a s dominated b y three urban-indus
trial r e g i o n s . D o m i n a n t o v e r a l l w a s S t r a t h c l y d e , its s h a r e o f total S c o t
t i s h p o p u l a t i o n g r o w i n g f r o m a little o v e r a t h i r d t o a little u n d e r
a h a l f b e t w e e n 1 8 5 1 a n d 1 9 1 1 . It c o n t a i n e d t h e g r e a t c o n u r b a t i o n o f
G l a s g o w , c l a i m i n g t o b e t h e s e c o n d city o f t h e E m p i r e b y 1 9 0 0 ; to
t h e w e s t l a y t h e C l y d e s h i p y a r d s w h e r e o n e fifth o f total w o r l d t o n n a g e
w a s l a u n c h e d b y 1 9 1 3 , t h e n e a r b y textile t o w n s o f P a i s l e y a n d K i l m a r
n o c k a n d t h e e n g i n e e r i n g c e n t r e o f G r e e n o c k ; to t h e e a s t w e r e t h e
c r o w d e d M o n k l a n d s parishes, producing iron, steel a n d coal a r o u n d
the t o w n s of Airdrie, M o t h e r w e l l a n d Coatbridge. Strathclyde also
h a d a rural p e n u m b r a in south Lanarkshire, Ayrshire a n d Argyll
w h e r e dairy f a r m i n g ( e v e n c r o f t i n g o n t h e i s l a n d s to t h e n o r t h ) w a s
locally t h e d o m i n a n t activity.
This region, e v e n in 1 8 5 1 , w a s clearly S c o t l a n d ' s industrial core,
c o n t a i n i n g m o r e t h a n h a l f t h e textile e m p l o y m e n t ( t h e n s o c l e a r l y
3
In L. M. Cullen and T. C. Smout, eds., Comparative Aspects of Irish and Scottish Economic
and Social History, 1600-1900 (Edinburgh, 1977), p. 14. A suggestion by Rondo
Cameron that already by 1850 Scotland was 'nearing the peak of its greatest relative
7
prosperity does not seem soundly based on any statistical evidence, and is unlikely.
See R. Cameron, Banking in the Early Stages of Industrialisation (Oxford, 1967), p. 94.

Scotland 1850-1950 213
T a b l e 3 . 2 Percentage of Scottish employed population and Scottish total

population in different regions, 1851-1971
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1851 1871 1891 1911 1931 1951 1971
A Employed population
Strathclyde 37.6 40.8 43.9 47.5 49.4 49.8 48.5
Lothian 11.4 11.8 13.0 13.5 14.1 14.2 15.4
Central and Fife 8.8 8.0 8.4 9.3 9.5 10.4 10.7
Dumfries, Galloway
and the Borders 8.9 7.7 6.8 5.6 5.1 5.1 4.6
Tayside 12.5 11.7 10.9 9.4 8.9 8.3 8.2
Grampian 11.1 11.1 10.0 9.0 8.5 8.2 8.4
Highland 9.5 8.9 7.0 5.7 4.6 4.0 4.2
B Total population
Strathclyde 35.7 39.9 43.6 47.5 49.3 49.2 48.9
Lothian 11.3 12.1 13.0 13.3 13.5 13.9 14.5
Central and Fife 9.1 8.2 8.5 9.7 9.8 10.4 11.1
Dumfries, Galloway
and the Borders 9.4 8.1 6.9 5.5 5.2 5.0 4.6
Tayside 11.7 11.1 10.1 8.7 8.2 8.0 7.9
Grampian 11.8 11.4* 10.6 9.6 9.0 8.9 8.4
Highland 10.9 9.0 7.4 5.9 4.9 4.5 4.5
Notes: The regions approximate to the prevailing local government regions

as denned in April 1975, with the following main differences: Dumfries and
Galloway is amalgamated with the Borders, and Central Region with Fife;
the areas covered by the Island authorities of Orkney, Shetland and the Outer
Isles are subsumed under the Highlands. See Lee, Regional Statistics, pp. 39-45.
Source: As Table 3.1.
d o m i n a n t in t h e i n d u s t r i a l s e c t o r ) , a n d a b o u t 6 0 p e r c e n t o f e m p l o y
m e n t in h e a v y i n d u s t r y . B y 1 9 1 1 , w h e n t h e relative i m p o r t a n c e o f
textiles a n d h e a v y i n d u s t r y h a d b e e n r e v e r s e d , S t r a t h c l y d e ' s s h a r e
of t h e latter h a d r i s e n to 6 8 p e r c e n t , t h o u g h s h e still h a d 4 0 p e r
c e n t o f all S c o t t i s h textile j o b s . B u t t h e d o m i n a n c e o f c o a l , s t e e l , e n g i
n e e r i n g a n d s h i p s o v e r e v e r y o t h e r activity after a b o u t 1 8 8 0 also m a d e
t h e r e g i o n t h e locus classicus o f t h e s t r o n g , s k i l l e d m a l e w o r k e r . W h e r e
as in 1 8 5 1 a t h i r d o f all t h e i n d u s t r i a l j o b s in S t r a t h c l y d e in t h e s e
t w o s e c t o r s c o m b i n e d h a d b e e n for w o m e n , b y 1 9 1 1 t h e p r o p o r t i o n
w a s a sixth. G l a s g o w w a s a m a n ' s world.
T h e n e x t l a r g e s t r e g i o n w a s L o t h i a n , c o n t a i n i n g t h e o n e b i g city
of E d i n b u r g h ( w i t h L e i t h ) , itself s u r r o u n d e d b y o r g a n i c m i n e r a l
d e p o s i t s o f c o a l a n d s h a l e a n d b y s o m e o f t h e finest a n d m o s t a d v a n c e d
f a r m i n g l a n d in B r i t a i n . P o p u l a t i o n h e r e a l m o s t d o u b l e d b e t w e e n 1 8 5 1

Table 3.3 Percentage of Scottish employed population engaged in various
occupations, 1851-1971, by regions
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1851 1871 1891 1911 1911 1931 1951 1971
A Strathclyde
Agriculture 13 9 5 4 4 3 3 1
Heavy industry 13 20 21 27 24 23 20 14
Textiles 28 18 11 8 7 6 5 3
'New' industry n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 2 4 6 8
Transport and services 18 21 25 26 34 44 43 50
Total employed
population (000s) 478 598 768 977 979 1,097 1,093 1,050
Total population (000s) 1,032 1,341 1,754 2,259 2,259 2,389 2,507 2,558
B Lothian
Agriculture 15 10 7 5 5 5 4 2
Heavy industry 8 11 11 15 13 13 12 7
CO
Textiles 4 2 3 1 2 1 1
Total employed
population (000s) 145 173 228 277 277 313 312 333
Total population (000s) 326 407 524 631 631 655 707 760
C Central and Fife

Agriculture 19 18 12 8 8 6 5 3
Heavy industry 12 15 19 30 28 27 26 13
Textiles 29 23 16 11 10 6 4 3
Total employed
population (000s) 112 117 146 192 192 211 228 231
D Dumfries, Galloway and

the Borders
Agriculture 41 38 29 27 27 25 24 15
CO
Heavy industry 4 4 3 4 3 3 4
Textiles 10 10 16 15 14 14 13 12
Total employed
population (000s) 113 113 118 115 115 113 109 100
E Tayside
Agriculture 22 19 13 12 12 11 11 7
Heavy industry 4 5 6 6 5 5 7 8
Textiles 35 33 32 30 29 24 15 9
Total employed

Scotland 1850-1950 215
Table 3.3 (contd.)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
1851 1871 1891 1911 1911 1931 1951 1971
E Tayside
population (000s) 159 172 191 193 194 198 183 179
F Grampian
Agriculture 43 46 30 27 27 24 20 12
Textiles 8 6 5 5 4 3 3 2
Total employed
population (000s) 142 163 174 185 186 188 181 181
G Highland
Agriculture 57 61 47 41 44 36 28 13
CO
Textiles 4 4 7 5 5 2 2
Total employed
population (000s) 121 130 122 118 124 102 87 90
Notes: See notes for Tables 3.1 and 3.2.

Source: As Table 3.1.
a n d 1 9 1 1 a n d T a b l e 3 . 3 s h o w s t h e u s u a l t r e n d s in t h e s t r u c t u r e o f
e m p l o y m e n t - a relative d e c l i n e in a g r i c u l t u r e a n d textiles ( t h e latter
n e v e r v e r y i m p o r t a n t h e r e ) , a n d a g r o w t h in h e a v y i n d u s t r y as m i n i n g
developed. T h e strength of some of the smaller consumer goods indus
tries l i k e p r i n t i n g , b r e w i n g a n d r u b b e r is u n f o r t u n a t e l y n o t reflected
in t h e t a b l e . T h e m o s t s t r i k i n g f e a t u r e , h o w e v e r , w a s t h e a l m o s t c o n
s t a n t s h a r e o f t h e s e r v i c e s e c t o r at a r o u n d 3 5 p e r c e n t , v e r y m u c h
l a r g e r t h a n in a n y o t h e r r e g i o n in 1 8 5 1 , t h o u g h l e s s d e c i s i v e l y s o
sixty y e a r s later. T h i s d e m o n s t r a t e s t w o m a i n f e a t u r e s o f t h e capital
city, its g r e a t i m p o r t a n c e in t h e p r o v i s i o n o f p r o f e s s i o n a l s e r v i c e s -
law, banking and insurance - and the high proportion of wealthy
m i d d l e - c l a s s families r e s i d e n t w i t h i n it a n d a b l e to e m p l o y a staff
of servants.
C e n t r a l a n d Fife are o u r t h i r d r e g i o n in t h e i n d u s t r i a l c e n t r a l b e l t ;
t h e y a l s o h e l d i m p o r t a n t coalfields in S t i r l i n g s h i r e a n d w e s t Fife,
b a l a n c e d b y textile t o w n s a n d rich agricultural l a n d a n d fishing in

216 T. c. S M O U T
e a s t Fife. T h e s w i t c h t o h e a v y i n d u s t r y w a s as m a r k e d as in S t r a t h c l y d e
b u t it c a m e t w e n t y y e a r s later, a r o u n d t h e t u r n o f t h e c e n t u r y w h e n
t h e e x p l o i t a t i o n o f t h e Fife coalfield i n t e n s i f i e d . P o p u l a t i o n g r o w t h
w a s similarly i n c o n s i d e r a b l e b e t w e e n 1 8 5 1 a n d 1 8 7 1 , b u t t h e n r o s e
by two-thirds before 1911.
T h e s e t h r e e c o n t i g u o u s i n d u s t r i a l r e g i o n s w e r e f l a n k e d to t h e s o u t h
a n d n o r t h b y four o t h e r r e g i o n s w h e r e i n d u s t r i a l i s a t i o n , w h e r e it
o c c u r r e d at all, w a s r e s t r i c t e d t o n a r r o w e n c l a v e s . D u m f r i e s , G a l l o w a y
a n d t h e B o r d e r s w a s t h e r e g i o n to t h e s o u t h : h e r e total p o p u l a t i o n
s t a g n a t e d a n d t h e n a c t u a l l y fell after 1 8 9 1 as m a n u f a c t u r e s a n d s e r v i c e s
p r o v e d i n c a p a b l e o f t a k i n g u p all t h e s u r p l u s s h e d b y f a r m i n g , w h i c h
d e s p i t e q u i t e h e a v y falls w a s still e m p l o y i n g a m u c h l a r g e r p e r c e n t a g e
of t h e p o p u l a t i o n in 1 9 1 1 t h a n a n y o f t h e t h r e e c e n t r a l b e l t r e g i o n s
h a d d o n e e v e n in 1 8 5 1 . H e a v y i n d u s t r y h a r d l y e x i s t e d : t h e o n l y s i g n s
of i n d u s t r i a l i s a t i o n w e r e in t h e l a t e - d e v e l o p i n g B o r d e r t o w n s w h e r e
t h e textile p h a s e o f t h e i n d u s t r i a l r e v o l u t i o n w a s b e g i n n i n g to arrive
in t h e last q u a r t e r o f t h e c e n t u r y , a n a c h r o n i s t i c a l l y , a n d o n a v e r y
l i m i t e d scale, a h u n d r e d y e a r s after it h a d b e g u n o n S t r a t h c l y d e .
T a y s i d e , to t h e n o r t h o f t h e c e n t r a l b e l t , w a s l e s s b a c k w a r d a n d
i n c r e a s e d its o v e r a l l p o p u l a t i o n b y a fifth. It c o n t a i n e d a g r o u p o f
l a r g e t o w n s , e s p e c i a l l y t h e city o f D u n d e e , b u t a l s o P e r t h , A r b r o a t h
a n d Forfar, w h i c h h a d f o r m e d a n e n c l a v e for i m p o r t a n t textile m a n u
factures, particularly linen and t h e n jute, from before the middle of
t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y . T h e a b s o l u t e n u m b e r e m p l o y e d in t e x t i l e s
remained roughly constant over the period, though there was some
c o n c e n t r a t i o n o n D u n d e e a n d t h e s e x ratio a l t e r e d : m e n h a d b e e n
n e a r l y as n u m e r o u s in T a y s i d e textile j o b s in 1 8 5 1 , b u t b y 1 9 1 1 w e r e
o u t n u m b e r e d a l m o s t t w o to o n e . D u n d e e t h e r e f o r e b e c a m e a w o m a n ' s
t o w n a l m o s t as m u c h as G l a s g o w w a s a m a n ' s o n e . T h e r e w a s o n l y
a little significant h e a v y i n d u s t r y , a n d t h e m a i n a l t e r a t i o n in t h e overall
structure of e m p l o y m e n t w a s the switch from agriculture into trans
p o r t a n d s e r v i c e s c o m m o n to all t h e r e g i o n s .
G r a m p i a n , t o o , h a d its u r b a n - i n d u s t r i a l e n c l a v e in t h e city o f A b e r
d e e n , a n d i n c r e a s e d its p o p u l a t i o n o v e r a l l b y a t h i r d . S u p e r f i c i a l l y
it a p p e a r s as e m p h a t i c a l l y a n d p e r s i s t e n t l y agricultural as t h e e x t r e m e
s o u t h , b u t s o m e t h i n g o f t h i s is d u e t o t h e fact t h a t fishing is s u b s u m e d
u n d e r t h e g e n e r a l h e a d i n g ' a g r i c u l t u r e ' in t h e i n d u s t r i a l classification,
concealing the growth of the prosperous deep sea trawling industry
as a s t a p l e o f A b e r d e e n a n d t h e c o n c o m i t a n t e n l a r g e m e n t o f m a n y
of t h e s m a l l e r fishing c o m m u n i t i e s all r o u n d t h e c o a s t . T h e p r o p o r t i o n

Scotland 1850-1950 217
e m p l o y e d in h e a v y i n d u s t r y a n d t e x t i l e s t o g e t h e r r e m a i n e d c o n s t a n t
at t h e v e r y l o w figure o f 1 0 - 1 2 p e r c e n t , t h o u g h A b e r d e e n , like E d i n
b u r g h , h a d c o n s u m e r g o o d s i n d u s t r i e s (like p a p e r m a k i n g ) t h a t d o
not s h o w up o n the tables.
Finally there w a s the highland region, the most r e m o t e , least urban
i z e d a n d m o s t p e r s i s t e n t l y a g r i c u l t u r a l o f all, w i t h n o l e s s t h a n 4 1
p e r c e n t o f its o c c u p i e d p o p u l a t i o n still in f a r m i n g a s late as 1 9 1 1 .
This was, admittedly, a third less than the proportion of 1 8 7 1 , the
u s u a l g r o w t h i n t r a n s p o r t a n d s e r v i c e s a c c o u n t i n g for m o s t o f t h e
difference, s i n c e i n d u s t r y i n all its f o r m s w a s v e r y u n d e r d e v e l o p e d ,
discouraged both by the absence of minerals and by the distance from
urban markets. T h e Highlands, of course, e x p e r i e n c e d a drop in p o p u
l a t i o n : y e t t h e d e c l i n e , 13 p e r c e n t o v e r s i x t y y e a r s , w a s r e l a t i v e l y
m o d e s t a n d , c o n t r a r y to g e n e r a l belief, p r o b a b l y h a d v e r y little to
do with the highland clearances. The drop over the period 1851-71,
w a s s m a l l e r , in p e r c e n t a g e t e r m s , t h a n t h a t i n t h e p e r i o d 1 8 9 1 - 1 9 1 1 ,
t h o u g h i n t h e f o r m e r t h e crofters w e r e u n p r o t e c t e d f r o m e v i c t i o n a n d
i n t h e latter t h e y e n j o y e d s e c u r i t y o f t e n u r e u n d e r G l a d s t o n e ' s C r o f t e r s
Act of 1886.
W h a t sort o f a l i v i n g d i d t h e S c o t t i s h e c o n o m y y i e l d ? D r R u b i n s t e i n
f o u n d six S c o t s a m o n g t h e forty l a r g e s t B r i t i s h f o r t u n e s , 1 8 0 9 - 1 9 1 4 ,
of w h i c h o n l y o n e , t h e t h i r d M a r q u e s s o f B u t e ( d . 1 9 0 0 ) , m a d e h i s
m o n e y substantially outside S c o t l a n d - in his case o n urban and
m i n e r a l p r o p e r t y in S o u t h W a l e s . T h e o t h e r s c o n s i s t e d o f t w o L a n a r k
s h i r e i r o n m a s t e r s , W i l l i a m B a i r d ( d . 1864) a n d W i l l i a m W e i r (d. 1 9 1 3 ) ,
two Paisley sewing-thread magnates, Peter and James Coats (both
d. 1 9 1 3 ) , a n d a G l a s g o w c h e m i c a l m a n u f a c t u r e r , Charles Tennant
(d. 1 9 0 6 ) . A l l d i e d w o r t h m o r e t h a n £ 2 m i l l i o n , a n d all m a d e t h e i r
fortunes in Strathclyde. At a less plutocratic level an indication of
m i d d l e - c l a s s w e a l t h is p r o v i d e d b y t h e S c h e d u l e D i n c o m e - t a x a s s e s s
m e n t s : D r R u b i n s t e i n ' s examination of t h e s e a s s e s s m e n t s in L o n d o n
a n d in the British provincial t o w n s of over 100,000 inhabitants in 1 8 7 9 -
8 0 s h o w s t h e S c o t s r e l a t i v e l y w e l l p l a c e d . E d i n b u r g h , w i t h its l a w y e r s
a n d b a n k e r s , w a s b y this m e a s u r e the third wealthiest British t o w n
p a y i n g £ 2 1 . 1 p e r i n h a b i t a n t , a n d G l a s g o w w i t h its m e r c h a n t s and
4
m a n u f a c t u r e r s , t h e fifth, p a y i n g £ 1 6 . 4 . B e h i n d t h e m b y a l a r g e m a r
g i n c a m e A b e r d e e n at £ 9 . 3 a n d D u n d e e at £ 8 . 4 , b u t e v e n t h e s e
e x c e e d e d E n g l i s h cities l i k e L e e d s a n d S h e f f i e l d , j u s t a s G l a s g o w v e r y
4
W . D. Rubinstein, 'The Victorian Middle Classes: Wealth, Occupation and Geo
graphy', Economic History Review, 2nd ser., 30 (1977), pp. 614-18.

218 T. C. S M O U T
comfortably exceeded Birmingham and Newcastle (though not M a n

c h e s t e r o r L i v e r p o o l ) . T h e r e is n o r e a s o n t o t h i n k o f t h e S c o t t i s h V i c t o r
5
i a n m i d d l e c l a s s as t h e p o o r r e l a t i o n o f t h e E n g l i s h p r o v i n c i a l s .
F o r t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s t h e s i t u a t i o n w a s r a t h e r different. I n t h e m i d
d l e o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y o n e o f t h e a t t r a c t i o n s o f S c o t l a n d for
c a p i t a l w a s t h e c h e a p n e s s o f i n d u s t r i a l l a b o u r i n m i n e , mill a n d s h i p
y a r d . It w a s a s i t u a t i o n t h a t a l t e r e d o n l y s l o w l y . W h e n E d w a r d Y o u n g
m a d e his report o n international w a g e levels to the A m e r i c a n C o n g r e s s
in t h e e a r l y 1 8 7 0 s , h e w e n t i n p e r s o n to J o h n E l d e r ' s y a r d i n G l a s g o w
a n d s u b s e q u e n t l y c o m m e n t e d : ' T h e g r e a t d e m a n d for C l y d e - b u i l t
s h i p s h a s n o t b e e n c a u s e d b y t h e i r s u p e r i o r i t y . . . b u t f r o m t h e fact
t h a t t h e y c a n b e built at l e s s c o s t , o w i n g i n p a r t to t h e c h e a p n e s s
of m a t e r i a l s , b u t chiefly to t h e a b u n d a n c e o f s k i l l e d w o r k m e n and
6
the low rate of w a g e s paid to t h e m . ' The words 'mere pittance'
c a m e readily to the U S consuls of that period w h e n they considered
S c o t t i s h w a g e s , a n d t h e y r e g u l a r l y l i s t e d r a t e s for j o i n e r s , b l a c k s m i t h s ,
carpenters, rivetters a n d labourers significantly b e l o w t h o s e of L o n d o n
7
or N e w c a s t l e .
In 1 8 8 6 t h e first B r i t i s h U K w a g e c e n s u s g a v e , in R . H . C a m p b e l l ' s
w o r d s , ' a n unequivocal interpretation of S c o t l a n d as a low-wage e c o n
omy', t h o u g h E . H. H u n t takes a slightly m o r e optimistic view, regard
ing w a g e s in central S c o t l a n d as t h e n ' n e a r t h e national a v e r a g e ' , a n d
indicating a substantial i m p r o v e m e n t in the r e g i o n ' s relative position
8
since 1850. Certainly the average annual earnings of cotton workers
in 1 8 8 6 w e r e w e l l b e l o w t h e U K a v e r a g e ( £ 2 8 c o m p a r e d t o £ 3 6 ) , p a r t l y
b e c a u s e of the higher proportion of w o m e n w o r k e r s in S c o t l a n d . T h e
s a m e l o w e a r n i n g s w e r e f o u n d , l e s s m a r k e d l y , for s h i p y a r d w o r k e r s
(£70 c o m p a r e d to £ 7 6 ) a n d in m a n y o t h e r trades, s u c h as building ( £ 6 2
c o m p a r e d to £ 6 6 ) a n d printing (£46 c o m p a r e d to £ 5 3 in large w o r k s ) .
In s o m e o t h e r significant S c o t t i s h i n d u s t r i e s , h o w e v e r , t h e r e w e r e
e i t h e r n o d i f f e r e n c e s ( e n g i n e e r i n g , distilling, c a r p e t manufacture)
5
In absolute, instead of per capita, terms, Glasgow was the fourth wealthiest city
in Britain and Edinburgh was the fifth, according to the Schedule D assessments.
London was, of course, the first.
6
Labour in Europe and America (Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1876).
7
The consular reports for Scotland are available in Edinburgh University Library.
See T. C. Smout, 'U.S. Consular Reports: A Source for Scottish Economic Historians',
Scottish Historical Review, 58 (1979), pp. 179-85; T. C. Smout, 'American Consular
Reports on Scotland', Business History, 33 (1981), pp. 304-8.
8
R. H. Campbell, The Rise and Fall of Scottish Industry, 1707-1939 (Edinburgh, 1980),
p. 80; E. H. Hunt, Regional Wage Variations in Britain, 1850-1914 (Oxford, 1973), pp.
50-3.

Scotland 1850-1950 219
or a v e r y s l i g h t a d v a n t a g e in S c o t l a n d ' s f a v o u r : c o a l a n d i r o n - o r e
m i n i n g ( £ 5 3 c o m p a r e d to £ 5 2 ) , t h e m a n u f a c t u r e o f p i g i r o n at t h e
9
blast furnace (£74 c o m p a r e d to £73) and linen (£26 c o m p a r e d to £ 2 5 ) .
B y t h e t i m e o f t h e n e x t w a g e c e n s u s in 1 9 0 6 , h o w e v e r , m o s t o f
t h e a m b i g u i t y h a d d i s a p p e a r e d . C o t t o n , c e r t a i n l y , w a s still a l o w - w a g e
i n d u s t r y in S c o t l a n d , c o n t i n u i n g to e m p l o y a l a r g e p r o p o r t i o n o f ill-
p a i d w o m e n . B u t in f o u r vital fields o f h e a v y i n d u s t r y - i r o n a n d
steel manufacture, light iron castings, shipbuilding a n d (less mark
e d l y ) e n g i n e e r i n g a n d b o i l e r m a k i n g - S c o t l a n d in g e n e r a l a n d t h e
Clyde in particular reported average earnings a n d w a g e rates well
a b o v e t h e U K a v e r a g e . O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , t h e r e is s o m e i n d i c a t i o n
t h a t c o a l m i n i n g ( t h e o n l y e v i d e n c e is f r o m L a n a r k s h i r e ) h a d n o t k e p t
u p w i t h t h e n a t i o n a l l e v e l . B u t C a m p b e l l is in n o d o u b t t h a t C l y d e s i d e
h a d b y t h e n b e c o m e a h i g h - w a g e region in t h e leading sector indus
tries, a n d E . H. H u n t puts central S c o t l a n d as o n e of the four highest-
10
w a g e r e g i o n s in B r i t a i n .
T h i s f i n d i n g , if c o r r e c t , i m p l i e s t h a t in t h i r t y y e a r s i n d u s t r i a l S c o t
l a n d h a d g o n e f r o m a l o w - w a g e to a h i g h - w a g e a r e a , a n d a l s o t h a t
t h e figure g e n e r a l l y a c c e p t e d for o v e r a l l i m p r o v e m e n t s i n r e a l w a g e s
in B r i t a i n b e t w e e n 1 8 5 0 a n d 1 9 0 0 - a b o u t 8 0 p e r c e n t - w o u l d b e
substantially larger in the Scottish case. Before d r a w i n g the conclusion
t h a t t h e t y p i c a l S c o t t i s h w o r k e r w a s p a r t i c u l a r l y p r o s p e r o u s at t h e
start o f t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y , h o w e v e r , c e r t a i n o t h e r f a c t o r s h a v e
to b e c o n s i d e r e d . First, e v e n in 1 9 0 0 t h e r e w e r e l a r g e r e m a i n i n g s e c t o r s
in t e x t i l e s w h e r e t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c e m p l o y e e w a s a b a d l y p a i d girl.
Secondly, the h e a v y industries supported not only skilled workers
w h o s e w a g e r a t e s w e r e e x t e n s i v e l y r e p o r t e d to t h e c e n s u s b u t s u b s t a n
tial n u m b e r s o f l a b o u r e r s a b o u t w h o s e e a r n i n g s little is k n o w n e x c e p t
that t h e y w e r e low, a n d that the gulf b e t w e e n the skilled a n d the
unskilled was always obvious and great. T o Harry M c S h a n e , w h o
w o r k e d i n t h e s h i p y a r d s a s a b o y b e f o r e t h e First W o r l d W a r , it w a s
s y m b o l i s e d b y t h e s k i l l e d e n g i n e e r s ' w e e k e n d d r e s s o f a b l u e suit
11
a n d a b o w l e r h a t c o m p a r e d to t h e r o u g h c l o t h e s o f t h e l a b o u r e r s .
Thirdly, the only detailed account of Scottish w a g e s in shipbuilding
in t h e q u a r t e r - c e n t u r y b e f o r e 1 9 1 4 s h o w s t h a t t h e e m p l o y e r s d e l i b e r
a t e l y e x a g g e r a t e d t h e a v e r a g e e a r n i n g s o f r i v e t t e r s in t h e i r r e p o r t s
t o o u t s i d e r s a n d t o t h e B o a r d o f T r a d e for t h e c e n s u s , a n d t h a t i n
9
Campbell, Rise and Fall p. 190.
10
Ibid., pp. 8 4 - 8 , 1 9 1 - 4 ; Hunt, Wage Variations, pp. 5 0 - 3 .
11
Harry McShane and Joan Smith, No Mean Fighter (1978), p. 42.

220 T. C. S M O U T
1906 the average earnings per w e e k w e r e not 4 7 s . l i d . , as reported,

b u t 3 6 s . 4 d . , fully 2 5 p e r c e n t l e s s . B e t w e e n 1 9 0 0 a n d 1 9 1 0 h a l f t h e
1 2
rivetters e a r n e d less t h a n £ 2 , a n d a quarter less t h a n 3 0 s .
T h e r e is, h o w e v e r , little d o u b t t h a t e m p l o y e r s d i d feel t h e s t e a d y
p r e s s u r e o f r i s i n g w a g e c o s t s o n t h e i r profit m a r g i n s a n d t h e r e f o r e
o n t h e i r ability t o c o m p e t e w o r l d - w i d e in t h e p r o d u c t i o n o f s h i p s
e v e n b e f o r e t h e First W o r l d W a r . T h e y t r i e d e v e r y d e v i c e t o k e e p
t h e w a g e bill d o w n , for e x a m p l e b y e m p l o y i n g a h i g h ratio o f a p p r e n
t i c e s to qualified j o u r n e y m e n , a n d b y e n f o r c i n g w a g e c u t s i n t i m e s
of d e p r e s s i o n , a s i n 1 9 0 8 - 1 0 ; c o n v e r s e l y , t h e w o r k e r s d e f e n d e d t h e i r
j o b s b y opposing every n e w attempt to introduce a technology that
m i g h t t h r e a t e n t h e i r j o b s . T h a t s u c h o p p o s i t i o n w a s n o t e m p t y is
i l l u s t r a t e d b y t h e U S c o n s u l ' s r e p o r t o n a n i m p o r t a n t trial o f A m e r i c a n
p n e u m a t i c r i v e t t i n g t o o l s t h a t t o o k p l a c e at t h e w o r k s o f S c o t t o f
G r e e n o c k in 1 9 0 2 . T h e trials l a s t e d six w e e k s , b u t t h e c o n s u l o b s e r v e d :
speaking generally, the experiments appear to have given every satisfaction

and to have demonstrated the fact that a great saving in time and labor could
be effected. However, the use of these machines is not favored by the labor
unions, and with native labor they accomplish little, if any, more than is
13
accomplished under the present system.
M u c h o f t h e c l a s s b i t t e r n e s s t h a t w a s t o g r o w in t h e first t w o d e c a d e s
of t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y a l o n g t h e C l y d e c a n b e c o n s i d e r e d i n t h e
light of t h e s e o p p o s i n g pressures o n the returns to capital a n d labour.
T h e f o r e g o i n g d i s c u s s i o n o f w a g e s r e l a t e s m a i n l y to t h e i n d u s t r i a l
belt of central S c o t l a n d . H u n t ' s investigation of rural southern Scot
land - Dumfries, Galloway and the Borders - suggests substantial
r e l a t i v e a n d a b s o l u t e g a i n s for a g r i c u l t u r a l l a b o u r ( t h e m a i n o c c u p a
tion) b e t w e e n 1850 a n d 1 8 7 0 . B y the latter date agricultural w o r k e r s
h e r e w e r e a l r e a d y p a i d 5 p e r c e n t a b o v e t h e B r i t i s h a v e r a g e for t h e i r
o c c u p a t i o n , a n d t h e y e n j o y e d f u r t h e r s u b s t a n t i a l g a i n s to 1 9 0 7 , w h e n
t h e a r e a w a s o n e o f t h e f o u r b e s t p a i d i n B r i t a i n for f a r m w o r k . O n
the other h a n d , agricultural labour generally w a s badly paid in relation
to i n d u s t r i a l l a b o u r , o f w h i c h t h e r e w a s little, t h o u g h textile w a g e s
in the eastern B o r d e r s w e r e not inferior to t h o s e in the W e s t Riding
1 4
of Y o r k s h i r e .
North of the central belt the position deteriorated. Tayside a n d
12
S. F. Price, 'Rivetters' Earnings in Clyde Shipbuilding 1889-1913', Scottish Economic
and Social History, 1 (1981), pp. 4 2 - 6 5 .
13
Cited in Smout, 'American Consular Reports', p. 307.
14
Hunt, Wage Variations, pp. 47-50.

Scotland 1850-1950 221
G r a m p i a n ' s level of agricultural earnings w e r e about 3 per cent b e l o w

t h e British average in 1 8 6 7 - 7 0 but 1 per cent above b y 1907. T h e city
of D u n d e e w a s d o m i n a t e d b y l o w - p a i d f e m a l e j u t e w o r k e r s w h o s e
average earnings in 1886 were e v e n lower than those of the Strathclyde
cotton w o r k e r s . T h o u g h m e n in m o s t trades in D u n d e e s e e m e d to
h a v e e a r n e d as m u c h a s t h o s e i n G l a s g o w , t h e r e w a s a m a r g i n b e t w e e n
b o t h t h o s e cities a n d t h e l o w e r w a g e s e a r n e d i n s h i p b u i l d i n g and
engineering in A b e r d e e n . T h e h i g h l a n d region, h o w e v e r , w a s m u c h
t h e w o r s t o f all: still o v e r w h e l m i n g l y d o m i n a t e d b y a g r i c u l t u r e , f a r m
earnings r e m a i n e d 14 per cent b e l o w the British average in 1 8 6 7 - 7 0
a n d 1 3 p e r c e n t b e l o w i n 1 9 0 7 . T h e crofting c o u n t i e s c e r t a i n l y h a d
t h e l o w e s t i n c o m e s o f a n y r e g i o n in G r e a t B r i t a i n ; t h e drift o f p e o p l e
f r o m t h e a r e a e v e n after t h e l a n d r e f o r m n e e d s n o f u r t h e r e x p l a n a -
T h e s e c o n d p a r t o f o u r p e r i o d h a s to b e c o n s i d e r e d s e p a r a t e l y . A f t e r
t h e e n d o f t h e First W o r l d W a r , S c o t l a n d a l o n g w i t h t h e o t h e r tra
ditional British regions of staple industry entered the bleak years of
t h e d e p r e s s i o n w h i c h s e e m e d t o G e o r g e M a l c o l m T h o m s o n to m a r k
s o d e c i s i v e a b r e a k in n a t i o n a l h i s t o r y ; a n d a l t h o u g h r e a r m a m e n t a n d
t h e S e c o n d W o r l d W a r r e v i v e d e m p l o y m e n t a n d profits i n t h e tra
d i t i o n a l s e c t o r s , t h e r e w a s still, e v e n b y 1 9 5 0 , little g r o w t h o f n e w
i n d u s t r y . It is n o d o u b t t r u e , a s N e i l B u x t o n h a s p e r s u a s i v e l y a r g u e d ,
t h a t t h e initial c a u s e o f S c o t l a n d ' s d i s a s t r o u s p e r f o r m a n c e l a y in t h e
structure of the Edwardian e c o n o m y , with too large a proportion of
her resources tied up in w h a t w e r e to b e c o m e irretrievably d e p r e s s e d
s t a p l e i n d u s t r i e s , a n d t h a t ' t h e r e w a s little t h a t i n d i v i d u a l e n t r e p r e
n e u r s c o u l d h a v e d o n e to a m e l i o r a t e t h e effects o f t h e d e p r e s s e d i n t e r -
war market. T h e y w e r e o v e r w h e l m e d b y market forces b e y o n d their
1 6
c a p a c i t y to c o n t r o l . ' Y e t it is a l s o t r u e t h a t in t h e l o n g e r r u n the
' S c o t t i s h e c o n o m y h a s d r a m a t i c a l l y failed to c o m e t o t e r m s w i t h t h e
1 7
economic world of the twentieth century'. S u c h a failure w a s p a r t
a n d p a r c e l o f t h e g e n e r a l B r i t i s h failure, b u t it w a s m u c h m o r e a c u t e
i n S c o t l a n d , a n d h a d p r o f o u n d s o c i a l a n d political effects, a s w e l l
as t h e o b v i o u s e c o n o m i c o n e s .
15
Ibid ., pp. 53-6.
16
N. K. Buxton, 'Economic Growth in Scotland between the Wars: The Role of Produc
tion, Structure and Rationalization', Economic History Review, 2nd ser., 33 (1980),
pp. 538-55.
17
S. B. Saul, 'The Shortcomings of Scottish Industry', Scottish Economic and Social
History, 1 (1982), p. 76.

222 T. C. S M O U T
O n e of these has b e e n to m a k e m a n y question the U n i o n relation

ship. For a few, the w h o l e value of 'rule from L o n d o n ' has c o m e
to b e doubted. For the majority (including, paradoxically, m o s t of
t h o s e in t h e first c a t e g o r y ) , t h e f e e l i n g h a s b e e n t h a t S c o t l a n d , as
a r e l a t i v e l y p o o r r e g i o n , h a s a r i g h t to d e m a n d m o r e f r o m c e n t r a l
g o v e r n m e n t t h a n it e v e r r e c e i v e d in t h e p a s t : i n s o f a r as t h i s d e m a n d
is c o n c e d e d , it m a k e s S c o t l a n d m o r e , a n d n o t l e s s , d e p e n d e n t on
U n i o n t h a n e v e r it w a s i n t h e p a s t . I n a n y c a s e , t h e e a s y s e l f - c o n f i d e n c e
of t h e n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y S c o t s as (in t h e i r o w n e y e s ) t h e m o s t d e s e r v -
i n g l y s u c c e s s f u l n a t i o n in B r i t a i n h a s b e e n r e p l a c e d b y a t w e n t i e t h -
c e n t u r y i m a g e o f t h e S c o t s as w e l l b a l a n c e d , l i k e t h e A u s t r a l i a n s in
the joke, b y a chip on each shoulder.
Table 3.1 (cols. 5 - 8 ) s h o w s the c h a n g i n g structure of e m p l o y m e n t
a n d total population in S c o t l a n d , 1 9 1 1 - 5 1 , with an additional c o l u m n
for 1 9 7 1 t o b r i n g t h e s t o r y m o r e u p to d a t e . O v e r t h e s i x t y - y e a r p e r i o d ,
p o p u l a t i o n in S c o t l a n d g r e w b y a m e r e 1 0 p e r c e n t c o m p a r e d to a
3 2 p e r c e n t g r o w t h for t h e U K as a w h o l e . T h e r a t e o f p o p u l a t i o n
i n c r e a s e in S c o t l a n d w a s t h u s m u c h l e s s t h a n it h a d e v e r b e e n s i n c e
t h e c o u n t r y s t a r t e d t o i n d u s t r i a l i s e , a n d in o n e d e c a d e , it w a s e v e n
slightly negative: Scottish population d r o p p e d b e t w e e n 1921 a n d 1931
b y 4 0 , 0 0 0 . M i g r a t i o n t o m o r e p r o s p e r o u s r e g i o n s in E n g l a n d a n d
abroad was the main cause: no less than 70 per cent of natural increase
1 8
w a s lost in this w a y b e t w e e n 1911 a n d 1 9 5 1 .
T h e g r o w t h o f e m p l o y e d p o p u l a t i o n a c t u a l l y c e a s e d in S c o t l a n d
after 1 9 3 1 , t h o u g h i n t h e U K a s a w h o l e it c o n t i n u e d to g r o w b y
17 p e r c e n t b e t w e e n t h a t d a t e a n d 1 9 5 1 . T h u s S c o t l a n d ' s p r o b l e m s
w e r e c o m p o u n d e d b y a contracting workforce obliged to support an
i n c r e a s i n g n u m b e r o f d e p e n d a n t s . T h i s i n t u r n w a s d u e m a i n l y to
alterations in the age structure of the population, b e c a u s e m a n y y o u n g
e a r n e r s left t h e c o u n t r y . It w a s a l s o a r e f l e c t i o n o f t h e fact t h a t r e l a t i v e l y
f e w e r w o m e n o f w o r k i n g a g e f o l l o w e d gainful e m p l o y m e n t i n S c o t
l a n d t h a n in E n g l a n d , l a r g e l y b e c a u s e t h e c o n t i n u i n g d o m i n a n c e o f
h e a v y i n d u s t r y a n d t h e d e c l i n e o f t e x t i l e s left f e w e r o p e n i n g s for t h e m
u n t i l f u r t h e r c h a n g e s i n i n d u s t r i a l s t r u c t u r e after 1 9 5 0 . I n 1 9 1 1 t h e r e
w e r e 2 . 5 m a l e j o b s i n S c o t l a n d for e v e r y f e m a l e j o b : t h e ratio w a s
still a s h i g h as 2 . 3 i n 1 9 5 1 , b u t h a d a l t e r e d to 1.7 i n 1 9 7 1 - t h e last
figure w a s t h e m o s t f a v o u r a b l e for w o m e n s i n c e r e c o r d s b e g a n in
1841.
18
D . J . Robertson, 'Population Growth and Movement', in A. J. Cairncross, ed., The
Scottish Economy (Cambridge, 1954), p. 13.

Scotland 1850-1950 223
T h e g e n e r a l t r e n d s in t h e s t r u c t u r e o f e m p l o y m e n t after 1 9 1 1 w e r e
a c o m b i n a t i o n o f o l d a n d n e w . A s in t h e p r e v i o u s p e r i o d , a g r i c u l t u r e
a n d textiles c o n t i n u e d t o s h e d l a b o u r , t h o u g h b o t h s e c t o r s w e r e still
r e l a t i v e l y m o r e i m p o r t a n t in S c o t l a n d t h a n in E n g l a n d at t h e e n d o f
t h e p e r i o d . T h e r e w a s a g a i n a lag o f t w o or t h r e e d e c a d e s b e t w e e n
S c o t l a n d a n d t h e r e s t o f t h e U K in t h i s r e s p e c t , t h e proportion
e m p l o y e d in a g r i c u l t u r e in S c o t l a n d in 1 9 5 1 b e i n g m u c h t h e s a m e
as t h a t a c h i e v e d n a t i o n a l l y in 1 9 2 1 , a n d t h e p r o p o r t i o n e m p l o y e d in
textiles in S c o t l a n d in 1 9 5 1 o n l y a little s m a l l e r t h a n t h a t a c h i e v e d
n a t i o n a l l y in 1 9 3 1 . S i m i l a r l y in t h e s e r v i c e s e c t o r , t h o u g h t h e p r o p o r
t i o n t h u s e m p l o y e d c o n t i n u e d to i n c r e a s e significantly in S c o t l a n d
as it h a d d o n e b e f o r e 1 9 1 1 , t h e figure r e a c h e d in 1 9 5 1 h a d b e e n
1 9
a c h i e v e d in t h e U K as a w h o l e b y 1 9 2 1 . O n the other hand the
s t e a d y i n c r e a s e in t h e p r o p o r t i o n o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n e n g a g e d in h e a v y
i n d u s t r y c a m e t o a h a l t in 1 9 1 1 , b u t o n l y v e r y g r a d u a l l y b e g a n to
fall. T h e rise o f ' n e w ' i n d u s t r i e s ( c h e m i c a l s , i n s t r u m e n t a n d electrical
e n g i n e e r i n g , v e h i c l e s ) w a s , h o w e v e r , e x t r e m e l y s l o w in S c o t l a n d :
a g a i n , t h e U K as a w h o l e h a d a c h i e v e d t w e n t y y e a r s earlier t h e p r o p o r
2 0
t i o n r e a c h e d in S c o t l a n d b y 1 9 5 1 .
W h e n t h e s e figures are d i s a g g r e g a t e d to t h e S c o t t i s h r e g i o n a l l e v e l
( T a b l e s 3 . 2 a n d 3 . 3 , c o l s . 5 - 8 ) , a n i m m e d i a t e c o n t r a s t is e v i d e n t
b e t w e e n t h e t h r e e r e g i o n s o f t h e c e n t r a l i n d u s t r i a l b e l t a n d t h e four
o u t s i d e it. T h o s e in t h e c e n t r a l b e l t c o n t i n u e d to i n c r e a s e t h e i r s h a r e
b o t h o f e m p l o y e d p o p u l a t i o n a n d o f total p o p u l a t i o n , w h i l e all t h e
others declined on both counts. Indeed, n o w h e r e outside the central
belt w e r e t h e n u m b e r s e i t h e r in e m p l o y e d p o p u l a t i o n or total p o p u l a
t i o n h i g h e r in 1 9 5 1 t h a n in 1 9 1 1 , t h o u g h o n l y in t h e H i g h l a n d s w a s
t h e a b s o l u t e fall s u b s t a n t i a l . H e r e e m p l o y e d p o p u l a t i o n fell b y 3 0 p e r
c e n t b u t total p o p u l a t i o n b y o n l y 1 8 p e r c e n t , i m p o s i n g a s p e c i a l b u r
den on the region.
A t first s i g h t t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n o f d e c l i n e m a y s e e m s u r p r i s i n g , as
t h e i n d u s t r i a l c e n t r a l b e l t w a s t h e h e a r t l a n d o f t h e coalfields, s h i p y a r d s
and heavy engineering shops where depression, unemployment and
failure o f i n t e r n a t i o n a l m a r k e t s w e r e m o s t n o t o r i o u s in t h e i n t e r w a r
19
In the UK as a whole the figures are as follows: in agriculture, 1921, 7.2 per cent;
1951, 5.1 per cent; in textiles, 1931, 5.9 per cent; 1951, 4.5 per cent; in services,
1921, 44.2 per cent; in 1951, 47 per cent. There are particular difficulties in calculating
the service sector discussed in the notes to the tables.
20
The UK figures for employment in 'new' industry were 4.9 per cent in 1931, 8.3
per cent in 1951.

224 T. c. S M O U T
y e a r s . Y e t it is c l e a r t h a t t h e p r o p o r t i o n o f t h e e m p l o y e d p o p u l a t i o n
e n g a g e d in m o s t o f t h e s e activities r e m a i n e d r e m a r k a b l y c o n s t a n t ,
p a r t l y b e c a u s e o f t h e practical difficulties for s k i l l e d a d u l t s like b l a s t -
furnacemen a n d boilermakers transferring to alternative jobs, and
partly b e c a u s e the m a i n r e s p o n s e of Clydeside e m p l o y e r s w a s to h o l d
on and h o p e that s o m e t h i n g w o u l d turn up in the e n d - w h i c h indeed
it did, as a p a l l i a t i v e , in t h e s h a p e o f r e a r m a m e n t in t h e late 1 9 3 0 s .
I n a d d i t i o n , i n s o f a r as t h e r e w a s a n y n e w i n d u s t r y in S c o t l a n d at
all b e f o r e 1 9 5 1 it w a s c o n c e n t r a t e d (as t h e t a b l e s c l e a r l y s h o w ) i n t h e
central belt, a n d these regions (especially Strathclyde a n d Lothian)
w e r e also t h e m a i n s o u r c e o f s e r v i c e e m p l o y m e n t . P o s i t i v e s h e d d i n g
of l a b o u r , in fact, t o o k p l a c e m o s t n o t a b l y n o t in t h e activities t h a t
d o m i n a t e d t h e c e n t r a l b e l t ( a p a r t f r o m m i n i n g ) b u t in a g r i c u l t u r e in
G r a m p i a n a n d t h e H i g h l a n d s , a n d in t e x t i l e s in t h e v e r y d e p r e s s e d
2 1
jute industry of Tayside. At the height of the depression there was
a v e r y c l e a r r u s h o u t o f t h e r u r a l n o r t h . T h u s in t e n y e a r s after 1 9 2 1
S h e t l a n d lost n o l e s s t h a n 17 p e r c e n t o f its p o p u l a t i o n , R o s s a n d
C r o m a r t y 1 2 p e r c e n t a n d C a i t h n e s s 1 1 . 5 p e r c e n t ; b u t t h e four l a r g e s t
cities in t h e s a m e d e c a d e i n c r e a s e d t h e i r a g g r e g a t e p o p u l a t i o n b y 4
p e r c e n t . ' L o v e o n t h e d o l e ' in t h e t o w n s w a s a l e s s e r evil t h a n t h e
' i d i o c y o f rural l i f e ' .
T h i s p r o c e s s left S c o t l a n d in 1 9 5 1 w i t h 7 4 . 4 p e r c e n t o f its e m p l o y e d
p o p u l a t i o n , a n d 7 3 . 5 p e r c e n t o f its total p o p u l a t i o n , in t h e t h r e e
regions of the central belt, c o m p a r e d to 5 7 . 9 per cent a n d 5 6 . 1 per
c e n t r e s p e c t i v e l y a c e n t u r y earlier. A s a l o n g - t e r m c h a n g e t h i s h a d
all sorts o f i m p l i c a t i o n s . J u s t as S c o t l a n d as a w h o l e w a s l o s i n g h e r
self-confidence a n d s e n s e o f e n t i r e t y w i t h t h e a c c e l e r a t e d d r a i n o f
p o p u l a t i o n a n d p r o s p e r i t y to t h e s o u t h o f E n g l a n d , s o t h e p e r i p h e r a l
a r e a s o f S c o t l a n d , left w i t h a n a g e i n g a n d i n d e p e n d e n t population,
r e s e n t e d t h e d r a i n o f t h e i r life b l o o d t o G l a s g o w a n d E d i n b u r g h . A
fear o f t h e ' d o m i n a n c e ' o f S t r a t h c l y d e in n a t i o n a l a n d l o c a l politics
b e c a m e , for t h e o u t l y i n g c o u n t i e s at l e a s t , as real as a fear o f t h e
' d o m i n a n c e ' of L o n d o n .
T h e a l t e r e d relative p r o s p e r i t y o f S c o t l a n d w i t h i n t h e U n i t e d K i n g
d o m w a s clearly s h o w n i n t h e statistics o f u n e m p l o y m e n t . A s e a r l y
as 1 9 2 3 u n e m p l o y m e n t in S c o t l a n d s t o o d at 1 4 . 3 p e r c e n t c o m p a r e d
21
The labour force in Scotland, 1911-51, fell in agriculture from 219,000 to 162,000
(29 per cent); in textiles from 172,000 to 118,000 (33 per cent); in mining from 156,000
to 99,000 (36.5 per cent).

Scotland 1850-1950 225
T a b l e 3 . 4 Percentage of Scottish insured population unemployed, 1927-39
In United Kingdom In NE England In Scotland
1927 9.7 13.7 10.6

1928 10.8 15.1 11.7
1929 10.4 13.7 12.1
1930 16.1 20.2 18.5
1931 21.3 27.4 26.6
1932 22.1 28.5 27.7
1933 19.9 26.0 26.1
1934 16.7 22.1 23.1
1935 15.5 20.7 21.3
1936 13.1 16.8 18.7
1937 10.8 11.0 15.9
1938 12.9 13.5 16.3
1939 10.5 10.1 13.5
Source: Ministry of Labour Gazette.
t o 1 1 . 6 p e r c e n t i n t h e U K as a w h o l e , a n d at t h e b o t t o m o f t h e s l u m p ,
1 9 3 1 - 3 , m o r e t h a n a q u a r t e r o f t h e w o r k f o r c e in S c o t l a n d w a s o u t
of a j o b , c o m p a r e d t o a little o v e r a fifth in t h e U K . U p t o t h i s p o i n t ,
h o w e v e r , it is p o s s i b l e t o a r g u e t h a t S c o t l a n d w a s n o t b a d l y off c o m
p a r e d t o o t h e r r e g i o n s w i t h a s i m i l a r d e p e n d e n c e o n t h e traditional
staples. A s Table 3.4 s h o w s , until 1933 the nearest neighbouring
2 2
region, north-east England had consistently higher unemployment.
After t h a t d a t e , h o w e v e r , t h o u g h S c o t l a n d a p p r o x i m a t e l y h a l v e d h e r
u n e m p l o y m e n t rate u n d e r the pressure of r e a r m a m e n t to 13.5 per
cent b y 1939, her relative position w o r s e n e d . In Scotland b e t w e e n
1927 and 1929, u n e m p l o y m e n t h a d b e e n only about a tenth higher
t h a n t h e U K a v e r a g e : b e t w e e n 1 9 3 7 a n d 1 9 3 9 it w a s a t h i r d h i g h e r .
S h e failed in p a r t i c u l a r t o m a i n t a i n h e r p o s i t i o n c o m p a r e d t o t h e n o r t h
e a s t , w h e r e u n e m p l o y m e n t b y 1 9 3 9 h a d a c t u a l l y fallen b e l o w t h e
national average. This suggests that there w e r e particularly serious
i n b u i l t rigidities in t h e S c o t t i s h e c o n o m y : a n d t h a t s e e m e d to b e
c o n f i r m e d a g a i n after t h e S e c o n d W o r l d W a r w h e n unemployment
n o r t h o f t h e b o r d e r , t h o u g h t e m p o r a r i l y w i p e d o u t as a s e r i o u s social
22
Wales was very much worse off, with an unemployment rate in excess of 20 per
cent for a whole decade after 1928, rising to almost a third in 1931-3: her position
vis-a-vis Scotland had scarcely changed by 1939.

226 T. c. SMOUT
p r o b l e m , a n d s t a n d i n g in S c o t l a n d at a m e r e 2 . 9 p e r c e n t , w a s n e v e r
theless twice the U K average.
W h a t k i n d o f a living did t h i s u n f a m i l i a r , d e p r e s s e d S c o t l a n d p r o
v i d e for its i n h a b i t a n t s after 1 9 1 8 ? T h e r e w a s c e r t a i n l y s l i p p a g e in
S c o t l a n d ' s s h a r e o f U K n a t i o n a l i n c o m e . W e h a v e s u g g e s t e d t h a t in
t h e first d e c a d e o f t h e c e n t u r y S c o t l a n d p r o b a b l y e a r n e d at l e a s t 9 5
p e r c e n t o f t h e B r i t i s h a v e r a g e . A . D . C a m p b e l l ' s c a l c u l a t i o n s are avail
a b l e f r o m 1 9 2 4 , a n d s u g g e s t a figure for t h e p e r i o d to 1 9 5 0 a v e r a g i n g
at b e s t a r o u n d 9 2 p e r c e n t o f t h e B r i t i s h e q u i v a l e n t , a n d d r o p p i n g
2 3
to as l o w as 8 7 p e r c e n t in 1 9 3 1 - 3 . H e attributed the low share
of S c o t l a n d after 1 9 4 5 to t h e inferior l e v e l o f e a r n i n g s , t h e h i g h e r
rate o f u n e m p l o y m e n t a n d t h e s m a l l e r p r o p o r t i o n of i n c o m e e a r n e r s
in t h e total p o p u l a t i o n : ' t h e d e f i c i e n c y d u e to t h e l o w l e v e l of w a g e -
earnings w a s m o r e t h a n twice the size of the deficiency c a u s e d b y
t h e h i g h e r rate o f e m p l o y m e n t a n d b e t w e e n o n e a n d t w o t i m e s g r e a t e r
t h a n t h e d e f i c i e n c y d u e to t h e r e l a t i v e l y l o w p r o p o r t i o n o f w a g e -
2 4
earners'. In the interwar years, of course, the contribution of u n e m
p l o y m e n t w o u l d h a v e b e e n relatively greater, but that of the b u r d e n
of u n e a r n i n g d e p e n d a n t s l e s s .
C a m p b e l l f o u n d t h e l o w e r l e v e l o f e a r n i n g s to b e c o m m o n b o t h
to salaries a n d w a g e s , b u t it w a s e s p e c i a l l y m a r k e d i n s a l a r i e s . T h i s
w a s p a r t l y b e c a u s e o f t h e g r o w t h i n e x t e r n a l c o n t r o l of b u s i n e s s b y
c o m p a n i e s o p e r a t i n g f r o m E n g l a n d (or e v e n f r o m a b r o a d after 1 9 4 5 ) ,
w h i c h h a d t e n d e d to concentrate the best-paid top jobs and most
e n t e r p r i s i n g m i d d l e m a n a g e r s in t h e s o u t h , t h u s d e p r e s s i n g t h e a v e r
25
a g e salary l e v e l . T h e l o w e r l e v e l of w a g e e a r n i n g s c o u l d n o t , b y
1 9 5 0 , b e a t t r i b u t e d to l o w e r w a g e r a t e s in S c o t l a n d , as it c o u l d a
h u n d r e d years before: trade-union strength from 1914 onwards has
r e s u l t e d i n p r o g r e s s i v e e r o s i o n o f differentials b o t h b e t w e e n S c o t l a n d
a n d E n g l a n d a n d b e t w e e n different cities a n d r e g i o n s w i t h i n S c o t
2 6
land. R a t h e r it w a s d u e to a h i g h p r o p o r t i o n o f S c o t t i s h w o r k e r s
concentrating in w h a t w e r e b e c o m i n g , b y 1950, low-pay a n d low-
productivity sections of industries, like D u n d e e jute and Border
23
A. D. Campbell, 'Income', in Cairncross, ed., Scottish Economy, pp. 46-64, contains
slightly lower 'preliminary estimates', suggesting an average of around 90 per cent.
The estimates quoted here are from his article 'Changes in Scottish Incomes, 1924-
1949', Economic Journal, 65 (1955), pp. 225-40; but in fact the lower figure corresponds
best with Gavin McCrone's findings for personal income per head in 1949-51,
Regional Policy in Britain (1969), p. 163.
24
Campbell, 'Income', p. 56.
25
See J. Scott and M. Hughes, The Anatomy of Scottish Capital (1980).
26
D. J. Robertson, 'Wages', in Cairncross, ed., Scottish Economy, pp. 149-69.

Scotland 1850-1950 227
hosiery a m o n g textiles, a n d h e a v y rather that light engineering on

Clydeside.
T h e relative fortunes of salaries a n d i n c o m e s - a n d b y implication
2 7
those of the middle and working classes - also varied. Between
1 9 2 4 a n d 1 9 2 9 t h e total o f S c o t t i s h w a g e i n c o m e r e m a i n e d stagnant
b u t t h e total o f s a l a r y i n c o m e r o s e b y 1 0 p e r c e n t . B o t h t h e n d r o p p e d
to 1933, but t h e n increased in m o n e y terms to 1949, b y about t w o
a n d a h a l f t i m e s , total w a g e i n c o m e a c t u a l l y g r o w i n g a b o u t a fifth
2 8
m o r e t h a n total s a l a r y i n c o m e .
It w a s , h o w e v e r , v e r y e a s y i n t h e s e y e a r s , a s s i n c e , t o b e o v e r -
impressed b y tartan Jeremiahs of press and hustings w h o b e m o a n e d
t h e failure o f S c o t l a n d t o ' k e e p u p w i t h E n g l i s h p r o s p e r i t y ' - b y w h i c h
they usually m e a n t the prosperity of the English south-east. In real
terms Scottish incomes rose by about 20 per cent e v e n in the
depression years 1924-37, and by about 40 per cent over the whole
period 1929-50 - making possible a very substantial improvement
i n t h e g e n e r a l s t a n d a r d o f l i v i n g . B y 1 9 5 0 , t h o u g h it w a s u n d e n i a b l e
t h a t S c o t t i s h p e r s o n a l i n c o m e s w e r e fully 1 0 p e r c e n t b e l o w t h o s e
of t h e U K a s a w h o l e , t h e y w e r e a c t u a l l y n o w o r s e t h a n t h o s e i n
the north of E n g l a n d , a n d a g o o d deal better t h a n t h o s e in W a l e s
or south-west E n g l a n d : t h e y w e r e a third above t h o s e of N o r t h e r n
29
Ireland. It is e a s y t o h a v e s o m e s y m p a t h y w i t h t h o s e civil s e r v a n t s
w h o m a i n t a i n e d t h a t w h a t t h e S c o t s h a d b e c o m e m o s t s k i l l e d at m a n u
f a c t u r i n g s i n c e t h e First W o r l d W a r w a s a s t r e a m o f c o m p l a i n t s .
W h e t h e r these appeared justified d e p e n d e d largely o n w h e t h e r y o u
w e r e sitting c o m f o r t a b l y at W e s t m i n s t e r o r o n a s l i g h t l y h a r d e r s e a t
i n S c o t l a n d . B u t e v e r y o n e w a s b e t t e r off t h a n h a d b e e n d r e a m t p o s s i b l e
in 1850, or e v e n t h o u g h t likely in 1900.
27
Campbell, 'Changes in Scottish Incomes', p. 226.
28
In an intriguing article, 'An Index of the Poor and Rich in Scotland, 1861-1961',
Scottish Journal of Political Economy, 18 (1971), pp. 49-67, Lee Solow argues that
evidence from housing (the number of rooms occupied by each family) indicates
that relative inequality decreased only by 5 - 1 0 per cent from 1861 to 1901, but
has accelerated until 'today's inequality is but half that of a century ago'. The point
is interesting, but as council house building policy has become the main determinant
of house size in Scotland by the middle of the twentieth century it would be hard
to accept this as any measure of the inequality of wealth distribution.
29
McCrone, Regional Policy, p. 163, gives the following estimates of personal income
per head in the British regions outside the south-east in 1949-50, as percentages
of the UK average: Scotland and northern England, 90 per cent; north-west England,
100 per cent; Wales, 81 per cent; south-west England, 82 per cent; Northern Ireland,
58 per cent.

228 T. c. SMOUT
II
T h e m a j o r f e a t u r e o f S c o t t i s h political life in t h e first h a l f o f t h e c e n t u r y

after 1 8 5 0 w a s t h e l o y a l t y o f t h e v o t e r to t h e G r e a t L i b e r a l P a r t y .
3 0
It w a s as m u c h a s o c i o l o g i c a l a s a political p h e n o m e n o n . Liberalism
in S c o t l a n d , e v e n m o r e o b v i o u s l y t h a n in E n g l a n d , w a s a c o a l i t i o n
of g r o u p s w h o o f t e n h a d m a n i f e s t l y o p p o s i n g i n t e r e s t s , a n d o c c a s i o n
ally o p p o s e d e a c h o t h e r at t h e p o l l s , e s p e c i a l l y w h e r e t h e r i s k o f a
T o r y t a k i n g t h e s e a t w a s s m a l l . T h e social a p e x o f t h e L i b e r a l s w a s
f o r m e d b y t h e W h i g s , h e r o e s of 1 8 3 2 , a r i s t o c r a t s a n d gentlemen,
s t r o n g l y r e p r e s e n t e d i n t h e l e g a l p r o f e s s i o n : in fact, in s o c i a l t e r m s
t h e y w e r e n o t o b v i o u s l y different f r o m t h e b a c k b o n e o f S c o t t i s h T o r y
support. T h e W h i g s instinctively believed that the extension of the
f r a n c h i s e h a d a l w a y s g o n e far e n o u g h ; t h e y d e p l o r e d i d e a s o n l i c e n s
ing reform; they were against meddling with the church. A s time
p a s s e d t h e i r i n f l u e n c e d e c l i n e d , b u t for m a n y y e a r s t h e y w e r e in g r e a t
d e m a n d as c a n d i d a t e s for c o n s t i t u e n c i e s w h e r e t h e i r t y p e o f L i b e r a l
w a s h e a v i l y o u t n u m b e r e d : G l a s g o w , for e x a m p l e , t h e l a r g e s t a n d m o s t
l o y a l L i b e r a l c o n u r b a t i o n in B r i t a i n , l o n g p r e f e r r e d g e n t l e m e n and
o r a t o r s to b e t h e i r r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s . A n y o n e t o o o b v i o u s l y p r o v i n c i a l
in s p e e c h or o u t l o o k w o u l d h a v e e m b a r r a s s e d t h e m .
The m i d d l e - c l a s s radical L i b e r a l s w e r e e p i t o m i s e d b y t h e i r dis
t i n g u i s h e d l e a d e r D u n c a n M c L a r e n ( M P for E d i n b u r g h a n d b r o t h e r - i n -
l a w of J o h n B r i g h t ) , s e l f - m a d e m a n , d i s s e n t e r , t e m p e r a n c e r e f o r m e r ,
w h o h a d c o m e u p t h e h a r d w a y t h r o u g h m u n i c i p a l politics a n d m a d e
a r e p u t a t i o n first as L o r d P r o v o s t . T h e m i d d l e - c l a s s r a d i c a l s w e r e c h a r
acteristically s m a l l b u s i n e s s m e n a n d free c h u r c h m e n ; a n d it w a s a
d i s t i n c t a d v a n t a g e to t h e L i b e r a l p a r t y t h a t after t h e D i s r u p t i o n o f
1 8 4 3 a m i n o r i t y o f t h e P r o t e s t a n t p o p u l a t i o n c l a i m e d a l l e g i a n c e to
t h e o l d C h u r c h o f S c o t l a n d . T h e political d i v i d e in S c o t l a n d o f t e n
split e x a c t l y o n t h e l i n e o f c h u r c h a l l e g i a n c e : in t h e e l e c t i o n o f 1 8 6 8 ,
1,221 C h u r c h o f S c o t l a n d c l e r g y o u t o f 1,288 v o t e d C o n s e r v a t i v e , 1,468
31
d i s s e n t i n g P r e s b y t e r i a n c l e r g y o u t o f 1,536 v o t e d L i b e r a l . T h e radi
cals w e r e a n x i o u s ( f e r o c i o u s l y a n x i o u s after 1 8 7 6 ) t o d i s e s t a b l i s h t h e
Church o f S c o t l a n d , to G l a d s t o n e ' s c o n s i d e r a b l e embarrassment.
30
The following three paragraphs owe much to I. G. C. Hutchison, 'Politics and
Society in Mid-Victorian Glasgow 1846-1886' (unpublished PhD thesis, Edinburgh
University, 1974), now incorporated in his recent book, A Political History of Scotland,
1832-1924: Parties, Elections and Issues (Edinbugh, 1985).
31
A. J. Drummond and J. Bulloch, The Church in Late Victorian Scotland, 1874-1900,
(Edinburgh, 1978), p. 90.

Scotland 1850-1950 229
T h e y w i s h e d for a n t i - d r i n k l e g i s l a t i o n , h o l d i n g t h a t m o s t p o v e r t y w a s
c a u s e d b y i n t e m p e r a n c e . O n t h e o t h e r h a n d t h e y c o n s i d e r e d t h e fac
t o r y acts u n n e c e s s a r y , a n d t h e i d e a o f a l l o w i n g t r a d e u n i o n s to p i c k e t ,
a b s u r d . T h e y also d e p l o r e d t h e i d e a o f n o n - s e c t a r i a n B o a r d - s c h o o l
education which both the W h i g s and the working-class Liberals were
keen on.
T h e w o r k i n g - c l a s s L i b e r a l s , t h e ' L i b - L a b s ' , w e r e t h e t h i r d m a i n fac
tion, without a vote before 1868, though certainly not without
i n f l u e n c e . T h e i r c a n d i d a t e s in S c o t l a n d s e l d o m r e a c h e d t h e ticket in
n a t i o n a l e l e c t i o n s a n d n o t often in local e l e c t i o n s , b u t t h e L i b - L a b s
w e r e t h e d o m i n a n t force in t h e t r a d e s c o u n c i l s . T h e politically active
fractions o f t h e w o r k i n g class w e r e t h e skilled m e n , s t u b b o r n in
d e f e n c e o f t r a d e s - u n i o n r i g h t s a n d r e a d y to p r e s s for e x t e n s i o n s of
t h e m i n e s a n d factories acts or w o r k m e n ' s c o m p e n s a t i o n l e g i s l a t i o n ,
urging extensions of the franchise and supporting the W h i g s over
e d u c a t i o n . T h o u g h often i n d i v i d u a l l y s t r o n g b e l i e v e r s in t h e t e m p e r
a n c e m o v e m e n t , t h e y w e r e ' m o r a l s u a s i o n i s t s ' , a n x i o u s to r e f o r m b y
example and persuasion rather than b y legislation. T h e y were, on
t h e o t h e r h a n d , allies of t h e m i d d l e - c l a s s radicals in efforts to k e e p
d o w n the poor rates, believing n o less fervently than M c L a r e n that
a m a n s h o u l d t a k e c a r e o f h i s o w n social s e c u r i t y b y t h e s y s t e m a t i c
p r a c t i c e of thrift. T h e u n s k i l l e d Irish v o t e r , w h o s e e a r n i n g s w e r e s o
l o w or irregular t h a t thrift w a s irrelevant, w e r e also n o r m a l l y L i b e r a l s ,
l a b o u r i n g u n d e r t h e b e l i e f t h a t G l a d s t o n e w a s a b o u t to g r a n t I r e l a n d
h o m e r u l e . T h o u g h h e a v i l y d i s c r i m i n a t e d a g a i n s t in t h e e l e c t o r a l s y s
t e m ( t h e s i m p l e rule in t h e S e c o n d R e f o r m A c t t h a t a h o u s e h o l d e r
c o u l d n o t e x e r c i s e h i s v o t e u n l e s s h e h a d a l r e a d y p a i d his r a t e s r e g u
larly d i s e n f r a n c h i s e d t w o - t h i r d s o f t h e Irish h o u s e h o l d e r s in G l a s g o w )
t h e Irish w e r e n o t e n t i r e l y w i t h o u t m u s c l e . In 1 8 7 4 , a y e a r w h e n o t h e r
w o r k i n g - c l a s s L i b e r a l s w e r e d i s i l l u s i o n e d w i t h t h e i r p a r t y o v e r its
r e l u c t a n c e to l e g a l i s e p i c k e t i n g , t h e G l a s g o w Irish d e c i s i o n to v o t e
T o r y as a p r o t e s t a g a i n s t L i b e r a l c o e r c i o n o v e r t h e w a t e r r e s u l t e d in
v i c t o r y for a s i n g l e C o n s e r v a t i v e , t h e i r o n l y g a i n in t h a t city b e t w e e n
1832 and 1886.
I n t h e s e c i r c u m s t a n c e s it is e a s y to s e e w h a t o c c a s i o n a l l y t o r e L i b e r a l s
apart, b u t m o r e difficult to identify w h a t (apart f r o m r e l i g i o n ) h e l d
t h e m t o g e t h e r b e h i n d t h e b a n n e r s o f free t r a d e a n d r e f o r m . T h e r e
w e r e p e r h a p s t h r e e m a i n e l e m e n t s . T h e first w a s r e f e r e n c e to a c o m
m o n ideology of 'standing on your o w n two feet' which the lawyer,
the big employer, the self-made shopkeeper and the respectable

230 T. C. S M O U T
w o r k i n g m a n c o u l d all a d m i r e . J o h n V i n c e n t w r i t e s p r i m a r i l y w i t h
r e f e r e n c e to E n g l a n d , b u t h i s d e s c r i p t i o n o f L i b e r a l i d e o l o g y a p p l i e s
w i t h e q u a l f o r c e t o a S c o t l a n d w h e r e t h r i f t i n e s s w a s n e x t to G o d l i n e s s :
For the nineteenth century man, the mark or note of being human was that
he should provide for his own family, have his own religion and politics
and call no man his master. It is as a mode of entry into this full humanity
that the Gladstonian Liberal Party most claims our r e s p e c t . . . the great moral
idea of Liberalism was manliness, the rejection of the various forms of patro
nage, from soup and blankets upwards, which had formerly been the normal
32
part of the greatest number.
It w a s G l a d s t o n e ' s g r e a t gift, o r trick, t o a p p e a r to e m b o d y t h e s e

i m p a l p a b l e y e t vital ' p r i n c i p l e s o f r i g h t ' .
T h e second b o n d was nationalism. T a m a Liberal because I a m
a S c o t c h m a n ' exclaimed Taylor Innes in 1887, s u m m i n g up the senti
33
m e n t of m a n y of his fellow party loyalists. T h e identification of
the Conservatives with imperialism, the C h u r c h of E n g l a n d and state
i n t e r f e r e n c e i n e c c l e s i a s t i c a l affairs i n S c o t l a n d b e f o r e t h e D i s r u p t i o n ,
a n d t h e o p p o s i t e i d e n t i f i c a t i o n o f t h e L i b e r a l s w i t h s y m p a t h y for n a t i o
nalist m o v e m e n t s i n E u r o p e , for a m e a s u r e o f h o m e r u l e for I r e l a n d
a n d g r e a t e r r e s p e c t for t h e t r a d i t i o n s o f t h e p r o v i n c e s , t e n d e d t o l i n e
u p S c o t t i s h i d e n t i t y w i t h L i b e r a l i s m ; i n fact, G l a d s t o n e w a s a s s l o w
as D i s r a e l i o r a n y o t h e r n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y P r i m e M i n i s t e r i n r e c o g n i s
i n g t h a t S c o t l a n d m i g h t h a v e s p e c i a l l e g i s l a t i v e n e e d s d u e t o its
h e r i t a g e o f different l a w a n d t r a d i t i o n . S c o t t i s h n a t i o n a l i s m i n t h e
n i n e t e e n t h century w a s a mild p h e n o m e n o n in the s e n s e that few
wanted home rule, or w a n t e d it f e r v e n t l y , but it nevertheless
expressed a powerful ethnic consciousness, hostile towards those w h o
in m a t t e r s g r e a t a n d s m a l l u n t h i n k i n g l y r e g a r d e d S c o t l a n d as p a r t
of E n g l a n d . It w a s t h i s s e n t i m e n t t h e L i b e r a l s s o effectively h a r n e s s e d ,
a n d s u c c e s s b r e d s u c c e s s : t h e m o r e t h e L i b e r a l s s w e p t t h e b o a r d in
Scotland, the m o r e they w e r e regarded as the 'natural' Scottish party.
T h e third and m o s t interesting b o n d a m o n g the Liberals was class
c o n s c i o u s n e s s , s u r p r i s i n g for a p a r t y t h a t p r o c l a i m e d t h e b r o t h e r h o o d
of m a n , b u t p e r h a p s n o t m o r e s u r p r i s i n g t h a n t h e s a m e j u x t a p o s i t i o n
a m o n g s o c i a l i s t s , t h o u g h t h e y d e f i n e d t e r m s in a different w a y . T h e
32
J. R. Vincent, The Formation of the Liberal Party, 1857-68 (1966), pp. xiii, xiv. This
passage is quoted in Joan M. Smith, 'Commonsense Thought and Working Class
Consciousness: Some Aspects of the Glasgow and Liverpool Labour Movements
in the Early Years of the Twentieth Century' (unpublished PhD thesis, Edinburgh
University, 1981), p. 96.1 am deeply indebted to this work for much of the illustration
in the next few pages.
33
H. J. Hanham, The Scottish Political Tradition (Edinburgh, 1964), p. 23.

Scotland 1850-1950 231
L i b e r a l s s o m e t i m e s l i k e d t o e x p r e s s it as ' t h e c l a s s v e r s u s t h e m a s s e s '
m e a n i n g b y 'the class' the b o d y of privileged l a n d o w n e r s a n d their
t o a d i e s a n d b y ' t h e m a s s e s ' e v e r y b o d y e l s e - t h e p e o p l e . T h i s is h o w
G l a d s t o n e p u t it i n a s p e e c h i n G l a s g o w :
You are opposed throughout the country by a compact army, and that army
is the case of the class against the masses . . . and what I observe is this,
when a profession is highly privileged, when a privilege is publicly endowed,
it is in these cases you will hnd that almost the whole of the class and the
34
professions are against u s .
It w a s a f o r m u l a t h a t c o u l d p o w e r f u l l y u n i t e t h e m i d d l e - c l a s s r a d i c a l s
w i t h t h e w o r k i n g - c l a s s L i b e r a l s in a c o m m o n h a t r e d , t h o u g h it ulti
m a t e l y a l i e n a t e d m o s t o f t h e W h i g s . It w a s c o n f i r m e d a n d i n f l a m e d
e v e r y t i m e a l a n d l o r d d e n i e d t h e F r e e K i r k g r o u n d for a c h u r c h , a n d
e v e r y t i m e e v i c t i o n s s w e p t m e n f r o m t h e g l e n s t o t h e t o w n s . It also
covered a multitude of shortcomings in the e c o n o m i c system. In 1884
t h e G l a s g o w T r a d e s C o u n c i l c i r c u l a r i s e d all k n o w n t r a d e s c o u n c i l s
i n t h e B r i t i s h I s l e s for t h e i r o p i n i o n s o n t h e c a u s e s o f t h e d e p r e s s i o n
of 1 8 7 9 : t h e u n a n i m o u s r e s p o n s e w a s t h a t t h e ' l a n d l a w s ' , t h e s p e c i a l
privileges of the landed aristocracy, were responsible - though the
G l a s g o w C o u n c i l itself a s t u t e l y o b s e r v e d t h a t t h a t c o u l d h a r d l y b e
t h e w h o l e e x p l a n a t i o n , as t h e d e p r e s s i o n h a d a l s o i n v o l v e d t h e U S A
3 5
which had no land laws.
T h e great reform processions of the trades in Edinburgh and Glas
g o w , especially those of 1866 and 1884 o n the eve of the S e c o n d and
T h i r d R e f o r m Bills, w e r e m a r v e l l o u s v i s u a l d e m o n s t r a t i o n s o f t h e c h a r
a c t e r o f p r o l e t a r i a n L i b e r a l i s m . T h e y at o n c e e n c a p s u l a t e d c l a s s h o s
tility a g a i n s t t h e l a n d l o r d s , a n d w e r e e x p r e s s i o n s o f craft p r i d e a n d
a s e n s e of b e l o n g i n g to a c o h e r e n t tradition of reforming zeal that
s t r e t c h e d b a c k at l e a s t a c e n t u r y . T h e G l a s g o w d e m o n s t r a t i o n o f 1 8 8 4 ,
i n t e n d e d to put pressure o n an obstructive T o r y H o u s e of Lords,
i n v o l v e d 6 4 , 0 0 0 in t h e p r o c e s s i o n a n d a n o t h e r 2 0 0 , 0 0 0 g a t h e r i n g t o
greet t h e m on G l a s g o w G r e e n . T h e y carried countless pictures of
G l a d s t o n e a n d m a n y o f B r i g h t , a flag f r o m 1 7 7 4 , b a n n e r s f r o m 1 8 3 2
and from Chartist days, and models and mottoes old and n e w . T h e
F r e n c h p o l i s h e r s , for e x a m p l e , c a r r i e d a m i n i a t u r e w a r d r o b e first b o r n e
in 1 8 3 2 , a n d a flag w i t h a m o t t o ' T h e F r e n c h p o l i s h e r s will p o l i s h
off t h e L o r d s a n d m a k e t h e c a b i n e t s h i n e ' . T h e u p h o l s t e r e r s h a d a
sofa first c a r r i e d in 1 8 3 2 , t h e p o t t e r s a m o d e l k i l n w i t h t h e w o r d s
34 35
Quoted in Smith, 'Commonsense Thought', p. 98. Ibid., pp. 105-6.

232 T. c. SMOUT
' w e ' l l fire t h e m u p ' , t h e s a w y e r s a b a n n e r w i t h t h e d e v i c e o f t w o

circular s a w s a n d t h e w o r d s ' T h e c r o o k e d L o r d s - w e ' l l c u t t h e m
straight'. T h e executive of the Scottish L a n d Restoration League
p a s s e d w i t h t h e m o t t o ' G o d g a v e t h e l a n d to t h e p e o p l e , L o r d s t o o k
the land from the p e o p l e ' . T h e e m p l o y e e s of Charles T e n n a n t carried
a d o z e n flags a n d b a n n e r s , w i t h a m o d e l o f a c o o p e r at w o r k made
in 1754 a n d b o r n e in the demonstrations of 1832, 1866 a n d 1 8 8 3 . T h e
f l e s h e r s s i m p l y l e d a n o x w i t h a p l a c a r d r o u n d its n e c k , ' t h e H o u s e
of L o r d s ' . T h e b a s i c m e s s a g e w a s c l e a r - t h e ' c l a s s ' o b s t r u c t e d r e f o r m ,
36
the ' m a s s e s ' are here to d e m a n d it.
I n fact t h e demonstration of 1884 represented almost the last
o c c a s i o n at w h i c h it w o u l d h a v e b e e n p o s s i b l e t o rally s u c h a s t r o n g ,
a l m o s t u n a n i m o u s s h o w o f w o r k i n g - c l a s s s u p p o r t for L i b e r a l i s m . T h e
Gladstonian party w a s challenged in 1886 o n the right b y the Liberal
U n i o n i s t s o v e r t h e Irish q u e s t i o n , a n d o n t h e left b y t h e C r o f t e r s '
p a r t y , a n d , t w o y e a r s later, b y K e i r H a r d i e in t h e M i d l a n a r k e l e c t i o n
w h i c h l e d directly to t h e f o r m a t i o n o f t h e S c o t t i s h L a b o u r p a r t y a n d
t h e n in 1 8 9 3 to t h e f o u n d a t i o n i n B r a d f o r d o f t h e I L P . T h e L i b e r a l
Unionists attracted m a n y w h o h a d h a d increasing doubts not only
over Ireland but over excessive democratic tendencies and sectarian
e n t h u s i a s m for d i s e s t a b l i s h m e n t . T h e y d i d n o t d o a s w e l l in S c o t l a n d
as in E n g l a n d , b u t t h e y h e l p e d t o g i v e t h e T o r i e s t h e i r first n a t i o n a l
e l e c t o r a l v i c t o r y in 1 9 0 0 , a n d in d o i n g s o s h o o k t h e i m a g e o f S c o t l a n d
as a o n e - p a r t y s t a t e . F o r t h e first t i m e s u b s t a n t i a l n u m b e r s o f b u s i n e s s
m e n w e r e v o t i n g a g a i n s t t h e L i b e r a l p a r t y , a n d in 1 9 1 2 t h e L i b e r a l
U n i o n i s t s f o r m a l l y m e r g e d w i t h t h e C o n s e r v a t i v e s to f o r m a S c o t t i s h
Unionist party.
O f t h e c h a l l e n g e s o n t h e left, t h a t f r o m a g r a r i a n r a d i c a l i s m had
s o m e m o r e i m m e d i a t e s u c c e s s b u t w a s far l e s s s e r i o u s t h a n t h e socialist
c h a l l e n g e i n t h e l o n g r u n . F o u r h i g h l a n d s e a t s fell to t h e C r o f t e r s '
p a r t y i n 1 8 8 6 : t h e p a r t y o r i g i n a t e d f r o m t h e c a m p a i g n to force c o n
cessions over land legislation from the Liberals, and has s o m e claim
to b e c o n s i d e r e d t h e first m a s s w o r k i n g - c l a s s p a r t y in G r e a t B r i t a i n .
B u t t h e C r o f t e r s ' p a r t y did n o t last b e y o n d t h e 1 8 9 0 s - t h e H i g h l a n d e r s
s t a r t e d to v o t e L i b e r a l w h e n it b e c a m e c l e a r t h e W h i g landowners
were turning Tory.
T h e challenge of urban socialism was another matter. Keir Hardie
h a d little s u c c e s s i n 1 8 8 8 a n d t h e r e w e r e n o L a b o u r M P s u n t i l t w o
36
Ibid., pp. 188ff.

Scotland 1850-1950 233
w e r e r e t u r n e d i n 1 9 0 6 . B u t t h e i r r e l a t i v e e l e c t o r a l failure b e l i e d t h e
public excitement the socialists created from the 1890s onwards.
C h u r c h e s , m u n i c i p a l a u t h o r i t i e s a n d t h e political p a r t i e s all in different
w a y s t r i e d to m a k e a fitting r e s p o n s e to t h e allure o f t h e left, t h e
c h u r c h e s b y p a r a d i n g for t h e first t i m e a n a c t i v e s o c i a l c o n s c i e n c e ,
a n d t o w n c o u n c i l s b y e m p h a s i s i n g t h e i r s c h e m e s for m u n i c i p a l i s a t i o n
( a n d c a l l i n g forth a r a t e p a y e r s ' b a c k l a s h ) , t h e political p a r t i e s b y
s c h e m e s for w e l f a r e l e g i s l a t i o n . B y t h e e a r l y t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y t h e
ILP h a d m a d e considerable inroads into G l a s g o w municipal politics,
a n d h a d n i n e t e e n m e m b e r s o n t h e t o w n c o u n c i l at t h e o u t b r e a k o f
war.
T h e s u c c e s s o f t h e socialist m o v e m e n t c a n b e e x p l a i n e d p a r t l y in
terms of the d y n a m i s m and talent of the y o u n g leadership w h o had
t h e w o r l d at t h e i r feet - R . E . M u i r h e a d , T o m J o h n s t o n , J o h n M a c l e a n ,
James Connolly and J o h n Wheatley m a d e the Scottish Liberal leaders
of t h e i r g e n e r a t i o n l o o k g r e y o l d b o r e s . S o c i a l i s m c a m e i n m a n y s h a d e s
of r e d , f r o m t h e p u r e r M a r x i s m o f b o d i e s t h a t h a d e v o l v e d f r o m H y n d -
m a n ' s original L o n d o n - b a s e d S D F (the S S F of Connolly, the B S P of
M a c l e a n a n d the syndicalist-inclined S L P ) to the evolutionary socia
3 7
lism of the I L P . T h e ILP, however, was the group with the widest
a p p e a l to t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s , p r e c i s e l y b e c a u s e it s h a r e d in, a n d g l o r i e d
in, t h e political a n d c u l t u r a l h e r i t a g e o f L i b e r a l i s m at l e a s t a s m u c h
as i n t h e n e w socialist r e v e l a t i o n . T h e l e a d i n g S c o t t i s h s o c i a l i s t s , for
38
e x a m p l e , w e r e a l m o s t all p e r s o n a l a b s t a i n e r s . T h e I L P in p a r t i c u l a r
believed the cause of socialism was the cause of morality and reason,
s o t h e i r f a v o u r i t e w e a p o n s w e r e t h e Forward newspaper (founded
in 1 9 0 6 w i t h T o m J o h n s t o n as e d i t o r ) a n d socialist e v e n i n g c l a s s e s ,
37
The SSF was the Scottish Socialist Federation: 'Despite its name this was mainly
a local Edinburgh body, and was a product of the split which had occurred in
the British Social-Democratic Federation in 1884. The Edinburgh section eschewed
the factious concerns of its metropolitan leaders and constituted itself as an auton
omous "Scottish Socialist Federation"'; it re-affiliated to the SDF in 1895: O. D.
Edwards and B. Ransome, eds., James Connolly, Selected Political Writings (1973),
pp. 15-16. The BSP (British Socialist Party) was a London-based development of
the mainstream SDF, founded in 1912. The SLP (Socialist Labour Party) was a Scot
tish-based breakaway group that left the SDF (with Connolly's help) in 1903: it
became attracted to the 'industrial unionist' ideas of Daniel De Leon and had con
siderable importance despite its sectarianism and small membership. 'There can
have been scarcely a single person involved in the foundation of the Communist
Party of Great Britain who was not, at some time, influenced by the SLP and its
literature': Walter Kendall, The Revolutionary Movement in Britain 1900-21 (1969),
p. 69.
38
Out of fifty-two Labour MPs elected before 1945, thirty-two were abstainers, two
were not, and for eighteen their habit is not known: W. Knox, ed., Scottish Labour
Leaders, 1918-39: A Biographical Dictionary (Edinburgh, 1984), p. 23.

234 T. C. SMOUT
r a t h e r t h a t t h e b a r r i c a d e a n d t h e political s t r i k e . I n t h e b e s t radical
L i b e r a l t r a d i t i o n t h e y h a t e d t h e l a n d l o r d s : T o m J o h n s t o n ' s Our Noble
Families, a bitter l a m p o o n i n g attack o n the acquisition of hereditary
wealth b y the aristocracy, w a s both a best-seller and a m u c h m o r e
v e n o m o u s c r i t i c i s m t h a n a n y t h i n g Forward e v e r l a u n c h e d o n i n d u s t r i a l
capitalism, although from 1908 the n e w s p a p e r w a s clearly identifying
t h e capitalist as t h e e n e m y a l o n g s i d e t h e l a n d l o r d . L i k e t h e L i b e r a l s ,
t h e I L P b e l i e v e d i n ' H o m e R u l e A l l R o u n d ' . A n d t h e y b e l i e v e d in
t h e m a r c h o f p r o g r e s s as m u c h a s t h e L i b e r a l s did, o r e v e n m o r e .
I n d e e d , in a s e n s e t h e p a r t y w a s t h e i n e v i t a b l e o u t c o m e o f t h e q u e s t i o n
t h a t t h e G l a s g o w T r a d e s C o u n c i l a s k e d itself at a m e e t i n g i m m e d i a t e l y
after t h e a c h i e v e m e n t o f t h e T h i r d R e f o r m Bill - w h e r e d o w e g o
f r o m h e r e in t h e c r u s a d e t o w i d e n t h e political r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f t h e
people? For middle-class radicals a n d W h i g s , 1884 w a s the e n d of
t h e r o a d : for w o r k i n g - c l a s s L i b e r a l s it s e e m e d to b e t h e b e g i n n i n g
of real political r e p r e s e n t a t i o n , b u t o n l y if t h e y b e g a n t o w o r k o u t s i d e
the party.
It is doubtful, h o w e v e r , if s o c i a l i s m w o u l d h a v e m a d e e v e n as m u c h
h e a d w a y as it did b e f o r e t h e First W o r l d W a r u n l e s s its b a s i c m e s s a g e
to t h e u r b a n w o r k i n g c l a s s , t h a t c a p i t a l i s t s w e r e w i t h t h e l a n d l o r d s
and against the m a s s e s , h a d not struck root in g r o u n d m a d e m o r e
fertile b y a l t e r e d w o r k i n g - c l a s s e x p e r i e n c e . A l m o s t c e r t a i n l y , at t h e
e n d of the nineteenth a n d early twentieth centuries, the perceived
gulf b e t w e e n c a p i t a l a n d l a b o u r g r e w w i d e r , a n d t h e g a p w i t h i n t h e
w o r k i n g c l a s s b e t w e e n c r a f t s m a n a n d l a b o u r e r s m a l l e r . It w a s m o r e
difficult for a j o u r n e y m a n t o b e c o m e a s m a l l e m p l o y e r , w o r k b e c a m e
m o r e r u s h e d a n d d e m a n d e d l e s s skill in o c c u p a t i o n s like m i n i n g ,
engineering and shipbuilding which were the backbone of the econ
omy, unemployment when it c a m e affected s k i l l e d as w e l l as
unskilled, units of production g r e w larger, u n i o n s m o r e popular a n d
d e f e n s i v e , m a n a g e m e n t m o r e p r o f e s s i o n a l a n d a g g r e s s i v e . It is e a s y
to e x a g g e r a t e t h e e x t e n t o f t h i s , a n d o n e d o e s w e l l t o r e m e m b e r t h a t
m o s t of the working class that h a d the vote c o n t i n u e d normally to
u s e it t o identify w i t h t h e t r a d i t i o n a l c o n s e n s u s a n d t o v o t e L i b e r a l
at g e n e r a l e l e c t i o n s . B u t t h e t r e n d t o w a r d s h e i g h t e n e d c l a s s c o n s c i o u s
ness was undoubtedly there.
It t o o k c o n c r e t e f o r m in, for e x a m p l e , t h e w a v e o f u n e m p l o y m e n t
t h a t s t r u c k t h e e c o n o m y in t h e d e p r e s s i o n o f 1 9 0 8 . G l a s g o w w a s o n e
of t h e m o s t s e r i o u s l y affected cities i n t h e U K : The Times reported
1 6 , 0 0 0 - 1 8 , 0 0 0 o n t h e v e r g e o f s t a r v a t i o n in G o v a n p a r i s h a l o n e b y

Scotland 1850-1950 235
S e p t e m b e r . T h e S D F and ILP organised a Right to W o r k demon

stration w h i c h w a s reminiscent, on a smaller scale, of 1884: 35,000
m a r c h e d , ' e a c h o r g a n i s a t i o n c a r r i e d a b a n n e r , or s y m b o l s o f its t r a d e ,
craft or p u r p o s e ' , t h e j o i n e r s , for e x a m p l e , b e a r i n g a n 1 8 3 2 b a n n e r
w i t h t h e m o t t o ' t h e y are u n w o r t h y o f f r e e d o m w h o h o p e for it f r o m
h a n d s o t h e r t h a n t h e i r o w n ' . B u t in t h e s p e e c h e s o n G l a s g o w G r e e n
t h e m e s s a g e w a s n o t p r a i s e for t h e G r e a t L i b e r a l P a r t y . J o h n Hill,
a b o i l e r m a k e r s ' l e a d e r , e x p r e s s e d t h e d e s p a i r o f h i s craft in t h e s e
words:
Only a few years ago unemployment had no terrors for well-organised skilled
trades . . . now the tables are turned. With improved machinery our craft
is at a discount, and a boy from school now tends a machine which does
the work of three men . . . It is mostly machine minders who are wanted,
and a line from some well-known Liberal or Tory certifying that you are
not an agitator or a Socialist is the chief recommendation in the shipbuilding
and engineering trades. Thus today we find the ranks of the unemployed
largely recruited by men of intellect, men of genius and men of high character
39
and independent means.
It is a g a i n s t t h i s b a c k g r o u n d o f r i s i n g i n s e c u r i t y a n d r e s e n t m e n t b y
t h e s k i l l e d m e n t h a t t h e c a t a c l y s m i c c h a n g e in c l a s s politics t h a t a c c o m
p a n i e d a n d f o l l o w e d t h e First W o r l d W a r m u s t b e u n d e r s t o o d .
T h e e v e n t s o f R e d C l y d e s i d e d u r i n g a n d i m m e d i a t e l y after t h e First
W o r l d W a r a t t a i n e d s u c h f a m e , or n o t o r i e t y , t h a t it is e a s y to m i s i n t e r
4 0
pret t h e m . F o r s o m e o f t h o s e c a u g h t u p in t h e p e a k o f t h e e x c i t e m e n t
o n e i t h e r s i d e S c o t l a n d s e e m e d to b e o n t h e p o i n t o f s p o n t a n e o u s
combustion. O f the demonstrations and confrontations with the police
in G e o r g e S q u a r e , G l a s g o w , d u r i n g t h e F o r t y H o u r s S t r i k e o f 1 9 1 9 ,
William Gallacher, the strikers' leader exclaimed afterwards: ' A rising
w a s expected. A rising should h a v e taken place. T h e workers w e r e
r e a d y a n d a b l e to effect it; t h e l e a d e r s h i p h a d n e v e r t h o u g h t o f i t . '
T h e S e c r e t a r y for S c o t l a n d t o l d a m e e t i n g o f t h e w a r c a b i n e t at t h e
t i m e : ' I n h i s o p i n i o n it w a s m o r e c l e a r t h a n e v e r t h a t it w a s a m i s n o m e r
41
t o call t h e s i t u a t i o n i n G l a s g o w a strike - it w a s a B o l s h e v i s t r i s i n g . '
39
Smith, 'Commonsense Thought', pp. 319-24.
40
For useful accounts from differing standpoints see Kendall, Revolutionary Movement;
James Hinton, The First Shop Stewards' Movement (1973); Iain McLean 'Popular Protest
and Public Order, Red Clydeside 1915-1919' in R. Quinault and J. Stevenson, eds.,
Popular Protest and Public Order (1974), pp. 215-39; R. K. Middlemas, The Clydesiders
(1965); C. Harvie, No Gods and Precious Few Heroes, Scotland 1914-1980 (Edinburgh,
1981), chap. 1; J. Melling, 'Scottish Industrialists and the Changing Character of
Class Relations in the Clyde Region, c. 1880-1918', in T. Dickson, ed., Capital and
Class in Scotland (Edinburgh, 1982).
41
Quoted in McLean, 'Popular Protest', pp. 215, 231.

236 T. c. S M O U T
It is e a s y t o s h o w t h a t t h e s e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s o f t h a t p a r t i c u l a r e v e n t
w e r e totally w r o n g . G a l l a c h e r , w h o h a d r e a c t e d o n t h e s p o t w i t h
horror rather t h a n with revolutionary e n t h u s i a s m to the police con
f r o n t a t i o n , f o u n d t h a t t h e s t r i k e r s h a d l o s t t h e i r t a s t e for p r a x i s a n d
r e t u r n e d to w o r k w i t h i n a f e w d a y s . T h e g o v e r n m e n t , i n t u r n , h a d
simply b e e n misled b y the h e a d of the Special Branch, Basil T h o m s o n ,
w h o s e p r o f e s s i o n it w a s t o find r e d s u n d e r e v e r y b e d . B u t m u c h o f
the writing on R e d Clydeside since has b e e n dominated b y those
w i s h i n g to p r o v e t h e d e p t h a n d s p o n t a n e i t y o f r e v o l u t i o n a r y c l a s s
consciousness o n the Clyde, or b y t h o s e w h o , conversely, w i s h to
play the w h o l e thing d o w n a n d suggest that there was n o fundamental
r a d i c a l i s m o r affection for s o c i a l i s m o n t h e p a r t o f t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s .
T h e e v e n t s t h e m s e l v e s w e r e c o m p a r a t i v e l y s i m p l e , a n d l i m i t e d in
number. During the war, and mainly b e t w e e n February 1915 and
A p r i l 1 9 1 6 , t h e r e w e r e a s e r i e s o f s t r i k e s in t h e m u n i t i o n s w o r k s a l o n g
the Clyde that h i n g e d partly o n the question of w a g e levels but m o r e
o n t h e a t t e m p t u n d e r t h e M u n i t i o n s A c t t o b r i n g in w o m e n t o d o
t h e w o r k o f s k i l l e d m e n in t h e e n g i n e e r i n g s h o p s for t h e d u r a t i o n
of t h e w a r - t h e ' d i l u t i o n ' q u e s t i o n . T h e s e s t r i k e s m a i n l y i n v o l v e d
t h e e n g i n e e r s t h e m s e l v e s , a n d o n l y o n o n e significant o c c a s i o n (in
A u g u s t 1 9 1 5 at Fair/fields) b r o u g h t i n t h e s h i p y a r d w o r k e r s . A l t h o u g h
t h e i n n o v a t i o n s s t r u c k at t h e h e a r t o f craft p r i v i l e g e , A S E officials
w e r e r e l u c t a n t t o act a n d l e a d e r s h i p fell i n t o t h e h a n d s o f a n unofficial
body of s h o p stewards, the Clyde workers committee, heavily
i n f l u e n c e d b y activists f r o m t h e S L P a n d d e s c r i b e d as ' m o s t l y r e v o l u
tionary syndicalists of o n e kind or a n o t h e r ' . T h e strikes led to a
visit f r o m t w o c a b i n e t m i n i s t e r s at C h r i s t m a s 1 9 1 5 a t t e m p t i n g to
e x p l a i n dilution:
The visit spectacularly misfired. On Christmas Day, an impatient audience

of shop stewards listened to Arthur Henderson explaining at some length
the justice of the war on behalf of the 'brave and independent' Belgians ('Oh
heavens! How long have we to suffer this?') and to Lloyd George asserting
with passion that the responsibility of a Minister of the Crown in a great
42
war was not a light one ('The money's good', and laughter).
Forward p r i n t e d a n a c c u r a t e a c c o u n t o f t h e m e e t i n g , a n d a n o u t r a g e d
L l o y d G e o r g e h a d it i n s t a n t l y s u p p r e s s e d . T h e g o v e r n m e n t u s e d t h e
s t r o n g a r m o f t h e e m e r g e n c y l a w s o n s e v e r a l o c c a s i o n s in t h e n e x t
t h r e e m o n t h s , s u p p r e s s i n g t w o m o r e socialist n e w s p a p e r s , i m p r i s o n
i n g s e v e r a l w h o h a d b e e n i n v o l v e d in t h e i r p u b l i c a t i o n , i n c l u d i n g
42
Ibid., p . 218.

Scotland 1850-1950 237
Gallacher a n d the socialist educator J o h n M a c l e a n , a n d deporting from

t h e C l y d e a r e a t e n C W C l e a d e r s for f o m e n t i n g a s t r i k e at B e a r d m o r e ' s
P a r k h e a d forge. This did not e n d the tradition of militancy, but from
t h e n until the e n d of the w a r threats of serious industrial trouble
w e r e b o u g h t off b y c o n c e s s i o n s a n d w a g e r i s e s .
There were two other related sets of events during the war. O n e
w a s t h e r e n t s t r i k e s o f 1 9 1 5 , l e d v e r y effectively b y I L P w o m e n i n
t h e s h i p y a r d a n d e n g i n e e r i n g districts w h e r e t h e r e n t s o f w o r k i n g -
c l a s s t e n e m e n t s h a d b e e n p u s h e d t o e x o r b i t a n t h e i g h t s b y firms o f
f a c t o r s a c t i n g for s m a l l p r i v a t e l a n d l o r d s : t h e p r o t e s t s w e r e s o m e n a c
i n g a n d effective t h a t t h e g o v e r n m e n t i n t r o d u c e d w a r t i m e r e n t c o n t r o l
43
to secure peace in an area already rocked b y industrial trouble.
T h e s e c o n d set of events w e r e the demonstrations of 1917 and 1918
(still m o r e a l a r m i n g t o t h e g o v e r n m e n t ) i n f a v o u r o f t h e R u s s i a n R e v o
lution and urging a negotiated peace. O n M a y D a y 1918 s o m e 100,000
struck w o r k to attend a m e e t i n g o n G l a s g o w G r e e n , the largest con
tingents coming from the engineers, the railwaymen, the ILP branches
4 4
and the 'No Conscription Fellowship'. T h e g o v e r n m e n t replied by
a r r e s t i n g ( a n d i m p r i s o n i n g for t h e s e c o n d t i m e ) J o h n M a c l e a n ( w h o
h a d b e e n a p p o i n t e d S o v i e t C o n s u l in G l a s g o w ) , a n d b y police raids
t o d e s t r o y p r i n t i n g m a c h i n e r y at t h e S L P h e a d q u a r t e r s w h e r e t r a n s l a
t i o n s o f L e n i n ' s p a m p h l e t s w e r e b e i n g p u b l i s h e d . M o r e significantly,
h o w e v e r , t h e revolutionary socialists like M a c l e a n a n d the S L P proved
quite unable to organise a n y p r o l o n g e d industrial action against the
w a r , a n d t h e I L P a l s o f a i l e d t o p r o v i d e a u n i t e d front a b o u t t h e b e s t
w a y t o e n d it. J o h n W h e a t l e y o f t h e I L P c h a r a c t e r i s t i c a l l y d e c l a r e d
himself ' o p p o s e d to the u s e of a r m e d force in the establishment of
S o c i a l i s m i n t h i s c o u n t r y b e c a u s e I r e g a r d it a s i m m o r a l a n d i m p r a c t i
c a b l e ' , w h i c h i n d i c a t e d h o w c o m p l e t e l y t h e l a r g e s t f a c t i o n in R e d
Clydeside was c o m m i t t e d to the evolutionary line and democratic
4 5
processes.
I m m e d i a t e l y after t h e w a r , R e d C l y d e s i d e r e a c h e d its c l i m a x (or
its a n t i - c l i m a x ) i n t h e F o r t y H o u r s S t r i k e o f J a n u a r y 1 9 1 9 ; t h e p o l i c e
charge in G e o r g e S q u a r e w a s followed next day b y the occupation
of t h e a r e a b y E n g l i s h t r o o p s ( d i s p a t c h e d n o r t h o n t h e o v e r n i g h t
sleepers b y B o n a r L a w against the j u d g m e n t of W i n s t o n Churchill),
4 3
J. Melling, 'Clydeside Housing and the Evolution of State Rent Control 1900-1939',
in J. Melling, ed., Housing, Social Policy and the State (1980), pp. 139-67.
4 4
Smith, 'Commonsense Thought', pp. 5 0 6 - 9 .
45
Quoted, ibid., pp. 512-13.

238 T. c. SMOUT
d e p l o y i n g m a c h i n e g u n n e s t s o n t h e r o o f s a n d t a n k s in t h e s t r e e t s .
T h e c a b i n e t h a d o v e r r e a c t e d , b u t t h e strike failed to g e t official b a c k i n g
a n d t h e w h o l e t h i n g w a s c a l l e d off, f o l l o w i n g t h e a r r e s t o f t h e l e a d e r
s h i p , after s i x t e e n d a y s .
W h a t d i d it all a m o u n t t o ? It is e a s y to s e e t h a t t h e government
a n d the would-be local Bolsheviks w e r e w r o n g to imagine G l a s g o w
as a s e c o n d S t P e t e r s b u r g . B u t it is e q u a l l y w r o n g to s e e in R e d C l y d e -
side nothing of fundamental s i g n i f i c a n c e . T h e c o n d u c t o f t h e First
W o r l d W a r presented to the workers an extraordinary demonstration
of r u l i n g - c l a s s s t u p i d i t y a n d s e l f i s h n e s s . It w a s , h o w e v e r , c o m m e n c e d
w i t h a n e n t h u s i a s m t h a t t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s s h a r e d to t h e full. H a r r y
M c S h a n e , o n e o f t h e s o c i a l i s t s w h o o p p o s e d t h e w a r f r o m t h e start,
r e c a l l e d its e a r l y d a y s :
It was believed that the war would last six weeks, six months at the most,
and then the British army would march past the Kaiser in Berlin to celebrate
the British victory. Nobody even thought about removing the Kaiser; he was
just going to be there to see the Germans defeated . . . A terrible war fever
developed. Men rushed to join the army hoping that the war wouldn't be
all over by the time they got to the front; they had to march in civilian clothes
because there weren't enough uniforms to go round. Many young people,
particularly those who were unemployed, were caught up in the adventure
of the thing. On every hoarding there was a picture of Kitchener . . . pointing
his finger and saying 'Your Country Needs You'. There he was, and then
along came daft middle-class women with white feathers trying to drive young
46
men into the army.
T h e r e is p l e n t y o f e v i d e n c e t h a t at t h e o u t b r e a k t h e S c o t s w e r e
especially enthusiastic. T h e Highland Light Infantry w a s largely re
cruited from the 'pals battalions' of the slums of G l a s g o w ; o n e batta
lion w a s recruited solely from the e m p l o y e e s of the corporation
t r a m w a y s b y t h e i r m a n a g e r , t a k i n g h i s m e n t o w a r r a t h e r i n t h e spirit
of a n e i g h t e e n t h - c e n t u r y c h i e f l e a d i n g h i s t e n a n t s i n b a t t l e . O v e r a
q u a r t e r o f all S c o t t i s h m i n e r s j o i n e d t h e f o r c e s , a n d t w o - t h i r d s o f t h e
47
fishermen.
W i t h t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e g r e a t s l a u g h t e r at t h e e n d o f 1 9 1 5 , h o w
ever, and especially with the c a m p a i g n o n the S o m m e and the intro
d u c t i o n o f c o n s c r i p t i o n n e x t y e a r , d i s i l l u s i o n set in. G l a s g o w l o s t
18,000 dead, probably nearly 10 per cent of the adult male population:
48
S c o t l a n d as a w h o l e l o s t b e t w e e n 7 5 , 0 0 0 a n d lOO^OO. The blame
46
McShane and Smith, No Mean Fighter, p. 62.
47
Harvie, No Gods, pp. 10-15.
48
Ibid., p. 11.

Scotland 1850-1950 239
w a s p u t w h e r e it b e l o n g e d : o n d i s c r e d i t e d p o l i t i c i a n s a n d ineffective
generals; on a church which blessed the war and which met tragedy
4 9
with hollow sentiment; o n e m p l o y e r s w h o u s e d t h e n a t i o n a l crisis
t o m a k e e x c e s s i v e profits a n d t o i n t r o d u c e n e w w o r k p r a c t i c e s w h i c h
raised productivity but equally deliberately w e r e designed to destroy
l o n g - h e l d craft p r i v i l e g e ; o n l o c a l r a t i o n i n g c o m m i t t e e s w h o u s e d t h e i r
p o w e r s to f e a t h e r t h e i r o w n n e s t s . F o r e x a m p l e , w h e n m a r g a r i n e w a s
rationed in 1917, the committee charged with distributing supplies
in C l y d e b a n k ( c h a r a c t e r i s t i c a l l y d o m i n a t e d b y l o c a l t r a d e s m e n ) , allo
c a t e d e i g h t o u t o f fifteen h u n d r e d w e i g h t t o o n e retailer, w h o hap
p e n e d to b e the c o n v e n e r , but only three h u n d r e d w e i g h t to the co-ops,
50
although they had 60 per cent of existing trade. Y e t it w a s i m p o s s i b l e
t o b l a m e i n d i v i d u a l s - t h e r e w e r e t o o m a n y o f t h e m : it b e g a n to b e
perceived as the corruption of a class, of ' t h e s y s t e m ' .
S o t h e First W o r l d W a r d i d r e s u l t i n t h e a p p r e c i a b l e h e i g h t e n i n g
of c l a s s c o n s c i o u s n e s s , e s p e c i a l l y a m o n g s k i l l e d w o r k e r s . I n a s e n s e
it c o n f i r m e d t h e i r g r o w i n g s e n s e o f d o u b t a b o u t t h e u l t i m a t e b e n e v o
l e n c e o f ' t h e s y s t e m ' , a n d g a v e c r e d e n c e to t h e s o c i a l i s t s ' i d e n t i f i c a t i o n
of t h e L i b e r a l s as h u m b u g s a n d o f c a p i t a l i s m a s f u n d a m e n t a l l y e x p l o i
t a t i v e . B u t t h e r e v o l u t i o n h o p e d for u n d e r t h e I L P v e r s i o n o f s o c i a l i s m ,
while basic enough in that it e n v i s a g e d l i m i t e d p r o g r a m m e s of
n a t i o n a l i s a t i o n , s t a t e aid for c o u n c i l h o u s i n g , a n d h o m e r u l e for S c o t
l a n d , a l s o o w e d a g r e a t d e a l t o t h e o l d L i b e r a l r a d i c a l faith t h a t w h e n
t h e p e o p l e ( ' t h e m a s s e s ' ) c a m e t o i m p o s e t h e i r will u p o n P a r l i a m e n t ,
t h e s y s t e m w o u l d , i n a fairly u n s p e c i h c b u t q u i t e s w e e p i n g w a y , b e
a l t e r e d for t h e b e t t e r . F e w e x p e c t e d t h a t it w o u l d b e n e c e s s a r y to
c h a n g e p a r l i a m e n t a r y d e m o c r a c y itself, o r u s e f o r c e t o a t t a i n t h e i r
e n d s , o r t o a b o l i s h p r o p e r t y . It w o u l d b e e n o u g h for w o r k i n g m e n
to capture Parliament a n d a brave n e w world w o u l d follow.
T h e first fruits o f t h i s n e w m o o d w e r e s e e n after t h e R e p r e s e n t a t i o n
of t h e P e o p l e A c t o f 1 9 1 8 h a d g r e a t l y i n c r e a s e d t h e w o r k i n g - c l a s s
e l e c t o r a t e , a n d after t h e o l d political p a r t i e s h a d f u r t h e r discredited
t h e m s e l v e s b y postwar infighting. In 1922, twenty-nine Labour M P s
a n d a C o m m u n i s t w e r e elected out of S c o t l a n d ' s total of seventy-two,
gaining 3 3 . 6 per cent of the votes cast c o m p a r e d to 2 8 . 9 per cent
49
P. Matheson, 'Scottish War Sermons', Records of the Scottish Church History Society,
17 (1972), pp. 203-13. The clerical principal of Aberdeen University described the
war as 'a sacrament, and a sacrament in the full sense of that name as we Scots
have been brought up to understand it': Ibid., p. 207.
50
J. Kinloch and J. Butt, History of the Scottish Co-Operative Wholesale Society Limited
(Glasgow, 1981), p. 277.

240 T. C. S M O U T
5 1
for t h e l e f t - w i n g p a r t i e s in E n g l a n d . W h a t w a s distinctive about
the Scottish M P s , however, was the reputation of the ILP Clydesiders
led b y J a m e s M a x t o n , J o h n W h e a t l e y a n d T o m J o h n s t o n a s m e n o f
t h e left w h o k e p t t h e m s e l v e s d e l i b e r a t e l y a p a r t . B e a t r i c e W e b b s a i d
of T o m J o h n s t o n :
The dour Scot objects to any social intercourse; we are to meet only at public
meetings and committees and in the lobbies of the House of Commons. The
private houses of rich members of the Party are anathema, and any club
to which these members and their wives belong is almost equally objection
52
able.
The group certainly brought an unfamiliar element of proletarian rage

into the H o u s e of C o m m o n s , m o s t famously during a debate on the
Scottish estimates w h e n M a x t o n called t h e Tories in general a n d Sir
F r e d e r i c k B a n b u r y i n p a r t i c u l a r , ' m u r d e r e r s ' for t h r e a t e n i n g t h e l i v e s
of c h i l d r e n b y m a k i n g c u t s i n h e a l t h e x p e n d i t u r e b y l o c a l a u t h o r i t i e s .
H e was suspended, with three other Clydesiders w h o supported him,
after h e r e f u s e d to a p o l o g i s e .
F r o m 1922 o n w a r d s Labour w e n t from strength to strength, t h o u g h
not in a linear direction. T h u s their n u m b e r s w e r e r e d u c e d to s e v e n
in 1 9 3 1 ( t h o u g h o n t h e s a m e p e r c e n t a g e s h a r e of t h e v o t e a s i n 1 9 2 2 )
a n d t h e y did n o t o b t a i n a n a b s o l u t e m a j o r i t y o f S c o t t i s h s e a t s u n t i l
1 9 4 5 . B u t e v e n at t h e i r l o w p o i n t , g a i n s w e r e b e i n g m a d e i n o t h e r
directions: the capture of G l a s g o w City Council in 1933 w a s of enor
m o u s s i g n i f i c a n c e , a n d after t h e S e c o n d W o r l d W a r all t h e S c o t t i s h
cities a p a r t f r o m E d i n b u r g h c a m e n o r m a l l y to h a v e L a b o u r m a j o r i t i e s
o n t h e i r c o u n c i l s . O t h e r l e f t - w i n g g r o u p s h a d v e r y little s u c c e s s after
t h e failure of t h e G e n e r a l S t r i k e , t h o u g h W i l l i a m G a l l a c h e r c a p t u r e d
Fife coalfield for t h e C o m m u n i s t p a r t y in t h e g e n e r a l e l e c t i o n o f 1 9 3 5
a n d h e l d t h e s e a t for fifteen y e a r s , a n d t h e C o m m u n i s t s remained
s t r o n g in t h e t r a d e s c o u n c i l s , s o m e u n i o n s a n d a f e w l o c a l a u t h o r i t i e s ,
5 3
t h e ' L i t t l e M o s c o w s ' in Fife a n d t h e V a l e o f L e v e n . T h e y certainly
c a s t a r e d g l o w o v e r t h e w e s t , B a e d e k e r i n 1 9 3 7 i n t e r r u p t i n g its
description of the Firth of Clyde with the observation that 'Clydeside
5 4
is t h e c h i e f s t r o n g h o l d o f C o m m u n i s m i n G r e a t B r i t a i n ' . Meanwhile,
the Liberal party, already r e d u c e d to eight seats b y 1924, w a s not
r e p r e s e n t e d at all b y 1 9 4 5 . T h e r e a l c h a n g e w a s t h a t ' G o o d O l d L a b o u r '
51
J. G. Kellas, The Scottish Political System (Cambridge, 1973), pp. 106-7.
52
B. Webb, Diaries 1924-32 (1956), p. 12.
53
S. Macintyre, Little Moscows: Communism and Working-class Militancy in Inter-War
Britain (1980).
54
K. Baedeker, Great Britain: Handbook for Travellers, 9th edn (1937), p. 577.

Scotland 1850-1950 241
h a d r e p l a c e d ' T h e G r e a t L i b e r a l P a r t y ' in t h e h e a r t s o f t h e S c o t t i s h
working class, while the middle class h a d g o n e unequivocally Tory.
In t h a t s e n s e c l a s s p o l i t i c s h a d c l e a r l y a r r i v e d .
The character and appeal of ' G o o d Old Labour' had, however,
b e c o m e b y t h e start o f t h e s e c o n d h a l f o f t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y , differ
ent in several important respects from that of the old Clydesiders.
F o r o n e t h i n g , c o m m i t m e n t t o h o m e r u l e for S c o t l a n d h a d g o n e o u t
of t h e w i n d o w : i n 1 9 1 8 s u c h n a t i o n a l i s t s e n t i m e n t h a d b e e n n o t m e r e l y
an important inheritance of the ILP from Liberalism but, since Scotland
w a s m o r e obviously left-wing t h a n E n g l a n d , an attractive w a y to
a c h i e v e ' s o c i a l i s m i n o n e c o u n t r y ' . W i t h t h e failure o f H o m e R u l e Bills
s p o n s o r e d b y Scottish L a b o u r m e m b e r s in 1924 a n d 1929, t h e collapse
of t h e e x p o r t - o r i e n t e d e c o n o m y i n t h e 1 9 2 0 s a n d 1 9 3 0 s , a n d finally
t h e a c h i e v e m e n t o f a m a j o r i t y L a b o u r g o v e r n m e n t at W e s t m i n s t e r
5 5
i n 1 9 4 5 , it s e e m e d p o i n t l e s s to try to g o it a l o n e .
Tom J o h n s t o n ' s later career exemplifies s o m e of the c h a n g e s . H e
w a s s e l e c t e d b y C h u r c h i l l to b e S e c r e t a r y o f S t a t e for S c o t l a n d i n
the S e c o n d W o r l d W a r , partly o n the g r o u n d s that the erstwhile
poacher from R e d Clydeside would m a k e a good gamekeeper on
labour matters - as h e did. J o h n s t o n ' s politics h a d b e c o m e t h o s e of
t h e c o n s e n s u s , a significant t h r o w b a c k t o t h e L i b e r a l r o o t s o f t h e I L P :
h e w a s t o s a y i n h i s a u t o b i o g r a p h y t h a t h e r e g a r d e d h i m s e l f as a
' m o d e r a t e extremist', a n d o n e w h o believed 'that in co-operation a n d
m u t u a l a i d a n d n o t i n fratricidal strife c a n w e w i n t h r o u g h t o m a t e r i a l
p l e n t y for all, a n d t o a spiritual a n d c u l t u r a l d e v e l o p m e n t a n d g r e a t
5 6
n e s s for e a c h o f u s ' . His c o m m i t m e n t to h o m e rule of the Scots
b y t h e S c o t s h a d b e c o m e t r a n s m u t e d to a c o m m i t m e n t t o o r g a n i s e
Scottish advisory c o m m i t t e e s to strengthen the h a n d of the Secretary
of S t a t e i n g o v e r n i n g S c o t l a n d a n d d e a l i n g w i t h L o n d o n . H e had
m o v e d f r o m d e m o c r a t i c s o c i a l i s t t o q u a n g o - m a n . H i s s u c c e s s o r in t u r n
f o u n d h i m s e l f b i t t e r l y o p p o s e d to t h e h o m e rule m o v e m e n t when
in 1949 J o h n M a c C o r m i c k ' s Scottish C o v e n a n t Association marshalled
t w o m i l l i o n s i g n a t u r e s t o a d o c u m e n t c a l l i n g for a S c o t t i s h P a r l i a m e n t
within the framework of the United K i n g d o m 'with adequate legisla
tive a u t h o r i t y in S c o t t i s h affairs'. S c o t t i s h L a b o u r m e m b e r s , o n c e in
power, found themselves not opposing the system, but becoming
it.
The class w a r a n d t h e nationalist tradition in L a b o u r politics w a s
55
M. Keating and D. Bleiman, Labour and Scottish Nationalism (1979).
56
T. Johnston, Memories (1952), p. 249.

242 T. C. S M O U T
thus heavily played d o w n i n t h e 1 9 4 0 s c o m p a r e d to t h e 1920s.

Nevertheless, the power o f t h e L a b o u r p a r t y in S c o t l a n d r e s t e d
u n e q u i v o c a l l y o n t w o d i s t i n c t i v e l y S c o t t i s h c l a s s facts - l i v i n g in a
council h o u s e and the threat of u n e m p l o y m e n t . Labour b e c a m e the
party of housing and jobs.
T h e i m p o r t a n c e o f h o u s i n g to t h e L a b o u r c a u s e d a t e s b a c k to t h e
initiative o f G l a s g o w T r a d e s C o u n c i l in 1 9 0 0 in f o r m i n g a S c o t t i s h
H o u s i n g A s s o c i a t i o n w h i c h ' m a d e a c l e a r call for s t a t e p r o v i s i o n o f
h o u s i n g in 1 9 0 8 ' a n d to t h e I L P c a m p a i g n t o f o r c e t h e c o u n c i l t o b u i l d
a n d let at r a t e s s u b s i d i s e d f r o m t h e profits o f t h e m u n i c i p a l l y o w n e d
t r a m w a y s £8 Cottages for Glasgow Citizens, to q u o t e t h e title o f a c e l e
5 7
brated p a m p h l e t written b y J o h n W h e a t l e y in 1 9 1 3 . The connection
w a s s t r e n g t h e n e d i n t h e First W o r l d W a r b y t h e r e n t s t r i k e s a n d t h e
c a s e for g o v e r n m e n t i n t e r v e n t i o n m a d e i m p e l l i n g b y t h e R o y a l C o m
mission on Housing in Scotland of 1917, which revealed how
' t h e p e o p l e o f G l a s g o w w e r e p a c k e d i n t o t h e i r h o m e s to a d e g r e e
u n i m a g i n a b l e e v e n in the larger English cities'; there w e r e over t w o
p e r s o n s p e r r o o m i n 5 5 . 7 p e r c e n t o f G l a s g o w ' s h o u s e s b u t in o n l y
58
9.4 per cent in English cities.
T h e s e pressures were a major part of the H o u s i n g and T o w n Plan
ning Act (Scotland) of 1919, w h i c h introduced state subsidies, greatly
s t r e n g t h e n e d in 1924 w h e n J o h n W h e a t l e y b e c a m e the Minister of
H e a l t h in t h e first L a b o u r g o v e r n m e n t . T h e effect o f t h i s a n d s u b s e
quent legislation w a s that council h o u s e building and slum clearance
w e r e b e g u n in earnest, council h o u s e s b e i n g constructed in G l a s g o w
at e i g h t t i m e s t h e r a t e o f p r i v a t e h o u s e s i n t h e i n t e r w a r y e a r s , a n d
after t h e S e c o n d W o r l d W a r t h e p r i v a t e s e c t o r w a s for a t i m e d e l i b e r a
tely denied materials a n d building permits to allow council h o u s i n g
to i n c r e a s e its s h a r e still m o r e s u b s t a n t i a l l y . T h e e n d r e s u l t w a s t h a t
b y t h e late 1 9 6 0 s S c o t l a n d w a s b u i l d i n g m o r e o f h e r h o u s i n g i n t h e
5 9
public sector t h a n a n y other country in E u r o p e , Russia i n c l u d e d .
T h e verminous old slums h a d b e e n destroyed; n e w housing estates
of l o w r e n t , l o w q u a l i t y c o n s t r u c t i o n , p o o r a m e n i t y a n d n o v e l t y p e s
of s o c i a l p r o b l e m h a d b e e n c r e a t e d - a n d t h e i n h a b i t a n t s v o t e d L a b o u r
to k e e p t h i n g s a s t h e y w e r e .
L a b o u r ' s r e p u t a t i o n as d e f e n d e r o f j o b s d e v e l o p e d m o r e s l o w l y ,
57
S. Damer, 'State, Class and Housing: Glasgow, 1885 - 1919', in Melling, ed.,
Housing, Social Policy, p.90.
58
S. G. Checkland, The Upas Tree (Glasgow, 1977), p. 20.
59
D. Niven, The Development of Housing in Scotland (1979), p. 34.

Scotland 1850-1950 243
as d u r i n g t h e i n t e r w a r y e a r s e m p l o y m e n t v a n i s h e d f r o m t h e h e a v y
i n d u s t r i e s s o r a p i d l y t h a t n e i t h e r left n o r r i g h t h a d a n y c l e a r n o t i o n
of w h a t t o d o a b o u t it, o t h e r t h a n p r o v i d i n g t h e palliatives o f d o l e
m o n e y . T h e initial s t e p s t o attract n e w i n d u s t r y to S c o t l a n d w e r e
taken u n d e r the National g o v e r n m e n t in the 1930s with the passage
of t h e S p e c i a l A r e a s ( D e v e l o p m e n t a n d I m p r o v e m e n t ) A c t o f 1 9 3 4 ,
a n d after t h e S e c o n d W o r l d W a r t h e L a b o u r g o v e r n m e n t u s e d p l a n
n i n g c o n t r o l s t o d e t e r m i n e t h e l o c a t i o n o f i n d u s t r y in a m o r e p o s i t i v e
way. Although the great age of p u m p i n g m o n e y into dying industries
w a s t o c o m e i n t h e 1 9 6 0 s a n d 1 9 7 0 s , t h e t r e n d w a s firmly s e t b y 1 9 4 5
a g a i n s t t h e free m a r k e t a n d t o w a r d s c e n t r a l d i r e c t i o n . A v o t e for
L a b o u r w a s c o m i n g to b e s e e n as a v o t e for t h e r i g h t to live w h e r e
y o u h a d always lived a n d to w o r k w h e r e y o u h a d always w o r k e d .
T h e w e l f a r e s t a t e a n d t h e m i x e d e c o n o m y w o u l d j o i n h a n d s to l o o k
after y o u .
T h e r e s u l t s o f all t h i s l o o k o d d , in t h e l o n g p e r s p e c t i v e . I n t h e 1 8 7 0 s
the w o r k i n g m a n v o t e d Liberal to declare his s e n s e of m a n h o o d , his
d e t e s t a t i o n o f p a t r o n a g e a n d h i s d e t e r m i n a t i o n to c o n t r o l h i s o w n
d e s t i n y ; in t h e 1 9 2 0 s h e v o t e d L a b o u r t o d e c l a r e a n e w l y e m p h a s i s e d
s e n s e o f c l a s s s o l i d a r i t y a n d a g a i n to e x p r e s s h i s d e t e r m i n a t i o n to
c o n t r o l h i s o w n d e s t i n y ; b y 1 9 5 0 h e v o t e d L a b o u r p r i m a r i l y to a l l o w
e x p e r t s t o k e e p t h e s t a t u s q u o s l i g h t l y in h i s f a v o u r . A self-help i d e o l
o g y distrustful o f t h e s y s t e m s u r v i v e d until t h e m i d - 1 9 2 0 s a n d t h e n
b e c a m e t r a n s m u t e d into o n e w h e r e the s y s t e m w a s expected to help
the self. T h e c l a s s a n i m o s i t i e s s a n c t i o n e d b y radical p o l i t i c i a n s
c h a n g e d b e t w e e n t h e T h i r d R e f o r m Bill a n d t h e First W o r l d W a r f r o m
anti-landlordism to anti-capitalism: but b y the 1940s positive class
a n i m o s i t i e s o f a n y k i n d w e r e r e g a r d e d as 'fratricidal s t r i f e ' , b a d f o r m
in political life. If t h e r e h a d b e e n o n e i n d i v i d u a l a m o n g t h e C l y d e s i d e r s
w h o could perhaps have recalled the Scottish Labour m o v e m e n t back
t o its s e l f - h e l p a n d socialist t r a d i t i o n s it w a s J a m e s M a x t o n , w h o sur
vived until 1946. But h e hopelessly isolated himself b y withdrawing
a r e m n a n t o f t h e I L P f r o m t h e L a b o u r p a r t y after t h e d i s a s t e r s o f
1 9 3 1 . T h e disaffiliated I L P a n d t h e C o m m u n i s t s j o i n t l y o r g a n i s e d t h e
H u n g e r M a r c h a m o n g t h e u n e m p l o y e d in 1 9 3 2 a n d 1 9 3 3 , b u t little
substantive could be done outside the main movement.
T h e a v e r a g e S c o t i n h i s e v e r y d a y n o n - p o l i t i c a l life, o f c o u r s e , h a d
o b v i o u s l y n o t e s c h e w e d c l a s s a n i m o s i t i e s o f a d e f e n s i v e k i n d : in i n d u s
try, e s p e c i a l l y i n t h e w e s t o f S c o t l a n d , t h e r e c o r d o f s t r i k e s , g o - s l o w s ,
restrictive practices a n d a b s e n t e e i s m r e m a i n e d extremely b a d from

244 T. c. S M O U T
T a b l e 3 . 5 Percentage of Scottish population living in communities of

different sizes, 1861-1951
1,000 + 5,000 + 50,000 + 500,000 +

1861 57.7 39.4 27.8 0.0
1891 70.6 53.5 32.2 14.0
1911 75.4 58.6 39.8 19.9
1931 80.1 63.1 43.6 22.6
1951 82.2 64.0 42.3 21.4
Source: Census of Scotland for years cited; M. W. Flinn, ed., Scottish Population
History from the 17th Century to the 1930s (Cambridge, 1977), p. 313.
t h e 1 9 2 0 s o n w a r d s ; m a n a g e m e n t a n d l a b o u r ' s m u t u a l distrust a l m o s t
a m o u n t e d to a s u i c i d e p a c t in a m o d e r n c o m p e t i t i v e e c o n o m y . B u t
in S c o t t i s h politics t h e fire i n t h e b e l l y h a d g o n e o u t , q u e n c h e d b y
t h e i n t e r w a r e x p e r i e n c e o f u n e m p l o y m e n t a n d e c o n o m i c defeat a n d
b y t h e s u b s e q u e n t a c c e p t a n c e o f K e y n e s a n d B e v e r i d g e as b e t t e r m e n
t o r s t h a n G l a d s t o n e or M a r x .
Ill
I n this s e c t i o n w e c o n s i d e r t h e t o w n s . F o r t h e R e g i s t r a r G e n e r a l for
S c o t l a n d a n y o n e living in a c o m m u n i t y o f 1,000 s o u l s is c o u n t e d
a m o n g t h e u r b a n i s e d ; for t h e e d i t o r o f Scottish Population History o n l y
c e n t r e s o f 5 , 0 0 0 a n d o v e r are satisfactorily d e s c r i b e d as t o w n s ; for
o t h e r p u r p o s e s it m a y b e m o r e r e l e v a n t t o k n o w h o w m a n y l i v e d
in s e t t l e m e n t s w i t h m a n y t e n s o f t h o u s a n d s , or h u n d r e d s o f t h o u
sands, of inhabitants. Table 3.5 lays out the Scottish data u n d e r various
h e a d i n g s at s e l e c t e d d a t e s .
F r o m this it is p l a i n t h a t b y a n y criteria r a p i d u r b a n i s a t i o n w a s a
m a r k e d feature of the s e c o n d half of the nineteenth century, but that
t h e rate o f c o n c e n t r a t i o n i n t o t o w n s ( e s p e c i a l l y l a r g e t o w n s ) h a s dra
m a t i c a l l y s l o w e d s i n c e t h e First W o r l d W a r . T a b l e 3 . 6 l a y s o u t t h e
d a t a for s e t t l e m e n t s o f o v e r 5 , 0 0 0 b y g e o g r a p h i c a l a r e a a n d e m p h a s i s e s
a s e c o n d a n d n o l e s s striking f e a t u r e - t h a t t h e e x p e r i e n c e o f u r b a n i s a
t i o n in S c o t l a n d h a s b e e n e x c e p t i o n a l l y u n e v e n o v e r s p a c e as w e l l
as o v e r t i m e . S o m e r e g i o n s r e m a i n e d v e r y rural a n d u r b a n i s e d l a t e .
I n t h e p r e d o m i n a n t l y rural far n o r t h , t h e H i g h l a n d s a n d t h e B o r d e r s ,
w h i l e t h e p r o p o r t i o n living in t o w n s r o u g h l y t r i p l e d b e t w e e n 1 8 6 1
a n d 1 9 3 9 , t h e y w e r e n o t e v e n at t h e latter d a t e e v e n h a l f as u r b a n i s e d

Scotland 1850-1950 245
T a b l e 3 . 6 Percentage of Scottish population living in communities of over

5,000, by geographical area, 1861-1951
Far High- North W. Low E. Low

north lands east lands lands Borders
1861 7.0 6.3 21.7 62.2 41.6 9.9
1891 8.8 15.2 29.8 72.1 55.0 21.7
1911 10.6 18.6 39.9 72.2 59.3 25.2
1931 17.0 21.7 43.3 76.7 60.3 28.3
1951 18.8 21.1 44.5 74.4 64.1 28.7
Note: The 'geographical areas' are denned as containing the following former
counties:
Far north: Orkney, Shetland, Caithness
Highlands: Sutherland, Ross and Cromarty, Inverness, Argyll, Bute
North-east: Nairn, Moray, Banff, Aberdeen, Kincardine
Western Lowlands: Dunbarton, Renfrew, Lanark, Ayr
Eastern Lowlands: Perth, Angus, Fife, Kinross, Clackmannan, Stirling, East
Lothian, Midlothian, West Lothian
Borders: Berwick, Peebles, Selkirk, Roxburgh, Dumfries, Kirkcudbright,
Wigtown.
Source: Flinn, ed., Scottish Population History, pp. 313-15.
Table 3.7 Population of the six largest Scottish towns, 1861-1951 (000s)
Edinburgh
Glasgow andLeith Dundee Aberdeen Paisley Greenock
1861 394.9 201.6 90.4 73.8 47.4 42.1
1891 565.0 328.9 153.1 121.6 66.4 63.1
1911 784.5 400.8 165.0 163.9 84.5 75.1
1931 1,088.5 439.0 175.6 167.3 86.4 78.9
1951 1,089.8 466.8 177.3 182.7 93.7 76.3
Notes: There are always substantial difficulties in estimating the true size of
towns because of boundary changes, and different definitions could produce
substantially different results; for example, the inclusion of the contiguous
Abbey parish in Paisley in 1861 and of Govan and Partick in Glasgow in
1911 would have increased the population of both those cities by a fifth or
more. As it is, the populations given here are of 'Parliamentary burghs',
as denned at different census dates to 1911, and thereafter 'Entire County
of City and Parish', as similarly denned.
Source: Census of Scotland for years cited.
as t h e w e s t e r n L o w l a n d s h a d a l r e a d y b e e n in 1 8 6 1 . I n t h e i n d u s t r i a l
c e n t r a l b e l t t h e d o m i n a n t e x p e r i e n c e w a s n o t c o m i n g to live in t o w n s
per se, b u t c o m i n g to live in t o w n s o f g r e a t s i z e . T a b l e 3 . 7 g i v e s t h e
p o p u l a t i o n o f t h e six l a r g e s t t o w n s at s e l e c t e d d a t e s . B y 1 9 5 1 , o u t

246 T. c. SMOUT
of a t o t a l S c o t t i s h p o p u l a t i o n o f a b o u t 5 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 , two-fifths l i v e d i n
the densely developed Clyde basin. O f this, G l a s g o w ' s share was
about 1,000,000, i.e. 2 1 per cent of the total population ( L o n d o n h a d
only 8 per cent of the total population of E n g l a n d a n d W a l e s ) . W h i l e
it h a s a l w a y s b e e n t r u e t h a t i n S c o t l a n d a s l i g h t l y s m a l l e r p r o p o r t i o n
of t h e t o t a l p o p u l a t i o n l i v e d i n t o w n s t h a n i n E n g l a n d , t h e r e a l l y
significant f e a t u r e i n S c o t l a n d h a s b e e n t h e s e e x t r e m e s o f l o w l e v e l s
of u r b a n i s a t i o n i n t h e n o r t h a n d s o u t h c o m b i n e d w i t h v e r y h i g h l e v e l s
in t h e c e n t r e .
Urbanisation, especially the headlong growth of G l a s g o w and other
t o w n s in the west, c o n t i n u e d to p o s e e n o r m o u s p r o b l e m s t h r o u g h o u t
the period, t h o u g h the s e n s e of panic w h i c h so often s w e p t c o n t e m
p o r a r i e s w h e n t h e y c o n s i d e r e d t h e cities i n t h e 1 8 3 0 s a n d 1840s
r e c e d e d in the decades that followed.
T h e f o r m a l m a c h i n e r y for g o v e r n i n g t h e t o w n s i n t h e s e c o n d h a l f
of t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y w a s h a m p e r e d b y its o w n c o m p l e x i t y . It
b e g a n b y following the lines established b y the burgh reform statutes
of 1 8 3 3 , t w o o f w h i c h a b o l i s h e d t h e c o r r u p t o l d c l o s e d c o r p o r a t i o n s
in favour of election of councils b y £ 1 0 h o u s e h o l d e r s , a n d t h e third
allowed such h o u s e h o l d e r s in a royal b u r g h or b u r g h of b a r o n y to
by-pass (but not supplant) the existing councils b y adopting a parallel
'police system', whereby elected magistrates and commissioners of
p o l i c e w e r e g i v e n p o w e r s to r a i s e r a t e s for w a t c h i n g , l i g h t i n g , p a v i n g ,
cleansing, draining, bringing in a water supply, a n d similar functions.
M o s t large Scottish t o w n s - G l a s g o w , Edinburgh, Leith, A b e r d e e n ,
D u n d e e , G r e e n o c k - w o r k e d u n d e r their o w n Police Acts, a n d in
1862 Lindsay's Burgh Police Act enabled communities of no more
than 700 inhabitants to m a k e building a n d sanitary bye-laws of their
o w n , t h o u g h it r e m a i n e d , i n P r o f e s s o r B e s t ' s w o r d s , ' n o b o d y ' s official
business, until the nineties, to m a k e sure either that the bye-laws
w h i c h w e r e n e e d e d w e r e m a d e , or that, h a v i n g b e e n m a d e , t h e y w e r e
6 0
enforced'.
T h e mid-Victorian years, the 1850s to the 1880s, w e r e a period of
administrative confusion in local g o v e r n m e n t in S c o t l a n d to an e v e n
6 1
greater degree t h a n in E n g l a n d . For e x a m p l e , in 1845 t h e belated
60
G. Best, T h e Scottish Victorian City', Victorian Studies, 11 (1968), pp. 329-58. See
also I. H. Adams, The Making of Urban Scotland (1978), chap. 7.
61
The best survey is G. S. Pryde, Central and Local Government in Scotland since 1707
(Historical Association Pamphlet No. 4 5 , 1 9 6 0 ) .

Scotland 1850-1950 247
r e f o r m o f t h e S c o t t i s h p o o r l a w r e s u l t e d in t h e c r e a t i o n o f a C e n t r a l
Board of Supervision a n d a multiplicity of parochial boards: the former
b e c a m e in 1 8 6 7 a k i n d o f c e n t r a l s a n i t a r y office ( t h o u g h w i t h q u i t e
f e e b l e p o w e r s ) ; t h e latter h a d a p a i d i n s p e c t o r a t e t h a t b e c a m e l o a d e d
w i t h all k i n d s o f r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s o t h e r t h a n l o o k i n g after t h e p o o r
- for e x a m p l e , a u d i t i n g r e g i s t r a r s ' a c c o u n t s ( 1 8 5 4 ) , e n f o r c i n g v a c c i n a
tion (1855), dealing with lunatics (1857), public health duties (1867),
l i c e n s i n g p a w n b r o k e r s a n d r a i s i n g t h e e d u c a t i o n rate ( 1 8 7 2 ) . A g a i n
t h e c o m m i s s i o n e r s o f s u p p l y h a d e x i s t e d in S c o t l a n d s i n c e t h e s e v e n
t e e n t h c e n t u r y to d o m a n y o f t h e t h i n g s for w h i c h t h e q u a r t e r s e s s i o n s
h a d r e s p o n s i b i l i t y in E n g l a n d : t h e y w e r e g i v e n c o n t r o l o v e r t h e c o u n t y
p o l i c e f o r c e s w h e n t h e y w e r e m a d e o b l i g a t o r y (in 1 8 5 6 - 7 ) a n d c a m e
t o g e t h e r w i t h b u r g h m a g i s t r a t e s in m a n y ad hoc a u t h o r i t i e s - for e x a m
ple, district b o a r d s o f c o n t r o l o v e r l u n a c y in 1 8 5 7 , t h e p r i s o n c o m m i s
s i o n e r s in 1 8 7 7 a n d t h e c o u n t y r o a d t r u s t e e s in 1 8 7 8 . I n 1 8 7 2 t h e
establishment of the Scotch Education D e p a r t m e n t and a local network
of e l e c t e d S c h o o l B o a r d s a d d e d further t o t h e t a n g l e .
O r d e r b e g a n t o b e i m p o s e d o n this w e l t e r o f c o n f l i c t i n g r e s p o n s i
bilities w i t h t h e c r e a t i o n o f p o p u l a r l y e l e c t e d c o u n t y c o u n c i l s in 1 8 8 9
(absorbing the p o w e r s of the commissioners of supply and many
of t h e s p e c i a l i s e d a u t h o r i t i e s ) , a n d t h e r e p l a c e m e n t in 1 8 9 4 o f t h e
Board of Supervision and the parochial boards b y a more authoritative
L o c a l G o v e r n m e n t B o a r d w i t h p a r i s h c o u n c i l s . M e a n w h i l e , in t o w n
g o v e r n m e n t proper, the B u r g h Police Act of 1892 e n d e d the system
of d u a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t y ( s o t h a t h e n c e f o r t h a t o w n m i g h t b e g o v e r n e d
e i t h e r b y p r o v o s t , baillies a n d c o u n c i l l o r s , or b y p o l i c e m a g i s t r a t e s
and commissioners, but not by both). The T o w n Council (Scotland)
Act of 1900 logically c o m p l e t e d the process b y insisting o n uniform
c o n s t i t u t i o n s in all b u r g h s u n d e r p r o v o s t , baillies a n d e l e c t e d c o u n c i l
lors.
T h e m a j o r r e f o r m of t h e first h a l f o f t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y w a s t h e
local g o v e r n m e n t l e g i s l a t i o n o f 1 9 2 9 w h i c h s e t u p t h r e e t y p e s o f b u r g h :
four ' c o u n t i e s o f c i t i e s ' , t w e n t y T a r g e b u r g h s ' ( w i t h p o p u l a t i o n s o f
c. 2 0 , 0 0 0 ) a n d 1 7 1 ' s m a l l b u r g h s ' . T h e four cities w e r e l a r g e l y self-
administrating, with wide p o w e r s over education and police. T h e large
burghs also controlled their o w n police, but p o w e r over education
w i t h i n t h e m r e s i d e d in c o u n t y c o u n c i l s . T h e s m a l l b u r g h s were
r e s p o n s i b l e o n l y for h o u s i n g a n d for s o m e local s e r v i c e s s u c h as light
i n g , c l e a n s i n g a n d d r a i n a g e : e v e r y t h i n g e l s e in t h e m fell to t h e c o u n t y
c o u n c i l s . T h e b a s i c difference in local a d m i n i s t r a t i o n w a s w e l l s u m m e d

248 T. C. S M O U T
up b y Professor P r y d e ' s remark that b e t w e e n the nineteenth a n d twen

6 2
t i e t h c e n t u r i e s ' t h e ad hoc g a v e w a y to t h e ad omnia b o d y ' .
G i v e n t h e e x t e n t o f o v e r l a p p i n g a n d ineffective a u t h o r i t y , it m i g h t
be imagined that the Scottish Victorian t o w n was almost incapable
of effective g o v e r n m e n t . T h e p r o b l e m w a s e x a c e r b a t e d b e c a u s e m a n y
s t a t u t e s i n t e n d e d for t h e b e t t e r g o v e r n m e n t o f t o w n s t h r o u g h o u t t h e
entire United K i n g d o m simply could not be i m p o s e d on Scotland
b e c a u s e t h e y h a d b e e n d r a w n u p w i t h o u t a n y r e g a r d to t h e s i n g u l a r
ities o f S c o t t i s h l a w . T h e S a n i t a r y A c t o f 1 8 6 6 w a s a c a s e i n p o i n t :
it w a s d e s i g n e d to e s t a b l i s h m a c h i n e r y to c o m p e l l o c a l a u t h o r i t i e s
to i m p r o v e s a n i t a r y p r o v i s i o n , b u t it p r o v e d i n o p e r a b l e in S c o t l a n d
b e c a u s e t h e u l t i m a t e m e a n s o f e n f o r c e m e n t w a s b y a p p e a l to t h e C o u r t
of Q u e e n ' s B e n c h w h i c h h a d n o j u r i s d i c t i o n n o r t h o f t h e B o r d e r . It
r e v e a l s t h e p o o r q u a l i t y o f W e s t m i n i s t e r ' s c a r e for S c o t l a n d i n t h i s
period that w h e n this a n d similar anomalies w e r e discovered nothing
at all w a s d o n e for m a n y y e a r s t o r e m e d y t h e m a t t e r . I n d e e d , n o t
until the Public Health (Scotland) Act of 1897 did S c o t l a n d catch up
with E n g l a n d in the matter of sanitary legislation, a n d ' S c o t l a n d was,
6 3
by then, a long way b e h i n d ' . T h e d i s a d v a n t a g e w a s felt m o s t s h a r p l y
in s m a l l e r a n d m i d d l e - s i z e d b u r g h s - c o m m u n i t i e s l i k e M o t h e r w e l l
a n d P o r t G l a s g o w - w h e r e e v e n at t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e p r e s e n t c e n t u r y
t h e laissez-faire s q u a l o r o f C h a d w i c k ' s w o r l d s e e m e d t o h a v e b e e n
l e s s m i t i g a t e d t h a n e l s e w h e r e , e x c e p t b y t h e p r o v i s i o n (often b e l a t
e d l y ) o f p i p e d w a t e r . I n t h e g r e a t cities, h o w e v e r , as P r o f e s s o r B e s t
has emphasised, urban government was neither impotent nor un
i m a g i n a t i v e i n t h e face o f t h e s e h a n d i c a p s . R u l e d b y P o l i c e A c t s , a n d
d r i v e n b y a m i x t u r e o f civic p r i d e in t h e p o p u l a c e a n d a u t h o r i t a r i a n
t r a d i t i o n in t h e c o u n c i l s , t h e y p r o v e d t h e m s e l v e s c a p a b l e o f i n n o
v a t i o n . E d i n b u r g h , for all t h e s a n i t a r y h o r r o r s o f its o l d w y n d s , h a d ,
e v e n in t h e 1 8 5 0 s , t h e b e s t s c a v e n g i n g s e r v i c e a n d t h e m o s t u n i v e r s a l l y
available medical service (through the doctors of the Royal Infirmary)
of a n y city in B r i t a i n . T h e c o l l a p s e o f a n o l d t e n e m e n t in t h e H i g h
S t r e e t w i t h t h e l o s s o f thirty-five l i v e s l e d i n 1 8 6 2 to t h e a p p o i n t m e n t
of H e n r y L i t t l e j o h n a s t h e first M e d i c a l Officer o f H e a l t h in S c o t l a n d .
His report in 1867 o n every aspect of the sanitary condition of the
capital, and in p a r t i c u l a r on differential m o r t a l i t y in its various
q u a r t e r s , p r o v i d e d t h e k i n d o f q u a n t i t a t i v e b a c k i n g for future r e f o r m
t h a t C h a d w i c k h a d p r o v i d e d for E n g l a n d a n d W a l e s i n 1 8 4 2 , a n d
62 63
Ibid. p. 22. Best, 'Scottish Victorian City', p. 334.

Scotland 1850-1950 249
w a s j u s t as f a m o u s o n its n a r r o w e r s t a g e . T h e b u i l d i n g o f C h a m b e r s
S t r e e t in t h e n a m e o f a r e f o r m i n g L o r d P r o v o s t w a s a first a t t e m p t
to drive a s w a t h e t h r o u g h t h e s l u m s t h a t h e m m e d in E d i n b u r g h
64
University.
T h i s initiative w a s g e n e r a l l y f o l l o w e d in t h e 1 8 7 0 s a n d 1 8 8 0 s b y
the reconstruction of most of the area r o u n d the Royal Mile, the C o w -
g a t e a n d t h e G r a s s m a r k e t , d e s t r o y i n g in t h e p r o c e s s o n e o f t h e m o s t
r e m a r k a b l e late R e n a i s s a n c e cities in E u r o p e a n d r e p l a c i n g it b y a
V i c t o r i a n pastiche. If it a l s o w i p e d o u t t h e w o r s t c o r r o s i o n s o f e n d e m i c
d i s e a s e a n d c r i m e , it d i d n o t h i n g to h e l p r e h o u s e t h e d i s p l a c e d p o o r .
T h e invisible h a n d f o u n d a m o r e a c c e p t a b l e s o l u t i o n w h e n , w i t h r i s i n g
real w a g e s in t h e last d e c a d e s of t h e c e n t u r y , affluent a r t i s a n s w h o
h a d h i t h e r t o l i v e d in t h e c e n t r e b e g a n to m o v e o u t f r o m a m o n g t h e
c o m p a n y o f t h e p o o r e s t in t h e o l d t o w n to p r i v a t e l y built r e n t e d t e n e
m e n t s c o n s t r u c t e d in n e w w o r k i n g - c l a s s s u b u r b s at G o r g i e - D a l r y a n d
E a s t e r R o a d . T h e football t e a m s , H e a r t o f M i d l o t h i a n a n d H i b e r n i a n ,
f o l l o w e d t h e i r s u p p o r t e r s o u t t o n e w s t a d i a in e a c h l o c a t i o n . T h u s
t h e a r c h i t e c t u r a l e x p r e s s i o n o f social d i v i s i o n w h i c h b e g a n in t h e e i g h
t e e n t h c e n t u r y w i t h t h e m o v e m e n t o f t h e u p p e r c l a s s e s to t h e n e w
t o w n w a s c o m p l e t e d in t h e late n i n e t e e n t h w h e n t h e l e a s t skilled
w e r e left in p o s s e s s i o n o f t h e o l d t o w n .
It w a s G l a s g o w , h o w e v e r , r a t h e r t h a n t h e capital, w h i c h in t h e
s e c o n d half of the nineteenth century w o n the m o r e widespread repu
t a t i o n for d y n a m i c g o v e r n m e n t . L i k e E d i n b u r g h , it w a s b l e s s e d w i t h
p u s h y a n d effective M e d i c a l Officers of H e a l t h ; t h e first a p p e a r e d
i m m e d i a t e l y after L i t t l e j o h n ' s a p p o i n t m e n t , a n d t h e m o s t f a m o u s ,
D r J . B . R u s s e l l , w a s a p o w e r t o b e r e c k o n e d w i t h in t h e l a n d . In
1859 G l a s g o w broke n e w ground b y bringing the highland waters
of L o c h K a t r i n e t o t h e city - t h e first m u n i c i p a l i t y in B r i t a i n to h a r n e s s
a b u n d a n t n a t u r a l s u p p l i e s in t h i s w a y : t h e c o n t r a s t c a n b e m a d e w i t h
D u n d e e , w h i c h in 1 8 6 1 w a s s a i d t o h a v e o n l y five w a t e r c l o s e t s for
a p o p u l a t i o n o f 9 2 , 0 0 0 a n d all its w a t e r c a m e f r o m c a r t s o r w e l l s -
65
of w h i c h t h e l a r g e s t w a s h e a v i l y p o l l u t e d f r o m a s l a u g h t e r h o u s e .
T h e w i s d o m o f G l a s g o w w a s p e r h a p s d e m o n s t r a t e d in 1 8 6 5 - 6 w h e n
it l a r g e l y e s c a p e d t h e f o u r t h c h o l e r a e p i d e m i c , suffering o n l y fifty-
t h r e e o u t o f s o m e f o u r h u n d r e d d e a t h s in S c o t l a n d , w h e r e a s in t h e
64
H. Macdonald, 'Edinburgh with Special Reference to the Work of Dr Littlejohn
as Medical Officer of Health' (unpublished PhD thesis, Edinburgh University, 1972),
is the best account.
65
Adams, Urban Scotland, p. 136.

250 T. c. SMOUT
p r e v i o u s ( a n d m o r e s e v e r e ) e p i d e m i c o f 1 8 5 3 - 4 it h a d s u f f e r e d 4 , 0 0 0
out of a Scottish total of about 6,000. O t h e r t o w n s followed h e r ex
ample, Edinburgh obtaining water from St M a r y ' s Loch and D u n d e e
ultimately from the Loch of Lintrathen. In the smallest b u r g h s the
s t r u g g l e b e t w e e n t h o s e w i l l i n g to p a y for p u r e w a t e r f l o w i n g d o w n
f r o m a r e s e r v o i r in t h e hills a n d t h o s e w h o b e l i e v e d it w o u l d b e suffi
c i e n t to p u m p it c h e a p l y u p f r o m t h e n e a r e s t ( b u t g e n e r a l l y p o l l u t e d )
river w a s o f t e n fierce: i n S e l k i r k t h e t o w n w a s s o d i v i d e d i n a b i t t e r
contest to elect a council of 'Gravitationalists' over ' P u m p e r s ' that
t h e a n n u a l rite o f t h e C o m m o n R i d i n g h a d t e m p o r a r i l y to b e a b a n
6 6
doned.
G l a s g o w ' s t r a d i t i o n o f d e c i s i v e , n o t to s a y t o t a l i t a r i a n , a c t i o n w a s
d e m o n s t r a t e d a g a i n i n 1 8 6 2 w h e n t h e city o b t a i n e d e x t r a o r d i n a r y ad
hoc p o w e r s ( c o p i e d t h r o u g h o u t t h e o t h e r S c o t t i s h cities b e f o r e t h e
First W o r l d W a r , t h o u g h v a r y r a r e i n E n g l a n d ) o f ' t i c k e t i n g ' h o u s e s ;
i.e. o f fixing m e t a l p l a t e s t o t h e w a l l s o f h o u s e s o f a c e r t a i n s i z e i n d i c a t
ing h o w m a n y occupants were allowed, a n d a c c o m p a n y i n g this b y
p e r e m p t o r y s e a r c h e s if o v e r c r o w d i n g w a s s u s p e c t e d . S u c h b e h a v i o u r
by the authorities certainly harassed the Irish, the poorest a n d m o s t
overcrowded of the Glasgow slum-dwellers, and the t h u m p of the
p o l i c e o n t h e d o o r at m i d n i g h t b e c a m e a c o m m o n p l a c e w o r k i n g - c l a s s
experience. In o n e year 55,000 'night inspections' revealed 7,000
67
h o u s e s b r e a k i n g t h e l a w , a b o u t 13 p e r c e n t o f t h o s e i n v e s t i g a t e d .
This kind of action h a d m o r e to do with social control t h a n c o n c e r n
for w e l f a r e , a n d t h e s a m e spirit t o o o f t e n i n f o r m e d t h e t r e a t m e n t o f
the destitute u n d e r the 1845 Scottish P o o r L a w , w h i c h until the 1920s
continued to d e n y the able-bodied u n e m p l o y e d any entitlement to
relief w h i l e s u b j e c t i n g all p a u p e r s t o m i n u t e a n d o f t e n degrading
i n s p e c t i o n a n d r e g u l a t i o n . A n d n o t for n o t h i n g did G l a s g o w C o u n c i l
in 1 8 7 8 a p p o i n t f r o m 1 0 0 a p p l i c a n t s at a s a l a r y o f £ 1 0 0 a y e a r a s s u p e r
i n t e n d e n t o f t h e m o d e l l o d g i n g - h o u s e s a f o r m e r drill s e r g e a n t o f t h e
68
Third Argyll Rifles.
66
I am grateful to Dr Gwen Neville, Emory University, for this detail from her unpub
lished research.
67
J. Butt, 'Working Class Housing in Glasgow, 1851-1914', in S. D. Chapman, ed.,
The History of Working-Class Housing (Newton Abbot, 1971), pp. 57-92; Darner, 'State,
Class and Housing', pp. 73-112.
68
J. Whiteford, 'The Application of the Poor Law in Mid-Nineteenth Century Glasgow'
(unpublished PhD thesis, Edinburgh University, 1982); I. Levitt, 'The Scottish Poor
Law and Unemployment, 1890-1929', in T. C. Smout, ed., The Search for Wealth
and Stability: Essays in Economic and Social History Presented to M. W. Flinn (1979),
pp. 263-80; Butt, 'Working Class Housing', p. 68.

Scotland 1850-1950 251
S l u m c l e a r a n c e b e g a n in G l a s g o w o n a l a r g e s c a l e , as s o o f t e n i n
Victorian towns, w h e n the railway termini d e m a n d e d extensive land
near the centre. T h e n in 1866 the G l a s g o w I m p r o v e m e n t Act estab
l i s h e d t h e I m p r o v e m e n t T r u s t to c a r r y o n s l u m c l e a r a n c e in a m o r e
p l a n n e d w a y , aiming to destroy a ' m o r a l s e w e r of the m o s t l o a t h s o m e
description . . . degraded by drunkenness and every attendant form
of v i c e a n d p r o f l i g a c y ' : a l a r g e a r e a r o u n d t h e S a l t m a r k e t t h a t w a s
t h e n to b e r e d e v e l o p e d b y p r i v a t e i n t e r e s t s . M u c h w a s c l e a r e d b u t
little w a s r e b u i l t for t h e p o o r w h o w e r e e v i c t e d , a n d t h e T r u s t a l l e g e d l y
e x a c e r b a t e d o v e r c r o w d i n g u n t i l t h e r e c e s s i o n o f 1 8 7 8 p u t a s t o p to
a n y f u r t h e r w o r k for a d e c a d e . F r o m 1 8 8 8 , h o w e v e r , t h e c o r p o r a t i o n
r e v i v e d its activities a n d w e n t i n t o b u i l d i n g a n d o w n i n g property
o n m u n i c i p a l a c c o u n t . B y 1 9 1 4 t h e y h a d built 2 , 1 9 9 h o u s e s a n d 7 8
l o d g i n g - h o u s e s - h o u s i n g little o v e r 2 p e r c e n t o f t h e population,
69
b u t a n o t a b l e p r e c e d e n t for t h e f u t u r e .
T h e t r a d i t i o n o f p u b l i c o w n e r s h i p o f utilities in G l a s g o w f e d o n
a n o n - p a r t y m i x t u r e o f m u n i c i p a l p r i d e a n d p u b l i c d i s m a y at t h e fre
70
q u e n t inefficiency o f p r i v a t e e n t e r p r i s e . The Loch Katrine water
s c h e m e h a d b e e n f o l l o w e d b y m u n i c i p a l i s a t i o n o f t h e g a s s u p p l y in
1 8 6 7 , b y w h i c h t h e city h a l v e d t h e p r i c e , c o m m i t t e d itself to p u b l i c
lighting of courts and tenements, and connected m o r e households
to t h e p u b l i c m a i n s t h a n in a n y o t h e r i n t h e w o r l d . I n t h e 1 8 7 0 s t h e
city built t h e t r a m l i n e s , a n d i n 1 8 9 4 , t o o k o v e r m a n a g e m e n t s o effec
t i v e l y t h a t t h e t r a m s s e e m e d for a t i m e ( e s p e c i a l l y to t h e i d e o l o g i c a l l y
c o m m i t t e d I L P ) a m o d e l o f h o w a s e r v i c e c o u l d b e r u n b y a n d for
t h e p u b l i c . N o r did p u b l i c o w n e r s h i p s t o p t h e r e : its r a m i f i c a t i o n s b y
the opening of the twentieth century were described by one enthusiast
in these w o r d s . In G l a s g o w a citizen:
may live in a municipal house; he may walk along the municipal street, or
ride on the municipal tramcar and watch the municipal dust cart collecting
the refuse which is to be used to fertilise the municipal farm. Then he may
turn into the municipal market, buy a steak from an animal killed in the
municipal slaughterhouse, and cook it by the municipal gas on the municipal
gas stove. For his recreation he can choose amongst municipal libraries,
municipal art galleries and municipal music in municipal parks. Should he
fall ill, he can ring up his doctor on the municipal telephone, or he may
be taken to the municipal hospital in the municipal ambulance by a municipal
69
C M . Allan, 'The Genesis of British Urban Redevelopment with Special Reference
to Glasgow', Economic History Review, 2ndser., 18(1965), pp. 598-613; Butt, 'Working
Class Housing', pp. 60-4; Whiteford, 'Application of the Poor Law', p. 223.
70
W . H. Fraser, 'Municipal Socialism and Social Policy' (unpublished paper), is the
best account. I am deeply grateful to the author for allowing me to use it.

252 T. c. SMOUT
policeman. Should he be so unfortunate as to get on fire, he will be put

out by a municipal fireman, using municipal water; after which he will, per
haps, forego the enjoyment of a municipal bath, though he may find it necess
71
ary to get a new suit in the municipal old clothes market.
Glasgow's municipalisation was indeed by then the most extensive

i n B r i t a i n , a n d it differed (as d i d t h a t o f o t h e r S c o t t i s h cities) f r o m
E n g l i s h e x a m p l e s like B i r m i n g h a m i n t h a t i n S c o t l a n d m u n i c i p a l e n t e r
p r i s e s w e r e n o t e x p e c t e d t o m a k e a profit o r t o s u b s i d i s e t h e r a t e s :
t h e y w e r e s i m p l y e x p e c t e d t o m a k e specific s e r v i c e s c h e a p e r a n d b e t t e r
for t h e c i t i z e n s . A r a t e p a y e r s ' b a c k l a s h in t h e e a r l y t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y
c a l l e d a h a l t t o w h a t m a n y L i b e r a l U n i o n i s t s a n d C o n s e r v a t i v e s in
t h e city w e r e c o m i n g to r e g a r d as t h e c r e e p i n g s o c i a l i s m o f t h e N e w
Liberals a n d the ILP, t h u s introducing a novel e l e m e n t of party politics
i n t o m u n i c i p a l affairs. B u t it r e m a i n e d t r u e t h a t p u b l i c utilities h a d
a better record than private ones: while G l a s g o w p o s s e s s e d the only
u n d e r g r o u n d r a i l w a y o u t s i d e L o n d o n , it w a s p r i v a t e l y r u n f r o m its
o p e n i n g in 1 8 9 7 u n t i l its m u n i c i p a l i s a t i o n i n 1 9 2 2 , a n d q u i t e failed
7 2
to c o m p e t e i n t h a t p e r i o d w i t h t h e c o r p o r a t i o n t r a m s .
W a s all t h i s activity o f t h e c o u n c i l s m o r e t h a n m a r g i n a l to t h e w e l f a r e
of t h e g r e a t b o d y o f t h e c i t i z e n s ? T h e c e n t r a l p r o b l e m s o f t h e t o w n s
in t h e 1 8 4 0 s (apart f r o m t h e r e l a t i v e l y s i m p l e o n e o f p u b l i c o r d e r w h i c h
w a s , in fact, c l e a r l y c o n t a i n e d b y t h e p o l i c e ) h a d b e e n t h e a p p a l l i n g l y
high death rates from t h o s e diseases rooted in b a d sanitation as well
as i n p o v e r t y , a n d s h o c k i n g h o u s i n g c o n d i t i o n s r o o t e d i n o v e r c r o w d
i n g . S c o t l a n d s h a r e d in t h e g e n e r a l r e d u c t i o n o f t h e c r u d e d e a t h r a t e
f r o m t h e 1 8 7 0 s , a n d m o s t o f t h e fall b e f o r e 1 9 0 0 w a s d u e t o a r e d u c t i o n
in deaths from tuberculosis (which r e m a i n e d , h o w e v e r , a very major
killer still a c c o u n t i n g for 13 p e r c e n t o f d e a t h s i n t h e 1 8 9 0 s ) , f r o m
the t y p h u s g r o u p of diseases, from scarlet fever a n d from diphtheria.
O f t h e s e , t h e c l e a r e s t m a r k e r o f b a d s a n i t a r y c o n d i t i o n s is t h e t y p h u s
g r o u p , w h i c h a c c o u n t e d for 5 p e r c e n t o f d e a t h s i n S c o t l a n d i n t h e
1860s but only 1 per cent in the 1890s. Interestingly, in v i e w of w h a t
h a s b e e n noticed above about the e n e r g y of big t o w n s c o m p a r e d to
small o n e s in o v e r c o m i n g administrative a n d legislative h a n d i c a p s ,
m o r t a l i t y f r o m t y p h u s w a s , at l e a s t f r o m t h e 1 8 7 0 s , c o n s i s t e n t l y l o w e r
i n t h e cities t h a n i n s m a l l t o w n s . T h e a t t a c k o n t h e s a n i t a r y p r o b l e m
m u s t t h u s b e a d j u d g e d at l e a s t a partial s u c c e s s i n S c o t l a n d a s it w a s
71
I am indebted to Dr Fraser for this quotation, which is from R. E. C. Lond, Fortnightly
Review (Jan. 1903).
72
Adams, Urban Scotland, p. 119.

Scotland 1850-1950 253
T a b l e 3 . 8 Persons per room in Scottish houses, 1861-1951
Persons per room Intercensal decrease
1861 1.79
1871 1.69 5.6
1881 1.59 5.9
1891 1.52 4.5
1901 1.48 2.6
1911 1.45 [2.0]
1921 1.42 2.1
1931 1.27 10.6
1951 1.05 8.7*
Note: Up to and including the census of 1901 the statistics of occupation of

residential premises were given not in relation to houses only but in relation
to all residential premises including hotels, boarding houses, institutions,
etc. This affects the comparison between figures up to 1901 and figures after
it but the degree of variation involved is not such as to vitiate the broad
general comparison.
* This figure is halved (in the absence of a census in 1941) to make it compar
able to those above.
Source: 1951 Census of Scotland, p. lii.
in E n g l a n d , t h o u g h t h e o b s t a c l e s t o b e o v e r c o m e h a d b e e n e v e n l a r g e r .
O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , it w a s o n l y partial. T h e r e c o r d o f infant m o r t a l i t y ,
in S c o t l a n d as in t h e s o u t h , s h o w e d n o i m p r o v e m e n t b e f o r e t h e t w e n
tieth century, a n d t h e n d r o p p e d m o r e slowly t h a n in E n g l a n d . In
S c o t l a n d , in t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , infant m o r t a l i t y h a d , o n a v e r a g e ,
b e e n a p p r e c i a b l y l o w e r t h a n in E n g l a n d ( p e r h a p s b e c a u s e o f g e n e r a l l y
l o w e r l e v e l s o f u r b a n i s a t i o n , p e r h a p s b e c a u s e o f b e t t e r infant f e e d i n g
c u s t o m s b y w e a n i n g c h i l d r e n o n to p o r r i d g e ) . I n t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y
t h e r e v e r s e h a s b e e n t h e c a s e - t h o u g h in b o t h c o u n t r i e s t h e r a t e s
of infant m o r t a l i t y h a v e d r o p p e d d r a m a t i c a l l y , t h e fall h a s b e e n g r e a t e r
in t h e s o u t h . A s e a r l y as t h e 1 9 2 0 s S c o t l a n d b e g a n to e x p e r i e n c e a
7 3
higher rate than E n g l a n d .
T h e c o n q u e s t o f b a d h o u s i n g a n d o v e r c r o w d i n g w a s , as T a b l e s 3 . 8
a n d 3 . 9 s h o w , far m o r e i n c o m p l e t e . T h e c o n t r a s t is p a r t i c u l a r l y s t r i k i n g
w i t h E n g l a n d : as e a r l y as 1 9 1 1 t h e E n g l i s h h a d a l r e a d y a t t a i n e d a
l o w e r d e n s i t y p e r r o o m t h a n t h e S c o t s r e a c h e d e v e n in 1 9 5 1 ( 0 . 9 5
c o m p a r e d to 1.05); in 1 9 5 1 , 2 6 p e r c e n t o f t h e S c o t t i s h p o p u l a t i o n
still l i v e d in o n e - o r t w o - r o o m h o u s e s , c o m p a r e d to 2 . 6 p e r c e n t in
E n g l a n d ; a n d in 1 9 5 1 o n l y 3 7 . 4 p e r c e n t o f S c o t t i s h h o m e s y e t h a d
M. W. Flinn, ed., Scottish Population History from the 17th Century to the 1930s (Cam
bridge, 1977), pp. 396-420.

254 T. c. S M O U T
T a b l e 3 . 9 Percentage of Scottish population in houses of different sizes,

1861-1951
1 room 2 rooms 3 rooms 4 rooms 5 rooms
1861 26.2 37.7 12.7 6.4 3.7

1871 23.7 38.3 13.9 6.7 3.8
1881 18.0 39.5 16.1 7.6 4.2
1891 14.3 39.4 17.9 8.3 4.6
1901 11.0 39.5 19.9 9.1 4.9
1911 8.7 40.9 21.9 9.9 5.6
1921 8.4 40.8 22.1 10.5 5.8
1931 7.1 36.9 26.1 12.0 6.2
1951 3.5 22.3 31.2 25.2 8.8
Note: The figures for 1911-51 refer to population enumerated in private house
holds only, but those of earlier censuses include the entire enumerated popula
tion, viz., those in institutions, lodging houses, hotels as well as in private
homes.
Source: 1951 Census of Scotland, p. 76.
m o r e t h a n three r o o m s , c o m p a r e d to 84.7 per cent of English o n e s .

O r - t o c o m p a r e t h e l a r g e s t cities in e a c h c o u n t r y - in 1 9 5 1 in G l a s g o w ,
h a l f t h e h o u s e s w e r e o f o n e or t w o r o o m s , in L o n d o n o n l y 5 . 5 p e r
c e n t ; in G l a s g o w , a q u a r t e r o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n w e r e living m o r e t h a n
7 4
t w o t o a r o o m , in L o n d o n o n l y 1.7 p e r c e n t . S u c h differences w e r e
not n e w . T h e Scottish h o u s i n g p r o b l e m over the w h o l e of this century
w a s o f a different o r d e r o f m a g n i t u d e f r o m t h e E n g l i s h .
T h e question of w h y this should b e so h a s often b e e n raised, but
is n o t as r e a d i l y a n s w e r e d . T h e n a t i v e f e u i n g s y s t e m , b y w h i c h a
p i e c e o f l a n d w a s ' s o l d ' in r e t u r n for a l u m p s u m d o w n a n d a fixed
quit r e n t in p e r p e t u i t y , h a s f r e q u e n t l y b e e n b l a m e d for e n c o u r a g i n g
s p e c u l a t i v e b u i l d e r s t o c r o w d as m a n y h o m e s as p o s s i b l e i n t o t h e
t r a d i t i o n a l tall s t o n e t e n e m e n t s . B u t it is h a r d t o s e e w h y it s h o u l d
h a v e t h i s effect m o r e t h a n s a y , a n o u t r i g h t sale o r a v e r y l o n g l e a s e
as c o m m o n in E n g l i s h l a w . O n l y a l e a s e for a l i m i t e d t e r m o f y e a r s
d u r i n g w h i c h t h e o r i g i n a l l a n d o w n e r r e t a i n e d a n i n t e r e s t in ' r e s p e c
t a b l e ' l o n g - t e r m d e v e l o p m e n t ( e x c e p t i o n a l in e i t h e r c o u n t r y ) w a s
proof against the uncontrolled greed of the building speculator, w h o
will b u i l d as b a d l y as h e c a n g e t a w a y w i t h as l o n g as it p a y s h i m .
It is w i s e r , t h e r e f o r e , t o l o o k to s o m e c o m b i n a t i o n o f e c o n o m i c , social
a n d e n v i r o n m e n t a l factors to e x p l a i n t h e d e m a n d for a s m a l l h o m e
in a t e n e m e n t . It is c e r t a i n l y r e l e v a n t t h a t t h e S c o t s w e r e a v e r y m u c h
74
T. Brennan, Reshaping a City, (Glasgow, 1959), pp. 2 0 - 1 .

Scotland 1850-1950 255
p o o r e r p e o p l e t h a n t h e E n g l i s h in t h e e a r l y a n d m i d d l e n i n e t e e n t h
centuries w h e n the patterns of u r b a n d e v e l o p m e n t w e r e established,
a n d , if p o o r e r , c o u l d afford l o w e r r e n t s . T o live i n o n e or t w o r o o m s
(as 6 4 p e r c e n t o f S c o t s did in 1 8 6 1 , a n d 4 9 p e r c e n t as late as 1 9 2 1 )
a l s o e f f e c t e d s u b s t a n t i a l s a v i n g s in h e a t i n g a n d l i g h t i n g in a c o l d a n d
dark country, e s p e c i a l l y in t h e t e n e m e n t s w h e r e t h e contiguous
h o u s e s (anglice ' f l a t s ' ) k e p t o n e a n o t h e r w a r m .
It is a l s o t r u e , h o w e v e r , t h a t t h e S c o t s o v e r a l o n g p e r i o d h a v e
p r o v e d u n w i l l i n g to p a y as l a r g e a p r o p o r t i o n e v e n o f t h e i r l o w e r
i n c o m e s t o w a r d s h o u s i n g c o s t s as t h e E n g l i s h a n d m o s t o t h e r E u r o
p e a n s . It is a g a i n h a r d to s a y w h y . T h e r e m a y b e a n e l e m e n t of i n e r t i a :
if a p o p u l a t i o n b e c o m e s a c c u s t o m e d to living in s m a l l , p o o r - q u a l i t y
h o m e s at l o w r e n t s (as p r i v a t e t e n a n t s or as c o u n c i l t e n a n t s ) it m a y
s e e m a d i s p r o p o r t i o n a t e sacrifice o f o t h e r i t e m s o f c o n s u m p t i o n to
p a y m u c h h i g h e r r e n t s for l a r g e r h o u s e s . T h i s e x p l a n a t i o n in t u r n
s e e m s superficial, h o w e v e r , for w h y h a v e o t h e r s b e e n m o r e w i l l i n g
t h a n t h e S c o t s to i m p r o v e t h e i r h o u s i n g e x p e c t a t i o n s f r o m l o w l e v e l s ?
H o w e v e r , a m o n g t h e h i s t o r i c a l r e a s o n s for t h e r e l u c t a n c e o f t h e w o r k
i n g c l a s s t o p u t as m u c h m o n e y i n t o t h e i r h o m e s as t h e E n g l i s h m a y
b e w e l f a r e i n s e c u r i t y : as l o n g as t h e S c o t t i s h p o o r l a w r e f u s e d to
g i v e a n y h e l p at all t o a n a b l e - b o d i e d m a n o u t o f w o r k t h e S c o t s
w o r k e r h a d to s a v e m o r e t h a n t h e E n g l i s h a g a i n s t a r a i n y d a y : thrift
a n d b a d h o u s i n g , in fact, m a y h a v e b e e n c o m p l e m e n t a r y b e f o r e 1 9 1 4 .
Whatever the cause, however, one should be very wary of saying
t h a t t h e S c o t s l i v e d in b a d t e n e m e n t h o u s i n g ' b e c a u s e t h e y l i k e d i t ' .
O n t h e c o n t r a r y , t h e r e is m u c h e v i d e n c e (at l e a s t in t h e t w e n t i e t h
century) of e n o r m o u s r e s e n t m e n t b y t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s at b e i n g
t r a p p e d in t h e v e r m i n o u s s l u m s . T h e rise o f t h e I L P in G l a s g o w b e f o r e
t h e F i r s t W o r l d W a r w a s l a r g e l y d u e to t h e a p p e a l o f W h e a t l e y ' s c a m
p a i g n for g o o d h o u s e s , w h i c h in t u r n w a s b a s e d o n a n i d e a o f a n
immigrant engineer, J o h n Burgess, w h o believed that Scottish councils
7 0
c o u l d a n d s h o u l d b u i l d E n g l i s h - t y p e c o t t a g e h o m e s for t h e w o r k e r s .
The first g o v e r n m e n t - a s s i s t e d c o u n c i l h o u s e s b u i l t in t h e city after
t h e First W o r l d W a r w e r e o b v i o u s l y i n f l u e n c e d b y t h i s m o d e l , t h o u g h
t h e t r a d i t i o n a l t e n e m e n t also w e n t o n b e i n g built b y c o u n c i l s b e c a u s e
it w a s c h e a p . It w a s n o t , h o w e v e r , p r e f e r r e d . B r e n n a n , w r i t i n g in
1 9 5 9 , f o u n d t h a t m o s t p e o p l e w a n t e d a h o u s e w i t h its o w n front d o o r ,
a n d if p o s s i b l e a b u n g a l o w , ' t h a t is, a h o u s e as u n l i k e a t e n e m e n t
73
Minutes of Evidence Taken before Glasgow Municipal Commission on the Housing of the
Poor (Glasgow, 1904).

256 T. c. S M O U T
7 6
flat a s p o s s i b l e ' . W h e t h e r it w a s e v e r p r a c t i c a b l e t o b u i l d t h i s k i n d
of h o u s e in t h e p u b l i c s e c t o r o n a l a r g e s c a l e is a n o t h e r m a t t e r .
A g a i n s t t h i s b a c k g r o u n d it is difficult t o a s s e s s t h e a b s o l u t e a c h i e v e
m e n t o f S c o t l a n d in its h o u s i n g r e c o r d o v e r t h e e n t i r e c e n t u r y . A s
Table 3.8 s h o w s , the biggest i m p r o v e m e n t s in o v e r c r o w d i n g per r o o m
before 1914 c a m e in the 1860s a n d 1870s a n d to a lesser extent the
1 8 8 0 s . T h i s p e r i o d c o i n c i d e s w i t h t h e first b l i t z o n t h e c l a s s i c s l u m s
of t h e 1 8 4 0 s , a n d t h e p r i v a t e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f n e w w o r k i n g - c l a s s s u b
u r b s for t h e b e t t e r p a i d . T h e v e r y s e r i o u s s l o w i n g d o w n t h a t f o l l o w e d
f r o m t h e 1 8 9 0 s t o t h e c l o s e o f t h e First W o r l d W a r s e e m e d t o s h o w
t h a t c a p i t a l i s m left t o itself h a d n o s o l u t i o n ; t h o u g h i n fact t h e p e r c e n t
age of families in o n e - r o o m h o u s e s actually h a l v e d e v e n in this period.
T h e success of the ILP, not least w h e n b a c k e d b y the rent strikes
t h a t m a d e t h e g o v e r n m e n t e x c e e d i n g l y n e r v o u s i n t h e w a r , l e a n t politi
cal w e i g h t t o t h e s o m b r e f i n d i n g s o f t h e R o y a l C o m m i s s i o n o n H o u s i n g
in S c o t l a n d , p u b l i s h e d in 1 9 1 7 .
The age of the state-subsidised council h o u s e followed the Scottish
Addison Act of 1919, and the general history of legislation thereafter
7 7
broadly follows the English p a t t e r n . The Scots, however, became
m u c h more deeply c o m m i t t e d to council h o u s i n g t h a n the English,
p a r t l y b e c a u s e t h e i n t e r w a r d e p r e s s i o n a n d t h e drift o f b e t t e r - o f f
S c o t s to t h e s o u t h p r o f o u n d l y d i s c o u r a g e d t h e p r i v a t e s e c t o r i n S c o t
land, and partly b e c a u s e the L a b o u r party in the councils largely o w e d
its a p p e a l to l o c a l h o u s i n g p r o g r a m m e s . A l t o g e t h e r , b e t w e e n 1 9 1 9
a n d 1939, 213,000 council h o u s e s w e r e built in S c o t l a n d , c o m p a r e d
to 1 0 4 , 0 0 0 p r i v a t e h o u s e s ( a n d e v e n o f t h e s e 4 3 , 0 0 0 w e r e b u i l t w i t h
state a s s i s t a n c e ) : t h i s w a s 6 7 p e r c e n t o f t h e t o t a l , c o m p a r e d t o 2 8
7 8
p e r c e n t in E n g l a n d . E v e n this, h o w e v e r , s e e m e d a totally inade
q u a t e effort i n t h e face o f m a n i f e s t n e e d , a n d at t h e c l o s e o f t h e S e c o n d
World W a r the L a b o u r g o v e r n m e n t again placed a very high priority
in s o l v i n g t h e h o u s i n g p r o b l e m t h r o u g h t h e s t a t e . I n t h e n e x t six
years, 106,000 p e r m a n e n t and 32,000 temporary prefabricated public
s e c t o r h o u s e s w e r e built, w h i l e p r i v a t e e n t e r p r i s e w a s s o s t a r v e d o f
building permits, labour and materials, and so discouraged b y rent
7 9
c o n t r o l s , t h a t it c o u l d o n l y m a n a g e 6 , 0 0 0 . B y 1 9 5 6 o n e t h i r d o f all
the houses in G l a s g o w w e r e municipally o w n e d .
76
Brennan, Reshaping a City, p. 30.
77
R. D. Cramond, Housing Policy in Scotland, 1919-64 (Edinburgh, 1966).
78
C. Miller, 'The Scottish Economy and the Post-War British Governments' (unpub
lished MPhil. thesis, St Andrews University, 1981), p. 170.
79
Ibid., p. 167.

Scotland 1850-1950 257
The result of the council h o u s e m o v e m e n t b e t w e e n 1919 and 1951

can b e partly j u d g e d from Tables 3.8 a n d 3 . 9 . Overcrowding was
r e d u c e d at m o r e t h a n f o u r t i m e s t h e r a t e o f t h e p r e v i o u s p e r i o d w h e n
p r o v i s i o n h a d b e e n left e n t i r e l y t o t h e m a r k e t , a n d t h e p r o p o r t i o n
living in o n e - a n d t w o - r o o m e d h o u s e s w a s halved: the o n e - r o o m
h o u s e , i n d e e d , n e a r l y d i s a p p e a r e d , a n d for t h e first t i m e in 1 9 5 1 t h e r e
w e r e m o r e p e o p l e l i v i n g i n t h r e e - r o o m h o u s e s t h a n in t w o - r o o m
h o u s e s . T h e s e , o f c o u r s e , a r e n a t i o n a l f i g u r e s : i n i n d i v i d u a l cities,
especially G l a s g o w , the overall position w a s always a g o o d deal worse,
a n d it n e v e r c r o s s e d a n y o n e ' s m i n d i n 1 9 5 1 t h a t t h e h o u s i n g p r o b l e m
w a s in a n y s e n s e ' s o l v e d ' .
T h e b u i l d i n g o f t h e n e w c o u n c i l e s t a t e s (like P o l l o c k , K n i g h t s w o o d ,
M o s s p a r k a n d B l a c k h i l l i n G l a s g o w o r P i l t o n a n d C r a i g m i l l a r in E d i n
b u r g h ) , c o m b i n e d a s it w a s w i t h s l u m c l e a r a n c e i n t h e i n n e r city,
b r o u g h t its o w n o b v i o u s p r o b l e m s i n its t r a i n . O n e w a s to t r a n s f o r m
t h e t r a d i t i o n a l l y c o m p a c t n a t u r e o f t h e S c o t t i s h t o w n b y v a s t spatial
e x p a n s i o n at a t i m e o f little o r n o d e m o g r a p h i c g r o w t h : t h e s p r a w l i n g
n e w estates, c o m b i n e d with the b u n g a l o i d character of such private
b u i l d i n g a s t h e r e w a s , c u t off t h e b u l k o f t h e u r b a n p o p u l a t i o n f r o m
their traditional e a s y access b o t h to city centre a n d surrounding
country, while municipal tram and bus services poorly compensated
for t h i s l o s s o f c o n v e n i e n c e a n d c o m m u n i t y . T h e G l a s g o w c o u n c i l l o r
w h o r e s p o n d e d to the palpable n e e d of poor people a r o u n d h i m by
exclaiming 'tae hell wi' planning' w a s only saying aloud what most
politicians thought privately; but the result w a s often to construct
ghettos of fearsome ugliness, few amenities a n d concentrated depriva
8 0
tion.
N o t all c o u n c i l e s t a t e s , o f c o u r s e , w e r e e q u a l l y p o o r , for t h e r e w a s
a w o r l d o f d i f f e r e n c e in G l a s g o w i n t h e 1 9 3 0 s b e t w e e n r e s p e c t a b l e
K n i g h t s w o o d a n d t h e r a z o r - g a n g s ' B l a c k h i l l . T h a t itself c r e a t e d p r o b
l e m s . W h o d e c i d e d w h e r e a n a p p l i c a n t for a c o u n c i l h o u s e w a s to
go? A n d o n w h a t g r o u n d s ? T h e creation of a municipal bureaucracy
with p o w e r over the p e o p l e in the n a m e of the p e o p l e w a s o n e inevi
t a b l e a n d u n h a p p y c o n s e q u e n c e . T h e n t h e n e e d t o s t a y in t h e s a m e
t o w n t o a c c u m u l a t e e n o u g h official p o i n t s t o qualify for a h o u s e , a n d
t h e difficulty o f s w a p p i n g a c o u n c i l h o u s e i n o n e p l a c e for a similar
h o u s e in another, h e l p e d to immobilise the population at t i m e s ,
e s p e c i a l l y after 1 9 4 5 , w h e n g e o g r a p h i c a l a n d o c c u p a t i o n a l m o b i l i t y
80
Brennan, Reshaping a City, p. 27 and passim; Checkland, Upas Tree, pp. 35-40, 63-80.

258 Т. С. S M O U T
T a b l e ЗЛО Numbers of males employed in agriculture, 1881, 1911 and

1951, as a percentage of the numbers employed in 1851
1881 1911 1951
Great Britain 80 75 55
Scotland 82 76 57
Highland 89 80 42
Borders and south-west 76 73 68
Source: Lee, Regional Statistics.
in l a b o u r w a s m o s t to b e d e s i r e d if S c o t l a n d w a s to a c h i e v e a m o r e
81
m o d e r n a n d flexible e c o n o m i c s t r u c t u r e .
S u c h c o s t s as t h e s e c o u l d n o t b e easily, or q u i c k l y , p e r c e i v e d , still
less quantified. But they were there, and they w e r e heavy. T h e b a d
h o u s i n g o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y h a s p r o v e d a b u r d e n to t h e t w e n
tieth c e n t u r y o f i n c a l c u l a b l e m a g n i t u d e . W e are n o s u r e r h o w to c a r r y
it n o w t h a n w e w e r e in 1 9 1 9 or 1 9 4 5 , b u t w e h a v e b e e n c r i p p l e d
in b e a r i n g w h a t c o u l d n o t b e i g n o r e d .
IV
A g r i c u l t u r e h a s a l w a y s b e e n slightly m o r e i m p o r t a n t to t h e S c o t t i s h
e c o n o m y t h a n to t h e e c o n o m y o f G r e a t B r i t a i n as a w h o l e : in 1 8 5 1
e m p l o y m e n t in f a r m i n g , forestry a n d fishing w a s 2 2 p e r c e n t o f t h e
total e m p l o y m e n t for m e n in G r e a t Britain, b u t 2 5 p e r c e n t in S c o t l a n d ;
b y 1 9 5 1 t h e figures w e r e 5 p e r c e n t a n d 7 p e r c e n t r e s p e c t i v e l y . S i m i
larly, t h e d e c l i n e in agricultural e m p l o y m e n t h a s b e e n e v e r y w h e r e
a m a j o r c a u s e o f d e p o p u l a t i o n a n d its a s s o c i a t e d p r o b l e m s in rural
a r e a s , h a r d l y w o r s e in S c o t l a n d t h a n e l s e w h e r e .
Table 3.10 shows h o w the decline went over the century 1851-1951.
C o m p a r e d to t h e starting d a t e , n u m b e r s in a g r i c u l t u r e in G r e a t B r i t a i n
a n d S c o t l a n d alike h a d d r o p p e d b y a b o u t a fifth in 1 8 8 1 , b y a q u a r t e r
b y 1 9 1 1 a n d b y b e t w e e n a t h i r d a n d a h a l f b y 1 9 5 1 . T h e m o r e significant
v a r i a t i o n h o w e v e r , is b e t w e e n t w o d e e p l y rural a r e a s o f S c o t l a n d :
the Highlands - where decline was well below average before 1881
a n d to a c e r t a i n e x t e n t b e f o r e 1 9 1 1 , b u t c a t a s t r o p h i c b e t w e e n 1 9 1 1
81
R. Baird, 'Housing', in Cairncross, ed., Scottish Economy, pp. 193-211.

Scotland 1850-1950 259
and 1951 - and the Borders and south-west - where decline was much
sharper d o w n to 1881 a n d 1 9 1 1 , but very m u c h less from 1911 to
1 9 5 1 . M a n y S c o t s w o u l d find t h e s e figures a m a z i n g . C l e a r a n c e s , after
all, w e r e a f e a t u r e o f t h e H i g h l a n d s , n o t o f t h e L o w l a n d s , u n t i l t h e
land reforms of the 1880s; a n d the corpus of crofting legislation built
u p b e t w e e n 1 8 8 6 a n d 1 9 1 1 w a s d e s i g n e d to s t o p t h e depopulation
of the north, not of the south w h o s e farmers a n d farm labourers did
n o t c o m e u n d e r its s w a y . T h e o b v i o u s c o n c l u s i o n is t h a t e v i c t i o n s
were not the main cause of depopulation nor legislation any protection
a g a i n s t it.
W h a t h a p p e n e d i n t h e H i g h l a n d s i n t h e c e n t u r y after 1 8 5 0 w a s t h e
creation a n d d e m i s e of a n e c o n o m y s u p p o r t e d o n o n e leg b y crofting
and on the other by the earnings of migrant labour. T o go south
in search of harvest w o r k , n a w y i n g or military service h a d l o n g b e e n
a t r a d i t i o n o f t h e H i g h l a n d e r s , b u t after t h e b l i g h t s a n d f a m i n e s o f
the 1840s remittances back from the Lowlands b e c a m e the only w a y
t o e n s u r e t h a t r e n t s for t h e croft w o u l d c o n t i n u e t o b e p a i d . D r D e v i n e
h a s s h o w n h o w t h e p o p u l a t i o n w a s m a i n t a i n e d at its e x c e p t i o n a l l y
h i g h l e v e l s b y crofters w o r k i n g for p a r t o f t h e y e a r o n s o u t h e r n f a r m s ,
or b y s o n s w o r k i n g i n f a c t o r i e s , o n c o n s t r u c t i o n j o b s o r o n t h e b o a t s ,
or b y d a u g h t e r s w o r k i n g a s d o m e s t i c s e r v a n t s , field h a n d s a n d fish
8 2
g u t t e r s - b u t all r e t u r n i n g t o b e r e u n i t e d o n t h e croft i n d u e c o u r s e .
By the 1880s farm mechanisation was eating into s o m e jobs, and the
industrial dislocation of that period h e l p e d to precipitate the poverty
a n d discontent that accompanied contemporary land agitation. But
t h e r e w a s as y e t n o p e r m a n e n t s h o r t a g e o f i n d u s t r i a l o p e n i n g s : t h e r e
w e r e still r i v e t t e r s o n t h e C l y d e w h o w e n t b a c k t o t h e i r i s l a n d h o l d i n g s
for s e e d t i m e a n d h a r v e s t , a n d w e r e p e r h a p s i n d u e c o u r s e e n t e r e d
a s crofters b y t h e c e n s u s m e n .
Consequently, despite a century of the m o s t bitter complaint of
m e n being driven from the land b y s h e e p farms a n d deer forests,
the total population of t h e H i g h l a n d s contrived to r e m a i n m u c h h i g h e r
i n t h e s e c o n d h a l f o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y t h a n it h a d b e e n i n 1 8 0 1 ,
a n d i n 1 9 0 1 it w a s still o n l y 1 1 p e r c e n t b e l o w its a l l - t i m e p e a k in
1 8 4 1 . T h i s figure, h o w e v e r , m a s k s a g r e a t d e a l o f r e d i s t r i b u t i o n . I n
t h e O u t e r H e b r i d e s a p o p u l a t i o n e x p l o s i o n w a s still a c t i v e l y t a k i n g
place, probably t h e only part of rural Britain w h e r e this w a s the case
82
T. M. Devine, T e m p o r a r y Migration and the Scottish Highlands in the Nineteenth
Century', Economic History Review, 2nd ser., 32 (1979), pp. 344-59.

260 T. c. SMOUT
- o n L e w i s a n d H a r r i s , for i n s t a n c e , n u m b e r s s t o o d at 2 1 , 5 0 0 in 1 8 4 1
b u t 3 5 , 0 0 0 b y 1 9 1 1 . C o n v e r s e l y , in t h e I n n e r H e b r i d e s , t h e r e w a s a
c o l l a p s e - p o p u l a t i o n o n S k y e , I s l a y a n d M u l l fell f r o m 4 6 , 7 0 0 to 2 3 , 6 0 0
8 3
over the same dates. T h e b a s i c d i s t i n c t i o n w a s t h a t in t h e O u t e r
H e b r i d e s , b u t n o t in t h e I n n e r , t h e r e w e r e e x c e l l e n t p r o s p e c t s for
j o b s o n e a s t - c o a s t fishing b o a t s t h a t p u t i n t o S t o r n o w a y a n d C a s t l e b a y
o n B a r r a , a n d w h i c h t o o k t h e girls to t h e g u t t i n g at W i c k , P e t e r h e a d
and places south.
T h e First W o r l d W a r a n d its a f t e r m a t h , h o w e v e r , b r o u g h t d i s a s t e r
to t h i s e c o n o m y t h r o u g h o u t t h e H i g h l a n d s . A n a b n o r m a l l y h i g h p r o
p o r t i o n o f t h e y o u n g m e n d i e d in t h e t r e n c h e s a n d at s e a . T h e h e r r i n g
fishing w a s r u i n e d b y t h e c o l l a p s e o f its E a s t E u r o p e a n m a r k e t , f a r m i n g
was shedding labour, domestic service declining and the shipyards
l a y i n g off m e n b y t h e t h o u s a n d . S o severe w a s the dislocation of
t h e l o c a l e c o n o m y in t h e s h o r t t e r m t h a t civil s e r v a n t s in t h e 1 9 2 0 s
were soberly w a r n i n g E d i n b u r g h a n d Whitehall that there might b e
a n a c t u a l r e t u r n to f a m i n e in t h e i s l a n d s , as t h o u g h t h e c l o c k h a d
8 4
g o n e b a c k to 1 8 4 6 . The population o f t h e H i g h l a n d s fell more
a b r u p t l y t h a n at a n y t i m e in t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , t h e H e b r i d e s
as a g r o u p l o s i n g 2 8 p e r c e n t o f t h e i r i n h a b i t a n t s b e t w e e n 1 9 1 1 a n d
1 9 5 1 . T h e r e t u r n to full e m p l o y m e n t i n t h e L o w l a n d s after t h e S e c o n d
World W a r was incapable of restoring the migrant e c o n o m y . T h e
y o u n g w e i g h e d t h e t r a d i t i o n a l life a g a i n s t t h e w o r l d p o r t r a y e d b y
t h e c i n e m a a n d t h e r a d i o , f o u n d it w a n t i n g , a n d left.
It m i g h t i n d e e d b e c o g e n t l y a r g u e d t h a t w h a t w a s truly d i s t i n c t i v e
a b o u t t h e H i g h l a n d e r s c o m p a r e d to t h e o t h e r i n h a b i t a n t s o f rural B r i
tain in the later n i n e t e e n t h century w a s not that t h e y w e r e e x p o s e d
to c r u e l l e r p r e s s u r e s b u t t h a t t h e y r e s e n t e d t h e m m o r e . S i r J o h n M a c -
Neill, s e c r e t a r y to t h e B o a r d o f S u p e r v i s i o n o f t h e S c o t t i s h P o o r L a w ,
r e p o r t i n g o n t h e a f t e r m a t h o f t h e f a m i n e in 1 8 5 1 m a r v e l l e d at t h e
H i g h l a n d e r s ' ' t e n a c i t y o f t h e i r a t t a c h m e n t to t h e i r n a t i v e s o i l ' w h i c h
' y e a r s o f i n t e r c o u r s e w i t h t h e m o r e a d v a n c e d districts s e e m s to p r o
d u c e n o d e s i r e to c h a n g e ' , a n d c i t e d t h e e x a m p l e o f a S k y e crofter
w h o 'travelled about 600 miles, separated himself from his family
a n d w o r k e d h a r d for six m o n t h s e v e r y y e a r , t h a t h e m i g h t c o n t i n u e
to e n j o y h i s croft a n d c o m p a r a t i v e i d l e n e s s for t h e o t h e r h a l f - y e a r
83
Flinn, ed., Scottish Population History, p. 306; W. H. Murray, The Islands of Western
Scotland (1973), pp. 308-9.
84
I. Levitt, T h e Scottish Poor Law and Unemployment, 1890-1939', (unpublished
paper presented at SSRC Conference on History and Social Policy, Manchester,
1976).

Scotland 1850-1950 261
, 8 : >
i n W a t e r n i s h . A n d s u c h w a s t h e f e e l i n g of e v e r y o n e . The world
view of the m a n from W a t e r n i s h obviously conflicted with that of
t h e lairds a n d political e c o n o m i s t s , w h o b e l i e v e d t h a t o n l y p e r m a n e n t
e m i g r a t i o n w o u l d c u r e w h a t t h e y t e r m e d ' c o n g e s t i o n ' a n d a n e w start
for t h e crofters b e c a m e p o s s i b l e in a b e t t e r a n d m o r e e n r i c h i n g e n v i r o n
m e n t o u t s i d e t h e H i g h l a n d s . It w a s n o t t h a t H i g h l a n d e r s w e r e a v e r s e
to e n r i c h m e n t in itself: t h e r e w a s n o c o n s u m e r r e s i s t a n c e to b e t t e r
clothes or imported food, and s o m e of the complaints of the 1880s
a r e r e l a t e d to failure to g e t e n o u g h o f t h e s e g o o d t h i n g s for t h e m s e l v e s
over the past half-century. But, broadly speaking, the nineteenth-
c e n t u r y crofter p u t h o m e b e f o r e w e a l t h , t h e c e r t a i n p o s s e s s i o n o f l a n d
b e f o r e t h e d u b i o u s o p p o r t u n i t y to g a i n e n r i c h m e n t b y a b e t t e r i n c o m e
a s a n i n d u s t r i a l w o r k e r at h o m e or e v e n as a l a n d h o l d e r o v e r s e a s .
C o n s e q u e n t l y h e w a s p r e p a r e d to s h a r e t h e h o l d i n g w i t h h i s g r o w n - u p
s o n s a n d t h e i r f a m i l i e s r a t h e r t h a n o b l i g e t h e m to l e a v e t h e s e t t l e m e n t
for e v e r , t o live for y e a r s o n t h e b r i n k of s u b s i s t e n c e r a t h e r t h a n t o
c o m m i t h i m s e l f i r r e t r i e v a b l y to t h e d a n g e r o u s c u r r e n t s o f u r b a n life.
I n s o m e r e s p e c t s t h e s e s e n t i m e n t s b e g g e d a l m o s t as m a n y q u e s t i o n s
as t h o s e o n t h e o t h e r s i d e , for w h a t w o u l d h a p p e n if crofting l a n d s
w e r e so constantly divided that i n c o m e levels w e r e driven b e l o w m e r e
s u b s i s t e n c e ? A n y o n e w i t h a k n o w l e d g e of I r e l a n d in t h e 1 8 4 0 s c o u l d
s e e t h i s w a s n o t e n t i r e l y a n idle q u e s t i o n , a n d it w a s n o t c o n v i n c i n g l y
a n s w e r e d b y t h o s e crofters w h o s a i d t h a t t h e r e t u r n o f g r a z i n g l a n d
u n d e r s h e e p o r d e e r w o u l d s o l v e t h e p r o b l e m o f l a n d - h u n g e r for all
time.
I n t h e e v e n t , l a r g e - s c a l e e v i c t i o n , as D r R i c h a r d s h a s s h o w n , c a m e
t o a n e n d w i t h a s e r i e s of i n c i d e n t s i n t h e l a t e 1 8 4 0 s a n d e a r l y 1 8 5 0 s ,
s u c h as t h o s e at S u i s h n i s h o n S k y e , K n o y d a r t a n d C o i g a c h o n t h e
w e s t e r n m a i n l a n d a n d G r e e n y a r d s in E a s t e r R o s s , for t h e m o s t p a r t
'ugly scenes, marked by panic, hysteria, anger, rough handling and
pitiful s u f f e r i n g ' . T h e y w e r e a l s o e x c e p t i o n a l l y w e l l r e p o r t e d - i n d e e d ,
sensationalised - b y an anti-landlord press with an increasingly avid
L i b e r a l r e a d e r s h i p in t h e t o w n s . T h e force o f p u b l i c o p i n i o n , t o g e t h e r
w i t h partial r e c o v e r y f r o m t h e e c o n o m i c t r a u m a s o f t h e f a m i n e d e c a d e ,
d i s c o u r a g e d lairds f r o m t r y i n g t h e like a g a i n . N e v e r t h e l e s s , t h e r e w a s
a g o o d deal of small-scale m o v i n g o n and surreptitious e n c o u r a g e m e n t
to l e a v e , ' i n v i s i b l e p r e s s u r e o n t h e p e o p l e to e a s e t h e m o u t o f t h e
85
Report to the Board of Supervision by Sir John McNeill, GCB, on the Western Highlands
and Islands (Edinburgh, 1851) p. xii.

262 T. c. S M O U T
r e g i o n ' , t h o u g h t h e r e is n o r e a s o n t o b e l i e v e it w a s w o r s e h e r e t h a n
86
e l s e w h e r e i n G r e a t B r i t a i n or I r e l a n d .
T h e n , in the 1880s there w a s a s u d d e n turning of the tables; the
crofters t o o k t h e i n i t i a t i v e a n d b e g a n t o p r e s s t h e i r c l a i m s n o t m e r e l y
for l e g a l l y g u a r a n t e e d s e c u r i t y o f t e n u r e b u t a l s o for a c t i o n t o r e t u r n
lands that h a d b e e n lost to s h e e p or deer to the grazing of the town
8 7
ships. T h e r e a s o n s for t h i s b u r s t o f political s e l f - h e l p f r o m a h i t h e r t o
unpoliticised section of the nation w e r e c o m p l e x : the e x a m p l e of Irish
land agitation w a s clearly important, as w a s h e l p provided b y middle-
class outsiders including influential enthusiasts of the Celtic cultural
8 8
r e v i v a l at E d i n b u r g h U n i v e r s i t y a n d e l s e w h e r e . Disorder in S k y e ,
r e s u l t i n g in t h e d e s p a t c h first o f a c o n t i n g e n t o f t h e G l a s g o w city
police to Braes near Portree, and then, e v e n m o r e improbably, of
a g u n b o a t full o f m a r i n e s t o G l e n d a l e , w a s a v i d l y r e p o r t e d i n t h e
urban Liberal press. O n e u p s h o t w a s the return to Parliament in 1885
of f o u r M P s o f a n i n d e p e n d e n t C r o f t e r s ' p a r t y , o n a p l a t f o r m o f r e t u r n
i n g t h e l a n d t o t h e p e o p l e : 'it h a s s o m e c l a i m t o t h e title o f t h e first
8 9
m a s s political p a r t y i n B r i t a i n ' . A n o t h e r w a s the establishment of
a Royal C o m m i s s i o n , u n d e r L o r d Napier, to enquire into conditions
i n t h e c r o f t i n g c o u n t i e s . Its m o n u m e n t a l r e p o r t s h o w e d c o n s i d e r a b l e
a n d u n e x p e c t e d s u p p o r t for t h e c r o f t e r s , p e r h a p s b e c a u s e N a p i e r ' s
e x p e r i e n c e a s a s e n i o r civil s e r v a n t i n a g r a r i a n I n d i a h a d a c c u s t o m e d
h i m t o p a y p a t i e n t a t t e n t i o n t o far m o r e t h i n g s in h e a v e n a n d e a r t h
t h a n w e r e e v e r d r e a m t o f b y c o n v e n t i o n a l political e c o n o m i s t s . T h e
e n s u i n g l e g i s l a t i o n , h o w e v e r , o w e d m o r e t o G l a d s t o n e ' s Irish L a n d
A c t o f 1 8 8 1 t h a n to a n y o t h e r m o d e l , g i v i n g t h e crofters h e r i t a b l e
security of tenure in their holdings a n d establishing a rent review
b o d y - t h e C r o f t e r s ' C o m m i s s i o n - t o d e t e r m i n e t h e fair l e v e l for
r e n t s . I n t h e crofting a r e a s , it o u t l a w e d e v i c t i o n s . It w a s a s t a g g e r i n g
interference with the traditional rights of l a n d o w n e r s in m a i n l a n d
B r i t a i n , j u s t i f i e d l a r g e l y o n t h e h i s t o r i c a l g r o u n d s t h a t crofters h a d
h a d a r a w d e a l i n t h e p a s t , a n d it w a s f o l l o w e d in d u e c o u r s e b y
l e g i s l a t i o n in 1 8 9 7 a n d 1 9 1 1 w h i c h e m p o w e r e d t h e s t a t e to b u y u p
86
E . Richards, A History of the Highland Clearances: Agrarian Transformation and the
Evictions, 1746-1886 (1982) pp. 233-43, 444-74.
87
J. Hunter, The Making of the Crofting Community (Edinburgh, 1976), pp. 107-64.
88
C. Dewey,' Celtic Agrarian Legislation and the Celtic Revival: Historical Implications
of Gladstone's Irish and Scottish Land Acts, 1870-1886', Past & Present, 64 (1974),
pp. 30-70; H . J . Hanham, 'The Problem of Highland Discontent, 1880-1885', Transac
tions of the Royal Historical Society, 4th ser., 19 (1969), pp. 24-30.
89
D. W . Crowley, 'The "Crofters' Party", 1885-1892', Scottish Historical Review, 35
(1956), pp. 110-26.

Scotland 1850-1950 263
l a n d u n d e r s h e e p o r d e e r a n d r e t u r n it t o c r o f t i n g a g r i c u l t u r e . T h e
consequences were neither instantaneous nor revolutionary, but
b e t w e e n 1886 a n d the early 1950s s o m e 52,000 acres of arable land
and 732,000 acres of pasture w e r e added to the area occupied b y
crofters, a process w h i c h involved the creation of over 2,700 n e w hold
ings a n d t h e e n l a r g e m e n t of nearly 5,200 existing crofts. B y t h e e n d
of t h e 1 9 2 0 s a n y o n e w h o w a n t e d a croft - o r a l a r g e r croft - c o u l d
9 0
b e fairly s u r e o f g e t t i n g o n e .
As we have seen, however, the n e w corpus of land law was power
l e s s t o p r e v e n t d e p o p u l a t i o n , a n d it h a s o f t e n b e e n a r g u e d t h a t t h e
l e g i s l a t i o n o f 1 8 8 6 a n d its s u c c e s s o r s froze t h e s t r u c t u r e o f t h e H i g h
l a n d s i n a w a y t h a t i n h i b i t e d d e v e l o p m e n t : ' c h a n g e is n o w f r u s t r a t e d
by the high d e g r e e of security w h i c h the crofters enjoy, as well as
the essentially c o m m u n a l nature of the system, which allows a con
9 1
servative minority to obstruct the progressive m a j o r i t y ' . Since, how
ever, it w a s t h e a i m o f G l a d s t o n e to c o n c e d e security rather t h a n o p p o r
t u n i t y t o t h e r u r a l p o p u l a t i o n , h e c a n h a r d l y b e b l a m e d for n o t f o r e s e e
ing that in t h e l o n g r u n t h e H i g h l a n d e r s , like e v e r y o n e else, w o u l d
be seduced b y the gospel of private enrichment and e c o n o m i c growth.
T h e r u r a l p r o b l e m s o f t h e L o w l a n d s , if l e s s w e l l r e p o r t e d t h a n t h o s e
of t h e H i g h l a n d s , w e r e n o l e s s p e r v a s i v e , e s p e c i a l l y i n t h e l e a n y e a r s
for f a r m i n g i n t h e l a s t q u a r t e r o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y a n d a g a i n
i n t h e i n t e r w a r y e a r s . T h e i n c i d e n c e a n d effects o f t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l
d e p r e s s i o n s v a r i e d m a r k e d l y . T h e slide i n w o o l a n d g r a i n p r i c e s after
1 8 7 5 h a d a p a r t i c u l a r l y b a d effect o n t h e B o r d e r s a n d t h e s o u t h - w e s t
where the population of Berwickshire dropped by 20 per cent and
Wigtownshire b y 28 per cent b e t w e e n 1851 and 1911. In the Lothians,
o n the other h a n d , the m a i n visible result w a s to drive to the wall
the old tenant dynasties w h o h a d created the heavily capitalised high
farming of 'Lothian husbandry', a n d to replace t h e m b y ' n e w m e n
. . . a r a t h e r different c l a s s . . . h a r d w o r k i n g g r i e v e s w h o h a d s a v e d
m o n e y , m e r c h a n t s ' s o n s with capital ready to risk': t h e y pulled the
area through by increased mechanisation and potato husbandry,
9 2
s h e d d i n g labour heavily as t h e y did s o . In the north-east, buoyant
p r i c e s for g o o d - q u a l i t y A b e r d e e n A n g u s m e a t k e p t t h e l a r g e r f a r m e r s
90
Hunter, Crofting Community, pp. 205-6.
91
For a sensitive study at the close of our century, see A. Collier, The Crofting Problem
(Cambridge, 1953).
92
A. G. Bradley, When Squires and Farmers Thrived (1927), p. 86.

264 T. c. SMOUT
p r o s p e r o u s , b u t m a r g i n a l f a r m e r s a n d u p l a n d crofters ( e x c l u d e d f r o m
t h e p r o t e c t i o n o f t h e C r o f t e r s H o l d i n g A c t of 1 8 8 6 w h i c h a p p l i e d o n l y
to t h e w e s t e r n H i g h l a n d s ) s u f f e r e d b a d l y . I a n C a r t e r h a s e l o q u e n t l y
d e s c r i b e d h o w s u c h s m a l l m e n , p i n c h e d b e t w e e n h i g h r e n t s a n d fall
i n g profits, a n d d r i v e n to e x p l o i t t h e l a b o u r o f t h e i r o w n f a m i l i e s
m o r e a n d m o r e i n t e n s i v e l y , finally s u c c u m b e d to t h e e c o n o m i c reali
93
ties. H e q u o t e s J . R . A l l a n ' s ' e x q u i s i t e e l e g y for t h e northeast
peasantry':
As you walk across the lower slopes of the hills you may find a heap of
stones that was once a house, and trace among the bracken the rectangle
that was once a held. They are melancholy things, witnessing that courage,
determination and all the ancient virtues are not enough to bring life out
of a stone. A hunger for land drove the people there, and the insatiable
hunger of the soil drove them away again. Those ruins are the stony limit
94
where a human tide spent itself before it began to ebb away.
N o t e v e r y o n e in t h i s p o s i t i o n , t h o u g h , w e n t b a n k r u p t , e m i g r a t e d o r
left for t h e t o w n s . It h a s b e e n a r g u e d t h a t t h e rarity of o w n e r - o c c u p a
t i o n w a s a s t r e n g t h o f S c o t t i s h f a r m i n g at t h e t i m e , as it did n o t tie
a m a n to t h e l a n d a n d ' y o u n g , e n t e r p r i s i n g g l e n f a r m e r s w e r e n o t h i n g
l o t h to b e t t e r t h e m s e l v e s b y l e a s i n g f a r m s in k i n d l i e r a r e a s ' . T h u s
t e n a n t s in t h e u p p e r p a r t s o f T a y , D e e , D o n a n d S p e y v a l l e y s m o v e d
downstream t o t h e i r m o r e fertile s t r a t h s , a n d t h e i r s o n s p e r h a p s
m o v e d a g a i n to still m o r e p r o d u c t i v e l a n d . M e n f r o m t h e s o u t h - w e s t
c a m e e v e n t u a l l y to t h e L o t h i a n s , B e r w i c k s h i r e a n d Fife, w h i l e Banff
s h i r e a n d A b e r d e e n s h i r e m e n c a m e to M o r a y , K i n c a r d i n e s h i r e a n d
A n g u s , a n d m e n f r o m C a i t h n e s s to R o s s : ' t h e h a r d e r upbringing
e x p e r i e n c e d o n s t o c k - r e a r i n g or d a i r y i n g f a r m s s t o o d t h e migrants
9 5
in g o o d s t e a d ' .
I n t h e v e r y different c i r c u m s t a n c e s o f t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y m u c h
of t h i s flexibility w a s l o s t . T h e A g r i c u l t u r e ( S c o t l a n d ) A c t o f 1 9 4 8 g a v e
all f a r m e r s t h a t h e r i t a b l e s e c u r i t y o f t e n u r e for w h i c h t h e y h a d s t r i v e n
for s e v e n t y y e a r s . M a n y l a n d l o r d s t h e n s o l d . F a r m s w i t h v a c a n t p o s
session were soon c o m m a n d i n g twice the price of those without, very
f e w f a r m s to r e n t w e r e a v a i l a b l e a n d t h e c a p i t a l c o s t o f r u n n i n g a
f a r m g r e a t l y i n c r e a s e d . F a r m e r s ' s o n s t h e r e f o r e f o u n d it v e r y difficult
96
to g e t a n i n d e p e n d e n t start off t h e p a r e n t a l h o l d i n g .
93
Ian R. Carter, Farm Life in North East Scotland, 1840-1914 (Edinburgh, 1973), esp.
chaps. 3 - 6 .
94
Ibid. p. 160.
95
J. A. Symon, Scottish Farming Past and Present (Edinburgh, 1959), p. 198.
96
Ibid., p. 267.

Scotland 1850-1950 265
T h e life o f t h e f a r m w o r k e r in t h e c e n t u r y after 1850 w a s t r a n s f o r m e d

o u t o f all r e c o g n i t i o n b y l a b o u r - s a v i n g m a c h i n e r y a n d g r a d u a l l y r i s i n g
w a g e s . It h a s to b e r e m e m b e r e d , t h o u g h , t h a t o n l y i n a f e w p a r t s
of n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y S c o t l a n d - p r e - e m i n e n t l y t h e L o t h i a n s a n d B e r
w i c k s h i r e - did t h e l a b o u r i n p u t f r o m h i r e d h a n d s d e c i s i v e l y e x c e e d
the input from family m e m b e r s . M o r e typical w e r e the north-eastern
counties of A b e r d e e n , Banff and Kincardine, w h e r e b e t w e e n 1851 a n d
1911 the family regularly supplied 3 5 - 4 5 per cent of the male a n d
97
often 80 per cent of the female l a b o u r . A g a i n , o n l y in a f e w a r e a s
like t h e s o u t h - e a s t w a s t h e f a r m w o r k e r n o r m a l l y a m a r r i e d m a n in
t h e 1 8 5 0 s : in A b e r d e e n s h i r e , L a n a r k s h i r e a n d A y r s h i r e , for i n s t a n c e ,
t h e t r a d i t i o n a l p a t t e r n w a s for h i m to b e a b a c h e l o r b o a r d i n g a r o u n d
t h e f a r m , w h o w o u l d l e a v e to t a k e u p h i s o w n h o l d i n g or to g o to
t h e t o w n as a c a r t e r or i n d u s t r i a l w o r k e r o n m a r r i a g e . A s t i m e w e n t
by, this c h a n g e d , partly b e c a u s e small farms b e c a m e less attractive,
p a r t l y b e c a u s e m o v i n g to t h e t o w n b e c a m e m o r e s o . F a r m e r s f o u n d
t h a t t o k e e p l a b o u r t h e y m i g h t h a v e to b u i l d a c o t t a g e for t h e p l o u g h
m a n after m a r r i a g e . I n t h e b o t h y districts o f A n g u s a n d P e r t h s h i r e
t h e r e w a s a s i m i l a r t r a n s f o r m a t i o n , t h o u g h t h e s q u a l i d b a r r a c k s for
9 8
y o u n g h o r s e m e n c o n t i n u e d to b e u s e d u n t i l after t h e First W o r l d W a r .
E v e n in t h e L o t h i a n s a n d t h e s o u t h - e a s t , t h e locus classicus o f S c o t t i s h
capitalist farming, w h e r e farm labour w a s the m o s t proletarianised
f r o m t h e e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , t h e y e a r s after 1 8 5 0 b r o u g h t e n o r
m o u s a l t e r a t i o n . T h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c w o r k u n i t at m i d - c e n t u r y h a d b e e n
a ' h i n d ' , or p l o u g h m a n , a s s i s t e d in t h e field b y a t e e n a g e s o n o r
' h a l f - h i n d ' , a n d m a r r i e d t o a ' b o n d a g e r ' , w h o s e w o r k at h a r v e s t a n d
o t h e r t i m e s p a i d t h e r e n t o f t h e i r c o t t a g e to t h e f a r m e r a n d left a
little o v e r . S e a s o n a l w o r k w a s d o n e b y h i g h l a n d girls h o u s e d in f e m a l e
b o t h i e s , a n d at h a r v e s t b y i t i n e r a n t Irish b a n d s . T h e f e m a l e w o r k e r s
of t h e s o u t h - e a s t w e r e a v e r y i m p o r t a n t a n d h i g h l y r e g a r d e d p a r t
of t h e l a b o u r f o r c e , ' A m a z o n s w i t h t h e f a c e s o f a h a r v e s t m o o n a n d
9 9
the muscles of a prize fighter', p a i d a b o u t I s . a d a y in c a s h . Many
of t h e h i n d s r e c e i v e d little in m o n e y , b u t a r e l a t i v e l y h i g h w a g e in
k i n d : in R o x b u r g h s h i r e as late as 1 8 7 0 a p l o u g h m a n m i g h t r e c e i v e
only £ 5 a year in m o n e y , 'the rest of this w a g e consisting of a cottage
97
Carter, Farm Life, p. 104.
98
Gavin Sprott, 'A Weel Plou'd Rig: The Era of the Working Horse on the Farms
of the East Coast of Scotland', in B. Kay, ed., Odyssey (Edinburgh, 1980), pp. 99,
109.
99
Bradley, Squires and Farmers, p. 80.

266 T. c. S M O U T
a n d g a r d e n , r e n t f r e e , t h e k e e p o f a c o w , c a r r i a g e o f fuel, p o t a t o
g r o u n d , a n d certain allowances of oats (or oatmeal), barley a n d p e a s ' .
This contrasted with what contemporaries called the 'meal and milk
s y s t e m ' o f P e r t h s h i r e a n d Fife, w h e r e p l o u g h m e n g o t a n a l l o w a n c e
of o a t m e a l a n d a S c o t c h p i n t o f m i l k daily, w i t h £ 2 0 i n c a s h - b u t
100
the w o r k e r s of the south-east w e r e regarded as better-off. O n e char
acteristic t h a t w a s e m p h a s i s e d b y t h e R o y a l C o m m i s s i o n o n the
E m p l o y m e n t o f C h i l d r e n , Y o u n g P e r s o n s a n d W o m e n in A g r i c u l t u r e
( 1 8 6 7 ) w a s t h a t f a r m e r s a n d w o r k e r s alike h a d a m u c h g r e a t e r e n t h u
s i a s m for e d u c a t i o n i n S c o t l a n d t h a n i n E n g l a n d . A m o t h e r in B e r w i c k
told the c o m m i s s i o n e r s that s h e w a n t e d to m a k e her children ' g o o d
s c h o l a r s , I d o n ' t w a n t t h e m t o b e h i n d s d r a g g l i n g o n t h e l a n d all
t h e i r l i v e s if t h e y c a n b e t t e r t h e m s e l v e s ' , a n d t h e y h e a r d o f s h e p h e r d s
i n r e m o t e hill f a r m s b a n d i n g t o g e t h e r t o e m p l o y a t u t o r if t h e r e w e r e
1 0 1
five o r six f a m i l i e s t o s h a r e t h e e x p e n s e .
B y t h e First W o r l d W a r m o s t o f t h e d i s t i n c t i v e f e a t u r e s o f t h i s s o c i e t y
had gone. The number of female labourers, both highland and
b o n d a g e r , w a s v e r y m u c h r e d u c e d - a s , i n d e e d if A . G . B r a d l e y is
to b e b e l i e v e d , w a s t h e i r p h y s i q u e : ' T h e y h a d b e g u n t o t h i n k o f t h e i r
complexions, a n d c h e w e d rice to modify the g o r g e o u s h u e s thereof,
just as t h e y e s c h e w e d porridge to the sapping of their splendid
s t r e n g t h . ' T h e fact w a s t h a t a s s o o n a s t h e i r o w n w a g e s w e n t u p ,
h i n d s t r i e d t o w i t h d r a w t h e i r w o m e n f r o m t h e b i t t e r toil o f h o e i n g
i n t h e fields. I r i s h i t i n e r a n t l a b o u r w a s l a r g e l y r e p l a c e d b y t h e self-
b i n d i n g r e a p e r at h a r v e s t t i m e . T h e s y s t e m o f p a y m e n t i n k i n d i n c r e a s
ingly gave w a y to p a y m e n t in m o n e y as diets c h a n g e d : ' o a t m e a l disap
peared . . . home-baked bread went the same way. T h e cow and the
m i l k w a s c o m m u t e d for c a s h a l l o w a n c e . T e a a n d a n a e m i c b a k e r ' s
1 0 2
b r e a d a n d t h e g r o c e r ' s c a r t w i t h t i n n e d stuff t o o k t h e i r p l a c e . ' En
t h u s i a s m for e d u c a t i o n d i d n o t l o n g s u r v i v e c o m p u l s o r y a t t e n d a n c e
at t h e B o a r d s c h o o l s after t h e A c t o f 1 8 7 2 - t h e R o y a l C o m m i s s i o n
o n L a b o u r o f 1 8 9 2 c o u l d find little t r a c e o f t h e o n c e - f a m e d z e a l for
1 0 3
reading and learning.
B y the interwar years, Scottish rural c o m m u n i t i e s of m a n y kinds
appeared singularly demoralised, although the standard of living of
100
C. S. Orwin and E. H. Whetham, History of British Agriculture, 1846-1914 (1971).
p. 216.
101
Ibid, p. 215.
102
Bradley, Squires and Farmers, p. 80.
103
RC on Labour: The Agricultural Labourer, III (II), Scotland, P P 1 8 9 3 - 4 , XXXVI, especially
pp. 6 7 , 1 2 1 - 2 , 1 7 9 .

Scotland 1850-1950 267
i n d i v i d u a l s in m o s t o f t h e m h a d o b v i o u s l y m a r k e d l y i m p r o v e d s i n c e
V i c t o r i a n t i m e s . P a r t l y it w a s a p r o b l e m o f d e p o p u l a t i o n , and the
s k e w e d a g e d i s t r i b u t i o n o f t h o s e w h o r e m a i n e d . E s p e c i a l l y in t h e
H i g h l a n d s , b u t a l s o in m a n y o f t h e m o r e r e m o t e l o w l a n d c o u n t i e s ,
t h e y o u n g v o t e d en masse w i t h t h e i r feet a g a i n s t t h e b o r e d o m a n d
l a c k o f o p p o r t u n i t y in rural life.
F a r m i n g , o f c o u r s e , w a s in b a d s h a p e b e t w e e n t h e w a r s : s o w e r e
f i s h i n g a n d c o a l m i n i n g , t w o o t h e r s t a n d - b y s o f t h e rural e c o n o m y
of g r e a t l o c a l i m p o r t a n c e . O t h e r o c c u p a t i o n s t h a t h a d u s e f u l l y v a r i e d
t h e r u r a l e c o n o m y in t h e m i d d l e o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y h a d l o n g
s i n c e v a n i s h e d , like l e a d m i n i n g i n D u m f r i e s s h i r e a n d L a n a r k s h i r e ,
a n d t h e v e r y last v e s t i g e s o f h a n d l o o m w e a v i n g w e r e d y i n g o u t in
Fife a n d t h e B o r d e r s in t h e 1 9 2 0 s ( t h o u g h i n H a r r i s a n d L e w i s h a n d
m a d e t w e e d h a d a significant i n t e r w a r r e v i v a l ) . If s o m e c o m p e n s a t i o n
w a s b e g i n n i n g to c o m e f r o m t h e t o u r i s t t r a d e , it w a s n o t y e t e n o u g h
in m o s t areas to erase the impression that the countryside h a d b e c o m e
C i n d e r e l l a to t h e t o w n .
T h e 1 9 4 0 s , h o w e v e r , h e l p e d a little to r e d r e s s t h a t b a l a n c e b y b r i n g
i n g full e m p l o y m e n t , fuller w a g e p a c k e t s a n d m u c h m o r e s e l f - r e s p e c t
for t h e t h r e e m a i n rural o c c u p a t i o n s , w h e n s o c i e t y , t h r o u g h w a r a n d
crisis, l e a r n t r e n e w e d d e p e n d e n c e o n h o m e - p r o d u c e d f o o d a n d fuel.
After t h e w a r , t o o , w i d e r c a r - o w n e r s h i p a n d a n efficient n e t w o r k o f
rural b u s s e r v i c e s s t a r t e d to b r e a k d o w n t h e s e n s e o f i s o l a t i o n w h i c h
t h e c o u n t r y s i d e h a d c o m e to feel a n d to r e s e n t . T h e c o s t s in i n t e g r a t i o n
a n d p r o s p e r i t y in t e r m s o f t h e sacrifice o f l o c a l i d e n t i t y w e r e i n e v i t a b l e ,
and n o less so the expressions of regret w h i c h a c c o m p a n i e d t h e m :
There are still great contrasts between such communities as Cowdenbeath

and Crail, or even neighbours like Inverkeithing and Aberdour. Yet perhaps
the most striking thing is how alike they have become in much that is funda
mental. For an increasing number of people, the houses in which they live,
the broad conditions under which they work, the educational system by which
they are taught, and the type of entertainment they seek, have become very
similar. As a result, there has been a standardisation of dress, of speech,
of manners and of the whole attitude to life. Increased travel has worked
in the same direction . . . With this standardisation, opportunities and creature
comforts have both become more plentiful, but whether happiness has
increased is a point on which few people could care to make a firm pronounce
104
ment.
I n h i s t o r y , t h o u g h , y o u c a n n o t h a v e y o u r c a k e a n d e a t it.
104
A. Smith, The Third Statistical Account of Scotland: The County of Fife (Edinburgh,
1952), p. 83.

268 T. c. S M O U T
T h e p r o b l e m of the survival of identity to w h i c h the c o m m e n t a t o r o n

Fife r e f e r r e d w a s a n i l l u s t r a t i o n o n t h e l o c a l s c e n e o f a n a n x i e t y m o r e
often v o i c e d n a t i o n a l l y . W o u l d S c o t l a n d h e r s e l f s u r v i v e a s a n identifi
able entity? O r w o u l d s h e irretrievably b e c o m e w h a t the nationalist
poet, T o m Scott, in t h e 1960s referred to as ' S c o t s h i r e ' , a m e r e n o r t h e r n
e x t e n s i o n o f a f l a v o u r l e s s E n g l i s h c u l t u r e ? It w a s a n o l d w o r r y , o f t e n
voiced t h e n b y nationalists, but n e v e r confined to t h e m . H e n r y Cock-
b u r n , w h o s e drafting o f t h e G r e a t R e f o r m Bill for S c o t l a n d i n 1 8 3 2
h a d done m u c h to e n c o u r a g e the c o n v e r g e n c e of Scottish a n d English
political s y s t e m s , c o u l d still w r i t e t h a t ' t h e p r o l o n g a t i o n o f S c o t c h
peculiarities, especially of our language a n d habits, I do earnestly
desire', t h o u g h in t h e next p h r a s e h e declared ' n o t h i n g c a n prevent
the gradual disappearance of local m a n n e r s u n d e r the absorption a n d
1 0 5
a s s i m i l a t i o n o f a far l a r g e r , r i c h e r a n d m o r e p o w e r f u l kingdom'.
Almost a century later his w o r d s are e c h o e d b y E d w i n Muir:
What makes the existence of the mass of the people in Scotland so unsatisfac
tory, apart from their economic plight . . . is not the feeling that they are
being subjected to English influence, but rather the knowledge that there
is no Scottish influence left to direct them. They are not English, and they
106
are ceasing to be Scottish for lack of encouragement.
Yet Muir w a s to incur the wrath of H u g h M a c D a i r m i d b y denying

that t h e o l d e r S c o t t i s h t o n g u e a n y l o n g e r f o r m e d a v e h i c l e i n w h i c h
anything of importance could b e said to the people of S c o t l a n d .
F o r m a l n a t i o n a l i s m in t h e political a n d i n t e l l e c t u a l s e n s e w a s , at
least i n E u r o p e a n p e r s p e c t i v e , a l a t e a n d w e a k g r o w t h i n S c o t l a n d .
T h e N a t i o n a l A s s o c i a t i o n for t h e V i n d i c a t i o n o f S c o t t i s h R i g h t s ,
founded in 1853, w a s m a i n l y antiquarian, seeking the restoration of
t h e S c o t t i s h P r i v y C o u n c i l a b o l i s h e d i n 1 7 0 8 a n d t h e rectification o f
trivial a b u s e s o f t h e U n i o n , s u c h as flying t h e w r o n g flag o n r o y a l
visits. T h e R o s e b e r y L i b e r a l s s u c c e s s f u l l y e x t r a c t e d t h e c o n c e s s i o n o f
a S c o t t i s h Office f r o m L o n d o n in 1 8 8 5 , a n d t h e i r s u c c e s s o r s , m o s t
notably the Y o u n g Scots b e t w e e n 1900 and 1906 were enthusiasts
for t h e L i b e r a l p r o g r a m m e o f ' H o m e R u l e All R o u n d ' - t h o u g h u n p r e
p a r e d t o g o t o a n y l e n g t h s at all t o s e c u r e it. T h e f o u n d a t i o n o f t h e
Scottish National party in 1934 (an a m a l g a m a t i o n of t w o groups
f o r m e d i n 1 9 2 8 a n d 1 9 3 2 ) m a r k e d t h e b e l a t e d arrival o f a c o n v e n t i o n a l
105
Journal of Henry Cockburn, 1831-1854, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1874), pp. 301-2.
106
Edwin Muir, Scottish Journey, ed. T.C. Smout (Edinburgh, 1979), pp. 2 7 - 8 .

Scotland 1850-1950 269
n a t i o n a l i s t p a r t y , t h o u g h o n e w i t h little e l e c t o r a l s u c c e s s b e f o r e t h e
1 0 7
late 1 9 6 0 s . T h e intellectual equivalent w a s the poets of the Scottish
R e n a i s s a n c e , a b o v e all H u g h M a c D a i r m i d w h o i n t h e 1 9 3 0 s w a s bril
l i a n t l y r e i n v e n t i n g h i s c o u n t r y a n d its c u l t u r e , w i t h all t h e p a s s i o n
a n d imagination of a nineteenth-century B o h e m i a n in Prague, or Finn
in Helsinki.
This delay in the e m e r g e n c e of nationalist politics a n d culture almost
to the point of anachronism has b e e n related b y b o t h Nairn and Harvie
t o t h e c o n s i s t e n t s u c c e s s o f t h e S c o t t i s h m i d d l e c l a s s e s a n d t h e intelli
g e n t s i a w i t h i n t h e B r i t i s h s t a t e for a l o n g p e r i o d f r o m 1 7 5 0 , w h i c h
m e a n t t h a t t h e n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y ' s p r i n g t i m e o f n a t i o n s ' h a d little
a p p e a l u n t i l after t h e First W o r l d W a r , a n d b e i n g t h e n w i t h o u t r o o t s ,
108
only a limited one thereafter. T h i s d i d n o t , h o w e v e r , at all p r e c l u d e
t h e s u r v i v a l o f a n i n t e n s e p o p u l a r s e l f - a w a r e n e s s , a refusal o f S c o t s
t o call t h e m s e l v e s E n g l i s h w h a t e v e r t h e o u t s i d e w o r l d m i g h t d o . A s
w e shall see, in the Victorian years s o m e s y m b o l s of Scottishness
w e a k e n e d , especially the church. Others were, however, invented,
o r a d a p t e d t o c o v e r t h e e n t i r e c o u n t r y i n s t e a d o f a p a r t o f it, s u c h
as the association of the w h o l e of S c o t l a n d (instead of just the High
lands) with tartan and bagpipe. In this respect nothing w a s more
important t h a n sport, especially the s c h i s m b e t w e e n the Football
Association a n d the Scottish Football Association in 1887, which led
t o t h e firm f o u n d a t i o n o f a s e p a r a t e S c o t t i s h L e a g u e .
T h i s h a d a n i m p o r t a n t s e c o n d a r y effect i n h e l p i n g t o p r e s e r v e a
c h a r a c t e r i s t i c a l l y S c o t t i s h m e d i a in t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y . A s K e l l a s
h a s p o i n t e d o u t , as late a s 1 9 7 0 n o daily n e w s p a p e r p u b l i s h e d in
E n g l a n d took m o r e t h a n 3 per cent of the adult readership, and the
Sunday Post a n d Sunday Mail ( p u b l i s h e d in D u n d e e a n d G l a s g o w )
109
took 79 per cent and 53 per cent of S u n d a y readership respectively.
T h e r e a s o n s for t h i s are c l e a r l y c o n n e c t e d w i t h a d v e r t i s i n g r e v e n u e
a n d c o v e r a g e o f l o c a l n e w s a s w e l l as w i t h s p o r t . T h e r e w a s , h o w e v e r ,
little p o i n t in t h e G l a s g o w m a n b u y i n g t h e Daily Mirror o r t h e Daily
Telegraph if h i s m a i n i n t e r e s t i n life w a s t o f o l l o w R a n g e r s o r Celtic,
a n d t o r e l i s h fully t h e t r i u m p h s o f S c o t l a n d o v e r E n g l a n d at H a m p d e n
P a r k : t h a t n e e d e d p r o p e r l y i m p a r t i a l r e p o r t i n g , s u c h as o n l y t h e Daily
Record o r t h e Glasgow Herald w e r e qualified t o p r o v i d e .
107
H. J. Hanham, Scottish Nationalism (1969).
108
T. Nairn, The Break-Up of Britain, 2nd edn (1981), pp. 92-195; C. Harvie, Scotland
and Nationalism (1977).
109
Kellas, Scottish Political System, pp. 178-91.

270 T. C. S M O U T
From the middle nineteenth century, however, the underlying

forces o f a s s i m i l a t i o n g r e w s l o w l y s t r o n g e r . T h e c o m i n g o f t h e p e n n y
post, the completion of the railway links with L o n d o n , the telegraph,
t h e t e l e p h o n e a n d , in t h e first h a l f o f t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y , t h e t r u n k -
r o a d n e t w o r k a n d t h e w i r e l e s s set, c r e a t e d a c o m m u n i c a t i o n s r e v o l u
t i o n in w h i c h t h e c o n t r o l o f S c o t l a n d f r o m a r e m o t e e x t e r n a l c e n t r e
b e c a m e p o s s i b l e for t h e first t i m e . T h e r e is a s e n s e in w h i c h t h e I n c o r
p o r a t i n g U n i o n of 1 7 0 7 o n l y b e c a m e o p e r a t i o n a l l y p o s s i b l e a b o u t o n e
h u n d r e d y e a r s a g o . T h e g r o w t h in t h e size o f firms a n d o f t h e p u b l i c
s e c t o r g r a d u a l l y p r o d u c e d a shift in t h e effective c o n t r o l o f t h e S c o t t i s h
e c o n o m y away from G l a s g o w and Edinburgh towards L o n d o n and
b e y o n d , t h o u g h it w a s n o t u n t i l t h e 1 9 5 0 s t h a t E n g l i s h a n d A m e r i c a n
o w n e r s h i p of Scottish c o m p a n i e s b e c a m e a very m a r k e d feature of
the Scottish economy.
T h e g r o w t h o f t h e s t a t e itself w o r k e d m a i n l y in t h e s a m e d i r e c t i o n .
A t first g o v e r n m e n t i n t e r f e r e n c e w o r e a S c o t t i s h face - t h e 1 8 4 5 r e f o r m
of t h e p o o r l a w , t h e 1 8 7 2 E d u c a t i o n A c t , t h e 1 8 6 7 a n d 1 8 9 7 p u b l i c
h e a l t h r e f o r m s all t o o k explicit a c c o u n t ( t h o u g h w i t h v a r y i n g c o m
petence) of the peculiarities of the Scottish institutions t h e y w e r e
i n t e n d e d to r e g u l a t e , a n d in t h i s t h e y w e r e t y p i c a l o f V i c t o r i a n g o v e r n
m e n t . N e v e r t h e l e s s , t h e y did r e p r e s e n t t h e i n t r u s i o n o f W e s t m i n s t e r
i n t o s p h e r e s h i t h e r t o left s o l e l y to local d i s c r e t i o n . I n t h e t w e n t i e t h
century practice varied - u n e m p l o y m e n t benefit and old age pensions
w e r e d i r e c t e d f r o m L o n d o n , b u t h o u s i n g w a s left l a r g e l y to local
g o v e r n m e n t a n d w h e n t h e N a t i o n a l H e a l t h S e r v i c e w a s s e t u p in
S c o t l a n d after 1 9 4 5 , it c a m e u n d e r t h e c o n t r o l o f t h e S e c r e t a r y o f S t a t e .
T h e m o v e m e n t o f t h e S c o t t i s h Office to S t A n d r e w s H o u s e in 1 9 3 9
and the subsequent vigorous exercise of the p o w e r of the Secretary
of S t a t e b y T o m J o h n s t o n b e g a n t o c r e a t e a S c o t t i s h g o v e r n m e n t b u r
e a u c r a c y , b u t o n e directly a n s w e r a b l e to L o n d o n , n o t E d i n b u r g h . T h e
s i m p l e fact t h a t w h a t t h e state d i d in 1 9 5 0 m a t t e r e d s o m u c h m o r e
t h a n w h a t it did in 1 8 5 0 m a d e t h e U n i o n v a s t l y m o r e i m p o r t a n t in
e v e r y d a y life t h a n it h a d b e e n a c e n t u r y earlier.
T w o i n t e r l i n k e d s p h e r e s in w h i c h t h e g u a r d i a n s h i p o f t h e S c o t t i s h
sense of identity w a s traditionally strong, religion and education,
a l t e r e d p r o f o u n d l y in t h e c e n t u r y after 1 8 5 0 . T h e m o n o l i t h i c face o f
P r e s b y t e r i a n i s m b r o k e at t h e D i s r u p t i o n : b e f o r e 1 8 4 3 , p r o b a b l y at l e a s t
t h r e e - q u a r t e r s o f t h e S c o t s b e l o n g e d to t h e C h u r c h o f S c o t l a n d - after
it, t h e i r a l l e g i a n c e split t h r e e w a y s b e t w e e n t h e C h u r c h o f S c o t l a n d ,
t h e F r e e C h u r c h a n d t h e U n i t e d P r e s b y t e r i a n s (itself a n a m a l g a m a t i o n

Scotland 1850-1950 271
T a b l e 3 . 1 1 Percentage of marriages in Scotland taking place in churches

of different denominations, 1861-1950
1861- 1881- 1901- 1921- 1941-

1870 1890 1910 1930 1950
Church of Scotland 44.3 46.2 45.3 44.5 (

Free Church 23.5 20.3 60.6
[26.6 [20.5
United Presbyterians 14.3 11.6
Roman Catholic 9.2 9.9 10.5 11.6
I 13.1
Scottish Episcopalian 2.1 2.8 2.9 2.8 3.1
Other religious forms 5.9 6.7 8.3 8.8 8.0
Non-religious forms 0.2 2.5 6.4 12.7 15.1
Note: The majority of the Free Church joined with the United Presbyterians
to form the United Free Church in 1900; the majority of the United Free
Church joined the Church of Scotland in 1929. Some of those under the
heading 'Other religious forms' after 1901 are due to the residue of these
churches remaining outside the unions. 'Non-religious forms' are irregular
marriages up to 1940, civil marriages thereafter. For an explanation, see T.
C. Smout, 'Scottish Marriage, Regular and Irregular, 1500-1940', in R. B.
Outhwaite, ed., Marriage and Society: Studies in the Social History of Marriage
(1981), pp. 204-36.
Source: Annual Reports of the Registrar General for Scotland.
of e i g h t e e n t h - c e n t u r y s e c e d e r g r o u p s ) . S e c t a r i a n b i t t e r n e s s c h a r a c t e r
i s e d m u c h o f t h e c e n t u r y , a n d t h e d a m a g e w a s o n l y p a r t l y rectified
b y the u n i o n of m o s t of the Free C h u r c h and the United Presbyterians
in 1 9 0 0 a n d t h e s u b s e q u e n t r e u n i o n o f m o s t o f t h a t g r o u p i n g ( U n i t e d
F r e e C h u r c h ) w i t h t h e C h u r c h o f S c o t l a n d in 1 9 2 9 . T h e revival o f
a s t r o n g R o m a n C a t h o l i c c h u r c h to m i n i s t e r t o t h e Irish c o m m u n i t y
and their descendants was confirmed b y the re-establishment of the
1 1 0
h i e r a r c h y in 1 8 7 8 . Table 3.11 s h o w s h o w the formal allegiance of
t h e p o p u l a t i o n c h a n g e d , as i n d i c a t e d b y t h e c h u r c h e s t o w h i c h t h e y
w e n t to b e married. T h e n u m b e r of people prepared to b e married
o u t s i d e a n y c h u r c h h a d s t e a d i l y i n c r e a s e d b u t w a s still r e l a t i v e l y s m a l l
e v e n in t h e 1 9 4 0 s .
H o w far d i d r e l i g i o u s a l l e g i a n c e e v e r g o b e y o n d r e s p e c t i n g t h e rites
of p a s s a g e ? T h e r e s u l t s o f t h e r e l i g i o u s c e n s u s o f 1 8 5 1 s u g g e s t at first
s i g h t t h a t m o r e p e o p l e a t t e n d e d c h u r c h in S c o t l a n d t h a n in E n g l a n d ,
nearly a third of the entire population in the north attending m o r n i n g
s e r v i c e , b u t o n l y a little o v e r a q u a r t e r d o i n g s o in t h e s o u t h . B u t ,
as T a b l e 3 . 1 2 s h o w s , t h e e v i d e n c e is a m b i g u o u s : o b v i o u s l y e v e n i n g
110
A. J. Drummond and J. Bulloch, The Church in Victorian Scotland, 1843-1874 (Edin
burgh, 1975), and idem, The Church in Late Victorian Scotland; D. McRoberts, ed.,
Modern Scottish Catholicism, 1878-1978 (Glasgow, 1979).

272 T. c. S M O U T
T a b l e 3 . 1 2 Percentage of the population attending church in Scotland and

England, 30 March 1851
Scotland England and Wales
Morning 32.7 25.9

Afternoon 21.5 17.7
Evening 6.5 17.1
Source: John Highet, T h e Churches' in A. J. Cairncross, ed., The Scottish

Economy (Cambridge, 1954), p. 307.
s e r v i c e s w e r e u n p o p u l a r in S c o t l a n d , a n d it is p o s s i b l e t h a t t h e i m p r e s
s i o n o f g r e a t e r S c o t t i s h a t t e n d a n c e is false, at l e a s t if m a n y E n g l i s h
a n d W e l s h w e n t in t h e e v e n i n g w h o h a d n o t b e e n i n t h e m o r n i n g
or a f t e r n o o n . O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , t h e r e w e r e in S c o t l a n d c h u r c h s e a t s
for 6 3 . 5 p e r c e n t o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n (as o p p o s e d t o 5 7 p e r c e n t in E n g
land), though contemporaries estimated that only 58 per cent would
e v e r b e in a p o s i t i o n t o a t t e n d c h u r c h at a n y o n e t i m e , t h e r e s t b e i n g
t o o y o u n g , t o o o l d o r t o o sick.
A h u n d r e d y e a r s later, social s u r v e y s s u g g e s t e d t h a t r e g u l a r c h u r c h -
going h a d dropped substantially, from around a third of the popula
t i o n to a r o u n d a fifth. H i g h e t , h o w e v e r , p r o d u c e d e v i d e n c e t o s h o w
t h a t t h e n u m b e r o f p e o p l e c l a i m i n g c h u r c h m e m b e r s h i p d i d n o t signifi
c a n t l y v a r y b e t w e e n 1 8 7 1 a n d 1 9 5 1 , b e i n g a r o u n d 6 0 p e r c e n t o f all
a d u l t s t h r o u g h o u t t h e p e r i o d : if s o , t h e y m u s t h a v e b e c o m e l e s s k e e n
1 1 1
o n g o i n g to c h u r c h .
T h e s e figures, for all t h e i r a m b i g u i t i e s , s u g g e s t t w o c o n c l u s i o n s t h a t
fully justify t h e d o m i n a n t n o t e o f p e s s i m i s m t h a t w a s h e a r d w h e n e v e r
c h u r c h m e n o p e n e d t h e i r m o u t h s . First, e v e n at t h e start o f t h e p e r i o d ,
t h e ' u n c h u r c h e d m a s s e s ' w e r e e n o r m o u s , p o s s i b l y as m a n y as 4 5
p e r c e n t o f all t h o s e w h o c o u l d h a v e g o n e t o c h u r c h . S e c o n d l y , o v e r
the years the situation deteriorated, until b y 1951 about two-thirds
of t h o s e w h o c o u l d h a v e a t t e n d e d c h u r c h w e r e n o t d o i n g s o . F o r
t h e P r o t e s t a n t s , t h e rot b e g a n in t h e l a b o u r i n g c l a s s e s a n d w o r k e d
up. Long before 1850 T h o m a s Chalmers and others were expressing
t h e i r a n x i e t y at t h e failure o f t h e k i r k t o k e e p u p w i t h t h e e x p a n s i o n
of t h e p o p u l a t i o n in t h e cities, b u t t h e F r e e C h u r c h at l e a s t b e g a n
life after t h e D i s r u p t i o n w i t h s u b s t a n t i a l b a c k i n g f r o m t h e skilled,
111
J. Highet, 'The Churches', in Cairncross, ed., Scottish Economy, pp. 297-315.

Scotland 1850-1950 273
u r b a n w o r k e r a s w e l l as f r o m t h e crofter. M a c L a r e n h a s s u g g e s t e d
that the artisan w a s subsequently largely alienated b y incessant
d e m a n d s o n h i s p o c k e t . A s t h e F r e e C h u r c h c a l l e d for f u n d s to b u i l d
a s m a n y a n d a s fine c h u r c h e s a n d s c h o o l s as t h e e s t a b l i s h e d c h u r c h ,
1 1 2
the middle class w h o paid the piper called the t u n e . In any case,
the ethos of the Presbyterian c h u r c h e s in the third quarter of the
n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y - p u r i t a n , c o n d e s c e n d i n g , Sabbatarian a n d C h a l -
m e r i a n in t h e i r v i e w t h a t t h e p o o r w e r e m a i n l y to b l a m e for t h e i r
p o v e r t y - m u s t h a v e h e l p e d to d i s t a n c e t h e m f r o m t h e m a s s e s . B y
the 1880s there w a s a n e w gospel of social responsibility, p r e a c h e d
i n all t h e k i r k s , a n d e s p e c i a l l y in t h e U n i t e d P r e s b y t e r i a n : it h a d its
effect, c e r t a i n l y , i n i n f l u e n c i n g t h e n e w l a b o u r l e a d e r s h i p , m a n y o f
w h o m e m e r g e d from a b a c k g r o u n d of lower middle-class Calvinistic
p i e t y . N o t for n o t h i n g , w h e n t h e C l y d e s i d e r s w e r e r e t u r n e d to P a r l i a
m e n t in the election of N o v e m b e r 1922, w a s their triumph celebrated
b y a s e r v i c e at S t A n d r e w ' s H a l l , G l a s g o w , w h e n ' t h e p e a l i n g o r g a n
c r a s h e d its p a e n s . . . t h e a u d i e n c e s a n g t h e O l d H u n d r e d a n d T w e n t y -
f o u r t h P s a l m . . . w h i c h still p o s s e s s e s t h e p o w e r to " t i r l t h e h e ' r t
strings a' to the l i f e " a n d q u i c k e n the souls of m e n w h o value liberty
1 1 3
more than life'.
B y t h e n , h o w e v e r , t h e c h u r c h w a s b e g i n n i n g t o b e m o a n t h e falling
off o f l a r g e s e c t i o n s o f t h e m i d d l e c l a s s a s w e l l a s o f t h e w o r k i n g
class from the regular ordinances of religion. Alternative attractions
d e v e l o p e d as p o p u l a r r e c r e a t i o n s p r e a d - i n t h e 1 8 9 0 s m i n i s t e r s w e r e
deploring the n e w habit of farm w o r k e r s in going o n cycle rides o n
S u n d a y s instead of c o m i n g to church; b y the 1930s the Scots w e r e
m o r e d e v o t e d to t h e c i n e m a t h a n p e o p l e in a n y other section of t h e
B r i t i s h I s l e s . F o o t b a l l , it w a s s a i d t i m e a n d t i m e a g a i n a n d w i t h g o o d
r e a s o n , w a s t h e n e w r e l i g i o n . B y t h e 1 9 5 0 s t h e r e w a s still p r o b a b l y
m o r e church-going a m o n g the Scottish middle class than a m o n g the
E n g l i s h ; if o n e c h u r c h m e m b e r in f o u r w a s n o w C a t h o l i c (in 1 8 7 1
it h a d b e e n o n e in t e n ) a t h i r d o f t h e s c h o o l - a g e p o p u l a t i o n w a s e v e n
t h e n going to S u n d a y schools run b y the C h u r c h of Scotland. Neverthe
l e s s , t h e c h u r c h w a s q u i t e d e t h r o n e d f r o m t h e c e n t r a l p o s i t i o n it h a d
o c c u p i e d i n S c o t t i s h affairs i n t h e m i d d l e o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y :
p o l i t i c s , p l e a s u r e a n d its i n a b i l i t y t o a n s w e r t h e g r e a t e s c h a t o l o g i c a l
A. A. MacLaren, Tresbyterianism and the Working Class in a Mid-Nineteenth

Century City', Scottish Historical Review, 46 (1967), 115-39.
G. McAllister, James Maxton, the Portrait of a Rebel (1935), p. 100.

274 T. C. S M O U T
q u e s t i o n s a b o u t w h e r e w e c o m e f r o m a n d w h e r e w e are g o i n g in
t h e face o f m o d e r n scientific e n q u i r y a n d biblical c r i t i c i s m h a d s h o r n
it o f m o s t o f t h e p o w e r if h a d g a t h e r e d to itself s i n c e t h e R e f o r m a t i o n .
It c a n n o t b e s a i d , h o w e v e r , t h a t t h e d e c l i n e in t h e i n f l u e n c e o f t h e
c h u r c h w a s a c c o m p a n i e d b y a n y m e a s u r a b l e i n c r e a s e in i m m o r a l i t y
- at l e a s t as c o n v e n t i o n a l l y r e g a r d e d a n d d e n o u n c e d . I l l e g i t i m a c y ,
r u n n i n g at 9 . 8 5 p e r 1 0 0 b i r t h s i n 1 8 6 6 - 7 0 , h a d d e c l i n e d b y a t h i r d
to 6 . 2 6 b y 1 9 3 6 - 9 ; c o n s u m p t i o n o f w h i s k y p e r h e a d , 1.65 g a l l o n s in
1 8 7 1 , w a s a m e r e 0 . 4 0 b y 1 9 3 1 . T h e r e is s o m e r e a s o n to s u p p o s e t h a t
the most 'religious', and certainly the most sternly Presbyterian, part
of S c o t l a n d r e m a i n i n g in 1 9 5 0 w a s t h e n o r t h e r n H i g h l a n d s . Illegiti
m a c y in R o s s a n d C r o m a r t y , h o w e v e r , r o s e f r o m 4 . 8 5 p e r 1 0 0 b i r t h s
in 1 8 6 6 - 7 0 to 8 . 3 5 b y 1 9 3 6 - 9 ; t h o u g h w e k n o w l e s s a b o u t t h e r e g i o n a l
distribution of w h i s k y consumption, the ' W e e F r e e ' island of Lewis
1 1 4
w a s n o t o r i o u s for its l e v e l o f a l c o h o l i s m after t h e S e c o n d W o r l d W a r .
C h a n g e s in e d u c a t i o n o v e r t h e c e n t u r y w e r e n o l e s s s w e e p i n g t h a n
c h a n g e s i n c h u r c h life. M i d - V i c t o r i a n S c o t l a n d w a s p r o u d of its e d u
c a t i o n a l p r o v i s i o n , b u t critical m i n d s w e r e a l s o w e l l a w a r e o f d e f e c t s .
T h e First R e p o r t o f t h e R e g i s t r a r G e n e r a l for S c o t l a n d s h o w e d t h a t
in 1 8 5 5 , 1 1 . 4 p e r c e n t o f m a l e s a n d n o f e w e r t h a n 2 2 . 8 p e r c e n t o f
f e m a l e s c o u l d n o t w r i t e t h e i r o w n n a m e s in t h e m a r r i a g e r e g i s t r y :
t h e r e g i o n a l v a r i a t i o n s w u n g f r o m a trifling 1.2 p e r c e n t illiteracy b o t h
of m e n a n d w o m e n i n l o w l a n d B e r w i c k s h i r e , to a n a p p a l l i n g 3 6 . 7
p e r c e n t o f m e n a n d 4 9 . 4 p e r c e n t o f w o m e n in h i g h l a n d R o s s a n d
C r o m a r t y ; L a n a r k s h i r e , w i t h its h e a v y c o n c e n t r a t i o n o f u r b a n i n d u s
trial w o r k e r s , h a d 15 p e r c e n t illiteracy for m e n a n d 3 0 . 2 p e r c e n t
illiteracy for w o m e n . T h e A r g y l l C o m m i s s i o n i n 1 8 6 7 s h o w e d that
t h e p o s i t i o n w a s m u c h t h e s a m e a d e c a d e later - e l e m e n t a r y s c h o o l
provision w a s g o o d in the rural L o w l a n d s , a n d very b a d in the rural
H i g h l a n d s ; i n t h e b i g cities it v a r i e d f r o m fair t o awful. O v e r t h e
w h o l e o f S c o t l a n d 1 8 p e r c e n t o f c h i l d r e n a g e d b e t w e e n four and
f o u r t e e n w e r e n o t o n t h e s c h o o l roll: i n G l a s g o w t h e p e r c e n t a g e v a r i e d
f r o m 2 9 p e r c e n t i n m i d d l e - c l a s s B l y t h s w o o d t o 7 2 p e r c e n t in t h e
s l u m s o f T r a d e s t o n . O b v i o u s l y t h e r e w e r e v e r y l a r g e h o l e s in t h e
n e t o f t h e K n o x i a n i d e a l o f e d u c a t i o n for all. S o m e c o m f o r t w a s d r a w n
f r o m t h e fact t h a t w h i l e in E n g l a n d o n l y o n e c h i l d in 1,300 w e n t o n
114
Flinn, ed., Scottish Population History, pp. 350-1; G. B. Wilson, Alcohol and the
Nation (1940), pp. 344-5.

Scotland 1850-1950 275
t o e n j o y a n y f o r m o f s e c o n d a r y s c h o o l i n g , in S c o t l a n d t h e p r o p o r t i o n
1 1 5
w a s o n e in 1 4 0 .
U r b a n i s a t i o n h a d c a u s e d g r a v e p r o b l e m s for t h e t r a d i t i o n s o f e d u
c a t i o n a l p r o v i s i o n i n b o t h h a l v e s o f G r e a t B r i t a i n , e x a c e r b a t e d in S c o t
l a n d b y t h e p a r a l y s i n g split i n t h e k i r k in 1 8 4 3 j u s t w h e n u r g e n t c o
ordinated action was most needed. T h e obvious solution appeared
t o b e to r e m o v e c o n t r o l o v e r p a r o c h i a l s c h o o l s f r o m t h e c h u r c h to
t h e s t a t e , w h i c h w a s a c h i e v e d i n S c o t l a n d in 1 8 7 2 b y t h e c r e a t i o n
of S c h o o l B o a r d s , t w o y e a r s l a t e r t h a n t h e e q u i v a l e n t E n g l i s h m e a s u r e .
At the same time a Scotch Education Department was created, though
at first t h i s w a s ' s i m p l y a r o o m i n W h i t e h a l l w i t h t h e w o r d " S c o t l a n d "
1 1 6
painted on the door', with the same president and vice-president
a s its E n g l i s h e q u i v a l e n t : o n l y s l o w l y did it a t t a i n i n d e p e n d e n c e , a n d
n o t u n t i l 1 9 2 1 w a s its m a i n h e a d q u a r t e r s e s t a b l i s h e d i n E d i n b u r g h .
T h e 1 8 7 2 A c t w a s a n o b v i o u s m o v e to t h e c e n t r a l i s e d s e c u l a r d i r e c t i o n
of e d u c a t i o n , b u t a r g u a b l y a m o r e i m p o r t a n t shift in t h a t d i r e c t i o n
h a d a l r e a d y b e e n m a d e in t h e a p p l i c a t i o n o f t h e R e v i s e d C o d e t o
S c o t l a n d in 1862, ' i m p o s e d o n S c o t l a n d entirely o n the result of inquiry
into the condition of e l e m e n t a r y English s c h o o l s ' , as o n e embittered
i n s p e c t o r p u t it: it l a s t e d u n t i l 1 8 8 5 a n d h a d t h e effect o f c o n c e n t r a t i n g
l e a r n i n g o n t h e m e c h a n i c a l a c q u i s i t i o n o f t h e ' t h r e e R s ' , at t h e e x p e n s e
1 1 7
of e v e r y t h i n g m o r e i n t e l l e c t u a l o r b r o a d l y b a s e d .
T h e next half-century certainly s a w an i m p r o v e m e n t in formal school
a t t a i n m e n t s . B y 1 9 1 7 , illiteracy a s m e a s u r e d b y failure to s i g n t h e
m a r r i a g e r e g i s t e r w a s d o w n t o l e s s t h a n 1 p e r c e n t for b o t h s e x e s ,
a n d e v e n in R o s s and Cromarty w a s only 2.5 per cent. Nevertheless,
it is q u e s t i o n a b l e w h e t h e r S c o t l a n d s h o n e a n y l o n g e r a b o v e E n g l a n d
a s a c e n t r e o f e d u c a t i o n a l e x c e l l e n c e . T h a t ' z e a l for l e a r n i n g ' w h i c h
h a d o n c e s e e m e d to b e characteristic of the Lowlander, a n d w h i c h
t h e A r g y l l C o m m i s s i o n h a d still r e g a r d e d as alive a n d w e l l in t h e
rural areas in the 1860s, w a s not very obvious in Royal C o m m i s s i o n
e n q u i r i e s i n t h e s a m e a r e a s in t h e 1 8 9 0 s : w o r k i n g - c l a s s a p a t h y t o w a r d s
t h e a c q u i s i t i o n o f e d u c a t i o n w a s m o r e e v i d e n t still b y t h e 1950s.
A . S . Neill, a y o u n g village s c h o o l m a s t e r in 1915, found t h e w h o l e
Scotch Code enervating and depressing:
J. Scotland, The History of Scottish Education, 2 vols., (1969), vol. 1, p. 184;

G. S. Osborne, Scottish and English Schools: A Comparative Survey of the Past Fifty
Years (Pittsburg, 1966).
Scotland, Scottish Education, vol. 2, p. 5.
J. Kerr, Memories Grave and Gay (Edinburgh, 1903), p. 58.

276 T. c. SMOUT
What does it all mean? What am I trying to do? These boys are going out
to the fields to plough; these girls are going to farms as servants. If I live
long enough the new generation will be bringing notes of the pleese-excuss-
james-as-I-was-washing type . . . and the parents who will write them went
out that door five minutes ago. I can teach them to read, and they will read
serials in the drivelling weeklies: I can teach them to write, and they will
write pathetic notes to me by and bye; I can teach them to count, and they
will never count more than the miserable sum they receive as a weekly wage
. . . My work is hopeless, for education should aim at bringing up a new
generation that will be better than the old. The present system is to produce
118
the same kind of man as we see today.
H i s o w n l a t e r e x p e r i m e n t s at S u m m e r h i l l a n d e l s e w h e r e , a m o n g t h e
most daring and innovative in the English-speaking world, s e e m e d
to h o l d f e w l e s s o n s f r o m w h i c h t h e r u l i n g m a n d a r i n s o f S c o t t i s h e d u
cation could learn. T h e y c o n t i n u e d to believe in m o r e conventional
v i r t u e s t h a n l i b e r a t i o n . T h e y c o u l d n o t afford U t o p i a , a n d t h e y w o u l d
n o t h a v e l i k e d it a n y w a y .
After 1 8 8 5 , t h e p o s s i b i l i t y p r e s e n t in t h e 1 8 6 0 s a n d 1 8 7 0 s t h a t S c o t t i s h
e d u c a t i o n w o u l d s o o n b e f o r c e d to b e c o m e f o r m a l l y i d e n t i c a l w i t h
E n g l i s h p a s s e d . T h e g e n e r a l s t e p s in t h e d i r e c t i o n o f e x t e n d i n g e d u
c a t i o n a l p r o v i s i o n w e r e , h o w e v e r , s i m i l a r in b o t h c o u n t r i e s , b u t w i t h
S c o t l a n d l e a d i n g i n i n n o v a t i o n as o f t e n as E n g l a n d . T h u s primary
education b e c a m e c o m p u l s o r y in S c o t l a n d in 1872, in E n g l a n d in 1880;
it b e c a m e free i n S c o t l a n d i n 1 8 8 9 , i n E n g l a n d i n 1 8 9 1 ; t h e s c h o o l -
l e a v i n g a g e w a s r a i s e d f r o m t h i r t e e n t o f o u r t e e n in S c o t l a n d in 1 9 0 1 ,
in E n g l a n d in 1 9 1 8 ; a n d i n b o t h c o u n t r i e s effectively t o fifteen in 1 9 4 5 .
In s e c o n d a r y e d u c a t i o n t h e r i g h t t o free s c h o o l i n g w a s a d m i t t e d i n
S c o t l a n d i n 1 9 1 8 a n d i n E n g l a n d in 1 9 4 4 , w h i l e r e o r g a n i s a t i o n o f
s e c o n d a r y s c h o o l s w a s a c h i e v e d i n t w o s t e p s i n S c o t l a n d in 1 9 3 6 a n d
1 9 4 5 , in E n g l a n d i n 1 9 4 5 . S c h o o l B o a r d s w e r e n o t a b o l i s h e d in S c o t l a n d
u n t i l 1 9 1 8 , w h e n t h e y w e r e r e p l a c e d b y t h i r t y - e i g h t e l e c t e d local e d u
c a t i o n a u t h o r i t i e s , o n l y for t h e s e to b e s u p e r s e d e d i n 1 9 2 9 b y t h e
1 1 9
e d u c a t i o n c o m m i t t e e s o f t h e city a n d c o u n t y c o u n c i l s .
B o t h countries clearly profited from each o t h e r ' s experience in going
down the same path. Nevertheless, Scottish school education
r e m a i n e d d i s t i n c t i v e at s e v e r a l l e v e l s . It a i m e d to b e b r o a d e r a n d l e s s
s p e c i a l i s e d at s e c o n d a r y l e v e l . It r e l i e d m o r e o n t h e u s e o f c o r p o r a l
p u n i s h m e n t . T h e t a w s e w a s m o r e often in the h a n d s of university
graduates: in 1938, 70 per cent of the m e n a n d 32 per cent of the
w o m e n t e a c h e r s i n S c o t l a n d w e r e g r a d u a t e s , w h e r e a s in E n g l a n d t h e
118
A. S. Neill, A Dominie's log (1915), pp. 11-12.
119
Scotland, Scottish Education, vol. 2; Osborne, Scottish and English Schools.

Scotland 1850-1950 277
p e r c e n t a g e s w e r e 16 a n d 1 4 p e r c e n t r e s p e c t i v e l y . F i n a l l y , it w a s effec
t i v e l y c o n t r o l l e d b y a n a r r o w circle c o m p o s e d o f p r i n c i p a l s o f t h e S c o t
tish Education Colleges, inspectors from the Scottish Education
D e p a r t m e n t a n d t e a c h e r s w h o b e l o n g e d to t h e E d u c a t i o n a l I n s t i t u t e
of S c o t l a n d , e s p e c i a l l y h e a d m a s t e r s f r o m t h e e a s t o f S c o t l a n d , w h o
w e r e o u t o f t o u c h w i t h t h e realities o f t e a c h i n g t h e d e p r i v e d u r b a n
1 2 0
proletariat of the w e s t . T h e leaders of Scottish education put an
e s p e c i a l l y h i g h p r e m i u m o n m a i n t a i n i n g t h e p r o f e s s i o n as a c l o s e d
s h o p for t h o s e t r a i n e d i n S c o t l a n d . It w a s n o t v e r y d i s t i n c t i v e o r dis
t i n g u i s h e d in a n y m o r e i m p o r t a n t w a y s .
Higher education did not share with the schools the policy of k e e p
i n g j o b s for t h e S c o t t i s h b o y s , b u t m a i n t a i n e d a n o p e n d o o r to r e c r u i t
m e n t for ' b e s t a p p l i c a n t s ' i r r e s p e c t i v e o f t h e i r t r a i n i n g o r d o m i c i l e ;
c o n s e q u e n t l y , the universities b e c a m e in the course of time the m o s t
a n g l i c i s e d s e c t o r o f S c o t t i s h e d u c a t i o n . L e g i s l a t i v e p r o v i s i o n in a n y
c a s e p r e s s e d S c o t l a n d in t h a t d i r e c t i o n . T h e U n i v e r s i t i e s ( S c o t l a n d )
Act of 1858, w a s partly a c o n s e q u e n c e of the disappointing perform
a n c e o f S c o t t i s h c a n d i d a t e s i n t h e n e w c o m p e t i t i v e e x a m i n a t i o n for
t h e I n d i a n Civil S e r v i c e , a b r a n c h o f t h e E m p i r e t h a t t h e S c o t t i s h
m i d d l e c l a s s h a d h i t h e r t o l o o k e d o n as p e c u l i a r l y its o w n : it a l t e r e d
m u c h , b u t left i n t a c t t h e c o n c e p t o f a p h i l o s o p h y - b a s e d g e n e r a l arts
course as a central part of a Scottish university degree a n d a prelimi
nary to specialised study. T h e Universities (Scotland) Act of 1889,
h o w e v e r , r a i s e d t h e a v e r a g e a g e o f e n t r y f r o m a b o u t fifteen t o s e v e n
t e e n , a n d i n t r o d u c e d a f o u r - y e a r h o n o u r s d e g r e e as a n a l t e r n a t i v e
t o t h e g e n e r a l d e g r e e - it differed f r o m t h e E n g l i s h m o d e l o n l y i n
being a year longer and involving more study outside the main sub
1 2 1
ject. W h e n t h e U n i v e r s i t y G r a n t s C o m m i t t e e w a s s e t u p in 1 9 1 9 ,
S c o t t i s h u n i v e r s i t i e s c a m e u n d e r its s w a y r a t h e r t h a n u n d e r a S c o t t i s h
b o d y , a n d t h e y h a v e r e m a i n e d o u t s i d e t h e orbit o f t h e S E D o r t h e
S c o t t i s h Office: a n i n c r e a s i n g l y E n g l i s h p r o f e s s o r i a t h a s b e e n a n x i o u s
t h a t t h e y s h o u l d r e m a i n s o . A s T a b l e 3 . 1 3 s h o w s , in t h e p r o v i s i o n
of u n i v e r s i t y p l a c e s , S c o t l a n d r e m a i n e d w e l l a h e a d o f E n g l a n d i n p r o
p o r t i o n t o h e r p o p u l a t i o n , t h o u g h n o t t o t h e s a m e d e g r e e as i n t h e
earlier n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y .
H o w g o o d o r b a d a n e d u c a t i o n s y s t e m is c a n n o t b e j u d g e d o u t s i d e
120
A. McPherson, 'An Angle on the Geist: Persistence and Change in the Scottish
Educational Tradition', in W. M. Humes and H. M. Paterson, eds., Scottish Culture
and Scottish Education, 1800-1980 (Edinburgh, 1983), pp. 216-43.
121
For a stimulating, if controversial, survey, see G. E. Davie, The Democratic Intellect
(Edinburgh, 1961).

278 т. с. S M O U T
T a b l e 3 . 1 3 University places in England and Scotland, 1830-1950
1830 1900 1938 1950

England 3,000 13,200 56,000 63,600
Scotland 4,400 6,000 10,000 15,000
Places per 000 population

England 0.22 0.40 1.35 1.45
Scotland 1.47 1.34 2.00 2.96
Source: G. S. Osborne, Scottish and English Schools: A Comparative Survey of

the Past Fifty Years (Pittsburg, 1966), p. 25.
t h e c o n t e x t o f t h e p u r p o s e s for w h i c h it w a s d e s i g n e d , a n d t h e r e
is n o e v i d e n c e t h a t a n y p a r t o f its p u r p o s e w a s t o m a k e t h e S c o t s
aware of their culture or their o w n distinctive identity. Scottish history
received scant treatment in the schools past the stage of tales of adven
t u r e at p r i m a r y l e v e l : in t h e u n i v e r s i t i e s t h e r e w e r e o n l y t w o c h a i r s
in 1 9 5 0 , a n d for m o s t s t u d e n t s ' B r i t i s h H i s t o r y ' w a s de facto E n g l i s h
h i s t o r y . T h e S c o t t i s h d i a l e c t s o f t h e L o w l a n d s w e r e d i s c o u r a g e d in
t h e c l a s s r o o m as u n c o u t h , a n d S c o t t i s h l i t e r a t u r e i n t h e u n i v e r s i t i e s
was treated with even more devastating contempt than Scottish his
t o r y . I n t h e G a e l i c - s p e a k i n g H i g h l a n d s t e a c h i n g in a n d o f t h e n a t i v e
l a n g u a g e w a s first d i s c o u r a g e d a n d t h e n ( u n d e r p r e s s u r e f r o m t h e
Celtic m o v e m e n t f r o m t h e 1 8 8 0 s ) a l l o w e d ; b u t it w a s g i v e n little
e m p h a s i s , largely b e c a u s e G a e l s t h e m s e l v e s w i s h e d their children to
b e g i v e n t h e e x p e r t i s e o f s p e a k i n g a n d w r i t i n g in E n g l i s h t o e q u i p
122
t h e m for life in t h e L o w l a n d s o r a b r o a d .
A t t h e l e v e l o f p o p u l a r c u l t u r e , w h a t w a s lost w a s a p p r e c i a t i o n o f
a heritage, apart from an extraordinarily resilient a n d widespread
affection for B u r n s i n all c l a s s e s , a n d a g o o d k n o w l e d g e o f S c o t t u n t i l
a r o u n d 1 9 5 0 i n t h e m i d d l e c l a s s . B u t for m o s t p e o p l e , b y t h e m i d -
twentieth century, being Scottish w a s mainly a matter of identifying
w i t h t a r t a n a n d b a g p i p e s (to p r e v i o u s c e n t u r i e s m e r e l y h i g h l a n d s y m
bols), with the accordians of B B C Scotland's 'Scottish country dance
m u s i c ' , a n d w i t h c e r t a i n football t e a m s .
In high culture, h o w e v e r defined, the Scottish achievement over
C. W. J. Withers, Gaelic in Scotland, 1698-1981: The Geographical History of a Language

(Edinburgh, 1984); V. E . DurKacz, The Decline of the Celtic Languages (Edinburgh,
1983).

Scotland 1850-1950 279
the century w a s large, m u c h larger t h a n generally realised b y those

who assumed that everything stopped with the end of the
E n l i g h t e n m e n t . S o m e t h i n g c e r t a i n l y did s t o p , e s p e c i a l l y in p h i l o s o
p h y a n d the social sciences, w h e r e the eighteenth-century Scots h a d
s h o n e s o a s t o n i s h i n g l y . Y e t , for t h e c e n t u r y after 1 8 5 0 , L i s t e r a n d
S i m p s o n in m e d i c i n e , C l e r k M a x w e l l , T h o m s o n ( L o r d K e l v i n ) , B e l l ,
B a i r d , F l e m i n g , B o y d O r r a n d F r a s e r D a r l i n g in s c i e n c e , G e d d e s in
p l a n n i n g , t h e G l a s g o w c o l o u r i s t s in art, R e n n i e M a c k i n t o s h in archi
tecture and Robert Louis Stevenson, H u g h MacDairmid, Edwin Muir,
S o r l e y M a c l e a n a n d G r a s s i c G i b b o n in literature are m e r e l y t h e g r e a
t e s t n a m e s in a l o n g roll o f d i s t i n c t i o n . M o s t , h o w e v e r , h a d little s p e c i
fic i m p a c t o n S c o t l a n d . T h e d o c t o r s a n d s c i e n t i s t s g a v e to t h e e n t i r e
world their innovations of anaesthesia, penicillin, telephones a n d tele
v i s i o n ; it w a s i n t e r n a t i o n a l p h y s i c s , f o o d s c i e n c e , e c o l o g y a n d t o w n
planning that were enriched by S c o t s m e n ; o n the other hand, the
literati o f t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y w e r e little k n o w n a n d l e s s l i k e d o n
their hearthrugs, e v e n w h e n they w o n the plaudits of international
criticism.
It w a s , n o t s u r p r i s i n g l y , t h e w r i t e r s o f t h e i n t e r w a r y e a r s w h o w e r e
m o s t a r o u s e d b y t h e d e r a c i n a t i o n o f t h e S c o t s at all l e v e l s , H u g h
M a c D a i r m i d t o a brilliant a n g e r , E d w i n M u i r t o a s o m b r e a n a l y s i s .
T h e i d e n t i t y o f S c o t l a n d s e e m e d to t h e m t o h a v e a l m o s t d i s a p p e a r e d .
Muir said of Edinburgh:
The actual town, the houses, streets, churches, rocks, gardens, are there
still; but these exist wholly in the past. That is a national past; the present,
which is made up of the thoughts and feelings and prejudices of the inhabi
tants, their way of life in general, is as cosmopolitan as the cinema. This
is not universally true; but it applies to the populace, rich and poor, the
great multitude who have been Anglicised and Americanised, whether by
the him, the Press, the radio, the lending library or the public schools . . .
the present inhabitants of Edinburgh are as different from the inhabitants
of fifty years ago as the Americans now are from the English. They are better
in some ways, no doubt, less rigid and hard, and less bigoted; but they
do not think in what one might call an Edinburgh way, as their forefathers
123
did.
T h e r e is m u c h t h e h i s t o r i a n m i g h t w a n t to p u t o n t h e b a l a n c e o n
t h e o t h e r s i d e , t h e i m p r o v e m e n t s in w e l f a r e , t h e l o o s e n i n g o f e c c l e s i a s
tical b o n d s , t h e g r e a t e r facility in a c o s m o p o l i t a n life o f e n j o y i n g
c o s m o p o l i t a n p l e a s u r e s , b u t it w a s h a r d to a r g u e h o n e s t l y t h a t t h e
123
Muir, Scottish Journey, pp. 23-4.

280 T. c. SMOUT
c e n t u r y f r o m 1 8 5 0 to 1 9 5 0 h a d m a d e it e a s i e r for m o s t S c o t s to live
t h e i r p e r s o n a l l i v e s m o r e r i c h l y or m o r e freely. E d w i n M u i r c a n b e
left w i t h t h e final v e r d i c t .
. . . the powerless dead,

Listening can hear no more
Than a hard tapping on the sounding floor
A little overhead
Of common heels that do not know
Whence they come or where they go
And are content
124
With their poor frozen life and shallow banishment.
It is left for t h e c e n t u r y after 1 9 5 0 to s e e if it c a n d o b e t t e r .

Ibid., p. 39.

CHAPTER 4
Wales
D. W. H O W E L L and C. BABER
' M o d e r n W a l e s ' e m e r g e d in these years with the transition from a

p r e d o m i n a n t l y rural s o c i e t y at t h e o u t s e t to a n i n c r e a s i n g l y i n d u s t r i a l
a n d u r b a n i s e d o n e a n d t h e r e p l a c e m e n t o f t h e o l d s o c i a l a n d political
d o m i n a n c e of the landed classes b y freedom and democracy. This
t r a n s f o r m a t i o n f r o m a t r a d i t i o n a l to a n u r b a n w o r l d w a s , o f c o u r s e ,
a B r i t i s h p h e n o m e n o n b u t , for all t h a t , W e l s h s o c i e t y w a s to e x h i b i t
c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s w h i c h w e r e to c o n t r a s t w i t h its E n g l i s h c o u n t e r p a r t .
A c c o r d i n g l y , a p r i n c i p a l a i m o f t h i s c h a p t e r will b e to e x p l o r e a n d
explain those distinctive aspects of W a l e s ' s culture and society. Nine
t e e n t h - c e n t u r y W e l s h s o c i e t y w a s s h a p e d a b o v e all b y its p e r v a d i n g
n o n c o n f o r m i s t e t h o s a n d , c l o s e l y b o u n d u p w i t h it, t h e W e l s h l a n
g u a g e . S u c h s e p a r a t e traits as e m e r g e d w e r e t o b e l a r g e l y n e g l e c t e d
b y s u c c e s s i v e E n g l i s h g o v e r n m e n t s d o w n to t h e 1 8 8 0 s , n o t to m e n t i o n
the ill-natured ridicule of things W e l s h b y the L o n d o n press, a state
of affairs w h i c h , i n d e e d , did s o m u c h to fuel t h e n a t i o n a l i s t d r i v e
of t h e 1 8 8 0 s a n d 1 8 9 0 s for s e c u r i n g r e c o g n i t i o n o f W a l e s ' s s e p a r a t e
identity. This distinct nationality notwithstanding, increasing indus
trialisation l o c k e d W a l e s m o r e a n d m o r e i n t o a ' f a t e d m u t u a l i t y ' w i t h
1
t h e E n g l i s h , a n d a n o t h e r a i m will b e to s h o w h o w g r o w i n g E n g l i s h
i n f l u e n c e h a d p r o f o u n d i m p l i c a t i o n s for t h e s u r v i v a l o f t h e t r a d i t i o n a l
' W e l s h w a y of life'. W h i l e declining e v e r y w h e r e from the 1920s, this
traditional ' W e l s h ' culture, b a s e d o n the language, chapel and class
h a r m o n y w a s , indeed, from the o p e n i n g decades of this century to
b e i n c r e a s i n g l y j e t t i s o n e d b y t h e v i g o r o u s , r a p i d l y a n g l i c i s i n g coalfield
s o c i e t y o f S o u t h W a l e s , a n d a f u r t h e r c o n c e r n will b e to a n a l y s e t h e
e q u a l l y d i s t i n c t i v e c u l t u r e t h a t c a m e to r e p l a c e it, a c u l t u r e c h a r a c t e r
i s e d b y its r e m a r k a b l e d e g r e e o f c l a s s a n d c o m m u n i t y l o y a l t y . T h e
t r e a t m e n t will b e g i n w i t h a n e x a m i n a t i o n o f t h e e c o n o m i e s , s o c i a l
1
Bud B. Khleif, Language, Ethnicity and Education in Wales (The Hague, 1980), p. 1.
281

282 D. W. H O W E L L A N D C. B A B E R
structure a n d standard of living of rural a n d industrial W a l e s respecti

vely before proceeding to investigate the culture a n d politics of the
Welsh people.
A g r i c u l t u r e ' s r o l e in t h e W e l s h e c o n o m y , as for t h a t o f B r i t a i n as
a whole, declined over the course of the nineteenth century, increas
i n g l y s o f r o m t h e 1 8 5 0 s o n w a r d s . O n e i n d e x for m e a s u r i n g t h i s d e c l i n e
is t h e l a b o u r f o r c e . T h e p o p u l a t i o n o f W a l e s a n d M o n m o u t h s h i r e r o s e
d r a m a t i c a l l y in t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , i n c r e a s i n g b e t w e e n t h r e e a n d
fourfold o v e r t h e p e r i o d t o 1 9 1 1 f r o m u n d e r 6 0 0 , 0 0 0 t o o v e r 2 m i l l i o n .
This increase w a s not shared over the Principality. Although there
o c c u r r e d a fast rise in t h e p o p u l a t i o n o f all W e l s h c o u n t i e s d o w n
to 1 8 4 1 , n e v e r t h e l e s s t h e r a t e o f i n c r e a s e i n t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l c o u n t i e s
w a s falling. M o n t g o m e r y s h i r e a n d R a d n o r s h i r e r e a c h e d t h e i r p e a k
l e v e l s at t h e 1 8 4 1 c e n s u s a n d t h e r e a f t e r W e l s h r u r a l c o u n t i e s s o o n
e x p e r i e n c e d d e c r e a s e s i n t h e i r total n u m b e r s , all b e f o r e 1 8 8 1 . T h e s e
falls w e r e d u e to p e o p l e l e a v i n g t h e c o u n t r y s i d e , m o s t e n d i n g up
in t h e i n d u s t r i a l a r e a s o f S o u t h a n d N o r t h W a l e s . T h e p r o f o u n d c h a n g e
i n p o p u l a t i o n d i s t r i b u t i o n is r e f l e c t e d in t h e fact t h a t w h e r e a s at t h e
beginning of the nineteenth century over 80 per cent of W e l s h people
i n h a b i t e d rural a r e a s , b y 1 9 1 1 f e w e r t h a n 2 0 p e r c e n t d i d s o . I n t h e
depression of the interwar years the net outflow from the W e l s h coun
tryside c o n t i n u e d o n a similar scale as before 1914, although, predicta
bly, it w a s t h e c e n t r a l u p l a n d r e g i o n t h a t l o s t p e o p l e m o s t h e a v i l y .
This e x o d u s m e a n t that the n u m b e r s involved in W e l s h farming de
creased b y 3 1 . 4 per cent b e t w e e n 1851 a n d 1911 (from 169,191 to
116,147), a n d b y 2 6 . 8 per cent b e t w e e n 1911 a n d 1951, the latter year
2
registering just 89,724 people.
M o r e u s e f u l i n p o i n t i n g to t h e d i m i n i s h i n g r o l e o f a g r i c u l t u r e is
a statement of the proportion of occupied population e n g a g e d in farm
i n g b e t w e e n 1 8 5 1 a n d 1 9 5 1 . W h i l e 3 3 . 1 p e r c e n t o f t h e total W e l s h
l a b o u r f o r c e w a s o c c u p i e d in f a r m i n g in 1 8 5 1 , b y 1 9 1 1 s o m e 1 1 . 3 p e r
cent w a s so engaged. Likewise, b e t w e e n 1911 and 1951 the proportion
2
B. Thomas, 'Wales and the Atlantic Economy', in B. Thomas, ed., The Welsh Economy
7
(Cardiff, 1961), pp. 15,18; idem, T h e Industrial Revolution and the Welsh Language ,
in C. Baber and L. J. Williams, eds., Modern South Wales: Essays in Economic History
(Cardiff, 1986), p. 6; J. G. Thomas, 'Population Trends in Wales', Welsh Anvil, 3 - 4
(1951-2), pp. 87-97; calculations from figures provided in L. J. Williams and T. Boyns,
'Occupations in Wales, 1851-1971', Bulletin of Economic Research, 29 (1977).

Wales 283
of t h e w o r k i n g p o p u l a t i o n e n g a g e d in a g r i c u l t u r e d r o p p e d f r o m 1 2
3
per cent to 8.2 per c e n t .
P h y s i c a l factors d i c t a t e d t h a t for m u c h o f W a l e s f a r m i n g w a s m i x e d ,
with an e m p h a s i s o n store animals a n d dairy p r o d u c e . In this w a y ,
t h e s t r u c t u r e o f W e l s h f a r m i n g as a r e g i o n ( t h o u g h it is e m p h a s i s e d
that certain favoured l o w l a n d areas like Flintshire, the V a l e s of C l w y d
and Glamorgan, and south Pembrokeshire were exceptions) was
c l e a r l y different f r o m t h a t w h i c h o b t a i n e d in t h e s o u t h - e a s t a n d M i d
l a n d s o f E n g l a n d . E c o n o m i c c o n d i t i o n s in t h e s e c o n d h a l f o f t h e n i n e
t e e n t h c e n t u r y , in p a r t i c u l a r h i g h l a b o u r c o s t s a n d ( s l i g h t l y l a t e r )
falling c e r e a l p r i c e s o f t h e last t h r e e d e c a d e s , s a w a still g r e a t e r c o n c e n
tration o n grass farming. B e t w e e n 1 8 7 0 - 2 a n d 1 9 1 2 - 1 4 the area u n d e r
p e r m a n e n t g r a s s l a n d i n c r e a s e d f r o m 5 7 . 3 p e r c e n t to 7 5 . 2 p e r c e n t
4
of t h e t o t a l c u l t i v a t e d a r e a o f W a l e s .
D u r i n g t h e w a r y e a r s , 1 9 1 4 - 1 8 , p r i c e s for a g r i c u l t u r a l products
soared and W e l s h arable farming u n d e r w e n t a short revival. H o w e v e r ,
t h e r e p e a l o f t h e C o r n P r o d u c t i o n A c t in 1 9 2 1 r e s u l t e d i n a s h a r p
fall i n c e r e a l p r o d u c t i o n in t h e y e a r s d o w n to 1 9 3 9 . I n t h e d e p r e s s e d
years of the 1920s and 1930s the proportion of arable land d r o p p e d
b y a l m o s t a half, m o s t o f t h e g a i n a c c r u i n g t o r o u g h g r a z i n g . T h e
fall in a r a b l e a c r e a g e o c c u r r e d m a i n l y w i t h i n t i l l a g e . A l t h o u g h W e l s h
f a r m e r s a s p a s t o r a l i s t s d i d n o t suffer a s m u c h as t h e i r c o r n - g r o w i n g
c o u n t e r p a r t s in e a s t e r n E n g l a n d i n t h e e a r l y 1 9 2 0 s , p r i c e s fell a l s o
after 1 9 2 0 i n o t h e r f a r m p r o d u c e a n d l a s t e d w i t h v a r y i n g d e g r e e s o f
intensity in s o m e products d o w n to the early 1930s a n d in others
to t h e m i d - t h i r t i e s . P r o b a b l y m o s t W e l s h f a r m e r s m a n a g e d t o m a k e
profits d o w n to t h e m i d - 1 9 2 0 s . T h e o n l y b r i g h t r a y i n t h e m i d s t o f
this depression in the 1920s a n d 1930s w a s the establishment of the
M i l k M a r k e t i n g B o a r d i n 1 9 3 3 , a s c h e m e facilitated b y t h e growth
of m o t o r t r a n s p o r t . T h e n u m b e r o f r e g i s t e r e d m i l k - p r o d u c e r s i n W a l e s
grew b y 92.4 per cent between 1934 and 1939 and there had occurred
another 40 per cent increase b y 1947, w h i c h meant, of course, that
5
the traditional livestock rearing a n d m a k i n g of butter declined.
In t h e 1 9 3 0 s , s a l e s o f c r o p s off W e l s h f a r m s w e r e n e g l i g i b l e c o m p a r e d
3
Williams and Boyns, 'Occupations in Wales'.
4
D. W. Howell, Land and People in Nineteenth-Century Wales (1978), pp. 14-15.
5
A. W. Ashby and I. L . Evans, The Agriculture of Wales and Monmouthshire (Cardiff,
1944), pp. 15, 19-21, 50-4, 61-2; A. Martin, 'Agriculture', in Thomas, ed., The Welsh
Economy, pp. 76, 82-3; B. Jones, 'The Present Agricultural Position', Welsh Outlook,
10 (1923), p. 175; A. W. Ashby, 'The Agricultural Depression in Wales', Welsh Outlook,
16 (1929), pp. 335-8.

284 D. W. H O W E L L A N D C. BABER
w i t h t h o s e o f l i v e s t o c k a n d its p r o d u c t s , w h i c h a c c o u n t e d for a r o u n d
95 p e r c e n t o f t h e total i n c o m e o f t h e W e l s h f a r m e r . T h e w a r y e a r s ,
1939-45, witnessed a ploughing-up campaign which, together with
h i g h p r i c e s , s a w m o r e t h a n a d o u b l i n g in t h e p r o p o r t i o n o f a r a b l e
b e t w e e n 1939 a n d 1946, from 1 1 . 9 per cent to 2 6 . 4 per cent of the
total a g r i c u l t u r a l l a n d . B y 1 9 5 9 t h e a r a b l e a r e a h a d fallen b a c k t o 2 1 . 8
6
per cent.
D o w n until 1920 the production of almost every type of c o m m o d i t y
o n t h e s m a l l , l a r g e l y self-sufficient f a m i l y - r u n h o l d i n g s s h i e l d e d t h e
W e l s h f a r m e r f r o m t h e drastic p r i c e f l u c t u a t i o n s e x p e r i e n c e d in t h e
M i d l a n d s a n d t h e s o u t h - e a s t e r n c o u n t i e s o f E n g l a n d . E v e n s o , it w o u l d
b e w r o n g to c o n c l u d e t h a t t h e r e w a s a b s e n c e o f h a r d s h i p in t h e ' d i s
t e m p e r e d ' t i m e s o f t h e e a r l y 1 7 8 0 s , d u r i n g t h e t h r e e d e c a d e s or s o
u p to t h e m i d - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , d u r i n g t h e ' G r e a t D e p r e s s i o n ' o f
t h e last d e c a d e s o f t h a t c e n t u r y a n d d u r i n g t h e 1 9 2 0 s a n d 1 9 3 0 s . W e l s h
farmers w e r e generally poor, able to scrape a living only b y dint of
h a r d w o r k a n d a frugal life s t y l e , a n d a d v e r s e e c o n o m i c c o n d i t i o n s
brought d i s t r e s s a n d s o m e t i m e s failure. T h e W e l s h p r o b l e m w a s ,
i n d e e d , t h a t of t h e t y p i c a l p e a s a n t e c o n o m y - p o v e r t y , o v e r p o p u l a t i o n
and land-hunger, a g g r a v a t e d t o s o m e e x t e n t in W a l e s b y a c u l t u r a l
7
and political d i v i d e between landowners and peasantry. These
f e a t u r e s w e r e to h a v e p r o f o u n d i m p l i c a t i o n s for t h e t y p e o f rural
s o c i e t y w h i c h w a s to u n f o l d o v e r t h e s e y e a r s .
Welsh farming outside the few favoured areas could never have
b e e n a h a n d s o m e l y profitable e n t e r p r i s e . S t o r e l i v e s t o c k , w h i c h c o n t i
n u e d a s t h e s t a p l e o u t p u t o f W e l s h h o l d i n g s e v e n after t h e c o m i n g
of r a i l w a y s ( t h e latter n e v e r t h e l e s s d o i n g m u c h t o i n c r e a s e s a l e s o f
s u r p l u s p r o d u c e to t h e b e s t E n g l i s h m a r k e t s a n d i n d u s t r i a l towns
of S o u t h W a l e s ) , c o u l d o n l y y i e l d l i m i t e d profits, for t h e turnover
w a s t o o s l o w a n d l a b o u r c o n t r i b u t e d t o o s m a l l a s h a r e to t h e v a l u e
8
of t h e p r o d u c t . During the late eighteenth a n d nineteenth centuries,
h o w e v e r , W e l s h f a r m i n g w a s T o w e r ' t h a n it n e e d h a v e b e e n , and
this persisted despite the i m p r o v e m e n t s w h i c h c a m e in from the 1870s.
It h a s b e e n w i d e l y h e l d t h a t t h e s y s t e m o f l a n d t e n u r e h a d much
to do with this b a c k w a r d n e s s . Arguably, however, the cultural,
r e l i g i o u s a n d political d i f f e r e n c e s b e t w e e n l a n d l o r d s a n d t h e i r t e n a n t s
6
Ashby and Evans, Agriculture of Wales, pp. 72-3; Martin, 'Agriculture', pp. 76-7.
7
E . J . Hobsbawm, Industry and Empire (1968), p. 254.
8
D. Jenkins, The Agricultural Community ofSouth-West Wales at the Turn of the Twentieth
Century (Cardiff, 1971), pp. 4 0 - 1 .

Wales 285
did n o t w h o l l y g i v e rise to t h e u n f o r t u n a t e e c o n o m i c c o n s e q u e n c e s
t h a t w e r e w i d e l y a l l e g e d at t h e t i m e b y n o n c o n f o r m i s t radical l e a d e r s
within W e l s h society. Indeed, tenants on large estates of over 3,000
acres farmed under positively favourable conditions. U n d e r a system
of i n c r e a s i n g y e a r l y t e n a n c y as t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y a d v a n c e d , vir
tual h e r e d i t a r y s u c c e s s i o n p r e v a i l e d a m i d s t a c u t e l a n d - h u n g e r and
t e n a n t s felt n o s t r o n g s e n s e o f i n s e c u r i t y . In c e r t a i n i n s t a n c e s t h e y
w e r e c h a r g e d fair a n d often l e n i e n t r e n t s , a l t h o u g h e v e n o n l a r g e
estates land sometimes went too high because of competition, land
o w n e r s b e i n g led to believe that lands were of greater value t h a n
t h e y a c t u a l l y w e r e . L a r g e l a n d l o r d s a l s o effected c o n s i d e r a b l e i m p r o
v e m e n t s - e s p e c i a l l y f r o m t h e late 1 8 6 0 s - w i t h o n l y s m a l l r e t u r n s
on their outlays, and tenants' i m p r o v e m e n t s w e r e not automatically
c o n f i s c a t e d in h i g h e r r e n t s . C o n d i t i o n s o n s m a l l e s t a t e s , h o w e v e r ,
w h i c h c o v e r e d t h e l a r g e s t s p r e a d o f t h e l a n d a r e a , w e r e far l e s s a d v a n
t a g e o u s . T e n a n t s p a i d c o m p e t i t i v e r e n t s , v e r y likely f e e l i n g i n s e c u r e
in t h e p r o c e s s , a n d r e c e i v e d little in t h e w a y o f i m p r o v e m e n t s . T h e i r
o w n e r s w e r e c o n c e r n e d t o t a k e as m u c h f r o m t h e l a n d a n d r e t u r n
as little as p o s s i b l e . A l b e i t , l e s s e r o w n e r s o f W e l s h s t o c k w e r e h a r d l y
r a p a c i o u s , for if t h e y t o o k t h e offers m a d e t h e y p r o b a b l y w i t h h e l d
f r o m s q u e e z i n g t h e last p e n n y . P o v e r t y p r e v e n t e d t h e s m a l l o w n e r s
f r o m m a i n t a i n i n g t h e i r e s t a t e s in g o o d r e p a i r . E x p l o i t a t i o n w a s r a t h e r
t h e p r a c t i c e o f t h e n e w c o m e r f r o m b u s i n e s s , w h o felt n o n e of t h e
traditional ties.
Although feelings of insecurity of tenure prevailed on lesser estates
a n d t e n a n t s t h e r e w e r e u n w i l l i n g to i m p r o v e for fear o f h i g h r e n t s ,
a n d , a l t h o u g h a g a i n , l a c k o f c o m p e n s a t i o n for u n e x h a u s t e d i m p r o v e
m e n t s (if n e v e r t h e c o n s t r a i n t it w a s m a d e o u t to b e ) w a s a g e n u i n e
g r i e v a n c e o f t e n a n t s in l a n d - h u n g r y W a l e s w h e n p r o p e r t i e s o f u n d e r
1,000 a c r e s o f l a r g e a n d s m a l l e s t a t e s alike w e r e b e i n g s o l d f r o m t h e
1 8 7 0 s , t h e r e w e r e o t h e r m o r e b a s i c o b s t a c l e s to i m p r o v e m e n t . T h e s e
included poor communications with commercial centres, the language
barrier w h i c h h a m p e r e d k n o w l e d g e of progressive farming, wide
tracts o f u n e n c l o s e d m o o r l a n d h i n d e r i n g i m p r o v e m e n t in l i v e s t o c k
b r e e d i n g , t e n a n t s ' w a n t o f capital a n d t h e p e a s a n t m e n t a l i t y u n w i l l i n g
t o i n v e s t . P e r h a p s t h e last w a s t h e crucial c o n s t r a i n t . P e a s a n t - t e n a n t s
were preoccupied with farming as c h e a p l y as p o s s i b l e , which
s t e m m e d o n l y in p a r t f r o m a c o n c e r n for l o w - r i s k f a r m i n g . L o w e x p e n
d i t u r e m a i n l y i n v o l v e d k e e p i n g t h e r e n t at its t r a d i t i o n a l l e v e l . T h u s
t e n a n t s w e r e c o n c e r n e d t o d o as little as p o s s i b l e to m a n i f e s t s i g n s

of p r o s p e r i t y . A l t h o u g h large o w n e r s neither evicted tenants nor

increased rents automatically u p o n tenants' improvements, yet the
s l i g h t e s t ' p o s s i b i l i t y ' t h a t r e n t s m i g h t b e r a i s e d w a s sufficient to
p a r a l y s e all efforts. T h e r e w a s t h u s a total i n h i b i t i o n a g a i n s t all
i m p r o v e m e n t s . F e a r o f r e n t i n c r e a s e s w a s t h e g r e a t e s t o b s t a c l e to
i m p r o v e m e n t , a n d t h o u g h on small estates this arose in part from
t h e t e n a n t s ' justifiable fear t h a t i m p r o v e m e n t s w o u l d l e a d to i n c r e a s e d
r e n t s , it s t e m m e d b a s i c a l l y f r o m t h e p e a s a n t m e n t a l i t y for f a r m i n g
c h e a p l y . A n a d d i t i o n a l factor e x p l a i n i n g t h e p e a s a n t ' s r e l u c t a n c e t o
i n v e s t w a s s i m p l y h i s l a c k o f faith in t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f l a n d as
9
a commercial speculation.
T h e r e w a s a considerable extension of freehold farming in W a l e s
f o l l o w i n g t h e s a l e o f a n u m b e r o f l a n d e d e s t a t e s after 1 9 1 0 , l a n d o w n e r s
s e l l i n g p a r t l y o u t o f fear o f L l o y d G e o r g e ' s p r o p o s e d l a n d t a x e s a n d ,
more importantly, because of the decline of status conferred by land-
o w n e r s h i p . Disintegration of estates reached a dramatic level only
from 1918, m a n y o w n e r s n o w b e i n g heavily in debt. T h e y could take
a d v a n t a g e n o t o n l y o f t h e h i g h e r p r i c e s p r e v a i l i n g b u t a l s o , for v a r i o u s
reasons, of their t e n a n t s ' k e e n desire to purchase their farms. F e w e r
s a l e s o c c u r r e d after t h e m i d - 1 9 2 0 s w i t h t h e l a n d m a r k e t b e c o m i n g
d e p r e s s e d . T h i s b r e a k - u p of e s t a t e s w a s m o r e t h o r o u g h t h a n in E n g
land. T h e proportion of W e l s h land o w n e d b y the occupier rose from
1 0 . 2 p e r c e n t in 1 9 0 9 t o 3 9 p e r c e n t in 1 9 4 1 - 3 ; t h e e q u i v a l e n t figures
for E n g l a n d w e r e 1 2 . 4 p e r c e n t a n d 3 3 p e r c e n t . It w a s s o o n a p p a r e n t
that m a n y of these occupying-owners h a d taken o n h e a v y financial
b u r d e n s in a t i m e o f inflated p r i c e s , for s o o n t h e v a l u e o f capital s u n k
in a g r i c u l t u r e b y o w n e r - o c c u p i e r s w a s to d r o p s t e e p l y . N o a d e q u a t e
s u b s t i t u t e h a d b e e n f o u n d a s y e t for t h e l a n d l o r d ' s c a p i t a l a n d e s t a t e
m a n a g e m e n t . M o r t g a g e s b e c a m e t o o h e a v y to b e a r ; s o m e s o l d t o t h e i r
neighbours while the farms of others w e r e taken over b y their mortga
gees, often solicitors a n d estate agents. T h o s e w h o struggled o n w e r e
able to do so b y dint of the u n p a i d w o r k of the family a n d were
1 0
t o b e u l t i m a t e l y r e s c u e d b y t h e inflation o f t h e 1 9 4 0 s .
It m a y h a v e b e e n t h a t t h e s e n e w o w n e r - o c c u p i e r s w e r e worse
f a r m e r s t h a n t e n a n t s o f l a n d l o r d s . H o w e v e r , w h e t h e r u n d e r free
holders or tenants, standards of farming c o n t i n u e d to b e generally
9
Howell, Land and People, pp. 85-92.
10
J. Davies, 'The End of the Great Estates and the Rise of Freehold Farming in Wales',
Welsh History Review, 7 (1974), pp. 186-212; A. W. Ashby, 'The Peasant Agriculture
of Wales', Welsh Review, 3 (1944), p. 211.

Wales 287
p o o r , suffering u n d e r t h e c o n s t r a i n t s o f l a c k o f c a p i t a l , t h e u n e c o n o m i c
size o f h o l d i n g s , o c c u p a n t s c l i n g i n g to t r a d i t i o n a l f a r m i n g m e t h o d s ,
a n d a lack of suitable education. Nevertheless, there w a s s o m e impro
v e m e n t : t h u s b e t w e e n 1 8 7 1 a n d 1 9 2 1 t h e total i n c r e a s e in p r o d u c t i v e
efficiency o f f a r m o r g a n i s a t i o n , m e a s u r e d ' p e r h o u r o f l a b o u r ' , w a s
a r o u n d 4 0 - 5 p e r c e n t a n d t h e s a m e p r o c e s s w a s c o n t i n u i n g at a like,
p e r h a p s accelerated, rate b e t w e e n 1921 and 1928 and to s o m e extent
u p to 1 9 3 0 ; a g a i n , p a s t u r e s o f u p l a n d s h e e p w a l k s w e r e i m p r o v e d
11
in the 1930s a n d 1940s so that m o r e s h e e p could b e carried.
A t t h e a p e x o f W e l s h rural s o c i e t y u n t i l t h e t u r n o f t h e t w e n t i e t h
century were the aristocracy and gentry. However, increasingly from
t h e l a t e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y o n w a r d s t h e y w e r e c e a s i n g to b e a n o r g a n i c
p a r t o f r u r a l s o c i e t y ; m o r e a n d m o r e s o , t h e y w e r e in b u t n o t o f t h e
c o m m u n i t y . A l r e a d y b y t h e late e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y , t h e y h a d b e c o m e
largely anglicised, h a d adopted English fashions and values and
l a c k e d real c o n c e r n for t h e i r n a t i v e l a n g u a g e a n d l i t e r a t u r e . B e s i d e s ,
t h e i r falling n u m b e r s , c o n s e q u e n t u p o n t h e h i g h r a t e o f failure o f
male heirs, with estates thereby being merged through frequent mar
riage with heiresses, together with the growing incidence of absentee
ism a m o n g the better-off families, m e a n t that the traditional hospitality
o f g e n t r y f a m i l i e s a n d , i n d e e d , as T . M . H u m p h r e y s i n d i c a t e s , t h e i r
1 2
r o l e as l e a d e r s o f t h e i r c o m m u n i t i e s , w a s in d e c l i n e . This division
w a s r e i n f o r c e d i n t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , first, b y t h e m a s s i v e g r o w t h
of n o n c o n f o r m i t y a n d , s e c o n d l y , b y t h e e m e r g e n c e o f r a d i c a l L i b e r a l
i s m . A l t h o u g h t h e g e n t r y d a r e d n o t r e p e a t t h e v e n g e f u l political evic
t i o n s v i s i t e d u p o n ' u n g r a t e f u l ' L i b e r a l v o t e r s in t h e w a k e o f t h e 1 8 6 8
e l e c t i o n , t h o s e e v i c t i o n s b e c a m e fiercely e t c h e d in t h e folk m e m o r y
a n d l a n d o w n e r s n e v e r l i v e d t h e m d o w n . A g a i n , if a n i m p r e s s i v e
n u m b e r o f l a n d l o r d s , for s e n t i m e n t a l a n d d i p l o m a t i c m o t i v e s , did
g r a n t l e a s e s for e r e c t i n g n o n c o n f o r m i s t c h a p e l s , a n d if t h e y did n o t
generally distinguish b e t w e e n c h u r c h m e n and nonconformists in
11
Davies, 'End of the Great Estates', p. 204; C. B.Jones, 'Some Welsh Rural Problems',
Welsh Outlook, 17 (1930), p. 301; J. M. Jones, 'Agricultural Co-Operation in Wales,
1902-26', Welsh Outlook, 15 (1928), pp. 308-11; A. W. Ashby, 'Some Characteristics
of Welsh Farming', Welsh Outlook, 20 (1933), p. 294; E. G. Bowen, 'The Heartland',
in E . G. Bowen, ed., Wales: A Physical, Historical and Regional Geography (1957),
pp. 279-80.
12
P. Morgan and D. Thomas, Wales: The Shaping of a Nation (Newton Abbot, 1984),
p. 46; Glanmor Williams, Religion, Language and Nationality in Wales (Cardiff, 1979),
p. 22; T. M. Humphreys, 'Rural Society in Montgomeryshire in the Eighteenth
Century' (unpublished PhD thesis, University of Wales, 1982), pp. 84, 89-90; D.
W. Howell, Patriarchs and Parasites: The Gentry of South-West Wales in the Eighteenth
Century (Cardiff, 1986), pp. 222-3.

l e t t i n g f a r m s , o t h e r s , as t h e i r critics i n s i s t e d , did, as l a t e as t h e 1 8 8 0 s
and 1890s, favour c h u r c h m e n . P e r h a p s m o s t odiously in the e y e s of
m a n y rural d w e l l e r s , t h e y r e s i s t e d t h e e r e c t i o n o f B o a r d s c h o o l s after
1 8 7 0 , t h o u g h h e r e , a g a i n , t h e i s s u e w a s n o t w h o l l y c l e a r - c u t , for s o m e
of t h e m i d d l i n g groups i n rural s o c i e t y , i n c l u d i n g f a r m e r s , were
o p p o s e d to t h e m o r w i s h e d to r e s t r a i n t h e s c a l e o f t h e i r a c t i v i t y i n
1 3
o r d e r to k e e p d o w n t h e r a t e s .
Although the gentry's politics, religion and lack of W e l s h obviously
r e d u c e d t h e i r s t a n d i n g a n d i n f l u e n c e , it is e m p h a s i s e d t h a t u n t i l t h e
1 8 8 0 s t h e y w e r e still g e n e r a l l y w e l l r e g a r d e d as landlords b y the
t e n a n t r y a n d p o p u l a r in t h e i r c o m m u n i t i e s o n a p e r s o n a l l e v e l . T h e
gulf, h o w e v e r , w i d e n e d s i g n i f i c a n t l y i n t h e 1 8 8 0 s u p o n t h e i r b e c o m i n g
accused of e c o n o m i c exploitation. T h e depression in farming, together
with the e x a m p l e s of the Irish a n d Crofter m o v e m e n t s a n d the land
lords siding with the clergy over the tithe issue, led to a severe attack
o n l a n d l o r d s as failing t o p r o v i d e a d e q u a t e r e n t r e d u c t i o n s a n d o t h e r
satisfactory c o n d i t i o n s o f t e n u r e . T h e d i v i s i o n b e t w e e n o w n e r s a n d
t e n a n t s in l a n g u a g e , c r e e d a n d p o l i t i c s , it w a s a l l e g e d , p r e v e n t e d t h a t
' c o m m u n i t y of feeling' b e t w e e n the parties which w a s a prerequisite
14
for profitable a g r i c u l t u r e . A l t h o u g h , as w e h a v e a r g u e d , l a r g e l a n d
o w n e r s w e r e hardly guilty of e c o n o m i c o p p r e s s i o n alleged against
the landlord class in general, a n d justifiably so with regard to the
n u m e r o u s small gentry, the c h a r g e s levelled against landlords as a
class s e r v e d to b r e a k d o w n t h e o l d b o n d s e v e n f u r t h e r . B y t h e e a r l y
1 8 9 0 s s u p p o r t for l a n d r e f o r m w a s w i d e s p r e a d a n d C h a r l e s F i t z w i l -
l i a m s o f C i l g w y n ( C a r d i g a n s h i r e ) w a s left r u m i n a t i n g : ' T h e o l d w a y s
are t h i n g s of t h e p a s t , l a n d l o r d s a n d t e n a n t s are n o t n o w t h e s a m e
1 5
to e a c h o t h e r . '
13
K. O. Morgan, Wales in British Politics, 2nd edn (Cardiff, 1970), pp. 26-7, 45-6;
R. J. Colyer, 'The Gentry and the County in Nineteenth-Century Cardiganshire',
Welsh History Review, 10 (1980-1), pp. 504-5; J. E. Vincent, The Land Question in
North Wales (1896), pp. 183-4; Howell, Land and People, p. 67; National Library of
Wales, Voelas and Cefnamwlch MSS: letters of 28 October and 1 November 1892,
22 May 1893 of J. Bovill and of 9 January 1871 of A. Trethwy; Carnarvon and Denbigh
Herald, 23 September and 11 November 1892; D. A. Pretty, Two Centuries of Anglesey
Schools (Llangefni, 1977), pp. 198-9.
14
Morgan, Wales in British Politics, pp. 53-9; idem, Rebirth of a Nation, Wales 1880-1980
(Oxford and Cardiff, 1981), pp. 9-10; Jane Morgan, 'Denbighshire's Annus Mirabilis:
The County and Borough Elections of 1868', Welsh History Review, 7 (1974), p. 66;
Howell, Land and People, pp. 86-7; House of Commons Debates, Tenure of Land (Wales)
Bill, 16 March 1892.
15
Cited in J. H. Davies, 'The Social Structure and Economy of South-West Wales
in the Late Nineteenth-Century' (unpublished MA thesis, University of Wales, 1967),
p. 87.

Wales 289
Y e t , n o t w i t h s t a n d i n g t h e i n s t i t u t i o n o f local l a n d l e a g u e s i n C a e r n a r
f o n s h i r e a n d F l i n t s h i r e i n e a r l y 1 8 8 6 a n d p l a n s for t h e m i n C a r d i g a n
shire and Carmarthenshire, the break-down of landlord-tenant
r e l a t i o n s o n a n individual b a s i s w a s n o t a l w a y s e v i d e n t . It w a s i n d e e d
the case that o n s o m e large hereditary estates a n d on those of 'old'
W e l s h families in C a r m a r t h e n s h i r e ' g o o d feeling' a n d loyal sentiments
prevailed into the 1890s despite the w i d e s p r e a d c l a m o r o u s agitation
for l a n d r e f o r m a n d t h e w h o l e s a l e political r e j e c t i o n o f l a n d o w n e r s .
But just h o w general the popularity of large o w n e r s w a s a m o n g their
t e n a n t s , n o t w i t h s t a n d i n g t h e i r l i b e r a l t r e a t m e n t o f t h e latter, is p r o b
l e m a t i c . It w a s a l l e g e d b y t h e p r o - l a n d l o r d s p o k e s m a n , J . E . V i n c e n t ,
that in Caernarfonshire, w h e r e the bulk of t h e land w a s o w n e d b y
Lord Penrhyn, Lord Newborough a n d M r A s s h e t o n S m i t h , large
o w n e r s w e r e necessarily out of touch with their tenants a n d that the
a g e n t s w e r e ' c o r d i a l l y d i s l i k e d ' . D e s p i t e t h e c o n s i d e r a t i o n s h o w n for
the tenants o n these large Caernarfonshire properties, there was no
feeling of personal affection for their owners. Vincent indeed
o b s e r v e d : T h a v e a l m o s t i n v a r i a b l y f o u n d it t o b e t h e c a s e t h a t t h e
t e n a n t o f a s m a l l l a n d o w n e r w h o m h e k n o w s is b e t t e r c o n t e n t e d w i t h
his position than the m a n w h o never communicates with his landlord
except t h r o u g h the c h a n n e l of the agent. C o m m e r c i a l l y a n d practically
16
s p e a k i n g t h e l a t t e r ( t h e t e n a n t o n l a r g e e s t a t e s ) is far m o r e f o r t u n a t e . '
P a r a d o x i c a l l y , if t h e h e r e d i t a r y s m a l l o w n e r s w e r e l e s s g e n e r o u s to
their tenants they m a y have b e e n more popular. Yet, given the wide
s p r e a d s u p p o r t for l a n d r e f o r m , h o w e l s e c a n w e e x p l a i n s u c h a c l a i m
of c o n t i n u i n g s a t i s f a c t i o n o n t h e p a r t o f c e r t a i n t e n a n t s w i t h t h e i r
l a n d l o r d s e x c e p t o n t h e b a s i s t h a t for s o m e at l e a s t , it w a s p o s s i b l e
at o n e a n d t h e s a m e t i m e t o d i s l i k e l a n d l o r d s a s a n e x p l o i t i v e c l a s s
while remaining content with o n e ' s o w n landlord? Another paradox
is e n c o u n t e r e d w h e n c o n s i d e r i n g t h e political r e j e c t i o n o f t h e W e l s h
g e n t r y at t h e l o c a l g o v e r n m e n t e l e c t i o n s o f t h e 1 8 9 0 s , for i n s o f a r as
s o u t h C a r d i g a n s h i r e at a n y r a t e w a s c o n c e r n e d g e n t r y candidates
' r e m a i n e d a s p e r s o n a l l y p o p u l a r after t h e e l e c t i o n s a s t h e y h a d b e e n
1 7
before'. T h u s the personal popularity within their communities w e
16
R. Douglas, Land, People and Politics (1976), pp. 98-9; RC on Land in Wales and Mon
mouthshire, Evidence, PP 1895, X I , qq. 38,826, 38,970-1; Anon., Letters from Wales
(1889), p. 4.
17
A. Bainbridge, T h e Agricultural Community in Carmarthenshire c. 1876-1896'
(unpublished MA thesis, University of Wales, 1975), p. 83; Davies, 'The Social
Structure and Economy of South-West Wales', p. 102; Jenkins, Agricultural Com
munity, p. 278.

n o t e d for t h e p r e - 1 8 8 0 s e r a s e e m i n g l y p e r s i s t e d to t h e c l o s e o f t h e
c e n t u r y , albeit, it is s u p p o s e d , o n a w a n i n g b a s i s .
In t h e a b s e n c e o f a w e l l - d e f i n e d a n d s i z e a b l e m i d d l e c l a s s in t h e
countryside before the e n d of the nineteenth century, there w a s only
o n e m a i n s o c i a l g r o u p b e l o w t h e g e n t r y , n a m e l y , t h e p e a s a n t r y , all
m e m b e r s o f w h i c h w e r e l i n k e d t o g e t h e r b y t h e o n e p a r a m o u n t factor
in t h e i r l i v e s , t h e l a n d . T h i s c l a s s w a s , h o w e v e r , divisible i n t o t h e
t w o c l e a r c a t e g o r i e s o f f a r m e r s a n d , b e n e a t h t h e m , c o t t a g e r s or t h e
' p e o p l e o f t h e little h o u s e s ' , w h o c o m p r i s e d f a r m l a b o u r e r s , n o n -
agricultural l a b o u r e r s as r o a d m e n d e r s , q u a r r y m e n , g a r d e n e r s and
c o a l m i n e r s , a n d a l s o c r a f t s m e n , as w e a v e r s , s h o e m a k e r s , b l a c k s m i t h s
18
and the like. It is h e r e in t h e r u r a l a r e a s d u r i n g t h e nineteenth
century that H e c h t e r ' s concept of a cultural division of labour w a s
p r o b a b l y m o s t in e v i d e n c e , a c l e a r d i s t i n c t i o n o b t a i n i n g b e t w e e n t h e
19
anglicised gentry and the Welsh peasantry.
A l t h o u g h f a r m s in W a l e s w e r e n o r m a l l y s m a l l a n d t h e i r o c c u p a n t s
w o r k e d t h e l a n d a l o n g s i d e t h e i r l a b o u r e r s a n d t h e r e w a s little differ
e n c e b e t w e e n t h e m in t h e i r s t a n d a r d o f living, y e t t h e f a r m e r s ' o w n e r
s h i p or, far m o r e c o m m o n l y , o c c u p a n c y o f l a n d b e s t o w e d s t a t u s a n d
i n d e p e n d e n c e . T h e y p o s s e s s e d a strong group sense of their superior
social s t a n d i n g . If i n t e r m a r r i a g e w a s n o t e n t i r e l y a b s e n t , n e v e r t h e l e s s
f a r m e r s ' c h i l d r e n w e r e e x p e c t e d to m a r r y a m o n g t h e i r o w n k i n d , j u s t
20
as f a r m l a b o u r e r s w e r e e x p e c t e d to m a r r y m a i d s e r v a n t s .
N e v e r t h e l e s s , d o w n to t h e c l o s e o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y f a r m e r s
a n d cottagers w e r e closely linked. T h e close-knit nature of local neigh
b o u r h o o d s w a s to a considerable extent a c o n s e q u e n c e of the relative
poverty, isolation, b a c k w a r d n e s s and low production of m u c h of the
Principality, a n d the persistence of semi-subsistence farming, since
these prevented the appearance of wide i n c o m e disparities and
e n c o u r a g e d m u t u a l h e l p in m a j o r f a r m i n g o p e r a t i o n s . S m a l l f a r m s
p e r f o r c e r e l i e d u p o n c o - o p e r a t i o n at all s e a s o n s b e t w e e n n e i g h b o u r i n g
f a r m e r s t h e m s e l v e s a n d also b e t w e e n f a r m e r s a n d l o c a l c o t t a g e r s .
Indeed, farmers and cottagers were mutually d e p e n d e n t u p o n one
18
D. Parry-Jones, My Own Folk (Llandysul, 1972), pp. 49-50; Jenkins, Agricultural
Community, pp. 12-13.
19
Charlotte Aull, 'Ethnic Nationalism in Wales: An Analysis of the Factors Governing
the Politicisation of Ethnic Identity' (unpublished PhD thesis, Duke University,
1978), p. 191.
20
RC on Employment of Women and Children in Agriculture, PP 1870, XIII, Appendix
N, p. 30; Parry-Jones, My Own Folk, pp. 50-1; Jenkins, Agricultural Community,
pp. 100-1; A. B. Williams, 'Courtship and Marriage in the Nineteenth Century',
Montgomeryshire Collections, 51 (1949), p. 120.

Wales 291
a n o t h e r . F o r t h o s e c o t t a g e r s w i t h a little l a n d , h e l p f r o m l o c a l f a r m e r s
b y w a y o f p l o u g h i n g a n d c a r t i n g w a s r e p a i d b y a s s i s t a n c e at h a r v e s t ,
so vital to t h e f a r m e r , w h o g e n e r a l l y c o u l d n o t afford to h i r e e x t r a
labour. E v e n cottagers possessing only a garden w e r e clearly linked
with local farms, in south-west W a l e s the old practice of cottagers
' s e t t i n g o u t p o t a t o e s ' i n f a r m e r s ' fields i n v o l v i n g , i n d e e d , a definite
a n d specific l a b o u r ' d e b t ' to b e p e r f o r m e d at h a r v e s t , o f t e n b y t h e
2 1
cottagers' wives. Besides economic interdependence, farmers and
c o t t a g e r s w e r e f u r t h e r l i n k e d b y t h e ties o f t h e W e l s h l a n g u a g e , a t t e n d
a n c e at t h e s a m e n o n c o n f o r m i s t c h a p e l s , p e r s o n a l f r i e n d s h i p a n d k i n
s h i p . K i n s h i p , a b o v e all, w a s t h e vital m u t u a l l y s u p p o r t i v e group
w i t h i n t h i s rural s o c i e t y o f c l o s e - k n i t , a u t o n o m o u s c o m m u n i t i e s a n d ,
despite rural migration depleting n u m b e r s of related h o u s e h o l d s , w a s
2 2
to r e m a i n a significant e l e m e n t d o w n to t h e c l o s e o f o u r p e r i o d .
A t t h e specific l e v e l o f f a r m e r s ' r e l a t i o n s h i p s w i t h t h e i r i n d o o r s e r
v a n t s a n d o u t d o o r l a b o u r e r s , t h e s e , w i t h t h e e x c e p t i o n o f a r e a s like
Anglesey, the Lleyn Peninsula, the Vale of Clwyd and the Vale of
G l a m o r g a n w h e r e large farms w e r e to b e found, w e r e reasonably
c l o s e d o w n t o t h e e n d o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y ( e v e n if t h e y w e r e
growing s o m e w h a t less intimate from mid-century consequent u p o n
t h e b e t t e r b a r g a i n i n g p o s i t i o n o f t h e w o r k f o r c e ) : f a r m l a b o u r e r s in
W a l e s w e r e mainly of the indoor-servant type and, a peculiar W e l s h
f e a t u r e , i n m o s t districts o u t s i d e t h e f a v o u r e d ' E n g l i s h ' l o w l a n d a r e a s
o u t d o o r l a b o u r e r s w e r e b o a r d e d at t h e f a r m s . S u c h c l o s e s o c i a l c o n t a c t
and, a s s o c i a t e d w i t h it, t h e l a c k o f c o n f l i c t i n g e c o n o m i c i n t e r e s t
b e t w e e n the classes, together with the dispersed labour force a n d
the language barrier isolating W e l s h labourers from k n o w l e d g e of
u n i o n activity o u t s i d e , e x p l a i n t h e v i r t u a l a b s e n c e o f l a b o u r e r s ' p r o t e s t
2 3
a n d t r a d e - u n i o n activity t h r o u g h o u t t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y .
T h i s k i n d o f rural c o m m u n i t y w a s s l o w l y c h a n g i n g a r o u n d t h e t u r n
of t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y . S c a r c i t y o f l a b o u r a n d t h e a t t e m p t d u r i n g
the 1880s a n d 1890s to cut d o w n o n production costs b y reducing
21
J. Ceredig Davies, Welsh Folk Lore (Aberystwyth, 1911), p. 78; RC on Labour: The
Agricultural Labourer, II, Wales, PP 1893-4, XXXVI, p. 165; Jenkins, Agricultural Com
munity, pp. 4 3 - 4 , 5 1 - 3 , 58; idem, 'Rural Society Inside Out', in D. Smith, ed., A
People and a Proletariat (1980), pp. 114-26; Wages and Conditions of Employment in
Agriculture in Wales, PP 1919, IX, pp. 6 1 , 1 2 4 .
22
Jenkins, Agricultural Community, chap. 7; E . Davies and A. D. Rees, eds., Welsh
Rural Communities (Cardiff, 1950), pp. 1 0 , 1 8 7 - 9 .
23
RC on Labour, Wales, PP 1893-4, pp. 8, 29-31; but for activity in Radnorshire and
Monmouthshire, W . H. Howse, Radnorshire (Hereford, 1949), pp. 91-2; Labourers'
Union Chronicle, 21 June, 18 October 1873, 27 February 1875.

l a b o u r bills l e d to n e w f o r m s o f m a c h i n e r y , w h i c h h a d a n i m p a c t
socially. T h u s m a c h i n e r y r e s t r i c t e d a n d e v e n t u a l l y d e s t r o y e d the
a n c i e n t p r a c t i c e o f c o - o p e r a t i o n at h a y h a r v e s t w h i l e t h e c o r n - b i n d e r
wrought a r e v o l u t i o n a r y i m p a c t u p o n rural s o c i e t y in south-west
W a l e s b y a l l o w i n g f a r m e r s to d i s c o n t i n u e t h e p o t a t o - s e t t i n g g r o u p ,
w h i c h h a d b e e n the c o n n e c t i n g link b e t w e e n farmers a n d cottagers.
T h i s d i s s o l v i n g o f t h e ties b e t w e e n f a r m e r s a n d c o t t a g e r s w a s c o m p l e
m e n t e d from the other side b y c o m m o n people b e c o m i n g b y the 1880s
far m o r e i n d e p e n d e n t , t h e i r e c o n o m i c e m a n c i p a t i o n r e s u l t i n g f r o m
h i g h e r m o n e y i n c o m e s a n d t h e s p r e a d o f far m o r e local s h o p s w i t h
m o r e a n d b e t t e r f o o d t h a n h i t h e r t o . T o r e p e a t , all t h i s m e a n t t h a t
local c o m m u n i t i e s lost m u c h o f t h e i r p e a s a n t c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s b a s e d
o n n e a r - s u b s i s t e n c e , i n t e r d e p e n d e n c e a n d i s o l a t i o n , a n d w i t h its p a s s
2 4
i n g w e n t , t o o , m a n y o f t h e o l d folk c u s t o m s .
F r o m t h e o p e n i n g y e a r s o f t h i s c e n t u r y t h e r e also o c c u r r e d a w i d e n
i n g in t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n f a r m e r s a n d t h e i r l a b o u r e r s , t h e latter
m a i n t a i n i n g t h a t t h e i r e m p l o y e r s w e r e n o t a l l o w i n g t h e m a s h a r e in
t h e c o m p a r a t i v e p r o s p e r i t y t h e y h a d e n j o y e d in t h e r e v i v a l o f f a r m i n g
after its l o n g p e r i o d o f d e p r e s s i o n . T h e failure o f w a g e s to k e e p p a c e
w i t h t h e r a p i d rise i n t h e c o s t o f l i v i n g d u r i n g t h e First W o r l d W a r
increased the s e n s e of a n t a g o n i s m . S u c h hostility w a s particularly
in e v i d e n c e in G l a m o r g a n a n d M o n m o u t h s h i r e , c o n t a c t t h e r e w i t h
industrial trade u n i o n i s m providing the a d d e d militancy. T h e widen
i n g gulf b e t w e e n t h e c l a s s e s s a w t h e g r o w t h o f l a b o u r e r s ' unions
in m o s t W e l s h c o u n t i e s t o w a r d s t h e e n d o f t h e w a r , b y w h i c h t i m e
f a r m e r s , in C a r d i g a n s h i r e a n d C a r m a r t h e n s h i r e at l e a s t , h a d a l s o
b e c o m e u n p o p u l a r w i t h o t h e r g r o u p s like m i n i s t e r s o f r e l i g i o n , s c h o o l
masters a n d s h o p k e e p e r s . In M o n m o u t h s h i r e , G l a m o r g a n , A n g l e s e y
and Denbighshire, especially, class feeling b e t w e e n farmers and
labourers w a s p r o n o u n c e d , but e l s e w h e r e , despite the b e g i n n i n g s of
u n i o n i s m , it c o u l d still b e m a i n t a i n e d t h a t , w i t h f a r m e r a n d l a b o u r e r
m e e t i n g at m e a l t i m e s a n d f r a t e r n i s i n g at r e l i g i o u s a n d social g a t h e r
i n g s , ' s o c i a l i n t i m a c y e x i s t s w h i c h w o u l d n e v e r b e f o u n d in t h e r i c h e r
2 5
f a r m i n g districts o f E n g l a n d ' .
S o c i a l c l a s s e s a n d t h e i r r e l a t i o n s h i p s apart, w h a t w e r e t h e d i s t i n c t i v e
f e a t u r e s o f W e l s h rural s o c i e t y o v e r t h e s e 2 0 0 y e a r s ? A n i m p o r t a n t
24
Jenkins, Agricultural Community, pp. 55, 257-8, 264; Howell, Land and People,
p. 157; T. M. Owen, Welsh Folk Customs, new edn (Llandysul, 1987), p. 22.
25
Anon., 'Rural Labourers' Movement', Welsh Outlook, 4 (1917), p. 381; Wages and
Condition of Employment, PP 1919.

Wales 293
feature of W e l s h farming c o m p a r e d with the overall English situation

w a s the large n u m b e r of farmers, the high a m o u n t of family labour
a n d t h e s m a l l h i r e d l a b o u r f o r c e : w h e r e a s in E n g l a n d in 1 8 9 1 t h e
ratio o f f a r m e r s , t h e i r r e l a t i v e s a n d h i r e d l a b o u r e r s w a s 2 0 . 5 : 6 . 5 : 7 3 . 0 ,
t h e c o r r e s p o n d i n g figures for W a l e s w e r e 3 8 . 9 : 1 2 . 7 : 4 8 . 4 . T h e ratio
in W a l e s w a s m o v i n g in f a v o u r o f f a r m e r s a n d r e l a t i v e s f r o m m i d -
c e n t u r y , for t h e fall in n u m b e r s w i t h i n W e l s h f a r m i n g in t h e c e n t u r y
following 1850 occurred mainly a m o n g the hired labour force. T h e
migration of y o u n g w o m e n e v e n e x c e e d e d that of y o u n g males from
m a n y p a r t s o f rural W a l e s , s o t h a t b y t h e i n t e r w a r p e r i o d v e r y f e w
w o m e n w e r e e n g a g e d in field l a b o u r a p a r t f r o m h e l p i n g o u t in t h e
b u s y s e a s o n s . All this m e a n t t h a t w h i l e t h e t y p i c a l W e l s h f a r m c o n
t i n u e d to b e t h r o u g h o u t t h e s e y e a r s a f a m i l y f a r m , its o r g a n i s a t i o n
c h a n g e d significantly b e t w e e n 1 8 5 1 a n d 1 9 3 1 . W h e r e a s a r o u n d 1 8 5 1
there h a d b e e n on average rather more than two male farm labourers
to e a c h m a l e f a r m e r , b y 1 9 3 1 t h e r e w a s l e s s t h a n o n e . M o r e a n d m o r e
so, t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c W e l s h f a r m w a s b e c o m i n g a o n e - m a n c o n c e r n ,
t h e f a r m e r d e p e n d i n g chiefly u p o n t h e a s s i s t a n c e of h i s wife a n d
26
family.
M i g r a t i o n f r o m t h e c o u n t r y s i d e o c c u r r e d , in t h e first p l a c e , b e c a u s e
of t h e ' p u l l ' o f t h e i n d u s t r i a l a r e a s , w h e r e h i g h e r w a g e s , s h o r t e r h o u r s
of w o r k a n d m o r e v a r i e d social facilities w e r e all a t t r a c t i o n s . T o a
7
c e r t a i n e x t e n t , h o w e v e r , rural d w e l l e r s w e r e ' p u s h e d out b y adverse
conditions. E v e n with the improved conditions following the mid-
7
nineteenth century, there remained 'push incentives: cottage accom
modation was atrocious, the monotony of t h e countryside was
i m p l a n t e d i n t o c h i l d r e n ' s m i n d s b y t h e s y s t e m of e l e m e n t a r y e d u
c a t i o n after 1870, t h e e m p l o y m e n t o f b o y s f r o m r e f o r m a t o r y a n d i n d u s
trial s c h o o l s in E n g l a n d o n W e l s h f a r m s , e s p e c i a l l y in t h e s o u t h - w e s t ,
in t h e 1 8 9 0 s as c h e a p l a b o u r d u r i n g t h e d e p r e s s i o n , to s o m e e x t e n t
d r o v e m a r r i e d l a b o u r e r s f r o m t h e c o u n t r y s i d e , a n d in t h e i n t e r w a r
y e a r s fresh ' p u s h ' factors w e r e p r o v i d e d b y t h e c o n c e n t r a t i o n o n m i l k
2 7
production and growing mechanisation. The continuing haemor
r h a g e of p o p u l a t i o n furnished a poignant i n d i c a t o r of t h e deep
26
RC on Land in Wales and Monmouthshire, PP 1896, XXXIV, Report, p. 599; Ashby
and Evans, Agriculture of Wales, pp. 76, 85.
27
Report on the Decline of the Agricultural Population of Great Britain, 1881-1906, PP 1906,
XCVI, pp. 9-10, 15; RC on Land in Wales, PP 1896, pp. 601-2; Welsh Land: The Report
of the Welsh Land Enquiry Committee, Rural (1914), p. 195; G. Davies, 'The Agricultural
Labourer in Wales', in Anon., Social Problems in Wales (1913), pp. 90-104; D. Williams,
Modern Wales (1950), p. 289.

impoverishment of W e l s h rural communities. Such deprivation

remained the case throughout these two centuries, although consider
a b l e i m p r o v e m e n t s t o o k p l a c e i n m a n y a s p e c t s o f life f r o m t h e m i d -
nineteenth century. While farmers t h e m s e l v e s did not generally
migrate, they w e r e an i m p e c u n i o u s class, d o w n to the close of the
n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y ( a n d d o u b t l e s s b e y o n d ) , h a v i n g to live frugally
a n d , i n d e e d , f r e q u e n t l y h a v i n g to s t r u g g l e a s h a r d , if n o t harder,
for e x i s t e n c e t h a n t h e c o t t a g e r s , w h o h a d t h e i r w e e k l y w a g e s t o r e l y
o n , a n d c e r t a i n l y h a r d e r t h a n t h e a r t i s a n s o r m i n e r s in t h e i r n e i g h b o u r
h o o d . T h e relative poverty of the W e l s h farmer can b e seen from
t h e fact t h a t t h e a v e r a g e f a r m e r ' s r e t u r n f r o m t h e U n i t e d K i n g d o m
2 8
as a w h o l e i n 1 9 5 0 w a s r a t h e r o v e r t h r e e t i m e s t h e W e l s h a m o u n t .
D o w n to the mid-nineteenth century the W e l s h agricultural labourer
in t h e p u r e l y a g r i c u l t u r a l districts r e m o v e d f r o m m i n e s a n d q u a r r i e s
earned a mere pittance, necessitating either s o m e form of supplemen
t a r y i n c o m e f r o m a c t i v i t i e s like k n i t t i n g o f s t o c k i n g s , g l e a n i n g a n d
s e a s o n a l m i g r a t i o n for w o r k e l s e w h e r e o r , a s in C a r d i g a n s h i r e , d e p e n
d e n c e u p o n t h e ' p o t a t o s y s t e m ' . A n d , for all t h e i m p r o v e m e n t in
m o n e y w a g e s t h a t c a m e in w i t h t h e r a i l w a y - o n l y s o m e o f it b e f o r e
t h e late 1 8 7 0 s b e i n g c a n c e l l e d b y t h e r i s i n g c o s t o f l i v i n g - d o w n to
1 9 1 8 t h e l a b o u r e r in t h e f a r m i n g a r e a s a w a y f r o m i n d u s t r y r e m a i n e d
v e r y i m p o v e r i s h e d , e a r n i n g s p r o v i n g i n a d e q u a t e for a d e c e n t s u b s i s
t e n c e . T h u s m o s t f a r m s e r v a n t s i n C a r d i g a n s h i r e in 1 9 1 8 h a n d e d o v e r
t h e b u l k o f t h e i r c a s h e a r n i n g s for t h e u s e o f t h e i r f a m i l i e s b a c k h o m e ,
for o n l y b y v i r t u e o f s u c h s u p p l e m e n t a r y i n c o m e s w e r e t h e m a j o r i t y
of c o t t a g e r s a b l e t o s u r v i v e . S i m i l a r a s s i s t a n c e w a s g i v e n t h e i r f a m i l i e s
by farm servants in C a r m a r t h e n s h i r e a n d A n g l e s e y . ' D e c i d e d pro
g r e s s ' o c c u r r e d in b o t h m o n e y w a g e s a n d r e a l e a r n i n g s o v e r t h e c o u r s e
of t h e i n t e r w a r y e a r s , b u t for all t h a t , r e m u n e r a t i o n o f f a r m l a b o u r e r s
2 9
fell far b e h i n d t h a t o f t o w n w o r k e r s .
F r o m the 1870s the earlier strenuously long h o u r s of work, also,
28
7th Report of the Medical Officer of the Privy Council, 1864: Dr Hunter's Report on South
Wales, PP 1865, XXVI; RC on Women and Children in Agriculture, PP 1870, Appendix
A, i, p. 101; RC on hand in Wales, PP 1896, p. 632; Ashby, 'Peasant Agriculture
of Wales', p. 210; Martin, 'Agriculture', p. 81.
29
RC of Inquiry for South Wales, PP 1844, XVI, q. 5566; J. Williams-Davies, 'Merchedd
y Gerddi: A Seasonal Migration of Female Labour from Rural Wales', Polk Life,
15, (1977), pp. 12-26; RC on Women and Children in Agriculture, PP 1870, Appendix
O, p. 40; Report on the Earnings of Agricultural Labourers in the UK, PP 1900, LXXXII,
pp. 58, 108; Wages and Conditions of Employment, PP 1919, pp. 31, 51, 63; Ashby
and Evans, Agriculture of Wales, p. 88.

Wales 295
were gradually lessened. Nevertheless, the long working day was

still a g r i e v a n c e i n 1 9 1 8 . F u r t h e r i m p r o v e m e n t s h a d b e e n i n t r o d u c e d
b y t h e l a t e 1 9 3 0 s , a l t h o u g h at fifty-two h o u r s for a n a v e r a g e w o r k i n g
w e e k h o u r s o f l a b o u r r e m a i n e d l o n g . L i k e w i s e , t h e l a b o u r e r ' s diet
gradually i m p r o v e d in the late n i n e t e e n t h century, especially with
r e g a r d t o m o r e r e g u l a r c o n s u m p t i o n o f m e a t , b u t it w a s still d e f i c i e n t
in the 1890s. T h e practice in W a l e s of boarding labourers m e a n t that
d o w n to the o p e n i n g d e c a d e s of the twentieth c e n t u r y their families
30
at h o m e l i v e d o n e x t r e m e l y m e a g r e d i e t s .
Rural a c c o m m o d a t i o n r e m a i n e d atrocious d o w n to the Second
W o r l d W a r , with hardly any i m p r o v e m e n t s taking place. W o r s t of
all w a s t h a t p r o v i d e d for i n d o o r s e r v a n t s i n t h e lofts o v e r t h e s t a b l e
or c o w h o u s e . A l b e i t , m a l e s e r v a n t s p r e f e r r e d s l e e p i n g i n t h e s e filthy
o u t b u i l d i n g s b e c a u s e t h e y w e r e free t o c o m e a n d g o a s t h e y p l e a s e d ,
p e r h a p s , in p a r t i c u l a r , t o p r a c t i s e t h e c u s t o m o f ' b u n d l i n g ' o r c o u r t i n g
in b e d . C o t t a g e s o f m a r r i e d l a b o u r e r s w e r e w r e t c h e d a b o d e s . T h e
percentage of working-class h o u s e s overcrowded in the late 1930s
in E n g l a n d a n d W a l e s w a s 2 . 9 : E n g l a n d alone w a s 2 . 8 a n d W a l e s
4.0. Anglesey and Caernarfonshire had a high degree of overcrowd
ing, A n g l e s e y s h o w i n g 9 . 5 p e r c e n t a n d C a e r n a r f o n s h i r e 6 . 2 p e r c e n t .
O v e r a l l , i n t h e r u r a l d i s t r i c t s o f W a l e s t h e p o s i t i o n w a s far f r o m satis
31
factory.
Poverty a n d deprivation within W e l s h rural c o m m u n i t i e s led to a
h i g h i n c i d e n c e o f t u b e r c u l o s i s , D r H u n t e r r e p o r t i n g o n its p r e v a l e n c e
in C a r m a r t h e n s h i r e a n d Cardiganshire in 1 8 6 4 . In r e s p o n s e to tables
of mortality from the disease s h o w i n g s o m e W e l s h rural counties
always occupying a position of pre-eminence, the W e l s h National
M e m o r i a l A s s o c i a t i o n w a s f o u n d e d i n 1 9 1 0 . I n s p i t e o f its efforts t u b e r
culosis r e m a i n e d a terrible scourge, high rates of incidence obtaining
i n P e m b r o k e s h i r e a n d e s p e c i a l l y C a r d i g a n s h i r e i n 1 9 1 8 . F i g u r e s for
mortality rates from tuberculosis b e t w e e n 1930 a n d 1936 reveal that
W e l s h c o u n t i e s h e l d t h e first s e v e n h i g h e s t p l a c e s i n E n g l a n d a n d
30
RC on Labour, Wales, PP 1893-4, pp. 16, 19-20; RC on Land in Wales, PP 1896, pp.
610-11; Wages and Conditions of Employment, PP 1919, pp. 14, 19, 51, 63, 128; Ashby
and Evans, Agriculture of Wales, p. 88; RC on Women and Children in Agriculture,
PP 1870, Appendix, part ii, A.19, p. 107; Hunter's Report on South Wales, PP 1865.
31
R. C. Davies, 'The Present Condition of the Welsh Nation', Red Dragon, 4 (1883),
p. 350; RC on Land in Wales, PP 1896, p. 703; RC on Labour, Wales, PP 1893-4, p. 22;
Wages and Conditions of Employment, PP 1919, pp. 2 0 - 1 ; Anon., 'Hovels and Houses
in Wales', Welsh Outlook, 1 (1914), pp. 10-11; D. Rocyn-Jones, 'Public Health in
Wales', Welsh Review, 1 (1939), pp. 19-20.

Wales: Caernarfon, Merioneth, Anglesey, Cardigan, Pembroke,

G l a m o r g a n a n d C a r m a r t h e n . U n d o u b t e d f a c t o r s in c a u s i n g t h i s h i g h
i n c i d e n c e w e r e t h e a p p a l l i n g h o u s i n g a n d s a n i t a r y c o n d i t i o n s , ill-
effects t h a t w e r e e x a c e r b a t e d b y o v e r c r o w d i n g . C o n d i t i o n s o f t h e r u r a l
s c h o o l s w e r e b a d - o l d , s m a l l a n d i n s a n i t a r y - p a r t i c u l a r l y t h o s e in
3 2
the remoter villages of the purely agricultural a r e a s .
P o v e r t y m e a n t t h a t t h e rural c o m m u n i t y w a s o f t e n u n d e r p r e s s u r e ,
understandably m o r e so in the early n i n e t e e n t h century t h a n later.
T h e f o o d riots o f t h e 1 7 9 0 s a n d e a r l y 1 8 0 0 s , e n c l o s u r e riots, t h e l i m i t e d
n u m b e r of labourers' disturbances in east G l a m o r g a n a n d M o n m o u t h
s h i r e in 1 8 3 0 - 1 , a n d , a b o v e all, t h e R e b e c c a r i o t e r s in 1 8 3 9 a n d 1 8 4 2 - 3
- f a r m e r s s q u e e z e d in t h e r e m o r s e l e s s p i n c e r s o f falling p r i c e s a n d
rising costs but finding n o conciliatory a n d helpful r e s p o n s e from
t h e g e n t r y - s a w t h e p e a s a n t r y r e s i s t w i t h t h e o n l y m e a n s at t h e i r
3 3
disposal, v i o l e n c e . ( H a v i n g g i v e n t h e i r s u p p o r t to t h e R e b e c c a i t e
farmers, Carmarthenshire and Cardiganshire labourers held their o w n
m e e t i n g s in late A u g u s t 1 8 4 3 to r e m i n d f a r m e r s o f t h a t fact a n d to
c o m p l a i n a g a i n s t t h e p a l t r y w a y t h e latter w e r e t r e a t i n g t h e m - a n
i n d i c a t i o n t h a t , c l o s e social ties a n d t h e a b s e n c e o f a n y r e a l c l a s s anti
pathy notwithstanding, there w a s an e l e m e n t of exploitation in the
34
relationship.)
Although material conditions improved from mid-century, protest
by n o m e a n s disappeared, although, as s h o w n , there w a s hardly a n y
t r a d e u n i o n i s m in t h e late c e n t u r y . T h e significant p r o t e s t w a s o v e r
tithe a n d the land question. A l t h o u g h p i n c h e d b y depression, farmers
w e r e really motivated b y religious a n d nationalist s e n t i m e n t in their
o p p o s i t i o n to t i t h e . T h a t l a n d l o r d s did n o t face s i m i l a r d i r e c t a c t i o n
protest over high rents can be explained on the grounds that con
d i t i o n s o n m o s t W e l s h e s t a t e s w e r e n o t s o a d v e r s e as i n I r e l a n d ; c e r
t a i n l y as a c l a s s t h e y w e r e m o r e p o p u l a r t h a n t h e c l e r g y a n d w e r e
a c k n o w l e d g e d as h a v i n g d o n e s o m e t h i n g t o alleviate t h e i r t e n a n t s '
suffering, a n d , o f c o u r s e , t h e y w e r e at h a n d t o r e t a l i a t e effectively
32
Hunter's Report on South Wales, PP 1865; Wages and Conditions of Employment, PP
1919, pp. 51, 127; HMSO, Report of the Committee of Enquiry into the Anti-Tuberculosis
Service in Wales and Mons. (1939); National Library of Wales, T. Mervyn Jones papers,
2/18; J. E . Tomley, 'The Inquiry into the Anti-Tuberculosis Service in Wales and
Monmouthshire', Welsh Review, 1 (1939), pp. 278-9; F. Evans, 'The Problem of the
Rural School', Welsh Outlook, 15 (1928), p. 126.
33
The standard works are D. J. V. Jones, Before Rebecca (1973); D. Williams, The Rebecca
Riots (Cardiff, 1955).
34
The Times, 5 September 1843.

Wales 297
whereas the clergy were more vulnerable. Nevertheless, frequent

attacks were m a d e b y large groups t h r o u g h o u t the century on land
l o r d s a n d t h e i r l a c k e y s o v e r e n f o r c e m e n t of g a m i n g r i g h t s b o t h o n
l a n d a n d o n r i v e r s , a n d a l s o o v e r e n c l o s u r e o f u p l a n d c o m m o n s (albeit
on another level p e r m a n e n t fences stopped bickering b e t w e e n farmers
a n d s h e p h e r d s ) , s o t h a t e v e n if rural W a l e s b y v i r t u e o f t h e c h a p e l
i n f l u e n c e w a s r e a s o n a b l y p e a c e f u l a n d free f r o m c r i m e a n d g r o w i n g
m o r e s o b e r i n t h e l a t e r d e c a d e s of t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y ( a n d t h i s
w a s p a r t l y b e c a u s e i n d o o r s e r v a n t s w e r e f o r c e d to a t t e n d t h e c h a p e l
by their 'patriarchal' masters), w e should not ignore these particular
35
sources of underlying tension and o p e n hostility.
A n a n t i - E n g l i s h e l e m e n t p l a y e d a p a r t in s o m e o f t h e s e p r o t e s t s :
p a r t o f R e b e c c a ' s w r a t h w a s t u r n e d a g a i n s t E n g l i s h toll f a r m e r s a n d
land stewards; s o m e of the supporters of the ' s e c o n d ' Rebecca rioters,
w h o p o a c h e d t h e W y e for s a l m o n in t h e late n i n e t e e n t h century,
thought they were resisting the foreign capitalism ' o f the English L o w
l a n d s ' a n d its a l i e n r i g h t s a n d , similarly, C a r d i g a n s h i r e fishermen
w e r e p r a i s e d i n 1 8 6 7 for s t a n d i n g u p t o ' S a x o n o p p r e s s i o n ' in t h e
3 6
f o r m o f r e c e n t r i v e r fishing A c t s .
T h e a g r i c u l t u r a l c o m m u n i t y , o f c o u r s e , f o r m e d o n l y a p a r t of t h e
total rural c o m m u n i t y . T h u s i n 1 8 5 1 t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l i s t s in t h e rural
counties of Anglesey, Merioneth, Montgomery, Cardigan, Pembroke
a n d R a d n o r f o r m e d 4 6 . 7 p e r c e n t o f t h e total l a b o u r f o r c e s o f t h o s e
c o u n t i e s t a k e n t o g e t h e r . M o r e o v e r , i n c r e a s i n g diversification was
occurring, a growing proportion of the aggregate population of those
counties following other t h a n agricultural occupations over the years:
b y 1 8 9 1 t h e p r o p o r t i o n e n g a g e d i n f a r m i n g h a d d r o p p e d to 3 1 . 8 p e r
cent and b y 1951 to 29 per cent.
D o w n t o t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e First W o r l d W a r , a n d to a m u c h l e s s e r
e x t e n t u n t i l 1 9 3 9 , W e l s h r u r a l c o m m u n i t i e s w e r e l a r g e l y self-sufficient.
A c c o r d i n g l y , c r a f t s m e n w e r e to b e f o u n d in a b u n d a n c e in t h e r u r a l
t o w n s and villages, and included those w h o processed raw materials,
like c o r n m i l l e r s , t a n n e r s , c u r r i e r s , s p i n n e r s a n d w e a v e r s , a n d t h o s e
35
J. P. D. Dunbabin, Rural Discontent in Nineteenth-Century Britain (1974), p. 293;
D. J. V. Jones, T h e Welsh and Crime, 1801-1891', in C. Emsley and J. Walvin,
eds., Artisans, Peasants and Proletarians (1985); idem, 'Crime, Protest and Community
in Nineteenth-Century Wales', Llafur, 1 (1974); S. H. Jones-Parry, 'Crime in Wales',
Red Dragon, 4 (1883); RC on Labour in Wales, PP 1893-4; RC on Land in Wales, PP
1896.
36
D. J. V. Jones, T h e Second Rebecca Riots', Llafur, 2 (1976), p. 53; Cardiganshire
Advertiser, 1 November 1867 - reference kindly provided by D. L. Baker-Jones.

298 D. W. HOWELL AND C. BABER
w h o p r o d u c e d t o o l s a n d e q u i p m e n t , like b l a c k s m i t h s , w h e e l w r i g h t s ,
carpenters, saddlers, turners, coopers, basketmakers, bootmakers,
s t o n e m a s o n s , tailors a n d h a t m a k e r s . M a n y w e r e c l o s e l y c o n n e c t e d
with farming, so that the distinction b e t w e e n the agricultural and
w i d e r r u r a l c o m m u n i t y w a s b y n o m e a n s c l e a r - c u t . C r a f t s m e n like
blacksmiths, wheelwrights, carpenters, coopers, saddlers and millers
w e r e vital t o t h e r u n n i n g o f l o c a l f a r m s a n d , b e s i d e s , t h e s e a n d o t h e r s
more independent o f f a r m i n g l i k e s h o e m a k e r s , tailors a n d masons
w e r e often craftsmen-smallholders w h o , as w e h a v e s h o w n , were
i n t i m a t e l y s t i t c h e d i n t o t h e fabric o f m u t u a l i n t e r d e p e n d e n c e b e t w e e n
smallholdings a n d larger neighbouring farms. W h e n the factory sys
t e m l e d t o m a s s p r o d u c t i o n o f g o o d s a n d i m p l e m e n t s , t h e W e l s h crafts
man increasingly went out of business, particularly after 1 9 1 4 .
Craftsmen's w o r k s h o p s w e r e centres of intellectual liveliness in eigh
t e e n t h a n d n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y W e l s h r u r a l c o m m u n i t i e s a n d crafts
m e n played a crucial part as leaders of b o t h O l d e r D i s s e n t and
3 7
M e t h o d i s m in the years 1 6 5 0 - 1 8 5 0 .
O t h e r s within the rural c o m m u n i t y not categorised as h a v i n g 'agri
cultural' occupations w e r e , likewise, close to the land. T h u s , as
s h o w n , non-farming cottagers w e r e b o u n d up in the h u g e embrace
of e c o n o m i c i n t e r d e p e n d e n c e b e t w e e n f a r m e r s a n d c o t t a g e r s , s u c h
ties d i s s o l v i n g o n l y i n t h e c l o s i n g y e a r s o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h century.
E v e n workers in extractive industries w e r e not wholly independent
of farming, slate q u a r r y m e n of Merioneth and Caernarfonshire,
anthracite colliers of P e m b r o k e s h i r e , a n d Cardiganshire lead m i n e r s
all f a r m i n g s m a l l h o l d i n g s w h i c h p r o v i d e d a s u p p l e m e n t a r y i n c o m e .
(Crucially, insofar as labour relations in north-west W a l e s w e r e con
c e r n e d , t h e fact t h a t q u a r r y m e n w e r e s m a l l h o l d e r s d i d n o t i n h i b i t
t h e i r c l a s s c o n s c i o u s n e s s for t h e y t h o u g h t o f t h e m s e l v e s p r i n c i p a l l y
as q u a r r y m e n . ) O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , u p o n t h e g r o w t h i n t h e e a r l y
n i n e t e e n t h century of coastal villages like Aberporth, Llangrannog
a n d N e w Q u a y in s o u t h e r n Cardiganshire into truly seafaring villages
(and r e m a i n i n g as such d o w n to 1914), there g r e w u p a c o m p l e t e
37
J. G. Jenkins, 'Rural Industry in Cardiganshire', Ceredigion, 6 (1968-71), pp. 90-1;
A. D. Rees, Life in a Welsh Countryside (Cardiff, 1950), p. 27; Edgar Chappell, 'The
Development of Rural Industries', Welsh Outlook, 10 (1923), p. 304; J. G. Jenkins,
Welsh Crafts and Craftsmen (Llandysul, 1975), pp. 5-10; A. W. Ashby and J. M. Jones,
'The Social Origin of Welsh Farmers', Welsh Journal of Agriculture, 2 (1926), p. 32;
I. C. Peate, 'Welsh Rural Crafts', Welsh Outlook, 16 (1929), pp. 140-1; D. Jenkins,
'The Part Played by Craftsmen in the Religious History of Modern Wales', Welsh
Anvil, 5 - 6 (1953-4), pp. 90-7.

Wales 299
separation b e t w e e n the outward-looking seafaring c o m m u n i t y a n d

3 8
t h e s u r r o u n d i n g i n w a r d - l o o k i n g rural n e i g h b o u r h o o d .
W h e n c o n s i d e r i n g t h e n o n - a g r i c u l t u r a l g r o u p s , o n e vital r e m a i n i n g
c o m p o n e n t requires investigation, namely, the townspeople. Country
t o w n s i n late e i g h t e e n t h - c e n t u r y W a l e s w e r e g e n e r a l l y ' s m a l l a n d
u n i m p r e s s i v e ' b u t , for all t h a t , t h e y w e r e i m p o r t a n t as m a r k e t c e n t r e s .
Urban growth h a d b e e n restricted by the sparsely populated country
s i d e a n d b y p o o r c o m m u n i c a t i o n s , b u t f r o m t h e late e i g h t e e n t h c e n
t u r y o n w a r d s c e r t a i n t o w n s , m a n y o f t h e m o n t h e c o a s t or tidal r i v e r s ,
w e r e to e x p e r i e n c e significant g r o w t h as a c o n s e q u e n c e o f a q u i c k e n i n g
of e c o n o m i c life a n d i m p r o v e d c o m m u n i c a t i o n s . E x c l u d i n g t h o s e
t o w n s w h i c h g r e w u p as i n d u s t r i a l c e n t r e s like S w a n s e a , N e w p o r t
and W r e x h a m , especially important as regional a n d metropolitan
centres b y 1831 were Carmarthen (9,955 inhabitants), Caernarfon
(7,642), Cardiff ( 6 , 1 8 7 ) , Haverfordwest (5,787), Monmouth (5,446),
Brecon (5,026), A b e r g a v e n n y (4,953) and Aberystwyth (4,128). All
were important market towns, centres of trade and handicrafts, pro
fessional and banking centres and s o m e had p e r m a n e n t theatres.
T h e s e c e n t r e s h o u s e d a m i d d l e c l a s s a n d s u p p o r t e d a n u r b a n life.
A l t h o u g h at a l o w e r l e v e l , t h e t o w n s o f D e n b i g h , P e m b r o k e , W e l s h
p o o l , B a n g o r , C h e p s t o w a n d L l a n d o v e r y , all w i t h p o p u l a t i o n s r a n g i n g
r o u g h l y f r o m 2 , 0 0 0 to 5 , 0 0 0 , a l s o f u n c t i o n e d as r e g i o n a l s e r v i c e
c e n t r e s . O n e o t h e r s i m i l a r r u r a l - b a s e d t o w n w a s N e w t o w n , b u t it
o w e d its i m p o r t a n c e to t h e w o o l l e n i n d u s t r y . Its p r e - e m i n e n c e as t h e
' L e e d s o f W a l e s ' w a s , h o w e v e r , t o b e s h o r t - l i v e d , for t h e f o o l i s h
a t t e m p t s to c o m p e t e w i t h L a n c a s h i r e a n d Y o r k s h i r e f l a n n e l s b y imitat
ing their products spelt decline from the 1860s, the n e w centres of
W e l s h w e a v i n g shifting to v i l l a g e s in s o u t h - w e s t W a l e s w h e r e p r o s p e r
ity l a s t e d till 1 9 2 0 . B e l o w t h i s g r o u p c a m e s m a l l e r t o w n s like B a l a ,
Machynlleth, Dolgellau, Pwllheli, Llanidloes, H a y and Llandeilo,
e s s e n t i a l l y l o c a l in n a t u r e , l a c k i n g r e g i o n a l a d m i n i s t r a t i v e f u n c t i o n s
b u t still, t h r o u g h t h e i r e c o n o m i c a c t i v i t i e s , p l a y i n g a u s e f u l r o l e in
servicing the countryside. In this group, too, c a m e t o w n s like Holy
h e a d , M i l f o r d a n d A m l w c h , as c e n t r e s o f e i t h e r t r a n s p o r t or i n d u s t r y .
F i n a l l y , at t h e b o t t o m w e r e t h o s e m a n y s m a l l , e n t i r e l y l o c a l a n d l i m i t e d
38
G. Davies, 'Community and Social Structure in Bethesda, 1840-70', Carnarvonshire
Historical Society Transactions, 41 (1980), pp. 126-7; Merfyn Jones, 'Class and Society
in Nineteenth-Century Gwynedd', in Smith, ed., A People and a Proletariat, pp.
206-7; M. R. C. Price, Industrial Saundersfoot (Llandysul, 1982), p. 32; W. J. Lewis,
Lead Mining in Wales (Cardiff, 1967), pp. 275-6; J. G. Jenkins, Maritime Heritage:
The Ships and Seamen of Southern Ceredigion (Llandysul, 1982), p. 4.

300 D. W . H O W E L L A N D C. B A B E R
market t o w n s like Builth, P r e s t e i g n e , K n i g h t o n a n d L a m p e t e r , with

39
populations of under 1,500.
A l t h o u g h m a n y of the rural t o w n s r e m a i n e d closely b o u n d u p with
the character a n d fortunes of the local agricultural e c o n o m y and,
indeed, their large n u m b e r s of craftsmen w e r e closely c o n n e c t e d with
farming, nevertheless traders like b a k e r s , milliners, grocers, drapers,
chandlers and chemists, together with the growing numbers of pro
fessional p e o p l e like lawyers, s u r g e o n s , s c h o o l t e a c h e r s , c l e r g y m e n ,
printers, booksellers, p o s t m a s t e r s a n d b a n k e r s , w e r e clearly, indepen
d e n t o f a g r i c u l t u r e . I. G . J o n e s h a s p e r c e p t i v e l y p o i n t e d t o t h e c r u c i a l
i m p o r t a n c e o f t h e s e r u r a l t o w n s a s p r o v i d i n g t h e s e e d b e d o f political
r a d i c a l i s m i n t h e c o u n t r y s i d e , for it w a s o n l y h e r e i n t h e i r s o c i a l l y
m o r e diversified a n d mobile societies that there could e m e r g e the
rural l e a d e r s h i p d r a w n f r o m t h e r a n k s o f t h e c r a f t s m e n , tradesmen
and small shopkeepers, m a n y associated with the nonconformist
c h a p e l s w h i c h w e r e vital i n p r o d u c i n g d i s t i n c t i v e a n d independent
40
rural e l i t e s .
II
T h e transformation of a nation of poverty-stricken, politically subser

v i e n t p e a s a n t s i n t o a m o d e r n a n d d e m o c r a t i c s o c i e t y , it will b e a p p a r
ent, w a s e n g i n e e r e d b y industrialisation, b y the rapid e x p a n s i o n of
mining a n d manufacturing activities t h r o u g h o u t the later e i g h t e e n t h
and nineteenth centuries which not only diametrically altered the
e c o n o m i c b a s e s o f t h e t w o coalfields u p o n w h i c h it l a r g e l y o c c u r r e d ,
b u t d u e to its i m p a c t u p o n t h e i n t e r n a l m i g r a t i o n o f p o p u l a t i o n w a s
to h a v e a p r o f o u n d i n f l u e n c e u p o n t h e life o f a n e v e r - i n c r e a s i n g p r o
portion of W e l s h people. W h e r e a s mid-eighteenth-century Wales was
o v e r w h e l m i n g l y rural with a population of less t h a n 300,000 scattered
w i d e l y o v e r t h e face o f t h e P r i n c i p a l i t y , b y 1 9 5 1 t h e r e w e r e o v e r 2 . 5
m i l l i o n i n h a b i t a n t s , t h r e e - q u a r t e r s o f w h o m l i v e d i n t h e t w o coalfield
a r e a s , w h i c h t o g e t h e r c o n s t i t u t e o n l y a r o u n d 1 0 p e r c e n t o f t h e total
4 1
land area.
Wales, before the later eighteenth century, w a s Britain's least likely
39
H. Carter, T h e Growth and Decline of Welsh Towns', in D. Moore, ed., Wales
in the Eighteenth Century (Swansea, 1976), pp. 48-51; H. Carter, The Towns of Wales
(Cardiff, 1966), pp. 50ff; Jenkins, Welsh Crafts and Craftsmen, pp. 12-16.
40
I. G. Jones, Explorations and Explanations (Llandysul, 1981), pp. 280, 287.
41
Indeed, the population of Wales, which had stood at 2,656,000 in 1921, in fact
fell to 2,487,000 by 1939. By 1951 it had increased again to 2,598,000.

Wales 301
industrial candidate, her lack of an industrial tradition starkly contrast

4 2
ing with Britain's other industrialising regions. Apart from its
mineral wealth, as yet largely u n t a p p e d , W a l e s w a s in t h e eighteenth
c e n t u r y s i n g u l a r l y u n s u i t e d a n d i l l - p r e p a r e d for i n d u s t r i a l i s a t i o n , a n d
w h e n the process did gather p a c e in t h e later years of the century,
it w a s t o r e q u i r e c o n s i d e r a b l e r e i n f o r c e m e n t f r o m o u t s i d e t h e coal
fields: p a r t i c u l a r l y t h e m o v e m e n t o f p e o p l e f r o m t h e r e s t o f W a l e s
a n d l a t e r f r o m E n g l a n d , a n d t h e s u b s t a n t i a l influx o f E n g l i s h capital
a n d e n t e r p r i s e s o vital i n t h e initial s t a g e s . T h i s , p e r h a p s m o r e t h a n
a n y o t h e r s i n g l e f e a t u r e o f its i n d u s t r i a l g r o w t h , c o l o u r e d t h e social
h i s t o r y o f W a l e s . If i n d u s t r i a l i s a t i o n ' m o d e r n i s e d ' W a l e s , it a l s o s a w
W a l e s b e c o m i n g increasingly integrated into the greater British econ
o m y a s its h e a v y i n d u s t r i e s p r o v i d e d a vital c o m p o n e n t for o v e r a l l
expansion.
T h e r e is, of course, n o g u a r a n t e e that a coalfield, m o r e t h a n any
o t h e r r e g i o n , s h o u l d b e e n d o w e d w i t h all t h e i n g r e d i e n t s n e c e s s a r y
for i n d u s t r i a l i s a t i o n , n o r t h a t its p o p u l a t i o n b e c o n c e n t r a t e d g e o g r a
phically. T h e W e l s h coalfields w e r e n o exception, a n d r e m a i n e d over
w h e l m i n g l y rural until the industrial revolution, w h i c h w a s already
transforming large parts of England, sought to exploit W a l e s ' s
r e s o u r c e p o t e n t i a l . W a l e s , t h e n , s o m e w h a t b e l a t e d l y b e c a u s e o f its
g e o g r a p h i c i s o l a t i o n , b e g a n t o e x p e r i e n c e t h a t ' s c a t t e r i n g o f m e n , dri
v e n b y t h e u r g e for s e l f - a s s e r t i o n , n o l e s s t h a n b y t h e p r o s p e c t o f
m o n e y g a i n , w h i c h b e c a m e a c t i v e o v e r t h e face o f B r i t a i n m a k i n g
4 3
n e w combinations of ideas, of things, of forces a n d of other m e n ' .
It w a s , o f c o u r s e , i n its effect u p o n t h e n e w c o m b i n a t i o n s o f m e n ,
of t h e i r r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h o n e a n o t h e r , w i t h t h e i r n e w p l a c e s o f l i v i n g
and working, and with the entrepreneurs w h o fashioned the n e w
e c o n o m y , t h a t i n d u s t r i a l i s a t i o n w a s t o h a v e its p r o f o u n d s o c i a l i m p a c t .
I n p a r t i c u l a r , b e c a u s e o f its l a t e n e s s , a n d t h e c o n s e q u e n t s c a l e o f
c h a n g e , it w a s t o e x e r t s u d d e n a n d t h e r e f o r e d r a m a t i c i m p l i c a t i o n s
for t h e s o c i a l c o n t e x t w h i c h it m o u l d e d .
Although coal mining was to eventually dominate the economic
p r o s p e r i t y o f W a l e s , t h e first p h a s e o f i n d u s t r i a l i s a t i o n , w h i c h l a s t e d
roughly u p to the middle of the n i n e t e e n t h century, w a s characterised
42
A. H. John, The Industrial Development of South Wales (Cardiff, 1950), pp. 1-21;
A. H. Dodd, The Industrial Revolution in North Wales (Cardiff, 1933), pp. 1-30, both
referring to the 'Old Order'.
43
S. G. Checkland, The Rise of Industrial Society in England, 1815-85 (1964), p. 3.

m o r e b y m e t a l s m e l t i n g . I n S o u t h W a l e s t w o d i s t i n c t i n d u s t r i a l districts
w e r e e m e r g i n g b y t h e e n d o f t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y . T h e first s a w
t h e e a s i l y m i n e d c o a l o f t h e s o u t h - w e s t c o r n e r o f t h e coalfield attract
a n u m b e r o f c o p p e r - s m e l t i n g c o n c e r n s to t h e district, p a r t i c u l a r l y to
S w a n s e a , w h i c h w a s S o u t h W a l e s ' s first significant u r b a n c e n t r e . B y
1 8 0 0 S w a n s e a w a s firmly e s t a b l i s h e d as B r i t a i n ' s m a j o r c o p p e r - s m e l t
i n g c e n t r e a n d o f t h e t w e n t y - o n e w o r k s r e s p o n s i b l e for n e a r l y 8 5 p e r
c e n t o f n a t i o n a l o u t p u t in 1 8 3 0 , o n l y four h a d b e e n in e x i s t e n c e in
1760. M o s t of the w o r k s w e r e established b y c o n c e r n s , or with capital,
from outside the region. Although the smelting of both lead and
s p e l t e r , t h e b e g i n n i n g s of t i n p l a t e m a n u f a c t u r e a n d a b i t u m i n o u s c o a l
e x p o r t t r a d e h a d all, b y 1 8 5 0 , h e l p e d c r e a t e a v a r i e d i n d u s t r i a l b a s e ,
c o p p e r s m e l t i n g d o m i n a t e d t h e u r b a n g r o w t h of t h e s o u t h - w e s t p a r t s
of t h e coalfield w i t h S w a n s e a ' s p o p u l a t i o n in p a r t i c u l a r i n c r e a s i n g
4 4
f r o m u n d e r 2 , 0 0 0 in 1 7 5 0 to o v e r 3 0 , 0 0 0 in 1 8 5 1 .
The other early industrial concentration s a w the north-east rim of
the coalfield e m e r g e as Britain's foremost iron-smelting region.
B e t w e e n 1760 and 1830 a n u m b e r of English entrepreneurs, attracted
by the juxtaposition of easily m i n e d ironstone a n d g o o d coking coal,
e s t a b l i s h e d s o m e t w e n t y i r o n w o r k s a l o n g a n 1 8 - m i l e s t r e t c h f r o m Hir-
w a u n to B l a e n a f o n . E a r l y g r o w t h w a s s t i m u l a t e d b y t h e demands
of w a r , w h i l e H e n r y C o r t ' s i n v e n t i o n s o a d v a n t a g e d t h e i r o n m a n u f a c
t u r e r s o f t h e r e g i o n t h a t it b e c a m e u n i v e r s a l l y k n o w n as t h e ' W e l s h
Method'.
M e r t h y r Tydfil b e c a m e t h e i n d u s t r y ' s m a i n c e n t r e , b u t w o r k s w e r e
a l s o s e t u p at m a n y o t h e r l o c a t i o n s i n c l u d i n g E b b w V a l e , N a n t y g l o
a n d T r e d e g a r . B y 1 8 5 0 t h e w o r k s o f t h e n o r t h e r n r i m o f t h e coalfield
w e r e p r o d u c i n g a r o u n d 3 7 0 , 0 0 0 t o n s , 4 0 p e r c e n t o f B r i t a i n ' s total:
an expansion largely stimulated b y the concentration of the larger
w o r k s o n rail m a n u f a c t u r e . A s w i t h c o p p e r s m e l t i n g , a l m o s t all t h e
iron works w e r e established b y entrepreneurs from outside the region,
as the G u e s t s , C r a w s h a y s , H o m p h r a y s a n d others b r o u g h t a n e w indus
try t o a b l e a k , u n c h a r t e d t e r r a i n , t h e r e b y s u d d e n l y c r e a t i n g a n e n t i r e l y
novel pattern of e c o n o m y and society with dramatic results. Thus
by the early n i n e t e e n t h century a string of ' N e w T o w n s ' stretched
a c r o s s t h e n o r t h o f t h e coalfield w i t h M e r t h y r Tydfil t h e u n d i s p u t e d
44
R. O. Roberts, 'The Smelting of Non-Ferrous Metals since 1750', in A. H. John
and Glanmor Williams, eds., Glamorgan County History, vol. 5: Industrial Glamorgan
(Cardiff, 1980), pp. 47-96.

Wales 303
c a p i t a l , a n d t h e l a r g e s t t o w n in W a l e s , b o a s t i n g a p o p u l a t i o n o f 4 6 , 3 7 8
4 5
in 1 8 5 1 .
A t t h e e n d o f t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y a f e w c a n a l s w e r e built f r o m
t h e n o r t h e r n r i m t o t h e c o a s t t h u s affording b e t t e r a c c e s s for t h e i r o n
4 6
to its o u t s i d e m a r k e t s . T h e s e in t u r n s a w t h e g r o w t h o f t o w n s a l o n g
the seaboard as the early e m e r g e n c e of S w a n s e a a n d N e a t h as ports
a n d non-ferrous metal-smelting centres w a s consolidated in the west,
w h i l e Cardiff a n d N e w p o r t , a l o n g w i t h t h e r e s p e c t i v e G l a m o r g a n s h i r e
a n d M o n m o u t h s h i r e c a n a l s , p r o v i d e d t h e e a s t e r n h a l f o f t h e coalfield
w i t h vital c o m m e r c i a l c e n t r e s a n d a n effective i n f r a s t r u c t u r e . The
growth of these early nineteenth-century industrial t o w n s and ports
w a s to c o n s t i t u t e a m a j o r t r a n s f o r m a t i o n o f W e l s h s o c i e t y a n d t h i s
a s p e c t will t h e r e f o r e m e r i t p a r t i c u l a r a t t e n t i o n l a t e r in t h i s s e c t i o n .
A l t h o u g h it s a w fairly e x t e n s i v e c o a l m i n i n g d u r i n g t h e l a t e e i g h
teenth century, particularly around B r y m b o and B e r s h a m w h e r e J o h n
W i l k i n s o n h a d a p p l i e d A b r a h a m D a r b y ' s c o k e - s m e l t i n g p r o c e s s to
i r o n m a k i n g , t h e N o r t h W a l e s coalfield e x p e r i e n c e d a m o r e l i m i t e d
i n d u s t r i a l b i r t h a n d it h a s r e m a i n e d o v e r s h a d o w e d b y its s o u t h e r n
counterpart ever since. Generally, industrial growth has always b e e n
m o r e sporadic t h a n in the south, with small urban c o m m u n i t i e s , such
as W r e x h a m , R h o s , M o l d a n d H o l y w e l l , d o t t e d p i e c e m e a l o v e r t h e
47
face o f t h e c o a l f i e l d .
A s e c o n d ' p h a s e ' of industrial growth, b e g i n n i n g a r o u n d the middle
of t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , s a w t h e i n s a t i a b l e d e m a n d for c o a l alter
t h e face o f S o u t h W a l e s a s t h e r e g i o n t o o k o n t h e i d e n t i t y t h a t w a s
to, for e v e r , s y m b o l i s e its h i s t o r y i n t h e p u b l i c m i n d . A s s t e a m c o a l
transformed b o t h inland a n d o c e a n transport, so did the s m o k e l e s s
coals of G l a m o r g a n b e c o m e especially prized in world markets, a n d
a s will a l s o b e s h o w n i n t h e l a t e r d i s c u s s i o n o n t o w n s , t h e n a r r o w
v a l l e y s , still e s s e n t i a l l y rural i n 1 8 4 0 , w e r e q u i c k l y t r a n s f o r m e d i n t o
r i b b o n s o f life a n d a c t i v i t y . A l t h o u g h t h e y c o n t i n u e d t o g r o w a n d
remain the region's major urban centres, the focus of growth m o v e d
from t h e ports and from the iron t o w n s of the northern rim to the
coalfield itself, as t h e o u t p u t o f c o a l i n c r e a s e d f r o m 4 . 5 m i l l i o n t o n s
45
See especially M. Atkinson and C. Baber, The Rise and Decline of the South Wales
Iron Industry, 1760-1880 (Cardiff, 1987).
46
C. Baber, 'Canals and the Economic Development of South Wales', in Baber and
Williams, eds., Modern South Wales, pp. 24-42.
47
For a comparison of different rates of industrial development between North and
South Wales see F. Holloway, 'The Inter-War Depression in the Wrexham Coalfield',
Denbighshire Historical Society Transactions, 27 (1978), pp. 5 2 - 6 .

in 1 8 5 4 , to 18 m i l l i o n t o n s in 1 8 7 9 , t o 3 9 m i l l i o n t o n s in 1 9 0 0 a n d
to 5 6 m i l l i o n t o n s in 1 9 1 3 . T h e e x p a n s i o n o f o v e r s e a s m a r k e t s w a s
e s p e c i a l l y significant a n d b y 1 9 1 3 e x p o r t s c o m p r i s e d n e a r l y 6 0 p e r
4 8
c e n t o f t h e m a r k e t for W e l s h c o a l .
A l t h o u g h t h e i n d u s t r y c a m e t o d o m i n a t e m o s t p a r t s o f t h e coalfield
after 1 8 4 0 , it w a s t h e e a s t e r n half, a n d e s p e c i a l l y t h e s t e a m c o a l s o f
the R h o n d d a Valleys, which saw the most dramatic exploitation. F r o m
a l a r g e l y rural s e t t i n g in 1 8 4 0 , t h e R h o n d d a h a d , b y t h e e n d o f t h e
century, b e c o m e o n e of the world's most productive coal-mining
a r e a s . B y 1 9 1 3 t h e R h o n d d a b o a s t e d fifty-three p i t s , w i t h a total o u t p u t
of o v e r 9 . 5 m i l l i o n t o n s o f c o a l , w h e r e e i g h t o u t o f t e n m e n w e r e
employed underground. Although perhaps exaggerating the narrow
n e s s o f t h e r e g i o n ' s e c o n o m i c s t r u c t u r e , t h e R h o n d d a did, n e v e r t h e
l e s s , m o s t fully e x e m p l i f y its p r o d u c t i v e c h a r a c t e r as all t h e v a l l e y s
of t h e coalfield w e r e , to v a r y i n g d e g r e e s , r e l i a n t o n t h e e x p l o i t a t i o n
4 9
of t h e i r c o a l r e s o u r c e s .
The S o u t h Wales coal industry experienced substantial growth
between the mid-nineteenth century and 1914, transforming the very
n a t u r e o f t h e coalfield i n c r e a t i n g o n e o f B r i t a i n ' s f o r e m o s t e c o n o m i c
r e g i o n s . B y t h e o u t b r e a k o f t h e First W o r l d W a r , a r o u n d 2 1 0 , 0 0 0 m e n ,
s o m e 4 0 p e r c e n t o f t h e r e g i o n ' s total w e r e e m p l o y e d underground
50
c o m p a r e d to less than 40,000 a half-century earlier. By the same
date S o u t h W a l e s w a s producing more coal than any region of Britain
a n d nearly half of this w a s exported. This expansion occasioned, a n d
w a s i n t u r n s t i m u l a t e d b y , a g r o w t h i n t h e s c a l e of c o a l m i n i n g ' s
o w n e r s h i p p a t t e r n . A l t h o u g h t h e a v e r a g e c o l l i e r y i n 1 9 1 4 w a s still
relatively small b y the standards of m o s t other British coalfields, with
t h e t y p i c a l pit o f 6 0 0 or s o m i n e r s p r o v i d i n g t h e e c o n o m i c b a s i s o f
almost every valley community, a certain degree of concentration of
o w n e r s h i p h a d occurred. T h r e e c o m p a n i e s , Powell Duffryn, Ocean
and the Cambrian Combine between them controlled almost 20 per
c e n t o f t h e total o u t p u t b y 1 9 1 4 (a t r e n d w h i c h w a s t o g a t h e r m o m e n
t u m in the interwar years) t h u s effecting an increasing influence u p o n
the region's e c o n o m y . This paradox of increasingly large concerns
The South Wales coalfield was significantly more dependent upon foreign markets
than other British coalfields.
E. D. Lewis, The Rhondda Valleys (1959).
J. Morris and L. J. Williams, The South Wales Coal Industry, 1841-1875 (Cardiff, 1958);
L. J. Williams, 'The Coal Industry, 1750-1914', in John and Williams, eds., Industrial
Glamorgan, pp. 155-209.

Wales 305
controlling m a n y , but relatively small, productive units together with

the coalfield's c o m p l e x physical structure w a s to form the basis of
5 1
t h e difficulties w h i c h l a y a h e a d .
A l t h o u g h coal provided the e c o n o m i c lifeblood of S o u t h W a l e s ,
exerting a profound influence u p o n the entire region, and u p o n other
i n d u s t r i e s , a l o n g t h e c o a s t f r o m L l a n e l l i t o N e w p o r t a r a n g e o f activi
ties w e r e a t t r a c t e d b y t h e m o r e d i v e r s e n e e d s o f t h e p o r t s . I n p a r t i c u l a r
Cardiff, i n a d d i t i o n to t h e c o n c e n t r a t i o n o f f o o d - p r o c e s s i n g i n d u s t r i e s
s u c h a s flour m i l l i n g a n d b r e w i n g , e m e r g e d a s a significant s h i p - r e p a i r
i n g a n d m a r i n e e n g i n e e r i n g c e n t r e , w h i l e S w a n s e a in t h e w e s t i n
a d d i t i o n t o its m e t a l i n d u s t r i e s a l s o b e n e f i t e d f r o m a r e a s o n a b l y diver
52
sified i n d u s t r i a l s t r u c t u r e .
W i t h t h e advent of B e s s e m e r ' s converter in 1856 a n d the introduc
t i o n o f t h e o p e n - h e a r t h m e t h o d b y S i e m e n s at L a n d o r e in 1 8 6 6 , s t e e l -
m a k i n g r a p i d l y e x p a n d e d i n t h e p e r i o d u p to t h e G r e a t W a r as t h e
m a i n industrial c o m p l e m e n t to coal mining. In the northern parts
t h e d o m i n a n t w r o u g h t - i r o n m a k e r s w e r e f a c e d b y t h e n e e d to e x p l o i t
t h e s u p e r i o r p r o p e r t i e s o f s t e e l . S o m e like D o w l a i s a n d E b b w V a l e
d i d s o r a p i d l y , a f e w o t h e r s , T r e d e g a r for e x a m p l e , r a t h e r m o r e tardily,
b u t m o s t , l a r g e l y b e c a u s e o f t h e financial b u r d e n s i n v o l v e d , s i m p l y
w e n t o u t o f b u s i n e s s . B u t o n l y six o f t h e d i s t r i c t ' s i r o n w o r k s c o n v e r t e d
to B e s s e m e r steel and only three w e r e to continue production into
the twentieth century. T h e decline of steelmaking along the northern
rim w a s almost as inevitable as the growth of i r o n m a k i n g h a d b e e n
a century earlier. Steel necessitated the importation of n o n - p h o s p h o r i c
haematite, initially f r o m Cumbria, but increasingly from abroad,
especially S p a i n , a n d the relative transport costs of coal, ore a n d the
f i n i s h e d s t e e l i n c r e a s i n g l y f a v o u r e d a c o a s t a l l o c a t i o n . H o w e v e r , it
w a s o n l y D o w l a i s o f t h e o r i g i n a l c o n c e r n s t h a t s e t u p a c o a s t a l site
at C a r d i f f i n 1 8 9 0 .
I n t h e w e s t e r n p a r t s o f t h e coalfield, h o w e v e r , t h e g r e a t e r flexibility
of t h e o p e n - h e a r t h m e t h o d s a w t h e r a p i d e x p a n s i o n o f s h e e t s t e e l
manufacture as the basis of a tinplate industry w h i c h quickly replaced
t h e d i s t r i c t ' s d e c l i n i n g c o p p e r s m e l t e r s , as c h a n g i n g m a r k e t f o r c e s
b e g a n to favour location close to ore sources. A l t h o u g h the industry
See T. Boyns, 'Labour Productivity in the South Wales Coal Industry, 1874-1913'
(unpublished PhD thesis, University of Wales, 1982).
C. Baber, 'The Subsidiary Industries of Glamorgan, 1760-1914', in John and
Williams, eds., Industrial Glamorgan, pp. 211-75.

s u f f e r e d a s e v e r e b l o w in 1 8 9 1 w h e n t h e M c K i n l e y Tariff s p e l t t h e
5 3
l o s s o f its m a j o r o v e r s e a s m a r k e t , t h e U S A , by 1911 there were
a r o u n d e i g h t y w o r k s i n s o u t h - w e s t W a l e s , m a i n l y in S w a n s e a a n d
Llanelli (Tinnapolis) producing over 800,000 tons of tinplate a n d pro
v i d i n g e m p l o y m e n t for o v e r 2 2 , 0 0 0 m e n .
T h e e c o n o m y of S o u t h W a l e s w a s s e e m i n g l y o n the crest of a w a v e
in 1 9 1 3 , w i t h p r o d u c t i o n a n d e x p o r t s o f c o a l , s t e e l a n d t i n p l a t e all
r u n n i n g at r e c o r d h i g h l e v e l s . B u t t h e r e a l i t y w a s s o m e w h a t different.
Coal h a d serious productive problems, particularly a low level of
mechanisation, and therefore productivity, occasioned by complex
geological conditions, and a multiplicity of small productive units
5 4
failing to e x p l o i t b o t h p r o d u c t i v e a n d d i s t r i b u t i v e e c o n o m i e s . Both
s t e e l a n d t i n p l a t e a l s o suffered f r o m a r e l a t i v e l y l o w l e v e l o f p r o d u c t i
v i t y , b u t as w i t h c o a l , b u o y a n t m a r k e t s d i s g u i s e d t h e s e u n d e r l y i n g
w e a k n e s s e s as t h e y did the chronic e c o n o m i c n a r r o w n e s s of the w h o l e
5 5
region. B u t for t h e r e c o r d , S o u t h W a l e s ' s e c o n o m y s u c c e s s i v e l y
e x c e e d e d past a c h i e v e m e n t s right up to the Great W a r .
A l t h o u g h t h e N o r t h W a l e s coalfield c o n t i n u e d t o e x p a n d its r a n g e
a n d s c a l e o f activities as t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y p r o g r e s s e d it w a s
increasingly overshadowed b y the south. Coal mining, though on a
far l e s s e r s c a l e , a l s o f o r m e d t h e b a s i s o f t h e n o r t h ' s i n d u s t r i a l a d v a n c e
m e n t a n d h a d g i v e n r i s e to t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f v a r i o u s m e t a l - s m e l t
i n g a n d w o r k i n g activities i n c l u d i n g b r a s s , l e a d , c o p p e r a n d silver,
t h o u g h t h e s e suffered contraction t o w a r d s the latter part of t h e cen
tury. T h e trade in coal w a s e n h a n c e d , particularly with the Irish mar
k e t , b y t h e o p e n i n g u p o f t h e F l i n t s h i r e coalfield, w h i c h a l s o s a w
the growth of brick and pottery making around Buckley. O n the w h o l e ,
h o w e v e r , i n d u s t r i a l d e v e l o p m e n t s in t h e n o r t h t e n d e d t o b e far m o r e
piecemeal despite the coalfield's more limited extent. C o n n a h ' s Q u a y
h a d e m e r g e d as t h e ' C a r d i f f ' o f t h e n o r t h e r n coalfield d u r i n g t h e n i n e
t e e n t h c e n t u r y , a p o s i t i o n it w a s s o o n t o l o s e in t h e p r e s e n t c e n t u r y
to M o s t y n . T h e m a j o r i n d u s t r i a l e v e n t c a m e in 1 8 9 6 , w i t h t h e e r e c t i o n
of J o h n S u m m e r s ' s s t e e l w o r k s at H a w a r d e n w h i c h p r o v i d e d a m a j o r
i n d u s t r i a l n u c l e u s for t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y . I n 1 9 1 7 t h e C o u r t a u l d s
C o m p a n y i n t r o d u c e d t h e n e w s y n t h e t i c fibre i n d u s t r y w h i c h w a s t o
53
In 1891 the USA was taking 325,000 tons of the total exported of 450,000 tons.
54
L. J. Williams, T h e Road to Tonypandy', Llafur, 1 (1973), pp. 41-52.
55
See W. E . Minchinton, The British Tinplate Industry: A History (Oxford 1957), and
T. Boyns, D. Thomas and C. Baber, T h e Iron, Steel and Tinplate Industries, 1750-
1914', in John and Williams, eds., Industrial Glamorgan, pp. 97-154.

Wales 307
f o r m t h e b a s i s o f significant e c o n o m i c s e c u r i t y for t h e a r e a as it r e
5 6
placed the declining manufacture of chemicals.
With the coming of the Great W a r there was an increased pressure
of d e m a n d o n t h e b a s i c i n d u s t r i e s a n d at t h e s a m e t i m e a fall in t h e
a v a i l a b l e l a b o u r f o r c e a s t h e call t o a r m s m o u n t e d . T o g e t h e r t h e s e
r e s u l t e d i n a frantic r u s h t o i n c r e a s e o u t p u t at a n y c o s t , e s p e c i a l l y
t h e c o s t o f w a s t e f u l m i n i n g m e t h o d s w i t h little h e e d o f t h e i m p l i c a t i o n s
for future d e v e l o p m e n t a n d t h e o v e r u s e o f e x i s t i n g p l a n t a n d m a c h i
nery with scant replacement or technological improvement. T h u s b y
1 9 1 8 , t h o u g h t h e w a r h a d b e e n w o n , t h e e c o n o m i c future o f S o u t h
W a l e s w a s b y n o m e a n s a sure o n e . In addition to the underlying
productive problems, the b u o y a n t markets facing the main industry
h a d c o n t r a c t e d as a l t e r n a t i v e fuels a n d n e w s o u r c e s o f c o a l s a w t h e
o u t p u t o f S o u t h W a l e s fall t o j u s t o v e r 3 0 m i l l i o n t o n s i n 1 9 2 1 . A
t e m p o r a r y respite occurred as various i m p e d i m e n t s limited the extent
5 7
of i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o m p e t i t i o n , b u t b y 1 9 2 5 c o a l , as w e l l a s s t e e l a n d
t i n p l a t e , h a d fallen t o a n e w p r o d u c t i v e l o w w h i c h w a s t o p r e v a i l
t h r o u g h o u t the interwar period. T h e 1920s w e r e replete with industrial
crises as Britain's c o m m i t m e n t to the international gold standard
accentuated the lack of competitiveness of S o u t h W a l e s ' s industries,
w h i l e a s t u b b o r n failure o r i n a b i l i t y t o diversify p r o v i d e d n o a p p a r e n t
solution to the problem. T h e G e n e r a l Strike of 1926 symbolised the
s i t u a t i o n a n d fully i l l u s t r a t e d t h e i n t r a c t a b l e n a t u r e o f t h e r e g i o n ' s
economic circumstances.
T h e industries of S o u t h W a l e s w e r e chronically overstaffed in the
light of the m a r k e t conditions prevailing in the interwar years and,
as a result, c o m p l e t e l y lost their competitive e d g e . In particular, coal
mining, w h i c h suffered from a l o w level of mechanisation, w a s to
provide the m a i n source of the m o s t glaring manifestation of the
r e g i o n ' s e c o n o m i c ills, l a b o u r u n e m p l o y m e n t . B e t w e e n 1 9 2 5 a n d 1 9 3 8
the average level of u n e m p l o y m e n t remained consistently above 20
p e r c e n t a n d i n t h e p e a k y e a r s s u c h a s 1 9 3 2 a n d 1 9 3 3 it s t o o d at
3 7 . 4 p e r c e n t a n d 3 4 . 9 p e r c e n t r e s p e c t i v e l y . B u t in t h e all t o o n u m e r o u s
b l a c k s p o t s , i n v a r i a b l y t h o s e districts m o s t n a r r o w l y d e p e n d e n t o n c o a l
m i n i n g , t h e i n c i d e n c e o f t h e p r o b l e m w a s m u c h g r e a t e r . T h u s in 1 9 3 1
M e r t h y r Tydfil, w i t h a p o p u l a t i o n o f 7 1 , 0 0 0 , s u f f e r e d a n u n e m p l o y
m e n t r a t e o f 4 9 . 6 p e r c e n t , w h i c h h a d w o r s e n e d to 6 2 . 3 p e r c e n t b y
56
Morgan, Rebirth, pp. 63-4; Holloway, Tnter-War Depression', pp. 52-6.
57
A strike of coalminers in the U S A and the French occupation of the Ruhr delayed
the full force of international competition until the end of 1923.

1 9 3 2 / w h i l e in t h e s m a l l e r v a l l e y t o w n s t h e s i t u a t i o n w a s e v e n b l e a k e r .
I n 1 9 3 2 , t h e w o r s t y e a r for m a n y p l a c e s , F e r n d a l e a n d B a r g o e d e x p e r
ienced rates of 79.7 per cent and 6 8 . 2 per cent respectively. In compari
s o n t o t h e o t h e r i n d u s t r i a l r e g i o n s of B r i t a i n , S o u t h W a l e s suffered
m o s t profoundly. B e t w e e n 1927 a n d 1937, w h e r e a s the average level
of u n e m p l o y m e n t for t h e ' d i s t r e s s e d ' r e g i o n s v a r i e d b e t w e e n 1 5 . 2
p e r c e n t in t h e b e t t e r y e a r s a n d 2 5 . 8 p e r c e n t in t h e w o r s t , for S o u t h
5 8
W a l e s t h e c o m p a r a b l e figures w e r e 2 0 . 3 p e r c e n t a n d 3 7 . 4 p e r c e n t .
W h i l e the social implications of u n e m p l o y m e n t w e r e manifest, the
o v e r t e c o n o m i c effects t e n d e d to c o m p r o m i s e t h e r e g i o n ' s m a t e r i a l
p r o g r e s s . T h e h e a v y i n c i d e n c e o f u n e m p l o y m e n t , w h i c h w a s in itself
the s y m p t o m of a more deep-rooted economic malaise, saw a progress
ive d e t e r i o r a t i o n o f t h e r e g i o n ' s u r b a n i s e d i n f r a s t r u c t u r e w h i c h f u r t h e r
5 9
d i m i n i s h e d t h e c a p a c i t y for s p o n t a n e o u s r e c o v e r y . With the nega
tive multiplier of e c o n o m i c decline w h i c h c o n s e q u e n t l y resulted, the
e c o n o m i c p o t e n t i a l o f S o u t h W a l e s s u n k to e v e r l o w e r l e v e l s . F o r
m a n y t h e o n l y s e e m i n g s o l u t i o n w a s to l e a v e t h e r e g i o n , a n d i n d e e d
b e t w e e n 1 9 2 1 a n d 1 9 3 9 p r o b a b l y u p w a r d s o f 4 3 0 , 0 0 0 left W a l e s m a i n l y
for t h e i n d u s t r i a l M i d l a n d s a n d t h e s o u t h o f E n g l a n d , e s p e c i a l l y L o n
6 0
don. A l t h o u g h t h i s o b v i o u s l y e a s e d t h e p o s i t i o n in t h e s h o r t r u n ,
it f u r t h e r w e a k e n e d t h e r e g i o n ' s d e v e l o p m e n t as a d i s p r o p o r t i o n a t e
6 1
n u m b e r o f t h o s e l e a v i n g w e r e in t h e y o u n g , a c t i v e a g e groups.
T h e trend w a s ever d o w n w a r d s as the region suffered profoundly
from an increasing sense of economic hopelessness.
E l s e w h e r e in W a l e s conditions during the interwar years w e r e not
s o h o p e l e s s . T h u s t h e d e p r e s s i o n in n o r t h - e a s t W a l e s as a w h o l e w a s
n o t s o i n t e n s e as i n t h e s o u t h . T h e n o r t h - e a s t coalfield w e a t h e r e d
t h e 1 9 2 0 s r e l a t i v e l y w e l l o w i n g t o t h e fact t h a t t h i s s m a l l a n d l o c a l i s e d
coalfield e x p o r t e d i n s i g n i f i c a n t a m o u n t s . B u t f o r t u n e s c h a n g e d f r o m
1931 owing to the impact of world depression from 1929 and because
n o n e w pits w e r e o p e n e d t o t a k e u p t h e l a b o u r f r o m c l o s e d m i n e s .
B y 1 9 3 5 s t r u c t u r a l u n e m p l o y m e n t r e a c h e d l e v e l s e x p e r i e n c e d in t h e
S o u t h W a l e s coalfield. T h e g r e a t e r d i v e r s i f i c a t i o n o f i n d u s t r y in Flint
shire saw the county from 1933 - paralleling the wider British
58
The incidence of unemployment varied both between and within the main economic
regions of Britain, and South Wales tended to do worse on both counts.
59
See especially C. Baber and D. Thomas, 'The Glamorgan Economy, 1914-1945',
in John and Williams, eds., Industrial Glamorgan, pp. 519-79.
60
B. Thomas, 'The Influx of Labour into London and the South-East, 1920-1936',
Económica, 4 (1937), pp. 323-36; idem, 'The Influx of Labour into the Midlands,
1920-37', Económica, 5 (1937), pp. 410-38.
61
Baber and Thomas, 'Glamorgan Economy'.

Wales 309
r e c o v e r y - b e c o m i n g relatively p r o s p e r o u s o n t h e b a s i s o f t h e t h r i v i n g
62
steel, r a y o n a n d b u i l d i n g i n d u s t r i e s .
T h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l e c o n o m i c crisis o f 1 9 2 9 - 3 2 hit S o u t h W a l e s as it
did t h e rest o f B r i t a i n , t h o u g h m o r e s o , b u t it did s e e t h e flickerings
of a n e w attitude o n t h e p a r t o f t h e g o v e r n m e n t t o w a r d s t h e i n t r a c t a b l e
p r o b l e m s o f t h e traditional i n d u s t r i a l r e g i o n s . I n a d d i t i o n to t h e e n d i n g
of t h e g o l d s t a n d a r d a n d t h e b e g i n n i n g s of p r o t e c t i o n i s m , l e g i s l a t i o n
w a s e n a c t e d , w h i c h , t h o u g h l i m i t e d in e x t e n t at t h e t i m e , did p o i n t
t h e w a y f o r w a r d to m o r e c o n s c i o u s r a t i o n a l i s a t i o n in t h e b a s i c i n d u s
tries. F u r t h e r h o r i z o n t a l i n t e g r a t i o n in c o a l m i n i n g a n d t h e b e g i n n i n g s
of a m o v e t o w a r d s i n t e g r a t e d s t e e l p l a n t s w i t h t h e e x t e n s i v e m o d e r n i
s a t i o n at b o t h Cardiff a n d P o r t T a l b o t (as a r e s u l t o f t h e f o r m a t i o n
of t h e G u e s t , K e e n a n d B a l d w i n s (British) C o m p a n y in 1 9 3 0 ) s p e l t
p r o g r e s s in this d i r e c t i o n . T h e d e c i s i o n , in t h e light o f g o v e r n m e n t
p r e s s u r e , t o c o n s t r u c t B r i t a i n ' s first i n t e g r a t e d s t e e l w o r k s at E b b w
V a l e in t h e m i d - 1 9 3 0 s w a s , h o w e v e r , a c r u d e r e t r o g r a d e a t t e m p t at
p u t t i n g t h e e c o n o m i c c l o c k b a c k for t h e s a k e o f social priorities, t h o u g h
at t h e t i m e it w a s s e e n b y m a n y as t h e r e b i r t h o f t h e n o r t h e r n r i m
of t h e coalfield.
It w a s m o r e in t h e a t t r a c t i o n o f n e w i n d u s t r i e s i n t o W a l e s , or r a t h e r
of l a y i n g t h e g r o u n d r u l e s for t h e future, t h a t t h e 1 9 3 0 s s a w t h e g o v e r n
m e n t s t e p i n t o t h e r e g i o n a l e c o n o m i c b r e a c h . A l t h o u g h it d i s a p p o i n t e d
some contemporaries, and has been seen by subsequent commenta
tors as b e i n g b o t h a t r o p h i e d a n d i n a d e q u a t e , t h e S p e c i a l A r e a s legisla
t i o n o f 1 9 3 4 - 8 did m a r k t h e b e g i n n i n g s o f a n e w a p p r o a c h t o t h e
p r o b l e m - of taking w o r k to the workers. T h e creation of the Treforest
T r a d i n g E s t a t e in 1 9 3 6 , t h o u g h initially c o n c e r n e d l a r g e l y w i t h p r o v i d
i n g a h a v e n for r e f u g e e e n t r e p r e n e u r s f r o m C e n t r a l E u r o p e , p r o v e d
b o t h a s y m b o l for t h e future a n d for t h e g r e a t e r diversification o f
t h e S o u t h W a l e s coalfield, a n d in itself a h i g h l y attractive a n d c o n v e
n i e n t l o c a t i o n for n e w i n d u s t r i a l c o n c e r n s . It is n e v e r t h e l e s s i m p o r t a n t
n o t to o v e r s t a t e t h e e x t e n t t o w h i c h i n d u s t r i a l diversification h a d m o d i
fied t h e i n d u s t r i a l c o m p l e x i o n o f W a l e s b e f o r e t h e 1 9 5 0 s . T h e b e g i n
n i n g s o f t h e r e c o v e r y of t h e W e l s h e c o n o m y h a d t o a w a i t t h e later
1930s and the mobilisation associated with the S e c o n d World War.
I n d e e d w a r p r e p a r e d n e s s a n d t h e w a r y e a r s w e r e to a c h i e v e far
m o r e for W a l e s ' s e c o n o m i c p r o g r e s s t h a n t h e c o m b i n e d efforts o f
62
Holloway, 'Inter-War Depression', pp. 4 9 - 8 5 .

6 3
market forces a n d g o v e r n m e n t h a d during the previous t w o d e c a d e s .
B e c a u s e o f its r e l a t i v e l y i s o l a t e d l o c a t i o n W a l e s p r o v i d e d a r e a l attrac
t i o n for a v a r i e d r a n g e o f i n d u s t r i e s w h i c h s o u g h t r e f u g e f r o m H i t l e r ' s
bombers, a trend e n h a n c e d b y the establishment of a n u m b e r of Royal
O r d n a n c e Factories in various locations. T h e w a r also o c c a s i o n e d a
r e s u r g e n c e i n t h e d e m a n d for t h e p r o d u c t s o f t h e o l d b a s i c i n d u s t r i e s ,
particularly coal a n d steel, as the n e e d to manufacture ever m o r e quan
tities o f a r m a m e n t s a n d f i g h t i n g v e h i c l e s a n d m a c h i n e s mounted.
F e m a l e e m p l o y m e n t , w h i c h in W a l e s h a d traditionally b e e n limited
d u e l a r g e l y to t h e ' h e a v y ' n a t u r e o f i n d u s t r y , s i g n i f i c a n t l y i n c r e a s e d
as t h e l o s s o f m e n to t h e a r m e d f o r c e s c o u p l e d w i t h t h e m o r e v a r i e d
(lighter) i n d u s t r i a l r e q u i r e m e n t s s u d d e n l y c r e a t e d a n e n t i r e l y different
e m p l o y m e n t situation. In e s s e n c e the war dispelled the m y t h that
W a l e s w a s in e c o n o m i c terms a 'finished p l a c e ' .
T h e e n d i n g o f h o s t i l i t i e s i n 1 9 4 5 s a w a v e r y different e c o n o m i c f u t u r e
a h e a d c o m p a r e d e v e n to that w h i c h h a d b e e n apparent only eight
years earlier. In particular the i m m e d i a t e p o s t w a r years s a w a scarcity
in labour supply nationally w h i c h h e l p e d to e n s u r e the direction of
n e w i n d u s t r i e s to W a l e s . I n d u s t r i a l p r o s p e c t s w e r e i n d e e d b r i g h t a s
the British e c o n o m y expressed an excess d e m a n d for productive
resources and W a l e s w a s able to supply ample reserves of the k e y
factor i n critically s h o r t s u p p l y . I n a d d i t i o n , t h e b e g i n n i n g s o f t h e
rationalisation of the basic industries w h i c h w e r e to b e a leading factor
in the following decades w a s w i t n e s s e d with the c o m p l e t i o n of the
6 4
m a m m o t h s t e e l strip mill at P o r t T a l b o t i n 1 9 5 1 .
It h a s b e e n e m p h a s i s e d t h a t i n d u s t r i a l a n d c o m m e r c i a l d e v e l o p m e n t
saw the growth of towns and ports; indeed, the pattern of settlement
in south-east W a l e s w a s influenced m o r e b y industrialisation than
b y a n y o t h e r f a c t o r . T w o m a i n t y p e s o f s e t t l e m e n t w e r e to g r o w u p
i n t h e late e i g h t e e n t h a n d e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r i e s : first, t h e i r o n
t o w n s w h i c h in 1840 generally varied in population b e t w e e n 4,000
a n d 10,000 a n d c o m p r i s e d a line of 'manufacturing or m i n i n g c a m p s '
stretching eastwards from Hirwaun along the bare northern outcrop
of t h e coalfield t o i n c l u d e A b e r d a r e , M e r t h y r , P e n y d a r r e n , D o w l a i s ,
Rhymney, Tredegar, Sirhowy, E b b w Vale, Nantyglo and Blaenafon.
Their rate of population increase h a d b e e n nothing less than p h e n o m e
nal - faster t h a n in m o s t other areas of E n g l a n d a n d W a l e s - M e r t h y r
63
D. A. Thomas, 'War and the Economy: The South Wales Experience', in Baber
and Williams, eds., Modern South Wales, pp. 251-77.
64
B. Thomas, 'Post-War Expansion', in Thomas, ed., The Welsh Economy, pp. 30-54.

Wales 311
g r o w i n g f r o m a h a m l e t in 1 7 5 0 i n t o a t o w n o f 7 , 7 0 5 b y 1 8 0 1 , s o o u t s t r i p
p i n g S w a n s e a , a n d , in 1 8 3 1 , w i t h 2 7 , 0 0 0 p e o p l e , w a s t w i c e as l a r g e
a s t h e latter a n d f o u r t i m e s t h e s i z e o f Cardiff. T h e i r o n w o r k s c o m
prised the nucleus of each settlement around which grew up a cluster
of w o r k m e n ' s s t o n e h o u s e s built in r o w s , s o m e t i m e s t w o to five d e e p ,
a n d , for w a n t o f a n y o t h e r s p a c e , t h e s e r o w s o f t e r r a c e s r a n l o n g i t u d i
nally along the steep valley sides. T h e s e c o n d type of settlement on
t h e ' B l a c k D o m a i n ' w a s t h e c o l l i e r y v i l l a g e to t h e s o u t h o f t h e i r o n
towns; containing only a few h u n d r e d people, they were smaller than
6D
t h e i r o n t o w n s a n d h e a l t h i e r p l a c e s to live i n .
T h e e x p l o i t a t i o n o f t h e s t e a m c o a l s e a m s in t h e e a s t e r n p a r t o f t h e
coalfield f r o m t h e 1 8 5 0 s l e d to t h e rise o f m a n y n e w t o w n s a n d p o r t s .
The largest and most colourful coalfield community was the
' R h o n d d a ' , w h e r e the savage w i n n i n g of steam coal from the mid-
18608 m e a n t t h a t t h e p o p u l a t i o n i n c r e a s e d f r o m u n d e r 1,000 in 1 8 5 1
to o v e r 1 5 2 , 0 0 0 b y 1 9 1 1 . I n p a r t i c u l a r , t h e y e a r s o f t h e c o a l b o o m
b e t w e e n 1881 and 1911 saw the population nearly treble, a p h e n o m e -
nol increase which produced chronic overcrowding. Whole new
m i n i n g c o m m u n i t i e s d e v e l o p e d a r o u n d t h e s p a t e o f pits t h a t w e r e
b e i n g i n c r e a s i n g l y o p e n e d u p , c o m m u n i t i e s like M a e r d y , F e r n d a l e ,
Tylorstown, Treherbert, Treorchy, Tonypandy, Porth, Pentre and
L l w y n y p i a . If l e s s s p e c t a c u l a r l y , t o w n s a n d v i l l a g e s a l i k e , for e x a m p l e ,
B a r g o e d , g r e w u p in t h e o t h e r n a r r o w r i v e r v a l l e y s t h a t s l i c e d t h r o u g h
t h e c e n t r a l a n d e a s t e r n p a r t s o f t h e coalfield p l a t e a u , v a l l e y s w h i c h
i n c l u d e d N e a t h , A f a n , G a r w , O g m o r e , Llynfi, C y n o n , Taff, R h y m n e y
a n d E b b w . A s w e shall see, the terraces climbing up the slopes of
t h e s e v a l l e y s , for all t h e i r m o n o t o n y a n d d r a b n e s s , c o n t a i n e d h o u s e s
that w e r e a distinct i m p r o v e m e n t on the t w o - r o o m e d cottages of the
6 6
earlier i r o n t o w n s .
T h e fact t h a t b y 1 8 7 1 Cardiff ( i n c l u d i n g Llandaff) w i t h a p o p u l a t i o n
of 5 6 , 9 1 1 h a d o v e r t a k e n M e r t h y r in s i z e to b e c o m e t h e l a r g e s t W e l s h
t o w n is a r e f l e c t i o n o f t h e shift o f t h e c e n t r e o f g r a v i t y in t h e S o u t h
W a l e s e c o n o m y to c o a l m i n i n g . B e t w e e n 1 8 5 1 a n d 1 9 1 1 C a r d i f f ' s
65
J. W. England, 'The Inheritance', in G. Humphrys, Industrial Britain, South Wales
(Newton Abbot, 1972), pp. 17-18; Minutes of the Committee of Council on Education,
Part II, App. II, Commissioners of Inquiry into the State of Elementary Education in the
Mining District of South Wales, PP 1840, XI; D. J. V. Jones, The Last Rising (Oxford,
1984), pp. 13-15; idem, Before Rebecca, pp. 86-7; Carter, Towns of Wales, pp. 308-11;
G. A. Williams, The Merthyr Rising (1978), pp. 26-7.
66
England, 'The Inheritance', pp. 20-3; Morris and Williams, South Wales Coal Industry,
p. 115; K. S. Hopkins, ed., Rhondda Past and Future (Rhondda Borough Council,
1975), p. I l l ; Carter, Towns of Wales, pp. 312-13, 322.

n i n e - f o l d r a t e o f g r o w t h f r o m 2 0 , 0 0 0 to 1 8 2 , 0 0 0 w a s u n u s u a l l y r a p i d
a n d , i n d e e d , w a s o n l y s u r p a s s e d in B r i t a i n b y M i d d l e s b r o u g h . I n
t h e l a t e r d e c a d e s o f t h e c e n t u r y Cardiff e m e r g e d b o t h as t h e l e a d i n g
p o r t in t h e e a s t e r n h a l f o f t h e coalfield - it w a s , i n d e e d , t h e l a r g e s t
c o a l - e x p o r t i n g p o r t in t h e w o r l d - a n d t h e u n r i v a l l e d c o m m e r c i a l
c e n t r e . O t h e r c o a s t a l p o r t s e i t h e r d e v e l o p e d for t h e first t i m e o r g r e w
a p a c e t o c a t e r for t h e h u g e d e m a n d for S o u t h W a l e s c o a l : t h u s
a d d i t i o n a l d o c k s to t h o s e at C a r d i f f w e r e c o n s t r u c t e d at B a r r y , w h i c h
g r e w i n t o a t o w n f o l l o w i n g t h e o p e n i n g o f t h e first d o c k in 1 8 8 9 s o
t h a t its p o p u l a t i o n o f j u s t 5 0 0 i n 1 8 8 1 h a d g r o w n r a p i d l y t o 3 3 , 7 6 3
in 1 9 1 1 , at P e n a r t h , w h e r e a d o c k w a s o p e n e d in 1 8 6 5 , at S w a n s e a
a n d at N e w p o r t , f r o m w h i c h last t w o p o r t s c o a l h a d , o f c o u r s e , b e e n
s h i p p e d in s i z e a b l e a m o u n t s f r o m t h e e a r l y c e n t u r y . T h e p o r t s a n d
t h e m u l t i t u d e o f c o a l - m i n i n g v i l l a g e s , l i n k e d b y t h e a l l - i m p o r t a n t rail
w a y s , t h o u g h p o l e s a p a r t i n t e r m s o f social a n d u r b a n s o p h i s t i c a t i o n ,
67
were inextricably united by c o m m o n economic interests.
In t h e w e s t e r n p a r t o f t h e S o u t h W a l e s coalfield t h e i n d u s t r i a l t o w n s
of S w a n s e a , M o r r i s t o n a n d L l a n e l l i g r e w o n t h e f o u n d a t i o n s o f t h e
t h r i v i n g c o p p e r i n d u s t r y a n d t h e a s s o c i a t e d e x p l o i t a t i o n o f c o a l for
smelting purposes. Fortunately, the impact of the decline of the copper
industry from the 1860s o n the area w a s eased b y the development
of t i n p l a t e m a n u f a c t u r e a n d t h e r e n o w d e v e l o p e d in t h e late n i n e
teenth century a n u m b e r of self-contained tinplate townships. Besides
the largest, Llanelli, others included Pontardulais, Morriston,
G o r s e i n o n , P o n t a r d a w e , B r i t o n F e r r y , N e a t h a n d P o r t T a l b o t . A s little
t e c h n o l o g i c a l c h a n g e o c c u r r e d w i t h i n t h e t i n p l a t e i n d u s t r y in t h i s
region d o w n to the 1950s t h e s e t o w n s h i p s retained m a n y of their
68
t r a d i t i o n a l , l a r g e l y rural, m o d e s o f l i f e .
T h e exploitation of the anthracite s e a m s of the w e s t e r n part of the
coalfield f r o m t h e last q u a r t e r o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y w i t n e s s e d
t h e e x p a n s i o n o f s m a l l rural v i l l a g e s i n t o l a r g e r m i n i n g v i l l a g e s (in
s o m e o f w h i c h t i n p l a t e w o r k s w e r e also l o c a t e d ) . I n t h e s e m i n i n g
a r e a s o f t h e w e s t e r n coalfield t h e v a l l e y s , like t h e A m m a n a n d t h e
G w e n d r a e t h , w e r e w i d e r a n d , in c o n t r a s t to t h e r i b b o n d e v e l o p m e n t
further e a s t w a r d s , t h e v i l l a g e s w e r e c l e a r l y p h y s i c a l l y s e p a r a t e d f r o m
67
M. J. Daunton, Coal Metropolis: Cardiff, 1870-1914 (Leicester, 1977), pp. 11, 33ff;
England, T h e Inheritance', pp. 23-4; D. Moore, ed., Barry: The Centenary Book,
2nd edn (Barry, 1985), pp. 211, 271-2; Morgan, Rebirth, pp. 66-7.
68
W. E . Minchinton, ed., Industrial South Wales, 1750-1914 (1969), pp. xxiv-xxx;
England, 'The Inheritance', pp. 22-3; T. Brennan, E . W. Cooney and H. Pollins,
eds., Social Change in South-West Wales (1954), pp. 13-17.

Wales 313
o n e a n o t h e r . T h e s e s m a l l pit v i l l a g e s w e r e c l o s e l y i n t e g r a t e d with
the surrounding pastoral farming e c o n o m y - indeed, not u n c o m m o n l y
a m i n e r w a s a s m a l l h o l d e r - a n d as s u c h w e shall s e e t h a t t h e t e m p o
6 9
of life w a s s l o w e r a n d m o r e c o n g e n i a l .
T h e s e i n d u s t r i a l t o w n s a n d v i l l a g e s w e r e in l a r g e m e a s u r e p e o p l e d
b y m i g r a n t s f r o m o u t s i d e t h e v i c i n i t y . A s o n t h e o t h e r coalfields o f
Britain, the bulk of the unskilled labour w h i c h c o m p r i s e d the greater
p a r t o f t h e l a b o u r f o r c e w a s d r a w n in f r o m t h e n e i g h b o u r i n g a g r i c u l
tural c o u n t i e s - p a r t i c u l a r l y f r o m C a r m a r t h e n s h i r e , Pembrokeshire,
Cardiganshire and Brecknockshire - and from the Vale of G l a m o r g a n
itself, b u t s o m e c a m e f r o m t h e n e i g h b o u r i n g E n g l i s h c o u n t i e s o f
Staffordshire, Shropshire, Gloucestershire, S o m e r s e t and Hereford
70
shire.
M o s t W e l s h m i g r a n t s in t h e late n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y w e n t t o t h e
W e l s h c o a l - m i n i n g v a l l e y s a n d n o t to t h e c o a s t a l p o r t s like Cardiff
a n d S w a n s e a , w h e r e a s , o n t h e w h o l e , t h e p o s i t i o n w a s r e v e r s e d for
English migrants. T h i s c o n c e n t r a t i o n of W e l s h i n c o m e r s w a s to
influence crucially the survival of a distinctive W e l s h culture in the
m i n i n g c o m m u n i t i e s d o w n to t h e 1 8 8 0 s a n d b e y o n d . E q u a l l y signifi
c a n t for t h e s u r v i v a l o f t h e l a n g u a g e is t h e fact t h a t b e t w e e n 1 9 0 1
and 1911 an u n p r e c e d e n t e d n u m b e r of n o n - W e l s h migrants found
t h e i r w a y to t h e p r e d o m i n a n t l y ' W e l s h ' c o a l - m i n i n g v a l l e y s o f G l a m o r
gan. T h e coming of y o u n g English migrants, too, certainly h a d some
t h i n g to d o w i t h t h e c h a n g i n g c l i m a t e o f l a b o u r r e l a t i o n s after 1 8 9 8 .
B y w a y o f c o n t r a s t , m i g r a n t s t o t h e a n t h r a c i t e pit v i l l a g e s o f t h e w e s t
e r n p a r t o f t h e coalfield c o n t i n u e d t h r o u g h o u t to b e d r a w n f r o m n e i g h
bouring W e l s h c o m m u n i t i e s , English migrants rarely penetrating so
far w e s t w a r d s . O n e o t h e r a s p e c t o f t h i s m i g r a t i o n w a s to h a v e i m p o r t
a n t s o c i a l i m p l i c a t i o n s , n a m e l y , t h e influx o f t h e Irish e l e m e n t o n t o
t h e coalfield, w h o differed in t h e i r r e l i g i o n a n d w h o l l y different s t a n
d a r d o f life. T h e y s e t t l e d m a i n l y in t h e i r o n - m i n i n g c e n t r e s a n d t h e
7 1
ports.
I n d u s t r i a l d e v e l o p m e n t o u t s i d e t h e S o u t h W a l e s coalfield a l s o s a w
the e m e r g e n c e of t o w n s . T h u s in A n g l e s e y , A m l w c h g r e w up as a
result of the important c o p p e r industry b a s e d o n the Parys a n d M o n a
m i n e s a n d in C a e r n a r f o n s h i r e a n d M e r i o n e t h t h e t o w n s o f B e t h e s d a
69
Brennan et al., eds., Social Change, pp. 15-17.
70
Minchinton, ed., Industrial South Wales, p. xvi; John, Industrial Development, p. 63.
71
B. Thomas, 'The Industrial Revolution and the Welsh Language', in Baber and
Williams, eds., Modern South Wales, pp. 16-17; Brennan et al., eds., Social Change,
p. 14; John, Industrial Development, p. 68; Jones, The Last Rising, pp. 2 0 - 1 .

a n d B l a e n a u F f e s t i n i o g g r e w u p as slate t o w n s . B o t h t h e slate a n d
c o p p e r i n d u s t r i e s w e r e e a r l y capitalist m o d e s o f p r o d u c t i o n a n d d e v e
l o p e d p r e c i s e l y b e c a u s e t h i s a r e a o f G w y n e d d w a s not r e m o t e , g o o d
c o m m u n i c a t i o n s i n t i m a t e l y l i n k i n g it t o t h e a d v a n c e d e c o n o m y o f
south Lancashire and north Cheshire. Further east, the t o w n s of W r e x
h a m a n d Flint w e r e b o t h given i m p e t u s b y the c o m i n g of industry
a n d H o l y w e l l p a r a l l e l e d M e r t h y r Tydfil, g r o w i n g u p f r o m a v e r y s m a l l
s e t t l e m e n t to b e c o m i n g t h e c e n t r e o f t h e textile a n d metallurgical
industries of the Flintshire section of the North W a l e s coalfield.
S m a l l e r c o l l i e r y v i l l a g e s a l s o g r e w u p , like R u a b o n , B r y m b o , G w e r -
7 2
syllt, Bagillt, C o e d T a l o n a n d R h o s l l a n e r c h r u g o g .
The g r o w t h o f i n d u s t r i a l t o w n s a n d cities, t o g e t h e r w i t h r a i l w a y
c o m m u n i c a t i o n , a l s o s t i m u l a t e d t h e r i s e o f W e l s h h o l i d a y r e s o r t s . It
w a s t h e N o r t h W a l e s c o a s t w h i c h w a s to d e v e l o p i n t o W a l e s ' s p r e m i e r
h o l i d a y a r e a , a c c e s s i b l e as it w a s to b e c o m e t o t h e i n d u s t r i a l m a s s e s
of B i r m i n g h a m a n d M e r s e y s i d e b y t h e c o m p l e t i o n o f t h e C h e s t e r to
H o l y h e a d railway in 1848, and unspoiled, too, b y neighbouring indus
trial w o r k i n g s . L l a n d u d n o , C o l w y n B a y a n d R h y l w e r e all to b e c o m e
important resorts. T o u r i s m developed to a lesser extent along the
C a r d i g a n B a y c o a s t l i n e , n o t a b l y at A b e r y s t w y t h , a n d , in t h e s o u t h
w e s t , at T e n b y . F u r t h e r e a s t , P o r t h c a w l a n d B a r r y r a p i d l y e x p a n d e d
i n t h e last q u a r t e r o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y . Rail c o m m u n i c a t i o n a l s o
s a w Llandrindod Wells, and, to a lesser extent, Llanwrtyd a n d Llan-
7 3
g a m m a r c h , r e a c h p o p u l a r i t y in t h e late n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y .
F i n a l l y t h e q u e s t i o n m u s t b e r a i s e d w h e t h e r t h e r e w e r e a n y signifi
cant social a n d cultural factors w h i c h help explain w h y S o u t h W a l e s
r e m a i n e d simply an exporter of coal, pig iron, sheet steel a n d tinplate
for o t h e r s t o p r o c e s s a n d failed t o d e v e l o p s e c o n d a r y engineering
i n d u s t r i e s for m u c h o f t h i s p e r i o d . T h e b a s i c e x p l a n a t i o n , let it b e
s t r e s s e d , l a y in t h e a b s e n c e o f a n i n d u s t r i a l t r a d i t i o n i n S o u t h W a l e s .
T h u s M e r t h y r failed to e s t a b l i s h m a n u f a c t u r i n g industries because
t h e r e q u i s i t e e x i s t i n g l a b o u r skills for t h e v a r i o u s m e t a l t r a d e s w e r e
l a c k i n g , l o c a l c a p i t a l w a s u n a v a i l a b l e for s m a l l o r n e w firms g i v e n
t h a t n o l o c a l financial a g e n c i e s w e r e t o h a n d a n d t h a t i r o n m a s t e r s t o o k
n o interest in developing other industries, a n d e v e n h a d there b e e n
access to capital the relative a b s e n c e of ' m i d d l i n g ' social categories
72
Jones, 'Class and Society', pp. 199-214; Carter, Towns of Wales, pp. 62, 74, 331-2.
73
W. J. Anthony-Jones, 'The Tourist Industry in Wales', Welsh Anvil, 3 - 4 (1951-2),
pp. 101-4.

Wales 315
b e t w e e n w o r k e r s a n d the handful of capitalist families told against

t h e e m e r g e n c e o f e n t r e p r e n e u r s . I n t h i s last r e s p e c t , o f c o u r s e , a s o c i a l
factor d i d to s o m e e x t e n t r e t a r d d e v e l o p m e n t o f m a n u f a c t u r i n g i n d u s
tries. W h a t h a d h a p p e n e d in the case of the iron industry h e l d g o o d
l a t e r o n for c o a l , t i n p l a t e a n d s t e e l , for a l t h o u g h i n t h e c a s e o f c o a l
the e n t r e p r e n e u r s (and capital) w e r e d r a w n from within S o u t h W a l e s
yet t h e y , t o o , l o o k e d for t h e g r e a t e s t a n d m o s t i m m e d i a t e profits w h i c h
w e r e p a t e n t l y y i e l d e d b y t h e h e a v y i n d u s t r i e s , a n d s o t h e y , like t h e
early ironmasters, neglected the d e v e l o p m e n t of other industry. In
considering Cardiff's failure to b e c o m e a m a n u f a c t u r i n g centre,
e s p e c i a l l y for s h i p b u i l d i n g , M . J . D a u n t o n p o i n t s to t h e p o r t h a v i n g
e n j o y e d m a n y advantages over M e r t h y r in the supply of resources,
b u t , for all t h a t , ' i t s d e v e l o p m e n t . . . w a s f u n d a m e n t a l l y c o n s t r a i n e d
b y t h e earlier failure o f M e r t h y r to b r e a k w i t h t h e e s t a b l i s h e d p a t
7 4
tern'.
W h e n c o n s i d e r a t i o n is g i v e n to w h e t h e r c u l t u r a l f a c t o r s p l a y e d a
p a r t i n all t h i s , a n u m b e r o f p o s s i b i l i t i e s h a v e b e e n s u g g e s t e d . T h e
W e l s h a r e a p e o p l e , it h a s b e e n c l a i m e d , w i t h a t a l e n t for t a l k i n g
r a t h e r t h a n d o i n g , e x c e l l i n g r a t h e r as t e a c h e r s , p r e a c h e r s , p o l i t i c i a n s ,
actors a n d singers t h a n as b u s i n e s s m e n . J . W . E n g l a n d has s u g g e s t e d
t h a t : 'It m a y b e t h a t [this] n a t i o n a l t e m p e r a m e n t , t o g e t h e r w i t h t h e
conservatism of a peasant people, the other-worldly influence of the
c h a p e l , t h e e d u c a t i o n a l s y s t e m , a n d t h e e g a l i t a r i a n spirit o f W e l s h
s o c i e t y , h a v e c o m b i n e d to g i v e t h e p r o f e s s i o n s a s t a t u s a b o v e m e r e
" b u s i n e s s " in S o u t h W a l e s . ' D r a w i n g o n W . E . M i n c h i n t o n ' s s t u d y ,
h e p r o c e e d s t o a r g u e t h a t c u l t u r a l c o n s t r a i n t s s e e m to h a v e p l a y e d
a significant r o l e in t h e t i n p l a t e a r e a o f w e s t S o u t h W a l e s u n t i l w e l l
into the 1930s, the small local investors there allegedly lacking the
s i n g l e m i n d e d n e s s a n d aggression of the typically successful entrepre
n e u r in t h e i r l o o k i n g to t h e w o r k s a s a s e c u r i t y for c a p i t a l r a t h e r t h a n
a s a m e a n s o f m a k i n g p r o f i t s . If t h e s e a r e i n t r i g u i n g c l a i m s , t h e y
n e v e r t h e l e s s , i n s o m e r e s p e c t s at l e a s t , n e e d t o b e v i e w e d w i t h s o m e
scepticism. In particular, E n g l a n d ' s contention that 'religion w a s a
c a u s e w h i c h a t t r a c t e d m u c h m o n e y [in t h e w a y o f c h a p e l b u i l d i n g
a n d m a i n t e n a n c e ] w h i c h o t h e r w i s e m i g h t h a v e b e e n a v a i l a b l e for
i n d u s t r i a l i n v e s t m e n t ' is difficult t o a c c e p t . A g a i n , if h i s r e f e r e n c e
t o t h e W e l s h e d u c a t i o n a l s y s t e m is t o a n e x t e n t v a l i d i n s o f a r a s t h e
74
Daunton, Coal Metropolis, p. 52; England, 'The Inheritance', p. 32.

preoccupation of the n e w system of W e l s h intermediate schools from
the 1890s with narrow academic-based examination results - which
in t h e e y e s o f n o n c o n f o r m i s t p a r e n t s a f f o r d e d t h e s w e e t p r o s p e c t o f
e n t r y to t h e w h i t e - c o l l a r p r o f e s s i o n s w h i c h b e s t o w e d s t a t u s a n d s e c u r
ity - l e d to t h e n e g l e c t o f t h e n e e d s o f t h e l o c a l e c o n o m y a n d c o m
m u n i t y a n d s o failed t o r a i s e ' W e l s h b o y s a n d girls to b e l e a d e r s a n d
pioneers in science, industry a n d c o m m e r c e ' , yet the nineteenth-cen
t u r y e d u c a t i o n a l s y s t e m w a s n o t w h o l l y u n s u i t e d for t r a i n i n g c h i l d r e n
for c a r e e r s in i n d u s t r y . F o r t h e l a r g e r a n d m o r e i m p o r t a n t o f t h e c o p p e r
a n d iron ' w o r k s s c h o o l s ' provided instruction in unusually a d v a n c e d
7 5
s u b j e c t s like l a n d s u r v e y i n g , a l g e b r a , g e o m e t r y a n d c h e m i s t r y .
W h e n w e turn to e x a m i n i n g the social structure of the industrial
c o m m u n i t i e s w e m o v e o v e r to a different w o r l d , for w h i l e t h e rural
s o c i e t i e s w e r e stratified h i e r a r c h i c a l l y i n t o e s t a t e s a n d , d o w n t o t h e
1 8 7 0 s at l e a s t , d e f e r e n c e w o r k e d a s o c i a l h a r m o n y b e t w e e n u n e q u a l
g r o u p s , i n t h e t o w n s c o m m u n i t i e s w e r e stratified a l o n g c l a s s l i n e s
76
a n d class consciousness informed relationships. The upper classes
in the iron t o w n s c o m p r i s e d a d o z e n English families, s o m e living
a w a y f r o m t h e coalfield, w h o e x e r c i s e d a t i g h t c o n t r o l o v e r t h e i r w o r k
force. In contrast to the smaller sale-coal villages southwards, w h i c h
w e r e e s s e n t i a l l y o n e - c l a s s s e t t l e m e n t s , t h e r e e x i s t e d in t h e i r o n t o w n s
a m o r e c o m p l e x middle class, small in n u m b e r s a n d largely d r a w n
from outside, which included tradesmen, engineers, works managers,
surgeons and Anglican clergymen, w h o occupied houses of 'decent
exterior'. Beneath t h e m came the mining population, most of t h e m
W e l s h b y birth and speech, t h o u g h s o m e , w e have seen, were immi
grants from outside. T h e y were certainly not a h o m o g e n e o u s work
f o r c e : i r o n w o r k e r s w e r e d i v i d e d i n t o a w h o l e c o m p l e x o f differing
craft g r o u p s e a c h w i t h its o w n w a g e a n d s t a t u s a n d s e p a r a t e h o u s i n g
quarters, while there was, too, a fundamental division of working
and living conditions and consequent separation of outlook as
b e t w e e n t h o s e w h o w o r k e d for t h e i r o n c o m p a n i e s o n t h e o n e h a n d
a n d the sale-coal colliers o n t h e other. B e s i d e s the generally bitter
feelings harboured b y this workforce towards their employers, a point
to w h i c h w e shall return later, the ethnic differences within the work-
England, T h e Inheritance', p. 30; G. Perrie Williams, Welsh Education in Sunlight

and Shadow (1916), pp. 2 4 - 5 ; G. E . Jones, Controls and Conflict in Welsh Secondary
Education, 1889-1944 (Cardiff, 1982), pp. 66, 72-4; L . Wynne Evans, Education in
Industrial Wales, 1700-1900 (Cardiff, 1971).
Jones, Explorations and Explanations, p. 286; Morgan, Rebirth, p. 10.

Wales 317
ing population w a s also an important source of tension a n d troubled

t h e a u t h o r i t i e s . I n p a r t i c u l a r , anti-Irish f e e l i n g w a s r a m p a n t , e s p e c i a l l y
7 7
during the opening and closing years of the 1 8 4 0 s .
Certain distinctive features about the social structure of the eastern
steam coal mining valley communities from the mid-nineteenth cen
tury n e e d highlighting. D o w n to the 1880s the u p p e r class of coal-
owners, unlike the earlier i r o n m a s t e r s , were mostly Welshmen,
f r e q u e n t l y n o n c o n f o r m i s t , r e s i d e n t a n d , t o s o m e e x t e n t at l e a s t , p a t e r
nalistic. F r o m t h e 1 8 8 0 s , h o w e v e r , t h e y w e r e to p l a y a n i n c r e a s i n g l y
d i m i n i s h i n g r o l e in t h e l o c a l a d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d g o v e r n m e n t o f t h e
coalfield, m a n y m o v i n g a w a y f r o m t h e c o l l i e r i e s to l i v e , a n d , with
the growth of c o m b i n e s , they b e c a m e increasingly remote from coal
field s o c i e t y . B e n e a t h t h e m a s t e r s t h e r e w a s e m e r g i n g i n t h e l a t e r
d e c a d e s o f t h e c e n t u r y , a s in B r i t a i n g e n e r a l l y , a m o r e developed
m i d d l e c l a s s o f s m a l l b u s i n e s s m e n , s h o p k e e p e r s , m e r c h a n t s , solici
tors, journalists, accountants, surgeons, bankers and nonconformist
ministers, typically inhabiting large terraced h o u s e s with b a y w i n d o w s
a n d k e e p i n g s e r v a n t s . T h i s n e w m i d d l e c l a s s in i n d u s t r i a l s o c i e t y w a s
i m m e a s u r a b l y s t r e n g t h e n e d b y t h e e d u c a t i o n a l o p p o r t u n i t i e s afforded
by the Forster Education Act of 1870. In what, indeed, amounted
to a s o c i a l r e v o l u t i o n in t e r m s o f t h e e m e r g e n c e o f a n e w , t h r u s t i n g
elite, t h e y c a m e to h o l d influential p u b l i c p o s i t i o n s i n t h e e x p a n d i n g
domains of sanitation, public health, education and the like, and pro
vided the leadership of the Liberal party in S o u t h W a l e s . W e shall
s e e h o w in t h e m i d d l e a n d l a t e r d e c a d e s o f t h e c e n t u r y , u n l i k e t h e
earlier C h a r t i s t p h a s e , t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s c a m e t o e s p o u s e a s i m i l a r
o u t l o o k t o t h a t o f t h e m i d d l e c l a s s e s a n d to c o - o p e r a t e c l o s e l y w i t h
t h e i r r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s in p a r l i a m e n t a r y a n d l o c a l p o l i t i c s . A p a r t f r o m
7
the realm of workers trade unions towards which the middle classes
grew increasingly unsympathetic, the convergence of the two classes
w a s to b e m a r k e d ; i n d e e d , a s I. G . J o n e s a r g u e s , in t h e crucial a r e a
of p u b l i c h e a l t h t h e l o w e r c l a s s e s , g i v e n t h e q u a l i f i c a t i o n s for e l e c t i o n
t o a l o c a l b o a r d b e f o r e 1 8 8 2 , h a d n o c h o i c e b u t to c o - o p e r a t e w i t h
enlightened m e m b e r s of the middle and professional classes, such
7
as w e r e t o b e f o u n d n o t i c e a b l y s o in Cardiff a m o n g its ' w h a r f g e n t r y ,
S w a n s e a ( w h o s e middle class w a s less wealthy t h a n Cardiff's) and,
Jones, The Last Rising, pp. 16-21; G. L. Williams, 'Plutocrats and Proletarians'
(unpublished MA thesis, University of Wales, 1984), pp. 41-2; State of Elementary
Education in South Wales, PP1840; John, Industrial Development, p. 68.

t o a l e s s e r e x t e n t , N e w p o r t . O n l y i n t h e y e a r s after 1 9 0 0 w a s t h i s
78
L i b e r a l c o n s e n s u s ( s l o w l y at first) t o d i s i n t e g r a t e .
In t h e i r o n t o w n s t h e collier h a d b e l o n g e d t o b u t o n e o c c u p a t i o n a l
g r o u p a m o n g s e v e r a l , s u c h as t h o s e o f t h e s k i l l e d i r o n w o r k e r a n d
t h e i r o n - s t o n e m i n e r . H e n c e h e h a d t e n d e d to p r o v i d e h i s o w n f o r m s
of s o c i a l r e l a x a t i o n a n d s e l f - i m p r o v e m e n t , l i v i n g in h i s o w n n e i g h b o u r
h o o d s a n d having his o w n p u b s a n d friendly societies. In contrast
in t h e n e w c o l l i e r y v i l l a g e s o n e c o m m u n i t y o f colliers w a s t h e n o r m .
Not that hierarchical differences in t h e workforce were thereby
n e g a t e d ; o n t h e c o n t r a r y , t h e collier p r i d e d h i m s e l f o n h i s skill a n d
felt s u p e r i o r t o t h e d a y - w a g e m e n a s r e p a i r e r s a n d h a u l i e r s . T h u s
if t h e d a n g e r o u s w o r k o f t h e c o l l i e r i e s t o g e t h e r w i t h t h e i r s m a l l n e s s
of s i z e n u r t u r e d a s t r o n g s e n s e o f c o m m u n i t y , a n d if it is l e g i t i m a t e
to p e r c e i v e t h e s e c o l l i e r y c o m m u n i t i e s as ' w o r k i n g c l a s s ' , t h e r e w e r e
n e v e r t h e l e s s s u b t l e s t a t u s d i f f e r e n c e s , r e l a t i v e g r a d a t i o n s in t h e s o c i a l
hierarchy that w e r e intuitively c o m p r e h e n d e d and sought after.
C h a p e l offices w e r e in t h i s w a y k e e n l y a s p i r e d t o , a n d t h e p r e v a l e n c e
in t h e s e v i l l a g e s o f h o m e o w n e r s h i p , as d i s t i n c t f r o m t e n a n c y o f h o u s e s
i n t h e earlier i r o n t o w n s , facilitated t h e e x p r e s s i o n o f t h e s e g r a d e s
of r e s p e c t a b i l i t y . I n t h e s e collier v i l l a g e s , t o o , t h e r e w a s l e s s availability
of a l t e r n a t i v e e m p l o y m e n t t h a n in t h e i r o n t o w n s . A n d w h e n a fall-off
i n t r a d e stilled t h e c o l l i e r y h o o t e r all m e m b e r s o f t h e c o m m u n i t y j o i n t l y
s u f f e r e d a n d s h a r e d p r i v a t i o n , n o t j u s t t h o s e o f o n e o c c u p a t i o n or
7 9
inhabitants of o n e section of the t o w n .
T h e s e v a l l e y t o w n s a l s o differed in s o c i a l s t r u c t u r e f r o m t h a t w h i c h
o b t a i n e d in t h e c o a s t a l p o r t s . T h e l a t t e r w e r e g e n e r a l l y d e v o i d o f a n
industrial b a s e a n d their workforce w a s mainly occupied in servicing
a n d i n t r a n s p o r t i n g m i n e r a l s p r o d u c e d in t h e v a l l e y s . A s s u c h t h e y
w e r e t o s h o w a different r e s p o n s e t o e c o n o m i c f l u c t u a t i o n s f r o m t h a t
e n g e n d e r e d a m o n g the industrial valley c o m m u n i t i e s . T h e society of
the ports was, t o o , far m o r e anglicised and cosmopolitan than
(especially d o w n to the 1880s) the predominantly W e l s h c o m m u n i t i e s
of i r o n t o w n s a n d c o a l - m i n i n g v i l l a g e s a l i k e . It will b e s h o w n later
78
L. J. Williams, 'The Coalowners', in Smith, ed., A People and a Proletariat, pp. 106ff;
Morgan, Rebirth, pp. 68-9; Jones, Explorations and Explanations, pp. 289-90; idem,
'The People's Health in Mid-Victorian Wales', Transactions of the Cymmrodorion Society
(1984), pp. 146-7; N. Evans, 'The Welsh Victorian City: The Middle Class and Civic
and National Consciousness in Cardiff', Welsh History Review, 12 (1985).
79
I. G. Jones, 'The South Wales Collier in Mid-Nineteenth Century', in Victorian South
Wales Architecture, Industry and Society (Victorian Society 7th Conference Report,
1969), pp. 34-51; idem, 'The Valleys: The Making of a Community', in P. H. Ballard
and E. Jones, eds., The Valleys Call (Ferndale, 1975), pp. 55-67.

Wales 319
h o w t h e a n g l i c i s e d n a t u r e o f t h e p o r t s w a s to h a v e p r o f o u n d i m p l i
c a t i o n s for t h e f o r t u n e s o f C y m r u F y d d in t h e 1 8 9 0 s . Cardiff in 1 9 1 1
- p r o s p e r o u s as t h e ' C h i c a g o o f W a l e s ' , p o s s e s s e d o f m a g n i f i c e n t
civic b u i l d i n g s a n d w i d e s t r e e t s a n d , f r o m t h e last q u a r t e r o f t h e c e n
t u r y , d o w n r i g h t b o a s t f u l - w a s t h e m o s t c o s m o p o l i t a n c e n t r e in W a l e s
a n d , i n d e e d , s t o o d s e c o n d o n l y to L o n d o n in t h e p r o p o r t i o n o f its
i n h a b i t a n t s w h o w e r e f o r e i g n - b o r n . T i g e r B a y b y t h e late n i n e t e e n t h
c e n t u r y w a s a multi-racial c o m m u n i t y . P r e d i c t a b l y , in t i m e s o f e c o n
o m i c difficulty c o l o u r e d s e c t i o n s w e r e m a d e s c a p e g o a t s ; in p a r t i c u l a r ,
p o s t w a r e c o n o m i c a n d social dislocation s a w whites identifying blacks
as t h e r e a s o n for t h e i r u n e m p l o y m e n t a n d w a n t o f h o u s e s , s u c h feel
i n g s e r u p t i n g i n t o v i o l e n t racial d i s o r d e r in N e w p o r t , Barry and,
8 0
e s p e c i a l l y , Cardiff in J u n e 1 9 1 9 .
A n y s u r v e y o f t h e l i v i n g c o n d i t i o n s in e m e r g i n g i n d u s t r i a l c o m m u n i
ties over the course of the n i n e t e e n t h century m u s t differentiate
b e t w e e n the early iron t o w n s together with S w a n s e a on the o n e h a n d
8 1
a n d the later coal-mining valley t o w n s o n the o t h e r . The former
h a d b e e n s h a p e d b y e m p l o y e r s w h o for t h e m o s t p a r t a d o p t e d a
laissez-faire a p p r o a c h , w h i c h p r o d u c e d w r e t c h e d a n d o v e r c r o w d e d
h o u s i n g , l a c k o f fresh w a t e r , d e p l o r a b l e s a n i t a t i o n a n d a b y s m a l s t r e e t -
paving and lighting. M e r t h y r ' s dirtiness a r o u n d mid-century was
a l l e g e d l y w i t h o u t parallel e l s e w h e r e in B r i t a i n . L i k e w i s e , in t h e n o r t h
e a s t W a l i a n c o l l i e r y v i l l a g e s , c o a l a n d i r o n m a s t e r s w e r e indifferent
to the condition of their workforce a n d Rhosllanerchrugog m a y have
suffered e v e n w o r s e d e g r a d a t i o n t h a n M e r t h y r . S m a l l w o n d e r t h a t
d i s e a s e s like s m a l l p o x , t y p h u s a n d s c a r l e t f e v e r t o o k t h e i r toll, t h a t
c h o l e r a c l a i m e d d e a t h s in S o u t h W a l e s in 1 8 3 2 a n d , far m o r e d e v a s t a t -
8 2
i n g l y , i n 1 8 4 9 , a n d t h a t d e a t h r a t e s in ' n o r m a l ' y e a r s w e r e h i g h .
G o v e r n m e n t legislation from the Public Health Act of 1848 o n w a r d s
m e t w i t h v a r y i n g d e g r e e s o f s u c c e s s : in t h e i r o n t o w n s , w h e r e t h e r e
w a s v i r t u a l l y n o f o r m o f t o w n g o v e r n m e n t , a r e f l e c t i o n itself o f t h e
absence of an i n d e p e n d e n t middle class b e t w e e n master and labourer,
d e l a y s in p r o v i d i n g p u b l i c h e a l t h facilities w e r e ' i n c r e d i b l e ' . B y w a y
of c o n t r a s t , in t h e m u n i c i p a l c o r p o r a t i o n s o f t h e o l d e r b o r o u g h s o f
80
Morgan, Rebirth, p. 67; Evans, 'The Welsh Victorian City', p. 352; idem, 'The South
Wales Race Riots of 1919', Llafur, 3 (1980).
81
Jones, 'The Valleys', p. 57.
82
Report on the Sanitary Condition of Swansea and Merthyr Tydfil, PP 1845, XVIII,
pp. 131-50; State of Elementary Education in South Wales, PP 1840, pp. 207-16;
A. H. Williams, Public Health in Mid-Victorian Wales (Cardiff, 1983); E. Rogers, 'The
History of Trade Unionism in the Coal Mining Industry of North Wales to 1914',
Denbighshire Historical Society Transactions, 15 (1966), pp. 135-42.

N e w p o r t , Cardiff, S w a n s e a a n d N e a t h , h o u s i n g u p p e r m i d d l e - c l a s s
families a p i n g t h e g e n t r y a n d a m o r e v a r i e g a t e d l o w e r m i d d l e c l a s s
t h a n i n t h e i r o n t o w n s , far m o r e w a s a c h i e v e d i n t h e w a y o f p r o v i d i n g
water supply, sewerage and gasworks by the 1870s. But the smaller
i n d u s t r i a l t o w n s h i p s a d j a c e n t to t h e o l d b o r o u g h s l y i n g w i t h i n w h a t
were designated 'rural a r e a s ' again suffered from a lack of administra
8 3
tive s t r u c t u r e , a n d r e f o r m , a s at Y s t a l y f e r a , w a s c o n s e q u e n t l y s l o w .
T h e n e w s o u t h - e a s t v a l l e y t o w n s g r o w i n g u p i n t h e late n i n e t e e n t h
c e n t u r y e s c a p e d t h e awful c o n d i t i o n s o f t h e o l d e r c o m m u n i t i e s ; t h e y
w e r e h e a l t h i e r p l a c e s a n d t h e y i m p r o v e d still f u r t h e r f o l l o w i n g t h e
legislation of 1 8 7 5 - 6 . In line with t o w n s e l s e w h e r e in Britain, h o u s e s
were better constructed, particularly from the mid-1870s, a n d did not
in fact b e c o m e o v e r c r o w d e d u n t i l t h e fast i n f l o w o f p o p u l a t i o n i n
the 1890s. M o r e o v e r , t h e y w e r e not built b y the colliery o w n e r , so
t h a t t h e collier, w e h a v e s e e n , u n l i k e t h e e a r l i e r i r o n w o r k e r , w a s
8 4
not a tenant of his m a s t e r . F r o m 1 8 9 9 h i g h e r real i n c o m e s d o w n
to 1 9 2 1 l e d to a m a s s i v e i n c r e a s e i n h o u s e - b u i l d i n g t o g e t h e r w i t h a
vastly improved standard of h o u s e size a n d design. At the s a m e time,
after 1 9 0 0 t h e r e w a s a m a r k e d shortfall in h o u s i n g p r o v i s i o n s : a defi
ciency of 40,000 to 50,000 dwellings existing b y 1914. U n d e r these
circumstances, o v e r c r o w d e d h o u s e s w e r e further swollen b y male
l o d g e r s . If w e i n s t a n c e Cardiff, t h e fact t h a t t h r e e - q u a r t e r s o f t h e
h o u s e s h a d b e e n built since 1871 m e a n t that a r o u n d 1914 there w e r e
n o s l u m s , b u t for all t h a t t h e fact t h a t t h e h o u s e s e r e c t e d w e r e t o o
large a n d e x p e n s i v e m e a n t that single working-class families could
n o t afford t o r e n t t h e m s o t h a t t h e r e w a s a l a r g e a m o u n t o f s u b - l e t t i n g ,
families b e i n g c o m p e l l e d t o s h a r e r e n t e d d w e l l i n g s w i t h o t h e r f a m i
85
lies. I m p r o v e m e n t s o n early nineteenth-century conditions notwith
s t a n d i n g , i n t h e y e a r s s p a n n i n g t h e l a t e c e n t u r y d o w n to 1 9 1 4 t h e
mining valleys of S o u t h W a l e s and the poorer quarters of S w a n s e a
a n d Cardiff h a d a l o w e r s t a n d a r d o f m a t e r i a l e x i s t e n c e - as i n t h e i r
sub-standard h o u s i n g , o v e r c r o w d i n g a n d c h r o n i c ill-health - than
m o s t p a r t s o f B r i t a i n . N e v e r t h e l e s s , it is n o t e w o r t h y t h a t in t h e w e s t e r n
a n t h r a c i t e coalfield - n o t r e a l l y d e v e l o p e d till t h e 1 8 8 0 s - t h e g r o w t h
of c o m m u n i t i e s w a s l e s s h e c t i c , m o r e s o b e r a n d o r d e r l y , a n d m o r e
83
I . G. Jones, Health, Wealth and Politics in Victorian Wales (Swansea, 1979), pp. 15-21;
G. D. Fielder, Tublic Health and Hospital Administration in Nineteenth-Century
Swansea' (unpublished MA thesis, University of Wales, 1962), pp. 68-76.
84
Jones, 'The Valleys', pp. 57-61; P. N. Jones, Colliery Settlement in the South Wales
Coalfield, 1850-1926 (Hull, 1969), p. 12.
85
Jones, Colliery Settlement, pp. 14-16; Daunton, Coal Metropolis, pp. 97-101.

Wales 321
c o n g e n i a l t o live in, t h e s m a l l e r a n d m o r e s c a t t e r e d c o l l i e r y v i l l a g e s
8 6
exhibiting a continuing strong rural e t h o s .
During the depression from the early 1920s conditions deteriorated.
A c c o r d i n g to A l l e n H u t t w r i t i n g i n 1 9 3 3 t h e w o r s e d e r e l i c t i o n w a s
t o b e f o u n d i n t h e o l d i r o n t o w n s a l o n g t h e n o r t h e r n r i m o f t h e coal
field. T h u s at B l a e n a v o n , n o n e w h o u s e s w e r e b e i n g e r e c t e d , m o s t
h a d b e e n built sixty or s e v e n t y years previously a n d w e r e generally
dilapidated a n d chronically o v e r c r o w d e d . W e s t w a r d s in M e r t h y r and
D o w l a i s , l i k e w i s e , n o a d v a n c e s h a d b e e n m a d e a n d h o u s e s w e r e out-
of-repair a n d o v e r c r o w d e d . T h o u g h h o u s i n g c o n d i t i o n s w e r e o f t e n
better in the R h o n d d a t h a n in the older industrial t o w n s , poverty
h a d p r o d u c e d overcrowding t h r o u g h resort to sub-letting. In the west
e r n v a l l e y s o f M o n m o u t h s h i r e , p o v e r t y i n A b e r t i l l e r y h a d similarly
produced overcrowding and E b b w Vale had a n u m b e r of sub-standard
h o u s e s . T h e sub-standard housing a n d appallingly low standard of
public h y g i e n e in places like t h e R h o n d d a in t h e 1930s w e r e inevitably
reflected in the poor standards of health of the industrial communities;
malnutrition a n d death rates h e r e w e r e t h e w o r s t in Britain. In particu
8 7
lar, T B w a s a ' W e l s h s c o u r g e ' .
T h e atrocious living a n d w o r k i n g conditions of the early nineteenth-
century iron towns of south-east W a l e s led to endemic unrest. Indeed,
they were the most unsettled part of the United K i n g d o m . As such,
t h e y stood in contrast to t h e S w a n s e a c o p p e r area w h e r e peaceful
l a b o u r r e l a t i o n s p r e v a i l e d , a r e f l e c t i o n o f t h e m o r e i n t e g r a t e d social
structure of that area. T h e m o s t militant areas of the south-east were
the sale-coal villages of the lower valleys of M o n m o u t h s h i r e , which,
w e h a v e s h o w n , w e r e smaller a n d p o s s e s s e d of a class structure even
m o r e m o n o l i t h i c t h a n t h e m i n i n g t o w n s f u r t h e r n o r t h a n d suffered
m o r e t h a n e l s e w h e r e f r o m i r r e g u l a r i t y o f w o r k . E v e r y w h e r e , t h e iso
lated p o c k e t s of settlement in the industrialised 'Black D o m a i n ' of
the south-east w e r e characterised b y squalor, discomfort and insecur
ity; t r u e e n o u g h , in t i m e s o f full e m p l o y m e n t w a g e s w e r e h i g h , p r o v i
s i o n s p l e n t i f u l a n d h o u s e s c o n t a i n e d costly f u r n i t u r e b u t , a p a r t f r o m
s o m e s k i l l e d m e n at t h e i r o n w o r k s , w o r k for m o s t p e o p l e w a s irregular
- e s p e c i a l l y for t h o s e i n t h e s a l e - c o a l v i l l a g e s - a n d at t i m e s o f s h o r t -
86
Morgan, Rebirth, p. 71; Thomas Jones, Welsh Broth (1952), p. 126; Brennan et al,
eds., Social Change, pp. 12-17; Jones, T h e South Wales Collier', pp. 3 5 - 8 .
87
Allen Hutt, The Condition of the Working Class in Britain: South Wales (1933), pp. 8-16;
Morgan, Rebirth, pp. 233-5; for TB in the mining valleys see South Wales Miners'
Library, Hendrefoilan, Swansea: transcript of tape of Dr D. A. Thomas.

t i m e w o r k i n g , lay-offs a n d w a g e r e d u c t i o n s , p o v e r t y a n d i n d e b t e d
88
ness were rife.
A l l - i m p o r t a n t in s h a p i n g t h i s n e w s o c i e t y w a s t h e d o m i n a t i o n o f
the masters over every aspect of the w o r k e r s ' lives, amounting in
m o s t i n s t a n c e s t o a r e g i m e o f fear a n d t e r r o r . T h i s c o n t r o l w a s b i t t e r l y
r e s e n t e d b y t h e w o r k m e n , n o i n g r e d i e n t of it m o r e s o t h a n t h e ' l o n g
p a y ' a n d t r u c k s y s t e m . M a t t e r s w e r e m a d e w o r s e i n s o f a r as t h i s u n
b r i d l e d p o w e r w a s g e n e r a l l y in n o w a y t e m p e r e d b y a s e n s e o f r e s p o n
sibility for t h e w e l f a r e a n d m o r a l i t y o f t h e w o r k f o r c e w h o , left to
t h e i r o w n d e v i c e s , w e r e f r e q u e n t l y s t e e p e d in ' s e n s u a l i t y ' , ' i g n o r a n c e '
a n d ' i m p r o v i d e n c e ' . W i t h f e w e x c e p t i o n s , n o t a b l y at t h e g r e a t i r o n
works of Dowlais a n d Cyfarthfa, e m p l o y e r s s a w their only responsibi
lity as p a y i n g w a g e s . T h e c l a s s h a t r e d w h i c h g e n e r a l l y c h a r a c t e r i s e d
relations b e t w e e n w o r k m e n a n d m a s t e r s d o w n to t h e late 1 8 4 0 s
( t h o u g h t h e r e w a s c e r t a i n l y s o m e s h o w o f d e f e r e n c e in t h e a f o r e s a i d
M e r t h y r i r o n w o r k s in ' g o o d ' t i m e s ) w a s a t t r i b u t e d b y c o n t e m p o r a r i e s
to t h i s n e g l e c t o f t h e i r d u t y o n t h e p a r t o f t h e e m p l o y e r s . T h e fact
t h a t i r o n m a s t e r s w e r e E n g l i s h a n d A n g l i c a n s e r v e d to further i n t e n s i f y
t h e social d i v i s i o n b e t w e e n t h e m a n d t h e i r W e l s h - s p e a k i n g , o f t e n n o n
conformist workforce. Relationships were allegedly rendered more
difficult b y t h e virtual a b s e n c e o f a m i d d l e c l a s s o u t s i d e S w a n s e a a n d
8 9
Merthyr.
G i v e n this u n r e s t , h o w m u c h w o r k i n g - c l a s s solidarity w a s t h e r e
a c h i e v e d in t h e s e e a r l y y e a r s ? W o r k i n g - c l a s s c o n s c i o u s n e s s w a s e v i
d e n c e d in t h e 1 8 2 0 s , 1 8 3 0 s a n d 1 8 4 0 s in t h e S c o t c h C a t t l e m o v e m e n t ;
in t h e M e r t h y r R i s i n g o f 1 8 3 1 i n w h i c h w o r k e r s , e x c i t e d b y t h e r e f o r m
crisis, s t r u c k o u t in a n a t u r a l j u s t i c e riot for r e f o r m , w h i c h t h e y p e c u
liarly c o n s t r u e d in t e r m s o f t o p p l i n g t h e t o w n ' s m i d d l e c l a s s - ironi
cally t h e i r e r s t w h i l e ' m o d e r a t e ' political m e n t o r s b u t w h o m t h e y h a d
88
Williams, 'Plutocrats and Proletarians', pp. 1, 5, 12-13; Brennan et ah, eds., Social
Change, pp. 22-3; G. A. Williams, 'Locating a Welsh Working Class', in Smith,
ed., A People and a Proletariat, p. 26; Jones, Before Rebecca, pp. 87, 91-3; idem, The
hast Rising, pp. 19, 39-40; Commissioners of Inquiry into the Employment of Children
and Young Persons in Mines, PP 1842, XVII; Sanitary Condition of Swansea and Merthyr
Tydfil, PP 1845.
89
Jones, The Last Rising, pp. 25, 34-6; Williams, 'Plutocrats and Proletarians', p p . 4 ,
25-35, 56; E. L. Edmunds, ed., I Was There: The Memoirs ofH. S. Tremenheere, (Wind
sor, 1965), pp. 37-8; P. E. Razell and R. J. W. Wainwright, eds., The Victorian Working
Class: Selections from the Morning Chronicle (1973), p. 37; Report of the Commissioners
of Inquiry into the State of Education in Wales, PP 1847, XXVII, Part 2, p. 293; Employment
of Children in Mines, PP 1842, p. 481; State of Elementary Education in South Wales,
PP 1840, p. 216; T. Phillips, Wales (1849), pp. 36, 47.

Wales 323
finally c o m e t o l o s e faith i n - a n d w i n n i n g for t h e m s e l v e s f r e e d o m

a n d control over their workplace, industry a n d c o m m u n i t i e s ; a n d in
C h a r t i s m , t h e l a t t e r m o v e m e n t s i n a i m i n g at w o r k e r s ' c o n t r o l o v e r
p r o d u c t i o n r e p r e s e n t i n g a significant a d v a n c e o n t h e e a r l i e r s t r i k e s
9 0
a n d riots w h i c h w e r e t r a d i t i o n a l - t y p e c o n s u m e r m o v e m e n t s . Albeit,
this working-class m o v e m e n t lacked b o t h complete unity and conti
n u i t y : w i t n e s s t h e w a n t o f i n v o l v e m e n t o f all M e r t h y r w o r k e r s i n
t h e 1 8 3 1 R i s i n g , t h e refusal o f M e r t h y r m e n t o a d o p t t h e S c o t c h C a t t l e
o r g a n i s a t i o n a n d t h e split b e t w e e n M e r t h y r a n d M o n m o u t h s h i r e m e n
during the N e w p o r t Rising of 1839. S u c h w e a k n e s s e m a n a t e d from
a n u m b e r of factors such as the o v e r w h e l m i n g p o w e r of the e m p l o y e r s ,
the lack of a trade-union tradition a m o n g s t labourers only recently
l o o s e d f r o m t h e i r r u r a l m o o r i n g s , t h e d i v i s i o n i n t o different trades
within the workforce - divisions exploited b y the masters - a want
of s t r o n g l e a d e r s h i p , a n d t h e h i n d r a n c e to w o r k i n g - c l a s s a w a r e n e s s ,
9 1
respectively, of chapel and public h o u s e .
A l t h o u g h labour relations in the iron industry in the t w o decades
after t h e m i d - 1 8 4 0 s w e r e h a r m o n i o u s - r e f l e c t i n g t h e m o r e p a t e r n a l i s
92
tic a p p r o a c h o f t h e m a s t e r s after t h e C h a r t i s t t r o u b l e s - the 1840s
t o t h e m i d - 1 8 7 0 s w e r e c h a r a c t e r i s e d b y strife a m o n g s t t h e South
W a l i a n colliers over w a g e fluctuations a n d safety conditions. T h e three
major strikes of the early 1870s u n d e r the aegis of the A m a l g a m a t e d
A s s o c i a t i o n o f M i n e r s w e r e to g i v e w a y to a n e r a o f p e a c e , h o w e v e r ,
with the institution in 1875 of the Sliding Scale w h e r e b y w a g e s w e r e
t o b e r e g u l a t e d a c c o r d i n g to t h e s e l l i n g p r i c e o f c o a l . M a b o n , t h e
attractive m i n e r s ' leader, a n d his fellow-agents, Lib-Lab in their belief
in the identity of interest b e t w e e n capital a n d labour, h a d an apprecia
t i o n o f t h e e m p l o y e r s ' difficulties a n d w e r e r e a d y to c o m p r o m i s e .
H i s p e r s o n a l i n f l u e n c e m e a n t t h a t t h e m e c h a n i s m , for all its d e f e c t s
in f r e q u e n t l y r e d u c i n g w a g e s t o s u b s i s t e n c e l e v e l , w a s a c c e p t e d b y
90
Williams, 'Locating a Welsh Working Class', pp. 28, 36, 38; Jones, Before Rebecca,
pp. 108-9, 154-5, 157-8; Williams, The Merthyr Rising, pp. 131-3, 224, 227-8; Wil
liams, 'Plutocrats and Proletarians', p. 40; A. V. John, 'The Chartist Endurance',
Morgannwg, 15 (1971), pp. 24, 29-35; Jones, The Last Rising, pp. 113, 207-8; idem,
'Chartism in Welsh Communities', Welsh History Review, 6 (1973), p. 255.
91
K. Strange, 'The Condition of the Working Classes in Merthyr Tydfil, c. 1840-1850'
(unpublished PhD thesis, University of Wales, 1982), pp. 494-502; Williams, 'Pluto
crats and Proletarians', pp. 4 0 - 3 , 50; Williams, 'Locating a Welsh Working Class',
p. 38; idem, 'The Emergence of a Working Class Movement', in A. J. Roderick,
ed., Wales through the Ages (Llandybie, 1960), vol. 2, pp. 140-2; Morris and Williams,
South Wales Coal Industry, p. 270.
92
RC on Trades Unions, Fifth Report, PP 1867-8, XXXIX; Phillips, Wales, pp. 3 8 - 9 .

t h e w o r k f o r c e for a l o n g t i m e , t h e m e n b e c o m i n g d i s g r u n t l e d only
9 3
in t h e 1 8 9 0 s .
S o u t h W a l e s w a s c l e a r l y a s l o w s t a r t e r in t e r m s o f t h e d e v e l o p m e n t
of a n i n d u s t r i a l l a b o u r m o v e m e n t . T h a t n o effective c o a l f i e l d - w i d e
u n i o n w a s to b e a c h i e v e d b e f o r e 1 8 9 8 w a s p r i n c i p a l l y d u e to district
particularism, which was exacerbated b y the physical isolation of each
v a l l e y . M o r e o v e r , t h e S l i d i n g S c a l e itself r e m o v e d t h e e s s e n t i a l n e e d
for a t r a d e u n i o n . A g a i n , t h e p h e n o m e n a l rate o f g r o w t h o f t h e i n d u s
try after 1 8 7 5 d e m a n d e d a s t e a d y i n f l o w o f o u t s i d e l a b o u r , o f t e n rural,
w h i c h a d d e d to t h e p r o b l e m s o f o r g a n i s a t i o n . N o n c o n f o r m i s t c h a p e l s ,
too, c o n t i n u e d in t h e i r o p p o s i t i o n to u n i o n s w h i l e t h e p o w e r o f t h e
employers militated against a strong, centralised union. Likewise,
a m o n g t h e s m a l l , p r i m i t i v e pit v i l l a g e s o f n o r t h - e a s t W a l e s u n i o n i s m
w a s v e r y w e a k till t h e 1 8 9 0 s , a l t h o u g h t h e r e a f t e r t h e s t e r l i n g l e a d e r
s h i p o f E d w a r d H u g h e s w a s to m o u l d t h e N o r t h W a l e s M i n e r s ' A s s o c i
9 4
ation b e t w e e n 1898 and 1914 into a strong b o d y .
T h e s o u r i n g o f i n d u s t r i a l r e l a t i o n s o n t h e S o u t h W a l e s coalfield in
t h e 1 8 9 0 s e r u p t e d in t h e strike a n d s i x - m o n t h l o c k - o u t o f 1 8 9 8 w h e n
the miners d e n o u n c e d the Sliding Scale. O u t of their defeat a n d s e n s e
of b i t t e r n e s s a n d h u m i l i a t i o n - w h i c h h a d significantly b e e n a b s e n t
in t h e i r 1 8 7 5 defeat - c a m e a n e w o r d e r , t h e S o u t h W a l e s M i n e r s '
F e d e r a t i o n w i t h o v e r 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 m e m b e r s . A s e a - c h a n g e in l a b o u r rela
t i o n s o n t h e coalfield w a s m a r k e d b y 1 8 9 8 , for c o n c i l i a t i o n g a v e w a y
95
to m i l i t a n c y . T h e n e w m o o d o f t h e 1 8 9 0 s in t h e s o u t h - e a s t was
p a r a l l e l e d in t h e s l a t e - q u a r r y i n g i n d u s t r y o f n o r t h - w e s t W a l e s . T h e
Penrhyn quarrymen, p a s s i o n a t e l y W e l s h in l a n g u a g e a n d national
sentiment, strongly nonconformist, remarkably cultured and, from
the early nineties, increasingly class conscious, w e r e driven into a
p r i n c i p l e d , g r i m b u t h o p e l e s s s t r u g g l e in 1 8 9 6 - 7 a n d 1 9 0 0 - 3 for t h e
v e r y right o f c o m b i n a t i o n itself a g a i n s t a ' f e u d a l - m i n d e d ' , reactionary
employer, L o r d P e n r h y n , w h o incredibly e x t e n d e d his aristocratic
Morris and Williams, South Wales Coal Industry, pp. 248-84; E. W. Evans, The Miners
of South Wales (Cardiff, 1961), pp. 65-116, 137-9, 227; idem, Mabon (Cardiff, 1959),
pp. 2-14; Lewis, TheRhondda Valleys, pp. 167-8.
Evans, The Miners of South Wales, pp. 122-6, 216-17; idem, Mabon, pp. 18-19;
L. J. Williams, 'The Strike of 1898', Morgannwg, 9 (1965), p. 63; E . Rogers, 'The
History of Trade Unionism in the Coalmining Industry of North Wales to 1914'
(unpublished MA thesis, University of Wales, 1928); T. McCay, 'Edward Hughes,
1856-1925, North Wales' Miners' Agent', Llafur, 2 (1979), p. 48; Carnarvon and Denbigh
Herald, 18 November 1892.
Williams, 'The Strike of 1898', pp. 77-9; Morgan, Rebirth, pp. 7 7 - 8 .

Wales 325
p h i l o s o p h y o f t h e s a c r e d f r e e d o m o f c o n t r a c t in a g r a r i a n tenurial
96
r e l a t i o n s to c o v e r 'free l a b o u r ' in t h e i n d u s t r i a l f i e l d .
T h e full i m p l i c a t i o n s o f t h e n e w m o o d a m o n g S o u t h W a l e s m i n e r s
h e r a l d e d in 1 8 9 8 w a s to b e s e e n in t h e y e a r s 1 9 0 8 - 1 4 , for n o w t h e
m i n i n g a r e a s t h e r e b e c a m e a c o c k p i t o f c l a s s w a r , w i t n e s s i n g in p a r t i c u
lar t h e y e a r - l o n g C a m b r i a n C o m b i n e strike o f 1 9 1 0 - 1 1 in t h e R h o n d d a
which spilled over into the notorious Tonypandy riots of 7-8
N o v e m b e r 1910. Conflict basically g r e w out of the n e w situation facing
o w n e r s a n d colliers b e c a u s e o f d e c l i n i n g p r o d u c t i v i t y - o w n e r s w e r e
t h u s s e e i n g t h e i r c o s t s r i s i n g w h i l e colliers f a c e d a n e r o s i o n o f e a r n
i n g s . C o a l o w n e r s , in a b i d to l o w e r t h e m , s o u g h t to r e d u c e t h e c u s t o m
a r y a l l o w a n c e s m a d e for w o r k i n g in ' a b n o r m a l p l a c e s ' w h i l e w o r k e r s
r e s p o n d e d b y i n s i s t i n g o n a m i n i m u m p a y m e n t for t h i s d i s a d v a n t a g e d
work. G i v e n that technological i m p r o v e m e n t s h a d not c o m e about
to r a i s e p r o d u c t i v i t y , t h e t w o p a r t i e s w e r e s e t o n a c o l l i s i o n c o u r s e .
T h e increasing t e n d e n c y towards the large c o m b i n e h e i g h t e n e d the
p o t e n t i a l for conflict. I n t h e i r s i t u a t i o n o f e x p l o i t a t i o n , t h e m i l i t a n c y
of t h e m i n e r s a l s o o w e d m u c h to t h e i n f l u e n c e o f n e w i d e a s o n left-
w i n g socialism. Vital in disseminating t h e s e doctrines of class struggle
w a s t h e C e n t r a l L a b o u r C o l l e g e a n d its tutorial c l a s s e s f o u n d e d on
t h e coalfield a n d , c l o s e l y a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e C L C m o v e m e n t , the
P l e b s L e a g u e , b a s e d in t h e R h o n d d a , a l t h o u g h it h a s b e e n c o n t e n d e d
that the Marxist ideas s t e m m i n g from these classes w e r e not so m u c h
c a u s i n g as r e i n f o r c i n g a t r e n d t o w a r d s a m o r e c l a s s - c o n s c i o u s L a b o u r
movement that had emerged before the Ruskin College strike.
A l t h o u g h s o m e m e m b e r s o f t h e s e socialist c l a s s e s w e r e a t t r a c t e d to
ideas of revolutionary syndicalism, m a n y more, while Marxists,
s o u g h t to a p p l y t h e i r g o s p e l t h r o u g h c o n v e n t i o n a l political a n d t r a d e -
union channels. E v e n though the militants furnished Marxist trade-
u n i o n l e a d e r s h i p , t h e g r o w t h o f M a r x i s t c l a s s e s o n t h e coalfield b e f o r e
1914 m u s t not b e overstated; K. O . M o r g a n demonstrates that most
miners before 1914 e m b r a c e d either the constitutional gradualism of
t h e L a b o u r p a r t y or L i b e r a l i s m . H e i g h t e n e d c o n s c i o u s n e s s w a s to b e
s e e n also a m o n g s t other industrial workers: the n e w unions and trades
c o u n c i l s o f t h e 1 8 9 0 s s u r v i v e d i n t o this c e n t u r y to p r o v i d e t h e p o w e r
This is based on the fine analysis of R. M. Jones, The North Wales Quarrymen, 1874-
1922 (Cardiff, 1982).

h o u s e o f a n e w w o r k i n g - c l a s s a g g r e s s i v e n e s s , m a n i f e s t e d a b o v e all
9 7
by the Welsh railwaymen.
F a c e d w i t h t h e c o n t i n u i n g l o n g - t e r m p r o b l e m s o f t h e fall i n real
w a g e s a n d the t e n d e n c y towards large c o m b i n e s and the immediate
w a r t i m e p r o b l e m s l i k e h i g h p r i c e s a n d p r o f i t e e r i n g , t h e m i n e r s ' mili
tancy w a s profoundly sharpened during the war; valley communities
by 1 9 1 6 - 1 7 w e r e a w a s h with class antagonism, each side viewing the
98
other with equal hostility. T h i s tide of militancy flowed out of
the w a r years a n d ran ever stronger to 1 9 2 1 . M a r x i s m h a d b y n o w
t a k e n a firm h o l d o n t h e coalfield a n d t h e r e w a s a h e a d y w h i f f o f
r e v o l u t i o n a n d t h e o v e r t h r o w o f c a p i t a l i s m i n t h e air. B u t t h i s confi
dent, assertive militancy w a s to take a battering following the onset
of i n d u s t r i a l d e p r e s s i o n f r o m 1 9 2 1 . T h e y e a r 1 9 2 6 w a s a c l i m a c t e r i c
in t h e W e l s h L a b o u r m o v e m e n t , d e m o n s t r a t i n g t h e arrival o f a n ' a l t e r
native cultural pattern' severed from the old nonconformist Liberal
c o n s e n s u s f o u n d e d o n d e f e r e n c e , c o n c i l i a t i o n a n d h a r m o n y , a n alter
native cultural pattern having n o counterpart e l s e w h e r e in industrial
B r i t a i n . S o it w a s t h a t t h i s u n i q u e l y r a d i c a l i s e d , i n t e r n a t i o n a l l y o r i e n
tated working class, bolstered b y the militant M i n e r s ' Minority m o v e
ment of 1924-5 and by an increasingly implacable S W M F executive,
m o r e s o t h a n e l s e w h e r e d e f i a n t l y r e s i s t e d , i n t h e face o f awful o d d s ,
the attack o n living standards. P e r h a p s t h e tragedy w a s , as T h o m a s
J o n e s s a w it, t h a t b o t h s i d e s w e r e l e d b y u n c o m p r o m i s i n g , 'confron-
• i 99
tation m e n .
B y D e c e m b e r 1 9 2 6 it w a s all o v e r ; t h e m i n e r s r e t u r n e d t o l o w e r
97
D. Smith, T o n y p a n d y 1910: Definitions of Community', Past & Present, 87 (1980),
pp. 158-84; G. A. Williams, When Was Wales? (1985), pp. 241-2, 249; Morgan, Rebirth,
pp. 7 5 - 6 , 145-54; H. Francis and D. Smith, The Fed (1980), pp. 5 - 8 , 10, 13, 15;
D. Hopkin, T h e Llanelli Riots 1911', Welsh History Review, 11 (1983); Williams, 'The
Road to Tonypandy', pp. 41-2; R. Lewis, 'Leaders and Teachers: The Origins and
Development of the Workers' Education Movement in South Wales, 1906-40'
(unpublished PhD thesis, University of Wales, 1979), pp. 151-3, 220-6, 230-43;
P. Stead, Coleg Harlech (Cardiff, 1977), p. 8; L. J. Williams, 'The New Unionism
in South Wales', Welsh History Review, 1 (1963), pp. 413-29.
98
Morgan, Rebirth, pp. 172-4; Francis and Smith, The Fed, pp. 22-3; J. L . Rees and
N. Nicholas, 'The Policy of the Colliers', Welsh Outlook, 2 (1915), pp. 375-7; National
Library of Wales, Edgar Chappell papers, box 7: evidence of Frank Hodges before
Commission into Industrial Unrest, 1917; Commission of Inquiry into Industrial Unrest.
Report of Commissioners for Wales, PP 1917-18, XV, pp. 20-4; Anon., 'The Unrest
in the Coalfield', Welsh Outlook, 3 (1916), p. 379.
99
Francis and Smith, The Fed, pp. 28, 52-6; Williams, When Was Wales?, pp. 250-1,
266-7; Morgan, Rebirth, pp. 194-7, 284ff; Lewis, 'Leaders and Teachers', pp. 363,
439; Gwyn Jones, Times Like These (1979), p. 165; Anon., 'The Mind of the Miner',
Welsh Outlook, 3 (1916), p. 279; H. Francis, 'South Wales', in J. Skelley, ed., The
General Strike (1976), pp. 240-1; Stead, Coleg Harlech, p. 19.

Wales 327
w a g e s and longer hours and their union, their great anchorsheet and
s u p p o r t at all l e v e l s d u r i n g t h e s t r u g g l e , w a s s m a s h e d u n t i l t h e m i d -
t h i r t i e s ; u n i o n officials a n d ' t r o u b l e - m a k e r s ' w e r e v i c t i m i s e d , t h e
S W M F m e m b e r s h i p fell d r a m a t i c a l l y a s m a n y , p a r t i c u l a r l y m i d d l e -
a g e d , m e n , w h o w e r e all a l o n g m o d e r a t e i n o u t l o o k , b i t t e r l y b l a m e d
t h e l e f t - w i n g m i l i t a n t s for t h e i r p a r l o u s c o n d i t i o n after 1 9 2 6 . P o v e r t y
a n d e m i g r a t i o n , t o o , e r o d e d its r a n k s as a l s o d i d t h e d e v e l o p m e n t
of t h e h a t e d c o m p a n y u n i o n i s m , w h i c h i n t h e m i n i n g v i l l a g e s o f
B e d w a s , Bedlinog, Trelewis, N e l s o n a n d Treharris fissured class and
c o m m u n i t y solidarity. In north-east W a l e s the resistance of miners
1 0 0
l e d t o a s h a r p a n d p e r m a n e n t fall i n t h e u n i o n ' s s t r e n g t h .
By the mid-thirties, h o w e v e r , the c o m m u n i t y consciousness of 1926
was once again surging through the valleys with militancy and unrest
o n c e a g a i n t o t h e fore, c o n t r a s t i n g w i t h t h e d e f e n s i v e p o s i t i o n o f t h e
coalfield s i n c e 1 9 2 6 . It c o n t r a s t e d , t o o , w i t h t h e l a c k o f r e a l m i l i t a n c y
a m o n g N o r t h W a l e s m i n e r s , s t r i k e s in t h e 1 9 3 0 s p l a y i n g b u t a n i n s i g n i
ficant r o l e . N o w , in 1 9 3 4 , t h e S W M F b e g a n t o i n v o l v e itself d i r e c t l y
in the ' u n e m p l o y e d ' struggle, co-operation b e t w e e n e m p l o y e d and
u n e m p l o y e d s h o w i n g itself i n t h e p u b l i c o u t c r y a g a i n s t P a r t II o f t h e
U n e m p l o y m e n t I n s u r a n c e A c t w h i c h , it w a s c l a i m e d , t h r o u g h t h e
implementation of the h o u s e h o l d m e a n s test w o u l d h a v e led to the
b r e a k - u p o f t h e r e v e r e d f a m i l y itself. U n i t e d F r o n t a c t i o n i n t h e f o r m
of m a s s i v e d e m o n s t r a t i o n s a n d m a r c h e s ( w h i c h s u r p a s s e d for s h e e r
breathless scale of c o m m u n a l action similar m a r c h e s e l s e w h e r e in Bri
tain), culminating in the m o n s t e r m a r c h e s of S u n d a y , 3 February 1935,
forced the g o v e r n m e n t to capitulate. S u c h morale-boosting action,
coupled with the expunging of the ' S c a b ' union, m e a n t that 1935
1 0 1
w a s i n d e e d a w a t e r s h e d year in the S o u t h W a l e s L a b o u r m o v e m e n t .
The latter, led by Communists and left-wing activists, now
r e - e s t a b l i s h e d its l e a d e r s h i p o v e r t h e v a l l e y c o m m u n i t i e s a n d the
initiative i n c o m m u n i t y a c t i o n w a s w r e s t e d f r o m t h o s e a c t i v e in t h e
social service r e s p o n s e to u n e m p l o y m e n t a n d w h o , e m b r a c i n g the
100
Francis and Smith, The Fed, pp. 5 5 - 9 , 6 5 - 6 , 78; South Wales Miners' Library,
Swansea, oral testimonies of O. Morgan, R. Fine and O. Powell; Francis, 'South
Wales', p. 250-2; C. E . Gwyther, The Valley Shall Be Exalted (1949), pp. 22-3;
H. W. Edwards, The Good Patch (1938), p. 143; Morgan, Rebirth p. 287; The Colliery
Workers' Magazine, 5 (1927), p. 43; R. M. Jones, 'A Note on 1926 in North Wales',
Llafur, 2 (1977), pp. 59-60.
101
Francis and Smith,The Fed, p p . 113-38, 202-3, 216-17, 224, 245, 253-4, 258, 275,
282-9; Williams, When Was Wales?, pp. 262-4; Jim Griffiths, Pages from Memory
(1969), pp. 4 2 - 3 , 137-8; South Wales Miners' Library, oral testimony of Mavis
Llewellyn.

e t h o s o f t h e W E A , h a d s o u g h t to r e p l a c e c l a s s conflict b y a n o u t l o o k
102
based on co-operation and reconciliation.
A m i d s t all t h e d r a m a o f s t r i k e s , m a r c h e s a n d d e m o n s t r a t i o n s we
must not lose sight of the people themselves, those brave, 'simple,
faithful' folk o f Idris D a v i e s ' s d e p i c t i o n , w h o s e m e n f o l k w e r e p r o u d
of t h e i r w o r k - s k i l l s , o f t h e i r family a n d h o m e . M a t e r i a l c o n d i t i o n s
of h o u s i n g a n d h e a l t h d e t e r i o r a t e d a n d social o u t l e t s , s u c h as c h a p e l
activities, m u s i c a l activities in g e n e r a l , m i n e r s ' i n s t i t u t e s a n d libraries,
a n d r u g b y t e a m s , all d r a m a t i c a l l y d e c l i n e d . T h e r e is n o e s c a p i n g t h e
fact t h a t l o n g y e a r s o f u n e m p l o y m e n t , d e s p i t e t h e b r a v e front to
p o v e r t y , l e d to p e r i o d i c b o u t s o f d e p r e s s i o n a m o n g t h e o r d i n a r y w o r
k e r s . W h i l e t h e over-forty-fives got u s e d to t h e ' t h i r t y s h i l l i n g s - a - w e e k '
s t a n d a r d , t h e r e w a s n e v e r t h e l e s s r e s e n t m e n t at i d l e n e s s ; a c c o r d i n g
to J e n n i n g s ' a n a b i d i n g s e n s e o f w a s t e o f life' w a s felt b y n e a r l y all.
N e v e r t h e l e s s , i n v o l v e m e n t in s c h e m e s s u c h as t h e unemployment
clubs (associated with the various voluntary bodies b a c k e d up finan
cially f r o m t h e m i d - t h i r t i e s b y t h e N a t i o n a l C o u n c i l o f S o c i a l S e r v i c e s ,
such clubs simply concerning themselves with the problem of 'time
to s p a r e ' ) d e s t r o y e d a p a t h y a n d h o p e l e s s n e s s . F o r t h e u n e m p l o y e d
y o u n g adult t h e r e w a s a s e n s e o f f a t a l i s m a b o u t t h e c h a n c e s o f e m p l o y
m e n t , e v e n t h a t fate itself h a d d e c r e e d h i s p r e d i c a m e n t . C e r t a i n l y ,
the industrial depression i n c r e a s e d t h e f e e l i n g o f solidarity and
b r o u g h t s h o p k e e p e r s a n d t e a c h e r s i n t o t h e fold. N e v e r t h e l e s s , it is
d e b a t a b l e as to j u s t h o w ' p o l i t i c a l ' t h e v a l l e y s w e r e : it is likely t h a t
a l t h o u g h p a s s i o n s r a n h i g h at t i m e s o f l o c k - o u t s a n d s t r i k e s , in n o r m a l
times only a minority were 'single subject' men; most were milder,
m i d d l e - o f - t h e - r o a d L a b o u r s u p p o r t e r s , w h o s e politics w e r e j u s t o n e
e l e m e n t in t h e i r lives - b y t h e d e m a n d i n g s t a n d a r d s o f t h e left t h e y
w e r e politically a p a t h e t i c . E v e n if social life w a s t r u n c a t e d , m o s t still
f o u n d s o m e o u t l e t s to r e l i e v e t h e g l o o m ; s o m e in t h e social a n d c u l t u r a l
activities o f t h e c h a p e l s ; s o m e in t h e u n e m p l o y e d c l u b s a n d m a n y
m o r e in t h e m i n e r s ' i n s t i t u t e s a n d libraries ( t h e latter b e f o r e 1 9 3 7 - 8
f r o w n i n g u p o n t h e c l u b s as m e r e l y d e s i g n e d to k e e p w o r k e r s q u i e t ) ;
s o m e in t h e b r a s s b a n d s a n d c h o i r s ; s o m e in t h e d a n c e - h a l l s a n d
t h e ' p i c t u r e s ' ; s o m e i n s p o r t like r u n n i n g in t h e C a m b r i a n D a s h a n d
t h e P o n t y p r i d d P o w d e r Hall, b o x i n g a n d r u g b y ; a n d s o m e in w a l k i n g
a l o n e or in g r o u p s o n t h e m o u n t a i n s a n d in w o r k i n g t h e i r a l l o t m e n t s .
E v e n if r e a d i n g o f s e r i o u s l i t e r a t u r e w a s falling off b y t h e m i d - t h i r t i e s ,
102
Lewis, 'Leaders and Teachers', pp. 553-5, 562.

Wales 329
t h a t d e c a d e c o u l d n e v e r t h e l e s s still b o a s t o f a l a u d a b l y c u l t u r e d g r o u p
of w o r k e r s . Life in t h e b i g t o w n s o f Cardiff a n d S w a n s e a in p a r t i c u l a r
w a s fairly r o b u s t ; S w a n s e a , e s c a p i n g t h e full b l i g h t o f d e p r e s s i o n ,
w a s a lively a n d q u i t e s o p h i s t i c a t e d t o w n in t h e 1 9 3 0 s . S o life w a s
n o t u n a l l e v i a t e d m i s e r y or e x c l u s i v e l y s p e n t i n political activity.
Throughout, the w o m e n f o l k shouldered m u c h of the burden and,
1 0 3
d e s p i t e t h e p h y s i c a l toll o n t h e m , n e v e r l o s t c o u r a g e .
Ill
C e n t r a l in s h a p i n g t h e d i s t i n c t i v e c h a r a c t e r o f W e l s h s o c i e t y , b o t h
rural a n d u r b a n , d o w n to t h e c l o s e o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y a n d
(if to a l e s s e r e x t e n t ) b e y o n d , w e r e n o n c o n f o r m i t y a n d t h e W e l s h
l a n g u a g e . T h e t w o w e r e to b e c l o s e l y a s s o c i a t e d , for t h e c h a p e l s w e r e
fiercely W e l s h in c h a r a c t e r - i n d e e d , it w a s h e l d t h a t t h e v e r y s u r v i v a l
of r e l i g i o n w a s d e p e n d e n t o n t h e c o n t i n u a n c e o f t h e W e l s h t o n g u e .
T h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y w a s to w i t n e s s a d r a m a t i c g r o w t h in n o n c o n
f o r m i t y , s o t h a t b y m i d - c e n t u r y , d e s p i t e t h e fact t h a t o n l y s o m e t h i n g
like a t h i r d o f t h e W e l s h p o p u l a t i o n a t t e n d e d a p l a c e o f w o r s h i p (albeit,
t h e W e l s h p e o p l e , p a r t i c u l a r l y its p o o r e s t g r o u p s , w e r e a g r e a t d e a l
m o r e religious than the English), those w h o did w e r e o v e r w h e l m i n g l y
n o n c o n f o r m i s t . Its g r o w t h h a d m u c h to d o w i t h t h e fact t h a t t h e e s t a b
lished church, b a s e d on the pre-industrial parish unit, w a s too admi
n i s t r a t i v e l y c u m b e r s o m e a n d inflexible t o c o p e w i t h a fast r i s i n g
p o p u l a t i o n a n d , d o m i n a t e d b y t h e l a n d o w n i n g c l a s s e s , its u n d e m o c r a
tic e t h o s a n d E n g l i s h o u t l o o k c o u l d n o t c o m p e t e w i t h t h e o p p o r t u n i t i e s
offered b y t h e c h a p e l s for f e l l o w s h i p a n d l a y p a r t i c i p a t i o n , their
emotional hymns and sermons and wholly Welsh atmosphere. This
last e v a n g e l i c a l , e m o t i o n a l trait h a d b e e n i m p a r t e d to O l d D i s s e n t
b y t h e M e t h o d i s t r e v i v a l ; it w a s t h i s w h i c h c o n s t i t u t e d M e t h o d i s m ' s
m o s t i m p o r t a n t c o n t r i b u t i o n a n d m o r e t h a n o u t w e i g h e d its n e g a t i v e
Jones, Times Like These, foreword by Glyn Jones and pp. 16-17; South Wales Miners'
Library, oral testimonies of Phil Abraham, Trevor Davies, Bryn Thomas,
O. Morgan, W. Rosser-Jones and R. Fine; 'Nantyglo: Portrait of a Mining Town',
Fact, Nov. 1937, pp. 37, 39-40, 48, 76-7, 237; H. Jennings, Brynmawr (1934),
pp. 140-1; A. Lush, The Young Adult in South Wales (Cardiff, 1941), p. 31; Fourth
Report of the Commissioner for the Special Areas, PP 1937-8, XII, p. 787; Morgan,
Rebirth, p. 239; P. Stead, 'And Every Valley Shall Be Exalted', Morgannwg, 34
(1980), pp. 87-8; Edwards, The Good Patch, pp. 151-4, 159-60, 162, 177, 182-4;
Third Report of the Commissioner for the Special Areas, PP 1936-7, XII, p. 661;
P. Stead, 'The Swansea of Dylan Thomas', in A Memorable Year 1977-8 (Dylan
Thomas Society Wales Branch, 1978).

impact in helping undermine the old fun-inducing, joyous customs

1 0 4
of t h e p e a s a n t r y .
While in industrial areas the c h a p e l ' s influence w a s noticeably to
d e c l i n e f r o m t h e c l o s e o f t h e First W o r l d W a r , r e l i g i o n c o n t i n u e d t o
play a great part in the lives of W e l s h rural dwellers d o w n to the
1940s, especially in t h e r e m o t e r ' W e l s h ' counties, albeit t h e old puri
tanical ideal w a s softening. N e v e r t h e l e s s , the wireless, c i n e m a , the
development of bus services and the secularising influence of the
s c h o o l s w e r e all e r o d i n g t h e o l d c u l t u r a l i s o l a t i o n a n d d o g m a t i c b e l i e f s ,
a n d the h o l d of the chapel suffered accordingly. M o r e o v e r , increas
i n g l y f r o m t h e last d e c a d e s o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y p e o p l e w e r e
being appointed deacons because they were of the emerging middle
class a n d others p a s s e d over b e c a u s e of poverty a n d this doubtless
1 0 5
contributed to the chapel's d e c l i n e .
A t t h e h e i g h t o f its i n f l u e n c e d o w n t o t h e t u r n o f t h e p r e s e n t c e n t u r y ,
chapel services in rural W a l e s w e r e h e l d three times a S u n d a y , a n d
w e e k - n i g h t m e e t i n g s w o u l d i n c l u d e a seiet, a p r a y e r m e e t i n g , a n o c c a
sional sermon, s o m e t i m e s a lecture or a musical evening, and, in the
1 0 6
W e l s h - s p e a k i n g districts, a literary society during w i n t e r . Sunday
s c h o o l s , a t t e n d e d b y a d u l t s a s w e l l a s c h i l d r e n , p l a y e d a vital p a r t
in c h a p e l life a n d g a v e t h o s e o f l o w l y o c c u p a t i o n a l s t a t u s a c h a n c e
t o s h o w t h e i r i n t e l l e c t u a l a n d ' p u b l i c ' gifts. T h u s i n C a r d i g a n s h i r e
in 1 9 1 8 a l a r g e p r o p o r t i o n o f S u n d a y s c h o o l t e a c h e r s w e r e f a r m s e r
vants. T h e Calvinistic Methodists there held scripture examinations
annually a n d p r e s e n t e d m e d a l s to t h e b e s t performers in e a c h class,
on a n u m b e r of occasions farm labourers winning the gold medal
1 0 7
given to t h e m o s t successful in t h e adult c l a s s . Arguably, Sunday
schools h a d an e v e n m o r e p r o f o u n d influence in t h e rural t o w n s a n d
c o u n t r y s i d e t h a n t h e eisteddfodau. ' T h e i r gifted t e a c h e r s a n d p e r f e c t
organisation have m a d e the W e l s h nation a nation of students', wrote
Williams, Religion, Language and Nationality, pp. 25, 104; Jones, Explorations and
Explanations, pp. 21, 26-7, 221, 225-7; E. T. Davies, Religion and Society in the Nine
teenth Century (Llandybie, 1981), chap. 1; E . D. Evans, A History of Wales, 1660-1815
(Cardiff, 1976), p. 95; Owen, Welsh Folk Customs, pp. 23ff.
Rees, Life in a Welsh Countryside, p. 118; Davies and Rees, eds., Welsh Rural Communi
ties, pp. 4 0 - 1 , 194-6; Morgan, Rebirth, pp. 198-9; L. Morgan, 'The Future of Welsh
Nonconformity', Welsh Outlook, 18 (1931), pp. 176-7; I. Peate, 'Society in Wales',
in B. Jones, ed., The Anatomy of Wales (Cardiff, 1972), pp. 51-2; J. E . Southall,
Wales and her Language, 2nd edn (1893), p. 215.
RC on Land in Wales, PP 1896, pp. 645-6; RC on the Church and Other Religious
Bodies in Wales, PP 1910, XIV.
Wages and Conditions of Employment, PP 1919, p. 51.

Wales 331
O w e n M . E d w a r d s towards the close of the n i n e t e e n t h century in

r e f e r r i n g t o B a l a , a n d a c c o u n t e d for t h e fact t h a t W a l e s h a d p e r h a p s
a m o r e f l o u r i s h i n g l i t e r a t u r e t h a n a n y E u r o p e a n c o u n t r y o f its s i z e .
A n i n s t a n c e w a s r e c o r d e d in 1 9 1 8 o f a C a r d i g a n s h i r e l a b o u r e r w h o ,
h a v i n g b e e n g i v e n a h e i f e r a s a r e w a r d for s e v e n y e a r s ' s e r v i c e , s o l d
1 0 8
it a n d s p e n t t h e p r o c e e d s o n b u y i n g b o o k s .
T h e p e r i o d i c c o m p e t i t i v e m e e t i n g s b e t w e e n c h a p e l s d i d m u c h for
t h e i n t e l l e c t u a l i m p r o v e m e n t o f t h e rural p e a s a n t r y . F e s t i v a l s w e r e
of t w o k i n d s , cymanfa ganu (a s i n g i n g festival) a n d cymanfa bwnc (a
m e e t i n g h e l d for t h e p u r p o s e o f c a t e c h i s i n g S u n d a y s c h o o l s o n a s p e c i
fic p o r t i o n o f S c r i p t u r e ) . T h e s e festivals w e r e h e l d b y a g r o u p o f
c h a p e l s o f o n e d e n o m i n a t i o n a n d at o n e l e v e l f o s t e r e d c o m p e t i t i o n
b e t w e e n c h a p e l s o f t h e s a m e d e n o m i n a t i o n . B u t at t h e o t h e r l e v e l
they were the occasion of co-operation b e t w e e n chapels of the s a m e
d e n o m i n a t i o n t o p r o v i d e a festival t h a t w o u l d m a t c h or s u r p a s s t h e
c o r r e s p o n d i n g festival h e l d b y o t h e r c h a p e l s o f a different d e n o m i n a
t i o n . T h i s friendly rivalry (or s o it w a s ideally!) b e t w e e n different
d e n o m i n a t i o n s c a n n o t b e d e n i e d , b u t a l t h o u g h m e m b e r s h i p o f differ
ent d e n o m i n a t i o n s gave p e o p l e a s e n s e of b e l o n g i n g to distinctive
g r o u p s s u c h g r o u p s felt m o r e in c o m m o n w i t h o n e a n o t h e r t h a n w i t h
1 0 9
the 'world'.
T h r o u g h o u t the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries contem
p o r a r i e s r e c o g n i s e d a f u n d a m e n t a l s o c i a l d i s t i n c t i o n in t h e r u r a l c o m
m u n i t y b e t w e e n t h o s e w h o b e l o n g e d to ' t h e c h u r c h ' a n d t h o s e w h o
1 1 0
b e l o n g e d to ' t h e w o r l d ' . T h e characteristics of those belonging
t o ' t h e c h u r c h ' w e r e r e g u l a r a t t e n d a n c e at s e r v i c e s a n d t h e v a r i o u s
activities o f t h e c h a p e l s a n d ( e s t a b l i s h e d ) c h u r c h e s , total a b s t i n e n c e
f r o m a l c o h o l i c d r i n k , thrift, r e s p e c t for e d u c a t i o n a n d a d e s i r e to ' g e t
o n ' . T h o s e o f ' t h e w o r l d ' , o n t h e o t h e r h a n d , e v e n if s o m e o f t h e m
d i d a t t e n d c h a p e l or c h u r c h , d i d n o t s u p p o r t it in all its activities,
did n o t k e e p t h e S a b b a t h b u t r a t h e r w e r e p r e p a r e d to e n j o y s e c u l a r
r e c r e a t i o n s , f r e q u e n t e d p u b l i c h o u s e s , w e r e i n c l i n e d to s p e n d on
immediate pleasures a n d did not value education and 'getting o n ' .
RC on Labour, Wales, PP 1893-4, p. 40; Wages and Conditions of Employment, PP

1919, p. 51.
Wages and Conditions of Employment, PP 1919, pp. 51, 75; Jenkins, Agricultural Com
munity, pp. 197-205; idem, 'Aberporth', in Davies and Rees, eds., Welsh Rural Com
munities, p. 53.
Davies and Rees, eds., Welsh Rural Communities, pp. x-xi; but note that Jenkins
in Agricultural Community, pp. 210ff, distinguishes between members of a chapel
and 'hearers' who attended chapel services. The latter were of 'the world'.

332 D. W . H O W E L L A N D C . B A B E R
David Jenkins and others have demonstrated that high social

s t a t u s w a s chiefly d e t e r m i n e d b y m e m b e r s h i p o f t h e ' r e l i g i o u s g r o u p ' .
At t h e s a m e t i m e , t h e y r e c o g n i s e a s o c i a l stratification b a s e d on
occupation. The awkward circumstance could sometimes arise
within a chapel of a lowly cottager holding an office granting
authority over a farmer, so a t e n d e n c y developed of accommodat
i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p s i n t h e o n e field t o t h o s e i n t h e o t h e r , r e l a t i v e l y
more farmers b e c o m i n g deacons than those holding lower-status
1 1 1
occupations.
C h a p e l activities i n r u r a l a r e a s - r e l i g i o u s , c u l t u r a l a n d s o c i a l - p r o
v i d e d t h e b e s t f o r u m for whole f a m i l i e s o f a n e i g h b o u r h o o d t o m e e t
1 1 2
right d o w n t o t h e 1 9 4 0 s . N e v e r t h e l e s s , t h e r e is n o m i s t a k i n g t h e
a p p e a l t o i n d i v i d u a l f a m i l y m e m b e r s b y t h e n o f s u c h s e c u l a r activities
as t h e W o m e n ' s I n s t i t u t e , w h i c h h a d t a k e n h o l d b y t h e e a r l y 1 9 2 0 s ,
Urdd Gobaith Cymru (Welsh League of Youth), the Y o u n g Farmers'
Club, the cinema, the Y M C A s and the W E A classes. T h e manifestation
of t h e s p r e a d o f n e w r e c r e a t i o n a l facilities n o t b a s e d o n t h e c h a p e l
w a s t h e b u i l d i n g o f ' v i l l a g e ' o r ' m e m o r i a l ' h a l l s after t h e F i r s t W o r l d
1 1 3
War.
The contribution of nonconformity to W e l s h industrial society w a s
i m m e n s e a n d i n l a r g e m e a s u r e b e n e f i c i a l . Initially, n o n c o n f o r m i t y p e r
formed an inestimable service in providing t h e n e w c o m e r s with the
m e a n s o f g r a c e i n a f o r m t h a t w a s familiar a n d p r e c i o u s t o m a n y
of t h e m a n d g i v i n g t h e m a f e e l i n g o f b e l o n g i n g a n d s e n s e o f f r i e n d l y
c o m m u n i t y w i t h i n t h i s h o s t i l e ' f r o n t i e r ' s o c i e t y . It t a u g h t t h e w o r k i n g
c l a s s e s o f t h e v a l l e y t o w n s a n d p o r t s t h e v i r t u e s o f thrift, s o b r i e t y ,
cleanliness a n d h o n e s t y in an e n v i r o n m e n t of pervading squalor,
drunkenness and careless abandon - most sensationally though
u n c h a r a c t e r i s t i c a l l y m a n i f e s t e d i n M e r t h y r ' s ' C h i n a ' a n d , later, i n
Jenkins, 'Aberporth', pp. 14ff; see also essays on Tregaron and Glanllyn in Davies
and Rees, eds., Welsh Rural Communities; Jenkins, Agricultural Community, p. 193;
G. Williams, 'On Class and Status Groups in Welsh Rural Society', in G. Williams,
ed., Crisis of Economy and Ideology (Sociology of Wales Studies Group, 1983),
pp. 134-86.
T. Owen, 'Glanllyn', in Davies and Rees, eds., Welsh Rural Communities, p. 205;
Parry-Jones, My Own Folk, p. 157.
Rees, Life in a Welsh Country side, p. 139; Jenkins, 'Aberporth', p. 20; W. King, 'The
Adolescent in Rural Wales', Welsh Outlook, 10 (1923), pp. 330-2; T. Jones Hughes,
'Aberdaron', in Davies and Rees, eds., Welsh Rural Communities, p. 175;
E. Matthews, 'Anglesey Union of Village Halls and Societies', Welsh Outlook, 10
(1923), pp. 17-19.

Wales 333
C a r d i f f ' s B u t e t o w n a n d S p l o t t . T h r o u g h its d e m o c r a t i c o r g a n i s a t i o n
in c h a p e l a n d S u n d a y s c h o o l it a l s o p r o v i d e d a n o p p o r t u n i t y for per
s o n a l s t a t u s for t a l e n t e d w o r k i n g - c l a s s p e o p l e , w h o w e r e o t h e r w i s e
d e n i e d it. I n d e e d i n rural a n d i n d u s t r i a l W a l e s a l i k e , p o s s i b l y n o n c o n
f o r m i t y ' s g r e a t e s t c o n t r i b u t i o n , a r g u e s C h a r l o t t e A u l l , w a s its furnish
i n g ' t h e b a s i s o f a n e w s t a t u s s y s t e m , d i v o r c e d f r o m E n g l i s h social
structure, that produced a n e w W e l s h elite'. Finally, the nonconform
ist S u n d a y s c h o o l s , m o r e s o t h a n a n y o t h e r a g e n c y d o w n t o t h e c l o s e
of t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , w e r e r e s p o n s i b l e for t e a c h i n g t h e o r d i n a r y
people in their native t o n g u e .
T h e c h a p e l w a s far m o r e t h a n a m e a n s o f spiritual s u p p o r t , for
t h e s e c u l a r activities o f t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s e s i n t h e t o w n s , as t h e eistedd-
fodau, literary s o c i e t i e s , c o n c e r t s , p e n n y r e a d i n g s , a n d cymanfaoedd
( s i n g i n g festivals) w e r e o f t e n a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e c h a p e l s . It is i n d e e d
vital t h a t w e r e c o g n i s e t h e t r e m e n d o u s h o l d o f t h e eisteddfod - u s u a l l y
c h a p e l - b a s e d - a n d o f c h o r a l s i n g i n g in b o t h t h e o l d a n d n e w t o w n s
o v e r t h e c o u r s e o f t h e m i d - a n d l a t e - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y . T h e eisteddfod
b y mid-century had b e c o m e a widespread, popular, highly democratic
p u b l i c e v e n t a n d , a l o n g w i t h t h e c h a p e l , w a s a m a j o r a g e n t o f adult
e d u c a t i o n . T h e c h a p e l s , t o o , s a w t h e r i s e o f m a r v e l l o u s c h o i r s , often
t e m p e r a n c e o n e s , f r o m t h e 1 8 5 0 s o n w a r d s , t r a i n e d i n t h e t o n i c sol-fa
s y s t e m . A s m e m b e r s h i p o f c h a p e l s g r e w i n t h e l a t e d e c a d e s of t h e
c e n t u r y it b e c a m e a m a t t e r o f s e l f - e s t e e m t o p u t o n a n a n n u a l o r a t o r i o ,
a n d e v e n the less ambitious congregations h a d to attempt a sacred
c a n t a t a . I n t h e c h a p e l s a n d eisteddfodau countless ordinary people
could achieve a measure of self-expression and personal dignity;
i n d e e d , c l a i m s I. G . J o n e s , it w a s in t h e eisteddfod t h a t t h e w o r k i n g
m a n ' d i s c o v e r e d h i s s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s ' . It w a s , t h e s a m e a u t h o r i t y
reminds us, because of their very 'social' dimension that people were
d r a w n to the chapels. A n d , h e again insists, the chapels and their
a s s o c i a t e d s e c u l a r activities w e r e t h e p e o p l e ' s o w n c r e a t i o n , a c l a i m
that holds m u c h truth although w e w o u l d caution that the contribution
of t h e late n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y c o a l o w n e r s in f i n a n c i n g c h a p e l - b u i l d
i n g s h o u l d n o t b e lost s i g h t of. T h e s e v a r i o u s c h a p e l activities in truth
satisfied t h e p e o p l e ' s k e e n d e s i r e t o g e t t o g e t h e r , a n d e v e n if t h e r e
w e r e rivalries a n d j e a l o u s i e s e n g e n d e r e d b e t w e e n c h o i r s at t h e i n n u
m e r a b l e eisteddfodau a n d s i n g i n g festivals n e v e r t h e l e s s s u c h inter-
c h a p e l activities g a v e t h e s e p a r a t e m i n i n g t o w n s h i p s a c h a n c e to b r e a k
d o w n t h e i r s e n s e o f i s o l a t i o n b y j o i n i n g w i t h n e i g h b o u r i n g villages
in a common, organic culture. Indeed, insofar as rivalry was

c o n c e r n e d , t h i s w a s p e r h a p s o v e r a l l a g o o d t h i n g for it m i g h t b e a r g u e d
t h a t e a c h s e p a r a t e v i l l a g e a n d t o w n s h i p c o u l d o n l y e s t a b l i s h its o w n
i d e n t i t y b y s u c h rivalry w h i c h e x t e n d e d n o t o n l y to c h o r a l s i n g i n g
1 1 4
b u t to r u g b y as w e l l .
F o r all t h e b e n e f i t s c o n f e r r e d b y n o n c o n f o r m i t y , its l e a d e r s in t h e
i n d u s t r i a l c o m m u n i t i e s o f S o u t h W a l e s h a v e n e v e r t h e l e s s b e e n criti
cised o n the g r o u n d s that their Calvinistic individualistic theology
r e n d e r e d t h e m p r e o c c u p i e d w i t h p e r s o n a l s a l v a t i o n a n d t h e after-life
a n d l a r g e l y indifferent to c o n t e m p o r a r y s o c i a l p r o b l e m s . I n p a r t i c u l a r ,
it is s t r e s s e d , n o n c o n f o r m i t y f r o w n e d u p o n e a r l y w o r k i n g - c l a s s m o v e
1 1 5
m e n t s s u c h as t r a d e s u n i o n s , b e n e f i t s o c i e t i e s a n d C h a r t i s m . There
is m u c h t r u t h i n t h i s c r i t i c i s m ( a l t h o u g h it is as w e l l to b e a r in m i n d
that certain k e e n chapel m e m b e r s w e r e to b e found among the
m a r c h e r s o n N e w p o r t in 1 8 3 9 ) . F o r all t h a t , it c a n still b e c l a i m e d
t h a t n o n c o n f o r m i t y , a n d to a l e s s e r e x t e n t t h e c h u r c h , p l a y e d a vital,
p o s i t i v e role i n s h a p i n g t h e n e w i n d u s t r i a l e n v i r o n m e n t , in civilising
1 1 6
that society. W h i l e recognising this magnificent contribution, it
remains unfortunately true that nonconformity's hold on urban and
r u r a l W e l s h m e n alike d i d r a t h e r i n d u c e a n e r v o u s a n d a p o l o g e t i c t o n e
w h e n alluding to pleasurable pastimes a n d an excessive feeling of
guilt o v e r s m a l l t r a n s g r e s s i o n s , a n d t h e r e w a s c e r t a i n l y t h e d a n g e r
of s e l f - r i g h t e o u s n e s s , c o n c e i t a n d p r i g g i s h c e n s o r i o u s n e s s c r e e p i n g
in i n n o n c o n f o r m i t y ' s total a b s t i n e n c e n o t o n l y f r o m a l c o h o l b u t f r o m
117
all k i n d s o f s p o r t .
D u r i n g t h e last t w o d e c a d e s o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y a n e w m o o d
114
Jones, 'The South Wales Collier', pp. 46, 49; idem, 'The Valleys', p. 62; W. Lambert,
'Some Working-Class Attitudes towards Organised Religion in Nineteenth-Cen
tury Wales', Llafur, 2 (1976), p. 5; State of Education in Wales, PP 1847, Part 1,
pp. 5-8; E. T. Davies, Religion in the Industrial Revolution in South Wales (Cardiff
1965), pp. 54, 92; idem, Religion and Society, p. 64; T. J. Morgan, 'Peasant Culture
in the Swansea Valley', in S. Williams, ed., Glamorgan Historian, vol. 9 (Cowbridge,
1973), p. 118; T. Jones, Rhymney Memories (Newtown, 1938), p. 131; Aull, 'Ethnic
Nationalism in Wales', p. 78; E. D. Lewis, 'Population Changes and Social Life
1860-1914', in Hopkins, ed., Rhondda Past and Future, pp. 120-2; D. Smith, Wales!
Wa/es? (1984), p. 34.
115
Davies, Religion and Society, pp. 76ff; Lambert, 'Some Working-Class Attitudes',
pp. 9-11; C. Gwyther, 'Sidelights on Religion and Politics in the Rhondda Valley,
1906-26', Llafur, 3 (1980), pp. 3 2 - 3 .
116
Jones, Explorations and Explanations, pp. 233-4; Williams, Religion, Language and
Nationality, p. 141.
117
W. G. Roberts, 'Nonconformity: A Force in Welsh National Life', Young Wales,
9(1903), p p . 8 7 , 9 1 - 2 .

Wales 335
set in a m o n g t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s o f i n d u s t r i a l South Wales. The

n e g a t i v e attitude o n t h e p a r t o f n o n c o n f o r m i t y to t h e workers'
problems, the preoccupation on the part of Liberal leaders and
n o n c o n f o r m i s t p r e a c h e r s ( m a n y o f w h o m h a d rural b a c k g r o u n d s )
w i t h t h e p r o b l e m s o f rural W a l e s a n d t h e b y n o w middle-class
composition of the colliery-manager chapel-deacon out of touch
with the feelings of the workers (the early-century deacons had b e e n
drawn from a m o n g the working-class population) led increasing
n u m b e r s to a b a n d o n the chapels in favour of trade u n i o n i s m and
socialism, which they perceived as t h e best representatives of
their true interests. T h e m a n y m i n e r s ' institutes founded across the
coalfield in t h e t w o d e c a d e s u p t o 1 9 1 0 , e a c h h o u s i n g a r e a d i n g
r o o m a n d library, w h e r e m e n b e c a m e w e l l v e r s e d in s c i e n c e , p o e t r y ,
r e l i g i o n , p h i l o s o p h y a n d e c o n o m i c s , w e r e i n c r e a s i n g l y to appeal
to the y o u n g a n d to draw t h e m a w a y from the out-of-touch chapels.
Welsh nonconformist chapels were antagonistic towards the new
l a b o u r m o v e m e n t p a r t l y b e c a u s e t h e y c o n c e i v e d s o c i a l i s m to b e
an ungodly movement and p a r t l y b e c a u s e , as e v e r , t h e y were
s u s p i c i o u s o f E n g l i s h i n f l u e n c e s . S o c i a l i s m ' s h o l d w a s significantly
s t r e n g t h e n e d d u r i n g t h e First W o r l d W a r , t h e c h a p e l ' s s t a n d i n g n o w
b e i n g d e n t e d b y its s u p p o r t for t h e w a r . B y t h i s t i m e , t h e d e c l i n e
of t h e W e l s h l a n g u a g e w a s a l s o p o s i n g a p r o b l e m for t h e c h a p e l s .
After t h e w a r , m o r e a n d m o r e s o s o c i a l i s m a n d t r a d e unionism,
with the fellowship of their institutes and m i n e r s ' welfare halls,
c o n s t i t u t e d attractive a l t e r n a t i v e s to r e l i g i o n , a n d l e i s u r e p u r s u i t s , t o o ,
it will b e s h o w n , f r o m t h e 1 8 9 0 s p o s e d s t r o n g c o u n t e r - a t t r a c t i o n s .
A l l - i m p o r t a n t , t h e c i n e m a h a d c o m e in b y 1 9 1 4 . I n n o v a t i o n in travel,
t o o , a l l o w e d for S u n d a y e x c u r s i o n s t o B a r r y I s l a n d or S w a n s e a ,
w h i l e t h e r a d i o f r o m 1 9 2 3 effected a v e r i t a b l e s o c i a l r e v o l u t i o n i n
broadening people's outlook. The old hell-fire, fundamentalist
c h a r a c t e r o f n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y n o n c o n f o r m i t y c o m m e n d e d itself l e s s
a n d less to the y o u n g . Furthermore, chapel m e m b e r s w e r e migrating
t o j o b s e l s e w h e r e in t h e 1 9 2 0 s a n d 1 9 3 0 s a n d , m o r e o v e r , g i v e n t h a t
religious observance w a s in p a r t b o u n d up with respectability,
t h e d e p r e s s i o n m e a n t t h a t p e o p l e l a c k e d s u i t a b l e c l o t h e s for c h a p e l
a t t e n d a n c e . S o m e , t o o (in B r y n m a w r at l e a s t ) , d u r i n g t h e d e p r e s s i o n
w e r e d i s i l l u s i o n e d at t h e w a y c e r t a i n m i n i s t e r s h a d r e j e c t e d t h e offer
of a b a r e m a i n t e n a n c e g r a n t a n d h a d m o v e d t o c h u r c h e s t h a t c o u l d
pay the usual salary. T h e S u n d a y schools declined partly b e c a u s e
their teachers w e r e unable to relate to the p r o b l e m s of the y o u n g ,

w h o were n o w being w e a n e d away from the old puritanism b y secular

1 1 8
education.
D e c l i n e w a s m i r r o r e d in t h e o v e r c a p a c i t y a n d o v e r l a p p i n g o f c h a p e l s
in W a l e s e v i d e n t b y 1 9 1 0 a n d e v e n m o r e s o b y 1 9 2 9 . N e v e r t h e l e s s ,
that decline should not b e exaggerated. M e m b e r s h i p r e m a i n e d large
d o w n to t h e S e c o n d W o r l d W a r , n u m b e r i n g w e l l o v e r 4 0 0 , 0 0 0 i n t h e
1920s. W e h a v e s e e n that a t t e n d a n c e r e m a i n e d strongest in rural areas
w h e r e r i g h t d o w n to t h e 1 9 4 0 s a n d e v e n i n t o t h e p o s t - 1 9 4 5 e r a t h e
c h a p e l i n f l u e n c e w a s still a v e r y i m p o r t a n t f o r c e , a n d h e r e it is vital
t h a t w e a p p r e c i a t e t h a t at a t i m e w h e n r e l i g i o u s c o n v i c t i o n w a s i n
retreat the continuing strength of kinship a n d compelling awareness
of a p e r s o n a l o b l i g a t i o n t o m a i n t a i n t h e t r a d i t i o n o f a f a m i l y w i t h a
particular Bethel motivated continuing attendance. E v e n with regard
t o i n d u s t r i a l S o u t h W a l e s , r e l i g i o n r e m a i n e d a n i m p o r t a n t , if d e c l i n
ing, f o r c e d o w n to t h e S e c o n d W o r l d W a r , a n d t h a t t h i s w a s p a r t i c u
larly s o a s late as t h e 1 9 2 0 s d o u b t l e s s o w e d s o m e t h i n g t o t h e r e l i g i o u s
revival of 1 9 0 4 - 5 . E v e n in the s p h e r e of the labour m o v e m e n t , the
fact t h a t e n l i g h t e n e d social a t t i t u d e s w e r e c o m i n g i n c r e a s i n g l y t o p r e
vail m e a n t t h a t in t h e R h o n d d a a n u m b e r o f a c t i v e m e m b e r s o f t h e
S W M F and the mid-Rhondda Trades and Labour Council remained
a t t a c h e d to t h e c h a p e l s a n d t h a t i n t h e 1 9 2 0 s a n d 1 9 3 0 s m a n y c h a p e l s
there, notably the Methodist T o n y p a n d y Central Hall u n d e r R e x
Barker, did valuable w o r k in helping alleviate distress a n d w e r e a
1 1 9
part of the United Front r e s p o n s e .
If t h e c h a p e l p l a y e d a n i n e s t i m a b l e r o l e in i n d u s t r i a l s o c i e t y t h r o u g h
out the Victorian era, nevertheless there w e r e a n u m b e r of other rec
r e a t i o n s far r e m o v e d f r o m t h e e t h o s o f t h e c h a p e l w h i c h t h e i n d u s t r i a l
w o r k e r c o u l d e n j o y . T h e m a i n a l t e r n a t i v e social o u t l e t for t h e w o r k e r
d u r i n g h i s f e w l e i s u r e h o u r s w a s t h e s m o k e - n l l e d , badly-lit p u b l i c
h o u s e . N o t that chapel a n d p u b w e r e mutually exclusive, h o w e v e r ,
118
Davies, Religion in the Industrial Revolution, pp. 160-1, 166-7; idem, Religion and
Society, pp. 75-7; Lambert, 'Some Working-Class Attitudes', p. 14; D. B. Rees,
Chapels in the Valley (Wirral, 1975), pp. 148, 184-5, 193, 197; Gwyther, 'Sidelights
on Religion and Polities', p. 35; B. Richards, History of the Llynfi Valley (Cowbridge,
1982), pp. 250-1; Lewis, 'Population Changes', p. 312; Morgan, Rebirth, pp. 197-9;
Edwards, The Good Patch, pp. 81-2; B. Thomas, 'Organisation of Religion in Wales',
Welsh Outlook, 16 (1929), p. 365; Third Report of the Commission for the Special Areas,
p. 7; Lush, The Young Adult, pp. 47-8; Jennings, Brynmawr, p. 142; T. N. Williams,
'The Sunday School: Its Failure and Future', Welsh Outlook, 17 (1930), pp. 6-9.
119
Thomas 'Organisation of Religion', pp. 364-5; Morgan, Rebirth, p. 199; Owen,
'Glanllyn', p. 195; Rees, Chapels in the Valley, p. 157; Gwyther, 'Sidelights on
Religion', pp. 36-8; idem, The Valley Shall Be Exalted, pp. 2 1 - 3 , 71; Edwards, The
Good Patch, pp. 1 4 3 - 4 , 1 6 8 - 7 2 ; Francis and Smith, The Fed, pp. 256ff.

Wales 337
for s o m e c o l l i e r s at t h e c l o s e o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y w e r e t o b e
f o u n d g o i n g t o t h e p u b s o n w e e k - d a y s a n d to t h e c h a p e l o n S u n d a y s .
O n Saturday nights, especially pay-Saturday nights, a n d particularly
at t h e l o c a l fairs, d r u n k e n n e s s a n d f i g h t i n g w e r e c o m m o n , e v e n t h e
w o m e n f o l k f i g h t i n g o n e a n o t h e r w i t h b a r e fists. A n o t h e r s o u r c e o f
popular entertainment in the valley t o w n s a n d villages b e t w e e n mid-
c e n t u r y a n d t h e l a t e 1 8 7 0 s a n d , to a l e s s e r e x t e n t , d o w n to 1 9 1 4 , w e r e
t h e p o r t a b l e t h e a t r e s w h i c h v i s i t e d t h e n u m e r o u s fairs. N o t s u r p r i s
ingly, their vulgarity and sensationalism rendered t h e m u n p o p u l a r
w i t h t h e c h a p e l s . F o r all t h a t , t h e y p r o v i d e d a w e l c o m e t o u c h o f g a i e t y
to the harsh lives of the w o r k i n g classes, allegedly d r e w the workers
out of the pubs, a n d w e r e to m a k e the s a m e kind of w a r m appeal
as w a s to b e later found in the music halls of the valley t o w n s a n d
ports of the E d w a r d i a n era. B y the o p e n i n g years of this century t h o s e
still i n b u s i n e s s w e r e b e i n g i n c r e a s i n g l y c o n v e r t e d t o c i n e m a s . T h e
permanent theatres, both those of the county t o w n s and seaside
resorts which h a d b e e n established from the turn of the nineteenth
c e n t u r y a n d t h o s e l a t e r o n e s e s t a b l i s h e d in t h e m a j o r i n d u s t r i a l t o w n s
a n d p o r t s , a l s o p r o v i d e d a n i m p o r t a n t o p p o r t u n i t y for t h e W e l s h
p e o p l e t o e n j o y , a b o v e all, m e l o d r a m a , b u t a l s o s o m e o p e r a and
S h a k e s p e a r e . P r e d i c t a b l y , n o n c o n f o r m i t y o p p o s e d t h e m as t h e h o m e
of frivolity a n d e v e n v i c e . I n t h e c e n t u r y o r s o d o w n to 1 8 8 0 t h e h i g h e s t
s t a n d a r d s o f t h e a t r e i n W a l e s w e r e t o b e f o u n d at S w a n s e a b u t t h e r e
1 2 0
after t h e a t r e at C a r d i f f g r e w f r o m s t r e n g t h t o s t r e n g t h .
B e s i d e s t h e p u b s , t h e a t r e s a n d (later) m u s i c h a l l s , t h e r e w e r e t h e
v i s i t i n g c i r c u s e s a n d t r a v e l l i n g fairs, t h e l a t t e r h o l d i n g o u t for t h e
y o u t h t h e s p e c i a l a t t r a c t i o n o f t h e b o x i n g b o o t h s . W e e k l y bare-fist,
£ l - a - s i d e boxing a n d wrestling bouts also occurred on the hillsides
of t h e R h o n d d a . V e r y p o p u l a r t h e r e , t o o , w e r e t h e h o r s e - r a c i n g a n d
f o o t - r u n n i n g c o n t e s t s at t h e P a r t r i d g e F i e l d , L l w y n y p i a , a n d o t h e r
recreations a m o n g R h o n d d a miners were rounders, quoits, whippet
121
racing a n d particularly hand-ball.
A s i g n i f i c a n t e x t e n s i o n to l e i s u r e a c t i v i t i e s , a n d , w i t h it, i n c r e a s i n g
secularisation of society, c a m e from the 1890s, with organised sport
Jones, 'The South Wales Collier', p. 47; Wil Jon Edwards, From the Valley I Came
(1956), pp. 7, 66; Lewis, 'Population Changes', p. 116; C. Price, 'Portable Theatres
in Wales 1843-1914', National Library of Wales Journal, 9 (1955-6), pp. 65-92; idem,
The Professional Theatre in Wales (Swansea, 1984). Mr Peter Stead made helpful
suggestions for this paragraph.
Lewis, 'Population Changes', p. 125.

n o w p l a y i n g a vital a n d i n c r e a s i n g r o l e in S o u t h W a l e s ' s i n d u s t r i a l
s o c i e t y . B i g c r o w d s m e t to w a t c h w r e s t l i n g , b o x i n g , r u g b y a n d s o c c e r
m a t c h e s . I n t h e E d w a r d i a n e r a S o u t h W a l e s w a s , i n d e e d , to p r o d u c e
some outstanding boxing and wrestling champions. Most spectacu
larly, ' F r e d d i e W e l s h ' a n d J i m m y W i l d e w e r e to b e c o m e w o r l d b o x i n g
c h a m p i o n s . R u g b y b e c a m e a passion that gripped a large section of
t h e p o p u l a t i o n o f E d w a r d i a n S o u t h W a l e s like a spell - s o m e c o n t e m
p o r a r i e s w o u l d h a v e s a i d a n evil s p e l l . D u r i n g t h e 1 8 7 0 s a n d 1 8 8 0 s
it w a s , h o w e v e r , v e r y m u c h a m i d d l e - c l a s s g a m e a n d w a s , m o r e o v e r ,
often played b y m e n of n o n - W e l s h birth from the n e i g h b o u r i n g W e s t
Country strongholds of the g a m e w h o , from the 1860s, h a d gone
w e s t to m a k e t h e i r f o r t u n e s as p r o f e s s i o n a l p e o p l e i n t h e b o n a n z a
society of industrial S o u t h W a l e s . B y the early 1890s the numerous
v i l l a g e s i n coalfield s o c i e t y h a d c o m e to b o a s t t h e i r o w n c l u b s c o n t a i n
i n g w o r k i n g - c l a s s p l a y e r s a n d at t h e s a m e t i m e t h e l o n g e r - s t a n d i n g
clubs of the larger t o w n s b e g a n to recruit w o r k i n g m e n . M o r e o v e r ,
t h e n a t i o n a l s i d e b y t h e late 1 8 9 0 s h a d c o m e t o i n c l u d e h e a v y w o r k i n g -
c l a s s ' R h o n d d a F o r w a r d s ' (a t e r m a c t u a l l y e m b r a c i n g tinplatemen,
s t e e l w o r k e r s a n d d o c k e r s , as w e l l as c o l l i e r s ) , w h o p l a y e d a n i m p o r t
a n t p a r t i n s e c u r i n g n o l e s s t h a n six T r i p l e C r o w n s b e t w e e n 1 9 0 0
a n d 1 9 1 2 . R u g b y t h u s c a m e to act as a s o c i a l s o l v e n t b y c u t t i n g a c r o s s
class barriers a n d bringing together w o r k i n g a n d middle-class players
a n d s p e c t a t o r s a l i k e . J u s t as i m p o r t a n t l y , it b e c a m e b y 1 9 0 0 a ' f o c u s
for n a t i o n a l i t y ' , a ( p l e a s i n g ) m e a n s for a s s e r t i n g W e l s h n a t i o n a l i d e n
tity. A l t h o u g h r u g b y w a s t h e d o m i n a n t s p o r t i n S o u t h W a l e s , s o c c e r ,
too, h a d a wide appeal a m o n g the S o u t h W a l e s industrial communities
f r o m t h e 1 8 9 0 s , a n d b e t w e e n 1 8 9 0 a n d 1 9 0 6 ( b e f o r e t h e full i m p l i c a t i o n s
of p r o f e s s i o n a l i s m w e r e felt) t h e f o u r m o s t s u c c e s s f u l c l u b s w e r e
R o g e r s t o n e , Treharris, A b e r d a r e a n d Barry. I n d e e d , in geographical
1 2 2
terms, soccer w o n wider appeal amongst the W e l s h than rugby.
A f u r t h e r t o u c h o f c o l o u r a n d d i v e r s i o n w a s afforded W e l s h s o c i e t y ,
p a r t i c u l a r l y after t h e c o m i n g o f rail c o m m u n i c a t i o n , b y visits a n d
e x c u r s i o n s to s e a s i d e r e s o r t s a n d i n l a n d s p a s . T h u s r a i l w a y e x c u r s i o n s
to S w a n s e a w e r e b e c o m i n g c o m m o n a m o n g M e r t h y r w o r k m e n in
t h e 1 8 5 0 s w h i l e , f r o m t h e 1 8 8 0 s , colliers f r o m t h e W e l s h s t e a m c o a l
v a l l e y s w e n t o n d a y e x c u r s i o n s b y rail to B a r r y a n d P o r t h c a w l . S i m i -
122
Ibid., pp. 125-6; Morgan, Rebirth, pp. 133-4; Smith, Wales! Wales? pp. 35-7;
B. Lile and D. Farmer, 'The Early Development of Association Football in South
Wales, 1890-1906', Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion (1984),
pp. 193-215.

Wales 339
larly, t h e i n d u s t r i a l p o p u l a t i o n o f N o r t h W a l e s , t o g e t h e r w i t h t h o s e
o f L a n c a s h i r e , w e r e d r a w n i n c r e a s i n g l y f r o m t h e 1 8 6 0 s to t h e r e s o r t s
of L l a n d u d n o , C o l w y n B a y a n d R h y l . V i s i t s w e r e a l s o m a d e b y m e m
bers of S o u t h W a l e s industrial society to the inland spas of Llandrin-
1 2 3
dod Wells and Llanwrtyd.
C l a s s stratification o f l e i s u r e w a s h e r e a p p a r e n t i n t h e t e n d e n c y
for c e r t a i n r e s o r t s t o c a t e r for a p a r t i c u l a r t y p e o f v i s i t o r . T h u s it w a s
t h e m i d d l e c l a s s e s w h o s p e n t t h e i r s u m m e r h o l i d a y s at L l a n d r i n d o d
W e l l s w h i l e w o r k i n g - c l a s s c o l l i e r s w e n t to L l a n w r t y d . L i k e w i s e , i n
the south, the bourgeoisie visited Penarth whereas the working classes
m a d e day excursions to Barry, and, in the north, L l a n d u d n o attracted
the middle classes - mainly from Lancashire - and Rhyl the working
c l a s s e s . C l a s s stratification o f l e i s u r e c o u l d b e s e e n , t o o , i n s p o r t ;
r u g b y , w e h a v e s h o w n , w a s at first a m i d d l e - c l a s s g a m e a n d c r i c k e t ,
too, w a s played b y the middle classes. O n the other h a n d , the native
W e l s h g a m e o f h a n d - b a l l w a s p l a y e d b y t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s e s in t h e
1 2 4
tavern yards of the industrial villages of S o u t h W a l e s . There was,
t o o , c l a s s stratification o f o t h e r m o r e s e r i o u s f a c e t s o f c u l t u r e : i n t h e
pre-1880 years the secondary schools of W a l e s were the preserve of
c h i l d r e n o f t h e m i d d l e c l a s s e s w h i l e it will b e a p p a r e n t t h a t w h e r e a s
t h e C h u r c h o f E n g l a n d in t h e e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y h a d b e e n a
church of the l a n d e d gentry, industrial m a g n a t e s and the traditional,
e s t a b l i s h e d m i d d l e c l a s s e s , t h e c h a p e l s i n rural a n d u r b a n W a l e s w e r e
solidly w o r k i n g class in c o m p o s i t i o n . F r o m mid-century, however,
t h i s e a r l i e r c l a s s stratification w a s s l o w l y t o d i s s o l v e : t r u e e n o u g h ,
the landed gentry a n d the old, traditional middle classes continued
t o d o m i n a t e t h e C h u r c h o f E n g l a n d in rural a r e a s w h i l e t h e p e a s a n t r y
attended the chapels, but n o w there grew up gradually within both
rural a n d u r b a n n o n c o n f o r m i t y a middle-class leadership, and, within
u r b a n n o n c o n f o r m i t y , m a n y o f t h e c o a l o w n e r s o f t h e late n i n e t e e n t h
1 2 5
century were nonconformists.
If n o n c o n f o r m i t y w a s a c r u c i a l m a r k e r o f W e l s h e t h n i c i d e n t i t y ,
1 2 6
of e v e n g r e a t e r i m p o r t a n c e i n t h i s r e s p e c t w a s t h e W e l s h l a n g u a g e .
123
A. V. John, 'The Chartists of Industrial South Wales' (unpublished MA thesis,
University of Wales, 1970), pp. 178-9; Morgan and Thomas, Wales p. 124; P. Stead,
'The Town that had Come of Age, 1918-39', in Moore, ed., Barry, p. 380; I. W.
Jones, Llandudno (Cardiff, 1975).
124
Morgan, Rebirth, pp. 128-9; Morgan and Thomas, Wales, p. 209.
125
Davies, Religion and Society, p. 17; idem, Religion in the Industrial Revolution,
pp. 148-51.
126
Khleif, Language, pp. 34ff; Aull, 'Ethnic Nationalism in Wales', pp. 77-8; W y n
Griffith, 'What is the Welsh Way of Life?', Welsh Outlook, 52 (1965).

While i n d u s t r i a l d e v e l o p m e n t h a d a b e n e f i c i a l i n f l u e n c e in p r o l o n g i n g
its life, a r g u e s B r i n l e y T h o m a s , b y d i n t o f c o n c e n t r a t i n g t h e b u l k o f
W e l s h - s p e a k i n g , rural m i g r a n t s w i t h i n t h e S o u t h W a l e s i n d u s t r i a l val
leys (though Dudley Baines has (perhaps unconvincingly) contended
that T h o m a s has overestimated the extent of this W e l s h migration
t h e r e ) , it n e v e r t h e l e s s h a s t e n e d its d e c l i n e in t h e l o n g r u n b y a t t r a c t i n g
' o u t s i d e ' E n g l i s h - s p e a k i n g m i g r a n t s . T h e crucial t u r n i n g p o i n t w a s
1 9 0 1 - 1 1 : up until then, T h o m a s a n d others claim, t h e s e i n c o m i n g
migrants had b e e n successfully absorbed by the Welsh-speaking
population (though the claim b y a knowledgeable c o n t e m p o r a r y that
by the mid-1880s 'children in the R h o n d d a speak English habitually
in t h e p l a y - g r o u n d ; this results from the immigration of English
p e o p l e ' c a s t s s o m e d o u b t as t o t h e total v a l i d i t y o f t h i s c o n t e n t i o n ) ,
but the decade 1 9 0 1 - 1 1 attracted such large n u m b e r s from E n g l a n d
that they could not b e successfully absorbed: henceforth the language
w a s fatally i n r e t r e a t , t h e p e r c e n t a g e o f W e l s h - s p e a k e r s i n W a l e s fall
i n g n o t i c e a b l y after 1 9 0 1 a n d , crucially, absolute n u m b e r s dropping
1 2 7
after 1 9 1 1 .
E v e n if a b s o l u t e n u m b e r s of W e l s h - s p e a k e r s r o s e i n t h e n i n e t e e n t h
century, there was, nevertheless, already from the early nineteenth
century a proportional decline in this group. E c o n o m i c pressures led
to a g r o w t h o f b i - l i n g u a l i s m w h i c h in t h e n a t u r e o f t h i n g s l e d o n
128
to a n g l i c i s a t i o n . W e l s h p a r e n t s b y t h e 1 8 4 0 s w e r e a n x i o u s for t h e i r
c h i l d r e n t o l e a r n E n g l i s h i n o r d e r to ' g e t o n ' a n d b y t h a t d e c a d e (if
n o t earlier) d o w n to t h e e a r l y 1 8 9 0 s , w h e n it w a s a l m o s t o b s o l e t e ,
the punitive ' W e l s h not' e n s u r e d that children did not speak W e l s h
d u r i n g s c h o o l h o u r s . D o w n to t h e 1 8 8 0 s t h e E n g l i s h g o v e r n m e n t n e g
l e c t e d t h e l a n g u a g e , t h e 1 8 6 1 R e v i s e d C o d e i g n o r i n g its e x i s t e n c e a n d
t h e r e b y e n s u r i n g its b a n i s h m e n t f r o m t h e s c h o o l s . T h e e x t e n s i o n o f
elementary education from the 1870s, of course, intensified the C o d e ' s
a d v e r s e effects. T h e s i t u a t i o n w a s all t h e m o r e tragic i n s o f a r as t h e
supposed s a f e g u a r d o f t h e W e l s h l a n g u a g e in t h e e y e s o f p a r e n t s
a n d a u t h o r i t i e s alike, n a m e l y , t h e n o n c o n f o r m i s t S u n d a y s c h o o l s ,
w e r e failing to i n s t r u c t c h i l d r e n i n p r o p e r g r a m m a t i c a l u s a g e w h i c h
m e a n t t h a t b y t h e 1 8 8 0 s W e l s h as a written l a n g u a g e w a s falling i n t o
7
Thomas, T h e Industrial Revolution and the Welsh Language , pp. 16-17;
D. Baines, Migration in a Mature Economy: Emigration and Internal Migration in England
and Wales, 1861-1900 (Cambridge, 1985); Southall, Wales and her Language, p. 127.
Thomas, T h e Industrial Revolution and the Welsh Language', p. 15.

Wales 341
1 2
disuse. School Board managers, inspectors, teachers and parents
alike f r u s t r a t e d t h e i m p l e m e n t a t i o n o f b i - l i n g u a l t e a c h i n g in e l e m e n
t a r y s c h o o l s after t h e (at last) f a v o u r a b l e g o v e r n m e n t c o n c e s s i o n s o f
1 8 8 8 ; o n l y after t h e r e o r g a n i s a t i o n o f s c h o o l m a n a g e m e n t f o l l o w i n g
1 9 0 2 did b i - l i n g u a l s c h e m e s b e c o m e a d o p t e d b u t e v e n t h e n t h e y w e r e
1 3 0
not p u s h e d through. P e r h a p s e v e n m o r e h a r m f u l w e r e t h e effects
of t h e m u c h - l a u d e d I n t e r m e d i a t e E d u c a t i o n A c t o f 1 8 8 9 - itself m a i n l y
t h e o u t c o m e o f t h e p a s s i o n for e d u c a t i o n a m o n g t h e p o o r e r c l a s s e s
induced principally b y nonconformity and unrivalled amongst the
E n g l i s h l o w e r c l a s s e s - for t h e n e w ' c o u n t y ' s c h o o l s failed to e n c o u r a g e
t h e t e a c h i n g o f W e l s h . M a n y o f t h e i r p r o d u c t s , e s p e c i a l l y i n rural
a r e a s , left W a l e s to e n t e r t h e p r o f e s s i o n s in E n g l i s h t o w n s a n d cities;
while a marvellous n e w social mobility w a s thus achieved this never
t h e l e s s h a d dire r e s u l t s for t h e l a n g u a g e . M i g r a t i o n d r a i n e d t h e W e l s h
a r e a s , u r b a n a n d rural, o f t h e i r m o s t t a l e n t e d p e o p l e a n d s o left t h e m
1 3 1
culturally i m p o v e r i s h e d . (Another unfortunate result of the aca
demic bias of these secondary schools w a s that the interests of the
m a j o r i t y w e r e sacrificed a n d t h i s m a y h a v e b e e n a m a j o r r e a s o n for
t h e h i g h p e r c e n t a g e o f w o r k i n g - c l a s s c h i l d r e n in G l a m o r g a n l e a v i n g
1 3 2
before reaching the higher forms. )
F r o m the early years of this century other influences h a v e h a r m e d
the language, so that w h e r e a s in 1891, 5 4 per cent could speak W e l s h ,
b y 1 9 1 1 t h i s h a d fallen to 4 4 p e r c e n t , b y 1 9 3 1 to 3 7 p e r c e n t a n d
by 1951 to 29 per cent. Besides the u n p r e c e d e n t e d n u m b e r of English
i m m i g r a n t s already referred to, other factors h a s t e n i n g anglicisation
were the decline of nonconformity, and, associated with this, the
d e c l i n e i n vitality o f l o c a l p a t r i o t i c a n d l i t e r a r y s o c i e t i e s ; t h e e c o n o m i c
dislocation of the 1920s a n d 1930s w h i c h drove t h o u s a n d s out of rural
and older industrial communities either into the m o r e anglicised
coastal areas of the n e w metal industries or out of Wales altogether;
the g r o w t h of the m a s s media w h i c h , together with increased social
129
Southall, Wales and her Language, pp. 76, 8 4 - 5 , 113ff, 191; idem, Bi-Lingual Teaching
in Welsh Elementary Schools (Newport, 1888), pp. i-ii; M. J. Evans, 'Elementary
Education in Montgomeryshire, 1850-1900', Montgomeryshire Collections, 63 (1973-
4), pp. 15-16; HMSO, Welsh in Education and Life (1927), p. 150; Williams, Religion,
Language and Nationality, p. 145.
130
Welsh in Education and Life, p. 70.
131
Ibid., pp. 61-2; Williams, Religion, Language and Nationality, pp. 145-6; G. E. Jones,
Controls and Conflicts, pp. 83-4, for an excellent discussion; J. R. Webster, 'The
Place of Secondary Education in Welsh Society, 1800-1917' (unpublished PhD the
sis, University of Wales, 1959), pp. 171-90.
132
P. Stead, 'Schools and Society in Glamorgan before 1914', Morgannwg, 19 (1975),
pp. 49-51.

m o b i l i t y d e r i v i n g f r o m m o t o r t r a n s p o r t , fatally u n d e r m i n e d t h e o l d
a n d s e l f - p e r p e t u a t i n g l i n g u i s t i c a n d c u l t u r a l a u t o n o m y o f local a r e a s ;
1 3 3
the development of tourism; and contraception.
If t h e l a n g u a g e for m o s t W e l s h p e o p l e i n t w e n t i e t h - c e n t u r y W a l e s
has b e e n English, so, too, has b e e n their literature. In earlier centuries,
h o w e v e r , the m o s t important literary tradition w a s W e l s h . T h e W e l s h
cultural revival of the eighteenth century w a s the w o r k of a group
of m i d d l e - c l a s s l i t e r a r y e n t h u s i a s t s w h o , d i s m a y e d at t h e t w i n a d v e r s e
cultural impact of the decline of the bardic order a n d the neglect of
W e l s h c u l t u r e b y a f a s t - a n g l i c i s i n g g e n t r y , a n d fired b y Augustan
neo-classicism, u n d e r t o o k a search into medieval W e l s h literature in
o r d e r to d i s c o v e r classical m o d e l s t h a t m i g h t s t a n d c o m p a r i s o n w i t h
the work of r e n o w n e d G r e e k a n d Latin authors. That t h e y could pub
lish ancient texts, dictionaries a n d g r a m m a r s o n such an u n p r e c e
d e n t e d scale w a s m a d e possible b y the vast increase in literacy from
the late s e v e n t e e n t h century as a c o n s e q u e n c e of the religious - C h u r c h
of E n g l a n d a n d O l d D i s s e n t as w e l l a s M e t h o d i s t - a n d e d u c a t i o n a l
e n l i v e n m e n t o f t h e p e r i o d . I r o n i c a l l y , t h e v e h i c l e for m u c h o f t h i s
enthusiasm for a n t i q u a r i a n i s m and romantic patriotism - which
resorted to m u c h mythical invention in order to give the c o m m o n
p e o p l e a s e n s e of, a n d p r i d e i n , t h e i r p a s t - w e r e t h e L o n d o n - b a s e d
societies f o u n d e d in the late e i g h t e e n t h century, societies w h i c h , along
w i t h t h e r e v i v e d eisteddfod f r o m 1 7 8 9 , w e r e t o c o n t i n u e i n t o t h e n i n e
1 3 4
t e e n t h c e n t u r y t o p l a y a vital r o l e in p r o m o t i n g W e l s h c u l t u r e .
Despite the rapid rise of n o n c o n f o r m i t y , W e l s h culture w a s to b e
d o m i n a t e d i n t h e first t h i r t y o r forty y e a r s o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y
by romantic Anglican parsons and by the gentry, w h o were the mov
i n g spirits b e h i n d t h e eisteddfodau a n d literary m o v e m e n t s . A s yet,
nonconformity was preoccupied with theological concerns and was,
indeed, u n s y m p a t h e t i c t o w a r d s t h e s e activities as o c c a s i o n s w h i c h
l e d p e o p l e a s t r a y . H o w e v e r , b e f o r e m i d - c e n t u r y it w a s t o r e l a x its
p r e v i o u s m i s t r u s t o f b o t h political i n v o l v e m e n t a n d t h e eisteddfod
a n d p a t r i o t i c s o c i e t i e s s o t h a t , i n c r e a s i n g l y , W e l s h m u s i c a n d litera
t u r e c a m e u n d e r its d o m i n a n c e . W e l s h c u l t u r e n o w b e c a m e a t r u l y
133
Morgan and Thomas, Wales, pp. 53-4; Williams, Religion, Language and Nationality,
p. 29; Thomas, 'The Industrial Revolution and the Welsh Language', p. 21;
A. B. Philip, The Welsh Question: Nationalism in Welsh Politics, 1945-1970 (Cardiff,
1975), pp. 42-7.
134
Williams, Religion, Language and Nationality, pp. 2 2 - 3 , 25, 138-9; Morgan and
Thomas, Wales, pp. 184-5; Williams, When Was Wales?, p. 165; P. Morgan, The
Eighteenth-Century Renaissance (Llandybie, 1981), pp. 101-35.

Wales 343
peasant' culture, the ordinary working-class members of s o c i e t y

o r g a n i s i n g a n d c r e a t i n g t h e i r o w n m u s i c a n d l i t e r a t u r e w h i c h in t u r n
p r o d u c e d a level of peasant intellectual a n d cultural attainment that
w a s not m a t c h e d a m o n g s t English w o r k e r s . W e are n o w in the heroic
a g e o f t h e c h a p e l c h o i r s a n d cymanfaoedd (singing festivals), w h i c h
assemblies had become extremely popular throughout Wales by the
1 8 7 0 s . T h e a n n u a l eisteddfod m e e t i n g s held in m o s t W e l s h villages
from mid-century, many, w e have seen, associated with the chapels,
a n d , u n l i k e t h e p r o v i n c i a l eisteddfodau a n d t h e n a t i o n a l eisteddfod -
t h e l a t t e r d a t i n g effectively f r o m 1 8 5 8 - p r e d o m i n a n t l y W e l s h in t h e i r
transactions, also saw extensive music making, not only sacred but
s e c u l a r a l s o . B o t h c h a p e l a n d eisteddfod music w e r e to b e a highly
distinctive e l e m e n t of W e l s h culture d o w n to 1914, but thereafter the
(interconnected) decline of chapel and the language saw outside
135
influence take over in t h e form of A n g l o - A m e r i c a n e n t e r t a i n m e n t .
I n a s i m i l a r v e i n , t h e l i t e r a t u r e o f W a l e s h a d b y m i d - c e n t u r y fallen
into the h a n d s of 'workers, peasants and preachers'. T h o s e powerful
transmuting agencies of nineteenth-century W e l s h society, noncon
formity and industrialism, w h e r e b y W a l e s w a s to b e c o m e m o r a l l y
p u r i t a n a n d S a b b a t a r i a n , r a d i c a l i s e d a n d i n c r e a s i n g l y fired w i t h n a t i o
n a l i s t p r i d e - t h o u g h i n t h e e a r l y d e c a d e s s h o w i n g little s i g n s o f b e c o m
ing transmitters of that earlier linguistic a n d patriotic c o n s c i o u s n e s s
- b y m i d - c e n t u r y w e r e i n f l u e n c i n g a g r e a t o u t p o u r i n g o f W e l s h litera
ture and W e l s h newspapers a n d p e r i o d i c a l s . T h e h u g e influx i n t o
t h e S o u t h W a l e s coalfield o f W e l s h - s p e a k i n g , n o n c o n f o r m i s t i m m i
grants created a relatively p r o s p e r o u s a n d increasingly literate work
force, w h o c a m e to d e m a n d growing n u m b e r s of W e l s h b o o k s and
p e r i o d i c a l s . T h e eisteddfod, g r o w i n g e v e r m o r e p o p u l a r o v e r t h e n i n e
t e e n t h c e n t u r y , w a s t h e vital v e h i c l e for l i t e r a r y o u t p u t o f a n artistic
kind. Significantly, from mid-century the mythologising and fantasis
i n g o f t h e ' e i g h t e e n t h - c e n t u r y r e n a i s s a n c e ' fell a w a y b e f o r e t h e n e w
interest in the W e l s h literary w o r l d in material progress a n d rational
discussion. But, predictably, m o s t of the W e l s h literature produced
1 3 6
from mid-century w a s of a religious n a t u r e .
Williams, Religion, Language and Nationality, pp. 140-1; Morgan and Thomas, Wales,
pp. 163-4, 187, 199; Welsh in Education and Life, pp. 75-7; Parry-Jones, My Own
Folk, p. 47.
Morgan and Thomas, Wales, pp. 187-8, 200-4; Williams, Religion, Language and
Nationality, pp. 141-2; Welsh in Education and Life, pp. 76-7; Morgan, The Eighteenth-
Century Renaissance, pp. 154-5.

F r o m t h e last q u a r t e r of t h e c e n t u r y , h o w e v e r , as W e l s h s o c i e t y
b e c a m e more secular, there occurred a break-out from the previous
m o n o l i t h i c literary p a t t e r n o f p u r i t a n p i e t y a n d r a d i c a l p o l e m i c . N o w ,
for i n s t a n c e , w e s e e e s s a y s a n d n o v e l s g a i n i n g in p o p u l a r i t y . A l t o
g e t h e r W e l s h literary s t a n d a r d s b e c a m e m o r e critical, s c h o l a r l y a n d
s e c u l a r . C r u c i a l in i n f l u e n c i n g t h i s u p g r a d i n g w e r e t h e y o u n g stu
dents, notably O w e n M . Edwards and John Morris Jones, gathered
1 3 7
around Sir J o h n R h y s , Principal of Jesus College, O x f o r d .
D u r i n g t h e 1 9 2 0 s t h e r e e m e r g e d a brilliant, c r e a t i v e g r o u p o f W e l s h
w r i t e r s w h o s p e c i a l i s e d i n w r i t i n g critical e s s a y s , e s s a y s o f s e l f - a n a l y s i s
a n d short stories, outstanding a m o n g w h o m w e r e S a u n d e r s Lewis,
R. T. J e n k i n s , W . J . Gruffydd, K a t e Roberts, D . J . Williams, T. H.
Parry-Williams and D. Gwenallt Jones. Characteristic strands of
t h o u g h t in t h e i r w o r k s w e r e a m o r e v i g o r o u s s o c i a l i s m a n d p a c i f i s m ,
a n e w attraction towards medieval Catholicism a n d a m o r e positive
a t t a c h m e n t t o W e l s h political n a t i o n a l i s m . It w a s , h o w e v e r , p e r h a p s
t h e i m p a c t o f t h e firing o f t h e L l e y n b o m b i n g s c h o o l in 1 9 3 6 w h i c h
p r o v i d e d t h e vital s t i m u l u s i n t o p u s h i n g W e l s h w r i t e r s i n t o a d o p t i n g
1 3 8
a h e i g h t e n e d radical nationalist s t a n c e .
Besides the impressive W e l s h publications of the 1920s and 1930s,
c o n f i n e d albeit to a m i d d l e - c l a s s r e a d e r s h i p , t h e r e w a s a l s o a flourish
ing Anglo-Welsh school during the interwar years, w h o s e starting
point lay in the novels of Caradoc E v a n s , w h o bitterly attacked with
s u r e l y ' s a v a g e d i s p r o p o r t i o n ' w h a t h e s a w as t h e h y p o c r i s y o f rural,
nonconformist W a l e s . Anglo-Welsh novelists of the 1920s and 1930s
like G w y n J o n e s , G l y n J o n e s , G w y n T h o m a s a n d J a c k J o n e s , m o s t l y
n a t i v e s o f t h e i n d u s t r i a l s o u t h , r e a c t e d a g a i n s t t h e v a l u e s o f radical
a n d r u r a l n o n c o n f o r m i t y . I n a W a l e s b y n o w fast b e c o m i n g p e o p l e d
b y E n g l i s h - s p e a k i n g W e l s h m e n , t h e y s o u g h t to c o m e t o t e r m s w i t h
t h e o b v i o u s p r o b l e m o f i d e n t i t y a n d to m a k e s e n s e o f t h e i r s o m e w h a t
schizoid existence as English-speaking W e l s h m e n . M a n y of the novel
ists w e r e left-wing a n d w r o t e o u t o f i n d i g n a t i o n at t h e g r i m t r a g e d y
139
that befell S o u t h W a l e s during the d e p r e s s i o n .
Williams, Religion, Language and Nationality, p. 17; Morgan and Thomas, Wales,
pp. 188-9; Thomas Parry, 'The Welsh Renaissance of the Twentieth Century',
in Roderick, ed., Wales through the Ages, vol. 2, pp. 209-14.
Morgan and Thomas, Wales, p. 190; Morgan, Rebirth, pp. 246-8; D. H. Davies,
The Welsh Nationalist Party, 1925-45 (Cardiff, 1983), pp. 165-6.
Anon., 'Caradoc Evans', Welsh Review, 4 (1954), pp. 24ff; Morgan, Rebirth, pp. 250,
258ff; Morgan and Thomas, Wales, pp. 192-3; Williams, When Was Wales?, pp. 284-6;
Anon., 'Jack Jones', Welsh Review, 6 (1947).

Wales 345
IV
G i v e n its o v e r w h e l m i n g n o n c o n f o r m i t y a n d m a j o r i n d u s t r i a l d e v e l o p
m e n t in t h e s o u t h - e a s t , it is n o t s u r p r i s i n g t h a t t h e W e l s h p e o p l e
e a r l y c a s t off t h e c e n t u r i e s - o l d political c o n t r o l of t h e l a n d o w n e r s a n d
e m b r a c e d radical Liberalism. F r o m the 1830s O l d Dissent, a n d from
t h e late 1 8 4 0 s t r a d i t i o n a l l y c o n s e r v a t i v e C a l v i n i s t i c M e t h o d i s m as w e l l ,
b e c a m e i n c r e a s i n g l y v o c i f e r o u s a b o u t t h e civil disabilities o f t h e i r s e c t s
w h o , significantly, w e r e fast b e c o m i n g t h e m a j o r i t y o f t h e ' r e l i g i o u s '
p e o p l e o f W a l e s . T h e i r g r i e v a n c e s w e r e felt to b e t h o s e o f t h e p e o p l e
of W a l e s a n d f e e l i n g s w e r e d r a m a t i c a l l y h e i g h t e n e d b y t h e i n c r e d i b l e
insult h e a p e d o n the W e l s h t o n g u e and nonconformity b y the Edu
1 4 0
cation Commissioners of 1 8 4 7 . (This d e v e l o p m e n t and articulation
of a m i d d l e - c l a s s s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s a r o u n d m i d - c e n t u r y , it will b e
apparent, was growing up alongside and was antipathetic towards
the i n d e p e n d e n t working-class m o v e m e n t e n s h r i n e d in C h a r t i s m a n d
R e b e c c a a n d , as w e h a v e s e e n , f r o m t h e 1 8 5 0 s t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s e s
w e r e to a b a n d o n their former independent course of action and
instead c o m e to co-operate closely with the middle class; that this
o c c u r r e d w a s l a r g e l y o w i n g to t h e i n f l u e n c e o f t h e c h a p e l e t h o s a n d
141
growing economic prosperity. ) F o r all t h e r a d i c a l l e a v e n i n g o f earlier
d e c a d e s , t h e r e a l b r e a k - t h r o u g h in t h e p o l i t i c i s a t i o n o f t h e W e l s h p e o
p l e w a s o n l y to c o m e i n t h e 1 8 6 0 s , w h e n t h e i n c i p i e n t m i d d l e - c l a s s
elite o f t h e c h a p e l s w e r e e d u c a t e d in politics; a l l - i m p o r t a n t h e r e w e r e
the huge and unprecedented outpourings of Welsh and English news
p a p e r s a n d , vitally, t h e L i b e r a t i o n S o c i e t y , w h o s e l o c a l - b a s e d o r g a n i
s a t i o n f r o m t h e start o f t h e 1 8 6 0 s u r g e d W e l s h p e o p l e t o v o t e i n t o
Parliament m e m b e r s w h o w o u l d represent their true n e e d s b y calling
for full civic e q u a l i t y for n o n c o n f o r m i s t s . T h e 1 8 6 7 f r a n c h i s e e x t e n s i o n ,
t o g e t h e r w i t h t h e fact t h a t t h e 1 8 6 8 e l e c t i o n w a s f o u g h t o v e r I r i s h
Disestablishment, with which Welsh nonconformists could fully
e m p a t h i s e , s a w t h e first m a j o r , if l i m i t e d , b l o w dealt political l a n d
l o r d i s m i n W a l e s i n t h e s a i d e l e c t i o n . U n d o u b t e d l y , t h e t r u e signifi
c a n c e o f 1 8 6 8 l a y in t h e a f t e r m a t h o f v i n d i c t i v e e v i c t i o n s o f t e n a n t s
b y t h e i r d i s a p p o i n t e d a n d s m a r t i n g l a n d l o r d s , for c o n s e q u e n t l y t h e
The best coverage is Morgan, Wales in British Politics, chap. 1.

Ibid., pp. 15-16; Jones, Explorations and Explanations, pp. 290-1; idem, 'The South
Wales Collier', pp. 4 9 - 5 1 .

p r e v i o u s g e n u i n e ties o f political l o y a l t y o n t h e p a r t o f t e n a n t s to
1 4 2
their traditional representatives w e r e severely w e a k e n e d .
T h e p e r i o d o f L i b e r a l a s c e n d a n c y i n W a l e s f r o m 1 8 6 8 d o w n to t h e
c l o s e o f t h e First W o r l d W a r , w h e n L a b o u r s u p p l a n t e d it, w a s a vital
o n e for t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f W a l e s as a n a t i o n . T h e S e c r e t B a l l o t A c t
of 1 8 7 2 , t h e f r a n c h i s e e x t e n s i o n o f t h e m i d - e i g h t i e s a n d t h e L o c a l
G o v e r n m e n t Acts of 1888 and 1894 together provided the m e c h a n i s m s
w h e r e b y the nonconformist people of W a l e s w e r e enabled to seize
political p o w e r f r o m a n ' a l i e n ' s q u i r e a r c h y a n d c h u r c h . S u c h w a s
the impact of the franchise reform of 1 8 8 4 - 5 that the continuing domi
n a n c e of the gentry in m a n y constituencies w a s dramatically e n d e d ,
for in e v e r y p a r l i a m e n t a r y e l e c t i o n after 1 8 8 5 d o w n t o 1 9 1 8 L i b e r a l s
g a i n e d t h e o v e r w h e l m i n g m a j o r i t y o f b o t h u r b a n a n d rural s e a t s , a n d
in the twenty years following 1886 W a l e s w a s the most intensely
L i b e r a l o f a n y ' r e g i o n ' i n t h e B r i t i s h I s l e s . G e n t r y p o w e r w a s felt
m o s t intensely, h o w e v e r , in the localities, a n d here a revolution in
local g o v e r n m e n t o c c u r r e d f o l l o w i n g t h e 1 8 8 8 C o u n t y C o u n c i l A c t ;
g e n t r y c a n d i d a t e s w e r e r e j e c t e d w h o l e s a l e at t h e p o l l s i n f a v o u r o f
the nonconformist middle class a n d h e r e in W a l e s , o n c e again m o r e
so than elsewhere, the breach with the 'feudal' past was severe. Like
w i s e , t h e P a r i s h C o u n c i l A c t o f 1 8 9 4 , t h o u g h n o t s o drastic in its
i m p a c t , f u r t h e r d e n u d e d t h e i r l o c a l a u t h o r i t y . I n t h e first c o u n c i l e l e c
tions the sheer t h o r o u g h n e s s of the 'rural revolution' in rural areas
1 4 3
of S o u t h W a l e s r e s e m b l e d t h a t o f E a s t A n g l i a .
T h e 1880s also s a w an exhilarating, t e m p e s t u o u s sea-change in
W e l s h p o l i t i c s , for n o w t h e e a r l i e r n o n c o n f o r m i s t L i b e r a l i s m w a s b e i n g
t r a n s m u t e d into nationalism as n e w , distinctly ' W e l s h ' issues c a m e
to d o m i n a t e t h e L i b e r a l p a r t y i n W a l e s . ( A n d t h i s n e w b r a n d o f W e l s h -
n e s s h a d a q u i t e different c h e m i s t r y - m o r e a g g r e s s i v e a n d p o w e r f u l
- f r o m t h e earlier W e l s h n e s s p r o m o t e d b y t h e eighteenth-century
W e l s h scholar patriots.) Central to this m e t a m o r p h o s i s w a s the emer
g e n c e of a w h o l e n e w group of y o u n g nonconformist radical W e l s h
m e n , n o t a b l y D a v i d L l o y d G e o r g e a n d T o m Ellis, a r d e n t l y p a t r i o t i c
a n d z e a l o u s to p r o m o t e t h e d i s t i n c t i v e c l a i m s o f W a l e s a s a n o n c o n
formist nation, a group w h i c h replaced the older, elderly W h i g g i s h
L i b e r a l s . Ellis h e l d t h a t E n g l a n d h a d h i t h e r t o t r e a t e d W a l e s ' m a i n l y
142
Jones, Explorations and Explanations, pp. 236-68, 292-8; Morgan, Wales in British
Politics, pp. 17, 22-7.
143
Again, the authoritative treatment is Morgan, Rebirth, pp. 2 6 - 3 1 , 52-3; idem, 'From
Cymru Fydd to Crowther', in Jones, ed., Anatomy of Wales, pp. 18-19; R. Heath,
T h e Rural Revolution', Contemporary Review, 67 (1895), pp. 187-9.

Wales 347
1 4 4
with contemptuous neglect'. A Welsh parliamentary party now
e m e r g e d to l e n d g r e a t e r u n i t y a n d d i s c i p l i n e t h a n h i t h e r t o . T h e m o s t
c h e r i s h e d a m o n g t h e n e w i s s u e s w a s t h a t o f D i s e s t a b l i s h m e n t (itself
p u s h e d f o r w a r d all t h e m o r e v i g o r o u s l y in t h e face o f t h e C h u r c h
of E n g l a n d i n W a l e s h a v i n g s i n c e m i d - c e n t u r y p u l l e d itself t o g e t h e r )
a n d it is w h o l l y significant t h a t f r o m 1 8 8 6 o n w a r d s , u n l i k e h i t h e r t o ,
Disestablishment was being demanded for W a l e s o n a g g r e s s i v e l y
1 4 5
national grounds. S e c o n d to D i s e s t a b l i s h m e n t a s t h e b u r n i n g i s s u e
of t h e 1 8 8 0 s a n d 1 8 9 0 s w a s t h e L a n d Q u e s t i o n , T o m Ellis, B r y n R o b e r t s
a n d o t h e r s d e m a n d i n g s p e c i a l t r e a t m e n t for W a l e s a l o n g Irish l i n e s
to s o l v e t h e d i s t i n c t i v e social a n d e c o n o m i c g r i e v a n c e s o f t h e W e l s h
tenant farmer - although justice b e t w e e n m a n and m a n was seen
b y f a r m e r s a s t o o b t a i n b e t w e e n l a n d l o r d s a n d t e n a n t s , to t h e n e g l e c t
of t h e l a b o u r e r . I n d e e d , i n t h e 1 8 9 2 e l e c t i o n p e o p l e in t h e r u r a l c o n s t i
t u e n c i e s w e r e c o n c e r n e d a b o v e all w i t h t h e W e l s h L a n d Bill. Ellis
s a w D i s e s t a b l i s h m e n t a n d t h e L a n d Q u e s t i o n as ' s t r i k i n g l y i n t e r w o
v e n ' : the clergy and landlords having 'fought into one another's
h a n d s ' t h e p e o p l e p e r f o r c e h a d to ' s t r i k e a g a i n s t b o t h ' . T h a t t h e r e
w e r e g r i e v a n c e s w i t h i n t h e W e l s h l a n d s y s t e m is c l e a r , b u t u n d o u b
t e d l y t h e l a n d i s s u e w a s p l a y e d u p b y r a d i c a l l e a d e r s for political
1 4 6
and sectarian advantage. T h e 'tithe war' was b o u n d up with both
the Land Question and Disestablishment. Although agricultural
d e p r e s s i o n t r i g g e r e d it, t h e d r i v i n g force i n s u s t a i n i n g t h e h o s t i l i t y
w a s the nonconformist hatred of p a y m e n t of tithe to an alien church,
a n d w h e n t h e c l e r g y r e a c t e d u n s y m p a t h e t i c a l l y t o t h e i r initial r e q u e s t
for a b a t e m e n t s a n d t h e E c c l e s i a s t i c a l C o m m i s s i o n e r s r e s o r t e d to dis
tress sales with the help of t h e police a n d military, the farmers (doubt
less encouraged by their nonconformist leaders) became more
extreme, going b e y o n d wanting abatements to opposing p a y m e n t of
tithe as such to an 'alien' c h u r c h . T h e anti-tithe m o v e m e n t b r o a d e n e d
o u t s o a s t o i n c l u d e l a n d r e f o r m a n d , it will b e a p p a r e n t , to s u p p o r t i n g
1 4 7
Disestablishment. Secondary and higher education was, again,
144
K. O. Morgan, 'The Welsh in English Polities', in R. R. Davies, R. A. Griffiths,
I. G. Jones and K. O. Morgan, eds., Welsh Society and Nationhood (Cardiff, 1984),
pp. 237-9; Morgan, The Eighteenth-Century Renaissance, p. 160; Carnarvon and Den
bigh Herald, 28 October 1892.
145
Morgan, Rebirth, pp. 4 0 - 2 .
146
The Times, 2 September, 29 October, 1886; Carnarvon and Denbigh Herald, 16 Sep
tember, 28 October, 11 November, 1892; Morgan, Rebirth, pp. 3 8 - 9 .
147
Inquiry as to the Disturbances Connected with the Levying of Tithe Rent Charge in Wales,
PP 1887, XXXVIII; Morgan, Rebirth, p. 40; Dunbabin, Rural Discontent, pp. 211-31,
282-96.

s e e n as a n a r e a i n w h i c h W a l e s , w i t h its d i s t i n c t i v e c u l t u r e a n d s o c i e t y ,
h a d s p e c i a l c l a i m s to s e p a r a t e t r e a t m e n t , a n d h e r e W e l s h A n g l i c a n s
a n d t h e C o n s e r v a t i v e g o v e r n m e n t , as w e l l as n o n c o n f o r m i s t s and
Liberals, adopted this nationalist stance. (By w a y of contrast, bitter
sectarian division raged over the issue of W e l s h elementary education,
the p r e d o m i n a n c e of church national schools in W a l e s b e i n g r e s e n t e d
by nonconformists. H e n c e the ' W e l s h Revolt' over the Balfour Act
148
of 1 9 0 2 , w h i c h p u t c h u r c h s c h o o l s for t h e first t i m e o n t h e r a t e s . )
T e m p e r a n c e legislation and reform of the magistracy w e r e also seen
as requiring special treatment to a c c o m m o d a t e the distinctive n e e d s
of W a l e s . T h u s a c h a n g e i n t h e w a y t h a t m a g i s t r a t e s w e r e a p p o i n t e d
w a s s e e n as u r g e n t i n o r d e r to b r i n g i n n o n c o n f o r m i s t s to t h e v a r i o u s
1 4 9
Welsh benches.
The W e l s h radical p r o g r a m m e h a d s o m e s o u n d a c h i e v e m e n t s , per
h a p s m o s t o f all i n t h e s e c u r i n g o f a d i s t i n c t i v e s y s t e m o f u n i v e r s i t y
c o l l e g e s ( t h o s e o f A b e r y s t w y t h , Cardiff a n d B a n g o r ) a n d i n t e r m e d i a t e
s c h o o l s , w h i c h t o g e t h e r , P e t e r S t e a d p e r t i n e n t l y r e m a r k s , ' i n effect
established the basis of m o d e r n W e l s h society'. O t h e r victories were
the 1881 Sunday Closing Act, the gaining government acceptance
of t h e n e e d for a p p o i n t i n g W e l s h - s p e a k e r s t o m a n y i m p o r t a n t p u b l i c
p o s i t i o n s s u c h a s b i s h o p s a n d j u d g e s , t h e f o u n d i n g in 1 9 0 7 o f t h e
N a t i o n a l L i b r a r y o f W a l e s a n d a N a t i o n a l M u s e u m , significant s y m b o l s
of n a t i o n a l d i s t i n c t i v e n e s s , a n d t h e l o n g - d e l a y e d p a s s i n g o f a W e l s h
1 5 0
D i s e s t a b l i s h m e n t Bill in 1 9 1 4 . Contrariwise, despite the Welsh
L a n d C o m m i s s i o n o f t h e e a r l y 1 8 9 0 s a W e l s h L a n d A c t failed t o m a t e r
ialise, l a r g e l y o w i n g to t h e r e t u r n o f a n u n s y m p a t h e t i c unionist
g o v e r n m e n t a n d t h e lifting o f p r i c e s b y t h e t u r n o f t h e c e n t u r y . A g a i n ,
t h e ' W e l s h R e v o l t ' a g a i n s t r a t e aid to c h u r c h s c h o o l s c a m e t o n o t h i n g .
C e r t a i n failures n o t w i t h s t a n d i n g , the period from the 1880s to the
First W o r l d W a r w a s t h a t o f t h e h e r o i c y e a r s o f W e l s h n a t i o n h o o d ,
s o t h a t W a l e s h a d b y 1 9 1 4 b e c o m e a c c e p t e d as a political reality; e v e n
Morgan, Rebirth, p. 37; Carnarvon and Denbigh Herald, 9 September 1892; but note
that the Bangor Diocesan Conference in September 1892 resolved to prevent the
schemes for intermediate education already published from coming into law -
Carnarvon and Denbigh Herald, 23 September 1892.
Morgan, Rebirth, pp. 36-7; Carnarvon and Denbigh Herald, 16 September 1892; Han
sard, 16 February 1892, pp. 604-6.
Morgan, 'From Cymru Fydd to Crowther', pp. 121-2; Stead, Coleg Harlech, p. 2;
Hansard, 19 February 1892.

Wales 349
the unionist-ridden Conservative party had by then b e e n w o n over

151
to the idea of W e l s h nationality.
A l t h o u g h n a t i o n a l s e n t i m e n t r a n s t r o n g t h r o u g h W e l s h politics d u r
i n g t h e 1 8 8 0 s a n d 1 8 9 0 s , a s t h r o u g h all w a l k s o f W e l s h life, for e x a m p l e
i n s p o r t , e s p e c i a l l y r u g b y football a n d i n W e l s h l i t e r a t u r e , t h e r e w a s
n o s t r o n g p u b l i c c l a m o u r f r o m t h e W e l s h gwerin - t h e c l a s s l e s s ' m a s s
of p e o p l e ' - for s e l f - g o v e r n m e n t . U n l i k e t h e I r i s h , w h o demanded
h o m e rule, the W e l s h w e r e 'less obtrusive a n d exacting', seeking in
a remarkably peaceful w a y merely equality within the United King
d o m , n o t s e p a r a t i o n f r o m it. It is t r u e t h a t t h e Cymru Fydd ( Y o u n g
Wales) m o v e m e n t of 1894-6, advocating a m e a s u r e of h o m e rule,
s o u g h t to c a p t u r e t h e a l l e g i a n c e o f t h e W e l s h L i b e r a l p a r t y , b u t in
t h i s it failed; for i n g e n e r a l W e l s h L i b e r a l s , e v e n t h o s e o u t s i d e t h e
c o s m o p o l i t a n p o r t s o f t h e s o u t h , h a d n o w i s h to c u t t h e m s e l v e s adrift
from the mainstream of the British Liberal party, within w h i c h they
1 5 2
h a d achieved signal national c o n c e s s i o n s . (Nor, on the other hand,
s h o u l d t h e W e l s h s e n t i m e n t a m o n g t h e c o s m o p o l i t a n Cardiff m i d d l e
c l a s s at t h e e n d o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y b e u n d e r e s t i m a t e d , C a r d i f f ' s
1 5 3
elite c l a i m i n g t h e i r city t o b e ' t h e M e t r o p o l i s o f W a l e s ' . )
T h e o n e s e r i o u s c h a l l e n g e to t h e L i b e r a l a s c e n d a n c y in W a l e s b e f o r e
1 9 1 4 w a s t h e L a b o u r m o v e m e n t . I n b o t h its i n d u s t r i a l a n d political
w i n g s L a b o u r w a s s l o w to e m e r g e i n a W e l s h s o c i e t y d o m i n a t e d b y
a radical n o n c o n f o r m i s t ethos w h o s e leaders claimed to represent a
c l a s s l e s s gwerin and who stressed conciliation and co-operation
b e t w e e n capital a n d labour, but this c o n s e n s u s c a m e increasingly
u n d e r strain from the s i x - m o n t h s ' stoppage of 1898. In the industrial
held, w e have s h o w n , there occurred thereafter a growing bitterness
a n d class a n t a g o n i s m . T h e assertion of a positive a n d distinct L a b o u r
i d e n t i t y w a s n o w h e r e n e a r a s d r a m a t i c i n t h e political s p h e r e ; i n d e e d ,
L i b e r a l i s m a n d L a b o u r ( L i b - L a b i s m ) s u r v i v e d as a c o m p r o m i s e d o w n
t o 1 9 1 0 a n d e v e n , t h o u g h m o r e superficially s o , d o w n t o 1 9 1 4 , for
t h e four W e l s h L i b - L a b M P s r e t u r n e d at t h e 1 9 0 6 e l e c t i o n s t o o d as
m o r e t h a n leaders of Labour - rather than being 'sectional' they could
identify w i t h t h e w i d e r p r i n c i p l e s o f W e l s h L i b e r a l i s m . T h e f e w I L P e r s
151
Morgan, T h e Welsh in English Polities', p. 239.
152
Morgan, Rebirth, pp. 113ff; idem, 'From Cymru Fydd to Crowther', pp. 121-2;
Sir R. Coupland, Welsh and Scottish Nationalism (1954), pp. 226-32; Davies, The
Welsh Nationalist Party, pp. 8-9; Morgan and Thomas, Wales, p. 142.
153
Evans, 'The Welsh Victorian City', pp. 350-87; G. O. Pierce, 'University College
Cardiff 1883-1893', Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion (1984),
pp. 173-80.

w h o put u p in S o u t h W a l e s against Lib-Lab progressive candidates,
w h o were, importantly, p e r s o n a l i t i e s , d e e p l y e n t r e n c h e d in t h e i r
wider c o m m u n i t i e s , w e r e rejected as sectional a n d t h e r e b y posing
a t h r e a t t o c o m m u n a l c o n c o r d . N e v e r t h e l e s s , as o n e a u t h o r i t y has
r e c e n t l y a r g u e d , t h e W e l s h L i b - L a b s after 1 9 0 6 w e r e b e i n g f o r c e d o n t o
the defensive against ILP argument. A n d , from 1910 onwards, even
if t h e ' G r e a t U n r e s t ' t e m p o r a r i l y h a l t e d I L P activity it n e v e r t h e l e s s
s e t t l e d t h e a r g u m e n t for a L a b o u r p a r t y ; 1 9 1 3 , i n d e e d , w a s t h e y e a r
w h e n a l o c a l L a b o u r p a r t y w a s t o b e c o m e a r e a l i t y in S o u t h W a l e s
a n d in Caernarfon. Significantly, the S W M F w a s n o w in favour of
L a b o u r p a r t i e s i n t h e c o n s t i t u e n c i e s a n d , t o w a r d s t h i s e n d , w e r e for
t h e first t i m e c o - o p e r a t i n g w i t h o t h e r u n i o n s . S o , a l t h o u g h t h e L i b e r a l
a s c e n d a n c y w a s t o all o u t w a r d a p p e a r a n c e s to h o l d i n t a c t u n t i l 1 9 1 4 ,
i n fact t h e a l l i a n c e w i t h L a b o u r i n t h e y e a r s 1 9 1 0 - 1 4 w a s c r u m b l i n g
b e n e a t h the surface, and the working class u n d e r the trauma of the
' G r e a t U n r e s t ' w a s s a n c t i o n i n g political i n d e p e n d e n c e . L a b o u r h a d
1 5 4
w o n t h r o u g h , if as y e t o n l y at l o c a l l e v e l .
For all t h e s u b t e r r a n e a n e n c r o a c h m e n t b y L a b o u r b e f o r e 1 9 1 4 , it
w a s t h e First W o r l d W a r t h a t w a s to f o r m t h e g r e a t political d i v i d e
i n W e l s h p o l i t i c s . T h e w a r u s h e r e d in a l o n g p e r i o d o f L a b o u r d o m i
n a n c e l a s t i n g f r o m 1 9 1 8 d o w n t o 1 9 6 6 . P a r t l y t h i s w a s b y default,
Labour gaining from the decline of W e l s h Liberalism: the strong
a t t a c h m e n t of W e l s h Liberals to L l o y d G e o r g e m e a n t that t h e y suffered
d i s a s t r o u s l y f r o m h i s fall i n 1 9 2 2 ; b u t , o f g r e a t e r i m p o r t a n c e , t h e o l d
society dominated b y squire, parson a n d b r e w e r u p o n which W e l s h
L i b e r a l i s m h a d t h r i v e d as t h e p a r t y s e e k i n g s o c i a l a n d civic e q u a l i t y
w a s fast d y i n g , a n d w i t h t h e p a s s i n g o f t h e ' o l d c a u s e s ' L i b e r a l i s m ' s
1 5 5
cutting edge was blunted. B e s i d e s , t h e w a r h a d inflicted a s e v e r e
b l o w u p o n t h e n o n c o n f o r m i s t r a d i c a l c u l t u r e , f a c i n g a s it d i d n o n c o n
formist Liberals t h r o u g h o u t W a l e s with an u n a c c u s t o m e d lack of cer
t a i n t y for n o w t h e o l d m o r a l v a l u e s o f t h e m i d d l e - c l a s s elite w e r e
put in question a n d the former confidence a n d o p t i m i s m w e r e u n d e r
m i n e d . B o t h d u r i n g a n d after t h e w a r W e l s h n o n c o n f o r m i s t s w e r e
P. Stead, 'Establishing a Heartland - The Labour Party in Wales', in K. D. Brown,

ed., The First Labour Party 1906-1914(1985), pp. 64-88; idem, 'Working-Class Leader
ship in South Wales, 1900-20', Welsh History Review, 6 (1973), pp. 331ff; Morgan,
Rebirth, pp. 143-5.
Morgan, Rebirth, pp. 140-2; idem, 'From Cymru Fydd to Crowther', p. 124.

Wales 351
t o b e c o m e a w a r e o f l o s s o f faith a n d d e c l i n e . D i s i l l u s i o n m e n t w i t h
1 5 6
the aftermath of the w a r further d a m a g e d Liberal m o r a l e .
B u t L a b o u r a l s o r o s e to d o m i n a n c e b y v i r t u e o f its o w n appeal.
A l t h o u g h w e have e m p h a s i s e d the strength of Labour a m o n g local
a u t h o r i t i e s , p a r t i c u l a r l y in S o u t h W a l e s , o n t h e e v e o f 1 9 1 4 , it w a s
n e v e r t h e l e s s t h e w a r w h i c h a c t e d as t h e vital c a t a l y s t in speeding
u p L a b o u r ' s a d v a n c e b y g i v i n g t h e L a b o u r p a r t y in W a l e s , as e l s e
w h e r e , a n e w organisational structure and a m a s s following through
the growth of trades unions. T h e industrial militancy surrounding
t h e c o a l - m i n i n g d i s p u t e s of 1 9 1 9 - 2 1 a n d t h e c o l l a p s e o f t h e p o s t w a r
1 5 7
b o o m i n 1 9 2 1 f u r t h e r a d d e d to L a b o u r ' s a p p e a l .
A l t h o u g h t h e L i b e r a l s w e r e s u c c e s s f u l in W a l e s at t h e 1 9 1 8 g e n e r a l
election, the transformation that was taking place w a s clearly reflected
in t h e 1 9 2 2 e l e c t i o n s , w h e n L a b o u r t o o k f r o m t h e L i b e r a l s e i g h t s e a t s ,
six in t h e S o u t h W a l e s coalfield. I n all in 1 9 2 2 , W a l e s h a d e i g h t e e n
L a b o u r M P s , six C o n s e r v a t i v e s , o n e I n d e p e n d e n t a n d e l e v e n L i b e r a l s ,
the latter significantly clinging o n in the nonconformist- a n d W e l s h -
d o m i n a t e d rural s e a t s . T h e f o l l o w i n g y e a r L a b o u r w a s to w i n t w e n t y -
o n e s e a t s a n d b y 1 9 2 9 t h i s h a d i n c r e a s e d to t w e n t y - f i v e , L a b o u r at
t h i s last e l e c t i o n p o l l i n g 4 3 . 9 p e r c e n t o f t h e v o t e . A l t h o u g h L a b o u r
u n d e r s t a n d a b l y s l i p p e d b a c k in W a l e s i n t h e d e b a c l e o f 1 9 3 1 ( t h o u g h
l e s s s o t h a n e l s e w h e r e ) , it m a d e u p s o m e of t h e l o s s in 1 9 3 5 , g a i n i n g
h a l f o f t h e W e l s h s e a t s , a n d its s h a r e o f t h e v o t e r o s e to 4 5 p e r c e n t .
B e s i d e s k e e p i n g its h o l d o n t h e S o u t h W a l e s v a l l e y s , it did r e s p e c t a b l y
w e l l in m o s t rural s e a t s s o t h a t L i b e r a l i s m w a s b e i n g e r o d e d i n its
rural s t r o n g h o l d a s w e l l . B y 1 9 3 3 it w a s b e c o m i n g c l e a r t h a t t h e i d e n t i
cal political i n t e r e s t s o f f a r m e r , l a b o u r e r a n d s m a l l p e a s a n t t h a t h a d
o b t a i n e d u n d e r t h e O l d L i b e r a l i s m c o u l d n o l o n g e r b e t a k e n for
granted as w i d e n i n g fissures appeared. Nevertheless, until the 1945
e l e c t i o n L a b o u r d i d n o t s u c c e e d i n o u s t i n g L i b e r a l i s m f r o m t h e rural
fastnesses of the north, w h e r e m a n y stayed loyal to Lloyd G e o r g e .
I n d e e d , t h e o n e c h a l l e n g e to t h e L a b o u r h e g e m o n y i n S o u t h W a l e s
c a m e f r o m t h e C o m m u n i s t p a r t y : as in S c o t l a n d , t h e p a r t y g a i n e d
a c o n s i d e r a b l e f o l l o w i n g i n S o u t h W a l e s , e s p e c i a l l y t h e R h o n d d a val
l e y s , i n t h e 1 9 2 0 s . Its a p p e a l w a s r e i n f o r c e d d u r i n g t h e 1 9 3 0 s a n d
in fact it m o u n t e d a s e r i o u s t h o u g h u n s u c c e s s f u l c h a l l e n g e o n t w o
o c c a s i o n s for R h o n d d a E a s t . S i g n i f i c a n t l y , h o w e v e r , t h o s e t w o L a b o u r
Morgan, Rebirth, pp. 163ff, 188-9; Morgan and Thomas, Wales, p. 144.
Morgan, 'From Cymru Fydd to Crowther', pp. 125-6; Stead, 'Establishing a Heart
land', p. 85; Morgan, Rebirth, p. 191.

v i c t o r i e s w e r e t o s h o w t h a t t h e p e o p l e o f S o u t h W a l e s c h o s e to r e m a i n
within the wider British L a b o u r party. T h e L a b o u r a s c e n d a n c y in the
i n t e r w a r y e a r s t h r e w u p a n e w k i n d o f L a b o u r M P , c l o s e l y in t o u c h
w i t h h i s c l a s s : m a n y w e r e t r a d e u n i o n i s t s , a lot o f t h e m m i n e r s , a n d
a few of the miners groomed by the Central Labour College, notably
A n e u r i n B e v a n , J a m e s Griffiths a n d M o r g a n P h i l l i p s , f o r m e d a d i s t i n c t
elite a n d w e r e t o r i s e t o p r o m i n e n c e i n t h e L a b o u r p a r t y n a t i o n a l l y
1 5 8
b o t h b e f o r e a n d after 1 9 4 5 .
The social revolution effected b y the rise of Labour, h o w e v e r , lay
n o t s o m u c h in t h e e l e c t i o n o f w o r k i n g - c l a s s M P s o r e v e n in t h e k u d o s
g i v e n b y t r a d e - u n i o n l e a d e r s h i p o p e r a t i n g at a n a t i o n a l l e v e l b u t i n
t h e o p p o r t u n i t y afforded in e v e r y t o w n a n d v i l l a g e for w o r k i n g - c l a s s
l e a d e r s h i p in t h e r u n n i n g o f l o c a l i t i e s b o t h a s l o c a l c o u n c i l l o r s a n d
as t r a d e - u n i o n officials. A l r e a d y b y 1 9 1 6 a g r e a t i m p r o v e m e n t had
allegedly c o m e about, especially in relation to public health a n d the
poor law. This m o n o p o l y over local g o v e r n m e n t a n d every area of
p u b l i c life w a s e s p e c i a l l y s e c u r e d , f r o m t h e e a r l y 1 9 2 0 s o n w a r d s , in
Monmouthshire, G l a m o r g a n and east Carmarthenshire, and these
w o r k i n g - c l a s s l e a d e r s , u n l i k e t h e e a r l i e r L i b e r a l elite, w e r e d r a w n f r o m
the very heart of their c o m m u n i t i e s . At a time of grave social a n d
e c o n o m i c d i s l o c a t i o n , t h e s e (for t h e m o s t p a r t ) L a b o u r p e o p l e d e d i
c a t e d t h e i r t a l e n t s t o m a k i n g life b e a r a b l e . I n t e r e s t i n g l y f r o m t h e v i e w
point o f t h e l e v e l o f political c o n s c i o u s n e s s i n t h e s e monolithic
working-class communities, the L a b o u r party councillors in the
R h o n d d a b e t w e e n 1 9 1 7 a n d 1 9 2 1 , t h o u g h s a t i s f a c t o r y in t h e e y e s o f
the general public, w e r e d e e m e d too m o d e r a t e b y the L a b o u r activists
within the trade councils and lodges. Indeed, by the mid-twenties
the intensifying bitterness b e t w e e n the two groups h a d largely emas
1 5 9
culated Labour party effectiveness in the R h o n d d a .
Unlike the First W o r l d W a r , w h i c h toppled the Liberal a s c e n d a n c y ,
the S e c o n d W o r l d W a r only served to e n h a n c e the standing of L a b o u r
in W a l e s : a s o v e r t h e c o u n t r y i n g e n e r a l , h e r e , e s p e c i a l l y i n t h e relati
vely less radicalised mid and North W a l e s , public opinion was p u s h e d
l e f t w a r d s . T h e w a r y e a r s d e m o n s t r a t e d t h e c r u c i a l n e e d for c e n t r a l i s e d
158
Morgan, Rebirth, pp. 191-2, 274, 280, 282-3; idem, 'The Welsh in English Polities',
p. 242; T. Huws Davies, 'Polities', Welsh Outlook, 20 (1933), p. 340.
159
Stead, 'Working-Class Leadership', pp. 345ff; Anon., T h e Mind of the Miner',
Welsh Outlook, 3 (1916), p. 249; Morgan, Rebirth, pp. 291-2, for a generous tribute;
Chris Williams, ' " A n Able Administrator of Capitalism"?, The Labour Party in
the Rhondda, 1917-21' (paper read at a Gregynog University of Wales seminar,
March 1987).

Wales 353
economic planning. T h e 1945 general election thus saw the Labour

a s c e n d a n c y i n W a l e s r e a c h n e w h e i g h t s a n d , s i g n i f i c a n t l y , after 1 9 4 5
its h o l d w a s at l a s t ( a n d r a p i d l y ) e x t e n d e d o v e r t h e r u r a l h i n t e r l a n d .
T h e r e w a s to b e n o revival of C o n s e r v a t i s m in W a l e s in the 1950s.
T h r o u g h o u t the long period of Labour a s c e n d a n c y from 1918 to 1966,
L a b o u r m e m b e r s , u n l i k e t h e i r L i b e r a l f o r b e a r s a n d , i n d e e d , to a n
extent Keir Hardie a n d the ILP, w e r e not so c o n c e r n e d with distinctly
W e l s h matters. Certainly t h e y h a d nothing to do with W e l s h separa
1 6 0
tism.
T h e declining fortunes of the W e l s h language a n d decay of 'the
W e l s h w a y of life' led to the founding of a W e l s h Nationalist party
i n 1 9 2 5 . D o w n t o 1 9 4 5 , h o w e v e r , it w a s ' n o t r e a l l y a political p a r t y
at all b u t a cultural and educational movement'. Membership
r e m a i n e d small, p e r h a p s 2 , 0 0 0 in 1 9 3 9 , a n d c o m p r i s e d W e l s h - s p e a k
ing college lecturers, schoolteachers, nonconformist ministers and
o t h e r m i d d l e - c l a s s p r o f e s s i o n a l s . T h e l a c k o f political activity w a s
s h o w n a b o v e all i n t h e failure t o c o n t e s t l o c a l a n d n a t i o n a l e l e c t i o n s
t o a n y significant e x t e n t . T h e R o m a n C a t h o l i c i s m o f its ' a n g u l a r a n d
u n c o m p r o m i s i n g ' , albeit r e v e r e d , p o e t - l e a d e r , S a u n d e r s L e w i s , a n d ,
i n t h e l a t e t h i r t i e s , t h e a l l e g e d fascist s y m p a t h i e s o f t h e l e a d e r s , w e r e
n o t h e l p f u l i n a t t r a c t i n g m e m b e r s . A b o v e all, i n s i s t e n c e b y t h e l e a d e r
s h i p r i g h t d o w n t o 1 9 3 9 u p o n W e l s h b e i n g t h e l a n g u a g e for t h e r u n
n i n g o f p a r t y a c t i v i t i e s , a n d t h e fact t h a t t h e l e a d e r s w e r e o u t o f t o u c h
with the p r o b l e m s of the south-east valleys, w a s b o u n d to deter Eng
lish-speaking W e l s h m e n . T h e dramatic burning of the b o m b i n g school
i n t h e L l e y n P e n i n s u l a i n 1 9 3 6 d i d n o t r e a l l y h a v e t h e d e s i r e d effect
o f r o u s i n g t h e n a t i o n to a n e w s e n s e o f n a t i o n a l a w a r e n e s s a n d u r g i n g
p a r t y m e m b e r s t o g r e a t e r political i n v o l v e m e n t . I n 1 9 3 9 t h e p a r t y ' s
f o r t u n e s w e r e at a l o w e b b ; b u t , l a r g e l y b e c a u s e o f t h e e x p e r i e n c e
g a i n e d i n t h e 1 9 4 3 U n i v e r s i t y o f W a l e s b y - e l e c t i o n , it e m e r g e d in 1 9 4 5
with a r e n e w e d vigour and contested m o r e parliamentary seats than
t h e total o f t h e p r e v i o u s t w e n t y y e a r s . It h a d at last c o m e to r e s e m b l e
a r e a l political p a r t y , b u t , a p a r t f r o m t w o e n c o u r a g i n g b u t illusory
b y - e l e c t i o n r e s u l t s i n 1 9 4 6 , t h e p a r t y m a d e little h e a d w a y in t h e follow
1 6 1
ing twenty y e a r s .
A virtual revolution within W e l s h society a c c o m p a n i e d the new
160
Morgan, Rebirth, pp. 296-7; Morgan and Thomas, Wales, pp. 147-8; Morgan, 'From
Cymru Fydd to Crowther', pp. 127-8; idem, 'The Welsh in English Polities', p. 242.
161
Davies, The Welsh Nationalist Party, pp. vii-viii, 71, 73, 112ff, 163-5, 182-6, 197-9,
261, 263, 267-8; Philip, The Welsh Question, pp. 14, 17; Morgan, 'From Cymru
Fydd to Crowther', p. 131.

affluence o f t h e 1 9 5 0 s a n d 1 9 6 0 s , for t h e r e n o w o c c u r r e d a r e o r i e n t a t i o n
i n p e o p l e ' s life s t y l e s . T h e p o p u l a t i o n b e c a m e significantly b e t t e r - o f f
a n d b e t t e r p r o v i d e d for in t e r m s o f h o u s i n g , h e a l t h a n d e d u c a t i o n .
A c c o m p a n y i n g t h i s t h e r e c a m e a t r a n s f o r m a t i o n in l e i s u r e p u r s u i t s :
private ownership of cars, the spread of television and consequent
g r e a t e r flood o f m a s s e n t e r t a i n m e n t all e r o d e d t h e o l d f o r m s o f social
p a r t i c i p a t i o n . T h e c h a p e l i n f l u e n c e further w a n e d , t h e falling c o n g r e
gations partly a c o n s e q u e n c e of linguistic e b b . In the industrial south,
t h e n e w affluence s p e l t i n e v i t a b l e d e c l i n e for t h e o l d w o r l d o f i n t i m a t e
c o m m u n i t y a n d c o m r a d e s h i p , a w o r l d r e m a r k a b l e for its rich w o r k i n g -
c l a s s i n t e l l e c t u a l vitality. All t h i s w a s to b e r e p l a c e d b y t h e m i n d l e s s
m o n o t o n y of the drinking clubs and bingo halls a n d the relatively
c h e e r l e s s , s a n i t i s e d h o u s i n g e s t a t e s or c o m m u t e r s u b u r b s . D a i S m i t h
p e r c e p t i v e l y c o n c l u d e s : ' i n r e t r o s p e c t t h e late 1 9 4 0 s s t a n d o u t as t h e
last a u t h e n t i c y e a r s o f t h a t d i s t i n c t i v e c u l t u r e w h i c h h a d b e e n fash
1 6 2
i o n e d in S o u t h W a l e s ' . H o w e v e r , for all t h e g r o w i n g s e c u l a r i s a
tion and anglicisation throughout the Principality, the m o r e remote
a n d w e s t e r n a n d n o r t h - w e s t e r n c o u n t i e s o f rural W a l e s in t h e 1 9 5 0 s
a n d 1 9 6 0 s , e s p e c i a l l y o u t s i d e t h e t o w n s , c o u l d still c l a i m to h a v e a
distinctive ' W e l s h ' culture b a s e d o n the language, chapel a n d the
eisteddfodau, a 'specifically W e l s h cultural activity' that w a s 'reinforced
1 6 3
b y strong subjective identification with W e l s h n e s s ' .
T h e i s s u e o f l a n g u a g e h a s , w e h a v e h i n t e d earlier, g i v e n rise f r o m
t h e e a r l y p a r t o f t h i s c e n t u r y d o w n to t h e p r e s e n t to a crisis i n i d e n t i t y
a m o n g t h e p e o p l e o f W a l e s . W h i l e w e w o u l d n o t f u n d a m e n t a l l y dis
a g r e e w i t h B u d K h l e i f t h a t ' a shift i n l a n g u a g e is a shift i n i d e n t i t y ' ,
it s h o u l d b e r e c o g n i s e d t h a t E n g l i s h - s p e a k i n g W e l s h m e n s p i r i t e d l y
a n d justifiably c o u n t e r t h a t , l a c k o f W e l s h n o t w i t h s t a n d i n g , t h e y , t o o ,
are a distinctive ' W e l s h ' people, p o s s e s s e d of characteristics w h i c h
s e p a r a t e t h e m f r o m t h e i r E n g l i s h , S c o t t i s h a n d Irish n e i g h b o u r s . F o r
t h e m , it is t h e i r s e p a r a t e h i s t o r y , i n s t i n c t i v e r a d i c a l i s m in r e l i g i o n a n d
politics, c o n t e m p t for s o c i a l p r e t e n t i o u s n e s s , p e r s o n a l w a r m t h a n d
e x u b e r a n c e , sociability, l o v e o f m u s i c a n d n e a r - o b s e s s i o n w i t h r u g b y
1 6 4
w h i c h m a r k t h e m o u t as W e l s h m e n .
162
Morgan, Rebirth, pp. 340, 345-7, 352-4; Smith, Wales! Wales?, p. 124.
163
P. J. Madgwick, The Politics of Rural Wales (1972), pp. 84-5.
164
Khleif, Language, p. 35; for a sensitive discussion see Williams, Religion, Language
and Nationality, p. 147.

CHAPTER 5
The north-west
J. K. W A L T O N
C o n v e n t i o n a l w i s d o m about the fortunes a n d significance of this

r e g i o n in t h e t w o c e n t u r i e s after 1 7 5 0 c o m e s t r i p p i n g l y off t h e t o n g u e .
B e l o w a thin crust of banal generalisations, h o w e v e r , the questing
h i s t o r i a n u n c o v e r s shifting, u n s t a b l e strata o f d i v e r g i n g a n d conflict
i n g a c c o u n t s a n d i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s , o f t e n v e n t i n g as e m i s s i o n s o f s u p e r
heated debate which alarm and confuse the innocent bystander,
obscuring the view with steam and volcanic gases and dispelling the
i l l u s i o n o f clarity, s e c u r i t y a n d c o n t r o l . E x p l a n a t i o n s o f t h e social cir
c u m s t a n c e s surrounding the spectacular rise, sustained h e y d a y and
p r e c i p i t o u s d e c l i n e o f t h e c o t t o n i n d u s t r y a n d its a s s o c i a t e d t o w n s
f o r m a s t a p l e o f h i s t o r i c a l d e b a t e , a l t h o u g h t h e first t w o p h a s e s h a v e
received m u c h m o r e attention t h a n the third. T h e early a n d intensive
interaction of the s t e a m engine, the factory s y s t e m a n d an unprece
dented rate of urban growth, concentrated within a narrow area of
s o u t h L a n c a s h i r e a n d n o r t h C h e s h i r e , p r o v e d irresistible t o social c o m
m e n t a t o r s t h e n a n d h a s r e m a i n e d s o for social h i s t o r i a n s e v e r s i n c e .
C o t t o n L a n c a s h i r e b e c a m e ' t h e first i n d u s t r i a l s o c i e t y ' a n d ' t h e c r a d l e
of t h e I n d u s t r i a l R e v o l u t i o n ' . T h e c o t t o n i n d u s t r y b e c a m e a m u c h -
d e b a t e d ' l e a d i n g s e c t o r ' in B r i t i s h i n d u s t r i a l i s a t i o n , w h i l e at t h e s a m e
t i m e its a s s u m e d c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s t e n d e d t o b e m i s l e a d i n g l y p a r a d e d
a s a s u r r o g a t e for t h e m o r e c o m p l e x p a t t e r n o f c h a n g e s i n B r i t i s h
e c o n o m y a n d s o c i e t y as a w h o l e . T h e i n d u s t r i a l i s i n g e x p e r i e n c e o f
a s m a l l c o r n e r o f L a n c a s h i r e a n d its a d j o i n i n g c o u n t i e s b e c a m e at
o n c e e x c i t i n g e x c e p t i o n a n d a l l - e m b r a c i n g n o r m in t h e t r e a t m e n t o f
B r i t a i n ' s i n d u s t r i a l r e v o l u t i o n . M o r e o v e r , t h e r e w e r e political d i m e n
s i o n s t o t h e c h a n g e s . H e r e , it s e e m e d , w a s e m e r g i n g a n e w , t h r u s t i n g ,
entrepreneurial middle class w h o s e reforming vigour might change
t h e face a n d d i r e c t i o n o f t h e B r i t i s h political s y s t e m . H e r e , t o o ,
i m m i s e r a t i o n , e x p l o i t a t i o n a n d vile w o r k i n g c o n d i t i o n s , t h e m s e l v e s a
matter of heated debate, appeared to s o m e to threaten - or promise -
355

356 J. K. WALTON
a m u c h m o r e radical u n d e r m i n i n g o f t h e e s t a b l i s h e d e c o n o m i c a n d
political o r d e r .
T h e industrial r e v o l u t i o n in L a n c a s h i r e t h u s s e e m e d - a n d w a s ,
a n d is - n a t i o n a l l y a n d i n t e r n a t i o n a l l y o f s p e c i a l s i g n i f i c a n c e . T h i s
perception has nurtured a self-sustaining and apparently exponential
g r o w t h in t h e h i s t o r i o g r a p h y of t h e c o t t o n district, as t h e o r e t i c i a n s
of e c o n o m i c g r o w t h a n d a n a l y s t s o f class s t r u g g l e h a v e s o u g h t to
test, a p p l y or e l a b o r a t e their i d e a s t h r o u g h local o r i n d u s t r i a l c a s e -
s t u d i e s , o c c a s i o n a l l y d e t o n a t i n g e x p l o s i v e conflicts. H i s t o r i a n s and
s o c i o l o g i s t s of all p e r s u a s i o n s h a v e p r o d u c e d m u t u a l l y i n c o m p a t i b l e
v e r s i o n s of c h a n g e s a n d c o n t i n u i t i e s in textile t o w n social s t r u c t u r e ,
firm s i z e , living s t a n d a r d s , family o r g a n i s a t i o n a n d social a n d political
r e l a t i o n s h i p s . F r o m t h e M a n c u n i a n m e d i c a l c o m m e n t a t o r s o f t h e later
eighteenth century, through the apocalyptic, apologetic and celebra
t o r y p o l e m i c i s t s o f t h e g e n e r a t i o n o f E n g e l s a n d C o o k e T a y l o r , to
the recent clashes between Foster and Musson, Smelser and Ander
s o n , c o n t r o v e r s y h a s fed c o n t r o v e r s y , a n d i n t e r p r e t e r s o f L a n c a s h i r e ' s
industrial r e v o l u t i o n cultivate a t h i c k l y s o w n a n d h a p h a z a r d l y laid
m i n e f i e l d . T h e b e g i n n i n g s o f similar d e b a t e s are a p p a r e n t as h i s t o r i a n s
are d r a w n f o r w a r d i n t o t h e later V i c t o r i a n a n d E d w a r d i a n cotton
t o w n s , s e e k i n g t h e r o o t s o f w h a t s e e m s to b e a s u d d e n t r a n s i t i o n
f r o m t h e political a n d industrial m i l i t a n c y o f t h e 1 8 3 0 s a n d 1 8 4 0 s to
the controlled industrial relations, social p e a c e and two-party
h e g e m o n y of the s e c o n d half of the nineteenth century. T h e unique
e x t e n t o f w o m e n ' s factory w o r k is also a t t r a c t i n g a t t e n t i o n , a n d all
t h e s e a r e a s are b e c o m i n g d i s p u t e d territory, as s h o w n b y r e a c t i o n s
to t h e w o r k o f V i n c e n t , J o y c e a n d P . F . C l a r k e . A s t h e h i s t o r i o g r a p h y
of t h e c o t t o n i n d u s t r y ' s d e c l i n e d e v e l o p s in t u r n , w e c a n e x p e c t n e w
a r e a s o f c o n t r o v e r s y to b e d e f i n e d . T h e c o t t o n L a n c a s h i r e e x p e r i e n c e
h a s b e e n t o o i m p o r t a n t , in its o w n right a n d for o u r u n d e r s t a n d i n g
of w i d e r p r o c e s s e s , to b e left to t h e c o s y a t r o p h y o f c o n s e n s u s .
B u t t h e r e is m u c h m o r e to L a n c a s h i r e t h a n t h e c o t t o n district.
M e r s e y s i d e , e s p e c i a l l y , d e v e l o p e d a d i s t i n c t i v e social c o n f i g u r a t i o n
of its o w n , w i t h a h i s t o r i o g r a p h y to m a t c h . L i v e r p o o l ' s v e r s i o n o f
the commercial revolution has, however, generated less sustained
i n t e r e s t a n d c o n t r o v e r s y a m o n g social h i s t o r i a n s . L i k e M e r s e y s i d e
m o r e w i d e l y d e f i n e d , it l a c k s t h e m a g i c i n g r e d i e n t s o f s t e a m - p o w e r e d
factories, e a r l y e v i d e n c e o f c l a s s conflict in politics a n d l a b o u r rela
tions, and systematic employment of w o m e n and children outside
the h o m e . But Liverpool's spectacular maritime expansion created

The north-west 357
d e e p social d i v i s i o n s w h i c h c h a l l e n g e t h e m o r e f a m o u s o n e s o f
E n g e l s ' s M a n c h e s t e r , as p r o s p e r i n g m e r c h a n t s r e t r e a t e d to a s u c
c e s s i o n o f s u b u r b s a n d rural m a n s i o n s , l e a v i n g t h e b a d l y built, i n s a n i
tary, o v e r c r o w d e d h o u s i n g a r o u n d t h e d o c k s to b e c o m e a district o f
d e p r i v a t i o n w h e r e c a s u a l l a b o u r a n d c r i m e e x i s t e d in s y m b i o s i s .
M i g r a n t s f r o m I r e l a n d , a l w a y s m o r e n u m e r o u s t h a n in t h e c o t t o n
t o w n s , a d d e d a n e x t r a d i m e n s i o n o f i n t e r n a l conflict b y t h e 1 8 4 0 s .
H i g h e r u p t h e social s c a l e , t h e l a c k of a c h a r i s m a t i c e q u i v a l e n t o f
t h e A n t i - C o r n L a w L e a g u e h a s h e l p e d to s t u n t t h e h i s t o r i o g r a p h y
of L i v e r p o o l ' s r u l i n g c l a s s e s . W e k n o w a g r e a t d e a l m o r e a b o u t L i v e r
p o o l ' s m e r c a n t i l e m i d d l e c l a s s e s as b u s i n e s s m e n t h a n as c i t i z e n s , a n d
a w h o l e range of roles and relationships remains almost unexplored.
T h i s is a l s o l a r g e l y t r u e o f t h e social c i r c u m s t a n c e s s u r r o u n d i n g t h e
rise o f t h e coal, salt, g l a s s a n d c h e m i c a l i n d u s t r i e s o f g r e a t e r M e r s e y -
s i d e , s t r e t c h i n g to W i g a n , S t H e l e n s , W a r r i n g t o n a n d t h e C h e s h i r e
w i c h e s , d e s p i t e i m p o r t a n t g r o u n d w o r k in e c o n o m i c h i s t o r y a n d h i s
torical g e o g r a p h y .
N o r t h o f t h e R i b b l e w e e n c o u n t e r a different set o f i n f l u e n c e s a g a i n .
Here seaports and pockets of water-powered industry flourished
briefly in t h e late e i g h t e e n t h a n d e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r i e s o n l y t o
fade a g a i n in t h e r a i l w a y a g e , a n d o n l y t h e v a r i o u s l y s p e c i a l i s e d u r b a n
e c o n o m i e s of L a n c a s t e r , B l a c k p o o l , M o r e c a m b e a n d B a r r o w s h o w e d
s u s t a i n e d g r o w t h o v e r significant l e n g t h s o f t i m e . A s in C h e s h i r e
b e y o n d t h e pull o f M e r s e y s i d e a n d t h e c o t t o n t o w n s , agriculture
remained predominant here; and throughout the region farming
r e m a i n e d i m p o r t a n t e n o u g h to m e r i t s u s t a i n e d a t t e n t i o n . O n t h e l o w
l a n d s , at least, t h e i n f l u e n c e o f a r i s t o c r a c y a n d g e n t r y d i e d h a r d .
A n y a s s e s s m e n t o f r e g i o n a l social t r e n d s in L a n c a s h i r e a n d C h e s h i r e
m u s t t a k e a c c o u n t o f t h e striking c o n t r a s t s in s u b - r e g i o n a l e x p e r i e n c e s .
It is p o s s i b l e a n d useful to g e n e r a l i s e a b o u t t h e r e g i o n as a w h o l e
in r e l a t i o n to t h e n a t i o n at l a r g e , b u t s u c h s t a t e m e n t s will n e e d careful
qualification. T h i s r e q u i r e m e n t is p a r t i c u l a r l y p r e s s i n g w h e n w e l o o k
at t h e i m p o r t a n t a n d c o n t r o v e r s i a l d e v e l o p m e n t s o f t h e p e r i o d c o n v e n
tionally labelled 'the Industrial Revolution'.
I THE TRANSITION TO I N D U S T R I A L SOCIETY, c. 175O-185O
T h e c e n t u r y after 1 7 5 0 s a w t h e rise o f t h e c o t t o n i n d u s t r y in s o u t h - e a s t
L a n c a s h i r e a n d n o r t h - e a s t C h e s h i r e . H e r e t h e full i m p a c t o f t h e tran
sition to t h e s t e a m - p o w e r e d factory, w i t h its d i s t i n c t i v e f o r m o f

358 J . K. W A L T O N
c o n c o m i t a n t urbanisation, w a s a b s o r b e d . In this crucible a n e w k i n d o f

s o c i e t y w a s f o r g e d , a l t h o u g h t h e m a n n e r o f its t r a n s f o r m a t i o n e n s u r e d
t h a t it r e t a i n e d m a n y significant c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f t h e o l d o n e .
L a n c a s h i r e ' s industrial revolution g a t h e r e d m o m e n t u m rapidly in
t h e e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , a n d e s p e c i a l l y in t h e 1 8 2 0 s a n d 1 8 3 0 s ,
b u t t h e initial i m p e t u s c a m e i n t h e l a t e r e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y . T h e s w i t c h
to p u r e c o t t o n p r o d u c t i o n at t h i s t i m e w a s a c c o m p a n i e d b y i n n o v a t i o n s
which took the spinning and preparation processes out of the h o m e ,
but created an enormous compensatory demand for handloom
weavers. T h e domestic putting-out s y s t e m w a s n o Utopia of the inde
p e n d e n t smallholder/craftsman, as pressure o n the land increased a n d
families b e c a m e i n c r e a s i n g l y d e p e n d e n t o n w h a t a m o u n t e d t o p i e c e -
rate w a g e s . T h e spread of hand-operated spinning jennies and
m a c h i n e s for c a r d i n g , r o v i n g a n d t w i s t i n g o c c u r r e d u n o b t r u s i v e l y d u r
i n g t h e 1 7 7 0 s , w h e n t h e l a r g e w a t e r - f r a m e s p i n n i n g mills w i t h t h e i r
'factory villages' also b e g a n to appear. But the m a i n impact of the
w a t e r f r a m e c a m e after 1 7 8 5 , a n d c o u n t r y m i l l s e m p l o y i n g s e v e r a l
hundred operatives remained conspicuous but unusual. Even w h e n
water p o w e r w a s applied to C r o m p t o n ' s m u l e in the 1790s, as the
pace of factory-building q u i c k e n e d a n d the transition to s t e a m b e g a n ,
c o t t o n s p i n n i n g w a s still d o m i n a t e d b y s m a l l u n i t s o f p r o d u c t i o n ,
often glorified w o r k s h o p s . M a n y o f O l d h a m ' s ' o r i g i n a l m i l l s ' w e r e
established in t h e ' c o m m o d i o u s b e d r o o m s ' of dwelling-houses, a n d
c o n v e r t e d corn mills w e r e often adapted to h o u s e w a t e r frames. Capi
tal i n v e s t m e n t w a s u s u a l l y o n a l i m i t e d s c a l e , d r a w n c a u t i o u s l y f r o m
the established resources of existing merchants and manufacturers,
1
their families a n d n e i g h b o u r s .
These developments ensured the demise of domestic spinning, but
otherwise their impact w a s limited. Urbanisation was not yet spectacu
lar, a s p o p u l a t i o n g r o w t h s p r e a d t h r o u g h t h e c o u n t r y s i d e i n s c a t t e r e d
f a r m s t e a d s a n d ' f o l d s ' o f w e a v e r s ' c o t t a g e s , a n d w a t e r - p o w e r e d mills
dispersed in search of suitable u p l a n d sites. M a n c h e s t e r ' s population
g r e w almost fourfold to 70,000 b e t w e e n 1760 a n d 1 8 0 1 , w h e n adjoining
Salford contained another 13,000. O v e r the s a m e period Bolton almost
t r e b l e d its p o p u l a t i o n to p a s s 1 7 , 0 0 0 , b u t t h e o t h e r c o t t o n t o w n s l a g g e d
1
S. D. Chapman, 'Fixed Capital Formation in the British Cotton Manufacturing Indus
try', in J. P. P. Higgins and S. Pollard, eds., Aspects of Capital Formation in Great
Britain 1750-1850 (1971), p. 59.

The north-west 359
b e h i n d . Outside M a n c h e s t e r the sheer scale of urban living w a s not

yet a source of serious social p r o b l e m s .
T h e r e a l l y i m p r e s s i v e c h a n g e s c a m e i n t h e first h a l f o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h
century. Retained raw cotton imports increased more than tenfold
b e t w e e n 1 8 0 0 a n d 1 8 4 1 , e s p e c i a l l y after 1 8 1 5 . T h e n u m b e r o f mills
g r e w m u c h less spectacularly, from about 9 0 0 nationally in 1797 to
about 1,200 in 1834; b u t this period s a w the rapid advent of s t e a m
p o w e r a n d m u l e spinning, with great increases in factory productivity
a n d the concentration of mills o n u r b a n sites. T h e transition to s t e a m
w a s almost complete b y 1 8 4 1 . Increases in mule capacity, and the
introduction of the self-actor in t h e 1830s, t h r e a t e n e d t h e privileged
status a n d a u t o n o m y of the adult male labour aristocracy of m u l e
spinners, although this w a s a c o m p l e x and protracted process. But
the scale of workplace organisation did not increase markedly. T h e
r e a d y availability o f c r e d i t a n d s e c o n d - h a n d m a c h i n e r y , a n d t h e s u b
division of factory buildings into smaller, rented production units,
kept spinning o p e n to the small (but insecure) entrepreneur. B y 1841,
a d m i t t e d l y , 7 7 p e r c e n t o f t h e f a c t o r y l a b o u r f o r c e w o r k e d i n firms
e m p l o y i n g m o r e t h a n 150 people, but the few really large c o n c e r n s
were survivors from the early days of the industry. ' M e d i u m - s i z e d '
firms e m p l o y i n g b e t w e e n 1 5 0 a n d 5 0 0 p r e d o m i n a t e d . T h e s e w e r e c o m
paratively very substantial, but less daunting to the operative than
e x p e c t a t i o n s b a s e d o n t h e p r e d o m i n a n c e o f ' g i a n t ' firms m i g h t indicate;
2
a n d m o s t r e c r u i t s w e r e s o c i a l i s e d i n t o t h e f a c t o r y at a n e a r l y a g e .
T h e other major d e v e l o p m e n t in cotton w a s the m e c h a n i s a t i o n of
weaving. Continuing improvements to the handloom, an ample and
elastic l a b o u r s u p p l y a n d t h e difficulty o f d e v e l o p i n g a c o s t - e f f e c t i v e
a n d reliable p o w e r l o o m e n s u r e d the continuing e x p a n s i o n o f h a n d -
l o o m weaving into the 1820s. T h e n u m b e r of weavers probably trebled
t o a b o u t 2 2 5 , 0 0 0 b e t w e e n 1 7 9 5 a n d 1 8 1 1 a n d s t a b i l i s e d for a d e c a d e
f r o m t h e m i d - 1 8 2 0 s at a b o u t 2 5 0 , 0 0 0 . A t its p e a k h a n d l o o m w e a v i n g
d o m i n a t e d t h e e c o n o m y o f a n e x t e n s i v e a n d t h i c k l y p o p u l a t e d district
of north-east Lancashire a n d w a s important over a m u c h wider area.
It w a s a n e a s y t r a d e t o e n t e r , a p a r t f r o m c e r t a i n f a n c y f a b r i c s . A p p r e n
t i c e s h i p r e s t r i c t i o n s h a d c o l l a p s e d , b a s i c skills c o u l d b e l e a r n e d in
2
V. A. C. Gatrell, 'Labour, Power and the Size of Firms in Lancashire Cotton in
the Second Quarter of the Nineteenth Century', Economic History Review, 2nd ser.,
30 (1977), pp. 95-139; S. D. Chapman, 'Financial Restraints on the Growth of Firms
in the Cotton Industry, 1790-1850', Economic History Review, 2nd ser., 32 (1979),
pp. 50-69; R. Lloyd-Jones and A. A. Le Roux, 'The Size of Firms in the Cotton Indus
try: Manchester, 1815-41', Economic History Review, 2nd ser., 33 (1980), pp. 72-82.

360 J . K. W A L T O N
a few w e e k s , a n d the labour market b e c a m e over supplied. In time

of h i g h d e m a n d y a r n w a s a l s o e x p o r t e d to b e w o v e n a n d finished
o n t h e C o n t i n e n t . D u r i n g t h e 1 8 2 0 s p i e c e - r a t e s b e g a n to fall r a p i d l y
and inexorably. Weavers responded by working longer hours and
i n c r e a s i n g p r o d u c t i o n at t h e l o w e r r a t e s , e x a c e r b a t i n g a p r o b l e m w h i c h
w a s a l s o b e i n g affected b y t h e r i s e o f t h e p o w e r l o o m . T h e p u t t e r s - o u t ,
w i t h t h e i r l o w o v e r h e a d s , c o n t i n u e d to m a k e profits i n t o t h e 1 8 4 0 s ,
b u t w e a v e r s ' c h i l d r e n b e g a n to e n t e r t h e f a c t o r i e s , s u b s i d i s i n g t h e i r
p a r e n t s at t h e l o o m . H e a v y p o p u l a t i o n l o s s e s b y m i g r a t i o n o c c u r r e d
in t h e w e a v i n g v i l l a g e s d u r i n g t h e 1 8 3 0 s a n d 1 8 4 0 s , as t h e p o w e r l o o m
c o m p l e t e d its t r i u m p h ; b u t h a n d l o o m w e a v i n g s u r v i v e d t e n a c i o u s l y
i n t o t h e 1 8 5 0 s in m a n y u p l a n d a r e a s , e s p e c i a l l y w h e r e it c o u l d still
3
be c o m b i n e d with small-scale farming.
F a c t o r y w e a v i n g p r o v i d e d e v e n m o r e o p e n i n g s for t h e s m a l l e n t r e
preneur than factory spinning. A l t h o u g h m a n y of the p o w e r l o o m
p i o n e e r s w e r e l a r g e i n t e g r a t e d s p i n n i n g a n d w e a v i n g firms i n s o u t h
Lancashire and north Cheshire, by 1850 the industry was becoming
concentrated into north-east Lancashire, and the average n u m b e r of
e m p l o y e e s p e r firm w a s l e s s t h a n 1 0 0 . A s in s p i n n i n g , t h e w e a v i n g
shed was a highly personalised, far from anonymous working
environment. Unlike spinning, w o m e n were employed on the same
t e r m s as m e n , t h o u g h m a l e w a g e s w e r e s l i g h t l y h i g h e r a n d p r o m o t i o n
to t h e s u p e r v i s o r y g r a d e s w a s a m a l e p r e s e r v e . E v e n s o , t h e i m p o r
tance of family i n c o m e s rather than adult male w a g e s persisted
strongly from domestic industry; and p o w e r l o o m w e a v i n g b e c a m e
a predominantly female occupation.
B y m i d - c e n t u r y t h e f a c t o r y textile i n d u s t r y h a d r e a c h e d m a t u r i t y
in c o t t o n , w i t h m a n y s h o r t - t e r m a n d s e c t o r a l t r a u m a s a n d c a t a s
t r o p h e s , b u t w i t h s u r p r i s i n g l y f e w l o n g - t e r m social d i s c o n t i n u i t i e s .
It m i g h t b e a r g u e d t h a t t h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t p r o b l e m s a n d p r e s s u r e s
a r o s e m o r e f r o m p o p u l a t i o n g r o w t h a n d u r b a n i s a t i o n t h a n f r o m fac
t o r y i n d u s t r y in itself.
B e t w e e n 1801 and 1851 the population of Lancashire and Cheshire
i n c r e a s e d b y 1 8 5 p e r c e n t , a n d t h a t o f t h e c o t t o n district m o r e t h a n
trebled, while that of E n g l a n d and W a l e s doubled. Textile Lancashire
3
J. S. Lyons, T h e Lancashire Cotton Industry and the Introduction of the Power-Loom,
1815-50' (unpublished PhD thesis, California University, Berkeley, 1977), pp. 34-99;
G. Timmins, Hand-Loom Weavers' Cottages in Central Lancashire (Lancaster, 1977),
p. 51; D. A. Farnie, The Lancashire Cotton Industry and the World Market 1815-96 (1979),
pp. 276-84.

The north-west 361
w a s a l r e a d y r e l a t i v e l y d e n s e l y p e o p l e d in 1 8 0 1 , b u t t h e a g e o f t h e
canal a n d the s t e a m - p o w e r e d factory brought rapid urbanisation.
O v e r t h e h a l f - c e n t u r y M a n c h e s t e r m o r e t h a n q u a d r u p l e d its p o p u l a
t i o n to o v e r 3 0 0 , 0 0 0 , w h i l e in 1 8 5 1 f o u r o t h e r t o w n s in t h e c o t t o n
district ( i n c l u d i n g S a l f o r d ) c o u n t e d m o r e t h a n 5 0 , 0 0 0 i n h a b i t a n t s , a n d
five m o r e ( i n c l u d i n g W i g a n ) t o p p e d 2 0 , 0 0 0 . S m a l l e r t o w n s also p r o
l i f e r a t e d . O n o n e definition n e a r l y t w o - t h i r d s o f t h e a r e a ' s p o p u l a t i o n
4
l i v e d i n its t h i r t y t o w n s b y m i d - c e n t u r y . This was urbanisation on
an altogether novel scale a n d pattern.
H o w did this h a p p e n ? T h e r e w a s s o m e short-distance migration
f r o m o u t s i d e t h e a r e a , a n d w e m u s t n o t f o r g e t t h e Irish, e s p e c i a l l y
i n t h e 1 8 4 0 s ; b u t t h e k e y to t h e p o p u l a t i o n i n c r e a s e l a y in r e m a r k a b l y
h i g h b i r t h r a t e s a n d fertility r a t i o s , e s p e c i a l l y in t h e 1 8 1 0 s a n d 1 8 2 0 s .
E v e n in the d e p r e s s e d years of 1 8 3 7 - 4 1 the L a n c a s h i r e birth rate w a s
the highest in E n g l a n d . This fecundity w a s spread across the county,
o n M e r s e y s i d e a n d in t h e m a i n l y a g r i c u l t u r a l w e s t a n d far n o r t h as
w e l l a s in t h e textile h e a r t l a n d , s u g g e s t i n g t h a t it w a s m o r e t h a n j u s t
a n i n s t r u m e n t a l r e s p o n s e to j o b a n d m a r r i a g e o p p o r t u n i t i e s a n d t h e
i n d u s t r i a l d e m a n d for c h i l d l a b o u r . D e a t h r a t e s w e r e also v e r y h i g h
t h r o u g h o u t t h e c o u n t y , a n d life e x p e c t a n c y at b i r t h s h o w e d n o i m
p r o v e m e n t b e t w e e n the 1780s and 1840s. Fleischman c o m m e n t s that
in the 1830s ' L a n c a s h i r e h a d higher birth, death a n d marriage rates,
s h o r t e r life e x p e c t a n c y , a n d a y o u n g e r p o p u l a t i o n t h a n a n y o t h e r
5
c o u n t y in t h e n a t i o n . ' Urban populations were already recruiting
p a r t l y b y n a t u r a l i n c r e a s e b y 1 8 0 0 , in s p i t e o f h i g h c h i l d m o r t a l i t y ;
b u t in a n y c a s e t h e p a t t e r n o f m i g r a t i o n to t o w n s w a s p r e d o m i n a n t l y
short-distance a n d e v e n local. M a n c h e s t e r attracted a higher propor
t i o n o f l o n g - r a n g e m i g r a n t s , a n d its s l u m p o p u l a t i o n , in A n c o a t s at
6
l e a s t , w a s h i g h l y v o l a t i l e ; b u t t h e c o t t o n t o w n s in g e n e r a l g r e w
in a m a n n e r w h i c h permitted n e w urban dwellers to maintain mutually
supportive contacts with kin and friends.
W e m u s t n o t e x a g g e r a t e t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f c o t t o n as a n e m p l o y e r
in these towns, although comparatively the degree of specialisation
4
J. T. Danson and T. A. Welton, 'On the Population of Lancashire and Cheshire
and its Local Distribution during the Fifty Years 1801-51', Transactions of the Historic
Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, 11 (1858-9), p. 31.
5
R. K. Fleischman, jr, 'Conditions of Life among the Cotton Workers of South-East
Lancashire during the Industrial Revolution (1780-1850)' (unpublished PhD thesis,
State University of New York, Buffalo, 1973), p. 260.
6
P. Rushton, 'Housing Conditions and the Family Economy in the Victorian Slum:
A Study of a Manchester District, 1790-1871' (unpublished PhD thesis, Manchester
University, 1977), pp. 99-100.

362 J . K. W A L T O N
was very high b y any standards. O n o n e calculation the cotton indus

try consistently e m p l o y e d over o n e third of L a n c a s h i r e ' s total popula
tion during the h e y d a y of h a n d l o o m weaving between the late
eighteenth century and the 1830s. For adult male labour saturation
p o i n t h a d a l r e a d y b e e n r e a c h e d i n t h e m i d - e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y in s o m e
parishes, w h e r e b e t w e e n half a n d two-thirds of the fathers of children
baptised in t h e parish c h u r c h w o r k e d in the textile industries. In 1841
t h e u r b a n figures for m e n o v e r t w e n t y y e a r s o l d w e r e l e s s s p e c t a c u l a r .
M a n c h e s t e r in particular w a s developing quite a diverse e m p l o y m e n t
s t r u c t u r e , a s it b e c a m e m o r e o f a c o m m e r c i a l c e n t r e . I n 1 8 4 1 f e w e r
t h a n a q u a r t e r o f t h e t o w n ' s a d u l t m a l e s w o r k e d i n textile p r o c e s s e s
as such, a n d just over half of t h e s e s e e m to h a v e w o r k e d in factories.
T e x t i l e w o r k e r s w e r e o u t n u m b e r e d b y m i s c e l l a n e o u s craft o c c u p a
t i o n s . G e n e r a l l a b o u r e r s a c c o u n t e d for n e a r l y 2 0 p e r c e n t o f a d u l t
males, and commercial, professional and shopkeeping occupations
w e r e nearly as n u m e r o u s . In m o r e specialised centres such as A s h t o n ,
B l a c k b u r n a n d B o l t o n t e x t i l e w o r k e r s a c c o u n t e d for b e t w e e n 4 0 a n d
nearly 5 0 per cent of the adult male workforce, and m a n y m o r e of
7
these w o r k e d in factories. T h e true d e p e n d e n c e of t h e s e e c o n o m i e s
o n c o t t o n w e n t m u c h d e e p e r t h a n t h i s , a s j o b s i n all s e c t o r s f r o m
labouring a n d coal m i n i n g to building a n d retailing d e p e n d e d o n the
prosperity of the staple industry; a n d the rapid rise of m a c h i n e - m a k i n g
during the 1840s w a s largely g e a r e d u p to the n e e d s of local cotton
firms, a l t h o u g h a g r o w i n g p r o p o r t i o n o f o u t p u t w a s for e x p o r t . B u t
c o t t o n f a c t o r i e s as s u c h still e m p l o y e d a m i n o r i t y o f a d u l t m a l e s e v e n
in A s h t o n , w h e r e t h e i r i n f l u e n c e w a s s t r o n g e s t . I n m o s t p l a c e s t h e y
a c c o u n t e d for a q u a r t e r o r l e s s o f t h i s s e c t o r o f t h e w o r k f o r c e .
T o a s s e s s t h e full e x t e n t o f c o t t o n ' s d o m i n a n c e t o w a r d s m i d - c e n t u r y
w e n e e d to consider the distinctive age a n d sex structure of factory
employment. In 1841 more than 40 per cent of w o m e n aged over
t w e n t y in M a n c h e s t e r ' s workforce w e r e in textiles, two-thirds of t h e m
i n f a c t o r i e s . F o r t h e u n d e r - t w e n t i e s t h e f o r m e r figure w a s n e a r l y 6 0
per cent. In the really specialised cotton t o w n s the proportions w e r e
m u c h higher: more than two-thirds of the female over-twenties labour
force w e r e i n t e x t i l e s i n B l a c k b u r n a n d A s h t o n , a n d o v e r 8 0 p e r c e n t
of t h e u n d e r - t w e n t i e s . A l m o s t all w e r e f a c t o r y w o r k e r s . Children
7
V. A. C. Gatrell, 'The Commercial Middle Class in Manchester, c. 1820-57' (unpub
lished PhD thesis, Cambridge University, 1971), p. 81; Rushton, 'Victorian Slum',
pp. 198-9. In Preston the corresponding figure was only 32 per cent: M. Anderson,
Family Structure in Nineteenth-Century Lancashire (Cambridge, 1971), p. 25.

The north-west 363
u n d e r t h e a g e o f t h i r t e e n p r o b a b l y a c c o u n t e d for n e a r l y o n e fifth o f
c o t t o n f a c t o r y w o r k e r s in s o u t h - e a s t L a n c a s h i r e a n d n o r t h C h e s h i r e
in 1 8 3 3 , a n d d e s p i t e f a c t o r y l e g i s l a t i o n t h e u n d e r - e i g h t e e n s m a d e u p
o v e r o n e t h i r d o f t h e f a c t o r y p o p u l a t i o n in 1 8 4 7 . T h e p e a k a g e s for
c o t t o n e m p l o y m e n t , e s p e c i a l l y i n t h e m i l l s , w e r e t h e late t e e n s a n d
e a r l y t w e n t i e s . I n 1 8 5 1 n e a r l y 4 0 p e r c e n t o f girls a g e d b e t w e e n fifteen
a n d n i n e t e e n in t h e w h o l e o f L a n c a s h i r e w o r k e d in c o t t o n m a n u f a c
t u r e , a n d a b o u t o n e in e v e r y f o u r b o y s . T h i s s u g g e s t s t h a t f a c t o r y
w o r k w a s a n a l m o s t u n i v e r s a l e x p e r i e n c e for f e m a l e t e e n a g e r s , a n d
v e r y m u c h t h e n o r m for m a l e s , in t h e c o t t o n t o w n s t h e m s e l v e s . B y
the mid-twenties the age participation rate w a s dropping steadily,
as m e n w h o failed to m a k e t h e g r a d e s o u g h t b e t t e r - p a i d j o b s i n o t h e r
i n d u s t r i e s , a n d w o m e n m a r r i e d a n d s t a r t e d f a m i l i e s , for at t h i s s t a g e
only the hardest-pressed m o t h e r s sought factory w o r k while their
children w e r e y o u n g . T h e overall percentage of the adult population
w o r k i n g in cotton, including the surviving non-factory sector, r a n g e d
in 1 8 5 1 f r o m 3 8 . 3 in B l a c k b u r n t h r o u g h 3 4 . 7 i n A s h t o n a n d 2 9 . 5 in
P r e s t o n to 1 6 . 5 i n W i g a n a n d a m e r e 1 6 . 0 in M a n c h e s t e r itself, w i t h
m u c h l o w e r figures for t h e a r e a n o r t h o f P r e s t o n a n d n e g l i g i b l e o n e s
8
for M e r s e y s i d e .
W e s t o f W i g a n , n o r t h o f t h e R i b b l e a n d in m o s t o f C h e s h i r e t h e
impact of cotton w a s indeed very limited. T h e e c o n o m y of greater
M e r s e y s i d e d e v e l o p e d r a p i d l y w i t h little r e f e r e n c e to it d u r i n g t h e
s e c o n d h a l f o f t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y . S a l t , c o a l a n d t h e A t l a n t i c traffic
b u l k e d l a r g e s t at t h i s s t a g e in L i v e r p o o l , a n d s l a v e r y b r o u g h t o c c a s i o
n a l w i n d f a l l profits r a t h e r t h a n c o n s i s t e n t or r e l i a b l e h i g h r e t u r n s .
C o t t o n b e c a m e a n i m p o r t a n t L i v e r p o o l t r a d e at t h e e n d o f t h e e i g h
t e e n t h c e n t u r y , a n d b y t h e 1 8 2 0 s it w a s t h e m o s t v a l u a b l e s i n g l e
i m p o r t ; b u t t h i s w a s a diversified m a r i t i m e e c o n o m y w h o s e o w n sur
p l u s e s w e r e i n v e s t e d in i n l a n d t r a n s p o r t a n d n e a r b y coalfields r a t h e r
t h a n t h e c o t t o n i n d u s t r y as s u c h . E i g h t e e n t h - c e n t u r y L i v e r p o o l a l s o
had a substantial manufacturing sector, with impressive concen
t r a t i o n s o f c o a l - u s i n g crafts as w e l l as s h i p b u i l d i n g , p o t t e r y a n d c h e m i
c a l s . E a r l y in t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y t h e s e i n d u s t r i e s d e c l i n e d o r
m i g r a t e d to L i v e r p o o l ' s h i n t e r l a n d , as t h e t o w n ' s s p e c i a l i s a t i o n i n
c o m m e r c e a n d s h i p p i n g d e e p e n e d . It still g r e w s i g n i f i c a n t l y f a s t e r
t h a n M a n c h e s t e r , a n d b y 1 8 5 1 its p o p u l a t i o n s t o o d at o v e r 3 7 5 , 0 0 0 .
T h e r i s e o f t h e c o a l , salt a n d c h e m i c a l i n d u s t r i e s i n l a n d , where
8
Rushton, 'Victorian Slum', p. 198; Lyons, Tower-Loom', pp. 147-51; Anderson,
Family Structure, pp. 26-8; Fleischman, 'Cotton Workers', p. 29.

364 J . K. W A L T O N
u r b a n i s a t i o n ( o u t s i d e W a r r i n g t o n a n d S t H e l e n s ) l a g g e d far b e h i n d
t h e textile district, c r e a t e d v u l n e r a b l y s p e c i a l i s e d local e c o n o m i e s
with a h e a v y d e p e n d e n c e o n unskilled adult male labour, although
C h e s h i r e salt, i n p a r t i c u l a r , e m p l o y e d w h o l e f a m i l i e s in a r d u o u s a n d
u n p l e a s a n t t a s k s . I n c o n t r a s t w i t h t h e textile district, t h e M e r s e y s i d e
social s t r u c t u r e w a s i n c r e a s i n g l y c h a r a c t e r i s e d b y a s h o r t a g e o f s k i l l e d
industrial work, a chronic lack of female a n d juvenile e m p l o y m e n t ,
and a limited representation of the middle ranks of tradesmen and
small manufacturers.
North of Preston the cotton industry sprinkled factory settlements
q u i te t h i c k l y o v e r a w i d e a r e a d u r i n g its w a t e r - p o w e r e d p h a s e , socialis
i n g c o u n t r y d w e l l e r s as w e l l as p a r i s h a p p r e n t i c e s i n t o f a c t o r y life;
b u t t h e y w e r e a l r e a d y d e c l i n i n g b y t h e 1 8 3 0 s , as t h e a d v a n t a g e s o f
t h e coalfield a s s e r t e d t h e m s e l v e s . M i n i n g a n d q u a r r y i n g p e r s i s t e d i n
p l a c e s , to b e r e v i t a l i s e d in F u r n e s s in t h e 1 8 4 0 s a n d a f t e r w a r d s . B u t
t h e g r o w t h o f i n d u s t r y in t h e l a t e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y w a s n o t c o n s o l i
d a t e d s u b s e q u e n t l y , a n d d e c l i n e w a s a p p a r e n t in m o s t s e c t o r s b y 1 8 4 0 .
S o u t h L a n c a s h i r e , i n s t e a d o f s t i m u l a t i n g e c o n o m i c a n d social c h a n g e
further n o r t h , b e c a m e a s u c c e s s f u l c o m p e t i t o r for its fruits, e n t i c i n g
t h e n a t u r a l i n c r e a s e o f t h e c o u n t r y s i d e s o u t h w a r d s in t h e p r o c e s s .
In 1 8 5 0 as in 1 7 5 0 t h e social s t r u c t u r e o f n o r t h L a n c a s h i r e w a s d o m i
nated b y agricultural occupations, a n d farming r e m a i n e d important
t h r o u g h o u t t h e n o r t h - w e s t . A g r i c u l t u r e a c c o u n t e d for o n l y j u s t o v e r
10 p e r c e n t o f L a n c a s h i r e ' s a d u l t m a l e s in 1 8 5 1 , b u t f a r m e r s a n d f a r m
workers were remarkably thick on the ground; indeed, the Lancashire
figure o f 2 9 . 6 p e r s q u a r e m i l e w a s s u b s t a n t i a l l y h i g h e r t h a n t h e
9
national average. C h e s h i r e ' s a g r i c u l t u r a l i n t e r e s t b u l k e d l a r g e r in
t h e total p o p u l a t i o n , b u t t h e p a t t e r n in b o t h c o u n t i e s w a s s i m i l a r .
S m a l l f a r m s p r e d o m i n a t e d : t h r e e - q u a r t e r s o f L a n c a s h i r e ' s f a r m s in
1 8 5 1 o c c u p i e d l e s s t h a n 5 0 a c r e s e a c h , a n d in C h e s h i r e o n l y e l e v e n
farmers h a d m o r e than 5 0 0 acres. A relatively high proportion of
f a r m e r s w e r e o w n e r - o c c u p i e r s , a l t h o u g h t h e i r n u m b e r s d e c l i n e d after
1 8 1 5 . T h e l a n d e d g e n t r y w e r e s t r o n g a n d w e l l e s t a b l i s h e d in l o w l a n d
C h e s h i r e , b u t t h i n o n t h e g r o u n d in L a n c a s h i r e a w a y f r o m t h e c o a s t a l
plain. P a s t o r a l a n d m i x e d f a r m i n g p r e v a i l e d , w i t h a n e m p h a s i s o n
cattle r e a r i n g a n d d a i r y i n g . M u c h o f t h e l a b o u r c a m e f r o m t h e f a r m e r s
a n d t h e i r f a m i l i e s , a l t h o u g h in 1 8 5 1 a g r i c u l t u r a l d a y - l a b o u r e r s a n d
living-in f a r m s e r v a n t s a v e r a g e d m o r e t h a n t w o p e r f a r m in L a n c a s h i r e
9
Danson and Welton, 'Population of Lancashire and Cheshire', p. 33.

The north-west 365
a n d t h r e e in C h e s h i r e . T h e s o c i a l d i s t a n c e b e t w e e n f a r m e r s and
l a b o u r e r s w a s l i m i t e d , e s p e c i a l l y in t h e f r e q u e n t c a s e s w h e r e f a r m
s e r v a n t s w e r e f a r m e r s ' c h i l d r e n s a v i n g for a h o l d i n g o f t h e i r o w n ,
or waiting to inherit. Agricultural real w a g e s w e r e relatively high and
tending u p w a r d s through the period, especially near the industrial
districts. T h i s w a s a g e n e r a l l y s t a b l e agricultural s y s t e m , a p a r t f r o m
t h e p r o g r e s s i v e s u b - d i v i s i o n o f h o l d i n g s in s o u t h - e a s t L a n c a s h i r e a n d
n o r t h - e a s t C h e s h i r e . It w a s little d i s r u p t e d b y e n c l o s u r e ( m a i n l y o f
m o s s e s a n d u p l a n d c o m m o n s ) o r i n n o v a t i o n , a n d its p e r p e t u a t i o n
w a s a i d e d b y t h e a m p l e s c o p e for s u r p l u s rural p o p u l a t i o n to find
industrial e m p l o y m e n t or m o v e to t o w n s w h i c h w e r e themselves pro
v i d i n g e x p a n d i n g m a r k e t s for t h e f a r m e r s ' p r o d u c t s . T h e f a r m e r s
t h e m s e l v e s w e r e r a r e l y p r o s p e r o u s o r e v e n c o m f o r t a b l y off, b u t t h e
rural s o c i a l s y s t e m w o r k e d w e l l e n o u g h t o e n s u r e t h a t m i g r a t i o n off
the land could take place b y choice before pressure on the labour
m a r k e t m a d e it a n e c e s s i t y .
H o w d i d t h e c h a n g e s o f t h e c e n t u r y after 1 7 5 0 affect t h e l i v i n g stan
d a r d s a n d life s t y l e s o f t h e i n d u s t r i a l l a b o u r f o r c e ? W e m u s t c o n s i d e r
t w o s e t s o f r e l a t e d i n f l u e n c e s , o n e e m a n a t i n g f r o m t h e factory, t h e
other from urbanisation.
C o t t o n factories i m p o s e d l o n g h o u r s o f r e g i m e n t e d toil, at a p a c e
and r h y t h m governed b y an external motive p o w e r and watched over
b y a h i e r a r c h y o f s u p e r v i s o r s , in a n u n p l e a s a n t a n d u n h e a l t h y e n v i r o n
m e n t . M o s t o f t h e s e a s s e r t i o n s r e q u i r e s o m e qualification, h o w e v e r ,
a n d t h e r e w e r e b e n e f i t s t o s e t a g a i n s t t h e c o s t s . A b o v e all, factory
w o r k m e a n t improved family earnings, even w h e n only the children
participated. O n l y a small minority of m e n graduated to the super
visory aristocracies of mule spinners and overlookers, but there was
p l e n t y o f r e l a t i v e l y w e l l - p a i d w o r k for w o m e n ( e s p e c i a l l y w h e n p o w e r -
l o o m w e a v i n g e x p a n d e d ) , w h i l e c h i l d r e n c o u l d m a k e a useful contri
bution to the family b u d g e t from an early stage, a n d teenage incomes
w e r e h i g h for t h e a g e g r o u p . A n d e r s o n ' s P r e s t o n figures s u g g e s t that,
in a r e a s o n a b l e y e a r , m o s t y o u n g c o u p l e s a n d families w i t h c h i l d r e n
i n w o r k at m i d - c e n t u r y w e r e safely c l e a r o f a p o v e r t y - l i n e d e r i v e d
from R o w n t r e e ' s York. Foster's more pessimistic O l d h a m evidence
indicates that poverty levels compared favourably with the contrasting
u r b a n e c o n o m i e s o f N o r t h a m p t o n a n d S o u t h S h i e l d s . M o s t families
fell i n t o p o v e r t y w h e n t h e c h i l d r e n w e r e y o u n g , b u t t h e availability
o f f a c t o r y w o r k for w i v e s w a s a n a d d i t i o n a l r e s o u r c e t o alleviate this
universal problem. Cotton factory w a g e s w e r e relatively regular and

366 J . K. W A L T O N
predictable, t h o u g h t h e y w e r e always t h r e a t e n e d b y the trade cycle

a n d t h e h i g h t u r n o v e r o f s m a l l e r e m p l o y e r s . S o m e a t t e m p t at b u d g e t -
ing, saving and insurance w a s increasingly possible to m a n y , h o w -
ever, a n d the importance of family rather t h a n individual i n c o m e s
reduced the potential impact of the illness or death of the m a i n bread-
winner.
T h e s e material advantages carry m o r e weight relatively t h a n absolu-
tely, a n d t h e life s t y l e s a s s u m e d b y t h e c a l c u l a t o r s o f l i v i n g s t a n d a r d s
are very basic indeed. M c K e n z i e ' s nutritional analysis of working-class
b u d g e t s in t h e M a n c h e s t e r a r e a for 1 8 4 1 a p p l i e s o n l y t o t h e ' s o b e r
a n d i n d u s t r i o u s ' , as d o t h e A n d e r s o n a n d F o s t e r f i g u r e s . E v e n t h e n ,
a l t h o u g h t h e w e l l - p a i d a n d fully e m p l o y e d m i g h t e n j o y a b o r i n g b u t
a d e q u a t e diet b a s e d o n b r e a d , p o t a t o e s a n d a little m e a t , s i m i l a r l y
v i r t u o u s l a b o u r e r s o n s h o r t t i m e d e s c e n d e d t o a bill o f fare s e r i o u s l y
deficient in p r o t e i n a n d c a l o r i e s , w h i c h w a s ' v e r y l i k e l y ' to h a v e ' s o m e
1 0
i m m e d i a t e effect o n h e a l t h a n d t h e ability t o r e s i s t d i s e a s e ' . These
c a l c u l a t i o n s m a k e n o a l l o w a n c e for w a s t e or f o o d a d u l t e r a t i o n , or
'irrational' expenditure o n drink a n d entertainment; a n d s u c h evi-
d e n c e s e t s textile L a n c a s h i r e ' s r e l a t i v e l y h i g h f a m i l y i n c o m e s in p e r -
s p e c t i v e . T o m a i n t a i n a n d s a f e g u a r d a b a r e l y a d e q u a t e diet it w a s
n e c e s s a r y to a d o p t a n a b s t e m i o u s life s t y l e o f e n d l e s s l y d e f e r r e d grati-
fications. T h e p r o l i f e r a t i o n o f b e e r h o u s e s in t h e c o t t o n t o w n s after
1 8 3 0 is o n e i n d i c a t i o n a m o n g m a n y t h a t s u c h s u s t a i n e d s e l f - c o n t r o l
w a s far f r o m t h e n o r m .
The factory e c o n o m y h a d obvious disadvantages. W o r k i n g h o u r s
w e r e v e r y l o n g for m o s t o f t h e p e r i o d , a n d a c c i d e n t s a n d f a c t o r y -
i n d u c e d d i s e a s e s w e r e rife. T h e w o r k w a s m o n o t o n o u s a n d m e n t a l l y
d e m a n d i n g as w e l l a s p h y s i c a l l y d e b i l i t a t i n g . A s K a y r e m a r k e d , c o t t o n
operatives' employment
absorbs their attention, and unremittingly employs their physical energies.

They are drudges who watch the movements, and assist the operations, of
a mighty material force, which toils with an energy ever unconscious of fati-
gue. The persevering labour of the operative must rival the mathematical
11
precision, the incessant motion and the exhaustless power of the machine.
S u c h w o r k i m p o s e d its o w n d i s c i p l i n e , w h i c h w a s r e i n f o r c e d b y t h e
mill m a n a g e m e n t h i e r a r c h y . B u t o n e d o e s n o t h a v e t o e n d o r s e A n d r e w
10
J. McKenzie, 'The Composition and Nutritional Value of Diets in Manchester and
Dukinñeld', Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society, 72 (1962), pp. 123-40; Ander-
son, Family Structure; and J. Foster, Class Struggle and the Industrial Revolution (1974).
11
J . P. Kay, The Moral and Physical Condition of the Working Classes Employed in the
Cotton Manufacture of Manchester (1832), pp. 2 4 - 5 .

The north-west 367
Ure's a p o l o g e t i c s , in w h i c h factory children w e r e unashamedly

l i k e n e d to ' l i v e l y e l v e s ' w h o r e v e l l e d i n t h e i r e m p l o y m e n t , to s u g g e s t
that the e m p l o y e r s ' adoption of elaborate codes of factory rules a n d
fines w a s at l e a s t i n p a r t a d e f e n s i v e r e s p o n s e t o t h e i r r e p r e s s i b l e
i n d i s c i p l i n e o f a y o u n g a n d r e s o u r c e f u l l a b o u r force w h o f o u n d w a y s
of l i g h t e n i n g t h e b u r d e n o f t h e i r toil.
In m u l e s p i n n i n g at l e a s t , a d j u s t m e n t t o f a c t o r y life w a s m a d e e a s i e r
by the perpetuation of a family-sized basic production unit (spinner,
piecers, scavengers) and a patriarchal authority structure. Sub
c o n t r a c t i n g w a s p r e v a l e n t i n s p i n n i n g as i n m a n y o t h e r i n d u s t r i e s ,
a n d evidence from the 1830s suggests that two-thirds of male under-
eighteen factory workers, a n d o n e third of the females, w e r e hired
by the operatives rather than the masters. This does not m e a n that
t h e f a m i l y u n i t s o f d o m e s t i c i n d u s t r y w e r e t r a n s f e r r e d to t h e f a c t o r y
en bloc: S m e l s e r ' s a s s e r t i o n s to t h i s effect h a v e b e e n s u c c e s s f u l l y c h a l
lenged by Anderson and others on demographic and empirical
grounds, and many handloom weaving economies were being under
p i n n e d b y children's factory w o r k from the 1820s o n w a r d s . But a
substantial minority of factory children w e r e b e i n g e m p l o y e d a n d paid
by their fathers on a sub-contracting basis, and m a n y others w e r e
similarly supervised b y other relatives a n d n e i g h b o u r s . H o w this sys
t e m c a m e i n t o o p e r a t i o n is still a n o p e n q u e s t i o n , b u t L a z o n i c k a r g u e s
t h a t t h e f a c t o r y m a s t e r s f o u n d it c o n v e n i e n t t o l e a v e t h e r e c r u i t m e n t
1 2
and discipline of the spinners' assistants to the spinners t h e m s e l v e s .
The privileged position of the mule spinner was thus safeguarded
a g a i n s t d i l u t i o n a n d i n n o v a t i o n b y t h e n e e d for d i s c i p l i n e to b e
imposed by physical domination and reinforced by the normative
sanctions of patriarchal or quasi-patriarchal authority, although such
n o r m s m u s t often h a v e shielded the children t h e m s e l v e s from excesses
of c r u e l t y o r e x p l o i t a t i o n .
T h e crucial differences entailed b y the factory w e r e the separation
of h o m e f r o m w o r k p l a c e , a n d t h e e x p r e s s i o n o f e a c h m e m b e r ' s c o n t r i
b u t i o n to t h e f a m i l y e c o n o m y a s a s e p a r a t e m o n e y w a g e , e x c e p t w h e r e
this w a s m a s k e d b y sub-contracting. W o r k outside the h o m e w a s the
n o r m in agriculture a n d m a n y other occupations, of course, but factory
w o r k t o o k e c o n o m i c a l l y a c t i v e h o u s e h o l d m e m b e r s a w a y for v e r y l o n g
hours on a regular basis, w o m e n included. Contemporaries worried
12
W . Lazonick, 'Industrial Relations and Technical Change: The Case of the Self-
Acting Mule', Cambridge Journal of Economics, 3 (1979), pp. 231-62; N. J. Smelser,
Social Change in the Industrial Revolution (1959).

368 J. K. W A L T O N
a b o u t t h e social i m p l i c a t i o n s . H e r e is E n g e l s , at o n e w i t h A s h l e y a n d
the factory reformers o n this issue:
The employment of women at once breaks up the family; for when the wife
spends 12 or 13 hours every day in the mill, and the husband works the
same length of time there or elsewhere . . . the children . . . grow up like
wild weeds; they are put out to nurse for a shilling or eighteenpence per
13
week, and how they are treated may be imagined.
T h e r e is m u c h m o r e i n t h e s a m e v e i n , a b o u t c h i l d r e n b e i n g r u i n e d
for f a m i l y life a n d m o v i n g i n t o l o d g i n g s at t h e first o p p o r t u n i t y , a b o u t
t h e i m m o r a l i t y o f f a c t o r y girls a n d t h e painful r e v e r s a l o f s e x r o l e s
as u n e m p l o y e d m e n k e p t h o u s e w h i l e t h e i r w i v e s w e n t o u t t o w o r k .
T h e r e a l i t y w a s l e s s a p o c a l y p t i c . A n d e r s o n c a l c u l a t e s t h a t in t h e P r e s
ton of 1851 ' 2 3 % of children w h o h a d a co-residing father h a d working
m o t h e r s ' , h a l f o f w h o m w e r e in f a c t o r y o c c u p a t i o n s . M o s t o f t h e s e
c h i l d r e n w e r e l o o k e d after b y r e l a t i v e s a n d n e i g h b o u r s , a n d o n l y a
14
t i n y m i n o r i t y o f i n f a n t s w e r e left w i t h p r o f e s s i o n a l c h i l d - m i n d e r s .
The m o t h e r s w h o w o r k e d in factories did so to mitigate the impact
of t h e p o v e r t y c y c l e i n f a m i l i e s h e a d e d b y l o w w a g e e a r n e r s . A d m i t
tedly, Preston's administrative and residential functions probably
offered a w i d e r r a n g e o f n o n - f a c t o r y a n d i n d e e d h o m e - b a s e d e m p l o y
m e n t for m o t h e r s t h a n d i d m o s t c o t t o n t o w n s . M o r e o v e r , e v i d e n c e
from 1851 m a y well provide a m o r e stable a n d reassuring picture than
s i m i l a r s o u r c e s m i g h t h a v e s u g g e s t e d for e a r l i e r y e a r s . W e m u s t n o t
ignore the systematic dosing of children with opiates a n d the tragically
h i g h i n f a n t m o r t a l i t y l e v e l s for t h e c o t t o n t o w n s ; b u t s u c h p r o b l e m s
w e r e also prevalent e l s e w h e r e , a n d Liverpool, especially, h a d a m u c h
w o r s e c h i l d m o r t a l i t y r e c o r d . A s for a d o l e s c e n t s l e a v i n g h o m e a n d
f a c t o r y i m m o r a l i t y , w h a t e v i d e n c e w e h a v e is at w o r s t i n c o n c l u s i v e .
W e should r e m e m b e r that middle-class observers were easily s h o c k e d
b y f e m a l e b a d l a n g u a g e , a n d all t o o e a g e r t o e q u a t e its u s e w i t h d e p r a
vity of a m o r e physical kind. Factory w o r k gave w o m e n a m e a s u r e
of c u l t u r a l i n d e p e n d e n c e , at l e a s t d u r i n g w o r k i n g h o u r s , a n d t h e evi
d e n c e of this w a s deeply disturbing to m o s t c o m m e n t a t o r s . T h e factory
m u s t h a v e i n h i b i t e d t h e t r a n s m i s s i o n o f h o u s e w i f e r y skills, a n d it
c e r t a i n l y i m p o s e d a ' d o u b l e shift' o f h o u s e w o r k a n d mill w o r k o n
t h o s e w i v e s a n d m o t h e r s w h o f o u n d it i n e s c a p a b l e . B u t t h e w o r s t
effects o f t h e f a c t o r y o n t h e f a m i l y a r o s e f r o m c h i l d l a b o u r , a l t h o u g h
e v e n t h i s h a d its a n t e c e d e n t s i n t h e d o m e s t i c w o r k s h o p s o f p r o t o -
13
F. Engels, The Condition of the Working Class in England (Panther edn, 1969), p. 171.
14
Anderson, Family Structure, pp. 73-4.

The north-west 369
i n d u s t r i a l L a n c a s h i r e , w h e r e h o u r s c o u l d b e as l o n g a n d d i s c i p l i n e
as b r u t a l as in a n y f a c t o r y . B y t h e 1 8 3 0 s l e g i s l a t i v e c o n t r o l s a n d e c o
n o m i c considerations w e r e conspiring to reduce the level of child
e m p l o y m e n t in t h e y o u n g e s t a g e - r a n g e s ; a n d m o r e g e n e r a l l y t h e
impact of the factory o n the working-class family was c u s h i o n e d b y
family a n d n e i g h b o u r h o o d s u p p o r t n e t w o r k s , a i d e d b y t h e s h o r t -
range nature of m o s t migration and the early e m e r g e n c e of relatively
stable working-class areas. Significantly, most of the adverse con
t e m p o r a r y c o m m e n t c a m e f r o m M a n c h e s t e r , w h o s e size a n d w i d e
m i g r a t i o n c a t c h m e n t a r e a m a d e t h e s e m i t i g a t i n g factors l e s s effective.
F e w experienced the transition to factory a n d t o w n simultaneously.
M a n y families first e x p e r i e n c e d f a c t o r y w o r k in t h e rural ' i n d u s t r i a l
c o l o n i e s ' , w h i c h b e c a m e s t a g i n g p o s t s for m i g r a n t s en route t o t h e
l a r g e r c e n t r e s . A d u l t m i g r a n t s to t h e c o t t o n t o w n s r a r e l y w o r k e d in
factories t h e m s e l v e s u n l e s s t h e y a l r e a d y h a d a p p r o p r i a t e e x p e r i e n c e .
O n l y c h i l d r e n a n d y o u n g a d o l e s c e n t s w e r e likely t o m a k e b o t h s e t s
o f a d j u s t m e n t s at o n c e .
T h e t r a u m a s o f t o w n life, as s u c h , c e n t r e d o n h e a l t h a n d p h y s i c a l
e n v i r o n m e n t . W o r k i n g - c l a s s h o u s i n g in t h e c o t t o n t o w n s w a s often
of v e r y p o o r q u a l i t y . E m p l o y e r h o u s i n g w a s r a r e l y p r o v i d e d for m o r e
t h a n t e n o r t w e l v e k e y w o r k e r s , a n d ' m o d e l ' h o u s i n g in t h e m a n n e r
of t h e A s h w o r t h s at E g e r t o n a n d N e w E a g l e y or t h e A s h t o n s at H y d e
w a s m o s t u n u s u a l . S u c h e m p l o y e r s often d e d u c t e d r e n t s at s o u r c e
a n d i m p o s e d strict r e g i m e s o f s u p e r v i s i o n a n d i n s p e c t i o n , w h i l e profit
b u l k e d l a r g e r t h a n p a t e r n a l i s m as a m o t i v e for p r o v i s i o n o f t h i s k i n d .
1 5
Housing subsidies were u n k n o w n . T h e pressures and risks of the
l a n d m a r k e t a n d b u i l d i n g i n d u s t r y as e x p e r i e n c e d b y t h e s m a l l s p e c u
lators w h o p r e d o m i n a t e d , c o m b i n e d w i t h t h e u r g e to profit, e n s u r e d
that tightly p a c k e d urban housing w a s easily and frequently over
c r o w d e d b y the m o s t basic of public health standards. Families re
sponded to depressions or troughs in the poverty cycle by
e c o n o m i s i n g o n s p a c e , t a k i n g in r e l a t i v e s or l o d g e r s to m a k e t h e r e n t
g o further. T h e l a c k o f u n t a i n t e d w a t e r a n d s e w e r i n g c o m p o u n d e d
t h e p r o b l e m s , e s p e c i a l l y in w o r k i n g - c l a s s a r e a s . T h e l a c k o f a d e q u a t e
w a s h i n g facilities e n c o u r a g e d t h e s p r e a d o f l o u s e - b o r n e d i s e a s e s like
t y p h u s along with a wide range of other environmentally related
15
S. M. Gaskell, 'Housing Estate Development 1840-1918, with Special Reference
to the Pennine Towns', (unpublished PhD thesis, Sheffield University, 1974), chap.
2; L. D. W. Smith, 'Textile Factory Settlements in the Early Industrial Revolution'
(unpublished PhD thesis, Aston University, 1976), pp. 38, 42, 202-3.

370 J. K. W A L T O N
sicknesses. Squalor and high death rates were the most obvious physi
cal disadvantages of urbanisation, compounded by air pollution and
the adulteration of food supplies.
Why did the cotton towns recruit so successfully among short-
distance migrants who knew what they were coming to? In the first
place, historians are in a much better position to take account of high
urban death and disease rates than were contemporary migrants, who
seem to have taken little or no notice of this issue, despite growing
awareness among sections of the professional middle classes,
especially during the 1830s and 1840s. Beyond this, the answer varies
according to the origins of the migrant. If they lay in domestic industry,
subsistence migration increasingly predominated as life in handloom
weaving settlements became more difficult. If in Ireland, the case was
even more clear-cut. If in agriculture, the age structure of migrants,
concentrated in the teens and twenties, suggests that the cotton towns
promised early release from dependence, whether on the family farm
or in farm service, especially for those who did not expect to inherit.
For such people the towns offered independence, amusement and
the prospect of early marriage.
Short-range migration to compact towns of manageable size enabled
extended families to provide mutual aid in hard times, and ensured
that neighbours were likely to share a common background in exper
ience and culture. Workplace recruitment through personal contacts
reinforced these tendencies, and supportive social and familial
networks were probably strengthened by the urban milieu, which
also provided alternative or additional support systems based on
workplace, pub, church or chapel. Customs and traditions were like
wise defended and perpetuated: the wakes holidays, for example,
might be truncated in time and content, but they survived to enter
a new lease of life beyond mid-century, alongside the new commercial
16
influences of singing saloon and music hall. The solidarity and syste
matic mutual assistance provided by neighbourhood, workplace and
extended family in the cotton towns stands out as a positive feature
of the response to industrialisation; and the growing strength of the
friendly societies reinforced these informal institutions. These argu
ments are reinforced if we reject Anderson's assumption that this
behaviour was largely founded on the coldly rational calculation of
16
J. K. Walton and R. Poole, 'The Lancashire Wakes in the Nineteenth Century',
in R. D. Storch, ed., Popular Culture and Custom in Nineteenth-Century England (1982),
pp. 100-24.

The north-west 371
i n d i v i d u a l l o n g - t e r m i n t e r e s t , a n d g i v e n o r m a t i v e v a l u e s a n d tradi
1 7
tional expectations their due explanatory w e i g h t .
T h e i m p a c t o f l a r g e - s c a l e , r a p i d u r b a n i s a t i o n w a s p e r h a p s m o r e trau
matic outside the cotton t o w n s . Liverpool h a d a particularly sad
record. T h e decline of manufacturing industry, and the concentration
of e m p l o y m e n t i n t o t r a n s p o r t a n d s e r v i c e s to c o m m e r c e , m e a n t t h a t
from the late eighteenth century casual workers, and especially
d o c k e r s , g r e w e v e n m o r e r a p i d l y i n r e l a t i v e i m p o r t a n c e t h a n in a b
solute numbers. B y 1851 about 45 per cent of household heads were
in ' u n s k i l l e d ' o r ' s e m i - s k i l l e d ' o c c u p a t i o n s . T h e r e w e r e f e w e c o n o m i c
o p e n i n g s for c h i l d r e n o r m a r r i e d w o m e n , a n d m a n y f a m i l y e c o n o m i e s
d e p e n d e d very heavily on the uncertain incomes of casually e m p l o y e d
dockers and labourers. Housing conditions w e r e especially appalling,
a s d o c k e r s ' h o u s i n g c o m p e t e d w i t h c o m m e r c i a l u s e r s for s c a r c e s p a c e
near the waterfront, and landowners rationed the supply of develop
m e n t land. Back-to-back courts formed nearly o n e third of the h o u s i n g
s t o c k b y 1 8 5 0 , a n d t e n y e a r s earlier o v e r 1 2 p e r c e n t o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n
of L i v e r p o o l p a r i s h ( t h e i n n e r city) l i v e d in d a m p a n d p o l l u t e d c e l l a r s .
T h e average working-class cottage occupied only 16 square yards of
land, but high land prices sent overall building costs soaring. In 1845
t h e y w e r e 1 0 p e r c e n t h i g h e r t h a n in M a n c h e s t e r a n d 3 0 p e r c e n t
m o r e t h a n in Bolton or B u r y . T h e c o m b i n a t i o n of low, uncertain w a g e s
a n d high rents m e a n t large n u m b e r s of lodgers a n d lethal levels of
o v e r c r o w d i n g . D e a t h r a t e s r o s e s h a r p l y after 1 8 2 0 . T h e y s t a y e d at
well over thirty per t h o u s a n d through the 1830s a n d 1840s, reaching
a g r u e s o m e p e a k of s e v e n t y - o n e per t h o u s a n d in the aftermath of
t h e I r i s h f a m i n e i n 1 8 4 7 . L i v e r p o o l ' s m o r t a l i t y l e v e l s at t h i s p e r i o d
w e r e the worst in E n g l a n d , a n d possibly the worst in the world. L o n g
distance migration predominated, especially from Ireland, and despite
the Irish t e n d e n c y to cluster in particular areas, the n e i g h b o u r h o o d
solidarity of the cotton t o w n s could not yet b e r e p r o d u c e d in the
dockland slums. No wonder c o n t e m p o r a r i e s identified perennial
1 8
p r o b l e m s o f theft, d r u n k e n n e s s , v i o l e n c e a n d v i c e .
Liverpool's urban pathology illustrates the problems of rapid
urbanisation without manufacturing industry. Significantly, the most
17
J. K. Walton, 'Lunacy in the Industrial Revolution: A Study of Asylum Admissions
in Lancashire, 1848-50', Journal of Social History, 13 (1979-80), pp. 16-17.
18
I. C. Taylor, 'Black Spot on the Mersey: A Study of Environment and Society in
Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Liverpool' (unpublished PhD thesis, Liverpool
University, 1976), pp. 1 2 4 , 1 9 6 - 7 .

372 J . K. W A L T O N
h o r r e n d o u s a r e a s o f E n g e l s ' s M a n c h e s t e r lay c l o s e to t h e city c e n t r e ,

w h e r e f a c t o r y w o r k w a s n o t available a n d a c a s u a l l a b o u r m a r k e t s i m i
lar to t h a t o f i n n e r L i v e r p o o l p r e v a i l e d . T h e e m e r g e n t c e n t r e s o f m i n i n g
a n d h e a v y i n d u s t r y in L i v e r p o o l ' s h i n t e r l a n d , h o w e v e r , s h a r e d s o m e
i m p o r t a n t c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s w i t h t h e c o t t o n t o w n s , as locally r e c r u i t e d
l a b o u r k e p t u p e s t a b l i s h e d festivals a n d v i o l e n t s p o r t s , o u t w o r k sur
v i v e d in w a t c h m a k i n g , t o o l m a k i n g a n d n a i l i n g ( b u t as y e t w i t h o u t
t h e t r a u m a s o f t h e h a n d l o o m w e a v e r s ) , a n d f a m i l y i n c o m e s in m i n i n g
could be supplemented by w o m e n and children (whatever the other
social c o s t s ) until t h e 1 8 4 0 s . P u b l i c h e a l t h p r o b l e m s w e r e u n i v e r s a l ,
a n d m a r k e t t o w n s like O r m s k i r k o r e m e r g e n t r e s o r t s like S o u t h p o r t
h a d 'black spots' of their o w n . In m a n y w a y s the cotton t o w n s c a m e
o u t b e s t in t h e l o n g e r t e r m f r o m t h e w o r k i n g - c l a s s e x p e r i e n c e o f i n d u s
trialisation in t h e n o r t h - w e s t . U n d e r p r e v a i l i n g c i r c u m s t a n c e s , t h e fac
t o r y b e c a m e m o r e a s s e t t h a n liability for t h e l i f e - c h a n c e s a n d living
s t a n d a r d s of t h e u r b a n l a b o u r f o r c e .
D u r i n g t h i s p e r i o d i m p o r t a n t c h a n g e s a l s o t o o k p l a c e in L a n c a s h i r e ' s
propertied and governing classes. T h e balance of p o w e r and prestige
tilted t o w a r d s t h e i n d u s t r i a l a n d c o m m e r c i a l w e a l t h o f s o u t h L a n
c a s h i r e , a n d n e w a d m i n i s t r a t i v e b o d i e s w e r e c o l o n i s e d b y textile
m a g n a t e s a n d t h e i r allies. T h e rise o f t h e ' c o t t o n o c r a c y ' o r ' m i l l o c r a c y '
in t h e c o t t o n t o w n s w a s a c c o m p a n i e d b y t h e e m e r g e n c e o f n e w k i n d s
of m e r c a n t i l e w e a l t h in L i v e r p o o l a n d a m e a s u r e o f l a n d e d c o n t i n u i t y
in m a n y rural a r e a s .
L a n c a s h i r e h a d its fair s h a r e o f aristocratic e s t a t e s , a n d C h e s h i r e
substantially m o r e than that. But the gentry and greater y e o m a n r y
w e r e relatively thin o n the ground, and very small holdings of less
t h a n 1 0 0 a c r e s w e r e p a r t i c u l a r l y n u m e r o u s in s o u t h - e a s t L a n c a s h i r e .
L a r g e e s t a t e s w e r e c o n c e n t r a t e d d i s p r o p o r t i o n a t e l y i n t o t h e m o r e fer
tile s o u t h a n d w e s t , a n d s o w e r e g e n t r y r e s i d e n c e s . M e r c h a n t s a n d
m a n u f a c t u r e r s w e r e a l r e a d y t a k i n g o v e r t h e c o u n t r y s e a t s o f t h e textile
district b y t h e e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , a n d m o s t o f L a n c a s h i r e ' s
n e w gentry of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries rose b y this
route. T h e great estates, from the Stanleys downwards, prospered
f r o m s t e a d i l y r i s i n g rent-rolls a n d w i n d f a l l profits f r o m m i n i n g a n d
urbanisation, while the gentry were economically secure unless
t e m p t e d into injudicious industrial speculation. T h e landlords them
selves were benefiting from the economic changes which produced
t h e c h a l l e n g e r s to t h e i r p o w e r .
T h e s u b s t a n t i a l factory m a s t e r s w e r e t h e m o s t visible a n d c o n t r o -

The north-west 373
versial o f t h e n e w m e n . F e w w e r e a b r a s i v e s e l f - m a d e m e n in t h e
B o u n d e r b y i d i o m . H o w e ' s s t u d y o f 3 5 1 L a n c a s h i r e textile i n d u s t r i a l i s t s
finds t h a t b e t w e e n t h e late e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y a n d t h e 1 8 4 0 s o n l y
5 p e r c e n t 'definitely r o s e f r o m t h e r a n k s o f s h o p k e e p e r s , artisans
a n d o p e r a t i v e s ' , a l t h o u g h a further 2 1 p e r c e n t h a d u n k n o w n o r i g i n s .
T h e successful o n e s m a d e substantial fortunes b y provincial stan
dards, but could not compare with the richest metropolitan bankers
1 9
and merchants. Nearly half w e r e Anglicans, and nonconformists
(apart f r o m U n i t a r i a n s a n d Q u a k e r s ) w e r e n o t o v e r r e p r e s e n t e d in t h e i r
r a n k s . T h e y w e r e n o t a r a c e apart, b u t a n affluent, d i s t i n c t i v e a n d
w e l l - i n t e g r a t e d g r o u p , l i n k e d b y cultural, familial a n d e c o n o m i c ties
to t h e s o c i e t y w h i c h s p a w n e d t h e m . B y 1 8 7 2 , i n d e e d , t h i r t y - n i n e o f
H o w e ' s s a m p l e (or t h e i r direct d e s c e n d a n t s ) o w n e d l a n d e d e s t a t e s
of m o r e t h a n 1,000 a c r e s ; a n d m a n y m o r e h a d a s m a l l e r , b u t significant,
s t a k e in t h e l a n d .
Liverpool merchants a n d bankers w e r e also acquiring small estates
o n t h e u r b a n fringe in this p e r i o d , a n d M a n c h e s t e r h a d a w e a l t h y
m e r c a n t i l e g r o u p w h i c h o u t w e i g h e d m o s t o f its m a n u f a c t u r e r s in p r e s
tige. Coal, brewing, chemicals a n d engineering nurtured successful
entrepreneurs, usually from comfortable backgrounds. Everywhere,
t o o , a n u n e a s y , volatile a n d politically u n s t a b l e s t r a t u m o f s h o p
k e e p e r s a n d s m a l l m a n u f a c t u r e r s p r o l i f e r a t e d b e l o w t h e rich a n d rela
tively c o m f o r t a b l e .
A m o n g the substantial merchants and manufacturers there were
d e e p d i v i s i o n s b e t w e e n T o r i e s a n d r e f o r m e r s , A n g l i c a n s a n d dis
s e n t e r s . I n m o s t c o t t o n t o w n s t h e T o r y factory m a s t e r s w e r e w e a l t h y ,
w e l l e s t a b l i s h e d b y t h e 1 8 2 0 s , a n d c l o s e l y l i n k e d w i t h t h e local c l e r g y
and landed gentry. T h e reformers were usually ' n e w m e n ' with
s m a l l e r factories, l o w e r s t a t u s a n d a n a r r o w e r , m o r e t o w n b o u n d social
o u t l o o k . I n L i v e r p o o l a n d M a n c h e s t e r T o r y e l i t e s , e n t r e n c h e d in t h e
o l d local g o v e r n m e n t i n s t i t u t i o n s , w e r e p i t t e d a g a i n s t n o n c o n f o r m i s t s
of m o r e r e c e n t o r i g i n s , l e d b y w e l l - e d u c a t e d a n d w e a l t h y c o u n t e r -
elites o f c l o s e - k n i t U n i t a r i a n c o u s i n h o o d s . Strife b e t w e e n t h e s e c o n
tending groups was endemic b e t w e e n the 1790s and the 1840s, reach
i n g a c l i m a x in L i v e r p o o l w i t h m u n i c i p a l r e f o r m in 1 8 3 5 a n d in
A. C. Howe, 'The Lancashire Textile Masters 1830-60: A Social and Political Study'
(unpublished DPhil thesis, Oxford University, 1980), chaps. 1-2.

374 J. K. WALTON
M a n c h e s t e r with incorporation in 1838 a n d t h e rise of the A n t i - C o r n

2 0
Law League.
Despite their internal divisions, the middle classes were beginning
to challenge the d o m i n a n c e of the established landed families o n
s e v e r a l fronts i n L a n c a s h i r e d u r i n g t h e 1 8 3 0 s a n d 1 8 4 0 s , t h o u g h n o t
over most of Cheshire. T h e y invaded the county magistrates' bench:
i n 1 8 3 1 , 6 0 of t h e 1 0 5 a c t i v e m a g i s t r a t e s w e r e l a n d e d g e n t r y , b u t b y
1 8 5 1 t h e figure w a s 1 4 4 o u t o f 4 0 0 . I n d u s t r y , b a n k i n g a n d c o m m e r c e
a c c o u n t e d for t w e n t y - e i g h t J P s ( i n c l u d i n g s e v e n c o t t o n m a g n a t e s ) i n
1 8 3 1 a n d 1 8 7 (109) i n 1 8 5 1 , as t h e m i l l o c r a c y t o o k a d m i n i s t r a t i v e c o n t r o l
of t h e i n d u s t r i a l parts of the county. Lancashire's parliamentary
representation was transformed even more remarkably. Between 1800
a n d 1 8 3 1 o n l y four o f fifty-nine M P s h a d b e e n c o t t o n m a s t e r s , a n d
l a n d e d i n f l u e n c e p r e d o m i n a t e d ; b u t b e t w e e n 1 8 3 2 a n d 1 8 5 2 textile
e m p l o y e r s a c c o u n t e d for t w e n t y - f o u r of the eighty-five M P s , and
landed society claimed only twenty-three, with the balance drawn
largely from c o m m e r c e , other industrial interests a n d the professions.
A s w e l l as t h e b o r o u g h s , t h e y i n v a d e d t h e s o u t h e r n d i v i s i o n o f t h e
c o u n t y , a n d h a d to b e c o n c i l i a t e d b y t h e S t a n l e y s a n d C a v e n d i s h e s
e v e n i n t h e m a i n l y a g r i c u l t u r a l n o r t h e r n d i v i s i o n . T h e y m a d e little
i m p a c t at W e s t m i n s t e r , b u t t h e i m p l i c a t i o n s for L a n c a s h i r e ' s p o w e r
2 1
structure a n d social order w e r e real e n o u g h .
M e a n w h i l e , u r b a n l o c a l g o v e r n m e n t w a s p a s s i n g to n e w i n s t i t u t i o n s
w h i c h w e r e d o m i n a t e d b y the middle classes to the exclusion of the
l a n d e d interest. T h e advent of reformed corporations in Liverpool
a n d M a n c h e s t e r outflanked a n d defeated the Tory elites there, with
their landed connections. But these groups proved strong a n d re
silient, a n d r e c o v e r e d d u r i n g t h e 1 8 4 0 s . T h e a p p a r e n t h e g e m o n y o f
t h e A n t i - C o r n L a w L e a g u e a n d t h e ' M a n c h e s t e r S c h o o l ' , o f free t r a d e
a n d l a i s s e z - f a i r e , w a s m o r e fragile i n M a n c h e s t e r t h a n s o m e h a v e
suggested. Toryism remained well entrenched a m o n g M a n c h e s t e r ' s
b u s i n e s s c o m m u n i t y , a s s h o w n b y t h e e v e n d i v i s i o n o f elite v o t e s
at t h e 1 8 3 9 e l e c t i o n . B u t t h e g r o w i n g u n e a s e o f m a n y l a n d e d g e n t r y
20
Gatrell, 'Commercial Middle Class'; idem, 'Incorporation and the Pursuit of Liberal
Hegemony in Manchester 1790-1839', in D. Fraser, ed., Municipal Reform and the
Industrial City (Leicester, 1982), pp. 15-60, and B. D. White, A History of the Corporation
of Liverpool (Liverpool, 1951), chaps. 2 - 3 ; S. A. L . Gunn, 'Insiders and Outsiders:
The Formation of the Urban Elites and the Struggle for Municipal Power in Liverpool,
1800-35' (unpublished MA dissertation, Lancaster University, 1982).
21
D. Foster, 'The Changing Social and Political Composition of the Lancashire Magis
tracy 1821-51' (unpublished PhD thesis, Lancaster University, 1971), pp. 291-2;
Howe, 'Lancashire Textile Masters', pp. 108-20.

The north-west 375
w a s u n d e r s t a n d a b l e . It w a s e a s y t o e q u a t e t h e o u t p o u r i n g s o f t h e
Anti-Corn L a w L e a g u e a n d other pressure groups with the collective
v o i c e o f a t h r e a t e n i n g n e w c l a s s o f t h r u s t i n g i n d u s t r i a l i s t s . T h e reality
w a s less disturbing. M a n y manufacturer recruits to the c o u n t y b e n c h ,
and even some millowner M P s , were Tory protectionists w h o were
a n x i o u s for a c c e p t a n c e i n t o l a n d e d s o c i e t y b y t h e e s t a b l i s h e d r o u t e ,
t h r o u g h e s t a t e p u r c h a s e a n d t h e a d o p t i o n o f a n a p p r o p r i a t e life s t y l e .
D e r e k F r a s e r ' s suggestion that in early Victorian E n g l a n d ' t h e great
political i s s u e . . . w a s t h e c l a s s s t r u g g l e b e t w e e n b o u r g e o i s i e a n d aris
2 2
tocracy' expresses the great divide b e t w e e n a vociferous s e g m e n t
of t h e e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l m i d d l e c l a s s o n o n e h a n d , a n d t h e r u r a l l a n d e d
i n t e r e s t o n t h e o t h e r ; b u t it i g n o r e s a n e x t e n s i v e m i d d l e g r o u n d o f
industrialists with landed connections a n d aspirations, and land
o w n e r s w i t h i n d u s t r i a l i n t e r e s t s , w h i c h a c c o u n t e d for a l a r g e p r o p o r
tion of Lancashire's leading citizens.
T h e s e b e n e f i c i a r i e s o f i n d u s t r i a l i s a t i o n f o u n d it i n c r e a s i n g l y difficult
to ignore the problems of towndwellers a n d industrial workers. Basic
to their c o n c e r n w a s the n e e d to maintain w o r k discipline a n d social
discipline, to maximise productivity a n d protect property. Religious
a n d humanitarian impulses often reinforced or camouflaged these
goals, or e v e n e n c o u r a g e d deviations from t h e m ; but they w e r e rarely
far f r o m t h e s u r f a c e . B y t h e 1 8 3 0 s m o s t L a n c a s h i r e e m p l o y e r s h a d
a c c e p t e d a n d i n t e r n a l i s e d a c r u d e political e c o n o m y o f l a i s s e z - f a i r e ,
i n d i v i d u a l i s m a n d free c o m p e t i t i o n , a l t h o u g h t h i s d i d n o t i n h i b i t t h e
f o r m a t i o n o f e m p l o y e r s ' a s s o c i a t i o n s t o k e e p w a g e s l o w a n d fight
for l e g i s l a t i v e f a v o u r s . M a n y w e r e a l s o w i l l i n g t o act, a s i n d i v i d u a l s
o r t h r o u g h v o l u n t a r y o r g a n i s a t i o n s , t o i m p r o v e t h e lot o f t h e i r w o r k
people, or of the poor in general; but with rare exceptions they repu
diated compulsion, insisting on the autonomy of the individual
capitalist a n d the preservation of the e m p l o y e r ' s patriarchal d o m i n i o n
o v e r h i s w o r k f o r c e . T h u s e m p l o y e r s f a m e d for m o d e l h o u s i n g a n d
g e n e r o u s e d u c a t i o n a l a n d s o c i a l p r o v i s i o n s m i g h t b e f i n e d for p e r s i s
t e n t b r e a c h e s o f t h e f a c t o r y a c t s , o r o b j e c t to p r o p o s a l s for c o m p u l s o r y
s c h o o l i n g for f a c t o r y c h i l d r e n . P o v e r t y , d i s e a s e , c r i m e a n d s o c i a l
u n r e s t w e r e a s c r i b e d t o t h e d e p r a v i t y , i n c o m p e t e n c e o r ill-fortune
of i n d i v i d u a l s , r a t h e r t h a n t h e failings o f t h e w i d e r e c o n o m y a n d
society. T h e m o s t acceptable r e m e d i e s , coercion apart, w e r e religious
a n d educational, suitably b l e n d e d to reform individuals b y teaching
22
D. Fraser, Urban Politics in Victorian England (Leicester, 1976), p. 22.

376 J. K. W A L T O N
s u b o r d i n a t i o n , a c q u i e s c e n c e i n t h e social a n d political o r d e r , a n d b a s i c
life skills t o c o p e w i t h it.
T h e direct i n f l u e n c e of o r g a n i s e d r e l i g i o n w a s w e a k i n L a n c a s h i r e
in t h e late e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y . T h e C h u r c h o f E n g l a n d h a s b e e n d e s
c r i b e d as ' m e a n i n g l e s s a n d i n v i s i b l e ' , w i t h its h u g e s p r a w l i n g par
2 3
ishes, badly paid curates, pluralism and absenteeism. P o c k e t s of
O l d Dissent persisted, and the Methodists m o v e d into the religious
v a c u u m in s o m e a r e a s , e s p e c i a l l y in t h e textile district in t h e e a r l y
nineteenth century. By the 1830s the Anglicans were beginning a
major p r o g r a m m e of church-building and e n d o w m e n t , stimulated b y
t h e r i s e o f e v a n g e l i c a l s e r i o u s n e s s in t h e i r o w n r a n k s , a n d b y c o m
p e t i t i o n f r o m R o m a n C a t h o l i c s , d e i s t s a n d s o c i a l i s t s as w e l l as n o n
conformity. But e v e n in 1851 L a n c a s h i r e ' s religious attendances,
p r o p o r t i o n a t e to p o p u l a t i o n , w e r e w e l l b e l o w t h e n a t i o n a l a v e r a g e
for all d e n o m i n a t i o n s e x c e p t t h e R o m a n C a t h o l i c s . E v e n w h e r e a t t e n d
a n c e s w e r e l o w e s t , as in O l d h a m a n d P r e s t o n , t h e figures a r e c o m p a t
ible w i t h fairly r e g u l a r o b s e r v a n c e b y a b o u t o n e fifth o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n ,
but the working-class level w a s m u c h lower. C h u r c h or chapel attend
a n c e , in itself, c a n h a v e d o n e little to m o u l d t h e c o n s c i o u s n e s s o f
t h e L a n c a s h i r e w o r k i n g c l a s s in t h e d e s i r e d d i r e c t i o n s .
R e l i g i o u s i n f l u e n c e s o p e r a t e d m o s t effectively t h r o u g h t h e S u n d a y
s c h o o l s . T h e i r n u m b e r s a n d i n f l u e n c e i n c r e a s e d s t e a d i l y after t h e
1 7 8 0 s , r e a c h i n g a p e a k in t h e 1 8 2 0 s a n d 1 8 3 0 s , e s p e c i a l l y w h e r e chil
d r e n w o r k e d i n t h e textile i n d u s t r i e s d u r i n g t h e w e e k . E m p l o y e r s
o p e n e d t h e i r coffers m o r e r e a d i l y to S u n d a y s c h o o l p r o m o t e r s t h a n
to church-builders. T h e y h o p e d to see their y o u n g e m p l o y e e s taught
t h a t G o d ' s l a w e n j o i n e d s u b o r d i n a t i o n , thrift, self-denial, p u n c t u a l i t y
a n d o b e d i e n c e , u s i n g a p p r o p r i a t e biblical t e x t s , a n d m a n y r e i n f o r c e d
t h e S a b b a t a r i a n s in t h e i r o p p o s i t i o n to t h e t e a c h i n g o f w r i t i n g a n d
arithmetic. S u n d a y schools reached vast n u m b e r s of children and
a d o l e s c e n t s , b u t t h e i r i m p a c t is d e b a t a b l e . P u p i l s v o t e d w i t h t h e i r
feet f r o m s c h o o l s w h i c h c e a s e d t o t e a c h u s e f u l l i t e r a c y skills, a n d
the a m o u n t of indoctrination that could b e packed into a few hours
w a s l i m i t e d , e s p e c i a l l y if it r a n c o u n t e r to t h e n o r m s o f h o m e a n d
c o m m u n i t y . T e a c h e r s w e r e difficult t o s u p e r v i s e , a n d m o s t w e r e n o t
the sons and daughters of the middle classes. T h e S u n d a y school
w a s n o t n e c e s s a r y t o t e a c h factory d i s c i p l i n e t o f a c t o r y c h i l d r e n : t h e
f a c t o r y itself fulfilled t h a t f u n c t i o n . S u n d a y s c h o l a r s w e r e n o t o r i o u s l y
23
J. Addy, 'Bishop Porteous' Visitation of the Diocese of Chester, 1778', Northern
History, 13 (1977), pp. 175-98.

The north-west 377
p r o n e to f r e q u e n t i n g f a i r g r o u n d s a n d s i n g i n g r o o m s , a n d m a n y C h a r
tist l e a d e r s a c q u i r e d e s s e n t i a l l i t e r a c y skills t h r o u g h t h e Sunday
school. S o m e working-class children did internalise the values
enjoined b y S u n d a y school promoters, but others rejected t h e m or
failed to c o m p r e h e n d t h e m . T h e r e w a s a n e n o r m o u s w a s t a g e b e t w e e n
Sunday school attendance in one generation and adult church
a t t e n d e r s in t h e n e x t , a n d t h e o v e r a l l c u l t u r a l i n f l u e n c e o f t h e s c h o o l s
24
w a s probably quite limited. T h e rise of the church- a n d chapel-
f u n d e d e l e m e n t a r y d a y s c h o o l s , e s p e c i a l l y i n t h e 1 8 4 0 s as t h e f a c t o r y
acts b e g a n to b i t e , w a s m u c h m o r e i m p o r t a n t i n t h e l o n g r u n . T h e
Church of England, drawing o n donations from L o n d o n and the H o m e
C o u n t i e s rather t h a n from factory masters, d o m i n a t e d this aspect of
L a n c a s h i r e e d u c a t i o n b y 1 8 5 0 , e x p l o i t i n g to t h e full its ability to e x e r
c i s e strict c o n t r o l o v e r t r a i n e d , s a l a r i e d , d e p e n d e n t t e a c h e r s .
A t t e m p t s t o g o b e y o n d a b a s i c l e v e l o f skill t r a n s m i s s i o n and
religious indoctrination w e r e patchier a n d more controversial. F r o m
the mid-1820s the M e c h a n i c s ' Institutes spread rapidly through the
north-west, but Tory employers w e r e often o p p o s e d to non-sectarian
scientific e d u c a t i o n , a n d o n l y a t i n y m i n o r i t y o f t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s
t o o k a d v a n t a g e o f l e c t u r e s a n d libraries w h o s e c o n t e n t w a s u s u a l l y
carefully v e t t e d b y c o m m i t t e e s o f m i d d l e - c l a s s p a t r o n s . T h e efforts
of l a r g e e m p l o y e r s to g o b e y o n d p r o v i d i n g r e l a t i v e l y ' e f f i c i e n t ' f a c t o r y
schools, by promoting self-improvement and 'sponsored mobility'
t h r o u g h r e a d i n g r o o m s a n d i n s t i t u t e s i n mill c o l o n i e s , s i m i l a r l y p r o
duced a limited response from toil-worn operatives. T h e provision
of ' r a t i o n a l r e c r e a t i o n s ' b y e m p l o y e r s , r e l i g i o u s b o d i e s a n d t h e t e m p e r
a n c e m o v e m e n t e x p a n d e d r a p i d l y after 1 8 3 0 , offering e x c u r s i o n s a n d
tea m e e t i n g s as w e l l as r e a d i n g r o o m s to b u i l d b r i d g e s b e t w e e n t h e
classes and lure w o r k p e o p l e a w a y f r o m b e e r h o u s e s , r a c e s , fair
g r o u n d s , b l o o d sports a n d gambling. T h e s e initiatives p r o v e d m o r e
p o p u l a r , b u t , as w i t h t h e p u b l i c p a r k s w h i c h b e g a n to a p p e a r in t h e
1840s, they were incorporated into an existing recreational pattern,
r a t h e r t h a n d i s p l a c i n g o r r e p l a c i n g it.
Joyce h a s labelled the e m p l o y e r initiatives of the 1830s a n d 1840s
'the n e w paternalism', but w e should r e m e m b e r the limited success
of m o s t a t t e m p t s to e x t e n d e m p l o y e r i n f l u e n c e b e y o n d t h e w o r k -
24
Compare T. W. Laqueur, Religion and Respectability: Sunday Schools and Working-Class
Culture, 1780-1850 (1976), and M. Dick, 'The Myth of the Working-Class Sunday
School', History of Education, 9 (1980), pp. 27-42.

378 J . K. W A L T O N
2 5
place. T h e s e were a n y w a y the preserve of a few large employers,
in m i n i n g as w e l l a s t e x t i l e s , w i t h s u b s t a n t i a l r e s o u r c e s a n d d i s t i n c t
areas of employee housing around their works; and everywhere they
w e r e a c c o m p a n i e d b y an autocratic attitude to trade unions, w a g e
b a r g a i n i n g a n d t h e l a b o u r p r o c e s s . T h e e m p l o y e r s ' w i l l i n g n e s s to
a m e l i o r a t e t h e i r w o r k e r s ' l i v i n g s t a n d a r d s s t o p p e d s h o r t at w a g e s
a n d r e n t s . T h e i r t r e a t m e n t o f p o v e r t y t o o k p l a c e w i t h i n a rigid f r a m e
work of expectation that the price of labour w o u l d b e ruled b y market
forces, although they w e r e willing e n o u g h to tinker with the labour
m a r k e t b y s e e k i n g s p o n s o r s h i p for p a r i s h - a s s i s t e d m i g r a n t s f r o m t h e
r u r a l s o u t h , a n d t h e y w e r e also r e a d y t o p r o v i d e c h a r i t a b l e a s s i s t a n c e ,
e s p e c i a l l y in k i n d , d u r i n g t r a d e d e p r e s s i o n s . T h i s w a s , after all, v o l u n
t a r y a s s i s t a n c e , c a l c u l a t e d to p r e s e r v e t h e social o r d e r , k e e p t h e w o r k
force together and forge b o n d s of gratitude between poor and
propertied.
L e g i s l a t i v e i n t e r f e r e n c e w a s a different m a t t e r . E m p l o y e r s u p p o r t
for t h e h a n d l o o m w e a v e r s ' p u r s u i t o f a g u a r a n t e e d m i n i m u m w a g e
fell a w a y r a p i d l y b e t w e e n t h e 1 8 1 0 s a n d t h e 1 8 3 0 s , b y w h i c h t i m e
t h e w e a v e r s ' r e m a i n i n g allies w e r e p r e s e n t e d as e c c e n t r i c s e n t i m e n
talists b y t h e i r o p p o n e n t s . F a c t o r y r e f o r m i n t h e 1 8 3 0 s a n d 1840s
attracted the s a m e unorthodox minority. T h e old poor law w a s so
tightly run in m o s t of Lancashire, including Liverpool a n d the rural
areas, that per capita expenditure w a s a m o n g the lowest in E n g l a n d ,
although general e c o n o m i c conditions w e r e also obviously important
h e r e . T h e n e w p o o r l a w m a d e v e r y little p r a c t i c a l d i f f e r e n c e t o a d m i n i s
t r a t i o n o r p o l i c y . C a m p a i g n s for p u b l i c h e a l t h r e f o r m m a d e little h e a d
w a y in the 1830s a n d 1840s. M a n c h e s t e r ' s L o n g d e n d a l e water s c h e m e
a n d L i v e r p o o l ' s p u b l i c h e a l t h i n i t i a t i v e s o f t h e 1 8 4 0 s w e r e significant
s t r a w s in t h e w i n d , b u t v e s t e d i n t e r e s t s , c o n f l i c t i n g a d m i n i s t r a t i v e
jurisdictions, faction-fighting, lack of expertise, technological uncer
tainty, p a r s i m o n y and the sanctity of private property c o m b i n e d with
laissez-faire i d e o l o g y t o m a k e a f o r m i d a b l e s e t o f b a r r i e r s t o effective
improvement.
Under these circumstances coercion and repression remained central
pillars o f t h e social s y s t e m . L a n c a s h i r e ' s r a t e o f r e c o r d e d c r i m e w a s
consistently well above the national level b e t w e e n 1811 and 1851, and
t h e u r b a n r a t e s m u s t h a v e b e e n h i g h e r still. T h e v a s t m a j o r i t y o f t h e s e
crimes - and, n o doubt, m o s t of the undetected and unreported
25
P. Joyce, Work, Society and Politics (Brighton, 1980).

The north-west 379
o n e s - i n v o l v e d theft, u s u a l l y p e t t y theft. L i v e r p o o l , w i t h its d i s t i n c t i v e

e c o n o m y , generated a particularly obvious sub-culture of interrelated
crime and deprivation, exacerbated b y a very high density of drink
outlets, coupled with violence and prostitution. Despite occasional
a l a r m i s t c o m m e n t s , t h e textile district h a d n o t h i n g t o c o m p a r e w i t h
t h i s , t h o u g h h e r e political u n r e s t a l s o b e c a m e e n d e m i c . B u t r a t e -
supported police forces w e r e introduced gradually a n d grudgingly.
T h e c o u n t y justices, i m m u n e from electoral pressure, set u p a c o u n t y
p o l i c e f o r c e at t h e first o p p o r t u n i t y in 1 8 3 9 ; b u t t h e u r b a n a r e a s , w h i c h
complained most about crime and disorder, also generated angry
o p p o s i t i o n to t h e e x p e n s e a n d t h r e a t t o i n d i v i d u a l a n d l o c a l l i b e r t i e s
a l l e g e d l y p o s e d b y t h e n e w p o l i c e . S e v e r a l t o w n s p r e f e r r e d to o p e r a t e
s m a l l e r a n d c h e a p e r p o l i c e f o r c e s of t h e i r o w n , a n d l o w p a y , i n s e c u r i t y
7
and b a d working conditions ensured that the ' n e w police of the 1830s
r a r e l y offered m u c h i m p r o v e m e n t o n t h e o l d t o w n w a t c h m e n . T h u s
it w a s u n d e r s t a n d a b l e t h a t t h e t r a d e s m e n m o s t at r i s k f r o m c r i m e
s h o u l d still p r e f e r l o w r a t e s to a n i n c r e a s e d p o l i c e p r e s e n c e . T h e p o l i c e
w e r e u s e d to p u t d o w n d i s o r d e r l y p o p u l a r r e c r e a t i o n s i n p u b l i c p l a c e s ,
26
b u t t h e i r e f f e c t i v e n e s s in t h i s role m a y h a v e b e e n e x a g g e r a t e d . Even
in t h e d i s t u r b e d 1 8 3 0 s a n d 1 8 4 0 s , t h e l e v e l o f c r i m e a n d d i s o r d e r did
n o t b r e a k d o w n t h e d i s t r u s t o f L a n c a s h i r e ' s p r o p e r t i e d c l a s s e s for
the coercive apparatus of central a n d local g o v e r n m e n t . M a n y feared
t h a t p o l i c e p o w e r s w o u l d b e a b u s e d b y t h e i r political o p p o n e n t s . E v e n
so, the persisting willingness to rely o n voluntary associations, private
p o l i c e f o r c e s a n d , in extremis, m i l i t a r y f o r c e i n d i c a t e s t h e l i m i t e d e x t e n t
of t h e t h r e a t to p r o p e r t y a n d o r d e r p o s e d b y t h e i n d u s t r i a l p o p u l a t i o n .
In t h e a b s e n c e o f r e a l l y effective c u l t u r a l i n i t i a t i v e s f r o m a b o v e ,
t h e u r b a n w o r k i n g c l a s s c a m e t o t e r m s w i t h i n d u s t r i a l s o c i e t y in its
o w n way, defending living standards a n d established rights through
m u t u a l a s s i s t a n c e a n d t h e solidarity o f k i n s h i p , n e i g h b o u r h o o d and
workplace, increasingly supplemented by and expressed through
voluntary organisations. Lancashire already had 452 registered
f r i e n d l y s o c i e t i e s in 1 7 9 6 , a n d t h e y p r o l i f e r a t e d r a p i d l y thereafter.
B y 1 8 5 0 m e m b e r s h i p l e v e l s w e r e c l o s e to s a t u r a t i o n p o i n t i n t h e textile
t o w n s . T h e s o c i e t i e s offered h e a l t h a n d u n e m p l o y m e n t insurance,
and promised a proper funeral; they offered responsibility and
26
R. Poole, Popular Leisure and the Music-Hall in Nineteenth-Century Bolton (Lancaster,
1982); idem, 'Oldham Wakes', in J. K. Walton and J. Walvin, eds., Leisure in Britain,
1780-1939 (Manchester, 1983), p. 85; P. Bailey, Leisure and Class in Victorian England
(1978), pp. 2 0 - 1 , 8 3 - 4 .

380 J . K. W A L T O N
p r e s t i g e to c o m p e t e n t a n d a s s i d u o u s m e m b e r s ; a n d m o s t m e t c o n v i -
vially in p u b s . T h e b e n e f i t s w e r e , o f c o u r s e , in direct p r o p o r t i o n to
t h e c o n t r i b u t i o n s , w h i c h h a d t o b e p a i d r e g u l a r l y ; s o t h e better-off
w o r k e r in r e g u l a r e m p l o y m e n t g a i n e d t h e m o s t s e c u r i t y , a n d t h e s o c i e
ties w e r e m u c h s t r o n g e r in t h e c o t t o n t o w n s t h a n o n M e r s e y s i d e .
T h e friendly s o c i e t i e s o v e r l a p p e d w i t h t h e n a s c e n t t r a d e u n i o n s ,
w h i c h often offered similar b e n e f i t s to m e m b e r s w h i l e u s i n g t h e m
as a c l o a k for i n d u s t r i a l activities w h i c h t h e l a w p r o s c r i b e d . C o m b i
nations to advance the e c o n o m i c interests of w o r k p e o p l e against mas
t e r s fell foul o f s e v e r a l s t a t u t e s , o f w h i c h t h e c o m b i n a t i o n l a w s o f
1 7 9 9 - 1 8 2 4 w e r e o n l y t h e m o s t explicit. E v e n s o , w e a v e r s ' c o m b i n a t i o n s
w e r e a l r e a d y a c t i v e in t h e M a n c h e s t e r a r e a i n t h e m i d - e i g h t e e n t h c e n
t u r y , as w e r e v a r i o u s t r a d e s in L i v e r p o o l a n d C h e s t e r . T h e y s o u g h t
t o r e g u l a t e l a b o u r s u p p l y t h r o u g h t h e e n f o r c e m e n t o f T u d o r limi
t a t i o n s o n a p p r e n t i c e s h i p , if p o s s i b l e t h r o u g h t h e c o u r t s ; b u t a l r e a d y
in t h e late 1 7 5 0 s r i s i n g f o o d p r i c e s b r o u g h t direct w a g e b a r g a i n i n g
into the equation, and the check weavers of the M a n c h e s t e r area sus
t a i n e d a l o n g strike o n b o t h i s s u e s . T h e l e a d e r s w e r e s u c c e s s f u l l y
p r o s e c u t e d , b u t t h e c o r e o f t h e o r g a n i s a t i o n r e m a i n e d intact, e n a b l i n g
it to r e v i v e at s u b s e q u e n t p o i n t s o f e c o n o m i c t e n s i o n . T h i s s e t t h e
b a s i c p a t t e r n o f t r a d e - u n i o n activity for t h e r e s t o f t h e p e r i o d . U n i o n s
l a y d o r m a n t , s o m e t i m e s for l o n g p e r i o d s , to r e a p p e a r in s t r e n g t h w h e n
w a g e cuts w e r e threatened during depressions or not restored w h e n
trade revived, or w h e n the c u s t o m s of a trade w e r e threatened b y
n e w machinery, c h e a p labour or the erosion of apprenticeship. T h e
factory c o t t o n s p i n n e r s a n d e n g i n e e r s o r g a n i s e d e x t e n s i v e l y f r o m t h e
late e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y a l o n g s i d e t h e o l d e r t r a d e s . C o l l a b o r a t i o n
b e t w e e n t r a d e s a n d districts w a s a l r e a d y b e i n g c a n v a s s e d at t h i s t i m e ,
a n d s e v e r a l s t r i k e s in t h e e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y s a w a t t e m p t s at
organising general unions, m u c h to the alarm of the authorities. B u t
such ventures could not b e sustained long e n o u g h to secure tangible
a n d lasting gains. Strikes t e n d e d to b e caught b y d o w n s w i n g s in the
t r a d e c y c l e , as w e l l as b e i n g v u l n e r a b l e t o r e p r e s s i o n , s e c t i o n a l i s m
and organisational problems. T h e bargaining position of the h a n d l o o m
w e a v e r s , e s p e c i a l l y , d e t e r i o r a t e d r a p i d l y after t h e g r e a t strike o f 1 8 0 8 ,
as t h e y l o s t t h e i r fight t o e n f o r c e t h e a p p r e n t i c e s h i p l a w s a n d s e c u r e
a m i n i m u m w a g e . M a c h i n e - b r e a k i n g w a s a r e g u l a r o c c u r r e n c e in t h e
c o t t o n i n d u s t r y f r o m t h e 1 7 6 0 s to t h e 1 8 2 0 s , a n d o u t b r e a k s a m o n g
t h e w e a v e r s i n t e n s i f i e d in v i o l e n c e as n e g o t i a t i o n b e c a m e m o r e diffi
cult. B u t e v i d e n c e f r o m O l d h a m s u g g e s t s t h a t in t h o s e t r a d e s w h e r e

The north-west 381
a p p r e n t i c e s h i p r e m a i n e d a reality, a n d in s o m e f a c t o r y o c c u p a t i o n s ,
trade unions could m o u n t a formidable challenge to employers a n d
a u t h o r i t i e s , w h o f o u n d it v e r y difficult t o s e c u r e c o n v i c t i o n s o n c o m b i
nation charges. Despite their general w e a k n e s s e s , the existence of
c o n t i n u o u s trade-union organisations, capable (occasionally) of m o b i
l i s i n g m a s s s u p p o r t b e y o n d t h e b o u n d s o f i n d i v i d u a l t r a d e s a n d locali
t i e s , is h i g h l y s i g n i f i c a n t . It s h o w s t h e r e s i l i e n c e o f i m p o r t a n t s e c t i o n s
of t h e s k i l l e d w o r k i n g c l a s s , w h o s e l e a d e r s b e c a m e c a p a b l e o f g e n e r a t
i n g a t e l l i n g c r i t i q u e o f o r t h o d o x political e c o n o m y , s t r e s s i n g t h e o v e r
riding importance of the value of labour, the n e e d to concentrate o n
t h e h o m e m a r k e t a n d m a x i m i s e c o n s u m p t i o n t h r o u g h fair w a g e s , a n d
2 7
t h e d e l e t e r i o u s effects o f m a c h i n e r y .
This articulate counter-culture within the w o r k i n g class b e c a m e m o s t
influential in t h e c o t t o n t o w n s , a n d o f little a c c o u n t in t h e m i n i n g
districts a n d o n M e r s e y s i d e ; a n d t h e s a m e a p p l i e s to t h e d i s t i n c t i v e
e d u c a t i o n a l i n s t i t u t i o n s w h i c h s u p p o r t e d it, e s p e c i a l l y in t h e 1 8 3 0 s
a n d 1840s. Secular S u n d a y schools, O w e n i t e Halls of Science a n d
less formal mutual i m p r o v e m e n t groups were n u m e r o u s enough, and
t h e r e a d i n g p u b l i c for t h e r a d i c a l p r e s s w a s a t t e n t i v e e n o u g h , t o g i v e
t h e p r o p e r t i e d c l a s s e s f o o d for t h o u g h t a b o u t t h e d a n g e r o u s s p r e a d
of a l t e r n a t i v e v i e w s o f s o c i e t y . B u t t h e r e d e v e l o p e d o t h e r , s o m e t i m e s
overlapping cultural tendencies within the working class. S o m e m a d e
use of chapel, M e c h a n i c s ' Institute or temperance society, and m a n y
of t h e s e a c c e p t e d t h e s o c i a l m e s s a g e a l o n g w i t h t h e c u l t u r a l m e d i u m ;
o t h e r s fulfilled t h e m s e l v e s t h r o u g h m u s i c a n d s i n g i n g , as H a n d e l ' s
o r a t o r i o s g a i n e d a m a s s f o l l o w i n g in h a n d l o o m w e a v i n g c o m m u n i t i e s .
O t h e r s a g a i n w e r e a u t o d i d a c t s , p u r s u i n g k n o w l e d g e for its o w n s a k e
as i n d i v i d u a l s . B u t a b o v e all t h e s o c i a b l e a p p e a l o f p u b l i c h o u s e a n d
s i n g i n g s a l o o n , o f f a i r g r o u n d s a n d w a k e s c e l e b r a t i o n s , r e m a i n e d at
t h e c o r e o f t h e p r e d o m i n a n t w o r k i n g - c l a s s w a y o f life, d e s p i t e t h e
efforts o f f a c t o r y m a s t e r s a n d ' r a t i o n a l r e c r e a t i o n i s t s ' . A d e e p l y r o o t e d
p a r t i c i p a n t t r a d i t i o n a l c u l t u r e w a s o n l y j u s t b e g i n n i n g to b e affected
by the incipient commercialisation of popular recreations in the
2 8
1840s. ' S e l f - i m p r o v e m e n t ' of any kind remained, understandably,
a minority preoccupation.
T h i s is n o t t o d e n y t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f t h e political r e f o r m c a m p a i g n s
27
A. P. Wadsworth and J. de L . Mann, The Cotton Trade and Industrial Lancashire,
1600-1780 (1931), chaps. 18-19; J. Bohstedt, Riots and Community Politics in England
and Wales 1790-1810 (1983), chaps. 3-7; Foster, Class Struggle, pp. 47-50.
28
Poole, Popular Leisure; R. Elbourne, Music and Tradition in Early Industrial Lancashire
1780-1840 (Woodbridge, 1980).

382 J . K. W A L T O N
w h i c h a t t r a c t e d m a s s f o l l o w i n g s at v a r i o u s t i m e s b e t w e e n t h e 1 7 9 0 s
a n d 1 8 4 0 s . O r g a n i s e d s u p p o r t for e q u a l i t y o f political r i g h t s first
e m e r g e d a m o n g m i d d l e - c l a s s g r o u p s in L i v e r p o o l , M a n c h e s t e r a n d
C h e s t e r in t h e i m m e d i a t e a f t e r m a t h o f t h e F r e n c h R e v o l u t i o n , w h i c h
g a v e w i d e r r e l e v a n c e a n d h e i g h t e n e d u r g e n c y to e x i s t i n g c a m p a i g n s
a g a i n s t u n r e f o r m e d c o r p o r a t i o n s , t h e s l a v e t r a d e a n d t h e political dis
abilities o f d i s s e n t e r s . I n t h e early 1 7 9 0 s s o m e o f t h e s e r e f o r m e r s
m o v e d o n t o b e c o m e full-blown P a i n e i t e s , a t t a c k i n g t h e w a r a g a i n s t
France, unfair taxation and aristocratic c o r r u p t i o n , and urging
thoroughgoing parliamentary and constitutional reform. T h e y were
s u p p r e s s e d b y loyalist a s s o c i a t i o n s a n d c h u r c h - a n d - k i n g m o b s d u r i n g
1 7 9 3 - 4 , n e v e r t o r e v i v e in L i v e r p o o l or C h e s t e r ; b u t in t h e M a n c h e s t e r
a r e a parallel ' w o r k i n g - c l a s s ' o r g a n i s a t i o n s h a d e m e r g e d a n d a t t r a c t e d
n u m e r o u s supporters, including weavers, artisans a n d e v e n factory
w o r k e r s . T h e y p r o d u c e d a c o r e o f p r i n c i p l e d , politically c o m m i t t e d
activists w h o s e i n f l u e n c e e x t e n d e d t h r o u g h o u t t h e c o t t o n district, giv
i n g a d i m e n s i o n o f political a w a r e n e s s t o b r e a d riots a n d t r a d e - u n i o n
agitations, a n d posing a recurrent threat to established authority.
Booth has demonstrated the existence of a well-organised revolution
ary u n d e r g r o u n d m o v e m e n t , t h e U n i t e d E n g l i s h m e n , in t h e M a n c h e s
ter area during the traumatic period of trade depression, high prices
a n d f o o d s h o r t a g e s at t h e e n d o f t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y . T h i s w a s
l e s s t h a n a m a s s m o v e m e n t , b u t it w o r r i e d t h o s e in a u t h o r i t y w h o
k n e w t h a t c o n s t i t u t i o n a l l o y a l i s m h a d lost its s a v o u r for a h u n g r y
29
and war-weary population.
T h i s w a s n o t to b e t h e m o d e l for s u b s e q u e n t d e v e l o p m e n t s , t h o u g h
t h e r e w e r e e c h o e s o f it in 1 8 1 2 , w h e n h i g h p r i c e s a n d d i s r u p t e d t r a d e
fuelled food-rioting, m a c h i n e - b r e a k i n g a n d a t h r e a t o f i n s u r r e c t i o n ,
t h o u g h agents provocateurs played their part. Hard times again pro
v i d e d a m a s s f o l l o w i n g for radical r e f o r m e r s i n t h e late 1 8 1 0 s , b u t
at t h i s p o i n t t h e t r a d i t i o n o f t h e 1 7 9 0 s r e s u r f a c e d in m o r e c o n s t i t u t i o n a l
form, although m a s s p e t i t i o n s a n d o r g a n i s e d drilling sometimes
a l a r m e d t h e a u t h o r i t i e s . T h i s p h a s e , w h i c h r e a c h e d its tragic c l i m a x
at P e t e r l o o , w a s d o m i n a t e d b y t h e h a n d l o o m w e a v e r s , a n g r y at t h e i r
failure to secure parliamentary redress of e c o n o m i c and legal
grievances.
T h e w e a v e r s a n d o t h e r w a g e e a r n e r s w e r e a g a i n p r o m i n e n t in t h e
29
A. Booth, 'Reform, Repression and Revolution: Radicalism and Loyalism in the
North-West of England, 1790-1803' (unpublished PhD thesis, Lancaster University,
1979).

The north-west 383
c a m p a i g n l e a d i n g u p to t h e 1 8 3 2 R e f o r m A c t , b u t h e r e t h e w a t e r s
were muddied by a middle-class reform m o v e m e n t which was eager
t o s e t t l e a l o n g w a y s h o r t o f m a n h o o d suffrage a n d t h e b a l l o t . T h e y
w a n t e d fuller r e p r e s e n t a t i o n for t h e m e r c a n t i l e a n d manufacturing
i n t e r e s t s , w i t h a v i e w to u n d e r m i n i n g aristocratic c o r r u p t i o n , r e d u c i n g
t a x e s , f r e e i n g t r a d e a n d (in m o s t c a s e s ) r e d r e s s i n g d i s s e n t e r s ' g r i e v
ances. T h e working-class reformers' goal of a Parliament which might
enact m i n i m u m w a g e legislation, shorten working hours and protect
t r a d e u n i o n s w a s n o t to t h e i r t a s t e . T h e w o r k i n g - c l a s s r e f o r m e r s l i v e d
to regret their eventual grudging acceptance of the Act, and the legisla
tive r e c o r d o f t h e r e f o r m e d P a r l i a m e n t e n s u r e d m a s s s u p p o r t for
C h a r t i s m in t h e n o r t h - w e s t .
T h e 1 8 3 2 s e t t l e m e n t g a v e a n e w d i m e n s i o n to t h e politics o f r e f o r m
i n t h e c o t t o n district. H i t h e r t o t h e e n e m y h a d b e e n i d e n t i f i e d m a i n l y
as t h e L o n d o n g o v e r n m e n t a n d its aristocratic s u p p o r t e r s . T h e P e t e r -
loo m a g i s t r a t e s h a d b e e n g e n t r y , c o a l o w n e r s a n d clerics r a t h e r t h a n
c o t t o n e m p l o y e r s , a l t h o u g h t h e latter w e r e a p p a r e n t l y prominent
a m o n g t h e Y e o m a n r y officers. After 1 8 3 2 t h e c a s e b e c a m e m o r e c l e a r -
c u t : t h e l a r g e r e m p l o y e r s , at l e a s t , c o u l d b e i d e n t i f i e d as e m b o d i m e n t s
of political as w e l l as e c o n o m i c o p p r e s s i o n , e s p e c i a l l y as t h e y g a i n e d
local p o w e r as m a g i s t r a t e s , p o o r l a w g u a r d i a n s a n d m u n i c i p a l c o u n c i l
l o r s . B u t t h e a n t i - a r i s t o c r a t i c political d i a g n o s e s o f C o b b e t t a n d P a i n e
r e m a i n e d at t h e r o o t o f C h a r t i s t i d e o l o g y , in L a n c a s h i r e as e l s e w h e r e ,
r e d u c i n g t h e i m p a c t o f t h i s t r a n s i t i o n , a l t h o u g h h o s t i l i t y to e m p l o y e r s
p r o v i d e d a n a d d e d d i m e n s i o n o f direct c l a s s conflict at m o m e n t s o f
3 0
h i g h tension, especially in 1839 a n d 1 8 4 2 .
C h a r t i s m w a s p a r t i c u l a r l y s t r o n g in t h e n o r t h - w e s t . Organisation
a n d m a s s s u p p o r t w e r e c o n c e n t r a t e d i n t o t h e c o t t o n district, w h e r e
t h e W h i g g o v e r n m e n t s after 1832 s e e m e d to h a v e l a u n c h e d a c o n c e r t e d
a s s a u l t o n w o r k i n g - c l a s s i n s t i t u t i o n s a n d local a u t o n o m y . T h e n e w
p o o r l a w offered a f r i g h t e n i n g p r o s p e c t to w o r k i n g p e o p l e w h o w e r e
w e l l a w a r e o f t h e i r v u l n e r a b i l i t y t o cyclical u n e m p l o y m e n t . T h e t h r e a t
of t h e w o r k h o u s e w a s c o u p l e d w i t h t h e r e f o r m e d P a r l i a m e n t ' s r e s i s
t a n c e t o full a n d effective f a c t o r y r e f o r m ; t h e disdainful r e j e c t i o n o f
t h e h a n d l o o m w e a v e r s ' last p l e a for l e g a l d e f e n c e s a g a i n s t falling l i v i n g
standards; the r e n e w e d attack o n trade unions, epitomised most
30
G. Stedman Jones, 'The Language of Chartism', in J. Epstein and D. Thompson,
eds., The Chartist Experience: Studies in Working-Class Radicalism and Culture 1830-1860
(1982), pp. 3-58; N. Kirk, 'Class and Fragmentation: Some Aspects of Working-Class
Life in South-East Lancashire and North-East Cheshire, 1850-70' (unpublished PhD
thesis, Pittsburgh University, 1974), pp. 11-12.

384 J . K. W A L T O N
cogently by the prosecution of the G l a s g o w cotton spinners' leaders

in 1 8 3 7 - 8 ; a n d t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n i n 1 8 3 9 o f t h e n e w c o u n t y p o l i c e f o r c e ,
w h i c h w a s s e e n as t h e c o e r c i v e a r m o f t h e f a c t o r y m a s t e r s a g a i n s t
s t r i k e s a n d d i s t u r b a n c e s . W h e n t h e s e i n i t i a t i v e s c o i n c i d e d w i t h cyclical
d e p r e s s i o n a n d s u s t a i n e d p r e s s u r e o n w a g e r a t e s , it is e a s y t o u n d e r
s t a n d t h e h u g e a t t e n d a n c e s at m a s s m e e t i n g s , a n d t h e i n s u r r e c t i o n a r y
character of s o m e of the rhetoric. T h e Charter provided a unifying
political g o a l t h r o u g h w h i c h t h e s e g r i e v a n c e s m i g h t b e r e d r e s s e d ,
a n d it w a s c a p a b l e , for a t i m e , o f a c c u m u l a t i n g t h e m o m e n t u m f r o m
a r a n g e o f specific b u t i n t e r r e l a t e d i s s u e s , e s p e c i a l l y t h e p o o r l a w
a n d factory reform. T h e s e issues w e r e m o s t obviously a n d i m m e d i
a t e l y r e l e v a n t i n t h e textile district, a n d it is n o s u r p r i s e t o find t h e
north-west's Chartists concentrated there, although the contrasting
l a c k o f C h a r t i s t activity o n M e r s e y s i d e r e m a i n s a r r e s t i n g .
Lancashire Chartism recruited across the whole spectrum of work
i n g - c l a s s o c c u p a t i o n s , as w e l l a s a t t r a c t i n g s o m e m i d d l e - c l a s s s u p p o r t .
T h e h a n d l o o m w e a v e r s m a i n t a i n e d their radical tradition, especially
in i n d u s t r i a l v i l l a g e s like S a b d e n , a l t h o u g h B o l t o n ' s r e l a t i v e l y p r o s p e r
o u s w e a v e r s o f f a n c y fabrics w e r e a p a t h e t i c . F a c t o r y w o r k e r s w e r e
b e c o m i n g i n c r e a s i n g l y a c t i v e , a l o n g s i d e a r t i s a n s a n d w o r k s h o p crafts
m e n o f all k i n d s ; a n d S y k e s h a s s h o w n t h a t t r a d e - u n i o n i n v o l v e m e n t
in C h a r t i s m w a s m u c h m o r e d i r e c t a n d s u s t a i n e d t h a n h a s u s u a l l y
b e e n a s s u m e d , w i t h m a n y t r a d e s o c i e t i e s affiliating t o t h e N a t i o n a l
Charter Association in the k n o w l e d g e that trade-union struggle b y
3 1
itself h a d b e e n t r i e d a n d f o u n d w a n t i n g . S h o p k e e p e r s and small
employers also figured a m o n g the Chartist leadership in places like
Oldham and Rochdale, where Paineite radicalism had deep roots and
t h e p o l i c i e s o f t h e W h i g s s e e m e d to t h r e a t e n h i g h e r r a t e s a n d t a x e s ,
to u n d e r m i n e l o c a l a u t o n o m y a n d t o m a i n t a i n s o m e o f t h e C h u r c h
of E n g l a n d ' s m u c h - r e s e n t e d p r i v i l e g e s .
The nature and strength of Chartism varied over time and b e t w e e n
places. M u c h middle-class a n d s o m e working-class support w a s alien
ated b y the violent language and insurrectionary rumours of 1839
and 1842, a n d attracted b y the divisive b l a n d i s h m e n t s of P e e l ' s govern
ment and the Anti-Corn L a w L e a g u e and C o m p l e t e Suffrage U n i o n .
T h i s a p p l i e d m o s t o b v i o u s l y i n M a n c h e s t e r , w i t h its d i v e r s e e c o n o m y
and divided working class. E l s e w h e r e Chartism w a s probably stron
gest - and m o s t moderate - in t o w n s with m a n y small manufacturers
31
R. Sykes, 'Early Chartism and Trade Unionism in South-East Lancashire', in Epstein
and Thompson, eds., Chartist Experience, pp. 152-93.

The north-west 385
a n d a long radical tradition, w h e r e a ' u n i o n of the productive classes'

could b e formed to link, but s e l d o m to unite, mutually suspicious
w o r k i n g - c l a s s a n d p e t t y b o u r g e o i s c a m p a i g n e r s a g a i n s t aristocratic
c o r r u p t i o n a n d its l o c a l m a n i f e s t a t i o n s a m o n g t h e ' b i g b o u r g e o i s i e '
w i t h t h e i r l a n d e d c o n n e c t i o n s . S u c h a n a n a l y s i s fits O l d h a m ' s c a s e
more convincingly than Foster's vision of an archetypal revolutionary
32
proletariat. W h e r e l a r g e e m p l o y e r s h e l d a s t r a n g l e h o l d o v e r local
e c o n o m i e s , blacklisting dissidents a n d attempting to repress indepen
dent working-class politics, threats of insurrection a n d the linking
of political a n d t r a d e - u n i o n i s s u e s w e r e m o r e l i k e l y t o d e v e l o p . C h a r
t i s m t h u s e x p r e s s e d c l a s s conflict b e t w e e n f a c t o r y m a s t e r s a n d w a g e -
l a b o u r e r s m o s t v i o l e n t l y a n d c o n v i n c i n g l y i n p l a c e s like A s h t o n -
u n d e r - L y n e a n d Stockport, although such expression w a s intermit
tent. T h e 'Plug Plot' strike originated in this area. T h e r e w a s n o simple
r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n i n d u s t r i a l s t r u c t u r e , s i z e o f firm a n d l e v e l o f
C h a r t i s t activity, h o w e v e r , a n d all g e n e r a l i s a t i o n s o n t h i s s c o r e s e e m
v u l n e r a b l e to c o u n t e r - e x a m p l e s a n d c o u n t e r - a r g u m e n t s .
D u r i n g t h e 1 8 3 0 s a n d 1 8 4 0 s a c o m p l e x r a n g e o f i n t e r r e l a t e d social
a n d political p r o b l e m s c r e a t e d a crisis o f e a r l y i n d u s t r i a l s o c i e t y in
t h e n o r t h - w e s t e r n t e x t i l e district. W e m u s t n o t e x a g g e r a t e its d i m e n
sions. A l w a y s , the w o r k i n g class w a s politically divided. Consti
t u t i o n a l l o y a l i s t s m a d e t h e i r p r e s e n c e felt i n t h e 1 7 9 0 s a n d O p e r a t i v e
Conservative Associations recruited in t h e 1830s. A p a t h y , resignation
a n d a l l - c o n s u m i n g efforts t o s u r v i v e at a p e r s o n a l a n d familial l e v e l ,
without time or energy for outside commitments, must have
a c c o u n t e d for m o s t o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n , m o s t o f t h e t i m e . B u t t h e r e
e x i s t e d a s u b s t a n t i a l c o r e o f c o n v i n c e d a n d c o m m i t t e d radical politi
cians a m o n g the artisans, factory workers and petty tradesmen. T h e y
w e r e c a p a b l e o f a t t a c h i n g m a s s s u p p o r t at k e y m o m e n t s to c a m p a i g n s
w h i c h at v e r y l e a s t i d e n t i f i e d a c o m m o n c l a s s e n e m y , t h e c o r r u p t
a r i s t o c r a c y a n d its l o c a l a l l i e s , a n d i n s o m e c o n t e x t s m o b i l i s e d a p e r
ceived c o m m o n working-class interest against the factory masters.
T h e s e w e r e t u r b u l e n t a n d u n e a s y y e a r s for t h o s e in a u t h o r i t y ; b u t
t h e y s o o n g a v e w a y t o a l o n g p e r i o d o f r e l a t i v e p r o s p e r i t y a n d social
stability i n t h e n o r t h - w e s t , l a s t i n g f r o m t h e m i d - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y
t o t h e First W o r l d W a r . B e f o r e e x p l a i n i n g t h i s e n d u r i n g r e s o l u t i o n
32
Foster, Class Struggle, chap. 5; D. S. Gadian, 'Class Consciousness in Oldham and
Other North-West Industrial Towns', Historical Journal, 21 (1978), pp. 161-72;
R. Sykes, 'Working-Class Consciousness in Oldham, 1830-42', Historical Journal,
23 (1980), pp. 167-79.

386 J. K. W A L T O N
of t h e crisis of t h e 1 8 3 0 s a n d 1 8 4 0 s , w e n e e d to l o o k at e c o n o m i c
c o n d i t i o n s , e m p l o y m e n t p a t t e r n s a n d l i v i n g s t a n d a r d s in t h e n o r t h
w e s t after t h e C h a r t i s t s .
II STABLE PROSPERITY? THE HEYDAY OF VICTORIAN

AND EDWARDIAN LANCASHIRE, c. 1 8 5 0 - 1 9 1 4
B e t w e e n 1 8 5 0 a n d 1 9 1 4 m o s t of t h e r e g i o n s a w c o n t i n u i n g e c o n o m i c
growth and urban expansion on an altogether novel scale. Lan
c a s h i r e ' s p o p u l a t i o n m o r e t h a n d o u b l e d to w e l l o v e r four m i l l i o n dur
ing the s e c o n d half of the nineteenth century. B y 1911 about half
t h e c o u n t y ' s i n h a b i t a n t s l i v e d in u r b a n c e n t r e s c o n t a i n i n g o v e r 1 0 0 , 0 0 0
p e o p l e , a n d o v e r five-sixths l i v e d in t o w n s o f o v e r 1 0 , 0 0 0 . T h i s l e v e l
of u r b a n i s a t i o n w a s u n p a r a l l e l e d e l s e w h e r e , a n d its manufacturing
and suburban influence extended into north Cheshire. Outside the
m a i n industrial areas, Barrow and C r e w e s h o w e d spectacular mid-
V i c t o r i a n g r o w t h f r o m t i n y b e g i n n i n g s , a n d t h e rise of t h e s e a s i d e
resorts, especially Blackpool, provided impressive evidence of grow
ing regional prosperity.
Not surprisingly, the spectacular growth rates a r o u n d mid-century
could not be sustained. During 1871-81 Lancashire's population rose
b y 2 2 p e r c e n t a g a i n s t 14 p e r c e n t for E n g l a n d a n d W a l e s ; b u t t h e r e a f t e r
t h e c o u n t y m a r c h e d in s t e p w i t h t h e n a t i o n at l a r g e , a n d s o m e u r b a n
p o p u l a t i o n s w e r e a l r e a d y d e c l i n i n g in t h e 1 8 9 0 s . C o t t o n w a s ' u n a m
3 3
b i g u o u s l y h o l d i n g its o w n in t h e g r o w t h l e a g u e t a b l e s ' right up
to 1 9 1 4 i n m o s t p l a c e s , b u t s o m e i n d u s t r i e s w e r e faltering b y t h e 1 8 9 0 s ,
especially coal and Lancashire chemicals. G r o w t h w a s punctuated
b y cyclical d e p r e s s i o n s , a l t h o u g h t h e s e b e c a m e l e s s d i s r u p t i v e as c u t s
in o u t p u t w e r e a c h i e v e d t h r o u g h s h o r t t i m e r a t h e r t h a n lay-offs,
e s p e c i a l l y in c o t t o n . T h e late n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y b r o u g h t problems
to m o s t o f t h e s t a p l e i n d u s t r i e s , b u t falling p r i c e s b o o s t e d t h e living
s t a n d a r d s of t h e i r w o r k e r s . S u b - r e g i o n a l a n a l y s i s will a d d s u b s t a n c e
to t h e s e p o i n t s .
C o t t o n ' s expansion c o n t i n u e d with remarkable rapidity, although
t h e C o t t o n F a m i n e of t h e e a r l y 1 8 6 0 s c o n v e n i e n t l y m a s k e d a s e v e r e
cyclical d e p r e s s i o n . F o r e i g n c o m p e t i t i o n w a s e m e r g i n g in s o m e e x p o r t
m a r k e t s in late V i c t o r i a n t i m e s , w h e n a s q u e e z e o n p r i c e s p u t p r e s s u r e
o n profits a n d m a r g i n s ; b u t t h e E d w a r d i a n y e a r s s a w a s u r g e o f s p e c u
lative e x p a n s i o n a n d m i l l - b u i l d i n g . M a j o r i n n o v a t i o n s , t h e r i n g f r a m e
33
J. L. White, The Limits of Trade Union Militancy (1978), p. 14.

The north-west 387
in spinning and the automatic loom, were adopted very slowly,

especially b y contrast with the United States. But this caution m a y
h a v e b e e n justified b y Lancashire conditions, a n d ring spinning,
w h i c h u s e d c h e a p f e m a l e l a b o u r , w a s r e a d i l y i n t r o d u c e d for n e w c a p a
34
city o n t h e c o a r s e r y a r n s w h e r e its a d v a n t a g e s w e r e m o s t c l e a r - c u t .
Productivity i m p r o v e m e n t s c a m e mainly from adjustments to existing
technologies and working methods. Between 1884 and 1914 Lanca
shire's spindles increased b y 45 per cent and looms by 51.3 per cent,
a n d m u c h of the 1914 output w a s of h i g h e r quality a n d value, as
L a n c a s h i r e u s e d its skills c o m p e t i t i v e l y .
C o t t o n ' s fortunes varied b e t w e e n places. T h e geographical division
b e t w e e n s p i n n i n g a n d w e a v i n g i n t e n s i f i e d , t h o u g h it w a s n e v e r c o m
plete. T o w n s developed distinctive products a n d markets, a n d the
north-east Lancashire w e a v i n g centres g r e w especially rapidly in the
late n i n e t e e n t h century, while R o s s e n d a l e s a w declining u r b a n p o p u
l a t i o n s i n face o f c o m p e t i t i o n f r o m O l d h a m a n d o v e r s e a s i n c o a r s e
spinning. But machine-making prospered from the growth of overseas
textile i n d u s t r i e s , a n d m o s t e c o n o m i c i n d i c a t o r s i n c o t t o n L a n c a s h i r e
still l o o k e d f a v o u r a b l e t o m o s t E d w a r d i a n s .
M o s t c o t t o n firms c o n t i n u e d t o p r o v i d e w o r k i n g u n i t s o f m a n a g e a b l e
s i z e , e s p e c i a l l y i n w e a v i n g . E m p l o y e e s p e r f a c t o r y still a v e r a g e d u n d e r
2 0 0 i n t h e 1 8 9 0 s . C h a n g e s i n t h e o r g a n i s a t i o n o f t h e firm c a r r i e d m o r e
social significance than relatively m o d e s t factory size increases.
D e s p i t e t h e e x i s t e n c e o f o n e o r t w o v a s t c o m b i n e s , t h e r e w e r e still
a b o u t 2 , 0 0 0 firms i n L a n c a s h i r e c o t t o n i n 1914. B u t l i m i t e d c o m p a n i e s
w e r e p h a s i n g o u t t h e o l d e r f a m i l y firms a n d p a r t n e r s h i p s , e s p e c i a l l y
in spinning. T h e rise of the O l d h a m ' L i m i t e d s ' from the 1870s, a n d
the slower a n d later spread of the limited c o m p a n y e l s e w h e r e , h a d
i m p o r t a n t i m p l i c a t i o n s for l a b o u r r e l a t i o n s a n d p o l i t i c s in t h e c o t t o n
towns.
B e t w e e n 1851 a n d 1911 L a n c a s h i r e ' s cotton labour force g r e w b y
over 40 per cent to just over half a million. W o m e n workers m o r e
t h a n doubled to over 300,000. Despite this, the proportion of Lanca
s h i r e ' s p o p u l a t i o n ( o v e r t e n y e a r s o l d ) w o r k i n g i n c o t t o n fell f r o m o n e
i n five t o o n e i n s e v e n . S o m e o f t h e l a r g e r c o t t o n t o w n s w e r e t h e m
selves b e c o m i n g less specialised. But cotton's growth and importance
34
L. C. Sandberg, Lancashire in Decline (Columbus, Ohio, 1974), chaps. 2-3; W. Lazo-
nick, 'Factor Costs and the Diffusion of Ring Spinning in Britain prior to World
War T, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 96 (1981), pp. 89-109.

388 J . K. W A L T O N
r e m a i n e d i m p r e s s i v e , e s p e c i a l l y for k e y a r e a s a n d a g e r a n g e s , a n d
it c o n t i n u e d to d o m i n a t e l o c a l e c o n o m i e s .
D e s p i t e c h a n g e s in t h e a g e / s e x c o m p o s i t i o n o f t h e w o r k f o r c e , t h e r e
w e r e i m p o r t a n t c o n t i n u i t i e s in t h e l a b o u r p r o c e s s . I n s p i n n i n g , d e s p i t e
t h e t r i u m p h o f t h e self-acting m u l e , t h e e s t a b l i s h e d h i e r a r c h y o f s p i n
n e r (or m i n d e r ) , b i g p i e c e r (a y o u t h or y o u n g a d u l t r e c e i v i n g l e s s
t h a n h a l f a s p i n n e r ' s n e t w a g e ) a n d j u v e n i l e or a d o l e s c e n t little
piecer, remained almost unchallenged, although other arrangements
e m e r g e d in a f e w a r e a s w h e r e m a l e r e c r u i t m e n t w a s difficult, a n d
ring spinners w e r e female. T h e workplace organisation of p o w e r l o o m
w e a v i n g w a s also effectively u n c h a n g e d . W h a t did alter s i g n i f i c a n t l y
w a s the relative importance of w o m e n a n d children.
Child labour declined. Successive Factory Acts raised the m i n i m u m
w o r k i n g a g e f r o m e i g h t in 1 8 4 4 to t w e l v e in 1 9 0 1 , a n d after 1 8 4 4 t h e
u n d e r - t h i r t e e n s w e r e r e q u i r e d to s p e n d p a r t o f t h e w e e k in s c h o o l
7
on the 'half-time system. Meanwhile w o m e n were becoming increas
i n g l y i m p o r t a n t in factory w o r k , e s p e c i a l l y w e a v i n g a n d t h e s p i n n i n g
p r e p a r a t o r y p r o c e s s e s . B y t h e late n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y 'it w a s a l m o s t
a u t o m a t i c t h a t a w o r k i n g - c l a s s girl w o u l d g o i n t o t h e mill w h e n s h e
left s c h o o l ' . M a n y left to g e t m a r r i e d in t h e i r e a r l y t w e n t i e s , b u t a n
increasing proportion continued through the early years of marriage
a n d m o t h e r h o o d , l e a v i n g t h e f a c t o r y in t h e i r m i d - t h i r t i e s or a f t e r w a r d s
as c h i l d r e n b e g a n to e a r n . T h i s p a t t e r n b e c a m e e s p e c i a l l y p r e v a l e n t
in w e a v i n g , w h e r e l o w m a l e w a g e s a s s u m e d t h e f a c t o r y e m p l o y m e n t
3 5
of w i v e s .
C o t t o n c o n t i n u e d to e m p l o y u p to h a l f t h e m a l e w o r k f o r c e in t h e
c o t t o n t o w n s t h e m s e l v e s . Its i n f l u e n c e p e a k e d a m o n g t e e n a g e r s , w i t h
m u c h subsequent wastage into other jobs, leaving a residue of well-
paid overlookers and spinners, a 'sub-aristocracy' of strippers and
g r i n d e r s in t h e p r e p a r a t i o n p r o c e s s e s , a n d l a r g e n u m b e r s o f r e l a t i v e l y
ill-paid w e a v e r s . T e x t i l e e n g i n e e r i n g p r o v i d e d w e l l - p a i d w o r k for
m a n y a d u l t s , e s p e c i a l l y in O l d h a m a n d B o l t o n , a n d c o a l m i n i n g , w o o l
and papermaking w e r e locally important. Building was a major
e m p l o y e r , as w e r e t h e g e n e r a l l y e x p a n d i n g t r a n s p o r t , m u n i c i p a l a n d
w h i t e - c o l l a r s e c t o r s . B u t t h e r e w e r e m a n y ill-paid a n d u n d e r e m p l o y e d
general labourers, and Edwardian cotton towns remained overwhelm
ingly working class, despite incipient suburban spread.
M e r s e y s i d e , like t h e c o t t o n t o w n s , k e p t its d i s t i n c t i v e o c c u p a t i o n a l
35
J. Liddington and J. Norris, One Hand Tied Behind Us (1978), pp. 58-9.

The north-west 389
profile. C a s u a l w o r k for d o c k e r s , p o r t e r s a n d c a r t e r s p r e d o m i n a t e d
in c e n t r a l L i v e r p o o l . B u i l d i n g a n d s h i p r e p a i r i n g c r a f t s m e n w e r e b e t t e r
p a i d b u t v u l n e r a b l e to u n e m p l o y m e n t , as w e r e B i r k e n h e a d ' s s h i p
builders. But merchants, professionals, shopkeepers and traders com
p r i s e d o v e r 2 0 p e r c e n t o f h o u s e h o l d e r s in 1 8 5 1 . E v e n s o , L i v e r p o o l
h a d a h i g h p r o p o r t i o n o f u n s k i l l e d a n d relatively f e w skilled l a b o u r e r s
w h e n c o m p a r e d w i t h Y o r k or e v e n P r e s t o n . W a g e d w o r k for w o m e n
w a s s c a r c e , d o m e s t i c s e r v i c e apart, a n d l o w , irregular m a l e e a r n i n g s
e n s u r e d a b u n d a n t c h e a p f e m a l e l a b o u r for t h e s l o p c l o t h i n g t r a d e s .
Hawkers and prostitutes were numerous, and workless children were
often r e d u c e d to b e g g i n g a n d p e t t y c r i m e . T h e m a i n late V i c t o r i a n
g r o w t h s e c t o r w a s clerical w o r k , b u t e v e n this w a s often ill-paid a n d
i n s e c u r e , e s p e c i a l l y as a r e s p e c t a b l e a p p e a r a n c e a n d d e m e a n o u r h a d
to b e m a i n t a i n e d . C e n t r a l M a n c h e s t e r h a d a similar c o m m e r c i a l e c o n
o m y , a n d similar e x t r e m e s o f m e r c a n t i l e w e a l t h , s q u a l i d p o v e r t y a n d
insecurity.
I n L i v e r p o o l ' s h i n t e r l a n d coal m i n i n g a n d g l a s s m a k i n g b o o s t e d S t
H e l e n s ' s p o p u l a t i o n sixfold to o v e r 9 0 , 0 0 0 b y 1 9 1 1 . F u r t h e r s o u t h t h e
alkali i n d u s t r y b r o u g h t a m i d - V i c t o r i a n b o o m to R u n c o r n a n d W i d n e s ,
b u t t h e y s t a g n a t e d f r o m t h e 1 8 9 0 s as c o m p e t i t o r s i n t r o d u c e d new
p r o c e s s e s , i n c l u d i n g B r u n n e r , M o n d o n t h e C h e s h i r e saltfields. O t h e r
towns grew less spectacularly, but there was a general predominance
of a d u l t m a l e l a b o u r , m o s t l y u n a p p r e n t i c e d , with relatively high
w a g e s a n d h i g h r i s k s . In g l a s s a n d c h e m i c a l s , e s p e c i a l l y , t h e t r e n d
to o l i g o p o l y a n d l a r g e u n i t s o f p r o d u c t i o n w a s s t r o n g , a n d b y c o n t r a s t
w i t h c o t t o n t h e gulf b e t w e e n capital a n d l a b o u r w a s w i d e n i n g r a p i d l y
in late V i c t o r i a n t i m e s .
E l s e w h e r e t h e e v e n m o r e s p e c t a c u l a r m i d - V i c t o r i a n rise o f B a r r o w
produced another 'overwhelmingly proletarian' town dominated by
m e n ' s w o r k in iron, s t e e l a n d later s h i p b u i l d i n g . S k i l l e d w o r k e r s a n d
long-distance migrants were much in e v i d e n c e , a n d m o s t were
e m p l o y e d b y a f e w l a r g e firms. T h e r a i l w a y t o w n of C r e w e e x h i b i t e d
m a n y similar c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s , a n d at L a n c a s t e r s p e c i a l i s a t i o n in oilcloth
g a v e g r e a t e c o n o m i c i n f l u e n c e to t w o large firms in a n o l d e r a n d m o r e
d i v e r s e e c o n o m y . B y c o n t r a s t t h e s e a s i d e r e s o r t s a t t r a c t e d volatile
and insecure populations of small tradespeople, commuters and
r e t i r e d r e s i d e n t s , a n d t h e i r s e a s o n a l e c o n o m i e s g e n e r a t e d distinctive
social p r o b l e m s .
A g r i c u l t u r e h e l d its o w n as a n e m p l o y e r in m u c h o f n o r t h L a n c a s h i r e
a n d m i d - C h e s h i r e , a l t h o u g h t h e n u m b e r s i n v o l v e d in L a n c a s h i r e as

390 J . K. W A L T O N
a w h o l e fell s t e a d i l y after m i d - c e n t u r y . T h e r e w a s i n c r e a s i n g s p e c i a l i s
ation in pastoral farming in north a n d east Lancashire, while a g r o w i n g
concentration o n labour-intensive arable o n the larger estates of the
s o u t h - w e s t w a s p a r t l y offset b y f a r m c o n s o l i d a t i o n a n d m e c h a n i s a t i o n .
F a r m service declined rapidly here in mid-Victorian times, surviving
longer in the north; but in general w a g e rates r e m a i n e d relatively
high, small farms relatively n u m e r o u s , and the transition from
l a b o u r e r t o s m a l l f a r m e r r e m a i n e d a t t a i n a b l e for t h e f o r t u n a t e and
thrifty. T h e f a r m e r s c o m p l a i n e d o f h i g h r e n t s , p r e c a r i o u s t e n u r e a n d
l a c k o f c o m p e n s a t i o n for i m p r o v e m e n t s , e s p e c i a l l y d u r i n g t h e late
Victorian agricultural depression; but rent rebates a n d the proximity
o f u r b a n m a r k e t s k e p t m o s t o f t h e m afloat, a n d t h e m a j o r financial
p r o b l e m s o f t h e ' G r e a t D e p r e s s i o n ' fell u p o n t h e l a n d o w n e r s . T h e i r
eager investment in drainage a n d other i m p r o v e m e n t s around mid-
c e n t u r y h a d r e a p e d d i s a p p o i n t i n g r e t u r n s : a n d t h e i r initial r e s p o n s e
to d e p r e s s i o n w a s f u r t h e r i n v e s t m e n t i n t h e e x p e c t a t i o n o f e v e n t u a l
rent increases. B y the 1890s m a n y were faced with mounting debts,
unremunerative improvements, and falling land values which
reduced borrowing capacity. E v e n where estates h a d urban and indus
trial r e v e n u e s , r e t r e n c h m e n t w a s n e c e s s a r y , b u t s o m e h e i r s p r e f e r r e d
c o n s p i c u o u s c o n s u m p t i o n t o careful m a n a g e m e n t . B y 1 9 0 0 t h e b r e a k
up of s o m e major estates w a s beginning. L a n d o w n e r paternalism w a s
eroded b y economic necessity, and the democratisation of counties
in 1889 a n d parishes in 1894 confirmed the declining p o w e r of the
gentry, e v e n in the countryside. B u t l a n d e d influence o n c o u n t y c o u n
cils, a n d e l s e w h e r e , l o n g r e m a i n e d p e r v a s i v e i n L a n c a s h i r e a s w e l l
3 6
as C h e s h i r e .
Rural labourers' living standards w e r e improving, aided b y mig
ration opportunities a n d alternative rural occupations, especially o n
the railways a n d in the police. T h e trend in industry w a s also u p w a r d s
for t h o s e i n r e g u l a r w o r k , e s p e c i a l l y d u r i n g t h e l a t e V i c t o r i a n p r i c e
fall. I n E d w a r d i a n t i m e s f o o d a n d c o m m o d i t y p r i c e s w e r e c h e a p e r
in Lancashire a n d C h e s h i r e t h a n a n y w h e r e else in Britain. T h e rise
of c o m m e r c i a l i s e d l e i s u r e r e f l e c t e d t h e s e t r e n d s , a n d p u b l i c h e a l t h
improvements reinforced t h e m . But urban poverty and insecurity
w e r e far f r o m b e i n g c o n q u e r e d b y 1 9 1 4 , e s p e c i a l l y o n M e r s e y s i d e
a n d in B a r r o w a n d Lancaster. E v e n in the cotton t o w n s , i m p r o v e m e n t s
in m a t e r i a l c o n d i t i o n s w e r e d e a r l y b o u g h t in o t h e r w a y s .
36
J. M. Lee, Social Leaders and Public Persons (1963), chaps. 2-3; J. D. Marshall, ed.,
The History of Lancashire County Council (1977), chaps. 1, 4.

The north-west 391
C o t t o n L a n c a s h i r e w a s a h i g h - w a g e a r e a for a d u l t m a l e s in m o s t
o c c u p a t i o n s , f r o m e n g i n e e r i n g t o b u i l d i n g . C o t t o n itself w a s l e s s
generous, though Edwardian mule spinners and other 'aristocratic'
groups took h o m e well over £ 2 per week. But male weavers averaged
only 2 5 s . per w e e k , a n d big piecers, often y o u n g adults, w e r e a m o n g
B r i t a i n ' s w o r s t - p a i d m a l e i n d u s t r i a l w o r k e r s . B u t w o m e n ' s a n d chil
d r e n ' s w o r k b o o s t e d family i n c o m e s t o u n u s u a l l e v e l s o f c o m f o r t a n d
r e l a t i v e affluence. W e a v i n g w a s t h i r d in t h e w o m e n ' s i n d u s t r i a l w a g e s
l e a g u e in 1 9 0 6 , a n d w o m e n w e a v e r s ' e a r n i n g s a l m o s t m a t c h e d t h e
m e n ' s . O t h e r factory j o b s p a i d m u c h l e s s , b u t c h i l d r e n ' s w a g e s s o o n
r e a c h e d 1 0 s . p e r w e e k , h e l p i n g families o u t o f cyclical p o v e r t y . After
t h e m i d - 1 8 6 0 s real w a g e s i n c o t t o n i n c r e a s e d faster t h a n in m o s t o t h e r
industries, and the cotton t o w n s b e c a m e relatively prosperous except
d u r i n g d e p r e s s i o n s or p r o l o n g e d s t r i k e s . T h e r e w e r e r e l a t i v e l y f e w
p a u p e r s , e x c e p t in M a n c h e s t e r ; b u t p o v e r t y w a s v i s i b l y r e c e d i n g e v e n
i n m i d - V i c t o r i a n A n c o a t s , as t h e i n c i d e n c e o f w o r k i n g m o t h e r s a n d
37
shared accommodation declined. Friendly societies flourished, and
t h e C o - o p , in s h o p k e e p i n g r a t h e r t h a n U t o p i a n socialist g u i s e , b e c a m e
w e l l e s t a b l i s h e d i n t h e 1 8 5 0 s a n d a t t r a c t e d m a s s m e m b e r s h i p s in late
V i c t o r i a n t i m e s . Thrift, c a s h t r a d i n g , s a v i n g a n d r e g u l a r b u d g e t i n g
w e r e i n c r e a s i n g w h e n t h e y w e r e still l u x u r i e s i n m o s t V i c t o r i a n u r b a n
e c o n o m i e s . Regular, predictable a n d relatively high i n c o m e s allowed
growing expenditure on leisure, holidays and domestic comfort along
s i d e d e f e n s i v e thrift t h r o u g h s a v i n g s a n d friendly s o c i e t i e s . S p e c i a l
ised s h o p s proliferated accordingly, despite the Co-op, selling every
t h i n g f r o m fruit a n d c o n f e c t i o n e r y t o p i c t u r e f r a m e s a n d p i a n o s .
T h e cotton towns led the commercialisation of leisure, which was
e n c o u r a g e d b y t h e s p r e a d o f t h e S a t u r d a y h a l f - h o l i d a y after 1 8 5 0 .
At mid-century M a n c h e s t e r a n d Bolton music halls already attracted
audiences of a t h o u s a n d or m o r e , with teenage factory workers m u c h
in e v i d e n c e ; a n d m u s i c h a l l s e x p a n d e d a n d m u l t i p l i e d s t e a d i l y t h e r e
after. L a t e V i c t o r i a n c o t t o n L a n c a s h i r e p i o n e e r e d b o t h t h e d e v e l o p
m e n t o f p r o f e s s i o n a l football as a m a s s s p e c t a t o r s p o r t , a n d the
w o r k i n g - c l a s s s e a s i d e h o l i d a y . Thrift w a s h a r n e s s e d t o e n j o y m e n t as
rushbearings a n d traditional w a k e s hospitality gave w a y to e x t e n d e d
s e a s i d e visits t o B l a c k p o o l a n d its rivals, as u n p a i d s u m m e r h o l i d a y s
w e r e s t e a d i l y e x t e n d e d . Electric t r a m w a y s in t h e 1 8 9 0 s b r o u g h t p a r k s
37
Rushton, 'Victorian Slum', p. 44.

392 J . K. W A L T O N
a n d c o u n t r y s i d e i n t o e a s i e r r e a c h . A l l t h i s h e l p e d to u n d e r m i n e t h e
c e n t r a l i t y o f t h e p u b in p o p u l a r c u l t u r e . T h i s t r e n d w a s a c c e n t u a t e d
by stricter l i c e n s i n g p r o v i s i o n s f r o m t h e 1 8 7 0 s a n d e s p e c i a l l y after
1904, reducing p u b n u m b e r s a n d c h e c k i n g their spread into n e w l y
built w o r k i n g - c l a s s a r e a s .
After 1 8 7 0 i m p r o v e m e n t s in d r a i n a g e , w a t e r s u p p l y a n d b u i l d i n g
c o n t r o l s b e g a n to m a k e a n i m p a c t o n d e a t h a n d d i s e a s e r a t e s , a l t h o u g h
t h e i r i n f l u e n c e is h a r d to d i s e n t a n g l e f r o m o t h e r a s p e c t s o f i m p r o v e d
living s t a n d a r d s . T h e m i d - V i c t o r i a n c o t t o n t o w n s h a d a p a t c h y p u b l i c
h e a l t h r e c o r d , as t h e s u b s t a n t i a l m a n u f a c t u r e r s w h o predominated
in local g o v e r n m e n t r e m a i n e d d i v i d e d , u n c e r t a i n a n d v u l n e r a b l e to
p r e s s u r e for e c o n o m y f r o m p e n n y - p i n c h i n g a n d v u l n e r a b l e groups
of s m a l l r a t e p a y e r s . It w a s e a s i e r to i n v e s t in t o w n h a l l s t h a n in c o n t r o
versial sewering and water supply s c h e m e s w h i c h required the ap
p r o v a l o f n e i g h b o u r i n g a u t h o r i t i e s , l a n d o w n e r s a n d P a r l i a m e n t itself.
But l a t e V i c t o r i a n m u n i c i p a l g o v e r n m e n t s b e g a n to m a k e r e a l h e a d
w a y , p r o d d e d f r o m t h e c e n t r e a n d b o l s t e r e d b y profits f r o m m u n i c i p a l
utilities. W a t e r s u p p l i e s i m p r o v e d , p r i v i e s a n d a s h p i t s g a v e w a y to
w a t e r c l o s e t s , a n d in E d w a r d i a n t i m e s c o n t r o l s o v e r m i l k s u p p l y a n d
f o o d a d u l t e r a t i o n b e c a m e i n c r e a s i n g l y effective. D e a t h , d i s e a s e a n d
infant m o r t a l i t y r a t e s b e g a n t o fall, a l t h o u g h t h e c o t t o n t o w n s l a g g e d
b e h i n d t h e n a t i o n at l a r g e . I n d u s t r i a l d i s e a s e s r e m a i n e d r a m p a n t a n d
w o r s e n i n g w o r k i n g c o n d i t i o n s p e r p e t u a t e d l o w life e x p e c t a n c i e s for
cotton workers. Industrial n e e d s and influence kept t o w n s s m o k y
a n d r i v e r s p o l l u t e d , a l t h o u g h o v e r c r o w d i n g i n d i c e s b e g a n to fall. B u t
persisting pockets of high mortality a n d e n v i r o n m e n t a l dereliction
38
r e m i n d us of the darker side of cotton living s t a n d a r d s .
F a m i l y i n c o m e s d e p e n d e d h e a v i l y o n w o m e n ' s a n d c h i l d r e n ' s fac
t o r y w o r k . E v e n w h e r e h u s b a n d s h e l p e d at h o m e , t h e ' d o u b l e shift'
w a s a n o v e r w h e l m i n g b u r d e n . S t r e s s a n d e x h a u s t i o n t o o k t h e i r toll,
e x a c e r b a t e d b y p r e s s u r e to c o n f o r m to d e m a n d i n g ' r e s p e c t a b l e ' i d e a l s
of l a b o u r - i n t e n s i v e d o m e s t i c c l e a n l i n e s s . C o n v e n i e n c e f o o d s were
widely used, while lack of domestic t e c h n o l o g y a n d loss of domestic
skills w o r s e n e d m a t t e r s .
C o t t o n w o r k e r s ' families e x p e r i e n c e d h i g h l e v e l s o f infant m o r t a l i t y ,
d e s p i t e t h e r e a d y availability o f c h i l d - m i n d e r s a m o n g f a m i l y and
38
J. Garrard, Leadership and Power in Victorian Industrial Towns 1830-80 (Manchester,
1983); G. Trodd, 'Political Change and the Working Class in Blackburn and Burnley,
1880-1914' (unpublished PhD thesis, Lancaster University, 1978), chap. 4.

The north-west 393
3 9
neighbours. T h e s t r e s s e s are s u g g e s t e d b y c o t t o n w o r k e r s ' e a r l y
recourse to family limitation, w h i c h b e c a m e apparent in the 1860s
and was strongly marked by Edwardian times. Abortion was probably
prevalent, e n c o u r a g e d b y the female factory c o m m u n i t y , but the meth
ods u s e d must have prejudiced the health of mothers and surviving
c h i l d r e n . B i r t h r a t e s , still v e r y h i g h i n t h e 1 8 7 0 s , h a d fallen b y 1 9 0 0
t o a r o u n d or b e l o w t h e n a t i o n a l a v e r a g e . S u r v i v i n g c h i l d r e n w e r e
p u s h e d i n t o t h e f a c t o r y at t h e e a r l i e s t o p p o r t u n i t y . T h e ' h a l f - t i m e '
s y s t e m r e a c h e d its p e a k in t h e 1 8 9 0 s , a n d w a s s t r o n g l y d e f e n d e d b y
t h e o p e r a t i v e s . It p e r s i s t e d l o n g e r in c o t t o n L a n c a s h i r e t h a n e l s e w h e r e ,
a n d w a s n o t effectively a b o l i s h e d u n t i l 1 9 2 1 . T h e m a r g i n a b o v e p o v e r t y
w h i c h c a m e from multiple earnings within families, despite overheads
incurred on child care and laundry, encouraged competitive c o n s u m e r
spending which may have generated 'secondary poverty' through
n e g l e c t o f e s s e n t i a l s . T h u s a n O l d h a m o b s e r v e r in 1 8 9 7 : ' T h e y p u t
a w a y £ 2 0 0 , 0 0 0 for w a k e s w e e k , y e t t h e y s e n d t h e i r e l e v e n - y e a r - o l d s
4 0
i n t o t h e mill t o h e l p e a r n i t . ' W h a t e v e r the perils of retrospective
value j u d g m e n t s , cotton living standards w e r e not unproblematically
high.
Liverpool fared m u c h w o r s e . High a n d rising mid-Victorian rents
a n d food prices ate into e v e n skilled w o r k e r s ' i n c o m e s , while casual
w o r k a n d irregular earnings bred casual a n d irregular s p e n d i n g habits
a n d l o w e x p e c t a t i o n s a m o n g t h e p o o r . F r i e n d l y s o c i e t i e s w e r e ineffec
tual u n d e r t h e s e c o n d i t i o n s , a n d t h e C o - o p ' s d e v e l o p m e n t w a s late
a n d s t u n t e d . P a w n b r o k e r s a n d m o n e y l e n d e r s w e r e n u m e r o u s , as in
i n n e r M a n c h e s t e r a n d S a l f o r d . T h e d e a t h r a t e r o s e s h a r p l y in t h e
1 8 6 0 s after r e c e d i n g in t h e 1 8 5 0 s , a n d infant m o r t a l i t y r e m a i n e d v e r y
h i g h . C o r p o r a t i o n e x p e n d i t u r e o n p u b l i c h e a l t h b o r e little fruit, a n d
although m o s t back-to-back courts h a d b e e n d e m o l i s h e d b y 1914, the
local a u t h o r i t y c o u l d n o t p r o v i d e e n o u g h a l t e r n a t i v e a c c o m m o d a t i o n
for d i s p l a c e d i n h a b i t a n t s . I m p r o v e d l i v i n g s t a n d a r d s a n d falling d e a t h
r a t e s a p p e a r e d l a t e r a n d m o r e t e n t a t i v e l y in L i v e r p o o l t h a n e l s e w h e r e
in t h e n o r t h - w e s t .
Liverpool's manufacturing hinterland s a w precarious living stan
dards threatened by bad working and environmental conditions.
C h e m i c a l w o r k s l a b o u r e r s l o s t t e e t h , a p p e t i t e a n d ability t o w o r k ,
39
White, Trade Union Militancy, p. 46, Table 17; M. Cruickshank, Children and Industry
(Manchester, 1981), p. 105. See also E. Roberts, 'Working-Class Standards of Living
in Three Lancashire Towns, 1890-1914', International Review of Social History, 27
(1982), pp. 62-4.
40
Cruickshank, Children and Industry, p. 98.

394 J . K. W A L T O N
a n d w e r e d i s p r o p o r t i o n a t e l y likely t o die p r e m a t u r e l y in t h e w o r k
h o u s e . E m p l o y e r s t o o k c a r e t o live at a safe d i s t a n c e . M u c h o f s o u t h
west Lancashire b e c a m e a notorious m o o n s c a p e of dead trees, stinking
rivers a n d chemical w a s t e h e a p s . S u c h conditions w e r e not universal,
b u t ill-health a n d f o r e s h o r t e n e d w o r k i n g l i v e s p r e v a i l e d a m o n g m i n e r s
a n d g l a s s w o r k e r s as w e l l as c h e m i c a l w o r k e r s , a n d o u t s i d e m i n i n g
h o u r s w e r e o f t e n v e r y l o n g . T h e late b u t r a p i d d e v e l o p m e n t o f t h e
C o - o p r e f l e c t e d h i g h e r a n d m o r e r e g u l a r i n c o m e s t h a n in c e n t r a l L i v e r
pool, but with h e a v y social costs.
B a r r o w a n d L a n c a s t e r w e r e different a g a i n . T h e y h a d important
craft e l i t e s , b u t a l s o l a r g e n u m b e r s o f u n s k i l l e d m e n w h o s e e a r n i n g s
hovered around £ 1 per week. Family budgets a m o n g the low-paid
w e r e e k e d o u t b y c h e a p a l l o t m e n t p r o d u c e , ' l i v i n g off t h e l a n d ' , part-
time female e m p l o y m e n t in the h o m e , a n d resourceful housewifery.
R o b e r t s a r g u e s t h a t , w i t h little f e m a l e f a c t o r y w o r k , s t a n d a r d s o f diet,
h e a l t h a n d d o m e s t i c c o m f o r t w e r e a c t u a l l y b e t t e r t h a n in t h e c o t t o n
t o w n s . T h i s f i n d i n g is i n f l u e n c e d b y e x t e r n a l v a l u e j u d g m e n t s a b o u t
life s t y l e s a n d s p e n d i n g p a t t e r n s , b u t it r e m i n d s u s t h a t t h e r e is m o r e
4 1
to living s t a n d a r d s t h a n f a m i l y i n c o m e s a n d c o n s u m e r s p e n d i n g .
Assertions about rising working-class prosperity must b e heavily
qualified. E v e n i n t h e c o t t o n t o w n s , s e c u r i t y a g a i n s t o l d a g e , l o n g - t e r m
sickness or u n e m p l o y m e n t , and injury were lacking. Friendly societies
a n d s a v i n g s c h e m e s p r o v i d e d l e a s t c o v e r for t h o s e w h o n e e d e d it
most, and they did not protect against the poverty cycle. At best,
e v e n t h e E d w a r d i a n c o t t o n t o w n s offered relative p r o s p e r i t y , c o m
p a r e d w i t h earlier t i m e s a n d o t h e r p l a c e s . E v e n C r e w e , w i t h its s e c u r e
and well-paid railway engineers and craftsmen, saw a threatening
s h r i n k a g e i n its j o b m a r k e t in E d w a r d i a n t i m e s . D e s p i t e i m p o r t a n t
p o s i t i v e i n d i c a t o r s , e s p e c i a l l y f r o m t h e 1 8 7 0 s , t h e r i s e in l i v i n g s t a n
d a r d s in t h e n o r t h - w e s t w a s t o o little, t o o l a t e a n d t o o i n s e c u r e t o
p r o v i d e a full e x p l a n a t i o n for t h e a c h i e v e m e n t o f s o c i a l a n d political
stability after m i d - c e n t u r y .
A r o u n d 1 8 5 0 t h e e x p l o s i v e m i x t u r e o f e c o n o m i c a n d political t h r e a t s
a n d g r i e v a n c e s , w h i c h f u e l l e d C h a r t i s m , h a d l o s t its p o t e n c y as its
constituents b e c a m e separated out and isolated. B y the mid-1860s
contemporaries could remark o n the cotton district's 'perfect tranquil
lity a n d p e a c e ' , e v e n in t h e i m m e d i a t e a f t e r m a t h o f t h e C o t t o n F a m i n e .
S u c h v i e w s w e r e m i s l e a d i n g : i n d u s t r i a l strife, s o m e t i m e s v i o l e n t ,
41
Roberts, 'Three Lancashire Towns', pp. 4 3 - 6 5 .

The north-west 395
r e m a i n e d c l o s e to t h e s u r f a c e , a n d a s p e c t s o f C o t t o n F a m i n e relief
h a d p r o v o k e d a n g r y w o r k i n g - c l a s s o p p o s i t i o n a n d o c c a s i o n a l distur
b a n c e s . A s K i r k r e m a r k s , ' T h e d e s i r e for a m o r e e g a l i t a r i a n a n d d e m o
cratic s o c i e t y w a s still p r e s e n t in t h e 1 8 6 0 s , albeit in a m o r e e t i o l a t e d
form'; but the cotton district's mid-Victorian Labour m o v e m e n t w a s
' m o r e i n t e r e s t e d in c o m i n g to t e r m s w i t h a n d g a i n i n g its d u e r e c o g
n i t i o n f r o m capitalist s o c i e t y t h a n in w o r k i n g for f u n d a m e n t a l social
4 2
change'. T h i s s t a t e m e n t h o l d s g o o d in m a n y w a y s until 1 9 1 4 a n d
b e y o n d . H o w should w e explain the enthusiastic assimilation of the
w o r k i n g class i n t o a t w o - p a r t y political s y s t e m w h i c h c u t a c r o s s c l a s s
l i n e s , a n d r e s i s t e d late V i c t o r i a n a n d E d w a r d i a n a t t e m p t s to r e v i v e
class politics?
E c o n o m i c stabilisation a n d rising living s t a n d a r d s , t h e m s e l v e s p r o
b l e m a t i c , are o n l y p a r t o f t h e a n s w e r . W e also n e e d to c o n s i d e r
the political a n d social initiatives of employers and others in
a u t h o r i t y , t h e a d a p t a t i o n o f t h e l a b o u r force to i n d u s t r i a l s o c i e t y , a n d
t h e structural a n d e t h n i c d i v i s i o n s in t h e c o t t o n d i s t r i c t ' s w o r k i n g
class.
As grievances were redressed and threats defused, successive layers
of C h a r t i s t s u p p o r t w e r e p e e l e d off d u r i n g t h e 1 8 4 0 s . T h e p o o r l a w ,
factory r e f o r m a n d t r a d e - u n i o n i s s u e s r e t r e a t e d f r o m c e n t r e s t a g e ,
a n d s o did t h e h a n d l o o m w e a v e r s . G o v e r n m e n t flexibility d i s a r m e d
t h e C h a r t i s t critique o f aristocratic c o r r u p t i o n , a n d c o r n l a w r e p e a l
u s h e r e d in a l a s t i n g c o n s e n s u s o n free t r a d e e c o n o m i c s . F o r O l d h a m ,
F o s t e r s h o w s h o w T o r y initiatives for factory r e f o r m a n d a g a i n s t a
b o r o u g h p o l i c e force d e t a c h e d o n e w i n g o f t h e ' w o r k i n g - c l a s s ' radi
cals, w h i l e o t h e r s w e r e a t t r a c t e d to t h e L i b e r a l s b y t e m p e r a n c e , l i m i t e d
p a r l i a m e n t a r y r e f o r m a n d o p p o s i t i o n to t h e C h u r c h o f E n g l a n d . T h e
e m p l o y e r s a n d t h e i r allies m a d e c o n c e s s i o n s to t h e radicals, b u t a s s i m i
l a t e d t h e m , a n d t h e n e w a l i g n m e n t s w e r e r e i n f o r c e d b y later d e v e l o p
ments.
' C h a r t i s t L a n c a s h i r e ' t h u s g a v e w a y to ' L i b e r a l L a n c a s h i r e ' , a n d
t h e n , after t h e S e c o n d R e f o r m A c t , to a l o n g spell o f T o r y p r e d o m i
n a n c e . T h e s e l a b e l s c o n c e a l a g e n u i n e t r a n s i t i o n to a t w o - p a r t y s y s t e m
in w h i c h c o n t e s t s w e r e g e n e r a l l y c l o s e e n o u g h to s u s t a i n w i d e s p r e a d
participatory enthusiasm. But the heyday of 'Liberal Lancashire' con
ceals a s h a r p s w i n g a w a y f r o m t h e ' M a n c h e s t e r S c h o o l ' d u r i n g t h e
1 8 5 0 s , as t h e ' I m p e r i a l i s m o f F r e e T r a d e ' f a v o u r e d a P a l m e r s t o n i a n
42
Kirk, 'Class and Fragmentation', pp. 5, 8.

396 J . K. W A L T O N
foreign p o l i c y t o s a f e g u a r d e x p a n d i n g e a s t e r n m a r k e t s . F r o m P a l m e r -
ston to Disraeli w a s to b e a short step, aided b y the strong continuity
of c o m m e r c i a l a n d m a n u f a c t u r i n g T o r y i s m i n t h e c o t t o n district
through the 1830s and 1840s. T h e extent of Tory influence o n working-
class h o u s e h o l d e r s w a s m a d e explicit u n d e r t h e n e w u r b a n f r a n c h i s e
in 1 8 6 8 . I n 1 8 6 5 t h e c o t t o n c o n s t i t u e n c i e s p r o d u c e d six T o r y M P s a n d
t w e l v e L i b e r a l s , b u t t h r e e y e a r s l a t e r t h e T o r i e s l e d b y t h i r t e e n to
seven. In the spinning towns around M a n c h e s t e r the Liberals declined
f r o m e l e v e n s e a t s o u t o f t w e l v e t o s e v e n o u t o f fifteen. T h i s w a s n o t
j u s t a n artefact o f b o u n d a r y c h a n g e s , b u t a g e n u i n e e x p r e s s i o n o f
widespread working-class Tory support, w h i c h proved to h a v e d e e p
r o o t s . C l a s s conflict w a s s e l d o m a b s e n t , a n d b o t h p a r t i e s a d o p t e d
t h e l a n g u a g e o f c l a s s w h e n it s u i t e d t h e m , b u t c o t t o n L a n c a s h i r e ' s
electoral c o n f i g u r a t i o n c u t a c r o s s c l a s s b o u n d a r i e s . T h e m o s t i m p o r
t a n t political fault-lines w e r e n o t t h o s e o f c l a s s . W h a t , t h e n , were t h e
m a i n d e t e r m i n a n t s o f social a n d political u n i t y a n d d i v i s i o n i n t h e
post-Chartist cotton towns?
J o y c e finds t h e a n s w e r in t h e social a n d political i n f l u e n c e o f t h e
factory. H e identifies a ' n e w p a t e r n a l i s m ' a m o n g mill o w n e r s in t h e
1 8 4 0 s , as t h e y a c c e p t e d r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s t o t h e i r w o r k f o r c e s , t r i e d to
b u i l d b r i d g e s b e t w e e n capital a n d l a b o u r , a n d s w e e t e n e d t h e i r patriar
chal d i s c i p l i n e w i t h o u t i n g s a n d a m e n i t i e s . H e s e e s t h e w o r k p e o p l e
responding positively to these overtures a n d identifying t h e m s e l v e s
w i t h e m p l o y e r p o l i t i c s . T h e w o r k p l a c e b e c a m e t h e c o r e o f a satisfying
s y s t e m o f c o m m u n i t y l o y a l t i e s , w h i c h f o u n d e x p r e s s i o n in a f o r m
of deferential political b e h a v i o u r , b a s e d o n a m i x t u r e o f c o e r c i o n , cal
c u l a t i o n a n d i n t e r n a l i s e d c o n v i c t i o n . T h e 1 8 6 8 e l e c t i o n s a w mill c o m
m u n i t i e s l i n i n g u p t o v o t e o n t h e side o f t h e i r f a c t o r y p a t r i a r c h s , L i b e r a l
or T o r y , a n d t h e k e y social d i v i s i o n s w e r e b e t w e e n factories a n d fac
tory c o m m u n i t i e s , r a t h e r t h a n b e t w e e n c l a s s e s . T h e factory, w i t h its
a u t h o r i t y s y s t e m s a n d c h a i n o f c o m m a n d , b e c a m e t h e crucial i n s t r u
m e n t of social stability.
T h i s a r g u m e n t w o r k s b e s t for l a r g e factories w i t h satellite s e t t l e
m e n t s o f e m p l o y e r h o u s i n g . T h e e x t e n t o f new p a t e r n a l i s t initiatives
in this s e t t i n g in t h e 1 8 3 0 s a n d 1 8 4 0 s is difficult to p r o v e , a n d s u c h
arrangements r e m a i n e d exceptional. M u c h of J o y c e ' s evidence c o m e s
from B l a c k b u r n , w h e r e t h e s e ' i n d u s t r i a l c o l o n i e s ' w e r e uniquely
i m p o r t a n t , a n d t h e l e a d i n g T o r y mill o w n e r s , e s p e c i a l l y t h e s q u i r e -
archical H o r n b y s , w e r e c l o s e l y identified w i t h a b e e r y , s p o r t i n g p o p
ular c u l t u r e . A c o n c e n t r a t i o n o n O l d h a m , w i t h its s m a l l e r f a c t o r i e s ,

The north-west 397
shortage of employer h o u s i n g and 'industrial colonies', absentee

employers and early introduction of abrasively m a n a g e d limited com
p a n i e s , w o u l d r e q u i r e different e x p l a n a t i o n s for its e q u a l l y c o n v i n c i n g
(and equally flawed) post-Chartist stability. C a l h o u n argues that
s m a l l e r f a c t o r i e s w e r e m o r e l i k e l y t o g e n e r a t e a n d s u s t a i n a radical
political c o n s c i o u s n e s s : if s o , t h e t r a n s i t i o n t o o r d e r r e q u i r e s m o r e
explanation in an O l d h a m - t y p e e n v i r o n m e n t t h a n in Blackburn. More
o v e r , a full p a t e r n a l i s t p r o g r a m m e w a s c o s t l y , a n d t h e effective e x t e n t
of e m p l o y e r s ' c u l t u r a l i n f l u e n c e is d o u b t f u l : after w o r k t h e b e e r h o u s e
w a s preferred to the reading r o o m or institute, a n d an extensive range
of w o r k i n g - c l a s s s o c i a l i n s t i t u t i o n s l a y o u t s i d e e m p l o y e r s ' r e a c h , f r o m
trade u n i o n s to music hall. Excursions a n d treats w e r e occasional,
4 3
a n d limited in their positive i m p a c t . E v e n t h e v o t i n g figures h a v e
their limitations, as Joyce admits. Factory c o m m u n i t i e s voted with
e m p l o y e r s in t h e ratio o f 2 : 1 o r 3 : 1 , r a t h e r t h a n u n a n i m o u s l y . W e
c a n n o t b e s u r e w h a t t h e v o t e s m e a n t , a n d J o y c e ' s o c c u p a t i o n a l figures
are b i a s e d towards t h o s e h o u s e h o l d e r s with d e e p e s t local roots, those
w h o qualified for t h e v o t e i n 1 8 6 8 a n d w e r e still in situ at t h e 1 8 7 1
c e n s u s . T h e r e w a s c o n s i d e r a b l e m o b i l i t y b e t w e e n firms, e v e n a m o n g
spinners, a n d those w h o stayed o n in employer h o u s i n g were those
m o s t l i k e l y t o find t h e r e g i m e s y m p a t h e t i c . M a n y o f t h e h o u s e h o l d e r s
w e r e n o t e v e n mill w o r k e r s , o r w o r k e d at m i l l s s o m e d i s t a n c e a w a y .
44
J o y c e ' s v e r s i o n o f t h e mill a s t o t a l i n s t i t u t i o n is b e g u i l i n g , b u t f l a w e d .
T h e s e criticisms are partly matters of e m p h a s i s . Joyce does deal
w i t h t h e w o r l d b e y o n d t h e f a c t o r y g a t e , a n d w i t h c o n t i n u i n g efforts
b y e m p l o y e r s a n d o t h e r s t o u s e its i n s t i t u t i o n s to m o u l d a n d m a n i p u
late popular c o n s c i o u s n e s s . B u t h e r e e m p l o y e r s operated alongside
other, sometimes countervailing influences.
D e n o m i n a t i o n a l r e l i g i o u s o b s e r v a n c e h a d a l i m i t e d a n d socially
specific i m p a c t , as a n h e r o i c w a v e o f c h u r c h - a n d chapel-building
failed t o i n c r e a s e w o r k i n g - c l a s s a t t e n d a n c e s s i g n i f i c a n t l y b e t w e e n 1 8 5 1
a n d 1 8 8 2 . S p e c i f i c r e l i g i o u s a t t a c h m e n t s h e l p e d t o define political
allegiances, usually Liberal/nonconformist and Tory/Anglican, within
an already accepted system, rather than t h e m s e l v e s m a k i n g the sys
t e m a c c e p t a b l e . A m o r e diffuse a t t a c h m e n t t o b a s i c C h r i s t i a n t e a c h i n g s
43
Joyce, Work, Society and Politics; C. Calhoun, The Question of Class Struggle (Oxford,
1982), pp. 175-8, 198-202; H. I. Dutton and J. E. King, T h e Limits of Paternalism:
The Cotton Tyrants of North Lancashire, 1836-54', Social History, 7 (1982), pp. 59-74;
Poole, Popular Leisure.
44
M. A. Savage, 'Union and Workers in the Cotton Industry of Preston, c. 1890-95'
(unpublished MA dissertation, Lancaster University, 1981).

398 J . K. W A L T O N
u n d e r p i n n e d a secular morality of mutual assistance and g o o d neigh

b o u r l i n e s s in t h e c o t t o n t o w n s , b u t t h i s w a s r a t i o n a l , a n d m o r a l l y
4 5
v a l i d a t e d , o n its o w n t e r m s as w e l l . T h e political p a t h o l o g y o f p o p u
lar P r o t e s t a n t i s m , o r a n t i - C a t h o l i c i s m , w a s a different m a t t e r , a s w e
shall s e e .
Day schooling was more important than church-going. The Angli
c a n s t i g h t e n e d t h e i r grip o n e l e m e n t a r y e d u c a t i o n , s t e p p i n g u p s c h o o l
p r o v i s i o n after t h e 1 8 7 0 E d u c a t i o n A c t t o k e e p o u t S c h o o l B o a r d s
a n d o b v i a t e t h e n e e d for B o a r d s c h o o l s . F a c t o r y s c h o o l s d e c l i n e d in
importance. R o m a n Catholic provision w a s locally impressive, but
t h e n o n c o n f o r m i s t s f l a g g e d . A t t e n d a n c e s a n d b a s i c l i t e r a c y in L a n c a
s h i r e c a u g h t u p to t h e n a t i o n a l a v e r a g e in t h e 1 8 5 0 s a n d 1 8 6 0 s , as
t h e d a y s c h o o l s t o o k o v e r f r o m t h e S u n d a y s c h o o l s in t h i s r e s p e c t .
By 1901 L a n c a s h i r e ' s school provision h a d overtaken the national aver
age, with two-thirds o f t h e c h i l d r e n in v o l u n t a r y s c h o o l s , m o s t l y
Anglican. Lancashire was a unique stronghold of religious, and
especially Church of England, elementary education. This must have
affected p o p u l a r a t t i t u d e s , a n d A n g l i c a n s c h o o l s m a y h a v e n u r t u r e d
w o r k i n g - c l a s s T o r i e s , b u t t h e c a u s a l m e c h a n i s m s are t a n g l e d . M o s t
p a r e n t s w e r e indifferent to t h e p r e c i s e d e n o m i n a t i o n a l c o n t e n t o f t h e i r
c h i l d r e n ' s e d u c a t i o n : m o s t s c h o o l s s e r v e d n e i g h b o u r h o o d s first, d e n o
m i n a t i o n s s e c o n d . C l e r i c s a n d e m p l o y e r s b e l i e v e d s c h o o l s to b e v a l u
able instruments of conformity and social discipline, but their
e f f e c t i v e n e s s w a s c o n d i t i o n a l o n , a n d l i m i t e d b y , t h e n e e d to w o r k
with the grain of working-class attitudes. Neither religion nor edu
c a t i o n w e r e n e c e s s a r i l y , or e v e n u s u a l l y , e m p l o y e r - d o m i n a t e d , and
their a u t o n o m o u s influence should not b e exaggerated.
N o r w a s s c h o o l i n g i m p o r t a n t to t h e u p w a r d s o c i a l m o b i l i t y w h i c h
m a y h a v e a c t e d as a s a f e t y - v a l v e for t h e f r u s t r a t i o n s a n d a s p i r a t i o n s
of t h e a b l e s t o f t h e w o r k f o r c e . E l e m e n t a r y s c h o o l s p r o v i d e d b a s i c liter
acy a n d n u m e r a c y : parents, m a n a g e r s a n d ratepayers l o o k e d a s k a n c e
at a n y t h i n g m o r e e l a b o r a t e . B e y o n d t h i s , e d u c a t i o n w a s e x p e n s i v e
and remained the preserve of t r a d e s m e n ' s and overlookers' children.
F o r m o s t w o r k i n g - c l a s s c h i l d r e n , w h a t c o u n t e d w a s t h e ability t o e n t e r
t h e f a c t o r y at t h e earliest o p p o r t u n i t y . T r o d d finds s o m e late V i c t o r i a n
m o b i l i t y i n t o t h e g r o w i n g t e a c h i n g a n d w h i t e - c o l l a r s e c t o r s in B l a c k -
45
A. Ainsworth, 'Religion in the Working-Class Community and the Evolution of
Socialism in Late Nineteenth-Century Lancashire: A Case of Working-Class Con
sciousness', Histoire Sociale, 20 (1977), pp. 354-80.

The north-west 399
b u r n a n d B u r n l e y , b u t e v e n w h e r e l o c a l a u t h o r i t i e s t o o k t h e initiative
4 6
after 1 9 0 2 , t h e t a k e - u p r a t e for s e c o n d a r y e d u c a t i o n r e m a i n e d l o w .
Declining M e c h a n i c s ' Institutes and narrowly vocational evening
c l a s s e s w e r e o f little a c c o u n t .
Thrift, g o o d f o r t u n e a n d e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l g r a s p w e r e m o r e i m p o r t a n t
s t i m u l a n t s t o s o c i a l m o b i l i t y . W o r k p l a c e p r o m o t i o n offered o p p o r t u n i
t i e s t o a m i n o r i t y , a l t h o u g h it is h a r d t o s h o w t h a t t h e y expanded
after m i d - c e n t u r y . S m a l l p r o d u c t i o n u n i t s a n d c h e a p second-hand
m a c h i n e r y k e p t t h e t r a n s i t i o n t o Tittle m a s t e r ' w i t h i n r e a c h , e s p e c i a l l y
in the late-developing w e a v i n g t o w n s of B u r n l e y a n d N e l s o n ; but
i n c r e a s i n g c a p i t a l r e q u i r e m e n t s m a d e it i n c r e a s i n g l y difficult i n t h e
o l d e r c e n t r e s , e s p e c i a l l y in s p i n n i n g . T h e o p t i m i s t i c f i n d i n g s o f C h a p
m a n and Marquis in 1912 o n the recruitment of cotton masters and
m a n a g e r s from the workforce are vitiated b y methodological flaws.
M o s t successful speculators in the Edwardian b o o m w e r e t r a d e s m e n
47
a n d s m a l l b u s i n e s s m e n in o t h e r fields, r a t h e r t h a n c o t t o n o p e r a t i v e s .
B e l i e f i n u p w a r d m o b i l i t y t h r o u g h h a r d w o r k a n d thrift w a s p e r v a s i v e ,
a n d s t a b i l i s i n g i n itself; b u t its a c t u a l e x t e n t w a s l i m i t e d a n d p r o b a b l y
declining.
M a n y m o r e operatives acquired a stake in the s y s t e m b y supplying
share or loan capital to c o m p a n i e s , especially the O l d h a m Timiteds'
from the 1870s. This was usually a speculative, income-maximising
response to perceived opportunities, reinforcing a prevalent ethos of
individualistic o p p o r t u n i s m . It w o r k e d a l o n g s i d e c o r p o r a t e i n s t i t u
t i o n s o f s e l f - h e l p like t h e b u i l d i n g s o c i e t i e s a n d t h e ' n e w m o d e l ' C o - o p ,
m a k i n g e x i s t i n g c o n d i t i o n s m o r e c o m f o r t a b l e for t h o s e w h o a l r e a d y
h a d a small surplus. T h e positive ideological implications were limited.
T h e p r e v a l e n c e o f i n s t r u m e n t a l r e s p o n s e s to c u l t u r a l i n i t i a t i v e s a n d
e c o n o m i c o p p o r t u n i t i e s w a s g e n e r a l . It a p p l i e s t o l e i s u r e : w i t n e s s t h e
t r a n s f o r m a t i o n o f football f r o m p u b l i c s c h o o l - s p o n s o r e d ' r a t i o n a l r e
creation' to professional spectator sport, a n d the introduction of b e e r
a n d self-government to w o r k i n g m e n ' s clubs in the 1870s a n d 1880s.
T h i s ability t o s e i z e u p o n t h e u s e f u l , r e l e v a n t o r e n j o y a b l e a s p e c t s
of a n e w i n s t i t u t i o n w h i l e i g n o r i n g o r r e j e c t i n g its i d e o l o g i c a l p a c k a g
i n g w a s a l s o i m p o r t a n t t o t h e C o - o p ' s s u c c e s s , a s it e v e n t u a l l y s h e d
46
Trodd, 'Political Change'.
47
Farnie, Cotton Industry, pp. 293-4; and see the entertaining comments by B. Bowker,
Lancashire under the Hammer (1928), pp. 16-18.

400 J . K. W A L T O N
m o s t o f its O w e n i t e i n s p i r a t i o n t o b e c o m e a c o m b i n a t i o n o f s h o p ,
joint-stock company and savings bank.
By mid-century working-class culture w a s autonomously adapting
to c o t t o n t o w n c o n d i t i o n s , a n d t h i s p r o c e s s c o n t i n u e d , w i t h the
e n t r e n c h m e n t of a distinctive ethos b a s e d o n c u s t o m , mutual assis
t a n c e , n e i g h b o u r l i n e s s a n d thrift. F a m i l i e s a n d s u p p o r t i v e n e i g h b o u r
h o o d g r o u p s g r e w s t r o n g e r as u r b a n p o p u l a t i o n s b e c a m e s t a b l e a n d
deep-rooted, recruiting b y natural increase rather than migration.
C o n s c i o u s n e s s o f t h e v a l u e a n d d i g n i t y o f l a b o u r w a s e x p r e s s e d as
p r i d e in h a r d w o r k , w h i c h w a s s e e n as t h e n a t u r a l c o n d i t i o n o f t h e
factory w o r k f o r c e . T h e s e a t t i t u d e s c o e x i s t e d w i t h i n s i s t e n c e o n 'fair'
w a g e s a n d c o n d i t i o n s , as w o r k e r s a n d u n i o n s l e a r n e d ' t h e r u l e s o f
t h e g a m e ' ; b u t t h e o v e r a l l social a n d e c o n o m i c s y s t e m w a s s e e n as
i n e v i t a b l e . A c q u i e s c e n c e w a s p r e d i c a t e d o n t o l e r a b l e living s t a n d a r d s
as i n t e r p r e t e d b y a n u n d e m a n d i n g w o r k f o r c e , a n d o n p e r c e i v e d r e a
s o n a b l e b e h a v i o u r b y e m p l o y e r s a n d t h e s t a t e ; b u t it b e c a m e t h e d o m i
nant mode of consciousness.
A s w e l l as b e i n g c u l t u r a l l y a d a p t i v e , t h e c o t t o n district w o r k i n g
class w a s structurally divided. T h e r e w e r e t w o m a j o r fault-lines:
b e t w e e n 'labour aristocrats' and others (with varying implications in
different i n d u s t r i e s ) , a n d b e t w e e n m i l i t a n t P r o t e s t a n t s a n d C a t h o l i c
Irish. T h e s e divisions n e e d further discussion.
T h e ' l a b o u r a r i s t o c r a c y ' is c e n t r a l t o F o s t e r ' s e x p l a n a t i o n o f t h e
'restabilisation' of cotton Lancashire. H e sees a redefinition of work
p l a c e r e l a t i o n s h i p s in t h e k e y i n d u s t r i e s d u r i n g t h e 1 8 4 0 s , as r e l a t i v e l y
a u t o n o m o u s craftsmen gave w a y to supervisory piecemasters a n d
p a c e m a k e r s , ' b o s s e s ' m e n ' , w h o p a r t i c i p a t e d in t h e e x p l o i t a t i o n o f
their subordinates. This grouping b e c a m e culturally distinctive,
a c c e p t i n g e m p l o y e r political e c o n o m y , s e e k i n g ' s e l f - i m p r o v e m e n t ' in
individualistic w a y s , a n d a c c e p t i n g a p r i v i l e g e d s h a r e o f t h e s u p e r
profits a r i s i n g f r o m t h e e x p l o i t a t i o n o f o v e r s e a s m a r k e t s . T h u s t h e
e m p l o y e r s b u t t r e s s e d t h e i r political c o n t r o l b y p u r c h a s i n g t h e l o y a l t y
of a w o r k i n g - c l a s s elite a n d its d e p e n d a n t s . T h i s a r g u m e n t is c o m p a t
ible w i t h s o m e o f J o y c e ' s i d e a s a b o u t e m p l o y e r p a t e r n a l i s m ; a n d t h e r e
w a s i n d e e d a shift a w a y f r o m craft skills t o w a r d s s u p e r v i s i o n and
s u b - c o n t r a c t i n g . B u t it w a s n e i t h e r as s u d d e n n o r as a l l - e m b r a c i n g
as F o s t e r s u g g e s t s .
T h e a l l - r o u n d craft skills o f t h e m i l l w r i g h t w e r e c o m i n g u n d e r p r e s
s u r e in e n g i n e e r i n g in t h e 1 8 3 0 s a n d 1 8 4 0 s , a n d in 1 8 5 2 t h e n e w l y
f o r m e d A S E lost a t o u g h s t r u g g l e a g a i n s t u n t r a m m e l l e d p i e c e w o r k ,

The north-west 401
s y s t e m a t i c o v e r t i m e a n d 'illegal m e n ' . B u t ' o n e - o f f ' j o b s a n d c o m p l i

c a t e d i n v e n t o r i e s k e p t skills at a p r e m i u m , a n d t h e s u b - c o n t r a c t i n g
of p i e c e w o r k r e m a i n e d u n u s u a l , a l t h o u g h m o r e p r e v a l e n t in s o u t h
e a s t L a n c a s h i r e textile e n g i n e e r i n g t h a n e l s e w h e r e . E n g i n e e r i n g w a s
certainly not transformed. In cotton spinning, sub-contracting was
long-established, the transition from h a n d - m u l e to self-actor w a s pro
tracted and piecemeal, and mule spinning had always b e e n more a
supervisory occupation than a craft. Technological change here
involved a threat to old m e t h o d s of working a n d the replacement
o f o n e elite b y a n o t h e r ; b u t t h e o r g a n i s a t i o n o f t h e w o r k p l a c e c h a n g e d
s u r p r i s i n g l y little. I n m i n i n g , t o o , t h e c h a n g e s w e r e n e i t h e r s u d d e n
n o r c l e a r - c u t , a n d d o n o t fit F o s t e r ' s c h r o n o l o g y . T h e r e w a s n o a b r u p t
mid-century w a t e r s h e d . N o r can the cultural divisions within the
w o r k i n g c l a s s b e s y s t e m a t i c a l l y l i n k e d w i t h o c c u p a t i o n a l s t a t u s , as
Bristow's evidence o n Preston illustrates. D e c e n t housing, abstemious
life s t y l e s a n d ' r e s p e c t a b l e ' b e h a v i o u r w e r e n o t t h e s o l e p r e r o g a t i v e
of t h e s k i l l e d a n d s u p e r v i s o r y . T h e d i v i s i o n s w i t h i n t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s ,
t h o u g h r e a l e n o u g h , i n v o l v e d c o m p l e x c r o s s - c u r r e n t s o f life s t y l e a n d
o u t l o o k . H e r e a g a i n , s t a t u s at t h e w o r k p l a c e w a s o n l y p a r t o f t h e
48
story.
O c c u p a t i o n a l stratification r e m a i n e d i m p o r t a n t , of course, even
t h o u g h its n a t u r e w a s n o t c h a n g e d d r a m a t i c a l l y at m i d - c e n t u r y . I n
s p i n n i n g t h e self-actor m i n d e r s t o o k t h e l i o n ' s s h a r e o f t h e r e w a r d s
for i n c r e a s e d p r o d u c t i v i t y , a l t h o u g h t h e i r a s s i s t a n t s b o r e t h e b r u n t
of t h e e x t r a p r e s s u r e f r o m faster m a c h i n e r y a n d a d d i t i o n a l s p i n d l e s .
Dilution was resisted because the system suited the employers, the
spinners w e r e strongly organised to resist initiatives, the piecers
h o p e d for p r o m o t i o n o r left t h e i n d u s t r y , a n d t h e w o m e n w h o m i g h t
h a v e b e e n deployed w e r e relatives or neighbours of the spinners.
T h e survival of the minder/piecer s y s t e m b e c a m e unique to Lanca
shire, expressing the strength of patriarchal attitudes and a general
social c o n s e r v a t i s m . I n t h e o t h e r b r a n c h e s o f c o t t o n , s u p e r v i s o r y w o r k
w a s a male preserve, and in weaving the most productive assignments
w e r e r e s e r v e d for m e n . A s s u m p t i o n s a b o u t d o m e s t i c a u t h o r i t y w e r e
carried over to the workplace a n d reinforced there. T h e cotton working
c l a s s w a s n o t m e r e l y f r a g m e n t e d : it w a s h i e r a r c h i c a l l y o r g a n i s e d , w i t h
48
B. Bristow, 'An Artisan Elite Residential District in Preston, 1851', Manchester Geogra
pher, N.S., 3 (1982), pp. 5-17; Foster, Class Struggle, pp. 224-38; and see also Trodd,
'Political Change', pp. 259-64.

402 J . K. W A L T O N
o v e r t conflict b e t w e e n t h e l e v e l s o f t h e h i e r a r c h y k e p t to a m i n i m u m .
T h i s w a s a p o w e r f u l i n f l u e n c e for stability.
T h e cotton u n i o n s reinforced this pattern. T h e y e x p a n d e d rapidly
in m i d - V i c t o r i a n t i m e s as f e d e r a t i o n s o f r a t h e r i n s u l a r local o r g a n i s
ations, celebrating and codifying their hard-won collective bargaining
r i g h t s t h r o u g h c o m p l e x p i e c e w o r k w a g e lists n e g o t i a t e d b y h i g h l y
t r a i n e d officials w h o a i m e d at a c c o m m o d a t i o n a n d a r b i t r a t i o n . T h e
s p i n n e r s ' u n i o n w a s particularly 'aristocratic', d e m a n d i n g uniquely
high dues and paying 'luxurious' benefits. B y 1 8 9 1 , 90 per cent of
n o r t h - w e s t e r n s p i n n e r s w e r e in t h e u n i o n , a n d t h e p i e c e r s w e r e h e l d
in t u t e l a g e , s o m e t i m e s u n e a s i l y , b y a k i n d o f a s s o c i a t e m e m b e r s h i p
after t h e y t h r e a t e n e d t o o r g a n i s e s e p a r a t e l y in t h e 1 8 8 0 s . T h e l e s s
p o w e r f u l c a r d r o o m w o r k e r s ' (after 1 8 8 6 ) a n d w e a v e r s ' u n i o n s w e r e
also d o m i n a t e d b y 'aristocratic' e l e m e n t s within their o w n ranks. M o s t
of t h e i r m e m b e r s w e r e w o m e n , a n d t h e y a c c o u n t e d for m o r e t h a n
five-sixths o f all B r i t i s h f e m a l e t r a d e u n i o n i s t s in 1 8 9 6 ; b u t t h e f e m a l e
m e m b e r s h a d little s a y in t h e i r u n i o n s ' c o u n s e l s .
T h e s e o r g a n i s a t i o n s r e m a i n e d o n t h e fringe o f m a i n s t r e a m l a b o u r
politics, o f t e n t a k i n g i n d e p e n d e n t initiatives for p a r l i a m e n t a r y r e d r e s s
of specific g r i e v a n c e s . T h e y u s u a l l y a c q u i e s c e d in e m p l o y e r initiatives
to r a i s e p r o d u c t i v i t y b y s p e e d i n g u p m a c h i n e r y a n d p u s h i n g u p w o r k
loads, the results of which safeguarded the position and earnings
of s e n i o r m e m b e r s o f t h e w o r k f o r c e . T h e w e a v e r s ' u n i o n s d i d c a m
paign against the competitive 'driving' of weavers by aggressive over
lookers, and the 'steaming' of weaving sheds through unhealthy
artificial i n c r e a s e s in h u m i d i t y . B u t t h e c o t t o n u n i o n s w e r e r u n b y
sectional interests w h o feared foreign competition and were anxious
to p e r p e t u a t e t h e e x i s t i n g o r g a n i s a t i o n o f p r o d u c t i o n .
E v e n s o , l a b o u r d i s p u t e s o n specific i s s u e s w e r e e n d e m i c . O c c a s i o n
ally t h e y flared i n t o l o n g i n d u s t r y - w i d e c o n f r o n t a t i o n s in s p i n n i n g
or w e a v i n g , as in 1 8 5 3 - 4 , 1 8 7 8 a n d 1 8 9 2 - 3 . T h e s e w e r e u s u a l l y f o u g h t
on the d o w n s w i n g of the trade cycle, against w a g e cuts which w e r e
h e l d t o g o b e y o n d t h e i n d u s t r y ' s real n e e d s . V i o l e n c e s o m e t i m e s
e r u p t e d , as at B l a c k b u r n a n d B u r n l e y in 1 8 7 8 , w h e n e m p l o y e r s ' h o u s e s
were attacked and burned, and Hornby himself was pelted. These
events, admittedly aberrant, must b e considered alongside Joyce's
view of Blackburn's industrial paternalism. But labour leaders
r e t r e a t e d f r o m t h e r h e t o r i c o f c l a s s conflict, w i t h C h a r t i s t o v e r t o n e s ,
w h i c h m a r k e d t h e b i t t e r P r e s t o n d i s p u t e o f 1 8 5 3 - 4 . M o s t conflicts
w e r e b r i e f a n d f o c u s s e d o n specific local i s s u e s ; a n d a t t e m p t s t o codify

The north-west 403
industrial relations culminated in cotton L a n c a s h i r e ' s talisman of order

4 9
and control, the spinning industry's Brooklands A g r e e m e n t of 1 8 9 3 .
The cotton unions' change of posture, which was reciprocated by
t h e m a s t e r s , w a s g r a d u a l a n d p i e c e m e a l b u t c u m u l a t i v e a n d stabilis
ing. Similar processes operated in mining and engineering, and the
Tory and Liberal parties penetrated so deeply into the u n i o n s ' rank
a n d file a s to i n h i b i t a s e p a r a t e l a b o u r p o l i t i c s . M i d - a n d late V i c t o r i a n
t r a d e u n i o n s e x p r e s s e d t h e o c c u p a t i o n a l , g e o g r a p h i c a l a n d political
divisions within the cotton Lancashire working class more than they
obscured them.
Ethnic divisions also b e c a m e important in mid-Victorian times, as
Irish immigration increased in the 1840s with the advent of poverty-
stricken refugees from the famine, w h o proved particularly h a r d to
a s s i m i l a t e . T h e Irish w e r e r e s i d e n t i a l l y c o n c e n t r a t e d , c u l t u r a l l y dis
tinctive, a n d p o s e d an apparent threat to w a g e s a n d jobs. In Stockport
and S t a l y b r i d g e , at l e a s t , t h e y i n v a d e d the factory workforce in
s t r e n g t h d u r i n g t h e 1 8 5 0 s , a n d t h e r e w a s a definite e c o n o m i c d i m e n
s i o n t o t h e anti-Irish riots w h i c h b e c a m e e n d e m i c after t h e i n f a m o u s
5 0
Stockport disturbances of 1 8 5 2 . But there w a s also an anti-Catholic
dimension, fuelled b y militant Protestant a n d O r a n g e organisations
a n d b y T o r y d e f e n d e r s o f t h e C h u r c h o f E n g l a n d . It w a s l a t e r s t o k e d
u p b y the itinerant orator M u r p h y , w h o identified Catholicism with
a n o v e r t l y s e x u a l t h r e a t to d o m e s t i c p a t r i a r c h y , a n d b y c o n t r o v e r s i e s
a b o u t F e n i a n i s m a n d I r i s h d i s e s t a b l i s h m e n t , w h i c h p a r t i c u l a r l y affec
t e d t h e 1 8 6 8 e l e c t i o n . S u b s e q u e n t l y t h e Irish i s s u e f a d e d i n t h e c o t t o n
district, b u t it a d d e d a n e x t r a d i m e n s i o n o f d i v i s i o n t o t h e w o r k i n g -
c l a s s e x p e r i e n c e at a c r u c i a l p e r i o d . It w a s p a r t l y s p o n t a n e o u s i n o r i g i n ,
a n d p a r t l y f o m e n t e d f r o m a b o v e ; a n d its r o o t s w e r e u l t i m a t e l y e c o n
o m i c , n a t i o n a l i s t i c a n d c o n s t i t u t i o n a l r a t h e r t h a n r e l i g i o u s . It w a s p r o b
ably a c o n s e q u e n c e rather than a cause of the Chartist collapse, but
it e n c o u r a g e d t h e m o r e j i n g o i s t i c a s p e c t s o f ' T o r y d e m o c r a c y ' . It w a s
at l e a s t a significant s y m p t o m o f c h a n g e s w i t h i n t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s ,
e v e n if w e p l a y d o w n its c a u s a l i n f l u e n c e .
T h e late n i n e t e e n t h century s a w the revival of working-class m o v e
m e n t s w i t h b r o a d e r s o c i a l a n d political a i m s . T h e i r c h a l l e n g e w a s a i d e d
b y c h a n g e s i n t h e e s t a b l i s h e d o r d e r . T h e d y n a s t i c f a m i l y firms o f t h e
49
See esp. H. I. Dutton and J. E . King, Ten Per Cent and No Surrender (Cambridge,
1981), chap. 3; Trodd, 'Political Change', pp. 288-90.
50
N. Kirk, 'Ethnicity and Popular Toryism, 1850-70', in K. Lunn, ed., Hosts, Immigrants
and Minorities (Folkestone, 1980), pp. 64-106.

404 J . K. W A L T O N
older cotton centres w e r e giving w a y to limited c o m p a n i e s w h o s e

v i s i b l e g r e e d for profit m a x i m i s a t i o n r e m o v e d t h e c l o a k o f p a t r i a r c h a l
authority a n d gentlemanly mystique from industrial relations. T h e
flight o f e m p l o y e r elites t o s e a s i d e , L a k e District or r e m o t e r c o u n t r y
s e a t s a c c e l e r a t e d . I n m u n i c i p a l g o v e r n m e n t t h e mill o w n e r s g a v e w a y
to t r a d e s m e n a n d p r o f e s s i o n a l s w h o l a c k e d t h e i r p r e c u r s o r s ' wider
influence and prestige. A n abrasive ' N e w T o r y i s m ' attacked trade
unions, repudiated paternalist obligations and asserted the neglected
c l a i m s o f e m p l o y e r s to c o n t r o l r e c r u i t m e n t a n d w o r k p r o c e s s e s . P r e s
sures to boost productivity b y speeding-up a n d 'driving' increased,
a n d w o r k i n g c o n d i t i o n s w o r s e n e d . R e a l w a g e s s u f f e r e d a s e t b a c k in
the Edwardian cotton b o o m , while successful speculators flaunted
t h e i r w e a l t h . D e s t a b i l i s i n g t e c h n o l o g i c a l i n n o v a t i o n w a s in t h e air.
T h e s e p r o c e s s e s w e r e patchy in their impact: in Blackburn a n d M a c
clesfield, for e x a m p l e , o l d - s t y l e e m p l o y e r s r e m a i n e d s o c i a l l y a n d poli
tically p o w e r f u l , t h o u g h n o t u n c h a l l e n g e d or i n v u l n e r a b l e . B u t t h e
t r e n d s a r e c l e a r : t h e v e r t i c a l ties b e t w e e n c a p i t a l a n d l a b o u r w e r e
weakening, and the barriers b e t w e e n trade-union concerns and wider
5 1
w o r k i n g - c l a s s political activity w e r e b e g i n n i n g to c r u m b l e .
Trade unions e x p a n d e d rapidly from the 1880s. B y 1911 the weavers
h a d achieved almost 100 per cent m e m b e r s h i p in s o m e t o w n s . T h e
e m p l o y e r s d e f e a t e d a n a t t e m p t to i m p o s e t h e c l o s e d s h o p , b u t t h e
g r o w t h in c o n f i d e n c e a n d a s p i r a t i o n s is r e m a r k a b l e . T h e m i n e r s a n d
c a r d r o o m w o r k e r s r e c r u i t e d w e l l , as did s e v e r a l n e w u n i o n s a m o n g
t h e u n s k i l l e d . T e x t i l e L a n c a s h i r e p l a y e d a lively p a r t in t h e l a b o u r
u n r e s t after 1 9 1 0 , as rank-and-file p r e s s u r e m a d e t h e c o t t o n u n i o n s
less conciliatory. T h e spinners remained determinedly 'aristocratic',
b u t t h e w e a v e r s b e g a n to a d m i t w o m e n to r e s p o n s i b l e p o s i t i o n s , w h i l e
t h e o v e r l o o k e r s b e g a n to ally w i t h t h e o t h e r w e a v i n g t r a d e s a g a i n s t
the masters. T h e divisions b e t w e e n and within trades were gradually
5 2
being eroded.
S o c i a l i s m w a s g a i n i n g c o n v e r t s , e s p e c i a l l y in t h e n e w e r w e a v i n g
centres. T h e ILP b e c a m e well established during the 1890s, especially
in Nelson, while B u r n l e y b e c a m e an S D F stronghold. Several trades
c o u n c i l s c a m e u n d e r socialist i n f l u e n c e , a n d i m p o r t a n t u n i o n s , i n c l u d
i n g t h e m i n e r s a n d w e a v e r s , a d o p t e d s o m e socialist p o l i c i e s i n t e r m i t
t e n t l y . S o c i a l i s m w a s a m i n o r i t y c r e e d r a c k e d b y i n t e r n e c i n e strife,
51
Joyce, Work, Society and Politics, pp. 331-42.
52
White, Trade Union Militancy; Trodd, 'Political Change', chaps. 5 - 6 .

The north-west 405
b u t its i n f l u e n c e b e c a m e p e r v a s i v e e n o u g h to w o r r y e s t a b l i s h e d a u t h
ority o f all k i n d s .
T h e e m e r g e n t L a b o u r party h a d a m u c h wider appeal. T h e legal
onslaught on trade unions around 1900 p u s h e d e v e n the cotton unions
i n t o s u p p o r t for t h e L a b o u r R e p r e s e n t a t i o n C o m m i t t e e , e s p e c i a l l y
after a B l a c k b u r n e m p l o y e r g a v e L a n c a s h i r e its o w n Taff V a l e c a s e
in 1 9 0 1 . L a b o u r e x p e r i e n c e d s e v e r a l E d w a r d i a n n e a r - m i s s e s in t h e
c o t t o n district a s w e l l a s a s p r i n k l i n g o f s u c c e s s e s , a n d L a n c a s h i r e
politics w e r e a c q u i r i n g a n e x p l i c i t c l a s s d i m e n s i o n .
I n 1 9 0 6 t h e L i b e r a l s , i n a l l i a n c e w i t h L a b o u r , e n d e d n e a r l y forty
y e a r s o f T o r y d o m i n a t i o n i n L a n c a s h i r e , a n d C l a r k e s e e s t h e m as t h e
l a s t i n g b e n e f i c i a r i e s o f t h e t r a n s i t i o n to c l a s s p o l i t i c s , h a d t h e w a r
not intervened. But his a r g u m e n t requires an identification b e t w e e n
trade unionists, working-class voters and the ' N e w Liberalism' which
is h a r d t o s q u a r e w i t h o t h e r a s p e c t s o f w o r k i n g - c l a s s a t t i t u d e s . L a b o u r
d i s p u t e s , s q u a b b l e s o v e r s e a t a l l o c a t i o n s a n d socialist i n i t i a t i v e s p u t
t h e a l l i a n c e u n d e r p e r p e t u a l strain, a n d i n 1 9 1 3 t h e t h r e e l a r g e s t c o t t o n
u n i o n s v o t e d c l e a r l y for t h e u s e o f t r a d e - u n i o n f u n d s for political p u r
p o s e s . T h i s a m o u n t e d to r a n k - a n d - f i l e e n d o r s e m e n t o f t h e L a b o u r
53
party. M o r e o v e r , L a b o u r a n d Socialist candidates in local govern
m e n t r e g u l a r l y f o u g h t a g a i n s t L i b e r a l s as w e l l a s T o r i e s , a n d t h e l a b o u r
m o v e m e n t c a p t u r e d N e l s o n t o w n c o u n c i l in 1 9 0 6 , a l t h o u g h in m o s t
p l a c e s it h e l d a fluctuating handful of seats. But the 'progressive
a l l i a n c e ' w a s little i n e v i d e n c e i n l o c a l g o v e r n m e n t , w h e r e L a b o u r
was making an independent impact. Lancashire's Liberals m a y well
h a v e held a caretaker role, until further franchise extensions and
i n c r e a s e d r e s o u r c e s a l l o w e d L a b o u r t o r e a p its full r e w a r d . T h e p o p u
lar politics o f p a t e r n a l i s m , e t h n i c i t y , p u b a n d c h a p e l w e r e i n d e c l i n e ,
a n d their m o s t threatening challenger w a s the labour m o v e m e n t , in
s p i t e o f its i n t e r n a l d i v i s i o n s , c a u t i o u s l e a d e r s a n d l i m i t e d e x p e c
tations.
L a b o u r ' s s t r e n g t h l a y i n its d e f e n c e o f t r a d e - u n i o n i n t e r e s t s . S o c i a l
ism, as such, r e m a i n e d a fringe c r e e d in m o s t places, innovatory a n d
t h r e a t e n i n g . B o t h t h e S D F a n d t h e I L P o r g a n i s e d like r e v i v a l i s t s e c t s
P. F. Clarke, Lancashire and the New Liberalism (Cambridge, 1971), chaps. 1, 12, 15;
J. White, 'A Panegyric on Edwardian Progressivism', Journal of British Studies, 16
(1976-7), pp. 143-52; A. Fowler, 'Lancashire and the New Liberalism: A Review',
North-West Labour History Society Bulletin, 4 (1977).

406 J. K. W A L T O N
rather than political parties, and like the chapels their viability
depended on sociable events which absorbed members' energy and
commitment, so that means became more important than ends. The
ILP, especially, bore the stigmata of earnest, self-improving noncon
formity, and the socialists themselves became imprisoned in the insti
54
tutions of the old cultural politics. The working-class women's
suffrage movement was similarly held back by existing social arrange
ments, as the 'double shift' made it impossible to convert the tens
of thousands of suffrage petitioners into activists, despite the enthusi
asm of supporters and the sympathy of the weavers' unions.
Outside the cotton district, post-Chartist stability is easier to explain;
indeed, Chartism itself had been weak. Disturbances in Liverpool
in 1848 owed more to Irish hostility to the Act of Union than to Char
tism, and elsewhere the 1840s saw little threat to the established
55
order. The new political initiatives of the 1890s and after also made
less of an impact outside the cotton towns.
Liverpool was a special case. Its Irish population, including many
Ulster Protestants, generated formidable ethnic and sectarian conflict,
which persisted strongly into the twentieth century. The Tories made
use of Liverpool's unique brand of virulent low church Protestantism,
although even they sometimes drew back in distaste and dismay from
the excesses of demagogues like George Wise. Processions provoked
extensive street fighting on the great Ulster anniversaries. This was
nationalistic hostility tinged with economic rivalry and clothed in
religious garb, though church attendances were unimpressive. The
Catholics espoused Irish nationalism, expressed in T. P. O'Connor's
long career as MP for Liverpool Scotland. These intractable divisions
sufficed to ensure that Liverpool remained infertile soil for class-based
socialist or labour politics. The defensive solidarity of working-class
communities expressed itself through ethnicity rather than through
overt class conflict.
These circumstances did not prevent the New Unionism of dockers
and transport workers from becoming established on Liverpool's
waterfront; but they reduced its wider impact. Deteriorating industrial
relations and working conditions, arising from larger firms, limited
54
K. Hunt, 'Women and the Social Democratic Federation: Some Notes on Lanca
shire', North-West Labour History Society Bulletin, 7 (1980-1), pp. 6 0 - 2 .
55
J. Belchem, 'English Working-Class Radicalism and the Irish 1815-50', North-West
Labour History Society Bulletin, 8 (1982-3), pp. 9 - 1 6 .

The north-west 407
companies and abrasive m a n a g e m e n t , led to the seamen's and

d o c k e r s ' u n i o n s a n d strikes in 1889 a n d 1890. T h e rhetoric of class
conflict w a s e x p l o s i v e l y d e p l o y e d i n t h e h e a t o f t h e s t r u g g l e , b u t t h e
main aims involved defensive control over 'hiring procedure and work
p r a c t i c e s ' , a n d t h e r e w a s little m u t u a l a s s i s t a n c e b e t w e e n trades.
T h e s e a n d other n e w unions did not disappear, however, a n d dockers
a n d s e a m e n w e r e again p r o m i n e n t in t h e great transport strike of
1 9 1 1 , w h i c h t e m p o r a r i l y t r a n s c e n d e d s e c t a r i a n a n d o c c u p a t i o n a l divi
s i o n s w i t h i n L i v e r p o o l ' s w o r k f o r c e . B u t d e s p i t e t h e efforts o f a n e a g e r
group of syndicalists, the strike's objectives remained limited and
m u n d a n e . I n its a f t e r m a t h s e v e n l a b o u r c a n d i d a t e s w e r e e l e c t e d t o
t h e c i t y c o u n c i l , a n d i n i t i a t i v e s w e r e d e v e l o p e d o n t h e d o c k s for j o i n t
negotiating procedures and the amelioration of casual labour. But the
solidarity of 1911 p r o v e d short-lived, a n d Liverpool politics s o o n
reverted to type. T h e u n i o n s ' challenge to the established order h a d
5 6
been evanescent.
E l s e w h e r e , o r g a n i s e d l a b o u r a s a political f o r c e d i d b e s t i n a r e a s
of mining a n d h e a v y industry from the 1890s. T h e miners took over
s e v e r a l s o u t h L a n c a s h i r e coalfield c o n s t i t u e n c i e s , a n d l a b o u r r e p r e s e n
t a t i v e s m a d e r a p i d m u n i c i p a l i n r o a d s at S t H e l e n s . B a r r o w l i k e w i s e
saw the development of a strong trades council and labour electoral
influence. In Lancaster and around Northwich, however, authori
tarian paternalist employers in the major industries s q u e e z e d out the
incipient labour m o v e m e n t , and the small businesses and seasonal
e c o n o m i e s o f t h e s e a s i d e r e s o r t s o f f e r e d little e n c o u r a g e m e n t t o o r g a n
i s e d l a b o u r . B u t i n 1 9 1 2 - 1 3 m i l i t a n t t r a d e u n i o n i s m r e a c h e d t h e agri
cultural labourers of the O r m s k i r k area, the part of Lancashire w h e r e
capitalist farming w a s m o s t a d v a n c e d . A hard-fought strike in 1 9 1 3 ,
with help from Liverpool syndicalists and the National Union of
Railwaymen, achieved shorter hours while revealing the anger and
bitterness which w e r e usually h i d d e n b e l o w the calm deferential sur
5 7
face o f ' c l o s e ' a g r i c u l t u r a l v i l l a g e s l i k e S p e k e .
T h e Edwardian advances were usually m a d e by labour representa
tives rather t h a n socialists; a n d t h e Tories r e m a i n e d a force to b e
r e c k o n e d w i t h t h r o u g h o u t t h e n o r t h - w e s t , d e s p i t e t h e i r tariff r e f o r m
election disaster in 1 9 0 6 . D e s p i t e c h a n g i n g social a n d economic
56
P. J . Waller, Democracy and Sectarianism: A Political and Social History of Liverpool,
1868-1939 (Liverpool, 1981), pp. 97-106, 230-48; H. Hikins, ed., Building the Union
(Liverpool, 1973), pp. 99-152.
57
A. Mutch, 'Lancashire's "Revolt of the Field"', North-West Labour History Society
Bulletin, 8 (1982-3), pp. 56-67.

408 J. K. W A L T O N
c o n d i t i o n s , t h e t w o - p a r t y h e g e m o n y w a s s t r o n g a n d resilient; a n d
d e s p i t e t h e d e c l i n i n g political role of t h e local e m p l o y e r a n d civic
p a t r i a r c h , t h e politics o f c u l t u r e a n d c o m m u n i t y r e m a i n e d i m p o r t a n t
b e y o n d t h e First W o r l d W a r . M o r e o v e r , t h e y w e r e p e r v a s i v e e n o u g h
to m a k e a n i n d e l i b l e m a r k o n t h e n e w politics o f l a b o u r c o n s c i o u s n e s s .
T h r o u g h o u t t h e n o r t h - w e s t , d e s p i t e p o c k e t s o f socialist s t r e n g t h s u c h
as N e l s o n a n d m a n i f e s t a t i o n s o f l a b o u r solidarity like t h e L i v e r p o o l
t r a n s p o r t strike, t h e i m p a c t o f t h e n e w politics w a s still q u i t e l i m i t e d .
T r a n s i t i o n w a s still i n c i p i e n t . T h e r e w e r e s t r o n g h i n t s in t h e e a r l y
t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y o f m o r e t h o r o u g h g o i n g c h a n g e s in t h e e c o n o m i c
a n d political s y s t e m , b u t t h e i r full i m p a c t w a s r e s e r v e d for t h e t r o u b l e d
y e a r s after t h e First W o r l d W a r .
Ill CRISIS AND DECLINE, 1914-50
B e t w e e n the wars, the most important sectors of the north-western

e c o n o m y fell i n t o s h a r p a n d i r r e v e r s i b l e d e c l i n e , g e n e r a t i n g m a s s
u n e m p l o y m e n t a n d o c c a s i o n a l a n g r y o u t b u r s t s o f social u n r e s t . B u t
c o n d i t i o n s w e r e n e v e r as b a d as in S o u t h W a l e s or n o r t h - e a s t e r n E n g
l a n d , a n d after 1 9 3 1 g l o o m w a s r e l i e v e d b y falling u n e m p l o y m e n t
a n d pockets of industrial prosperity. T h e S e c o n d W o r l d W a r brought
full e m p l o y m e n t , a n d a s s o c i a t e d i n d u s t r i a l r e s t r u c t u r i n g a s s i s t e d a
widespread medium-term recovery which was evident by 1950. But
the relative industrial prosperity and world e c o n o m i c importance of
pre-1914 Lancashire evaporated at a l a r m i n g s p e e d , a l t h o u g h the
r e s u l t i n g c h a l l e n g e t o e x i s t i n g e c o n o m i c a n d political a r r a n g e m e n t s
was generally lukewarm and limited.
L a n c a s h i r e c o t t o n a p p e a r e d t o s u r v i v e t h e First W o r l d W a r q u i t e
w e l l , d e s p i t e d i s r u p t i o n s in c o t t o n s u p p l y a n d e x p o r t m a r k e t s ; a n d
1919-20 saw an enormous speculative investment boom, w h e n m a n y
firms w e r e a m a l g a m a t e d a n d r e c o n s t r u c t e d at n o m i n a l v a l u e s w h i c h
soon appeared absurdly over-optimistic. T h e industry was already
l o s i n g its vital e x p o r t m a r k e t s in I n d i a ( e s p e c i a l l y ) , C h i n a a n d t h e
M i d d l e E a s t to local m a n u f a c t u r e r s a n d e x p o r t c o m p e t i t i o n , e s p e c i a l l y
f r o m J a p a n ; a n d c o t t o n L a n c a s h i r e n e v e r really r e c o v e r e d f r o m t h e
d e p r e s s i o n o f 1 9 2 0 - 1 , as w o r l d d e p r e s s i o n a n d r i s i n g tariff b a r r i e r s
exacerbated existing trends. British cotton cloth exports never again
a p p r o a c h e d t h e 1 9 1 3 p e a k . I n 1 9 2 9 t h e y w e r e little m o r e t h a n h a l f
that level, and the collapse of 1 9 3 0 - 1 halved the export yardage again.
I n 1 9 3 8 - 9 c o t t o n e x p o r t s fell b e l o w t h e i r m i d - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y l e v e l .

The north-west 409
Calamity was postponed by systematic short-time, below-capacity

w o r k i n g a n d price-fixing a g r e e m e n t s ; b u t u l t i m a t e l y t h e interwar
y e a r s s a w t h e effective c o l l a p s e o f t h e n o r t h - w e s t ' s m o s t i m p o r t a n t
i n d u s t r y , a l t h o u g h its d e a t h - t h r o e s w e r e p r o t r a c t e d . H a r d l y a n y n e w
textile m a c h i n e r y w a s o r d e r e d , w i t h c a t a s t r o p h i c r e s u l t s for t h e e n g i n
e e r i n g firms; a n d c o a l m i n i n g a l s o suffered s e v e r e l y as d e p r e s s e d
d e m a n d was exacerbated b y geological problems and low produc
tivity. L i v e r p o o l a l s o s u f f e r e d , a n d n o t o n l y f r o m t h e c o l l a p s e o f t h e
c o t t o n t r a d e , as s h i p p i n g l i n e s r e l o c a t e d to L o n d o n a n d S o u t h a m p t o n
a n d t h e p o r t r e t a i n e d a d e c l i n i n g s h a r e o f falling B r i t i s h o v e r s e a s t r a d e .
Barrow's industries c o l l a p s e d in the early 1920s but recovered
modestly thereafter, and here especially rearmament boosted the
e c o n o m y after 1 9 3 7 .
T h e d a m a g e w a s worst in the m o s t specialised spinning a n d w e a v i n g
c e n t r e s , e s p e c i a l l y t h o s e p r o d u c i n g t h e c o a r s e y a r n s a n d c h e a p fabrics
w h i c h w e r e h a r d e s t hit b y o v e r s e a s c o m p e t i t i o n . I n O l d h a m , B l a c k
burn, Burnley a n d their smaller neighbours the collapse of cotton
w a s m o s t c o m p l e t e , a n d in the w e a v i n g area especially, few n e w
5 8
i n d u s t r i e s a p p e a r e d t o fill t h e g a p s . L a n c a s h i r e ' s industrial centre
of g r a v i t y s h i f t e d t o w a r d s t h e s o u t h a n d w e s t , as n e w d e v e l o p m e n t s
in electrical e n g i n e e r i n g , v e h i c l e - b u i l d i n g a n d g a r m e n t manufacture
b e c a m e c o n c e n t r a t e d i n t o a L i v e r p o o l - M a n c h e s t e r axis, w h i l e g l a s s
a n d chemicals did relatively well in the 1930s, a n d Ellesmere P o r t ' s
oil i n d u s t r y b e g a n t o d e v e l o p a p a c e . L i v e r p o o l itself w a s a t t r a c t i n g
manufacturing industry by the 1930s, and there were outposts of
growth further north. T h e S e c o n d W o r l d W a r accentuated existing
trends. Decisive government intervention hastened the amalgamation
a n d r a t i o n a l i s a t i o n o f c o t t o n firms, a n d in s o m e a r e a s t h e d i s p e r s a l
of s t r a t e g i c a l l y i m p o r t a n t f a c t o r i e s b r o u g h t l a s t i n g b e n e f i t s , a s p r o d u c
t i o n c o n t i n u e d o r p r e m i s e s w e r e a d a p t e d after t h e w a r . B y t h e l a t e
1 9 4 0 s , i n d e e d , t h e r e w e r e l a b o u r s h o r t a g e s in s o m e o f t h e o l d s t a p l e
i n d u s t r i e s o f t h e c o t t o n district after a l o n g p e r i o d o f l o w r e c r u i t m e n t ,
a n d o v e r m u c h o f t h e r e g i o n significant i n d u s t r i a l d i v e r s i f i c a t i o n h a d
been achieved.
T h e basic causes of the interwar slump were b e y o n d the north
w e s t ' s c o n t r o l . C h a n g e s in w o r l d t r a d i n g p a t t e r n s a n d t h e rise o f
58
Lancashire Industrial Development Association, Industrial Reports (1948-56); Board
of Trade, An Industrial Survey of the Lancashire Area (1932); and for a more optimistic
view G. Rushton, 'A Geographical Survey of the Changes in the Industrial Structure
of Lancashire Towns since 1931' (unpublished MA thesis, University of Wales, 1962),
pp. 14-15.

410 J . K. W A L T O N
p r o t e c t e d o v e r s e a s textile i n d u s t r i e s m a d e t h e c o l l a p s e o f L a n c a s h i r e
c o t t o n i n e v i t a b l e , a n d s i m i l a r t r e n d s hit t h e o t h e r s t a p l e i n d u s t r i e s .
L a n c a s h i r e ' s r e s e r v o i r s o f skill a n d e x p e r i e n c e o n t h e m u l e a n d p l a i n
l o o m were outflanked b y n e w technologies, but Sandberg argues con
vincingly that h e a v y i n v e s t m e n t in ring spinning a n d automatic l o o m s
would merely have delayed the inevitable, with serious consequences
in t e c h n o l o g i c a l u n e m p l o y m e n t and unremunerative investment.
Admittedly, the speculative b o o m of 1 9 1 9 - 2 0 h a d u n d e r m i n e d the
industry's finances, a n d overvalued assets inhibited further invest
m e n t , w h i l e R o c h d a l e ' s e a r l y (for L a n c a s h i r e ) a c c e p t a n c e o f r i n g s p i n
n i n g a n d artificial fibres g a v e it a m o r e r e s i l i e n t textile i n d u s t r y t h a n
5 9
its neighbours. T h e industry's past successes militated against
f u r t h e r a d a p t a t i o n , as m a n a g e r s s t u c k to t r u s t e d f o r m u l a e a n d u n i o n s
resisted labour-saving innovation. But the best possible outcome
w o u l d still h a v e b e e n a n u p h i l l a n d u l t i m a t e l y u n s u c c e s s f u l s t r u g g l e ,
a n d L a n c a s h i r e ' s i n t e r n a l p r o b l e m s w e r e n o t t h e a u t h o r s o f its m i s f o r
t u n e s . T h e w a y f o r w a r d l a y i n i n d u s t r i a l diversification, r a t h e r t h a n
the remaking of the prewar e c o n o m y .
W h a t w e r e the social c o n s e q u e n c e s of the s l u m p ? T h r e e t h e m e s
stand out: the c h a n g e s in t h e u p p e r strata of north-western society,
the impact o n t h o s e in e m p l o y m e n t , a n d m o s t obviously the impli
cations of m a s s u n e m p l o y m e n t and u n d e r e m p l o y m e n t .
The interwar years saw the culmination of the decline of the landed
gentry, and the substantial merchants and manufacturers w h o had
b e c o m e a s s i m i l a t e d i n t o it, as a n effective political a n d s o c i a l f o r c e .
M a n y surviving patriarchal employers sold up and retired to m o r e
congenial climes in the p o s t w a r b o o m ; a n d others a d o p t e d a m o r e
p r i v a t e life s t y l e as s u b o r d i n a t e d i r e c t o r s o f financially ailing a m a l g a
m a t i o n s . U r b a n l o c a l g o v e r n m e n t l o s t m u c h o f its a u t o n o m y and
p a s s e d a l m o s t c o m p l e t e l y i n t o t h e h a n d s o f a s e c o n d a r y elite o f s h o p
keepers, tradesmen and a few managers. T h e county councils were
similarly t r a n s f o r m e d , a l t h o u g h a c o r e o f a c t i v e g e n t r y r e t a i n e d d i s p r o
p o r t i o n a t e i n f l u e n c e i n L a n c a s h i r e . A g r i c u l t u r e w a s itself d e p r e s s e d ,
with poultry-keeping the only growth sector; and county society
c e a s e d t o f u n c t i o n as a d i s t i n c t i v e s o c i a l s y s t e m d u r i n g t h e 1 9 2 0 s ,
Sandberg, Lancashire in Decline, chaps. 6-7; LID A, Industrial Report No. 5: The Spinning
Area (1950), p. 26.

The north-west 411
as r e c o g n i t i o n o f social o b l i g a t i o n s o f all k i n d s c r u m b l e d b e f o r e t h e
6 0
pursuit of individual pleasures.
L o w e r d o w n the scale, t r a d e s m e n and s h o p k e e p e r s guarded their
living standards carefully, a n d e x p r e s s e d t h e i r p r e o c c u p a t i o n s in
p e n n y - p i n c h i n g local g o v e r n m e n t p o l i c i e s , e s p e c i a l l y t o w a r d s the
poor a n d u n e m p l o y e d . T h e energies of working-class families w e r e
channelled into the getting and keeping of employment, although
t r a d e u n i o n s r e m a i n e d a s s e r t i v e in d e f e n c e o f w a g e l e v e l s a n d e s t a b
lished m e t h o d s of working. P r o m o t i o n a v e n u e s from piecer to spinner
a n d o n into m a n a g e m e n t b e c a m e b l o c k e d in a contracting cotton
i n d u s t r y , a n d a s p i r a t i o n s to u p w a r d m o b i l i t y w e r e t h w a r t e d a s a s m a l l
a n d c o n t r a c t i n g elite r e s e r v e d p o s i t i o n s o f a u t h o r i t y for r e l a t i v e s a n d
61
friends. B u t w a g e c u t s d i d n o t k e e p p a c e w i t h deflation, a n d m o s t
of t h o s e i n w o r k e x p e r i e n c e d g e n t l y r i s i n g l i v i n g s t a n d a r d s .
B u t after 1 9 2 0 m a n y p e o p l e w e r e n o t i n w o r k . V a r i o u s w o r k - s h a r i n g
practices obscured the true extent of u n e m p l o y m e n t and under
e m p l o y m e n t in cotton, but e v e n so over 4 0 per cent of the registered
workforce in the w e a v i n g area w a s returned as u n e m p l o y e d in 1 9 3 1 ,
w h e n figures o f b e t w e e n a q u a r t e r a n d o n e t h i r d w e r e c o m m o n p l a c e
e l s e w h e r e in the industrial north-west. This w a s t h e worst point in
the slump, and matters improved steadily through the 1930s, although
M e r s e y s i d e still h a d a n official u n e m p l o y m e n t r a t e o f 1 8 . 9 p e r c e n t
in 1939, a n d m o s t of Lancashire r e m a i n e d well above the national
average. Worries about d a m a g e to the w o r k ethic a m o n g the y o u n g
u n e m p l o y e d p r o v e d short-lived as the j o b m a r k e t i m p r o v e d , but long-
term u n e m p l o y m e n t w a s intractable on Merseyside, a m o n g miners
and among the middle-aged, especially w o m e n . Family incomes,
s h a r e a n d p r o p e r t y o w n e r s h i p a n d a t t a c h m e n t t o skills a n d n e i g h b o u r
h o o d i n h i b i t e d o u t - m i g r a t i o n f r o m t h e c o t t o n district, a l t h o u g h it w a s
increasing in t h e 1930s; a n d l o w birth rates h e l p e d to e n s u r e an ageing,
custom-bound, inward-looking, stagnant population. In important
r e s p e c t s t h e V i c t o r i a n v i r t u e s o f t h e c o t t o n l a b o u r force h a d b e c o m e
its i n t e r w a r v i c e s . I n t h e c o a l a n d c h e m i c a l a r e a s o f s o u t h - w e s t L a n c a
shire a y o u n g e r population w a s m o r e adventurous, but h e r e t h e local
60
P. A. Harris, 'Social Leadership and Social Attitudes in Bolton, 1919-39' (un
published PhD thesis, Lancaster University, 1973), chap. 1; Lee, Social Leaders,
chap. 4.
61
Harris, 'Social Leadership', chap. 5.

412 J. K. WALTON
e c o n o m y w a s a d a p t i n g b e t t e r t o c h a n g i n g c i r c u m s t a n c e s . It t o o k
the war, and the alienation of a rising generation from the declining
cotton industry, to alter t h e pattern significantly in t h e textile
heartland.
T h e i n t e r w a r y e a r s did b r i n g m a r k e d i m p r o v e m e n t s in p u b l i c h e a l t h
a n d h o u s i n g c o n d i t i o n s , in t h e n o r t h - w e s t as e l s e w h e r e . T u b e r c u l o s i s
a n d infant m o r t a l i t y d e c l i n e d s h a r p l y , for e x a m p l e , a n d L i v e r p o o l
a n d M a n c h e s t e r w e r e p a r t i c u l a r l y e n e r g e t i c in t h e i r p r o v i s i o n o f
municipal housing, although the spacious n e w estates were enjoyed
m a i n l y b y skilled a n d w h i t e - c o l l a r w o r k e r s w h o c o u l d afford t h e r e n t s
a n d fares. T h e p r o b l e m s o f t h e i n n e r city s l u m s r e m a i n e d , fuelled
b y h i g h b i r t h r a t e s a m o n g t h e i r i n h a b i t a n t s . M e d i c a l Officers o f H e a l t h
played d o w n the impact of u n e m p l o y m e n t on public health, although
in 1 9 3 4 ' t h e g e n e r a l o p i n i o n s e e m s to b e t h a t p a r e n t s are sacrificing
62
t h e m s e l v e s for t h e i r c h i l d r e n ' . N e w r o a d s , electricity a n d i n c r e a s i n g
m o b i l i t y b r o u g h t b e n e f i t s m a i n l y to t h e better-off, a n d m u c h o f t h e
industrial north-west r e m a i n e d physically repugnant to outsiders a n d
s e n s i t i v e i n s i d e r s alike. M e a n w h i l e , s u b u r b a n s p r a w l e n g u l f e d agri
cultural a c r e s in n o r t h - e a s t C h e s h i r e a n d t h e W i r r a l , as t h e l o w e r m i d
dle a n d u p p e r w o r k i n g c l a s s e s o f M a n c h e s t e r a n d M e r s e y s i d e v o t e d
w i t h t h e i r feet.
Despite widespread economic disaster, the north-west b e t w e e n the
w a r s did n o t b e c o m e fertile soil for r e v o l u t i o n a r y socialists or o t h e r
r a d i c a l s . T h e L a b o u r p a r t y a d v a n c e d s t e a d i l y in L a n c a s h i r e d u r i n g
t h e 1 9 2 0 s , a n d in 1 9 2 9 it c a p t u r e d f o r t y - o n e o f t h e c o u n t y ' s sixty-six
p a r l i a m e n t a r y s e a t s . B u t this w a s t h e i n t e r w a r h i g h - w a t e r m a r k , a n d
in 1 9 3 1 t h e C o n s e r v a t i v e s a l m o s t s w e p t t h e b o a r d , t a k i n g e s t a b l i s h e d
L a b o u r s t r o n g h o l d s s u c h as G o r t o n , S t H e l e n s , a n d e v e n N e l s o n a n d
C o l n e . L a b o u r r e c o v e r y r e m a i n e d i n c o m p l e t e in 1 9 3 5 . L a b o u r ' s s u c
c e s s e s in local g o v e r n m e n t w e r e p a t c h y a n d l i m i t e d , a n d L a b o u r c o u n
cillors a n d g u a r d i a n s in L a n c a s h i r e w e r e u n w i l l i n g to b r e a k o u t o f
the constraints i m p o s e d b y central g o v e r n m e n t . T h e y could b e angrily
v o c i f e r o u s in o p p o s i t i o n , but they had no workable alternative
s t r a t e g y . L i v e r p o o l r e m a i n e d sui generis, as s e c t a r i a n conflict r e f u s e d
to e v a p o r a t e a n d L a b o u r b e c a m e t h e e m b a r r a s s e d l e g a t e e o f t h e Irish
n a t i o n a l i s t s , w h o k e p t c o n s i d e r a b l e i n f l u e n c e in t h e local p a r t y ' s
PRO MH.66/128, p. vii. Jane Mark-Lawson kindly drew my attention to this source.

The north-west 413
6 3
counsels. M o r e generally, Labour and the trade unions h a d a distant
and uneasy relationship with the National U n e m p l o y e d Workers'
M o v e m e n t , w h i c h d i d a c h i e v e s o m e i n t e r m i t t e n t m o b i l i s a t i o n of t h e
u n e m p l o y e d in d e m o n s t r a t i o n s a n d h u n g e r m a r c h e s . T h e N U W M
had several Lancashire branches, but its C o m m u n i s t leadership
a t t r a c t e d little s u s t a i n e d s u p p o r t , a n d t h e d e m o n s t r a t i o n s w e r e m o r e
s u c c e s s f u l at s t i m u l a t i n g v i o l e n t r e a c t i o n s f r o m t h e p o l i c e t h a n at
wringing concessions from the authorities. Significantly, Oldham
Trades Council m e m b e r s in 1932 s u g g e s t e d that the troubles of the
unemployed arose from their neglect of u n i o n m e m b e r s h i p when
in work; a n d suspicion of the u n e m p l o y e d b y their m o r e fortunate
n e i g h b o u r s s e e m s to h a v e d i v i d e d t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s t h r o u g h o u t the
64
industrial north-west. Meanwhile, the depression exacerbated the
divisions b e t w e e n skilled a n d less-skilled, a n d b e t w e e n o n e trade a n d
another; a n d t h o s e in w o r k preferred safety-hrst e c o n o m i c policies,
p r e f e r a b l y t e m p e r e d b y h u m a n i t y , r a t h e r t h a n r i s k i n g a socialist alter
native which w a s anyway b e y o n d the imagination of most Labour
MPs. D e s p i t e the ossification of the social structure, a n d the lack of
r e a l o p p o r t u n i t i e s for s o c i a l m o b i l i t y , t h e m y t h o f t h e o p e n s o c i e t y
lived o n in the cotton t o w n s ; a n d the h a r d - w o n Victorian acceptance
of t h e i n d u s t r i a l s y s t e m h a d g e n e r a t e d v a l u e s w h i c h p r o v e d tena
ciously pervasive w h e n the system broke down. Labour's lasting
b r e a k t h r o u g h i n L a n c a s h i r e p o l i t i c s h a d to w a i t u n t i l 1 9 4 5 , w i t h u n e m
p l o y m e n t in a b e y a n c e a n d a n e w i d e a l i s m e m e r g i n g f r o m t h e w a r
y e a r s . T h e c o u n t y c o u n c i l w e n t L a b o u r in 1 9 5 2 , a n d e v e n L i v e r p o o l
s u c c u m b e d in 1 9 5 5 . C h e s h i r e , o f c o u r s e , r e m a i n e d l a r g e l y i m m u n e .
B u t t h i s w a s e m p h a t i c a l l y s u p p o r t for s o c i a l r e f o r m r a t h e r t h a n r e v o l u
t i o n ; a n d w h a t is r e a l l y r e m a r k a b l e is t h e l i m i t e d e x t e n t o f t h e r a d i c a l
political r e s p o n s e to t h e t r a u m a s o f t h e i n t e r w a r y e a r s . E v e n i n 1 9 4 5
m a n y L a b o u r s e a t s in t h e c o t t o n district w e r e m a r g i n a l s , a n d t h e C o n
servatives held Bury, D a r w e n and Stockport.
All t h i s s u g g e s t s t h e s u r v i v a l o f o l d political a t t i t u d e s a n d b e h a v i o u r
a l o n g s i d e t h e n e w . P o l i t i c s for m a n y p o s t w a r L a n c a s t r i a n s w e r e c l a s s
i n f l u e n c e d b u t n o t c l a s s b a s e d . I n l e a r n i n g to c o p e w i t h t h e i n d u s t r i a l
63
Waller, Democracy and Sectarianism, chaps. 16-17; A. Shallice, 'Liverpool Labourism
and Irish Nationalism in the 1920s and 1930s', North-West Labour History Society
Bulletin, 8 (1982-3), pp. 19-28; R. S. W. Davies, 'The Liverpool Labour Party and
the Liverpool Working Class, 1900-39', North-West Labour History Society Bulletin,
6(1979-80), pp. 2-14.
64
R. H. C Hayburn, 'The Responses to Unemployment in the 1930s, with Particular
Reference to South-East Lancashire' (unpublished PhD thesis, Hull University,
1970), pp. 292-3.

414 J . K. W A L T O N
revolution, L a n c a s h i r e ' s working class h a d evolved a s y s t e m of values,

attitudes and allegiances which resisted the implications of n e w econ
omic and ideological influences. W e have examined the formation
of t h i s i n d u s t r i a l t r a d i t i o n , w i t h its b l e n d o f i n d i v i d u a l i s t i c o p p o r t u n
i s m a n d collectivist m u t u a l a s s i s t a n c e , o f thrift a n d h e d o n i s m , o f e a r n
estness and scepticism, of i n d e p e n d e n c e and deference, of hard work
a n d o s t e n t a t i o u s l e i s u r e . A s y e t it is m u c h m o r e difficult to c h a r t t h e
d e c l i n e o f t h i s d i s t i n c t i v e r e g i o n a l c u l t u r e , a n d t o e x p l o r e its i m p l i
c a t i o n s . M a n y i m p o r t a n t t h e m e s in t h e social h i s t o r y o f t h e n o r t h - w e s t
s i n c e t h e First W o r l d W a r still a w a i t s c h o l a r l y a n a l y s i s , a n d t h e p r o b
l e m s o f d e c l i n e a n d a d j u s t m e n t in t h i s p i o n e e r i n d u s t r i a l r e g i o n are
j u s t as i n t e r e s t i n g , a n d i m p o r t a n t , as t h e p r o b l e m s r a i s e d b y its d e
v e l o p m e n t a n d h e y d a y . F u r t h e r w o r k o n s o c i e t y a n d politics in
t w e n t i e t h - c e n t u r y L a n c a s h i r e s h o u l d b e at o r n e a r t h e t o p o f t h e
r e s e a r c h a g e n d a for social h i s t o r i a n s .

CHAPTER 6
The north-east
D. J. R O W E
I THE REGION
C o m p a r e d with m a n y of the m o d e r n e c o n o m i c regions of Britain,

w h i c h exist m o r e for a d m i n i s t r a t i v e t h a n a n y o r g a n i c r e a s o n , the
n o r t h - e a s t d o e s a p p e a r t o h a v e s o m e intrinsic m e r i t s a n d h i s t o r i c a l
validity a s a r e g i o n . If w e t a k e as t h e b a s i c r e g i o n t h e o l d a d m i n i s t r a t i v e
counties of Northumberland a n d D u r h a m , it h a s r e a s o n a b l y w e l l -
defined geographical boundaries with the North S e a , the Scottish
b o r d e r , t h e c e n t r a l u p l a n d s a n d t h e river v a l l e y o f t h e T e e s . It w a s ,
t h e r e f o r e , firmly d i s t i n g u i s h e d to t h e e a s t , t o t h e n o r t h (if really o n l y
b y t h e a n c i e n t a n t a g o n i s m s o f r a c e ) a n d t o t h e w e s t b y hills w h i c h
r e s t r i c t e d m o b i l i t y . O n l y to t h e s o u t h w a s t h e r e g i o n w e a k l y b o u n d e d
in a s p a r s e l y p o p u l a t e d agricultural a n d m e t a l - m i n i n g a r e a b e t w e e n
t h e s o u t h D u r h a m coalfield a n d t h e d e v e l o p i n g W e s t R i d i n g t o w n s .
M o r e than the simple boundaries of regional geography gave the area
s o m e unity, however. In an age w h e n overland transport was very
c o s t l y , t h e s e a w a s t h e m a j o r h i g h w a y for t h e m o v e m e n t o f h e a v y
or b u l k y g o o d s . It w a s , t h e r e f o r e , i n e v i t a b l e t h a t c o m m e r c i a l activity
l o o k e d t o t h e n e a r e s t c o a s t for o t h e r t h a n local t r a d e a n d t h a t t o w n s
s u c h as B i s h o p A u c k l a n d , D u r h a m , H e x h a m , M o r p e t h ( a n d t h e i r
environs) should look to the east a n d the market p o w e r s of t o w n s
s u c h as N e w c a s t l e , S u n d e r l a n d a n d S t o c k t o n w i t h t h e i r river a c c e s s
t o t h e s e a . U l t i m a t e l y (but p a r a d o x i c a l l y s i n c e it c o v e r e d o n l y a m i n o r
p a r t o f t h e r e g i o n ) it w a s t h e c o a l i n d u s t r y w h i c h g a v e u n i t y t o t h e
r e g i o n . I n a n a g e w h e n its p o p u l a t i o n w a s s p a r s e a n d its o t h e r attrac
t i o n s l i m i t e d , t h e n o r t h - e a s t w a s to all i n t e n t s a n d p u r p o s e s (and
e s p e c i a l l y to s o u t h - e a s t e r n i n t e n t s a n d p u r p o s e s ) t h e G r e a t N o r t h e r n
coalfield.
It w o u l d , h o w e v e r , b e a m i s t a k e t o r e g a r d t h e r e g i o n as u n i f o r m
e i t h e r at a p o i n t in t i m e o r o v e r t h e last 2 0 0 y e a r s . I n t e r m s o f l a n d
415

416 D. J . R O W E
t y p e a n d u s e t h e r e g i o n h a s as m u c h o f a m i x as m a y b e f o u n d a n y
w h e r e in t h e c o u n t r y . A s a r e s u l t t h e r e h a v e a l w a y s b e e n s h a r p d i s t i n c
tions b e t w e e n industrial, m i n i n g a n d agricultural areas. M o r e o v e r ,
s o m e o f t h e s e a r e a s h a v e a g r e a t e r affinity t o t h e i r n e i g h b o u r s o u t s i d e
than those inside the region. T h e agriculture of north N o r t h u m b e r l a n d
(Milfield plain, t h e v a l l e y s o f t h e Till, B r e a m i s h a n d T w e e d ) w a s m u c h
c l o s e r in t h e late e i g h t e e n t h a n d e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r i e s to t h a t
of s o u t h - e a s t e r n S c o t l a n d t h a n it w a s to t h a t o f c e n t r a l N o r t h u m b e r
l a n d . T h e f o r m e r a r e a s w e r e a d v a n c e d agriculturally, a d o p t i n g n e w
c r o p s ( s u c h as t h e t u r n i p ) a n d c r o p r o t a t i o n s a n d m a c h i n e r y ( s u c h
as t h r e s h i n g m a c h i n e s ) , w h i l e t h e a g r i c u l t u r e o f c e n t r a l N o r t h u m b e r
l a n d w a s b a c k w a r d . S u c h d i s t i n c t i o n s affected t h e local w a y o f life
a n d a t t i t u d e s . S i m i l a r l y t h e e a s t P e n n i n e s h a d m o r e to d o w i t h t h e
w e s t P e n n i n e s t h a n t h e y h a d t o d o w i t h t h e e a s t D u r h a m coalfield.
T h e lead-mining communities of Weardale and Teesdale h a d m o r e
in c o m m o n w i t h t h o s e o f A l s t o n a n d N e n t h e a d in C u m b e r l a n d t h a n
t h e y h a d w i t h c o a l - m i n i n g c o m m u n i t i e s ( e p i t o m i s e d b y t h e fact t h a t
f e w l e a d m i n e r s w e r e a t t r a c t e d t o w o r k in t h e coalfield, d e s p i t e t h e
attraction o f h i g h e r e a r n i n g s , u n t i l t h e c o l l a p s e o f l e a d m i n i n g in t h e
last q u a r t e r o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y ) . I n t h e s a m e w a y it is c l e a r
t h a t t h e agricultural n o r t h b a n k o f t h e T e e s w a s m o r e s i m i l a r t o N o r t h
Y o r k s h i r e t h a n it w a s t o t h e r e s t o f C o u n t y D u r h a m , at l e a s t u n t i l
the 1830s.
T o l o o k at t h e s o u t h e r n e n d o f t h e r e g i o n , h o w e v e r , d r a w s a t t e n t i o n
n o t o n l y to t h e l i m i t a t i o n s t o r e g i o n a l u n i t y at a n y p o i n t in t i m e b u t
also to t h e fact t h a t a s p e c t s o f r e g i o n a l u n i t y c h a n g e o v e r t i m e . T h e
c o m p l e t i o n o f t h e S t o c k t o n a n d D a r l i n g t o n R a i l w a y in 1 8 2 5 , l i n k i n g
t h e l a n d - l o c k e d s o u t h D u r h a m coalfield t o t h e s e a , w a s t o initiate
the growth of T e e s s i d e . S t o c k t o n w a s found to b e an unsatisfactory
p o i n t o n t h e river T e e s for t h e s h i p m e n t o f c o a l a n d in 1 8 3 0 t h e r a i l w a y
w a s e x t e n d e d t o t h e s o u t h b a n k o f t h e river, w h e r e p r e v i o u s l y a f a r m
h o u s e h a d b e e n the only settlement. T h e result w a s the growth of
Middlesbrough (along with W e s t Hartlepool, one of the Victorian n e w
t o w n s c r e a t e d in t h e r e g i o n ) . S p u r r e d b y t h e e x p l o i t a t i o n o f C l e v e l a n d
iron o r e s after 1 8 5 0 , M i d d l e s b r o u g h g r e w d r a m a t i c a l l y as t h e p i v o t
b e t w e e n those ores a n d south D u r h a m coking coal. In doing so, not
o n l y did it r e p l a c e S t o c k t o n as t h e focal p o i n t for t h e l o w e r T e e s b u t
it r e d e f i n e d t h e n o r t h - e a s t . P a r t o f t h e N o r t h R i d i n g n o w h a d to b e
included with N o r t h u m b e r l a n d and D u r h a m b e c a u s e of the dictates
of industrial l o g i c . S i n c e S t o c k t o n , D a r l i n g t o n a n d o t h e r p a r t s o f s o u t h

The north-east 417
D u r h a m d e v e l o p e d i r o n a n d e n g i n e e r i n g w o r k s it w o u l d o b v i o u s l y
b e nonsensical to exclude the major iron-working area, Middles
b r o u g h , p u r e l y b e c a u s e o f t h e arbitrary d i c t a t e s o f a d m i n i s t r a t i v e a n d
river b o u n d a r i e s . M o r e c o n f u s i n g l y , t h e C l e v e l a n d H i l l s , w h i c h s u p
p l i e d M i d d l e s b r o u g h w i t h its i r o n o r e a n d w e r e firmly a n c h o r e d to
the T e e s b y railway building, t e n d to b e excluded from the north-east
e v e n t h o u g h t h e i r l i n k s , for a t i m e w h i l e o r e a n d r a i l w a y s l a s t e d ,
w e r e m u c h s t r o n g e r t h e r e t h a n w i t h t h e agricultural N o r t h R i d i n g .
R e g i o n is, t h e r e f o r e , a n i n d e t e r m i n a t e a n d f l u c t u a t i n g t o o l w i t h
w h i c h t o a t t e m p t t o a n a l y s e s o c i e t y , e v e n in a n a r e a w h i c h at first
g l a n c e a n d t h r o u g h l o n g h i s t o r i c a l definition a p p e a r s t o h a v e a u n i t y .
M o r e o v e r , it is a l s o t h e c a s e t h a t similar f e a t u r e s m a y d o m o r e to
l e a d t o rivalry a n d d i s h a r m o n y t h a n t h e y d o to b r i n g u n i t y . S u n d e r
l a n d a n d N e w c a s t l e , for i n s t a n c e , b o t h o w e m u c h o f t h e i r g r o w t h
t o t h e facilities t h e y offered for t h e e a s y a n d c h e a p t r a n s p o r t of t h e
r e g i o n ' s c o a l b u t in m a n y s e n s e s t h i s did n o t u n i t e b u t differentiated
t h e m . Collieries b e t w e e n the t w o rivers shipped their coal either from
t h e T y n e or t h e W e a r a n d a divide g r e w u p , a d i v i d e w h i c h to s o m e
e x t e n t still e x i s t s . It is m o s t a p p r o p r i a t e t h a t s i n c e 1 9 7 4 t h e n e w m e t r o
p o l i t a n c o u n t y h a s b e e n k n o w n as T y n e a n d W e a r , w h i c h e m p h a s i s e s
t h e t w o p a r t s , r a t h e r t h a n b y a u n i f y i n g n a m e . T h e r e is a social d i s t a n c e
b e t w e e n Newcastle, the regional metropolis, and Sunderland which
feels t h a t life h a s b e e n u n k i n d t o it (as i n d e e d it h a s ) a n d this is
reflected in b o t h c o r p o r a t e a n d i n d i v i d u a l a t t i t u d e s in t h e t w o t o w n s .
S u n d e r l a n d f r e q u e n t l y tries n o t t o a c k n o w l e d g e N e w c a s t l e , as a n y o n e
w h o h a s t r i e d l o o k i n g for s i g n p o s t s t o t h e latter in t h e f o r m e r will
b e a w a r e ; its i n h a b i t a n t s p r e f e r t h e D a r l i n g t o n m o r n i n g p a p e r to that
p u b l i s h e d i n N e w c a s t l e . It is n o t , h o w e v e r , n e c e s s a r y t o g o to t o w n s
s o g e o g r a p h i c a l l y far a p a r t as N e w c a s t l e a n d S u n d e r l a n d t o find dis
h a r m o n y . T h e river T y n e b e t w e e n N e w c a s t l e a n d G a t e s h e a d h a s
offered a n d c o n t i n u e s to offer a b o u n d a r y m o r e m a r k e d t h a n that
b e t w e e n any regions. G a t e s h e a d has never forgiven the quip that
it w a s ' a l o n g [ s o m e t i m e s t h e a d j e c t i v e is ' d i r t y ' ] l a n e l e a d i n g to N e w
c a s t l e ' ; it h a s a l w a y s suffered inferior p r o v i s i o n in social o v e r h e a d
c a p i t a l t o t h a t o f its n e i g h b o u r a n d h a s a l w a y s b e e n v e r y m u c h a w a r e
o f t h e fact. A s w e s h a l l s e e G a t e s h e a d suffered N e w c a s t l e ' s p r o b l e m s
w i t h o u t t h e r e s o u r c e s t o d e a l w i t h t h e m : t h e large s h o p s , offices a n d
i n d u s t r i a l firms m a d e t h e i r m o n e y in a n d p a i d t h e i r r a t e s t o N e w c a s t l e
w h i l e t h e i r e m p l o y e e s f r e q u e n t l y l i v e d in G a t e s h e a d , w h e r e t h e y
p l a c e d p r e s s u r e for p o o r relief a n d o t h e r p a y m e n t s .

418 D. J . R O W E
II D E V E L O P M E N T 1750-1950
At its v e r y s i m p l e s t o n e m i g h t s a y t h a t t h e u n i f y i n g f e a t u r e o f t h e
r e g i o n o v e r t h e p e r i o d w a s d e p r i v a t i o n as c o m p a r e d w i t h t h e n a t i o n a l
n o r m in e c o n o m i c p r o v i s i o n . I n t h e m i d d l e o f t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y
t h e n o r t h e r n p a r t o f t h e r e g i o n w a s o n l y j u s t b e g i n n i n g to d e v e l o p
after c e n t u r i e s o f b o r d e r s k i r m i s h i n g in w h i c h t h e m o s t n o r t h e r l y
town, Berwick, changed hands between England and Scotland on
several occasions. T h e remainder of the region was, with the exception
of t h e m a r g i n s o f t h e T y n e a n d W e a r , s p a r s e l y p o p u l a t e d , culturally
backward, closer to subsistence agriculture and less innovative than
m a n y o t h e r r e g i o n s . O n e m i g h t r e g a r d it as ' d e p r i v a t i o n w i t h b e a u t y '
b e c a u s e o f t h e s c e n i c g r a n d e u r o f hills a n d c o a s t s , b u t t h e l o v e of
t h e c o u n t r y a n d t h e t r a n s p o r t facilities w i t h w h i c h to e n j o y it h a d
yet to a p p e a r . D u r i n g t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y a n d e s p e c i a l l y in its
s e c o n d half t h e r e g i o n (or m u c h o f it) e x p e r i e n c e d d r a m a t i c m i n i n g
a n d industrial d e v e l o p m e n t w h i c h i n c r e a s e d w e a l t h , e v e n for t h e
m a j o r i t y o f w o r k e r s w h o s w e l l e d its p o p u l a t i o n b y m i g r a t i o n a n d
increased natural growth. T h e increased wealth (both absolute and
relative t o o t h e r a r e a s ) w a s , h o w e v e r , e p h e m e r a l a n d c o - e x i s t e d w i t h
the continuation of deprivation. T h e industrial areas m a y have bustled
with e m p l o y m e n t opportunities but their environs w e r e appalling,
w i t h c o n d i t i o n s o f h o u s i n g a n d ill-health w h i c h d e t e r i o r a t e d c o m p a r e d
to o t h e r a r e a s . T h e i n d u s t r i a l g r o w t h e v e n b l i g h t e d s o m e o f t h e n a t u r a l
beauty, throwing up iron works on desolate m a r s h e s and turning
beautiful b e a c h e s b l a c k w i t h coal w a s t e . After 1 9 2 0 t h e relative p r o s
p e r i t y o f t h e n o r t h - e a s t e b b e d a n d , a l t h o u g h t h e r e w a s a brief r e s u r
g e n c e d u r i n g a n d for a d e c a d e after t h e S e c o n d W o r l d W a r , it h a s
n o t r e t u r n e d . D e c l i n e in t h e n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y s t a p l e i n d u s t r i e s , coal,
i r o n a n d s t e e l , e n g i n e e r i n g a n d s h i p b u i l d i n g , left t h e r e g i o n w i t h a
s u r p l u s o f u s e l e s s l a b o u r skills a n d i n d u s t r i a l capital a n d a deficit
in r e s o u r c e s w i t h w h i c h to c h a n g e t h e future. In r e n e w e d d e p r i v a t i o n
t h e r e w a s little b u t r e t u r n i n g b e a u t y (as t h e i n d u s t r i a l l a n d s c a p e
r e v e r t e d to n a t u r e ) to offset h i g h u n e m p l o y m e n t , l o w p r o v i s i o n o f
social o v e r h e a d capital, l o w e d u c a t i o n a l p r o v i s i o n , e t c .
1750-1825
At t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e i n d u s t r i a l r e v o l u t i o n p e r i o d t h e n o r t h - e a s t
was remote from the major areas of economic growth and population.
Internal communications with other parts of the country were poor,

The north-east 419
it is s a i d t o h a v e t a k e n six d a y s b y c o a c h t o L o n d o n , a n d it w a s o n l y
c o a s t a l s h i p p i n g , chiefly for t h e c o a l t r a d e , w h i c h m a d e t h e r e g i o n
of a n y i n t e r e s t t o t h e r e s t o f t h e c o u n t r y . T h e r e g i o n ' s p o p u l a t i o n
w a s small, with only Newcastle a t o w n of any significance, possessing
a m e r c h a n t c o m m u n i t y w h i c h h a d developed o n the b a c k of the coal
t r a d e , a n d t h e ability t o i m p o r t a n d e x p o r t t h e n e e d s a n d t h e p r o d u c e
of a w i d e n e i g h b o u r h o o d . S u n d e r l a n d w a s a s m a l l - s c a l e v e r s i o n o f
N e w c a s t l e , d r a w i n g t h e c o a l s u p p l i e s o f its h i n t e r l a n d a n d p r o v i d i n g
s e r v i c e s a n d g o o d s for t h e s u r r o u n d i n g c o m m u n i t y . It w a s n o t , h o w
ever, o n the m a i n road from L o n d o n to Edinburgh, w h i c h , despite
the inadequacies of road transport, w a s clearly a limitation o n Sunder
l a n d ' s g r o w t h . O t h e r t o w n s w e r e o f e v e n l e s s s i g n i f i c a n c e , little m o r e
t h a n m a r k e t v i l l a g e s c a t e r i n g for t h e i r s u r r o u n d i n g agricultural r e g i o n ,
d r a w i n g in agricultural p r o d u c e for t h e i r o w n u s e a n d m o r e w i d e
s p r e a d d i s t r i b u t i o n t o N e w c a s t l e o r e v e n L o n d o n (in t h e c a s e o f t h e
c o a s t a l c o m m u n i t i e s s u c h as B e r w i c k o r A l n m o u t h ) .
A g r i c u l t u r e w a s i n d e e d b y far t h e m o s t significant o c c u p a t i o n
throughout the region with the exceptions of narrow corridors a few
m i l e s e i t h e r s i d e o f t h e r i v e r s T y n e a n d W e a r . B y a n d l a r g e it w a s
a fairly t r a d i t i o n a l a g r i c u l t u r e w h i c h k n e w little o f t h e t e c h n i q u e s
brought in b y the 'agricultural revolution'. T h e r e w a s a g o o d deal
of s u b s i s t e n c e f a r m i n g , w i t h little i n t e r e s t in t h e m a r k e t e c o n o m y ,
in t h e r e m o t e r a r e a s a w a y f r o m t h e c o a s t a n d u r b a n c o m m u n i t i e s .
S h e e p g r a z i n g w a s c o m m o n in t h e u p l a n d interior, a l t h o u g h little
a t t e n t i o n w a s p a i d t o i m p r o v e m e n t s in q u a l i t y o f t h e a n i m a l s e i t h e r
for m e a t or w o o l . I n t h e s e r e m o t e v a l l e y s o f w e s t Northumberland,
s u c h as R e d e s d a l e , life w a s little r e m o v e d f r o m t h e M i d d l e A g e s .
T h e r e w e r e f a m i l y rivalries w h i c h r e s e m b l e d t h e c l a n strife o f t h e
H i g h l a n d s , cattle a n d s h e e p s t e a l i n g w e r e c o m m o n a n d t h e illicit dis
tilling o f spirits a w a y o f life. C l o s e t o t h e c o a s t a n d in t h e s h e l t e r e d
river v a l l e y s s u c h as t h e T y n e , a g r i c u l t u r e b e c a m e m o r e profitable
a n d m a r k e t o r i e n t a t e d w i t h t h e f a t t e n i n g o f s h e e p a n d cattle, w h i l e
in t h e b r o a d l o w l a n d s b e t w e e n c o a s t a n d hills a n u n i m p r o v e d arable
farming, concentrating o n c h e a p cereals, oats and rye, with regular
fallows, w a s t h e n o r m .
W h i l e a g r i c u l t u r e d o m i n a t e d l a n d u s e a n d e m p l o y m e n t , it w a s t h e
coal industry w h i c h d o m i n a t e d the rest of the c o u n t r y ' s perception
of t h e r e g i o n . C o a l w a s chiefly r e q u i r e d for d o m e s t i c h e a t i n g a n d
the major source of d e m a n d was L o n d o n , the great centre of popula
tion, easily supplied from the north-east b y coastal ship, together

420 D. J. ROWE
w i t h m a n y o t h e r m i n o r p o r t s f r o m E a s t A n g l i a to t h e s o u t h c o a s t .
W h i l e Britain w a s w e l l e n d o w e d w i t h coal o n l y t h e G r e a t N o r t h e r n
coalfield h a d i m m e d i a t e a c c e s s to w a t e r t r a n s p o r t a n d n o c o m p e t i t o r s
o v e r a c o a s t l i n e of s e v e r a l h u n d r e d m i l e s . A s a r e s u l t it a c c o u n t e d
for a r o u n d 2 5 - 3 0 p e r c e n t of B r i t i s h o u t p u t , m o s t o f it, o v e r a m i l l i o n
tons per a n n u m around 1750, being shipped southwards. Because
of t h e i n a d e q u a c i e s of o v e r l a n d t r a n s p o r t , this coal w a s s u p p l i e d b y
collieries c l o s e to t h e T y n e a n d W e a r . T h e v e r y furthest collieries
i n v o l v e d in ' s e a - s a l e ' to d i s t a n t m a r k e t s w e r e n o m o r e t h a n 10 m i l e s
f r o m t h e river T y n e a n d t h e m a j o r i t y w e r e o n l y a m i l e or t w o . T h i s
m e a n t t h a t i s o l a t e d pit c o m m u n i t i e s l i n e d t h e river b a n k s a n d a s h o r t
d i s t a n c e n o r t h a n d s o u t h f r o m t h e m , for t h e r e w a s t h e n n o c o n t i n u o u s
u r b a n r i b b o n a l o n g t h e r i v e r s . I n l a n d f r o m t h e rivers t h e e x p l o i t a t i o n
of t h e coal for a f e w m i l e s h a d b e e n facilitated b y t h e d e v e l o p m e n t
of w a g g o n w a y s (an invention of the N o t t i n g h a m coalfield s o o n
b r o u g h t to t h e n o r t h - e a s t in t h e e a r l y s e v e n t e e n t h c e n t u r y ) , w o o d e n
tracks on which horses could haul coal-waggons with greater ease
t h a n o n m u d r o a d s . In t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y , t h e r e f o r e , t h e colliery
c o m m u n i t i e s w e r e e n a b l e d to p e n e t r a t e further i n t o t h e coalfield a n d
w h a t h a d b e e n p r e v i o u s l y agricultural a r e a s , to p l a c e s like T a n h e l d
o n t h e n o r t h - w e s t D u r h a m hills 10 m i l e s f r o m t h e T y n e . B e y o n d this
d i s t a n c e o n t h e m a i n coalfield a n d in o u t l y i n g p l a c e s like t h e s o u t h
w e s t D u r h a m coalfield a n d t h e N o r t h u m b e r l a n d hills w i t h t h e i r l i m e
s t o n e coal m e a s u r e s , t h e m i n i n g of coal w a s o n a s m a l l s c a l e for local
' l a n d - s a l e ' o n l y , a r e s u l t o f t h e fact t h a t c a r r y i n g t h e c o a l b y h o r s e
a n d cart for 10 or 12 m i l e s w o u l d m o r e t h a n d o u b l e its p i t - h e a d
cost.
M a j o r s o u r c e s o f e m p l o y m e n t , o t h e r t h a n in a g r i c u l t u r e a n d c o a l
m i n i n g , w e r e l a r g e l y l i n k e d to t h e m o v e m e n t o f c o a l . M a n y h u n d r e d s
w e r e e m p l o y e d in t h e w a g g o n h a u l a g e f r o m t h e collieries to t h e rivers
a n d m a n y m o r e , t h e k e e l m e n , in t h e m o v e m e n t o f t h e c o a l b y k e e l
or b a r g e d o w n river t o t h e a n c h o r a g e p o i n t s w h e r e it c o u l d b e l o a d e d
o n to t h e w a i t i n g colliers for t r a n s p o r t s o u t h . T h e r e g r e w u p as a
r e s u l t s m a l l tight c o m m u n i t i e s o f k e e l m e n a n d e v e n l a r g e r o n e s of
s e a m e n , as at S o u t h S h i e l d s , w i t h all t h e p r o b l e m s a t t a c h e d t o h a v i n g
t h e m e n e m p l o y e d in a h i g h l y d a n g e r o u s o c c u p a t i o n w h i c h k e p t t h e m
a w a y f r o m h o m e for w e e k s at a t i m e . T h e size o f t h e c o m m u n i t y
of s e a m e n in t h e m i d - e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y c a n n o t b e g i v e n a c c u r a t e l y
but m a y be estimated from the k n o w l e d g e that m o r e than a million
t o n s o f c o a l w e r e s h i p p e d a n n u a l l y f r o m t h e T y n e a n d W e a r in colliers

The north-east 421
w h o s e b u r t h e n p e r h a p s a v e r a g e d 2 0 0 t o n s a n d w h i c h t o o k five m e n
a m o n t h to c o m p l e t e t h e r o u n d trip to L o n d o n .
T h e r e w a s also a g o o d deal of e m p l o y m e n t p r o v i d e d a l o n g t h e rivers
in s e r v i c i n g t h e c o a l t r a d e . Colliers h a d to b e built, w o o d p u r c h a s e d ,
i r o n fittings, r o p e s a n d sails m a d e , w h i l e t h e s h i p s h a d t o b e provi
s i o n e d for t h e i r v o y a g e s . T h e rivers w e r e a l r e a d y t h e h u b of t h e
r e g i o n ' s life a n d activity , w h e r e r a w m a t e r i a l s for m a n u f a c t u r e w e r e
m o s t c h e a p l y o b t a i n e d a n d w h e r e e m p l o y m e n t a n d d e m a n d for m a n u
f a c t u r e s w e r e h i g h . B u t to s a y t h a t is o n l y to m a k e a s t a t e m e n t relative
to t h e rest o f t h e agricultural r e g i o n , for c o n t e m p o r a r y illustrations
s h o w t h e large p a r t o f t h e b a n k s o f t h e T y n e a n d W e a r to b e as n a t u r e
left t h e m w i t h n o i n d u s t r i a l i n t r u s i o n . A p a r t f r o m t h e i r e m p l o y m e n t
activities in s e r v i c i n g t h e c o a l t r a d e t h e river b a n k s also offered
e m p l o y m e n t b a s e d o n u s i n g c o a l - activities w h i c h w o u l d n o t h a v e
e x i s t e d locally b u t for t h e availability of c h e a p c o a l . S a l t , a l t h o u g h
its local o u t p u t w a s a l r e a d y in d e c l i n e b y 1 7 5 0 , w a s m a n u f a c t u r e d
at t h e river m o u t h s b y t h e e v a p o r a t i o n o f s e a w a t e r in l a r g e p a n s
u s i n g p o o r - q u a l i t y a n d s m a l l c o a l s a n d T y n e s i d e , to a g r e a t e r e x t e n t
t h a n W e a r s i d e , w a s b e g i n n i n g to d e v e l o p as a c e n t r e for g l a s s m a n u
facture, a g a i n b a s e d o n local c o a l a n d c h e a p silica b r o u g h t as ballast
in r e t u r n i n g colliers. T h e s e apart, t h e r e g i o n h a d little to offer to t h e
n a t i o n a l e c o n o m y a n d its e x i s t e n c e w a s l a r g e l y i n s u l a r . M o s t e m p l o y
m e n t w a s in craft skills a n d l a b o u r i n g c a p a c i t y w h i c h m e t local d e m a n d
for h o u s i n g , f o o d , c l o t h i n g , h o u s e h o l d g o o d s for t h e c o m f o r t a b l y off
a n d d r i n k for t h e m a j o r i t y . T o g e t h e r w i t h a n d p a r t l y a r e s u l t o f g e o g r a
p h i c a l i s o l a t i o n t h i s h e l p e d to b r e e d a n e n c l o s e d c o m m u n i t y r e l u c t a n t
to m o v e a w a y f r o m t h e r e g i o n a n d initially r e l u c t a n t to a c c e p t
i n c o m e r s , i n s t a n c e d b y t h e r u l e s o f a n u m b e r o f T y n e s i d e crafts in
the early eighteenth century that n o n e of their m e m b e r s should b e
a l l o w e d t o t a k e a S c o t s m a n as a n a p p r e n t i c e .
T h i s p i c t u r e o f t h e r e g i o n a l e c o n o m y in t h e m i d d l e o f t h e e i g h t e e n t h
c e n t u r y is n o t o n e w h i c h s u g g e s t s t h a t t h e n o r t h - e a s t w o u l d p l a y a
m a j o r p a r t in t h e i n d u s t r i a l r e v o l u t i o n , t h e g a t h e r i n g z e p h y r w h i c h
w a s , in t i m e , to s w e e p t h e c o u n t r y . N o t , t h a t is, u n l e s s o n e b e l i e v e s
t h a t i n d u s t r i a l i s a t i o n w a s c a r r i e d o n t h e b a c k o f coal, s t e a m p o w e r
a n d t e c h n o l o g y . B u t , w h i l e t h e r e c a n b e n o d o u b t t h a t t h e s e factors
e n a b l e d t h e e v e n t u a l c o n t i n u a t i o n o f i n d u s t r i a l i s a t i o n in t h e n i n e
t e e n t h c e n t u r y , t h e failure o f t h e n o r t h - e a s t to rise a b o v e t h e rest
of t h e e c o n o m y in t h e late e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y s u r e l y d e n i e s t h e i r t o o
e a r l y s u p r e m a c y . A p a r t f r o m its r e m o t e n e s s f r o m t h e m a j o r a r e a s

422 D. J. R O W E
of the country's population, and even that was partly offset by the
facility of cheap coastal transport, the north-east was, in retrospect,
as well placed in the mid-eighteenth century as any other area to
lead industrialisation. It had trade (a long-established merchanting
tradition), resources (especially coal but also some iron, lead, lime
stone, wool, timber, etc.), existing industrial experience, but it failed
to generate growth, perhaps because of the small size of the local
market. The north-east was ultimately to benefit from the long-run
changes brought by industrialisation, from wood to coal as fuel and
wood to iron as constructional material, but these changes were to
come only slowly in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries,
were to be at high tide in the late nineteenth century and were to
ebb rapidly from 1920.
Perhaps the first and most significant piece of evidence for the slow
growth of the north-east economy in the eighteenth century is that
its population was growing more slowly than the national average.
The regions which we link with industrialisation, however, Lanca
shire, the West Riding of Yorkshire and the Midland counties, had
faster rates of growth than the national average. They attracted
migrant labour and had higher rates of fertility, factors closely asso
ciated with the freedom from old restrictions brought by industrialis
ation. By contrast the picture for Northumberland and Durham is
one of very slow growth and, unless Deane and Cole's detailed figures
1
are wildly inaccurate, slower even than those of most southern agri
cultural counties which had no industrial stimulus. In both counties
the average annual rate of growth of population by natural increase
is given as identical for the period 1781-1800 as for the period 1701-50,
with in each case a rather faster (but still slow relative to the national
position) growth in the decades between those periods. This would
suggest that there was some initial stimulus to population growth
in the early stages of industrialisation after 1750 (when population
began to rise rapidly in the country as a whole) but that it was not
followed through in the north-east. Little or no work has been done
on the region's population in the late eighteenth century, which makes
it impossible to offer any reasons for the slow growth, but there seems
no reason to doubt the accuracy of the figures in relation to those
1
P . Deane and W. A. Cole, British Economic Growth 1688-1959, 2nd edn (Cambridge,
1967), pp. 103 and 115. Their estimates give populations respectively for Durham
and Northumberland; 1701 112,724 and 118,380; 1751 130,091 and 139,011; 1801
165,479 and 162,115.

The north-east 423
for t h e r e s t o f t h e c o u n t r y . E q u a l l y it is difficult t o d o u b t t h e s t a t e m e n t
that a region which s a w rates of natural increase of population m u c h
t h e s a m e as a c o u n t y s u c h as W i l t s h i r e for m o s t o f t h e e i g h t e e n t h
c e n t u r y a n d s l o w e r for t h e crucial last t w o d e c a d e s , w a s little i n v o l v e d
in industrialisation. Indeed, while D e a n e and Cole place Northumber
l a n d a n d D u r h a m in t h e i r c a t e g o r y ' i n d u s t r i a l a n d c o m m e r c i a l ' c o u n
ties, t h i s a t t r i b u t i o n c a n o n l y b e b a s e d o n t h e i r s u b s e q u e n t e x p e r i e n c e
a n d for t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y t h e y w o u l d m o r e a p p r o p r i a t e l y h a v e
b e e n p l a c e d i n t h e ' m i x e d ' if t h e ' a g r i c u l t u r a l ' c a t e g o r y w e r e felt
inappropriate.
W i t h o u t a c o n s i d e r a b l e i n c r e a s e in its p o p u l a t i o n t h e o n l y w a y i n
w h i c h t h e r e g i o n c o u l d h a v e m a d e a significant c o n t r i b u t i o n t o i n d u s
trialisation w a s b y i n c r e a s i n g t h e p e r c a p i t a o u t p u t o f its e x i s t i n g p o p u
l a t i o n . I n e v i t a b l y it is n o t p o s s i b l e t o p r o d u c e r e g i o n a l o u t p u t figures
b u t all t h e e v i d e n c e s u g g e s t s t h a t s u c h a rise i n p r o d u c t i v i t y d i d n o t
occur. T h e r e w e r e n o n e w industries developed in the region, such
as c o t t o n t e x t i l e s i n w h i c h t e c h n o l o g i c a l c h a n g e offered t h e o p p o r
t u n i t y for m a s s i v e i n c r e a s e i n p e r c a p i t a o u t p u t f r o m t h e l a b o u r f o r c e .
M o r e o v e r , t h e e x i s t i n g i n d u s t r i a l activities i n t h e n o r t h - e a s t w e r e n o t
o n e s i n w h i c h m a r k e d t e c h n o l o g i c a l c h a n g e o c c u r r e d . It is a c o m m o n
place that the coal industry g r e w b y m o r e extensive m e t h o d s until
the early twentieth century and, although this observation m a y b e
d u e t o g r e a t e r c o n c e n t r a t i o n o n t h e m e t h o d o f p r o d u c t i o n at t h e c o a l
face t h a n is strictly j u s t i f i e d , it is u n l i k e l y t o b e far f r o m t h e m a r k .
T h e G r e a t N o r t h e r n coalfield w a s a l r e a d y o r g a n i s e d o n a n a d v a n c e d
c o m m e r c i a l a n d t e c h n o l o g i c a l b a s i s b y 1 7 5 0 . T h e u s e o f m o r e efficient
steam engines a n d d e v e l o p m e n t s in w a g g o n w a y technology there
after are u n l i k e l y t o h a v e m a d e d r a m a t i c i n c r e a s e s in o u t p u t p e r h e a d
of t h e total c o l l i e r y l a b o u r f o r c e . If t h a t is t r u e o f t h e r e g i o n ' s m o s t
significant i n d u s t r y , t h e n it is difficult t o s e e t h a t t h e r e c o u l d h a v e
b e e n sufficient c h a n g e s in t e c h n o l o g y e l s e w h e r e i n t h e r e g i o n ' s activi
ties t o h a v e affected total o u t p u t . M o r e o v e r , w h a t e v e r h a p p e n e d t o
t h e total w o r k effort o f t h e l a b o u r f o r c e in t h e p e r i o d o f i n d u s t r i a l i s a t i o n
( a n d it is b y n o m e a n s c e r t a i n t h a t total h o u r s a n d / o r i n t e n s i t y o f
w o r k i n c r e a s e d a s a w h o l e ) t h e r e is n o r e a s o n t o b e l i e v e t h a t t h e r e
w a s a n i n c r e a s e w h i c h specifically affected t h e n o r t h - e a s t .
If w e l o o k at t h e p a t t e r n o f i n d u s t r i a l g r o w t h i n t h e r e g i o n o v e r
t h e t h r e e - q u a r t e r s o f a c e n t u r y after 1 7 5 0 it will c l e a r l y r e i n f o r c e t h e
p i c t u r e o f g r o w t h , b u t g r o w t h in r e s p o n s e t o w h a t is h a p p e n i n g e l s e
w h e r e in the country rather than a n y innovative d e v e l o p m e n t which

424 D. J . R O W E
w o u l d lift t h e r a t e o f g r o w t h o f t h e e c o n o m y as a w h o l e . T h e m o s t
o b v i o u s a r e a in w h i c h t h e r e s t o f t h e c o u n t r y r e q u i r e d t h e n o r t h - e a s t
w a s for its ability to s u p p l y c o a l . F o r m o s t o f t h i s p e r i o d t h e m a j o r
d e m a n d w a s for d o m e s t i c c o n s u m p t i o n for h e a t i n g p u r p o s e s a n d t h i s
w a s the prime factor b e h i n d L o n d o n d e m a n d w h i c h d o m i n a t e d north
e a s t e r n s h i p m e n t s . L o n d o n ' s p o p u l a t i o n g r e w r a p i d l y a n d its i n h a b i
t a n t s w e r e i n c r e a s i n g l y m a k i n g u s e o f c o a l fires b u t t h e r e w a s also
a r i s i n g d e m a n d for m e t a l l u r g i c a l m a n u f a c t u r e a n d for s t e a m r a i s i n g .
It is e a s y t o f o r g e t t h a t L o n d o n w a s t h e c o u n t r y ' s m a j o r i n d u s t r i a l
c e n t r e at t h i s t i m e w i t h n u m e r o u s n o n - f e r r o u s m e t a l w o r k s , f o u n d r i e s
a n d i n d u s t r i e s s u c h as b r e w i n g w h i c h w e r e i n c r e a s i n g l y u s i n g s t e a m
p o w e r . A s a result, coal s h i p m e n t s from the north-east rose from
a b o u t 1.2 m i l l i o n t o n s in 1 7 5 0 to 2 . 2 5 m i l l i o n t o n s in 1 8 0 0 a n d 4 . 2 5
million tons b y 1830. This w a s a rate of growth w h i c h considerably
exceeded that of the national growth of population and therefore
reflected b o t h m o r e intensive a n d extensive u s e of coal. G i v e n the
l i m i t a t i o n s o n t e c h n o l o g i c a l c h a n g e in t h e i n d u s t r y it m e a n t a n e x t e n
s i o n o f d e m a n d for c o a l - m i n i n g l a b o u r a n d a w i d e n i n g o f t h e g e o
g r a p h i c a l a r e a o f t h e e x p l o i t e d coalfield ( a l t h o u g h m o r e effective s t e a m
p u m p s did m e a n t h a t a n u m b e r o f f l o o d e d T y n e s i d e collieries c o u l d
be de-watered, reopened and deeper seams exploited). Employment
statistics for t h i s p e r i o d are m e r e s p e c u l a t i o n s b u t a figure o f 1 3 , 5 0 0
for c o a l - m i n i n g e m p l o y m e n t in N o r t h u m b e r l a n d a n d D u r h a m i n 1 8 0 0
h a s b e e n s u g g e s t e d , w h i c h (if l a t e r n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y l e v e l s o f a b o u t
4 0 p e r c e n t o f t o t a l p o p u l a t i o n i n t h e l a b o u r force h e l d for t h i s earlier
d a t e ) w o u l d i m p l y t h a t a b o u t 1 0 p e r c e n t of t h e e c o n o m i c a l l y a c t i v e
p o p u l a t i o n w a s e m p l o y e d in c o a l m i n i n g . B y 1 8 5 1 t h e c e n s u s n o t e d
s o m e 4 1 , 0 0 0 w h o s e o c c u p a t i o n s w e r e r e t u r n e d as i n c o a l m i n i n g , a b o u t
14 p e r c e n t o f t h e total e m p l o y e d p o p u l a t i o n , a l t h o u g h t h e s e figures
c o n s i d e r a b l y u n d e r e s t i m a t e t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f coal m i n i n g s i n c e t h e
c e n s u s l i s t e d m a n y l a b o u r e r s , s o m e o f w h o m will h a v e b e e n i n v o l v e d
2
in c o l l i e r y w o r k . A l r e a d y b y t h e e a r l y p a r t o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y
it is c l e a r t h a t t h e r e g i o n w a s m o v i n g t o w a r d s a p o s i t i o n in w h i c h
a f e w i n d u s t r i e s w o u l d h a v e a r e m a r k a b l e d o m i n a n c e in its i n d u s t r i a l
s t r u c t u r e . T h e g r o w t h o f c o a l m i n i n g w a s a l s o e x t e n d i n g t h e differen
tiation o f t h e l a b o u r f o r c e . E a r l y c o a l w o r k i n g s h a d h a d to b e n e a r
2
D . J . Rowe, 'Occupations in Northumberland and Durham 1851-1911', Northern His
tory, 8 (1973), pp. 119-31. The census used an occupational and not an industrial
classification - apart from some labourers the figures also exclude some colliery
workers employed in the transport of coal.

The north-east 425
t h e river b a n k s or i n l a n d c e n t r e s o f p o p u l a t i o n in o r d e r to b e v i a b l e .
A s a r e s u l t t h e p i t m e n w e r e p a r t o f or c l o s e l y l i n k e d t o t h e u r b a n
c o m m u n i t i e s . I n c r e a s i n g l y as o u t p u t e x p a n d e d t h e p i t m e n b e g a n to
live in m o r e i s o l a t e d c o m m u n i t i e s a n d a n e w i m a g e of t h e m b e g a n
to b u i l d u p , a s o m e w h a t f r i g h t e n i n g o n e to m a n y city d w e l l e r s .
O t h e r t h a n t h e rise o f c o a l m i n i n g in r e s p o n s e to d e m a n d in o t h e r
p a r t s o f t h e c o u n t r y t h e r e g i o n s a w little n o t a b l e c h a n g e in t h e p e r i o d
t o 1 8 2 5 . T h e salt i n d u s t r y w i t h e r e d a n d d i e d b y 1 8 0 0 as c o m p e t i t i o n
f r o m C h e s h i r e r o c k salt d e v e l o p e d . T h e steel i n d u s t r y , in w h i c h T y n e
side d o m i n a t e d a v e r y s m a l l total B r i t i s h o u t p u t in 1 7 5 0 , s t a g n a t e d
w h i l e o u t p u t in Sheffield r e s p o n d e d to t h e g r o w t h in n a t i o n a l d e m a n d
a n d e c l i p s e d T y n e s i d e p r o d u c t i o n . O f t h e s e t w o e x a m p l e s o f failure
t h e first m i g h t b e a t t r i b u t e d t o fortuitous g e o g r a p h i c a l f e a t u r e s a n d
b e the disappearance of an unimportant pre-industrial sector. L o n g
t e r m , h o w e v e r , l a c k o f local salt w a s to b e a significant factor in t h e
d e c l i n e o f t h e c h e m i c a l i n d u s t r y o n T y n e s i d e a n d W e a r s i d e a n d its
b e i n g o v e r t a k e n b y T e e s s i d e a n d M e r s e y s i d e . T h e relative d e c l i n e
in t h e T y n e s i d e s t e e l i n d u s t r y is m o r e significant. A l t h o u g h as y e t
o n t h e fringes o f t h e m a j o r m e t a l l u r g i c a l d e m a n d s o f t h e p e r i o d , s t e e l
w a s c l e a r l y w i t h i n t h e a r e a o f o u t p u t in w h i c h t h e i n d u s t r i a l r e v o l u t i o n
w a s p r o c e e d i n g . T h a t T y n e s i d e w i t h a n initial a d v a n t a g e c o u l d n o t
s u s t a i n it, p o i n t s to s o m e failure in t h e local e c o n o m y t o r e s p o n d
to industrial growth (especially since T y n e s i d e w a s m u c h better placed
t h a n Sheffield to r e c e i v e t h e i m p o r t s o f b a r i r o n f r o m S w e d e n w h i c h
w e r e u s e d in s t e e l m a n u f a c t u r e ) . It h a s to b e a failure o f e n t r e p r e n e u r -
s h i p o n T y n e s i d e a n d s u c c e s s f u l r e c o g n i t i o n o f future m a r k e t e x p a n
s i o n b y Sheffield e n t r e p r e n e u r s w h i c h w a s r e s p o n s i b l e for s u c h a
change.
A l o n g s i d e t h e s e failures, t h e a r e a s in w h i c h t h e n o r t h - e a s t m a d e
a n a t i o n a l i m p a c t b y 1 8 2 5 are l i m i t e d a n d h a r d l y o f d r a m a t i c signifi
c a n c e for e c o n o m i c g r o w t h . T h e m o s t o b v i o u s is t h e g l a s s i n d u s t r y ,
in w h i c h t h e r e g i o n did capitalise o n its earlier i n v o l v e m e n t . B y 1 8 2 5
Tyneside and Wearside together were probably the largest single pro
d u c e r o f g l a s s in total ( b r o a d , c r o w n , flint a n d b o t t l e ) in t h e c o u n t r y .
G l a s s c o n s u m p t i o n n a t i o n a l l y w a s , h o w e v e r , insufficiently large for
t h e local i n d u s t r y to h a v e significant i m p a c t o n e m p l o y m e n t . T h e
remaining areas of regional e m p l o y m e n t continued to b e those w h i c h
s e r v i c e d t h e c o a l i n d u s t r y ( a n d its g r o w t h m e a n t t h e i r e x p a n s i o n in
a r e a s s u c h as r o p e m a k i n g ) a n d t h o s e w h i c h p r o v i d e d for t h e n e e d s
of t h e l o c a l p o p u l a t i o n . I n 1 8 2 5 , o t h e r t h a n its s h i p m e n t o f coal, t h e

426 D. J . R O W E
r e g i o n r e m a i n e d l a r g e l y a n i n s u l a r e c o n o m y , little affected b y i n d u s
trial c h a n g e a n d little affecting t h a t c h a n g e .
1825-1920
E v e n b e f o r e t h e s e c o n d q u a r t e r o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y t h e r e is
s o m e evidence that the north-east w a s b e g i n n i n g to catch u p with
the growth rates of m o r e a d v a n c e d areas in the country. In terms
of p o p u l a t i o n , for i n s t a n c e , t h e r a t e o f g r o w t h for N o r t h u m b e r l a n d
a n d D u r h a m w a s o n l y s l i g h t l y b e l o w t h e n a t i o n a l a v e r a g e for t h e
p e r i o d 1 8 0 1 - 3 0 a n d t h a t for D u r h a m a l o n e w a s s l i g h t l y h i g h e r , reflect
ing the greater impact of coal m i n i n g there t h a n in N o r t h u m b e r l a n d .
N e v e r t h e l e s s , it is c l e a r t h a t it is o n l y f r o m a b o u t 1 8 2 5 t h a t t h e r e g i o n
b e g a n t o m a k e a d i s t i n c t i v e c o n t r i b u t i o n . A f t e r 1 8 2 1 its r a t e o f g r o w t h
of p o p u l a t i o n w a s i n e x c e s s o f t h a t o f t h e n a t i o n a l a v e r a g e i n e v e r y
3
decade u p to the e n d of the c e n t u r y . County Durham grew most
rapidly, i n s o m e d e c a d e s its r a t e o f g r o w t h b e i n g at l e a s t t w i c e t h e
n a t i o n a l a v e r a g e , f r o m 1 5 0 , 0 0 0 i n 1 8 0 1 t o a l m o s t 1.2 m i l l i o n i n 1 9 0 1
w h i l e N o r t h u m b e r l a n d ' s p o p u l a t i o n g r e w at a b o u t t h e n a t i o n a l a v e r
a g e ( e x c e p t for t h e last t w o d e c a d e s o f t h e c e n t u r y w h e n it g r e w v e r y
r a p i d l y w i t h t h e o p e n i n g o f t h e A s h i n g t o n a r e a o f t h e coalfield), f r o m
170,000 to 600,000. Increasingly the geographical distribution of popu
lation w a s along the margins of the rivers. T h e north T y n e s i d e belt
a c c o u n t e d for 3 6 p e r c e n t o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n o f N o r t h u m b e r l a n d in
1801 a n d 6 1 per cent in 1 9 0 1 . This w a s t h e m o s t m a r k e d e x a m p l e
i n t h e r e g i o n s i n c e t h e r e s t o f N o r t h u m b e r l a n d s a w little i n d u s t r i a l
growth and, therefore, increase in e m p l o y m e n t opportunities, while
p o p u l a t i o n i n m a n y rural a r e a s b e g a n t o d e c l i n e f r o m t h e m i d - n i n e
teenth century. T o a lesser extent, however, the example of north
Tyneside was repeated on south Tyneside and, of course, Teesside,
e a c h a r e a i n c r e a s i n g its p r o p o r t i o n o f t h e t o t a l p o p u l a t i o n o f C o u n t y
D u r h a m at t h e e x p e n s e o f t h e r u r a l h i n t e r l a n d . T h e n o r t h - e a s t b e c a m e ,
therefore, very heavily d e p e n d e n t o n urban dwelling, the distinction
b e t w e e n industrial a n d rural areas b e c o m i n g very m a r k e d , especially
in N o r t h u m b e r l a n d .
P o p u l a t i o n g r o w t h w a s chiefly a r e s u l t o f a r i s i n g r a t e o f n a t u r a l
i n c r e a s e (a r e s u l t a l m o s t c e r t a i n l y o f b o t h r i s i n g b i r t h r a t e s a n d falling
death rates) as c o m p a r e d with the late eighteenth-century position,
3
D . J . Rowe, 'Population of Nineteenth Century Tyneside', in N. McCord, ed., Essays
in Tyneside Labour History (Newcastle upon Tyne, 1977), p. 21.

The north-east 427
b u t g r o w t h w a s also facilitated b y i n w a r d m i g r a t i o n at c e r t a i n t i m e s .
M i g r a t i o n n e v e r a c c o u n t e d for m o r e t h a n o n e t h i r d o f t h e r e g i o n ' s
p o p u l a t i o n g r o w t h in a n y i n t e r - c e n s a l p e r i o d , a l t h o u g h it a l m o s t
r e a c h e d t h a t l e v e l b e t w e e n 1 8 6 1 a n d 1 8 7 1 a n d w a s n o t far s h o r t in
t h e p r e v i o u s d e c a d e . I n t h e s e d e c a d e s e m p l o y m e n t o p p o r t u n i t i e s in
n o r t h - e a s t i n d u s t r y really t o o k off a n d c o u l d n o t b e filled b y t h e r i s e
of t h e i n d i g e n o u s p o p u l a t i o n . F o r m a n y p a r t s o f t h e r e g i o n , o f c o u r s e ,
m i g r a t i o n w a s m u c h m o r e i m p o r t a n t in p a r t i c u l a r p e r i o d s - t h e n e w
t o w n s s u c h as M i d d l e s b r o u g h a n d W e s t H a r t l e p o o l a n d t h e colliery
villages - a n d p o l y g l o t (at l e a s t in t e r m s o f a c c e n t ) c o m m u n i t i e s d e v e
loped. Inevitably these communities attracted y o u n g m e n because
o f t h e i r e m p l o y m e n t o p p o r t u n i t i e s a n d r e s e m b l e d frontier c o m m u n i
t i e s . T h e y h a d h i g h p r o p o r t i o n s o f m e n t o w o m e n ; in 1 8 7 1 D u r h a m
h a d 9 4 1 f e m a l e s p e r 1,000 m a l e s ( t h e l o w e s t o f a n y c o u n t y ) a g a i n s t
a n a v e r a g e for E n g l a n d a n d W a l e s o f 1,052. A s a r e s u l t t h e m a r r i a g e
rate w a s h i g h a n d t h e r e w a s a v e r y l o w p r o p o r t i o n o f w o m e n o f m a r
riageable age unmarried. A c o n s e q u e n c e of the low average age of
t h e p o p u l a t i o n in t h e t h i r d q u a r t e r o f t h e c e n t u r y w a s v e r y h i g h b i r t h
r a t e s w h i c h r e m a i n e d h i g h w h e n t h e n a t i o n a l rate w a s falling a n d
m a i n t a i n e d p o p u l a t i o n g r o w t h at a h i g h level u p to t h e t u r n o f t h e
century.
I n d i s s o l u b l y l i n k e d w i t h p o p u l a t i o n c h a n g e w a s r a p i d g r o w t h in
t h e r e g i o n ' s i n d u s t r i a l e c o n o m y . C o a l o u t p u t s o a r e d to s o m e 5 6 m i l l i o n
t o n s b y 1 9 1 3 o n t h e b a c k o f a n e c o n o m y w h i c h w a s at last d e p e n d e n t
o n t h e fruits o f e i g h t e e n t h - c e n t u r y i n d u s t r i a l i s a t i o n - s t e a m p o w e r
a n d i r o n t e c h n o l o g y - a n d a l s o w i t h a large i n c r e a s e in e x p o r t s o f
coal. A s a result of the extension of the w a g g o n w a y network, with
the development of railways (using stationary and then locomotive
s t e a m e n g i n e s ) , t h e w h o l e o f t h e coalfield w a s g r a d u a l l y o p e n e d u p .
T h e a r e a s w h i c h b e n e f i t e d w e r e s o u t h - w e s t D u r h a m , s e n d i n g its coal
t o t h e T e e s f r o m 1 8 2 5 a n d later f r o m W e s t H a r t l e p o o l ; e a s t D u r h a m ,
g r a d u a l l y e x p a n d i n g f r o m 1 8 2 2 , w h e n H e t t o n colliery w a s o p e n e d ,
a n d c u l m i n a t i n g in t h e s i n k i n g o f t h e c o a s t a l collieries in t h e late n i n e
teenth century; and south-east Northumberland, with the opening
of m a n y o f t h e collieries in t h e A s h i n g t o n - B e d l i n g t o n a r e a after 1 8 5 0 .
T h e r e s u l t w a s t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f a n u m b e r o f colliery t o w n s , s u c h
as A s h i n g t o n , a n d m a n y m o r e v i l l a g e s w i t h p o p u l a t i o n s o f p e r h a p s
5,000, w h i c h w e r e largely or completely d o m i n a t e d b y coal mining.
W h i l e t h e r e w e r e d e v e l o p m e n t s in o t h e r p a r t s o f t h e c o u n t r y , t h e r e
c a n b e little d o u b t t h a t t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n o f r a i l w a y s o w e d a g r e a t d e a l

428 D. J. R O W E
to e x p e r i m e n t a t i o n i n t h e n o r t h - e a s t , b y a n u m b e r o f c o l l i e r y ' e n g i n
e e r s ' o f w h o m G e o r g e S t e p h e n s o n is t h e b e s t k n o w n . Initially t h e y
applied stationary s t e a m p o w e r to w i n d i n g sets of w a g g o n s b y rope
u p i n c l i n e s , e n a b l i n g w a g g o n w a y s t o t a k e m o r e direct r o u t e s t o t h e
rivers, w h i c h h o r s e h a u l a g e c o u l d n o t m a n a g e . T r a n s p o r t o f c o a l w a s
speeded up and cost reduced. T h e n followed the introduction of loco
motive haulage a n d from the early 1820s several composite railways
w e r e built, u s i n g h o r s e s , s t a t i o n a r y a n d l o c o m o t i v e e n g i n e s , f r o m
t h e collieries direct t o t h e p o r t s r a t h e r t h a n t o t h e r i v e r b a n k s like
t h e o l d w a g g o n w a y s . A m i n o r p o i n t , p e r h a p s , b u t it r e f l e c t e d t h e
c h a n g e s w h i c h w e r e overtaking the r e g i o n ' s established activities.
R a i l w a y s w e r e t o p r o v i d e a n e w g r o w t h p o i n t for t h e r e g i o n . F o r
a t i m e in t h e 1 8 2 0 s R o b e r t S t e p h e n s o n & C o . o f N e w c a s t l e w a s t h e
o n l y m a n u f a c t u r e r o f l o c o m o t i v e e n g i n e s i n t h e c o u n t r y . Its e x a m p l e
w a s s o o n f o l l o w e d b y R . & W . H a w t h o r n in N e w c a s t l e , w h i l e t h e
B e d l i n g t o n I r o n W o r k s built u p t o a c l a i m e d e m p l o y m e n t p e a k o f
2 , 0 0 0 , l a r g e l y o n t h e b a s e o f s u p p l y i n g w r o u g h t - i r o n rails a n d o t h e r
fittings for r a i l w a y s as w e l l as s o m e l o c o m o t i v e s . I n t h e s o u t h o f t h e
region the railway expansion o n T e e s s i d e led not only to the setting
u p of w o r k s b y t h e r a i l w a y c o m p a n i e s , as at S h i l d o n , b u t a l s o t o
demand for i r o n s u p p l i e s met by the development o f firms in
Darlington, Stockton and other towns.
A s i r o n b e c a m e m o r e i m p o r t a n t , for a m y r i a d o f u s e s b e y o n d t h e
r a i l w a y s , it w a s i n e v i t a b l e t h a t a r e g i o n s o w e l l e n d o w e d in c o a l w o u l d
d e v e l o p in i r o n m a n u f a c t u r e , h o w e v e r l i m i t e d t h e local availability
of i r o n o r e . B o t h c o u n t i e s h a d s e e n earlier a t t e m p t s t o d e v e l o p t h e
industry and a n u m b e r of n e w , isolated works was established around
t h e 1 8 3 0 s at p l a c e s like R i d s d a l e i n N o r t h u m b e r l a n d a n d B i r t l e y in
D u r h a m . All w e r e b a s e d o n r e l a t i v e l y i n s i g n i f i c a n t l o c a l s o u r c e s o f
iron ore and, despite the d e v e l o p m e n t of the D e r w e n t Iron W o r k s
at C o n s e t t d u r i n g t h e 1 8 4 0 s t o b e c o m e o n e o f t h e l a r g e s t i n t h e c o u n t r y ,
t h e r e g i o n w a s a n i n s i g n i f i c a n t p r o d u c e r . T h e c h a n g e c a m e in t h e
1850s w i t h t h e e x p l o i t a t i o n o f t h e h u g e d e p o s i t s o f i r o n o r e in t h e
Cleveland Hills. F r o m an output of less t h a n 150,000 tons of pig iron
in 1 8 5 0 ( a r o u n d 5 p e r c e n t o f B r i t i s h o u t p u t ) , t h e r e g i o n w a s p r o d u c i n g
2 million t o n s , a l m o s t o n e t h i r d o f n a t i o n a l o u t p u t b y t h e e a r l y 1 8 7 0 s .
This development, not the impact of railway-borne coal in the 1830s,
really c a u s e d t h e d r a m a t i c growth of Middlesbrough, 'the iron
masters' t o w n ' , from a population of 7,000 in 1851 to 70,000 in 1891.
O n the base of local supplies of iron the shipbuilding industry w a s

The north-east 429
t o e x p a n d . T h e T y n e a n d W e a r h a d for l o n g b e e n significant p r o d u c e r s
o f w o o d e n v e s s e l s , e s p e c i a l l y colliers, a n d i n t h e 1 8 3 0 s it w a s c l a i m e d
that the W e a r produced a bigger output than any other shipbuilding
port. T h e vessels were, h o w e v e r , small a n d traditional a n d the change
in s i g n i f i c a n c e r e a l l y c a m e w i t h t h e s w i t c h t o i r o n s h i p b u i l d i n g , gain
i n g g r o u n d in t h e 1 8 5 0 s o n t h e T y n e a n d b e c o m i n g p r e - e m i n e n t in
the region from the mid-1860s. T o Charles M a r k P a l m e r ' s iron-hulled,
s t e a m - p o w e r e d , w a t e r - b a l l a s t colliers f r o m 1 8 5 2 m a y g o t h e p a l m for
the most obvious e m b l e m of the change, but there were precursors
and others w h o played a major role, including migrant shipbuilders
s u c h as A n d r e w L e s l i e f r o m A b e r d e e n . M a n y firms d e v e l o p e d o n
each of the three rivers, producing a wide range of vessels from war
s h i p s t o oil t a n k e r s w i t h t h e r e s u l t t h a t w h i l e n o r t h - e a s t e r n yards
p r o d u c e d l e s s t h a n 2 0 p e r c e n t o f B r i t i s h o u t p u t i n t h e late 1 8 5 0 s
t h e y p r o d u c e d m o r e t h a n 5 0 p e r c e n t in t h e 1 8 9 0 s .
A l o n g w i t h s h i p b u i l d i n g w e n t t h e rise o f g e n e r a l e n g i n e e r i n g as
the use of iron b e c a m e more widespread. E v e n before 1800 there was
s o m e r e g i o n a l b a s e in t h e i n d u s t r y , l i n k e d e s p e c i a l l y t o colliery r e q u i r e
m e n t s . F i r m s s u c h as H a w k s & C o . o f G a t e s h e a d p r o d u c e d a w i d e
r a n g e o f i r o n g o o d s f r o m nails t o a n c h o r s b u t it w a s i n t h e m i d d l e
of t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y t h a t t h e s c o p e c a m e for n o t a b l e e x p a n s i o n
in t h e size a n d n u m b e r s o f firms. F o r g e n e r a l c o n s t r u c t i o n a l w o r k ,
b r i d g e - b u i l d i n g , m a c h i n e p a r t s , w a g g o n s a n d o t h e r c o l l i e r y a n d rail
w a y e q u i p m e n t , a r m a m e n t s a n d s o o n , t h e d e m a n d for iron, a n d
f r o m t h e 1 8 7 0 s s t e e l , p r o d u c t s w a s a l m o s t l i m i t l e s s . L a r g e firms
b e c a m e c o m m o n s u c h as A b b o t s o f G a t e s h e a d a n d H e a d , W r i g h t s o n
& C o . o f T h o r n a b y , w h i l e t h e T y n e b o a s t e d g i a n t i n t e g r a t e d iron
a n d s t e e l , s h i p b u i l d i n g a n d e n g i n e e r i n g firms s u c h as P a l m e r s a n d
A r m s t r o n g s , t h e latter w i t h a n e m p l o y m e n t at E l s w i c k a l o n e e x c e e d i n g
1 0 , 0 0 0 in t h e y e a r s b e f o r e 1 9 1 4 .
It is t h e n really i n t h e s e c o n d h a l f o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y that
t h e n o r t h - e a s t p l a y e d a m a j o r r o l e in t h e n a t i o n ' s g r o w t h . N o r w a s
it l i m i t e d t o c o a l , i r o n a n d s t e e l , s h i p b u i l d i n g a n d e n g i n e e r i n g , s i n c e
there w a s a major contribution from the chemical industries, especially
t h e p r o d u c t i o n o f alkalis i n w h i c h t h e T y n e a c c o u n t e d for u p to 5 0
p e r c e n t o f B r i t i s h o u t p u t in t h e y e a r s a r o u n d m i d - c e n t u r y . E v e n
w i t h i n t h e p e r i o d t o 1 9 2 0 , h o w e v e r , t h e r e w e r e s u g g e s t i o n s o f fragility
in t h e r e g i o n ' s i n d u s t r i a l b a s e a n d p r o s p e r i t y . T h e B e d l i n g t o n I r o n
W o r k s d e c l i n e d f r o m t h e 1 8 5 0 s a n d c l o s e d in 1 8 6 7 , at G a t e s h e a d
Abbots closed in 1909 having had a peak e m p l o y m e n t of 2,000, while

430 D. J . R O W E
t h e similarly s i z e d H a w k s , C r a w s h a y c l o s e d in 1 8 8 9 . O f c o u r s e t h e s e
m a y b e p u t d o w n to e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l failure o r i n a p p r o p r i a t e l o c a t i o n
b u t t h e r e a s o n s a d d u p to a n inability to c o m p e t e a n d w i t h o u t adjust
m e n t t o c h a n g i n g c i r c u m s t a n c e s e v e n t u a l failure w a s i n e v i t a b l e .
Already before 1914 the Tyneside chemical industry had discovered
t h i s fact. It h a d d e c l i n e d i n t o a p a l e s h a d o w o f its f o r m e r self as a
r e s u l t o f t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n e l s e w h e r e o f m o r e efficient m e t h o d s o f
manufacture of h e a v y chemicals. Moreover, b y the early twentieth
c e n t u r y c o m p e t i t i o n w a s n o t o n l y c o m i n g f r o m o t h e r r e g i o n s in B r i t a i n
b u t f r o m a b r o a d a n d t h e n o r t h - e a s t w a s g o i n g t o h a v e to b e in t h e
forefront o f m o d e r n i s a t i o n if its h e a v y i n d u s t r i e s w e r e n o t t o suffer
t h e s a m e fate as t h e c h e m i c a l i n d u s t r y .
1920-50
W h a t e v e r the doubts about rising competition before 1914, they were
stilled b y t h e d e m a n d s o f w a r t i m e p r o d u c t i o n a n d , briefly, b y t h e
p o s t w a r n e e d s o f r e c o n s t r u c t i o n . F r o m 1 9 2 0 , h o w e v e r , d e c l i n e set
in. T h e r e d u c e d ability o f B r i t a i n to s u p p l y for e x p o r t d u r i n g t h e w a r
h a d e n c o u r a g e d m a n y c o u n t r i e s to d e v e l o p t h e i r o w n i n d u s t r i e s t o
m a k e u p for s h i p s , i r o n a n d s t e e l a n d e n g i n e e r i n g p r o d u c t s w h i c h
h a d p r e v i o u s l y c o m e f r o m t h e n o r t h - e a s t . After t h e w a r s u c h c o u n t r i e s
r a i s e d tariff b a r r i e r s t o p r o t e c t t h e i r n e w l y e x p a n d i n g i n d u s t r i e s a n d
m a n y e x p o r t m a r k e t s w e r e p e r m a n e n t l y lost, t h e d e c l i n e in w o r l d
t r a d e r e d u c i n g d e m a n d s for s h i p b u i l d i n g . C o a l , p r e v i o u s l y s e n t f r o m
t h e n o r t h - e a s t t o c o n t i n e n t a l c o u n t r i e s w a s to a c o n s i d e r a b l e e x t e n t
r e p l a c e d b y E u r o p e a n o u t p u t . M o r e o v e r , h o m e d e m a n d in B r i t a i n
w a s n o l o n g e r r i s i n g for m a n y o f t h e s t a p l e p r o d u c t s o f t h e n o r t h - e a s t
a n d c o u l d n o t , t h e r e f o r e , m a k e u p for t h e l o s s o f e x p o r t m a r k e t s .
H o m e d e m a n d for c o a l d i d n o t rise in t h e i n t e r w a r y e a r s as o t h e r
fuels b e g a n t o c o m p e t e . R a i l w a y s suffered f r o m t h e c o m p e t i t i o n o f
t h e i n t e r n a l c o m b u s t i o n e n g i n e a n d , apart f r o m o n e ill-fated v e n t u r e
i n t o a u t o m o b i l e p r o d u c t i o n b y A r m s t r o n g s , t h e e m p l o y m e n t effect
of t h e r i s e o f m o t o r t r a n s p o r t w a s n o t felt in t h e n o r t h - e a s t . I n e v i t a b l y ,
t h e h e a v y , capital g o o d s i n d u s t r i e s w e r e hit m o s t s e r i o u s l y b y t h e
s l u m p s i n c e i n v e s t m e n t fell m o r e s h a r p l y t h a n c o n s u m p t i o n . I n e v i
t a b l y a l s o , t h e n o r t h - e a s t w a s hit m o r e s e r i o u s l y t h a n m a n y o t h e r
p a r t s o f t h e c o u n t r y b e c a u s e o f its c o m m i t m e n t to t h e s t a p l e i n d u s t r i e s
(in 1 9 1 1 a l m o s t o n e h a l f o f total e m p l o y m e n t in C o u n t y D u r h a m l a y
w i t h i n four m a i n i n d u s t r i a l s e c t o r s , coal, s h i p b u i l d i n g , i r o n m a n u f a c
t u r e a n d e n g i n e e r i n g ) . A t t h e p e a k o f i n t e r w a r u n e m p l o y m e n t in 1 9 3 2 ,

The north-east 431
22.7 per cent of the insured labour force w a s u n e m p l o y e d nationally,

b u t 3 7 . 4 p e r c e n t in t h e n o r t h - e a s t , 4 5 . 8 p e r c e n t i n w e s t D u r h a m
4
a n d 6 4 . 3 per cent in S t a n l e y . Villages and towns dependent on
s i n g l e i n d u s t r i e s , s u c h a s J a r r o w o n s h i p b u i l d i n g , w e r e w o r s t hit b u t
the interlocking nature of the heavy industries reinforced the decline
in d e m a n d a n d t h e d r o p i n e a r n i n g s a m o n g t h e i r e m p l o y e e s i n e v i t a b l y
led to d e c l i n e s i n e x p e n d i t u r e o n c o n s u m e r g o o d s .
O f c o u r s e t h e d e c l i n e in t h e s t a p l e i n d u s t r i e s w a s n o t t h e w h o l e
story of the interwar years. N e w industries developed and with t h e m
n e w e m p l o y m e n t opportunities. O n e area into which the north-east
b e g a n to diversify at t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y w a s e l e c t r i
cal e n g i n e e r i n g a n d , d e s p i t e t h e l o c a l d o m i n a n c e o f c o a l a n d g a s for
fuel, p o w e r a n d l i g h t , b e f o r e 1 9 1 4 t h e r e g i o n h a d d e v e l o p e d t h e b e s t
organised provision of electricity supply in the country. L i n k e d to
this w e n t the manufacture of electrical generating e q u i p m e n t a n d t w o
firms, A . R e y r o l l e & C o . at H e b b u r n a n d C . A . P a r s o n s & C o . at
H e a t o n , m a d e significant c o n t r i b u t i o n s to n e w e m p l o y m e n t o n T y n e -
s i d e . I n d e e d at H e b b u r n , n e x t d o o r to E l l e n W i l k i n s o n ' s d e p r e s s e d
Jarrow, the existence of typical estates of o w n e r - o c c u p i e d semi
d e t a c h e d h o u s e s built in the mid-1930s, points to the prosperity w h i c h
c a m e to s o m e , e v e n o n depressed T y n e s i d e . At the other e n d of the
region, o n T e e s s i d e , the rise of t h e chemical industry with I C I ' s devel
o p m e n t at B i l l i n g h a m is a n o t h e r p o i n t e r t o d i v e r s i f i c a t i o n . O v e r a l l ,
h o w e v e r , t h e n e w j o b o p p o r t u n i t i e s c o u l d d o little t o offset t h e m a s s i v e
declines in old areas. In 1923 the coal-mining labour force p e a k e d
at 1 7 0 , 0 0 0 i n C o u n t y D u r h a m b u t i n t h e late 1 9 3 0 s it r a n at n o t m u c h
over 100,000.
O n e result of m a s s u n e m p l o y m e n t w a s h u g e migration a w a y from
the north-east with the y o u n g , active adults p r e d o m i n a t i n g in the
m o v e m e n t and without their presence m a n y communities appeared
e v e n m o r e d e p r e s s e d a n d lacking a future. B e t w e e n 1921 a n d 1931
the north-east had net outward migration of almost 200,000, approxi
5
m a t e l y 8 p e r c e n t o f its 1 9 2 1 p o p u l a t i o n . The region which had
been growing more rapidly than the national average abruptly
c h a n g e d direction. T h e overall population of the north-east, w h i c h
h a d increased b y 1 million b e t w e e n 1881 and 1921, rose b y only 100,000
4
G. H. Daysh etal., Tnter-War Unemployment in West Durham 1929-39', in M. Bulmer,
ed., Mining and Social Change: Durham County in the Twentieth Century (1978), p. 143.
5
J. W . House, North-Eastern England: Population Movements and the Landscape since the
Early Nineteenth Century (King's College, Newcastle upon Tyne, Department of
Geography, research series 1,1954), p. 56.

432 D. J . R O W E
to 2 . 5 m i l l i o n i n 1 9 5 1 . T o w n s j u s t c e a s e d t o g r o w , w h i c h at l e a s t g a v e
t h e m a respite from the rapid increase of their environmental prob
lems.
A s e c o n d result of m a s s u n e m p l o y m e n t w a s a h u g e increase in
t h e d e p r i v a t i o n w h i c h a l r e a d y e x i s t e d in t h e r e g i o n . S u r v e y after sur
vey s h o w e d the demoralising impact of long-term u n e m p l o y m e n t and
in a n a r e a w h e r e j o b s w e r e d i s a p p e a r i n g m o r e r a p i d l y t h a n t h e y w e r e
being replaced (because the r e g i o n ' s industrial structure w a s out of
d a t e ) , it w a s i n e v i t a b l e t h a t u n e m p l o y m e n t w o u l d b e l o n g t e r m for
the older m e n , the less than dynamic and those w h o were merely
c o n s e r v a t i v e a n d h o m e - l o v i n g . T h e w o r s t effects o f l o n g - t e r m u n e m
p l o y m e n t w e r e s e e n in t h e o n e - i n d u s t r y t o w n s a n d e s p e c i a l l y i n t h e
colliery v i l l a g e s . A t C r o o k i n 1 9 3 6 t h e P i l g r i m T r u s t o b s e r v e r s f o u n d
t h a t 7 1 p e r c e n t o f t h e u n e m p l o y e d h a d h a d n o w o r k for t h e p r e v i o u s
five y e a r s b u t t h e y n e v e r t h e l e s s felt t h a t ' t h e " a t m o s p h e r e " i n t h e
6
h o m e s v i s i t e d in C r o o k w a s m o r e s a t i s f a c t o r y t h a n a n y w h e r e e l s e ' .
R e f e r e n c e w a s m a d e t o t h e s t r e n g t h o f f a m i l y life i n C r o o k ( e v e n
m o r e n o t i c e a b l y t h a n i n t h e R h o n d d a ) as a factor i n l i m i t i n g t h e i n s i
d i o u s effects o f u n e m p l o y m e n t , w h i l e t h e w o r k i n g m e n ' s c l u b s a n d
a l l o t m e n t s (this w a s t h e t i m e o f t h e r i s e o f t h e l e e k c o m p e t i t i o n ) m a d e
m a j o r c o n t r i b u t i o n s to stability. T h e r e w a s a s e n s e o f s o l i d a r i t y in
depression, w h i c h m u s t have contributed to the rising d o m i n a n c e
of t h e L a b o u r p a r t y i n C o u n t y D u r h a m a n d w h i c h c a r r i e d o v e r i n t o
t h e m o r e r e c e n t p e r i o d . It is s o m e t i m e s a s if t h e n o r t h - e a s t a c t u a l l y
t h r i v e s o n a n d e n j o y s d e p r i v a t i o n , if o n l y to s c o r n t h e ' s o f t - l i v i n g '
in ' t h e s o u t h ' .
Within a couple of years of the c o m m e n c e m e n t of the S e c o n d World
W a r the p r o b l e m of u n e m p l o y m e n t h a d disappeared, actually to b e
r e p l a c e d b y s h o r t a g e s o f l a b o u r a n d t h e n e e d for m o r e c o a l m i n e r s .
T h e r e g i o n ' s industries w e r e o n c e m o r e in d e m a n d a n d this position
c o n t i n u e d , e v e n m o r e s u r p r i s i n g l y , after t h e w a r w a s o v e r a n d o n
into the mid-1950s. This was less a result of the much-heralded govern
m e n t c o m m i t m e n t to full e m p l o y m e n t a n d r e g i o n a l p o l i c y t h a n to
r a p i d l y r i s i n g w o r l d t r a d e a n d g r o w t h o f n e w i n d u s t r i a l d e m a n d at
home as y e t little affected b y f o r e i g n c o m p e t i t i o n . Coal-mining
e m p l o y m e n t s t a b i l i s e d at r a t h e r o v e r 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 in C o u n t y Durham,
shipbuilding benefited from h i g h e r d e m a n d t h a n in the 1930s, the
chemical and engineering industries saw new and expanding
6
Pilgrim Trust, Men Without Work (Cambridge, 1938), p. 74.

The north-east 433
d e m a n d s . N e w capital investment in buildings a n d m a c h i n e r y w a s

t h e o r d e r o f t h e d a y a n d t h e n o r t h - e a s t ' s capital g o o d s i n d u s t r i e s
w e r e a n x i o u s t o o b l i g e . U n e m p l o y m e n t in t h e n o r t h - e a s t , still a b o v e
t h e n a t i o n a l a v e r a g e , w a s o n l y a b o u t 1.5 p e r c e n t in t h e m i d - 1 9 5 0 s .
F r o m the e n d of the decade the scene c h a n g e d , h o w e v e r . Competition
f r o m n e w fuels l e d to t h e d e c l i n e o f c o a l ( e m p l o y m e n t in c o a l m i n i n g
in C o u n t y D u r h a m fell b y t h r e e - q u a r t e r s to o n l y 2 5 , 0 0 0 in 1 9 7 6 ) , s h i p
b u i l d i n g a n d t h e n m a n y o t h e r m a n u f a c t u r i n g i n d u s t r i e s felt t h e chill
w i n d of foreign competition and w e n t into decline. In the 1960s
regional policy e n c o u r a g e d industrialists to m o v e to the north-east
a m o n g o t h e r d e p r e s s e d a r e a s b u t t h e r e s u l t s w e r e slight in t h e l o n g
t e r m s i n c e t h e b r a n c h p l a n t s o f n a t i o n a l firms w e r e t h e first to d i s a p
p e a r in t h e c l o s u r e s o f t h e 1 9 7 0 s . C a n t h e future h o l d b e t t e r p r o s p e c t s ?
T h e o u t l o o k s u g g e s t s t h a t it is u n l i k e l y . T h e n o r t h - e a s t r e t a i n s a h i g h e r
proportion of employment in m a n u f a c t u r i n g industry than the
n a t i o n a l a v e r a g e a n d its relative d e p e n d e n c e o n m a n u f a c t u r i n g h a s
b e e n i n c r e a s i n g in r e c e n t y e a r s . G i v e n t h e g r e a t e r volatility o f m a n u
facturing e m p l o y m e n t d u r i n g cyclical d o w n s w i n g s and Britain's
a p p a l l i n g l o n g - r u n r e c o r d in i n d u s t r i a l c o m p e t i t i v e n e s s , s u c h a d e p e n
d e n c e is h a r d l y e n c o u r a g i n g .
Ill REGIONAL CHARACTERISTICS
I n a s i n g l e c h a p t e r it is p o s s i b l e t o d o n o m o r e t h a n o u t l i n e t h e o v e r a l l
development of the region but rather than devote the whole chapter
t o o u t l i n e it s e e m e d w o r t h w h i l e t o p i c k o n a n u m b e r o f c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s
a n d e x a m i n e t h e m in s o m e w h a t g r e a t e r d e p t h . T h e o b v i o u s p o i n t
at i n t e r e s t is t o a t t e m p t t o i s o l a t e t h o s e a s p e c t s o f life in w h i c h t h e
n o r t h - e a s t w a s in s o m e w a y different f r o m t h e rest o f t h e c o u n t r y .
P e r h a p s t h e g e n e r a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o n w h i c h it w o u l d b e p o s s i b l e
t o g e t c l e a r a g r e e m e n t is t h e r e m o t e n e s s o f t h e r e g i o n for m u c h o f
t h e p e r i o d c o v e r e d . T o s o m e e x t e n t t h i s w a s offset b y t h e e x i s t e n c e
of rivers a n d h a r b o u r s w h i c h p r o v i d e d a c c e s s to t h e c h e a p e s t o f c o n
temporary forms of travel before the railways - the sea. But sea jour
n e y s w e r e s l o w a n d d a n g e r o u s in t h e s m a l l s h i p s o f t h e late e i g h t e e n t h
a n d e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r i e s a n d w e r e u s e d o n l y for e s s e n t i a l travel
b y the poor and the transport of h e a v y goods and raw materials.
W a l k i n g apart, l o n g a n d e x p e n s i v e c o a c h j o u r n e y s w e r e t h e o n l y o t h e r
m e t h o d o f r e a c h i n g a r e a s o f civilisation ( s u c h as E d i n b u r g h and
L o n d o n ) a n d o f i n d u s t r i a l d e v e l o p m e n t . I n e v i t a b l y s u c h travel w a s

434 D. J . R O W E
l i m i t e d to t h e w e a l t h y a n d t h e r e c a n b e n o d o u b t t h a t g e o g r a p h i c a l
i s o l a t i o n w a s l e s s o f a n i n h i b i t i n g factor to t h e u p p e r m i d d l e c l a s s e s
a n d g e n t r y t h a n to t h e r e s t . T h e l a r g e f a r m e r s a n d l a n d o w n e r s o f t e n
t r a v e l l e d to a n d c o m m u n i c a t e d w i t h t h e i r f e l l o w s i n o t h e r p a r t s o f
the country. In following the progress of G e o r g e a n d M a t t h e w Culley,
f r o m b e i n g s m a l l f a r m e r s i n s o u t h D u r h a m in t h e 1 7 6 0 s to l a r g e l a n d
o w n e r s a n d t e n a n t s o f t h o u s a n d s o f a c r e s in n o r t h Northumberland
by the early nineteenth century, o n e can see that r e m o t e n e s s , e v e n
of t h e n o r t h o f t h e r e g i o n , w a s n o s e r i o u s b a r for t h o s e w h o w i s h e d
7
to c o m m u n i c a t e . T h e C u l l e y s m a d e a n u m b e r o f a g r i c u l t u r a l t o u r s
a w a y f r o m t h e r e g i o n to e x p l o r e a g r i c u l t u r a l i n n o v a t i o n s , h a d m a n y
visitors from other parts of the country a n d maintained a v o l u m i n o u s
correspondence with farmers and landowners in o t h e r regions.
Nevertheless, the Culleys frequently noted the limited impact which
their considerable contributions to agricultural i m p r o v e m e n t h a d o n
their neighbours. R e m o t e n e s s m a y not have prevented development
for t h o s e w i t h d r i v e a n d initiative b u t it m a y w e l l h a v e h i n d e r e d t h e
spread of the n e w ideas of industrialisation a n d the cultural c h a n g e s
w h i c h c a m e w i t h m o r e w i d e s p r e a d m o b i l i t y e l s e w h e r e in t h e e i g h
teenth century.
Parts of the region, away from the coast, experienced a geographical
r e m o t e n e s s w h i c h h a s h a r d l y c h a n g e d in t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y . T h e
g r o w t h o f l e a d m i n i n g in t h e n o r t h e r n P e n n i n e s in t h e late e i g h t e e n t h
c e n t u r y l e d to t h e r i s e o f v i l l a g e s s u c h as M i d d l e t o n - i n - T e e s d a l e a n d
N e n t h e a d a n d t o s m a l l t o w n s s u c h a s A l s t o n , d e s c r i b e d as t h e h i g h e s t
m a r k e t t o w n i n E n g l a n d . E x i s t e n c e in hilly a r e a s i n e v i t a b l y m e a n t
i s o l a t i o n b e c a u s e o f t r a n s p o r t difficulties. U n t i l w e l l i n t o t h e n i n e
t e e n t h c e n t u r y t r a n s p o r t d e p e n d e d o n h o r s e for p a s s e n g e r s a n d p a c k -
h o r s e a n d m u l e for g o o d s a n d t h e m o v e m e n t o f l e a d . F r o m t h e 1 8 5 0 s
m a n y o f t h e s e c o m m u n i t i e s a n d o t h e r s s u c h as t h e a g r i c u l t u r a l a n d
m i n i n g o n e s in the north T y n e valley (Bellingham, Plashetts, etc.)
were given a respite from remoteness by the building of a considerable
n e t w o r k of railways. North-west D u r h a m could p e r h a p s justify this
d e v e l o p m e n t o n t h e b a s i s o f m i n e r a l r e s o u r c e s d e s p i t e its l i g h t p o p u l a
tion density but western N o r t h u m b e r l a n d ' s railways were largely a
white elephant from the beginning, e v e n their ultimate justification,
7
D. J. Rowe, 'The Culleys, Northumberland Farmers 1767-1813', Agricultural History
Review 19 (1971), pp. 156-74, and S. Macdonald, 'The Role of the Individual in
Agricultural Change: The Example of George Culley of Fenton, Northumberland',
in H. S. A. Fox and R. A. Butlin, eds., Change in the Countryside (1979).

The north-east 435
t h e p r o v i s i o n o f a n a l t e r n a t i v e t h r o u g h r o u t e to S c o t l a n d , p r o v i n g
o f little v a l u e . N e v e r t h e l e s s , t h e r a i l w a y s m a d e w i d e r u s e o f local
coal, iron a n d limestone resources t h a n could h a v e occurred with
r o a d t r a n s p o r t a l o n e ; t h e y facilitated j o u r n e y s t o local m a r k e t s a n d
offered m o b i l i t y t o rural d w e l l e r s t o w h o m t h e c o n c e p t h a d b e e n p r e
viously largely u n k n o w n . In doing so they almost certainly led to
outward migration, the decline of the communities, especially from
t h e 1 8 7 0 s a n d u l t i m a t e l y t h e r e c o g n i t i o n in t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y o f
t h e l a c k o f financial r e t u r n f r o m rural r a i l w a y s , t h e i r c l o s u r e a n d a
return to r e m o t e n e s s .
T h e significant q u e s t i o n is t h e e x t e n t t o w h i c h r e m o t e n e s s c o n t r i
b u t e d to r e g i o n a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s . G i v e n t h e fact t h a t in t h e e i g h t e e n t h
c e n t u r y t h e r e g i o n itself w a s f r a g m e n t e d , it s e e m s h i g h l y u n l i k e l y
t h a t a n y c o h e s i v e n o r t h - e a s t e r n c h a r a c t e r i s t i c a p p e a r e d as a r e s u l t
of t h e r e g i o n ' s g e n e r a l r e m o t e n e s s . A g r i c u l t u r a l c o m m u n i t i e s , l e a d
villages, market t o w n s and the T y n e a n d W e a r communities h a d their
o w n distinctive characteristics a n d their links with o n e another w e r e
largely limited to trade. T h e n i n e t e e n t h century did s o m e t h i n g to
modify this picture b y placing the regional focus strongly on the areas
o f h e a v y i n d u s t r y . A s t h e coalfield a r e a b e c a m e m o r e d e n s e l y p o p u
lated a n d the three rivers m o r e specialised, a regional identity b e c a m e
m o r e noticeable. Nevertheless, the rural areas r e m a i n e d to s o m e
extent divorced, as did the lead dales. In t h e m there w a s considerable
s u s p i c i o n a n d dislike o f t h e c o a l - m i n i n g c o m m u n i t i e s t o w h i c h t h e y
w e r e c l o s e s t , let a l o n e o f t h e l a r g e u r b a n d e v e l o p m e n t s a l o n g t h e
r i v e r s . A n d w h i l e t h e coal c o m m u n i t i e s h a d m u c h in c o m m o n , e a c h
h a d m u c h w h i c h d i s t i n g u i s h e d it f r o m its n e i g h b o u r s a n d t h e r e w a s
s t r o n g a n d often v i o l e n t rivalry b e t w e e n pit v i l l a g e s .
W h i l e it m i g h t b e t h o u g h t t h a t t h e influx o f m i g r a n t s i n t o t h e colliery
c o m m u n i t i e s , as c o a l m i n i n g e x p a n d e d i n t h e n i n e t e e n t h century,
w o u l d h a v e d e s t r o y e d t h e i r i n s u l a r i t y , it is c l e a r t h a t t h i s w a s o n l y
a temporary p h e n o m e n o n . In the 'social melting-pot', which was his
8
t e r m for t h e c o a l - m i n i n g v i l l a g e s , J a c k L a w s o n s a w p e o p l e from
v a r i o u s p a r t s o f t h e U n i t e d K i n g d o m as b e i n g c o n v e r t e d o v e r t i m e
i n t o p u r e D u r h a m m e t a l w i t h all t h e o l d a n d s o m e n e w c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s .
W i t h t h e e n d o f p o p u l a t i o n g r o w t h e a c h c o m m u n i t y c l o s e d in, as
d i d t h e w h o l e r e g i o n after a b o u t 1 9 1 0 . O u t w a r d migration after
1920 did n o t h i n g to break d o w n insularity (except to encourage the
8
J. Lawson, A Man's Life (1932), pp. 56-7.

436 D. J . R O W E
f o l l o w i n g o f t h e f o r t u n e s o f t h o s e w h o left b y r e l a t i v e s a n d friends
w h o stayed). Those w h o went were the young and enquiring while
those w h o stayed were largely those w h o could not break from their
e n v i r o n m e n t a n d t h e i r c o m m i t m e n t to it w a s o f t e n r e i n f o r c e d b y t h o s e
w h o r e t u r n e d f r o m t h e ' s o u t h ' h a v i n g b e e n u n a b l e to s e t t l e . After
t h e S e c o n d W o r l d W a r t h e s i t u a t i o n b e g a n t o c h a n g e for t h e r e g i o n
as a w h o l e a n d for t h e c o a l c o m m u n i t i e s , p a r t i c u l a r l y f o l l o w i n g t h e
r u n - d o w n o f c o a l m i n i n g f r o m t h e late 1 9 5 0 s . T h e o l d d o m i n a n c e
of m a n y v i l l a g e s , w i t h p e r h a p s 7 5 p e r c e n t o f t h e i r total l a b o u r force
w o r k i n g at ' t h e p i t ' , w a s b r o k e n . P e o p l e h a d t o t r a v e l t o w o r k ( a n d
t h e m o t o r car h a s i n c r e a s i n g l y c o n t r i b u t e d to t h e c h a n g e ) , w h i l e n e w
o c c u p a t i o n s , often in f a c t o r i e s o n s m a l l i n d u s t r i a l e s t a t e s , to s o m e
e x t e n t r e p l a c e d c o a l . T h e o l d p a t t e r n o f f o l l o w i n g f a t h e r i n t o t h e pit
w a s b r o k e n a n d w i t h it t h e c l a n n i s h n e s s o f t h o s e w h o l i v e d a n d t a l k e d
a m y s t e r i o u s a n d s e p a r a t e w a y o f life. B u t w h i l e t h e b r e a k d o w n o f
r e m o t e n e s s w a s m o s t n o t i c e a b l e for t h e c o l l i e r y v i l l a g e s , it h a d a w i d e r
impact on the whole region. Prosperity and government regional
p o l i c y for t h e ' d e v e l o p m e n t a r e a s ' b r o u g h t n e w firms a n d ( m o r e o f t e n )
n e w b r a n c h factories o f o l d o n e s t o t h e r e g i o n . W h i l e m u c h u n s k i l l e d
l a b o u r w a s r e c r u i t e d locally, k e y p e r s o n n e l , b o t h for s h o p - f l o o r a n d
m a n a g e m e n t , w e r e often b r o u g h t in a n d t h r o u g h o u t t h e n o r t h - e a s t
i n t r o d u c e d n e w i n s i g h t s a n d a t t i t u d e s . N e v e r t h e l e s s , it r e m a i n s t r u e
t h a t a v e r y l a r g e p r o p o r t i o n o f n o r t h - e a s t e r n e r s are g e o g r a p h i c a l l y
i m m o b i l e . If t h e y e n t e r h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n o n l e a v i n g s c h o o l t h e y are
v e r y likely to g o to t h e local c o l l e g e or u n i v e r s i t y r a t h e r t h a n further
afield, w h i l e a h i g h p r o p o r t i o n o f all n o r t h - e a s t e r n e r s w o u l d n o t c o n
s i d e r m o v i n g to a j o b in a n o t h e r r e g i o n . R e l a t i v e to m u c h o f t h e rest
of t h e c o u n t r y t h e n e w t o w n s , s u c h as C r a m l i n g t o n , N e w t o n Aycliffe
a n d P e t e r l e e , are in t h e s a m e t r a d i t i o n o f i n s u l a r i t y as t h e i r m i n i n g
p r e d e c e s s o r s . It is a m a t t e r o f v a l u e j u d g m e n t as t o w h e t h e r i n s u l a r i t y
is b e n e f i c i a l or d e t r i m e n t a l t o social life.
T h e r e c a n b e little d o u b t , h o w e v e r , t h a t r e m o t e n e s s h a s b e e n a signi
ficant factor in c o n t r i b u t i n g t o a n o t h e r r e g i o n a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c - t h e
i m a g e of t h e n o r t h - e a s t p o r t r a y e d s o u t h of Sheffield ( s o m e m i g h t s a y
s o u t h o f t h e T e e s ) . T h e c a r i c a t u r e is of a dirty, g r i m y i n d u s t r i a l r e g i o n
full o f pits a n d b l a s t - f u r n a c e s w h e r e t h e m e n w e a r c a p s , d r i n k b e e r
out of straight glasses, g r o w leeks a n d race w h i p p e t s while the w o m e n
s t a y at h o m e , w e a r ' p i n n i e s ' a n d c u r l e r s a n d s a n d t h e d o o r s t e p . It
is a n i m a g e w h i c h is m e t r e g u l a r l y b y t h o s e w h o i n t e r v i e w s t u d e n t s
a p p l y i n g for p l a c e s at n o r t h - e a s t e r n u n i v e r s i t i e s . ' W h e r e are t h e p i t s ? '

The north-east 437
is a q u e s t i o n a s k e d b y t h o s e w h o h a v e t r a v e l l e d b y t r a i n through
C o u n t y D u r h a m for t h e first t i m e - ' W h e r e is t h e s m o k e a n d g r i m e ? '
It is e a s y to e x p l a i n t h e d e c l i n e o f h e a v y i n d u s t r y a n d p o i n t to t h e
impact which clean-air legislation has h a d o n north-eastern towns
as o n o t h e r p a r t s o f t h e c o u n t r y . T h e r e m o v a l o f pit h e a p s , t h e c l o s u r e
of w a g g o n w a y s , t h e d e m o l i t i o n o f b l a s t - f u r n a c e s a n d m a n y o t h e r
c h a n g e s have m a d e the north-east not dissimilar from any other
r e g i o n . T h e significant q u e s t i o n is t h e e x t e n t to w h i c h t h e n o r t h - e a s t
did suffer f r o m earlier manifestations o f its p a r t i c u l a r industrial
structure.
It h a s b e e n s u g g e s t e d t h a t i n d u s t r i a l i s a t i o n h a d m a d e little i m p a c t
o n t h e n a t u r a l b e a u t y o f t h e r e g i o n i n 1 7 5 0 n o r w a s to d o s o for m a n y
s u b s e q u e n t d e c a d e s . N e w c a s t l e w a s t h e o n l y l a r g e t o w n (earlier i n
t h e c e n t u r y p e r h a p s f o u r t h i n s i z e to L o n d o n , B r i s t o l a n d N o r w i c h
i n E n g l a n d ) , b u t e v e n i n 1 8 0 1 its p o p u l a t i o n w a s l e s s t h a n 3 0 , 0 0 0 .
T h e problems brought by mass urbanisation, although present, were
far l e s s w i d e s p r e a d t h a n in m a n y o t h e r a r e a s - n o n o r t h - e a s t e r n t o w n
g r e w to h u g e s i z e n o r d i d a n y e x p a n d at a p a r t i c u l a r l y r a p i d r a t e
during the nineteenth century. Newcastle reached a population of
200,000 during the 1890s while no other t o w n had done more than
s t r u g g l e to 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 b y t h e n . M o r e o v e r , s i n c e m u c h o f t h e g r o w t h c a m e
i n t h e s e c o n d h a l f o f t h e c e n t u r y , r a t h e r t h a n t h e first, a s w i t h B r a d f o r d ,
for i n s t a n c e , it s h o u l d h a v e b e e n e a s i e r to a c c o m m o d a t e a s k n o w l e d g e
a c c u m u l a t e d . It is a l s o i m p o r t a n t to n o t e t h a t as w e l l as b e i n g r e l a t i v e l y
small, north-eastern t o w n s w e r e strung out linearly along the rivers
w i t h t h e r e s u l t t h a t t h e y w e r e n o t v e r y w i d e . F e w p e o p l e , e v e n in
N e w c a s t l e , c o u l d t h e r e f o r e h a v e b e e n far f r o m t h e c o u n t r y s i d e , a fact
w h i c h m u s t h a v e l i m i t e d t h e p r i s o n - l i k e effect o f t o w n life. O f c o u r s e ,
as p o p u l a t i o n g r e w a n d i n d u s t r y e x p a n d e d in t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y ,
the t o w n s b e c a m e m o r e u n p l e a s a n t but this m u s t h a v e b e e n mitigated
b y t h e e a s e w i t h w h i c h it w a s p o s s i b l e to g e t o u t o f t h e m . I n t h e
1870s a L o n d o n - b a s e d journalist wrote of his j o u r n e y across 'the T y n e
to the unlovely t o w n of G a t e s h e a d , a n d so go on, fortunately not
far, till w e g e t o u t o f its n o i s e , s m e l l s a n d u n m i t i g a t e d s q u a l o r , to
9
the greenhelds again'.
If t h i s w e r e t r u e for t h e m a j o r t o w n s , w h e r e i n a d d i t i o n t h e r e w e r e
o p e n s p a c e s s u c h as N e w c a s t l e ' s T o w n M o o r a n d J e s m o n d D e n e ,
gift to t h e t o w n i n 1 8 8 3 o f S i r W i l l i a m A r m s t r o n g , it w a s e v e n m o r e
9
Athenaeum, 27 Sept. 1873, p. 407.

438 D. J. R O W E
true of the mining villages. In the lead dales farming and mining
h a d t r a d i t i o n a l l y b e e n c o m b i n e d as o c c u p a t i o n s , w h i l e in c o a l - m i n i n g
communities, despite the claustrophobic impact of u n b r o k e n terrace
r o w s , it is c l e a r f r o m m a n y a c c o u n t s t h a t t h e s u r r o u n d i n g c o u n t r y s i d e
w a s m u c h u s e d . F o r t h e c h i l d r e n it p r o v i d e d c o n v e n i e n t p l a y a r e a s
a w a y f r o m t h e o v e r c r o w d e d h o u s e s , t r e e s t o c l i m b , rivers t o s w i m
in a n d s c o p e for m u c h fun, w h i c h w a s l a c k i n g in M a n c h e s t e r o r
B i r m i n g h a m . F o r t h e m e n it offered t h e c h a n c e to w a l k , c o u r t , p o a c h
( a n e n d e m i c activity w h i c h p r o v i d e d a useful v a r i a t i o n in d i e t ) , e x e r
c i s e , r a c e d o g s a n d s o o n . I n a d d i t i o n in t h e m i n i n g c o m m u n i t i e s
s p a c e w a s n o t at a p r e m i u m as it w a s i n t h e t o w n s a n d t h e c o l l i e r y
t e r r a c e s o f t e n h a d c o n s i d e r a b l e g a r d e n s as w e l l as t h e availability o f
nearby allotments. T h e y provide a fascinating contrast to the p o k y
front g a r d e n s a n d b a c k l a n e s o f t h e t e r r a c e r o w s in t h e t o w n s , w h e r e
t h e r e w a s little o r n o s c o p e for s a t i s f a c t i o n o u t o f w o r k i n g h o u r s f r o m
growing o n e ' s o w n food. T h e contrast can only b e explained in terms
of t h e r e l a t i v e c o s t o f l a n d a n d , in t h e t o w n s , t h e n e e d t o p a c k w o r k i n g
p e o p l e in as s m a l l a n a r e a as p o s s i b l e in o r d e r t o p r o v i d e a c c o m m o
d a t i o n c l o s e t o t h e i r w o r k , in a n a g e o f p o o r a n d e x p e n s i v e t r a n s p o r t
facilities. W h a t e v e r t h e r e a s o n , t h e c o n t r a s t s t r o n g l y f a v o u r e d t h e
o t h e r w i s e d i s a d v a n t a g e d c o l l i e r y v i l l a g e s . It is e a s y t o d i s m i s s (or alter
n a t i v e l y c o n c e n t r a t e o n ) t h e m as b a r b a r i c o u t p o s t s , w h e r e work-
i n g m e n w e r e robbed of their h u m a n i t y b y the rule of the coalowners,
a n d a s p e c t s o f t h a t c a r i c a t u r e are t r u e b u t it m i s s e s t h e fact t h a t t h e r e
w e r e o p p o r t u n i t i e s for s a t i s f a c t i o n o u t s i d e w o r k ( a l t h o u g h it is e q u a l l y
clear t h a t as a g r o u p p i t m e n g a i n e d c o n s i d e r a b l e w o r k s a t i s f a c t i o n
relative to f a c t o r y o p e r a t i v e s for i n s t a n c e ) . U r b a n w o r k e r s w e r e far
more prisoners of their environment than w e r e the pitmen, despite
t h e u n a t t r a c t i v e p i c t u r e d r a w n b y o u t s i d e r s o f pit c o m m u n i t i e s .
T h e garden and allotment were not just escapes from the employer-
d o m i n a t e d w o r k i n g life, t h e y w e r e p l a c e s w h e r e t h e p i t m a n c o u l d
establish his o w n identity, w h e r e h e could give expression to his o w n
i n d i v i d u a l i t y a n d c r e a t e . It is n o t i c e a b l e t h a t f l o w e r s w e r e m u c h g r o w n
and that annual flower s h o w s w e r e an important highlight of the
y e a r (a p r a c t i c e w i t h a m o d e r n h a n g o v e r o f g r o w i n g d a h l i a s , c h r y s a n
t h e m u m s a n d other flowers, which surprises the m o r e recent middle-
class converts to allotmenteering). O f course vegetables w e r e import
ant. T h e y w e r e not widely available as market c o m m o d i t i e s in r e m o t e
c o m m u n i t i e s a n d a private supply w a s a useful contribution to limited
wage incomes. Out of t h e m c a m e an u n d o u b t e d regional character-

The north-east 439
istic, l e e k g r o w i n g . L e e k s w e r e w i d e l y g r o w n for e a t i n g a n d for s h o w

i n g in t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y b u t it w a s r e a l l y f r o m t h e i n t e r w a r y e a r s
t h a t t h e S e p t e m b e r l e e k s h o w for ' p o t ' l e e k s b e g a n t o d o m i n a t e t h e
image of the north-eastern horticultural scene with the development
of a p r i z e l e v e l o u t o f all p r o p o r t i o n t o t h o s e offered for o t h e r e x h i b i t s .
T h e r e a s o n w h y o f c o u r s e r e m a i n s i n t a n g i b l e b u t it w a s c e r t a i n l y a n
i n - g r o u p activity w h i c h e n a b l e d w o r k i n g m e n t o differentiate t h e m
s e l v e s , g a i n r e s p e c t a m o n g t h e i r p e e r g r o u p a n d a life-line o n w h i c h
t o h a n g in a p e r i o d o f p o t e n t i a l l y c r i p p l i n g c h a n g e . O n c e a g a i n , h o w
e v e r , t h e p r e s e n t p o s i t i o n is different, t h e l e e k c l u b s h a v e b e c o m e
m o r e o p e n and classless and although their exhibits are regarded b y
o u t s i d e r s as a n e p i t o m i s a t i o n o f t h e r e g i o n , t h i s is t o g e n e r a l i s e fanci
fully f r o m a s m a l l g r o u p . F a r m o r e n o r t h - e a s t e r n e r s g r o w k i t c h e n
l e e k s t h a n s h o w a n y i n t e r e s t i n t h e ' p o t ' v a r i e t y for s h o w s . A s w i t h
m u c h i n t h e field o f r e g i o n a l d i s t i n c t i o n , d i f f e r e n c e s lie i n t h e e y e
of t h e m e d i a , w h i c h is l i k e l y t o f o c u s o n trivialities.
H o w e v e r , t h e m e d i a h a v e p o i n t e d o u t t h e i n a d e q u a c i e s o f social
o v e r h e a d capital i n t h e r e g i o n ( a n d t h e r e is s o m e e v i d e n c e t o s u g g e s t
t h a t t h e s e h a v e b e e n w o r s e t h a n in m a n y o t h e r a r e a s o f h e a v y i n d u s
try). F o r t h e w h o l e o f t h e p e r i o d u n d e r d i s c u s s i o n t h e n o r t h - e a s t h a s
b e e n p o o r l y s u p p l i e d w i t h a w h o l e r a n g e o f social facilities, w h i c h
is p e r h a p s t h e m a j o r r e a s o n for r e g a r d i n g it as a r e l a t i v e l y d e p r i v e d
region over the 200-year period. The road network was poor and con
t r i b u t e d t o r e g i o n a l i s o l a t i o n until s e r i o u s i m p r o v e m e n t s b e g a n t o
b e m a d e i n t h e 1 9 6 0 s . A n y effective g o v e r n m e n t p o l i c y , a i m e d at d e a l
ing with the regional imbalance in economic performance which
b e c a m e obvious b y the 1930s, w o u l d surely have concentrated on
providing a road network which would have made the north-east
m o r e attractive t o t h e i n d u s t r i a l i s t s w h o m t h e a c t u a l r e g i o n a l i n c e n
t i v e s w e r e i n t e n d e d t o attract. W i t h d e c l i n i n g u s e o f c o a s t a l s h i p p i n g
a n d t h e u n c o m p e t i t i v e n e s s o f t h e r a i l w a y s for g o o d s c a r r i a g e , n o
a m o u n t of provision of a d v a n c e d factories, depreciation a n d tax allow
a n c e s , e t c . , w o u l d h a v e s e r i o u s i m p a c t if t h e m a j o r f o r m o f g o o d s
c o m m u n i c a t i o n w a s inadequate. In the industrial climate of the middle
of the twentieth century the north-east h a d too small a population
t o p r o v i d e a v i a b l e e c o n o m i c d e m a n d a n d its e n t e r p r i s e s h a d , t h e r e
fore, t o b e c o m p e t i t i v e in w i d e r m a r k e t s . W h i l e p o o r r o a d facilities
m a y have b e e n a result of the nineteenth-century concentration o n
t h e s e a as t h e m a j o r m e a n s o f t r a n s p o r t it is l e s s e a s y to e x p l a i n
o t h e r a r e a s o f i n a d e q u a c y i n social p r o v i s i o n . T h e t w o w h i c h are m o s t

440 D. J . R O W E
significant are h o u s i n g a n d h e a l t h , w h i c h m a y b e l o o k e d at in s o m e
d e p t h s i n c e t h e y p r o v i d e m a j o r p l a n k s in t h e c a s e for calling t h e n o r t h
e a s t a d e p r i v e d r e g i o n . T h e y relate n o t to superficial c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s
b u t to m a t t e r s o f crucial a n d e v e r y d a y c o n c e r n t o t h e w h o l e o f t h e
population.
Housing
T h e quality o f h o u s i n g is o n e o f t h e g r e a t factors w h i c h differentiates

t h e n o r t h - e a s t f r o m o t h e r r e g i o n s . W e k n o w little o f t h e s t a t e o f h o u s
i n g for t h e m a j o r i t y at t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e p e r i o d , o t h e r t h a n t h a t
it w a s p o o r , b u t t h a t w a s t r u e for t h e c o u n t r y as a w h o l e . A s p o p u l a t i o n
i n c r e a s e d , f r o m t h e m i d d l e o f t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y , h o w e v e r , it
is clear t h a t t h e m a j o r i t y c r o w d e d i n t o e x i s t i n g a c c o m m o d a t i o n .
T o w n s , s u c h as N e w c a s t l e a n d B e r w i c k , o n l y s l o w l y e x p a n d e d b e y o n d
t h e i r m e d i e v a l l i m i t s . W h a t n e w b u i l d i n g t h e r e w a s t e n d e d to b e o f
a n infill t y p e , w o r s e n i n g t h e spatial o v e r c r o w d i n g b y r e d u c i n g t h e
availability o f light a n d air. T h e c e n t r a l , m e d i e v a l h o u s e s , o n c e t h e
a c c o m m o d a t i o n for w e a l t h y m e r c h a n t s , b e c a m e t e n e m e n t e d and
dilapidation followed overcrowding. In such circumstances the n o r m
of a s i n g l e r o o m or at m o s t t w o r o o m s as a family d w e l l i n g b e c a m e
established. In mining areas, probably the result of following the estab
l i s h e d local agricultural p a t t e r n , t h e s i n g l e - r o o m e d c o t t a g e , a p p r o x i
m a t e l y 15 feet s q u a r e w a s c e r t a i n l y c o m m o n b y t h e e n d o f t h e
e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y . W i t h m a n y d w e l l i n g s so n o t i c e a b l y l i m i t e d in
s p a c e it w a s i n e v i t a b l e t h a t h i g h l e v e l s o f o v e r c r o w d i n g w o u l d e n s u e .
F r o m t h e p u b l i c a t i o n o f t h e first c e n s u s figures for 1 8 0 1 it is p o s s i b l e
to p r o d u c e figures for o v e r c r o w d i n g b y d i v i d i n g total p o p u l a t i o n for
a n y a r e a b y t h e n u m b e r o f d w e l l i n g s w h i c h e x i s t e d . T h e r e s u l t s are,
h o w e v e r , o f little u s e a n d are p r o b a b l y n o t at all c o m p a r a b l e b e t w e e n
local a r e a s , let a l o n e w i t h figures for o t h e r p a r t s o f t h e c o u n t r y . T h e
r e a s o n for this s t a t e m e n t is t h a t t h e statistics are u n r e l i a b l e . A p a r t
f r o m t h e fact t h a t it is k n o w n t h a t t h e e a r l y c e n s u s e s u n d e r - r e c o r d e d
t h e p o p u l a t i o n , it is u n l i k e l y t h a t t h e r e c o r d e d figures for t h e n u m b e r s
of u n o c c u p i e d h o u s e s are a c c u r a t e w h i l e t h e definition o f w h a t w a s
a h o u s e r e m a i n e d b y n o m e a n s c o n s t a n t . W h a t w a s m o r e , it m u s t
h a v e b e e n i n o r d i n a t e l y difficult for c e n s u s e n u m e r a t o r s to m a k e c o n
s i s t e n t d e c i s i o n s as to w h a t w a s a s e p a r a t e h o u s e in t h e t e n e m e n t s
of N e w c a s t l e or G a t e s h e a d . F o r w h a t t h e y are w o r t h t h e figures s h o w
d e n s i t i e s p e r o c c u p i e d h o u s e o f 9 . 0 p e r s o n s in N e w c a s t l e a n d 8.5

The north-east 441
p e r s o n s in S u n d e r l a n d in 1 8 0 1 , w i t h s o m e d e c l i n e to a little o v e r 8 . 0
in t h e f o l l o w i n g t w o c e n s u s e s . T h e s i g n i f i c a n c e o f s u c h figures
d e p e n d s , o f c o u r s e , o n h o u s e size b u t , p l a c e d a l o n g s i d e t h e i n d i c a t i o n s
that the n u m b e r of r o o m s per h o u s e was low, they suggest that very
s e r i o u s o v e r c r o w d i n g a l r e a d y e x i s t e d in t h e m a i n t o w n s o f t h e r e g i o n
b y t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y . W h i l e t h e figures t a k e
n o a c c o u n t o f r o o m size it is difficult to b e l i e v e t h a t this factor c o u l d
offset t h e p r o b l e m . A l t h o u g h c o m p a r i s o n s w i t h o t h e r a r e a s are o f
v e r y little validity it is significant t h a t n o o t h e r r e g i o n in E n g l a n d
a n d W a l e s h a d figures o f d e n s i t y o f o c c u p a t i o n w h i c h a p p r o a c h e d
t h o s e in t h e n o r t h - e a s t . A s o n e m i g h t e x p e c t , t h e n e x t h i g h e s t figures
r e l a t e d to L o n d o n a n d M i d d l e s e x , w h e r e d e n s i t i e s v a r i e d f r o m 7 . 2
to 7.5 in t h e d e c a d e s 1 8 0 1 - 2 1 . S i n c e m o r e a c c u r a t e figures for later
in t h e c e n t u r y c o n f i r m t h i s p r e - e m i n e n c e o f t h e n o r t h - e a s t in t e r m s
of o v e r c r o w d i n g , it s e e m s safe to s a y t h a t it w a s a p o s i t i o n w h i c h
w a s a l r e a d y e s t a b l i s h e d b y t h e b e g i n n i n g of t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y .
T h e i m p o r t a n t c o n c l u s i o n w h i c h f o l l o w s is t h a t it p r e - d a t e d b o t h a n y
significant g r o w t h in t h e r e g i o n ' s p o p u l a t i o n a n d i n d u s t r i a l i s a t i o n o n
a n y s c a l e . O v e r c r o w d i n g in t e r m s o f d e n s i t y p e r h o u s e w a s n o t , t h e r e
fore, d u e to i n t o l e r a b l e p r e s s u r e o f g r o w i n g n u m b e r s o n t h e e x i s t i n g
h o u s e s t o c k w i t h a failure to b u i l d e n o u g h n e w h o u s e s to c o p e . N o r
w a s it a r e s u l t o f i n d u s t r i a l i s a t i o n w h i c h f o r c e d w o r k i n g p e o p l e t o
live in l i m i t e d h o u s i n g s p a c e b e c a u s e o f l o w i n c o m e s . It w a s histori
cally e n d e m i c .
C o n s i d e r i n g t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f h o u s i n g t o h u m a n h i s t o r y it is sur
p r i s i n g t h a t s o little w o r k h a s b e e n u n d e r t a k e n t o a n a l y s e t h e p r o b l e m s
of t h e n o r t h - e a s t a n d a s s e s s w h y it s h o u l d h a v e h a d t h e w o r s t o v e r
c r o w d i n g l e v e l s in E n g l a n d a n d W a l e s . O f t h e i d e a s w h i c h h a v e b e e n
p u t f o r w a r d as e x p l a n a t i o n s n o n e is c o n v i n c i n g o n its o w n a n d e v e n
c u m u l a t i v e l y t h e y h a r d l y a p p e a r satisfactory. It h a s b e e n s u g g e s t e d
that the north-east w a s influenced b y Scottish experience but this
s e e m s to b e b a s e d m o r e o n t h e fact t h a t b o t h a r e a s h a d h i g h o v e r c r o w d
i n g l e v e l s t h a n o n a n y e v i d e n c e t h a t t h o s e l e v e l s h a d a similar c a u s e
o r t h a t t h e d i r e c t i o n a l l i n k w a s f r o m n o r t h to s o u t h . T h e p o l i c y o f
colliery c o m p a n i e s in t h e n o r t h - e a s t o f p r o v i d i n g ' f r e e ' h o u s i n g for
m o s t g r a d e s o f a d u l t m a l e colliery w o r k e r s h a s also b e e n p u t f o r w a r d
as a partial s o l u t i o n . It is a r g u e d t h a t t h e c o m p a n i e s p r o v i d e d l o w - c o s t ,
small h o u s e s which proved inadequate but that their employees w o u l d
n o t l e a v e t h e m for b e t t e r a c c o m m o d a t i o n , p a r t l y b e c a u s e t h e r e w a s
little a l t e r n a t i v e b u t chiefly b e c a u s e t h e y w o u l d l o s e t h e i r rent-free

442 D. J . R O W E
a c c o m m o d a t i o n . T h e y w e r e , t h e r e f o r e , t i e d to o v e r c r o w d e d a c c o m m o
d a t i o n . W h i l e t h e r e is m u c h t r u t h i n t h i s a r g u m e n t , w h i c h h e l p s to
e x p l a i n w h y o v e r c r o w d i n g c o n t i n u e d in t h e c o l l i e r y v i l l a g e s t h r o u g h
out the n i n e t e e n t h century (especially with the practice of families
t a k i n g in s i n g l e m e n as l o d g e r s ) , it d o e s n o t e x p l a i n w h y it s t a r t e d .
T h e free c o l l i e r y h o u s e w a s l a r g e l y a d e v e l o p m e n t o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h
c e n t u r y in r e s p o n s e to t h e l a c k o f h o u s i n g i n t h e r e m o t e r p a r t s o f
t h e coalfield w h i c h w e r e t h e n b e i n g p e n e t r a t e d b y m i n i n g . A s s u c h
it w a s a r e s p o n s e to t h e a l r e a d y a c c e p t e d s t a n d a r d s o f h o u s i n g a c c o m
m o d a t i o n in t h e r e g i o n . It s e e m s u n l i k e l y t h a t c o a l o w n e r s d e l i b e r a t e l y
h a d h o u s e s built w h i c h w e r e s m a l l e r t h a n t h e n o r m for t h e r e g i o n ,
w h i c h w a s d e t e r m i n e d as m u c h a s a n y t h i n g b y t h e u r b a n a r e a s c l o s e
to t h e r i v e r s w h e r e t h e earlier c o l l i e r i e s h a d b e e n e s t a b l i s h e d . H i g h
l a n d p r i c e s h a v e a l s o b e e n offered a s a c a u s e o f t h e b u i l d i n g o f a c c o m
m o d a t i o n o f l o w s q u a r e f o o t a g e . A g a i n t h i s s e e m s m o r e l i k e l y to h a v e
b e e n a c a u s a t i v e factor i n t h e c o n t i n u a t i o n o f o v e r c r o w d i n g i n t h e
n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y r a t h e r t h a n a r e a s o n for its o r i g i n a l i n n o v a t i o n .
In a n y e v e n t h i g h l a n d p r i c e s w e r e o n l y o f s i g n i f i c a n c e i n c e r t a i n
areas and h a d n o impact o n colliery villages w h e r e h o u s e s w e r e small
but gardens often large.
T h e r e are o t h e r f a c t o r s , o n w h o s e s i g n i f i c a n c e little w o r k h a s as
yet b e e n u n d e r t a k e n , w h i c h a r e c l e a r l y r e l e v a n t t o t h e r e g i o n ' s h o u s
i n g s t r u c t u r e . T h e first o f t h e s e is t h e l e v e l o f r e n t s . If r e n t s w e r e
h i g h e r t h a n i n o t h e r r e g i o n s it m i g h t b e a r g u e d t h a t workingmen
would purchase a smaller a m o u n t of dwelling space than in other
r e g i o n s . F o r t h e p e r i o d w h e n , it h a s b e e n a r g u e d , t h e r e g i o n ' s s m a l l
size o f d w e l l i n g b e c a m e e s t a b l i s h e d , t h e r e is n o c o n v e n i e n t s o u r c e
of e v i d e n c e o n r e n t s . F o r t h e e a r l y t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y , h o w e v e r , a
10
Board of Trade survey does s h o w that rents in the north-east w e r e
a b o v e t h e a v e r a g e for s i m i l a r a c c o m m o d a t i o n i n o t h e r i n d u s t r i a l t o w n s
in E n g l a n d a n d W a l e s . N e w c a s t l e h a d t h e f o u r t h h i g h e s t r e n t s o u t
of a list o f s e v e n t y - t h r e e l a r g e t o w n s , w h i l e J a r r o w w a s s i x t h a n d
G a t e s h e a d eighth. Nevertheless, while the level of rents in those
t o w n s r a n g e d f r o m o n l y 6 6 p e r c e n t to 7 6 p e r c e n t o f t h e L o n d o n
figures for s i m i l a r a c c o m m o d a t i o n , L o n d o n h o u s e s w e r e n o t n o r m a l l y
s m a l l . M o r e o v e r r e n t s at S u n d e r l a n d a n d S o u t h S h i e l d s w e r e n o t i c e
ably lower a n d similar to t h o s e in t o w n s such as M i d d l e s b r o u g h ,
O l d h a m a n d Cardiff w h e r e h o u s e s w e r e o n a v e r a g e l a r g e r a n d o v e r -
10
Report of an Enquiry by the Board of Trade into Working-Class Rents, Housing Retail
Prices and Standard Rates of Wages in the United Kingdom, PP1908, CVII, pp. xiii-xx.

The north-east 443
c r o w d i n g w a s l e s s significant. I n d e e d t h e B o a r d o f T r a d e r e p o r t n o t e d
that while there was s o m e broad correlation b e t w e e n high rents and
high levels of overcrowding a n d vice versa, there w e r e too m a n y t o w n s
in w h i c h t h e fit w a s p o o r for t h e c o r r e l a t i o n to b e s t r o n g .
T h e s e c o n d factor o f r e l e v a n c e is i n c o m e l e v e l s in t h e r e g i o n . A g a i n
t o o little is k n o w n o n t h i s s u b j e c t for t h e late e i g h t e e n t h a n d e a r l y
n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r i e s b u t it is c l e a r t h a t w a g e r a t e s w e r e at l e a s t e q u a l
t o t h o s e for s i m i l a r j o b s i n o t h e r i n d u s t r i a l a r e a s in t h e s e c o n d h a l f
of t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y . M o r e o v e r t h e n o r t h - e a s t h a d a h i g h p r o p o r
1 1
t i o n o f its e m p l o y e e s i n r e l a t i v e l y w e l l - p a i d o c c u p a t i o n s . W h i l e it
is p o s s i b l e t h a t u n e m p l o y m e n t i n t h e r e g i o n w a s a b o v e t h e n a t i o n a l
average and that average earnings might therefore have b e e n lower
t h a n w o u l d o t h e r w i s e b e e x p e c t e d , t h e r e is n o r e a s o n to t h i n k t h a t
this w o u l d have b e e n noticeably greater than in other areas of heavy
i n d u s t r y . A final factor w i t h r e g a r d to i n c o m e w a s t h a t t h e o p p o r t u n i
t i e s for f e m a l e a n d c h i l d e m p l o y m e n t w e r e l i m i t e d i n t h e h e a v y i n d u s
tries o f t h e r e g i o n a n d t h a t t h i s t h e r e f o r e l i m i t e d t h e s c o p e for
e x p a n d i n g f a m i l y e a r n i n g s . It i s , h o w e v e r , u n l i k e l y t h a t t h i s w a s o f
sufficient i m p o r t a n c e to h a v e affected t h e s i z e o f t h e r e g i o n ' s h o u s e s
a n d it c l e a r l y d o e s n o t e x p l a i n t h e fact t h a t f e m a l e e m p l o y m e n t w a s
high a n d male w a g e s w e r e high in agricultural areas of N o r t h u m b e r
l a n d b u t h o u s e size w a s still s m a l l .
Neither the relatively high rents of the region nor the probable level
o f e a r n i n g s s e e m s l i k e l y to h a v e b e e n a d e t e r m i n i n g f a c t o r as t h e
c a u s e o f t h e r e g i o n ' s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c a l l y s m a l l h o u s e s , a l t h o u g h it is
difficult to b e c o n f i d e n t o n t h e s e m a t t e r s w i t h o u t d e t a i l e d r e s e a r c h
o n t h e p o s i t i o n in t h e l a t e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y . I n d e e d , it s e e m s
u n l i k e l y t h a t it is p o s s i b l e t o p r o d u c e a n y s i n g l e factor w h i c h g a v e
t h e n o r t h - e a s t its u n e n v i a b l e r e p u t a t i o n in o v e r c r o w d i n g . T h e o c c u p a
tion of small dwellings (whether t h e y w e r e separate h o u s e s or part
of a t e n e m e n t e d b u i l d i n g ) w a s a l r e a d y e s t a b l i s h e d as p a r t o f r e g i o n a l
standards b y the e n d of the eighteenth century a n d relative isolation
from other communities and other standards of housing provision
s e e m s to h a v e m a i n t a i n e d it. E v e n t h e i n w a r d m i g r a t i o n o f t h e 1 8 6 0 s
a n d 1870s did nothing to c h a n g e expectations of h o u s i n g standards,
p r e s u m a b l y b e c a u s e t h e i m m i g r a n t s w e r e w o r k e r s w h o c o u l d d o little
b u t a c c e p t w h a t a c c o m m o d a t i o n w a s a v a i l a b l e e v e n if it w a s l e s s
s p a c i o u s t h a n t h a t to w h i c h t h e y w e r e u s e d .
11
E. H. Hunt, Regional Wage Variations in Britain, 1850-1914 (Oxford, 1973).

444 D. J. ROWE
T h e t o w n s h a d at l e a s t t h e a d v a n t a g e t h a t cellar d w e l l i n g s w e r e
u n c o m m o n , a point o n w h i c h the T y n e s i d e report to the Health of
T o w n s C o m m i s s i o n c o m m e n t e d in 1 8 4 5 . O f the old m a n s i o n s near
t h e q u a y s i d e it did, h o w e v e r , n o t e , ' S o m e o f t h e finest r e s i d e n c e s
of f o r m e r N e w c a s t l e , t h e e a r l y a b o d e s o f t h e n o b l e a n d t h e w e a l t h y ,
with m a n y of the advantages of m o d e r n civilization parcelled into
1 2
t e n e m e n t s , h a v e b e e n t u r n e d i n t o t h e f o u l e s t s h e l t e r s for t h e p o o r . '
It w a s n o t j u s t t h e o v e r c r o w d i n g o f o l d b u i l d i n g s , s i n c e , t h e r e p o r t
continued, ' A t this very m o m e n t s o m e of the n e w e s t streets of
N e w c a s t l e a n d G a t e s h e a d are fast b e c o m i n g as b a d a s t h e v e r y w o r s t
p a r t s o f t h e o l d . ' I n t h e c e n t r a l N e w c a s t l e p a r i s h o f All S a i n t s ' r o o m s
[are] v e r y c o m m o n l y i n h a b i t e d b y e i g h t o r t e n p e r s o n s ; t h e y a r e s o
c h o k e d up b y the crowded contiguous buildings, that any semblance
of a w i n d o w t h e y m a y p o s s e s s is u s e l e s s , a n d o n e n t e r i n g t h e m s o m e
minutes must elapse before the eye can distinguish objects'. T h e report
w e n t o n t o g i v e d e t a i l e d figures o n o v e r c r o w d i n g w h i c h s h o w e d t h a t
figures of 4 . 2 5 - 4 . 5 p e r s o n s p e r r o o m w a s a n a v e r a g e d e n s i t y for h o u s e s
in All Saints, N e w c a s t l e , although 'In the worst part of the parish,
h o w e v e r , w e h a v e v e r y c o n s t a n t l y f o u n d f r o m six t o e i g h t p e r s o n s
i n h a b i t i n g o n e r o o m , a n d f r e q u e n t l y 1 1 a n d 1 2 . T h e y all s l e e p in t h e
s a m e r o o m a n d t h e a v e r a g e s i z e o f e a c h r o o m is 1 2 feet b y 1 0 , a n d
u n d e r 9 feet h i g h . ' E v e n in t h e l e s s c r o w d e d p a r i s h o f S t A n d r e w s ,
to t h e n o r t h o f c e n t r a l N e w c a s t l e , p o p u l a t i o n d e n s i t y w a s 3 . 5 p e r
r o o m o n the north side of Gallowgate. C h a d w i c k told the Social
S c i e n c e A s s o c i a t i o n ' t h a t if " S i v a t h e D e s t r o y e r " w e r e t o r e q u i r e it,
w e c o u l d c e r t a i n l y b u i l d a city in w h i c h w e c o u l d e n s u r e a d e a t h
r a t e o f 4 0 p e r 1,000, or far m o r e t h a n d o u b l e t h e g e n e r a l m o r t a l i t y
of t h e c o u n t r y . F o r t h a t p u r p o s e w e s h o u l d c o p y liberally a n d c l o s e l y
the old parts of W h i t e h a v e n , those of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and the
1 3
w y n d s of G l a s g o w and of E d i n b u r g h . '
Of course other towns could show housing and overcrowding con
ditions w h i c h w e r e equal to the worst w h i c h could b e s h o w n b y
Newcastle or G a t e s h e a d but not the w i d e s p r e a d p r o b l e m w h i c h w a s
a p p a r e n t i n t h e l a t t e r . It is n o t i c e a b l e t h a t C h a d w i c k c h o s e f o u r o l d -
established towns and not the newer ones which had expanded
b e c a u s e o f i n d u s t r i a l i s a t i o n , w h i c h a g a i n p o i n t s to t h e l o n g - e s t a b -
12
D. B. Reid, Report on the State of Newcastle upon Tyne and Other Towns (1845),
p. 89.
13
E. Chadwick, 'Address on Health', Transactions of the National Association for the
Promotion of Social Science, Aberdeen Meeting 1877 (1878), p. 100.

The north-east 445
l i s h e d n a t u r e o f t h e p r o b l e m in t h e n o r t h - e a s t . It is, t h e r e f o r e , fortu
n a t e t h a t t h e r e g i o n ' s p o p u l a t i o n g r o w t h c a m e n o t in t h e e i g h t e e n t h
c e n t u r y b u t in t h e slightly m o r e e n l i g h t e n e d a n d socially a w a r e c o n
ditions from the second quarter of the nineteenth century onwards.
Earlier p o p u l a t i o n e x p a n s i o n , h o u s e d t o e s t a b l i s h e d s t a n d a r d s o f
accommodation with m o r e primitive building and sanitation tech
niques, would have produced even more deplorable conditions. As
it w a s t h e r e is s o m e e v i d e n c e to s u g g e s t a n o v e r a l l i m p r o v e m e n t in
d e n s i t y o f h o u s i n g o c c u p a t i o n in t h e r e g i o n in t h e first h a l f o f t h e
n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y . T o o m u c h a t t e n t i o n s h o u l d n o t b e p a i d to t h e
statistics, w h i c h m a y o n l y reflect c h a n g i n g definition o f w h a t w a s
a separate dwelling, but the 1851 c e n s u s s h o w s that D u r h a m h a d
an average of 6.0 persons per occupied h o u s e and N o r t h u m b e r l a n d
6 . 3 . T h e s e figures w e r e w e l l b e l o w t h a t for M i d d l e s e x ( h e a v i l y d o m i
n a t e d b y L o n d o n ) o f 7 . 9 b u t similar to t h a t for S u r r e y ( a g a i n affected
b y L o n d o n ) o f 6 . 3 a n d t h e y w e r e a b o v e t h e figure for a n y o t h e r
c o u n t y . W h i l e t h e d e n s i t i e s p e r o c c u p i e d h o u s e w e r e falling, e v e n
for t h e m a j o r t o w n s , t h e y w e r e still v e r y h i g h b y n a t i o n a l s t a n d a r d s .
B e t w e e n 1 8 2 1 a n d 1 8 6 1 N e w c a s t l e ' s figure fell f r o m 8 . 4 to 7 . 8 b u t
in t h e latter y e a r it w a s t h e h i g h e s t figure for a n y p r o v i n c i a l t o w n
in E n g l a n d a n d W a l e s .
It c a n , t h e r e f o r e , b e s h o w n t h a t o v e r c r o w d i n g d i d n o t w o r s e n d u r i n g
t h e p o p u l a t i o n a n d i n d u s t r i a l g r o w t h o f t h e first h a l f o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h
c e n t u r y . I n d e e d it s e e m s c l e a r t h a t t h e h e t e r o g e n e o u s c o l l e c t i o n o f
individuals and firms which made up the construction industry
m a n a g e d to c o p e with population growth. H o u s i n g output r e s p o n d e d
w i t h v e r y little lag to p o p u l a t i o n g r o w t h a n d t h e c e n s u s e s s h o w m a n y
i n s t a n c e s in w h i c h , m e a s u r i n g b e t w e e n d e c a d a l p o i n t s , r a t e s o f
g r o w t h o f p o p u l a t i o n a n d h o u s i n g s t o c k w e r e v e r y similar. T h i s w a s
m o s t o b v i o u s w i t h r e g a r d t o colliery v i l l a g e s , o f w h i c h t w o e x a m p l e s
f r o m t h e e a s t D u r h a m coalfield will suffice ( s e e T a b l e 6 . 1 ) . F o r t h e
m a j o r t o w n s t h e c o r r e l a t i o n is l e s s r e m a r k a b l e b u t still significant ( s e e
Table 6.2).
P o p u l a t i o n g r o w t h a n d t h e b u i l d i n g o f h o u s i n g are, o f c o u r s e , f l o w s ,
while the c e n s u s e s only enable us to observe the stock of population
a n d h o u s i n g at d e c a d a l i n t e r v a l s . U n d o u b t e d l y t h e r e w e r e , at p a r t i c u
lar p o i n t s in t i m e , d i s c r e p a n c i e s b e t w e e n t h e t w o w i t h h o u s i n g s h o w
ing a lagged r e s p o n s e to population growth. A s a result of a s u d d e n
g r o w t h o f p o p u l a t i o n in a p a r t i c u l a r c o m m u n i t y o v e r c r o w d i n g c o n
ditions w o u l d w o r s e n temporarily but the broad picture over time

446 D. J . R O W E
T a b l e 6 . 1 Population and housing stock in two east Durham colliery

villages, 1831-81: rates of increase (percentage) by decade
1831-41 1841-51 1851-61 1861-71 1871-81

Thornley
Population 5,460 0.4 20.7 -7.5 2.4
Housing stock 5,856 1.1 19.7 1.4 11.4
Wingate
Population 2,283 -6.4 -12.7 44.8 91.7
Housing stock 2,241 7.3 -3.4 37.4 80.8
T a b l e 6 . 2 Population and housing stock in Newcastle and Sunderland,

1811-71: rates of increase (percentage) by decade
1811-21 1821-31 1831-41 1841-51 1851-61 1861-71

Sunderland
Population 23.1 28.5 30.9 24.8 25.2 22.7
Housing stock 11.7 28.0 38.7 18.7 29.4 22.8
Newcastle
Population 28.3 28.3 63.7* 24.3 17.7
Housing stock 28.7 38.4 54.4* 33.9 17.7
* The 1841 figure for housing stock for the Tyneside towns is known to be
inaccurate and comparison is therefore made between 1831 and 1851.
is o n e o f fairly c o n s i s t e n t p r o v i s i o n o f h o u s i n g . T h e r e w e r e , h o w e v e r ,
p l a c e s w h e r e t h e r e w a s a c o n s i d e r a b l e d e t e r i o r a t i o n , u s u a l l y as a r e s u l t
of i n d u s t r i a l a n d u r b a n d e v e l o p m e n t in a n e w a r e a . O n T y n e s i d e ,
for i n s t a n c e , J a r r o w ' s p o p u l a t i o n h a d b e e n b e t w e e n 3 , 0 0 0 a n d 4 , 0 0 0
in t h e p e r i o d f r o m 1 8 1 1 t o 1 8 5 1 w i t h a d e n s i t y o f p o p u l a t i o n p e r h o u s e
r a n g i n g f r o m 4 . 9 t o 5 . 8 . F r o m t h e e a r l y 1 8 5 0 s p o p u l a t i o n b e g a n to
rise r a p i d l y a n d r e a c h e d 6 0 , 0 0 0 b y 1 9 0 1 , u n d e r t h e s t i m u l u s o f t h e
growth of Palmer's works, and b e t w e e n 1861 and 1901 the density
figures r a n g e d f r o m 7 . 1 t o 8 . 1 .
In the s e c o n d half of the n i n e t e e n t h century the building of n e w
i n d u s t r i a l c o m m u n i t i e s t e n d e d t o m a i n t a i n o v e r c r o w d i n g at a h i g h
level, w h i l e t h e p o p u l a t i o n s o f o l d e r c o m m u n i t i e s e x p a n d e d to a l r e a d y
accepted standards. T h e r e w e r e , h o w e v e r , modifications to the old
p a t t e r n . First, t h e n u m b e r o f r o o m s t o t h e a v e r a g e d w e l l i n g b e g a n
t o i n c r e a s e . W h e r e a s o n e o r t w o h a d b e e n t h e n o r m at t h e b e g i n n i n g

The north-east 447
of t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , t h e n e w b u i l d i n g after t h e m i d d l e o f t h e
c e n t u r y w o u l d n o r m a l l y h a v e b e e n o f t w o or t h r e e r o o m s p e r d w e l l i n g .
S i g n i f i c a n t l y , p e r h a p s , t h e c h a n g e c a m e as a g r o w i n g p r o p o r t i o n o f
t h e r e g i o n ' s d w e l l i n g s w e r e s t r u c t u r a l l y s e p a r a t e (if t e r r a c e d ) h o u s e s ,
as a g a i n s t t h e o l d t e n e m e n t s . It w a s l e s s e a s y to d i v i d e a t w o - o r
t h r e e - r o o m e d c o t t a g e i n t o d w e l l i n g s for m o r e t h a n o n e f a m i l y t h a n
it h a d b e e n w i t h o l d e r , l a r g e r h o u s e s . W i t h t h i s d e v e l o p m e n t t h e r e
c a m e the evolution of distinctive housing styles, especially the T y n e -
s i d e flat b u t a l s o t h e s i n g l e - s t o r i e d , t e r r a c e d c o t t a g e w h i c h a p p e a r e d
i n m i n i n g v i l l a g e s b u t e s p e c i a l l y in S u n d e r l a n d . Little is k n o w n a b o u t
t h e r e a s o n s for t h e e v o l u t i o n o f r e g i o n a l h o u s i n g t y p e s a n d n o confi
14
dent explanation can be offered. T h e single-storied cottage was pro
b a b l y a c h e a p w a y o f p r o v i d i n g a m i n i m u m a m o u n t o f s p a c e . It
o b v i o u s l y h a d a l o n g h i s t o r y in t h e r e g i o n b u t h a d e v o l v e d b y t h e
s e c o n d h a l f o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y f r o m a s i n g l e r o o m , t h e traditio
n a l a g r i c u l t u r a l a n d m i n i n g p a t t e r n , to t w o s i d e - b y - s i d e a n d o f t e n
a kitchen b e h i n d . A further derivation, very c o m m o n in colliery c o m
m u n i t i e s , h a d b e e n for t h e u n c e i l e d loft a b o v e t h e s i n g l e r o o m t o
be converted into sleeping quarters with ladder access, the height
of s u b s e q u e n t c o t t a g e s to b e i n c r e a s e d to g i v e t w o full r o o m s , o n e - u p -
o n e - d o w n a n d t h e n f u r t h e r e x p a n s i o n to t h r e e o r f o u r r o o m s .
T h e m o s t d i s t i n c t i v e h o u s e style w a s , h o w e v e r , t h e T y n e s i d e flat,
b e g i n n i n g to e m e r g e f r o m t h e 1 8 5 0 s . T h e n a m e t e n d s to l o c a l i s e t h e
s t y l e t o t o o g r e a t a n e x t e n t , s i n c e it w a s a l s o u s e d i n S u n d e r l a n d
a n d W e s t H a r t l e p o o l ( a n d e v e n s p r e a d to p a r t s o f L o n d o n , a l t h o u g h
t h e r e t h e flats o f t e n h a d r e a r g a r d e n s to w h i c h t h e u p p e r flat h a d
n o a c c e s s ) . T h e T y n e s i d e flat w a s d i v i d e d h o r i z o n t a l l y , w i t h g r o u n d
and first-floor flats, t h e u p p e r flat h a v i n g a c c e s s to t h e b a c k y a r d v i a
a s t a i r c a s e . Initial e x a m p l e s t e n d e d to h a v e t w o r o o m s in e a c h flat
b u t i n l a t e r o n e s t h e r e w e r e t h r e e r o o m s in t h e u p s t a i r s flat ( t h e e x t r a
o n e b e i n g partially c r e a t e d in t h e s p a c e o v e r t h e s t a i r s ) . T h e T y n e s i d e
flat t h e r e f o r e f o l l o w e d t h e c o n t e m p o r a r y n o r m in t e r m s o f t h e a m o u n t
of s p a c e it offered. It is c o m m o n l y a r g u e d t h a t t h e f o r m it t o o k w a s
a r e s u l t o f h i g h l a n d c o s t s a n d , t h e r e f o r e , t h e n e c e s s i t y t o h o u s e as
m a n y p e o p l e in as l i m i t e d a s p a c e as p o s s i b l e in o r d e r to k e e p r e n t s
at a r e a s o n a b l e l e v e l . T o o little is k n o w n to b e c e r t a i n b u t it s e e m s
u n l i k e l y t h a t l a n d c o s t s c o u l d h a v e b e e n a sufficiently l a r g e p r o p o r t i o n
of total c o s t s o f h o u s i n g to h a v e h a d s u c h a n i n f l u e n c e . I n a d d i t i o n
14
The overall position is outlined very clearly and the pattern of the north-east dis
cussed in S. Muthesius, The English Terraced House (1982).

448 D. J . R O W E
o t h e r factors m a k e t h e l a n d - c o s t e x p l a n a t i o n s e e m d o u b t f u l . T h e T y n e
side flat d e v e l o p e d j u s t at t h e t i m e w h e n h o u s e - b u i l d i n g o n T y n e s i d e
was beginning to develop away from the old urban centres and the
flats w e r e m o s t c o m m o n o n t h e f r i n g e s o f G a t e s h e a d , N e w c a s t l e ,
South Shields and so on, where land was presumably cheaper.
S e c o n d l y , t h e T y n e s i d e flat w a s a r e v e r s i o n f r o m t h e l a r g e r h o u s e s ,
d i v i d e d i n t o t e n e m e n t s , w h i c h h a d b e e n built o n p r e s u m a b l y m o r e
e x p e n s i v e l a n d n e a r e r t h e c e n t r e s in t h e first h a l f o f t h e c e n t u r y .
T h i r d l y , t h e T y n e s i d e flat e x i s t e d i n S u n d e r l a n d w h e r e s i n g l e - s t o r i e d
c o t t a g e s w e r e a l s o built a n d it is difficult t o a r g u e t h a t c o s t o f l a n d
w a s a n i m p o r t a n t factor i n s u c h c i r c u m s t a n c e s .
It s e e m s m o s t l i k e l y t h a t t h e T y n e s i d e flat w a s a r e s p o n s e t o t h e
n e e d to i m p r o v e l o c a l h o u s i n g s t a n d a r d s , p e r h a p s w i t h i n t h e c o n
straints o f r e l a t i v e l y h i g h - c o s t l a n d . I n t h i s l i g h t t h e flat w o u l d b e
s e e n as g i v i n g l a r g e r a c c o m m o d a t i o n t h a n w a s p r e v i o u s l y a v a i l a b l e
for m a n y a n d w i t h t h e a d v a n t a g e o f a s e l f - c o n t a i n e d d w e l l i n g in p l a c e
of a t e n e m e n t . T h e l a c k o f g a r d e n s p a c e ( a n d t h e r e f o r e e x t e r n a l p l a y
area) w o u l d o b v i o u s l y b e a r e s u l t o f t h e fact t h a t t h e earlier t e n e m e n t e d
dwellings h a d given the area n o experience of the u s e or benefits
of g a r d e n s . S u b s e q u e n t flat-building f o l l o w e d t h e p a t t e r n o f i m
provement of housing standards with the evolution of a n o r m of three-
a n d f o u r - r o o m e d flats b y t h e e n d o f t h e c e n t u r y . T h i s b e g a n to e a s e
t h e o v e r c r o w d i n g p r o b l e m s in t h e m a j o r city a r e a s , a l t h o u g h o n l y
slowly since the smaller, older dwellings r e m a i n e d a large proportion
of total s t o c k .
W h i l e t h e i n c r e a s e in n u m b e r o f r o o m s p e r d w e l l i n g w a s t h e first
m o d i f i c a t i o n t o t h e r e g i o n a l h o u s i n g a n d o v e r c r o w d i n g p r o b l e m in
t h e s e c o n d h a l f o f t h e c e n t u r y , t h e s e c o n d w a s t h e m a r k e d l y different
p a t t e r n w h i c h d e v e l o p e d in t h e s o u t h e r n p a r t o f t h e r e g i o n . W h i l e
t h e e x i s t i n g t o w n s s u c h as S t o c k t o n a n d D a r l i n g t o n h a d t h e a d v a n t a g e
of b e i n g s m a l l , b o t h t h e y in t h e i r n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y g r o w t h a n d t h e
n e w t o w n s of M i d d l e s b r o u g h a n d W e s t Hartlepool m a n a g e d to h o u s e
their i n c r e a s i n g p o p u l a t i o n s at m u c h l o w e r d e n s i t i e s p e r h o u s e t h a n
w e r e t h e n o r m in t h e T y n e s i d e a n d W e a r s i d e t o w n s . D a r l i n g t o n h a d
d e n s i t i e s o f b e t w e e n 6 . 0 a n d 6 . 5 f r o m 1 8 1 1 to 1 8 5 1 a n d b e l o w 5 . 0
by 1900; Stockton had densities below 6.0 throughout the century;
a n d W e s t H a r t l e p o o l ' s o n l y r o s e a little a b o v e 6 . 0 in t w o r a p i d p e r i o d s
of p o p u l a t i o n g r o w t h in t h e 1 8 4 0 s a n d 1 8 6 0 s . B y c o n t r a s t i n 1 9 0 1 t h e
T y n e s i d e t o w n s v a r i e d in d e n s i t i e s f r o m 7 . 5 p e r h o u s e at H e b b u r n
to 8.3 at W a l l s e n d .

The north-east 449
L o c a l e x p e c t a t i o n s o f h o u s i n g p r o v i s i o n w e r e o b v i o u s l y different
in t h e s o u t h e r n p a r t o f C o u n t y D u r h a m , right f r o m t h e b e g i n n i n g
of t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , a n d t h e s e affected t h e h o u s i n g w h i c h w a s
built e v e n in t h e r a p i d l y e x p a n d i n g t o w n s . H o u s i n g c o n d i t i o n s a n d
o v e r c r o w d i n g for t h e M i d d l e s b r o u g h i r o n a n d s t e e l w o r k e r s m a y h a v e
b e e n p o o r , as L a d y B e l l s h o w e d , b u t t h e y w e r e still c o n s i d e r a b l y b e t t e r
t h a n in t h e o l d e r p a r t s o f t h e r e g i o n . A n d this is a d i s t i n c t i o n w h i c h
b e c o m e s d r a m a t i c a l l y c l e a r w h e n w e h a v e d e t a i l e d figures for o v e r
crowding collected from the 1891 census onwards. This was a culmina
tion of a considerable outcry about the conditions of working-class
h o u s i n g o n a n a t i o n a l s c a l e , w h i c h h a d l e d t o t h e p o s i n g in t h e c e n s u s
of a q u e s t i o n t o d e t e r m i n e t h e p r o p o r t i o n o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n living
at a d e n s i t y o f g r e a t e r t h a n t w o p e r s o n s p e r r o o m . T h e r e s u l t s c o n
f i r m e d t h a t t h e n o r t h - e a s t h a d l e v e l s of o v e r c r o w d i n g w h i c h w e r e
horrifically w o r s e t h a n a n y o t h e r a r e a : 3 4 p e r c e n t o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n
of C o u n t y D u r h a m a n d 3 8 p e r c e n t o f t h a t o f N o r t h u m b e r l a n d living
at d e n s i t i e s g r e a t e r t h a n t w o p e r r o o m , w h i l e t h e n e x t w o r s e w a s
L o n d o n which averaged just under 20 per cent. In the next two
d e c a d e s t h e r e w a s i m p r o v e m e n t a n d in 1 9 1 1 t h e figures w e r e 2 8 . 7
p e r c e n t for N o r t h u m b e r l a n d a n d 2 8 . 5 p e r c e n t for C o u n t y D u r h a m .
W h i l e t h o s e figures w e r e s u r p r i s i n g it w a s t h e similarities a n d differ
e n c e s w i t h i n t h e r e g i o n w h i c h w e r e f a s c i n a t i n g . First, t h e d i s t i n c t i o n
b e t w e e n south D u r h a m a n d the rest of the region w a s confirmed.
In 1911 Barnard Castle (14.8 per cent), Bishop Auckland (18.1 per
cent), Darlington (12.8 per cent), Shildon (15.9 per cent), Stockton
(10.9 per cent) and W e s t Hartlepool (16.7 per cent) m a y be simply
p i c k e d f r o m t h e list o f D u r h a m c o m m u n i t i e s b e c a u s e t h e y w e r e t h e
only places with overcrowding below 20 per cent of their populations.
That t h e y h a d around o n e half of the regional level of overcrowding
p o i n t s t o t h e i r distinct e x p e r i e n c e in h o u s i n g t e r m s . T h e s e c o n d c o n
c l u s i o n t o w h i c h t h e statistics l e a d is t h a t for t h e r e m a i n d e r of t h e
region (other than south D u r h a m ) overcrowding levels were generally
h i g h . T h e r e is n o e v i d e n c e t h a t u r b a n a r e a s h a d h i g h e r levels t h a n
rural a r e a s n o r t h a t l a r g e t o w n s h a d h i g h e r l e v e l s t h a n s m a l l t o w n s ,
i n d e e d s o m e o f t h e h i g h e s t l e v e l s in D u r h a m w e r e in s m a l l m i n i n g
c o m m u n i t i e s s u c h as A n n f i e l d P l a i n a n d L e a d g a t e w h e r e s m a l l w o r k
ing-class h o u s e s m a d e up nearly the w h o l e of the housing stock. Over
crowding w a s clearly e n d e m i c throughout N o r t h u m b e r l a n d and most
of C o u n t y D u r h a m as a r e s u l t o f l o w e x p e c t a t i o n s . I n N o r t h u m b e r l a n d
i n a m a r k e t t o w n s u c h as M o r p e t h , 1 5 m i l e s n o r t h o f T y n e s i d e , t h e

450 D. J . R O W E
level in 1 9 1 1 w a s 3 2 . 9 p e r c e n t as c o m p a r e d w i t h t h e n e a r b y m i n i n g
t o w n o f A s h i n g t o n at 3 2 . 2 p e r c e n t , t h e s m a l l p o r t o f A m b l e at 3 2 . 6
p e r c e n t , t h e agricultural village o f Belford at 3 1 . 3 p e r c e n t a n d t h e
r e g i o n a l m e t r o p o l i s o f N e w c a s t l e at 3 1 . 6 p e r c e n t . O f c o u r s e , t h o s e
e x a m p l e s h a v e b e e n c h o s e n to h i g h l i g h t t h e p o i n t that c o m m u n i t i e s
of totally different size a n d i n d u s t r i a l s t r u c t u r e h a d virtually i d e n t i c a l
o v e r c r o w d i n g p r o b l e m s a n d it is p o s s i b l e to select a r e a s w h e r e t h e
p r o b l e m w a s l e s s (or m o r e ) m a r k e d . A l r e a d y b y t h e e v i d e n c e f r o m
t h e 1 8 9 1 c e n s u s it is clear t h a t t h e p r o b l e m w a s c a u s e d b y t h e l a r g e
n u m b e r o f d w e l l i n g s c o m p o s e d o f v e r y f e w r o o m s . In G l e n d a l e , in
t h e rural n o r t h o f N o r t h u m b e r l a n d , t h e r e w e r e , in 1 8 9 1 , 8 8 d w e l l i n g s
of o n l y o n e o r t w o r o o m s , e a c h c o n t a i n i n g n i n e or m o r e o c c u p a n t s ,
w h i l e at t h e o t h e r e n d o f t h e r e g i o n t h e r e w e r e 4 9 5 s u c h d w e l l i n g s
in N e w c a s t l e . W h e n it is r e m e m b e r e d t h a t d w e l l i n g s of o n e o r t w o
r o o m s n e e d e d r e s p e c t i v e l y o n l y m o r e t h a n t w o or four a n d n o t n i n e
o c c u p a n t s to b e classified as o v e r c r o w d e d , t h e e x t e n t o f t h e p r o b l e m
m a y b e i m a g i n e d . I n N o r t h u m b e r l a n d in 1 8 9 1 d w e l l i n g s of o n l y o n e
or t w o r o o m s c o m p r i s e d 4 6 . 3 p e r c e n t o f t h e total s t o c k .
In 1901, 77.4 per cent of D u r h a m ' s and 77.8 per cent of Northumber
l a n d ' s h o u s i n g s t o c k w a s o f l e s s t h a n five r o o m s , w h i l e t h e figure
for t h e n e x t w o r s t c o u n t y , L a n c a s h i r e , w a s 4 9 . 5 p e r c e n t . T h e figures
for t h e p r o p o r t i o n o f d w e l l i n g s o f a n y p a r t i c u l a r size w h i c h w e r e o v e r
c r o w d e d s h o w m u c h h i g h e r figures for t h e n o r t h - e a s t for d w e l l i n g s
of o n e to four r o o m s t h a n a n y o t h e r area, p o i n t i n g to t h e fact t h a t
the widespread provision of small houses was the cause of overcrowd
i n g . T h e 1 9 2 1 c e n s u s , for i n s t a n c e , s h o w e d t h a t 5 3 8 p e r 1,000 o f
Northumberland's h o u s i n g s t o c k w e r e o f o n l y o n e to t h r e e r o o m s
a n d 4 5 8 o f C o u n t y D u r h a m ' s , w h i l e t h e n e x t h i g h e s t level for a c o u n t y
in E n g l a n d a n d W a l e s w a s 3 4 0 for t h e W e s t R i d i n g o f Y o r k s h i r e , fol
l o w e d b y 2 5 2 for C u m b e r l a n d .
G r o w i n g social c o n c e r n a n d t h e availability o f e v i d e n c e s u c h as t h a t
b r o u g h t f o r w a r d b y t h e c e n s u s e s l e d t o a s e r i e s o f social e n q u i r i e s
w h i c h further e l u c i d a t e d t h e p r o b l e m . T h i s w a s p a r t o f a n a t i o n a l
movement which included Booth's work on London and Rowntree's
o n Y o r k a n d in it t h e n o r t h - e a s t figured to o n l y a l i m i t e d e x t e n t . A l m o s t
c e r t a i n l y t h e p r e - 1 9 1 4 p r o s p e r i t y o f t h e h e a v y i n d u s t r i e s l e d to t h e
a s s u m p t i o n t h a t all w a s w e l l w h i l e t h e u n d e r l y i n g e v i d e n c e p o i n t s
to t h e c o n t i n u a t i o n o f relative d e p r i v a t i o n . It w a s n o t until h e a v y
u n e m p l o y m e n t s e t in in t h e i n t e r w a r y e a r s t h a t social i n v e s t i g a t o r s
p a i d s e r i o u s a t t e n t i o n to t h e r e g i o n a n d t h e n t h e r e w e r e e x c e l l e n t

The north-east 451
1 5
surveys of Tyneside by M e s s and Goodfellow, t h e latter noting
t h a t ' T y n e s i d e i n t h e p a s t h a s s u f f e r e d f r o m false p r o s p e r i t y . . . H i g h
1 6
w a g e s did not m e a n p l e n t y . ' T h e investigators c o n t i n u e d to stress
the impressive levels of overcrowding, drawing their evidence from
each successive census which showed absolute improvement but the
c o n t i n u e d p r e - e m i n e n c e of the north-east relative to other regions.
1 7
M e s s noted that ' T y n e s i d e h o m e s are exceptionally s m a l l ' and
pointed out that in 1921 the t o w n s of G a t e s h e a d , Newcastle, T y n e -
m o u t h a n d S o u t h Shields h a d m o r e t h a n 10 per cent of their families
l i v i n g i n o n l y o n e r o o m ( a g a i n s t a n a v e r a g e for E n g l a n d a n d W a l e s
of 3 . 6 p e r c e n t ) a n d m o r e t h a n 2 5 p e r c e n t l i v i n g i n o n l y t w o r o o m s
(England and Wales 10.5 per cent). Conversely, less than 20 per cent
of f a m i l i e s o c c u p i e d five o r m o r e r o o m s ( a g a i n s t a n a v e r a g e for E n g
land a n d W a l e s of 4 6 per cent). T y n e s i d e averaged in 1 9 2 1 an over
c r o w d i n g l e v e l (at g r e a t e r t h a n t w o p e r s o n s p e r r o o m ) o f 3 4 . 9 p e r
c e n t o f its p o p u l a t i o n , w h i l e t h e w o r s t l e v e l i n t h e r e s t o f t h e c o u n t r y
w a s in t w o L o n d o n b o r o u g h s , Finsbury a n d S h o r e d i t c h , w h e r e 3 0
per cent was exceeded. At Hebburn (which significantly h a d the
largest proportion of one- and two-roomed dwellings) the region's
w o r s t o v e r c r o w d i n g l e v e l w a s 4 6 . 9 p e r c e n t a g a i n s t a n a v e r a g e for
England and Wales of 9.6 per cent.
Disparities of that order could not b e expected to disappear,
especially in the d e p r e s s e d years of t h e interwar period w h e n local
authorities in the north-east w e r e a m o n g t h e m o s t hard-pressed in
t e r m s of available financial resources a n d w h e n m u c h of t h e popula
t i o n w a s i n n o p o s i t i o n t o p a y for i m p r o v e d a c c o m m o d a t i o n . S l u m
c l e a r a n c e d i d a little t o r e m o v e t h e w o r s t o f t h e p r o b l e m b y e l i m i n a t i n g
m a n y of the old o n e - a n d t w o - r o o m e d t e n e m e n t s in central areas.
I n a d d i t i o n , p r o b a b l y for t h e first t i m e , n e w b u i l d i n g , b o t h c o u n c i l
a n d p r i v a t e ( w h i c h e v e n i n t h e n o r t h - e a s t a c c o u n t e d for t h e m a j o r i t y
o f all h o u s e s c o n s t r u c t e d i n t h e i n t e r w a r y e a r s ) , w a s d o n e t o a s t a n d a r d
of a c c o m m o d a t i o n s i m i l a r t o t h a t i n t h e r e s t o f t h e c o u n t r y . T h e s t o c k
of s m a l l , o l d d w e l l i n g s c o n t i n u e d t o d o m i n a t e t h e s i t u a t i o n , h o w e v e r ,
especially in the large t o w n s w h i c h w e r e not experiencing m u c h n e w
building b e c a u s e of stagnation in population size. In a national over
c r o w d i n g s u r v e y p u b l i s h e d i n 1 9 3 6 n o r t h - e a s t e r n t o w n s filled t h e first
15
H. A. Mess, Industrial Tyneside (1928), and D. M. Goodfellow, Tyneside: The Social
Facts (Newcastle upon Tyne, 1940).
16
Goodfellow, Tyneside: The Social Facts, pp. 18-19.
17
Mess, Industrial Tyneside, p. 77.

452 D. J . R O W E
1
six p l a c e s in a list of t h e t o w n s w i t h t h e h i g h e s t o v e r c r o w d i n g l e v e l s .
Statistical a n a l y s i s of t h e figures g i v e n i n t h e s u r v e y s h o w s t h a t t h e r e
w a s o n l y m a r g i n a l difference b e t w e e n t h e n o r t h - e a s t e r n t o w n s a n d
o t h e r s w i t h r e g a r d to d i s t r i b u t i o n o f families b y size, w h i l e far m o r e
s m a l l families w e r e living in o v e r c r o w d e d c o n d i t i o n s in t h e n o r t h - e a s t
t h a n e l s e w h e r e , p o i n t i n g c o n c l u s i v e l y to t h e s i g n i f i c a n c e o f h o u s e
size in c a u s i n g o v e r c r o w d i n g . Similarly the 1951 census showed
G a t e s h e a d t o p o f a list o f 1 5 7 l a r g e t o w n s in a n u m b e r o f i m p o r t a n t
c a t e g o r i e s - t h e n u m b e r of d w e l l i n g s o f o n l y o n e to t h r e e r o o m s ,
d e n s i t y of p e r s o n s p e r r o o m , n u m b e r o f o v e r c r o w d e d households,
1 9
a n d n u m b e r of h o u s e h o l d s w i t h m o r e t h a n 1.5 p e r s o n s p e r r o o m .
E v e n in t h e 1 9 8 0 s t h e h a n g o v e r of late n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y h o u s i n g
still m e a n s t h a t p r o v i s i o n in m u c h o f t h e r e g i o n is b e l o w t h e n a t i o n a l
a v e r a g e in t e r m s o f s p a c e p e r d w e l l i n g . T h a t m a n y s u c h h o u s e s h a v e
l a s t e d for a c e n t u r y a n d in r e c e n t y e a r s h a v e j u s t i f i e d m o d e r n i s a t i o n
r a t h e r t h a n d e m o l i t i o n , d o e s , h o w e v e r , p o i n t to t h e i r e s s e n t i a l l y s o u n d
q u a l i t y o f c o n s t r u c t i o n . I n d e e d in t h e 1 9 8 0 s t h e y m a y , at last, h a v e
f o u n d t h e i r t r u e metier, fitting m o d e r n family size without causing
overcrowding.
Although the region has always had an unusually high proportion
of its p o p u l a t i o n in t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s e s , for w h o m t e n e m e n t d w e l l i n g s
a n d s m a l l h o u s e s w e r e t h e n o r m , it w o u l d b e u n r e a s o n a b l e to l e a v e
the impression that these w e r e the only form of a c c o m m o d a t i o n in
the region. B y the middle of the eighteenth century both Tyneside
and Wearside had well-established merchant and commercial com
m u n i t i e s , t h e m i d d l e - c l a s s m e m b e r s o f w h i c h c o u l d afford h o u s i n g
of h i g h q u a l i t y . Initially t h e y h a d l i v e d in t h e m e d i e v a l t o w n c e n t r e s
b u t g r o w i n g w e a l t h e n a b l e d t h e m , a n d t h e p r o b l e m s o f g r o w i n g city
centre population persuaded t h e m , to m o v e f u r t h e r afield. L a r g e
G e o r g i a n t e r r a c e d h o u s e s w i t h g a r d e n s b e h i n d w e r e built o n n e w
streets radiating from the old centres, subsequently in the n i n e t e e n t h
c e n t u r y to b e c o n v e r t e d a n d t h e n d e m o l i s h e d for t h e p u r p o s e o f retail
i n g . A s t h e w e a l t h y p o p u l a t i o n s p r e a d f u r t h e r afield to m a i n t a i n its
e x c l u s i v e n e s s n e w m i d d l e - c l a s s t e r r a c e s w e r e built in t h e e a r l y n i n e
t e e n t h c e n t u r y a n d o n w a r d s , c a t e r i n g also for t h e r i s i n g n u m b e r s o f
18
Ministry of Health, Report on the Overcrowding Survey in England and Wales (1936),
p. xvii.
19
N. McCord and D. J. Rowe, 'Industrialisation and Urban Growth in North-East
England', International Review of Social History, 22 (1977), p. 62.

The north-east 453
b u s i n e s s m e n . N e w c a s t l e , in particular, w e n t in for s u c h t e r r a c e s o f
l a r g e , r e f i n e d b u t i d e n t i c a l h o u s e s - h o m e s for p r o f e s s i o n a l m e n , s m a l l
industrialists, m e r c h a n t s and so on. Frequently these provided the
first s t a g e in u p w a r d social m o b i l i t y , to b e f o l l o w e d p e r h a p s b y a
villa in L o w Fell, s o u t h o f G a t e s h e a d a n d t h e n (if f o r t u n e c o n t i n u e d
to s m i l e ) b y a m o d e s t c o u n t r y h o u s e w i t h t w e n t y or thirty r o o m s
and a few h u n d r e d acres of land.
T h e c o u n t r y h o u s e w a s a n a r e a o f a c c o m m o d a t i o n in w h i c h t h e
region and especially N o r t h u m b e r l a n d was well supplied ( m a n y have
n o w e x p e r i e n c e d c o n v e r s i o n for u s e as s c h o o l s , r e s t a u r a n t s and
offices, as a r e s u l t o f t h e i n e v i t a b l e s h o r t a g e s a n d h i g h c o s t o f d o m e s t i c
staff). T h e r e g i o n ' s l a n d o w n e r s h a d t h e i n e v i t a b l e s u p p l y o f large
h o u s e s ( s h o w i n g t h e f a s c i n a t i n g i n f l u e n c e of b o r d e r w a r f a r e a n d its
d e c l i n e in t h e i r g r a d u a l c o n v e r s i o n f r o m fortress, to h o u s e - c u m - f o r -
t r e s s to p u r e l y d o m e s t i c a r c h i t e c t u r e ) . T h e l a r g e s t i n c l u d e d h o u s e s
o u t s t a n d i n g b y n a t i o n a l s t a n d a r d s s u c h as A l n w i c k , C h i p c h a s e , R a b y
a n d L u m l e y C a s t l e s . B u t it w a s l e s s t h e h o u s e s o f t h e o l d - e s t a b l i s h e d
landowners than those of the newly developing o n e s which gave the
r e g i o n s u c h a n i m p r e s s i v e c o l l e c t i o n . F r o m e a r l y in t h e e i g h t e e n t h
c e n t u r y , g a t h e r i n g s t r e n g t h d u r i n g t h a t c e n t u r y a n d c o m i n g to full
flower in t h e first t h r e e - q u a r t e r s o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , t h e r e w a s
a massive p h a s e of country-house building b a s e d on industrial and
c o m m e r c i a l w e a l t h . T y n e s i d e m e r c h a n t s , like t h e R i d l e y s w h o built
B l a g d o n , c o a l o w n e r s , like C. W . B i g g e w h o built L i n d e n Hall, a n d
i n d u s t r i a l i s t s , like I s a a c C o o k s o n a n d W i l l i a m C u t h b e r t w h o built r e
s p e c t i v e l y M e l d o n Hall a n d B e a u f r o n t C a s t l e , all c o n t r i b u t e d t o this
e f f l o r e s c e n c e . Its a p o t h e o s i s w a s s e e n in C r a g s i d e , t h e h o u s e built
for S i r W i l l i a m A r m s t r o n g o n a r e m o t e , r o c k a n d m o o r l a n d e s t a t e
n e a r R o t h b u r y . B u t C r a g s i d e (like t h e earlier m o d i f i c a t i o n s to A l n w i c k
Castle) w a s the w o r k of a L o n d o n architect, while m o s t of the country-
h o u s e d e s i g n s w e r e h o m e - g r o w n . S i m p l e , classical w o r k w a s i n a u g u r
a t e d b y S i r C h a r l e s M o n c k in h i s o w n B e l s a y Hall a n d t h e n in L i n d e n
H a l l j o i n t l y w i t h J o h n D o b s o n , t h e d o y e n o f N o r t h u m b e r l a n d archi
t e c t s , w h o s e w o r k in a v a r i e t y of s t y l e s w a s to p r o v i d e for t h e
a s p i r a t i o n s o f m a n y o f t h e i n d u s t r i a l l y rich d u r i n g t h e first h a l f o f
the nineteenth century.
T h e c o n t r a s t b e t w e e n t h e h o u s i n g of industrialists a n d o f t h e i r
w o r k e r s is a l w a y s startling b u t it is p e r h a p s m o r e t h a n unusually
s o in t h e n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y north-east. It is also r e m a r k a b l e in
that, a l t h o u g h t h e rich a n d p o o r h a d a l w a y s h a d a c c o m m o d a t i o n

454 D. J . R O W E
differentiated b y t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e w e a l t h s , t h e y h a d i n t h e p a s t n o t
b e e n separated spatially. T h e m a n a g i n g partner of the Elswick L e a d
W o r k s n e a r N e w c a s t l e , for i n s t a n c e , l i v e d i n a h o u s e (albeit a v e r y
s p a c i o u s o n e ) in t h e w o r k s u n t i l t h e e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , a d j a c e n t
to t h e c o t t a g e s b u i l t for h i s s t r a t e g i c w o r k e r s . S o c i a l p r e s s u r e s a n d
p e r h a p s i m p r o v i n g t r a n s p o r t facilities m e a n t t h a t t h i s k i n d o f p r o p i n
q u i t y b e c a m e m u c h l e s s c o m m o n as t h e c e n t u r y p r o g r e s s e d .
O n e final p o i n t m i g h t b e m a d e a b o u t h o u s i n g a n d t h a t is t h e r e l a t i v e
shortage of middle-class h o u s i n g in m u c h of the region - o n e of the
great complaints of the business executive of the s e c o n d half of the
t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y c o n d e m n e d t o a stint in a r e g i o n a l office. T h e r e
a r e a n u m b e r o f r e a s o n s for t h i s s h o r t a g e . P r i m e a m o n g t h e m m u s t
b e t h e fact t h a t in t h e n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y f o r m a t i v e p e r i o d o f t h e h o u s
ing stock there was a low proportion of professional and higher mana
gerial p e r s o n n e l in t h e r e g i o n ' s p o p u l a t i o n , w h i l e t h e d e p r e s s i o n o f
the interwar years, w h e n c o m m u t e r h o u s i n g really b e c a m e important
elsewhere, m a d e the region e v e n less attractive to such people. That
m a n y of the villages on the edges of the major built-up areas w e r e
colliery c o m m u n i t i e s m a d e it difficult to e s t a b l i s h m i d d l e - c l a s s c o m
m u t e r a r e a s b a s e d o n o l d a g r i c u l t u r a l c e n t r e s . It is n o t i c e a b l e t h a t
N e w c a s t l e ' s o n e significant m i d d l e - c l a s s c o m m u t e r v i l l a g e , P o n t e -
l a n d , is t o t h e n o r t h - w e s t o f t h e t o w n , off t h e coalfield. T o a g r e a t
extent, therefore, middle-class h o u s i n g w a s d e p e n d e n t o n the large
terraces of the Victorian and Edwardian years, frequently garden-less,
w h i c h often did not appeal to the m o d e r n b u s i n e s s m e n . Lack of
' e x e c u t i v e ' t y p e h o u s e - b u i l d i n g in t h e y e a r s b e f o r e 1 9 3 9 left t h e r e g i o n
w i t h a n o b v i o u s i n a d e q u a c y w h i c h w a s t o p r o v e c o s t l y in t h e t h i r d
q u a r t e r o f t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y in t e r m s o f failure t o attract t h e m o r e
dynamic entrepreneurs to the area. T h e pattern of h o u s i n g outlined
a b o v e h a s a l s o left t h e r e g i o n w i t h a different o w n e r s h i p structure
from the national picture. In 1976 the northern region h a d the lowest
l e v e l o f o w n e r - o c c u p a n c y ( 4 5 p e r c e n t ) in E n g l a n d ( w h o s e a v e r a g e
w a s 5 5 p e r c e n t ) a n d c o n v e r s e l y t h e h i g h e s t l e v e l o f local a u t h o r i t y
housing provision (40 per cent) against an English average of 29 per
c e n t . A l t h o u g h t h i s s t r u c t u r e r e s u l t e d f r o m a t t e m p t s b y local a u t h o r i
ties s i n c e t h e 1 9 2 0 s to d e a l w i t h t h e p r e v i o u s d e p r i v a t i o n in r e g i o n a l
h o u s i n g p r o v i s i o n , it d o e s , o f c o u r s e , p o i n t t o t h e c o n t i n u a t i o n o f
a different f o r m o f d e p r i v a t i o n s i n c e o w n e r - o c c u p i e r s r e c e i v e h i g h e r
h o u s i n g s u b s i d i e s ( t h r o u g h m o r t g a g e i n t e r e s t relief) a n d social s t a t u s
than do council house occupants.

The north-east 455
Health
The s t a t e o f p u b l i c h e a l t h is affected t o a c o n s i d e r a b l e e x t e n t b y t h e
h o m e environment, and since a large proportion of the region's popu
lation h a s always lived in h o u s i n g w h i c h w a s i n a d e q u a t e in terms
of s p a c e , it c a n n o t b e w o n d e r e d at t h a t it e x p e r i e n c e d h i g h l e v e l s
of m o r t a l i t y f r o m t h o s e e p i d e m i c d i s e a s e s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h p o o r l i v i n g
conditions.
F r o m the b e g i n n i n g of the n i n e t e e n t h century c o n t e m p o r a r y social
investigators c o m m e n t e d o n the appalling housing conditions and
their likely impact o n health, especially o n T y n e s i d e w h e r e the worst
2 0
conditions were most widespread. N e w c a s t l e ' s M e d i c a l Officer o f
Health, in writing a survey of the t o w n ' s sanitary history u p to 1 8 8 1 ,
q u o t e d an account written in 1804:
It is impossible to give a proper representation of the wretched state of many

of the habitations of the indigent, situated in the confined lanes from the
Quay-side, Castle Garth, and Sandgate, which are kept in a most filthy state,
and, to a stranger, would appear inimical to the existence of human beings;
where each small unventilated apartment of the house contains a family,
with lodgers, in number from five to seven, and seldom more than two beds
21
for the whole.
S u c h conditions m u s t h a v e led to very high urban death rates, but

with low concentrations of urban population and slow population
growth rates before 1800, the p r o b l e m w a s not particularly serious.
Northumberland, i n p a r t i c u l a r , h a d v e r y l o w d e a t h r a t e s (reflecting
its b a s i c a l l y r u r a l c h a r a c t e r ) i n t h e p e r i o d u p t o t h e e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h
c e n t u r y . It w a s w i t h p o p u l a t i o n g r o w t h a n d c o n c e n t r a t i o n o n t h e
major riverside t o w n s that the problems really c a m e . N e w c a s t l e ' s
d e a t h r a t e i n t h e y e a r s 1 8 4 1 - 7 a v e r a g e d 2 5 . 7 p e r 1 , 0 0 0 , sufficiently
h i g h to justify intervention b y the G e n e r a l B o a r d of H e a l t h to set
up a Local Board under the 1848 Public Health Act. T h e strong oppo
sition a m o n g local ratepayers a n d m e m b e r s of the t o w n council to
a n y u n n e c e s s a r y e x p e n d i t u r e o n s o c i a l c o n d i t i o n s m a d e it c l e a r , h o w
e v e r , t h a t i n t e r v e n t i o n u n d e r t h e A c t w o u l d h a v e b e e n p o i n t l e s s . It
is n o t i c e a b l e t h a t t o w n s s u c h a s N e w c a s t l e a n d S u n d e r l a n d s u f f e r e d
severely from the various cholera epidemics. Newcastle experienced
322 deaths from cholera in 1 8 3 1 - 2 , 412 in 1848 a n d no fewer than
1,533 in 1853 (ironically the h i g h e r n u m b e r in the latter year being
20
See J. Smith, Tublic Health on Tyneside 1850-80', in McCord, Essays in Tyneside
Labour History, pp. 25-46.
21
H. E. Armstrong, 'Sketch of the Sanitary History of Newcastle-upon-Tyne', Trans
actions of the Sanitary Institute of Great Britain, 4 (1883), p. 84.

456 D. J. R O W E
partly caused by the recent introduction of a more widespread water

supply, partly drawn from the Tyne close to the town). Deaths from
cholera were, however, a mere pimple on the mountain of death but
the serious impact of the disease in the region's main towns pointed
to major problems in public health.
Small dwellings in an agricultural community or in a market town
might be acceptable (although their occupants would still be subject
to all the social tensions brought by overcrowding), but heaped
together in a large town they brought almost intolerable problems.
One of the most obvious was sanitation, or rather the lack of it. Sani
tary reports up to the middle of the nineteenth century contain horrific
accounts of the problems attached to the disposal of human excrement
and even worse of the problems caused by the frequent failure to
dispose of it. In one of the old streets of Gateshead, Pipewellgate,
where the houses had been converted into tenement buildings for
the poorer classes, there were in 1843 only three privies although
the total population was over 2,000. Mortality in such areas was much
above the average for the town.
Despite the overwhelming evidence of insanitary conditions pro
vided by the various enquiries of the 1840s, very little was done in
any attempt to improve the situation. Symptomatic of the lack of con
cern was the failure of either Newcastle or Gateshead to appoint a
Medical Officer of Health until 1873 (and even then the latter town's
appointment was only of a part-time employee) and South Shields
not until 1875, a step which Liverpool had taken in 1845. There was
some attempt by most towns to extend local bye-laws to provide the
means of control over such matters as new building and public nuis
ances but little was done which would have any serious effect on
the urban environment. There was no significant attempt by any of
the local authorities in the region to build accommodation for the
working classes under the various enabling acts of the later nineteenth
century. Indeed in Newcastle there was strong opposition in the local
council to such activity. Of the £4m borrowed nationally between
1891 and 1904 from central government under the 1890 Housing of
the Working Classes Act, Newcastle borrowed £5,761 while even
22
Alnwick borrowed £23,000. Even in the obvious areas which had
been widely condemned, such as the provision of privy middens,
many towns continued to allow their construction for new housing
22
E. R. Dewsnup, The Housing Problem in England (Manchester, 1907), pp. 173-85.

The north-east £57
in the third quarter of the n i n e t e e n t h century. T h e y p r e s e n t e d enor

m o u s problems of spread of disease through their use b y large
n u m b e r s of persons, while they were infrequently cleaned out and
p r o v i d e d a n effective b r e e d i n g g r o u n d for d i s e a s e . I n M i d d l e s b r o u g h
in 1869 n o fewer t h a n 94 per cent of h o u s e s h a d privy m i d d e n s , the
last o f w h i c h w a s n o t a b o l i s h e d u n t i l 1 9 1 4 . A l t h o u g h t h e p r o v i s i o n
of w a t e r c l o s e t s b e g a n to g a i n g r o u n d a n d w a s s t r o n g l y f a v o u r e d
b y h e a l t h r e f o r m e r s , a s h c l o s e t s c o n t i n u e d to b e b u i l t u p to t h e e n d
of t h e c e n t u r y b e c a u s e t h e y w e r e c h e a p e r . A g a i n t h e risk o f c o n t a m i n a
tion and spread of disease w a s higher than with water closets and
at t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y t h e r e g i o n ' s u r b a n a r e a s
faced a h u g e conversion problem. In 1912 there w e r e 15,000 dry closets
i n M i d d l e s b r o u g h w h i c h h a d a total o f 2 3 , 0 0 0 h o u s e s , w h i l e L i v e r p o o l
b y that time h a d largely m o v e d to water-borne sanitation. T h e back
l a n e , a s t a n d a r d f e a t u r e o f h o u s i n g in t h e r e g i o n , l a r g e l y n e c e s s i t a t e d
for t h e e m p t y i n g o f a s h c l o s e t s , w a s , a n d is, l a r g e l y a w a s t e o f s p a c e
w h i c h m i g h t h a v e b e e n d e v o t e d to g a r d e n s . It m i g h t b e s a i d t h a t
it p r o v i d e d s p a c e a n d light, p r e v i o u s l y m i s s i n g in t h e o l d e r t e n e -
mented accommodation, and provided a p l a y a r e a for children.
Clearly, h o w e v e r , back lanes were insalubrious places. T h e Medical
Officer o f H e a l t h for G a t e s h e a d c o m m e n t e d in 1 9 2 5 o n t h o s e a r e a s
w h i c h h a d recently b e e n converted to water carriage, that there w e r e
' g e n e r a l l y c l e a n e r y a r d s , f e w e r flies, c l e a n e r b a c k s t r e e t s , w i t h a b s e n c e
of t h e u n s i g h t l y l i q u i d f a e c e s o o z i n g f r o m t h e c l o s e t d o o r s a n d w i t h
2 3
it a p u r e r a t m o s p h e r e ' . In 1920 G a t e s h e a d h a d only 6,000 water
c l o s e t s for 2 7 , 0 0 0 t e n a n c i e s a n d o n l y c o m m e n c e d t h e m a j o r c a m p a i g n
t o e l i m i n a t e d r y c l o s e t s in t h e m i d - 1 9 2 0 s b e c a u s e o f t h e availability
of g o v e r n m e n t g r a n t s . S o m e l o c a l a u t h o r i t i e s , s u c h as S o u t h S h i e l d s ,
w e r e e v e n s l o w e r t h a n G a t e s h e a d to u n d e r t a k e c o n v e r s i o n s c h e m e s ,
w h i l e t h e s m a l l e r u r b a n a r e a s h a d l a r g e n u m b e r s o f d r y c l o s e t s in
the 1930s.
T h e n o r t h - e a s t ' s u n e n v i a b l e p o s i t i o n w i t h r e g a r d to s a n i t a t i o n w a s
r e p e a t e d in m a n y other areas of social characteristics a n d the improve
m e n t s t o t h e h o u s i n g s t o c k in t h e i n t e r w a r y e a r s still left its i n h a b i t a n t s
i n a s t a t e o f r e l a t i v e d e p r i v a t i o n , s i n c e o t h e r r e g i o n s did n o t s t a n d
still w h i l e t h e n o r t h - e a s t c a u g h t u p . E v e n t h o u g h e v e r y h o u s e in
M i d d l e s b r o u g h w a s said to h a v e a water closet in 1945, s o m e 5 0
per cent of t h e m were outside the house, while 50 per cent of
23
Quoted in Mess, Industrial Tyneside, p. 96.

458 D. J . R O W E
M i d d l e s b r o u g h ' s h o u s e s w e r e w i t h o u t a fixed b a t h , a n d i n t h e o l d
w o r k i n g - c l a s s w a r d s , s u c h a s C a n n o n a n d N e w p o r t , it w a s 9 0 p e r
c e n t o r m o r e w h i l e i n l a r g e l y m i d d l e - c l a s s L i n t h o r p e it w a s o n l y 9
per cent. In the years 1 9 3 5 - 9 M i d d l e s b r o u g h ' s infant mortality rate
h a d averaged 7 4 . 4 per 1,000, the s e c o n d h i g h e s t rate of a n y c o u n t y
borough in the country.
B y t h e i n t e r w a r y e a r s t h e statistics o n p u b l i c h e a l t h a r e r e a s o n a b l y
accurate and well d o c u m e n t e d and there w a s a wide range of interest
i n t h e i r p e r u s a l b u t , a l t h o u g h d o c u m e n t a t i o n is l e s s g o o d for t h e n i n e
teenth century, e n o u g h h a s b e e n suggested to s h o w that the region
c o u l d n o t e x p e c t a n a v e r a g e s t a n d a r d o f h e a l t h . It is c e r t a i n t h a t d e a t h
rates rose in the major u r b a n areas as populations increased in the
early part of the n i n e t e e n t h century. In N e w c a s t l e in 1866 the crude
death rate w a s 3 2 . 1 per 1,000, t h e third h i g h e s t a m o n g the large t o w n s
of B r i t a i n , b u t N e w c a s t l e d i d n o t h a v e t h e p r o b l e m s o f h u g e s i z e
a n d early e x p a n s i o n from w h i c h m a n y of the t o w n s suffered. A s m a n y
contemporary observers noted, Newcastle's problems were of her
o w n m a k i n g a n d largely reflected a lack of desire a m o n g the middle-
c l a s s c o u n c i l l o r s to d o a n y t h i n g a b o u t t h e m . I n t h e p e r i o d u p t o 1 9 1 4
death rates were consistently above the national average and, more
significantly, a b o v e t h e a v e r a g e for l a r g e t o w n s . G a t e s h e a d ' s d e a t h
r a t e for t h e y e a r s 1 8 8 1 - 3 a v e r a g e d 2 2 . 9 a g a i n s t a figure for E n g l a n d
a n d W a l e s o f 1 9 . 3 a n d a n a v e r a g e for fifty l a r g e t o w n s o f 2 0 . 2 .
N e w c a s t l e ' s d e a t h r a t e a v e r a g e d 2 8 . 2 for t h e y e a r s 1 8 6 7 - 7 2 , 2 4 . 8 for
1 8 7 4 - 9 a n d d i d n o t fall c o n s i s t e n t l y b e l o w 2 0 p e r 1,000 u n t i l after
1 9 0 2 , a n d e v e n t h e n its r a t e w a s a b o u t t w o p o i n t s a b o v e t h e a v e r a g e
for s e v e n t y - s i x g r e a t t o w n s .
T h e evidence of the interwar period s h o w e d that 'the North-east
h a d o n e o f t h e w o r s t , if n o t t h e w o r s t , h e a l t h r e c o r d s o f a n y r e g i o n
2 4
in E n g l a n d a n d W a l e s ' a n d t h e r e g i o n a l figures w e r e u s e d b y t h e
Registrar G e n e r a l to c o m p a r e with t h o s e of the best region, Eastern
R u r a l D i s t r i c t s , a n d t h e a v e r a g e for E n g l a n d a n d W a l e s . I n 1 9 2 0 , for
instance, S u n d e r l a n d ' s death rate w a s 16.0 c o m p a r e d with the average
of 1 2 . 5 for t h e g r e a t t o w n s . I n t h e c o u n t y b o r o u g h s o f t h e n o r t h - e a s t
m a l e life e x p e c t a n c y at b i r t h i n t h e y e a r s 1 9 2 0 - 2 w a s 4 9 . 5 9 y e a r s ( a n d
m a l e life e x p e c t a n c y at a g e t e n w a s a c t u a l l y h i g h e r at 5 0 . 8 5 , r e f l e c t i n g
t h e h i g h i n f a n t m o r t a l i t y r a t e s ) , a g a i n s t a figure o f 5 5 . 6 2 y e a r s for
the average of c o u n t y b o r o u g h s in E n g l a n d a n d W a l e s . T h e average
24
J Hadneld, Health in the Industrial North-East (n.d.), p. 35. The subsequent detail
on health in the interwar period is taken from this very useful source.

The north-east 459
n u m b e r o f m a l e d e a t h s in t h e c o u n t y b o r o u g h s o f t h e n o r t h - e a s t in
the years 1920-2 was 4,810 per annum, whereas the expected number
of d e a t h s if t h e a v e r a g e m o r t a l i t y r a t e s for E n g l a n d a n d W a l e s h a d
o p e r a t e d w a s 3 , 7 0 5 . I n o t h e r w o r d s , it m i g h t b e s a i d t h a t m o r e t h a n
1,000 m e n d i e d p u r e l y b e c a u s e o f c o n d i t i o n s w h i c h w e r e p r e v a l e n t
in t h e n o r t h - e a s t . O f c o u r s e , t h a t is t o o s i m p l e a n a n a l y s i s s i n c e t h e r e
w e r e m a n y factors i n v o l v e d - s o m e o f t h e m l i n k e d t o o t h e r a s p e c t s
of d e p r i v a t i o n in t h e n o r t h - e a s t . O n e o f t h e r e a s o n s for t h e r e g i o n ' s
h i g h d e a t h r a t e s w a s t h e fact t h a t its social s t r u c t u r e w a s s k e w e d ,
m o r e s t r o n g l y t h a n t h e n a t i o n a l a v e r a g e , t o w a r d s t h e l o w e r social
c l a s s e s w i t h t h e i r s h o r t e r life e x p e c t a n c y . In 1 9 3 1 C o u n t y D u r h a m h a d
10 p e r 1,000 o f its p o p u l a t i o n in social c l a s s I ( w h i l e S u r r e y h a d 5 6 ) ,
70 in c l a s s II ( S u r r e y 161) b u t 3 1 3 in c l a s s I V ( S u r r e y h a d 1 0 5 ) . N e v e r t h e
l e s s , d e a t h r a t e s for t h e h i g h e r social c l a s s e s in t h e n o r t h - e a s t w e r e
also above the national average.
W h i l e social s t r u c t u r e m a y h a v e h a d s o m e effect it is difficult to
e x p l a i n t h e n o r t h - e a s t ' s inferior h e a l t h r e c o r d to a r e a s w i t h similar
s t r u c t u r e , e x c e p t in t e r m s o f a b s o l u t e l y w o r s e e n v i r o n m e n t a l c o n
d i t i o n s . I n t h e y e a r s 1 9 2 0 - 2 m a l e d e a t h s in t h e n o r t h - e a s t e x c e e d e d
t h e n a t i o n a l a v e r a g e for c o u n t y b o r o u g h s in a ratio o f 1.298 ( a n e x c e s s
of n e a r l y 3 0 p e r c e n t m o r e d e a t h s ) . T h e n e x t h i g h e s t l e v e l w a s in
t h e c o u n t y b o r o u g h s o f L a n c a s h i r e a n d C h e s h i r e w h e r e t h e ratio w a s
1.256. I n u r b a n districts o t h e r t h a n c o u n t y b o r o u g h s t h e p i c t u r e w a s
t h e s a m e w i t h t h e n o r t h - e a s t w i t h t h e h i g h e s t ratio o f d e a t h s to t h e
n a t i o n a l a v e r a g e at 1.125 ( f o l l o w e d in this c a s e b y u r b a n districts in
S o u t h W a l e s at 1.098).
T h e d i s e a s e s w h i c h w e r e m o s t s t r o n g l y p r e v a l e n t in t h e r e g i o n w e r e
those w h i c h h a d a high correlation with environmental factors. Enteric
f e v e r a n d t u b e r c u l o s i s , for i n s t a n c e , h a d c o n s i s t e n t l y h i g h e r a t t a c k
a n d fatality r a t e s in t h e n o r t h - e a s t t h a n t h e y h a d in o t h e r r e g i o n s .
E v e n before 1914 T B rates on Tyneside h a d b e e n above the national
a v e r a g e b u t t h e m o r e reliable figures o f t h e i n t e r w a r y e a r s s h o w this
t o h a v e c o n t i n u e d to b e t r u e a n d a l t h o u g h t h e i n c i d e n c e o f t h e d i s e a s e
o n T y n e s i d e d e c l i n e d , it did s o m o r e r a p i d l y in t h e c o u n t r y as a w h o l e ,
l e a v i n g t h e r e g i o n relatively w o r s e off. I n t h e y e a r s 1 9 1 2 - 1 3 T y n e s i d e ' s
rate w a s 3 0 p e r c e n t a b o v e t h e n a t i o n a l a v e r a g e , w h i l e f r o m 1 9 3 5
t o 1 9 3 7 it e x c e e d e d t h e n a t i o n a l a v e r a g e b y 5 3 p e r c e n t . County
D u r h a m h a d the highest death rates from tuberculosis of any county
in E n g l a n d a n d W a l e s , w i t h G a t e s h e a d a n d S o u t h S h i e l d s a v e r a g i n g
death rates from the disease s o m e 75 per cent above the national

460 D. J . R O W E
average. In the ten years 1 9 1 9 - 2 8 S o u t h Shields was never b e l o w

t h e f o u r t h w o r s t p o s i t i o n for T B d e a t h s o f all c o u n t y b o r o u g h s in
E n g l a n d a n d W a l e s a n d w a s top o n four occasions. T B w a s a disease
w h i c h w a s closely correlated with overcrowding, large families a n d
undernourishment a n d since t h e s e w e r e also factors closely linked
to infant m o r t a l i t y it is n o t s u r p r i s i n g t h a t t h e r e g i o n f e a t u r e d p r o m i
n e n t l y in i n f a n t d e a t h s as w e l l . I n t h e y e a r s 1 9 2 0 - 2 t h e p r o b a b i l i t y
of m a l e d e a t h s d u r i n g t h e first y e a r o f life w a s 0 . 1 1 4 7 1 in t h e n o r t h - e a s t
a g a i n s t 0 . 0 8 9 9 6 for E n g l a n d a n d W a l e s . W h a t is m o r e , a l t h o u g h o n c e
a g a i n t h e a b s o l u t e c o n d i t i o n s o f h e a l t h w e r e i m p r o v i n g , t h e y did s o
m o r e r a p i d l y in o t h e r p a r t s o f t h e c o u n t r y t h a n in t h e n o r t h - e a s t .
By the early 1930s the large t o w n s of the north-east h a d the highest
infant m o r t a l i t y r a t e s o f t w e l v e g r o u p s o f l a r g e t o w n s in t h e c o u n t r y ,
e v e n t h o u g h t h e y h a d o c c u p i e d o n l y f o u r t h h i g h e s t p o s i t i o n in t h e
years 1911-14. For the years 1930-2 the north-east had the highest
infant m o r t a l i t y r a t e s in social c l a s s e s III-V, w i t h t h e h i g h e s t figure
130 p e r c e n t o f t h e n a t i o n a l r a t e in c l a s s V , b u t for t h e s e c o n d y e a r
of life t h e n o r t h - e a s t h a d t h e h i g h e s t r a t e s for c l a s s e s I I - V , w i t h t h e
rates ranging from 130 per cent to 155 per cent of their respective
class a v e r a g e s for E n g l a n d a n d W a l e s .
It w o u l d b e p o s s i b l e t o g o o n t o detail t h e n o r t h - e a s t ' s u n f a v o u r a b l e
r e c o r d for m a n y o t h e r d i s e a s e s c o m p a r e d t o t h e n a t i o n a l a v e r a g e a n d
t h e w a y t h e y t o o k t h e i r toll at all a g e s a n d n o t j u s t a m o n g i n f a n t s .
It is m u c h m o r e difficult to b e p r e c i s e a b o u t e n v i r o n m e n t a l effects
o n h e a l t h w h i c h d i d n o t l e a d to m a j o r d i s e a s e a n d d e a t h b u t m e r e l y
l o w e r e d t h e s t a n d a r d o f life in t h e n o r t h - e a s t r e l a t i v e to o t h e r r e g i o n s .
A n u m b e r of references, h o w e v e r , suggest that there were high levels
of s i c k n e s s , l o w h e i g h t a n d w e i g h t figures for c h i l d r e n a n d e v i d e n c e
of n u t r i t i o n a l d e f i c i e n c y d i s e a s e s s u c h as r i c k e t s a n d a n a e m i a d u r i n g
t h e i n t e r w a r y e a r s . G i v e n t h e fact t h a t s m a l l e r p r o p o r t i o n s o f t h e p o p u
lation o f t h e n o r t h - e a s t a t t e n d e d T B clinics t h a n t h e n a t i o n a l a v e r a g e ,
d e s p i t e t h e h i g h r e g i o n a l i n c i d e n c e o f t h e d i s e a s e , it s e e m s l i k e l y t h a t
t h e r e w e r e f e w e r facilities for t r e a t m e n t o f m i n o r ill-health in t h e n o r t h
e a s t a n d that its p o p u l a t i o n r e c e i v e d l e s s a t t e n t i o n for s u c h m a t t e r s
t h a n t h o s e in o t h e r p a r t s o f t h e c o u n t r y .
There were, of course, major health i m p r o v e m e n t s b y the e n d of
t h e 1 9 3 0 s . T h e T B d e a t h r a t e fell f r o m a l m o s t 2 t o o n l y 1 p e r 1,000
per a n n u m , while infant mortality rates halved b e t w e e n 1900 a n d
the 1930s. T h e s e i m p r o v e m e n t s w e r e the result of m u c h increased
e x p e n d i t u r e o n c h i l d w e l f a r e c e n t r e s , a n t e - n a t a l clinics, T B s a n a t o r i a ,

The north-east 461
the appointment of midwives, improved sanitation, a considerable

e x t e n s i o n o f h o s p i t a l facilities, t o g e t h e r w i t h m a n y m i n o r d e v e l o p
m e n t s which included increased dental care, provision of spectacles
a n d m e a l s for n e e d y c h i l d r e n a n d s o o n . B u t t h e s e w e r e p a r t o f n a t i o n a l
d e v e l o p m e n t s a n d w h a t is i m p o r t a n t for t h e r e g i o n a l p o s i t i o n is n o t
absolute but relative provision. In the years 1 9 1 1 - 1 3 the average male
d e a t h r a t e for S o u t h S h i e l d s w a s 1 3 4 p e r c e n t o f t h e n a t i o n a l a v e r a g e ,
w h i l e it w a s 1 3 8 p e r c e n t i n t h e y e a r s 1 9 3 0 - 2 ; for S u n d e r l a n d t h e
figures w e r e 1 2 8 p e r c e n t a n d 1 3 2 p e r c e n t ; for W e s t H a r t l e p o o l 1 2 1
p e r c e n t a n d 1 2 8 p e r c e n t ; a n d for G a t e s h e a d 1 2 0 p e r c e n t a n d 1 2 6
per cent.
A p a r t f r o m t h e o b v i o u s l i n k s b e t w e e n o v e r c r o w d i n g a n d ill-health,
t h e m o r t a l i t y a n d h e a l t h statistics o f t h e n o r t h - e a s t w e r e s t r o n g l y affec
ted b y the region's industrial structure. M a n y of the major occupations
were a m o n g those with the highest health risks. Coal mining and
c o a s t a l s h i p p i n g c a r r i e d p a r t i c u l a r l y h i g h r i s k s o f d e a t h at w o r k ,
e s p e c i a l l y in t h e e i g h t e e n t h a n d n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r i e s , w h i l e industrial
i n j u r i e s w e r e v e r y p r o m i n e n t in t h e f o r m e r . I n a p e r i o d b e f o r e t h e
introduction of c o m p u l s o r y insurance against industrial injuries, an
e m p l o y e e w h o w a s t e m p o r a r i l y , or e v e n m o r e i m p o r t a n t l y p e r m a
nently, incapacitated from w o r k w o u l d experience a disastrous decline
i n a l r e a d y l o w l i v i n g s t a n d a r d s . F e w r e c e i v e d significant c o m p e n s a
t i o n f r o m e m p l o y e r s a n d it is n o t s u r p r i s i n g t h a t in t h e m i n i n g villages
i n p a r t i c u l a r t h e r e w a s s t r o n g m e m b e r s h i p o f t h e friendly s o c i e t i e s
s u c h as O d d f e l l o w s a n d F o r e s t e r s . It w a s n o t o n l y t h e o b v i o u s i n d u s
tries i n w h i c h h e a l t h w a s d a m a g e d , s i n c e e m p l o y m e n t in i r o n a n d
steel manufacture, in iron foundries, shipbuilding and engineering,
as w e l l as t h e m a n u f a c t u r e o f c h e m i c a l s a n d l e a d , w a s a l s o s u b j e c t
to a high level of industrial accidents a n d to deleterious conditions
w h i c h p r o v i d e d s c o p e for T B a n d b r o n c h i t i s a m o n g o t h e r d i s e a s e s .
M o r e o v e r , in m a n y o f t h e s e o c c u p a t i o n s s t r e n g t h a n d y o u t h w e r e
at a p r e m i u m a n d o l d e r w o r k e r s e x p e r i e n c e d l o w e r e a r n i n g s a n d ,
t h e r e f o r e , d e c l i n i n g living s t a n d a r d s j u s t at t h e t i m e w h e n t h e i r h e a l t h
m i g h t b e affected b y t h e i r earlier w o r k i n g c o n d i t i o n s . I n e v i t a b l y , t h e s e
w e r e factors w h i c h w e r e m i r r o r e d i n all a r e a s w h e r e t h e r e w a s a c o n
c e n t r a t i o n o f h e a v y i n d u s t r y a n d it is n o t i c e a b l e t h a t a l t h o u g h t h e
n o r t h - e a s t w a s p r o m i n e n t a m o n g t h e w o r s t r e g i o n s w i t h r e g a r d to
h o u s i n g p r o v i s i o n a n d m o r t a l i t y r a t e s , its rivals w e r e invariably
Lancashire, S o u t h W a l e s and the W e s t Riding of Yorkshire. T h e north
e a s t ' s p r o m i n e n c e h a s t o b e p u t d o w n t o t h e s t r o n g s e n s e of insularity

462 D. J. R O W E
in t h e r e g i o n ; its u n a t t r a c t i v e total e n v i r o n m e n t w a s m e r e l y a c c e p t e d
as n o r m a l b y t h o s e w h o l i v e d a n d w o r k e d in it a n d w a s , t h e r e f o r e ,
n o t c h a l l e n g e d . It n e e d e d a n influx o f o u t s i d e r s w i t h w i d e r e x p e r i e n c e
a n d it is n o t i c e a b l e t h a t m a n y o f t h e s e , e s p e c i a l l y t h o s e c o n c e r n e d
w i t h social p r o v i s i o n s u c h as d o c t o r s , w e r e a p p a l l e d b y w h a t t h e y
f o u n d in t h e r e g i o n . A l t h o u g h m a n y o f t h e m w o r k e d for c h a n g e t h e r e
w e r e t o o f e w o f t h e m to h a v e a n y significant i m p a c t b e f o r e t h e S e c o n d
W o r l d W a r a n d , i n d e e d , as t h e y b e c a m e i n v o l v e d w i t h t h e n o r t h - e a s t
they too b e c a m e insular. T h e y b e c a m e c o n c e r n e d about absolute
i m p r o v e m e n t s in r e g i o n a l c o n d i t i o n s a n d a p p l a u d e d a n d w e r e often
satisfied w h e n t h e s e o c c u r r e d , failing t o r e c o g n i s e t h a t t h e r e s t o f
t h e c o u n t r y w a s n o t s t a n d i n g still w a i t i n g for t h e l a g g a r d s to c a t c h
up.
A regional perspective
M a n y o f t h e g e n e r a l failings o f t h e n o r t h - e a s t m a y , t h e r e f o r e , b e
r e g a r d e d as a result o f t h e failure o f its l e a d e r s to l o o k b e y o n d t h e
regional inheritance of deprivation. For m u c h of the period, of course,
t h i s w a s a result o f t h e e x i s t e n c e o f a n individualist s o c i e t y in w h i c h
t h e r e w a s n e i t h e r t h e i n s t i t u t i o n a l m e a n s n o r t h e collectivist will
a m o n g t h o s e w i t h p o w e r to d o a n y t h i n g a b o u t t h e o v e r a l l e n v i r o n
m e n t . T h i s is n o t to d e n y t h a t t h e r e g i o n h a d p a t e r n a l i s t s b u t m e r e l y
t o state a g e n e r a l fact. A s t h e t o w n e n v i r o n m e n t s d e t e r i o r a t e d d u r i n g
t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y t h e r e s p o n s e o f t h e w e a l t h y w a s t o m o v e to
m o r e s a l u b r i o u s a r e a s , a n o p t i o n w h i c h w a s n o t o p e n to t h e w o r k i n g
c l a s s e s . T o m o v e o u t w a s to b e c o m e l a r g e l y d i v o r c e d f r o m u r b a n c o n
d i t i o n s w h i c h m a d e it v e r y e a s y to d o n o t h i n g a b o u t t h e m . T h e result
w a s t h a t t h e p r o s p e r o u s y e a r s o f t h e late n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y s a w little
or n o a t t e m p t at i m p r o v e m e n t at a t i m e w h e n a t o w n s u c h as
Birmingham, under determined leadership, s h o w e d that improve
ment was possible. By the interwar period, w h e n improvement
b e c a m e a n a t i o n a l l y a c c e p t e d t h e m e , t h e n o r t h - e a s t w a s h a r d l y in
t h e financial p o s i t i o n to c o p e w i t h t h e g e n e r a l t r e n d s o f t h e t i m e let
alone eliminate past deprivation.
M a n y of the people w h o h a d m a d e m o n e y out of the region's indus
trial g r o w t h h a d t a k e n it o u t o f t h e r e g i o n t o live in m o r e f a v o u r a b l e
c l i m e s , w h i l e s u c h p r o s p e r i t y as r e m a i n e d e x i s t e d in p o c k e t s i s o l a t e d
f r o m t h e g e n e r a l d e p r e s s i o n . T h i s p a t t e r n h a d e x i s t e d for s o m e t i m e
w i t h G a t e s h e a d , for i n s t a n c e , b e i n g j e a l o u s o f t h e fact t h a t m a n y

The north-east 463
profitable businesses paid rates to Newcastle while their poor

e m p l o y e e s lived in G a t e s h e a d in premises of low rateable value. But
t h e question of rate i n c o m e b e c a m e crucial in the interwar years as
b o t h n e e d s a n d the desire to m e e t t h e m increased in the poorer areas.
T h e small, poor authorities such as Jarrow, H e b b u r n a n d W a l l s e n d
o n T y n e s i d e suffered from l o w rateable values a n d therefore l o w
i n c o m e . O f t h e 9 , 2 9 8 o c c u p i e d p e r s o n s in H e b b u r n i n 1 9 2 1 , ' O n l y
4 4 p e r s o n s e n g a g e d in i n d u s t r y r e t u r n e d t h e m s e l v e s i n t h e c a t e g o r i e s
of e m p l o y e r , o w n e r , a g e n t , o r m a n a g e r . . . t h e r e w e r e e l e v e n c l e r g y
m e n a n d five d o c t o r s , b u t t h e r e w a s n o d e n t i s t , n o solicitor, n o b a r r i s
ter, n o a c c o u n t a n t , n o j o u r n a l i s t , n o s o c i a l w e l f a r e w o r k e r . . . n o o n e
2 5
o v e r t h e a g e o f 18 e n u m e r a t e d as a s t u d e n t / O f neighbouring Jarrow
o n e c o m m e n t a t o r w r o t e at t h e e n d o f t h e 1 9 3 0 s :
It must be one of the strongest manifestations of 19th century civilisation

that business men were able to construct districts such as Jarrow, themselves
to live in another town, and then to leave the people of Jarrow to overcome
typhoid and tuberculosis as best they could on their tiny resources while
26
the profits were being spent elsewhere.
T h e missing middle-class residents frequently lived in Gosforth or

W h i t l e y B a y , w h e r e t h e i n c i d e n c e o f o v e r c r o w d i n g w a s m o r e like 3
per cent t h a n 30 per cent, c o m m u n i t i e s w h i c h w e r e anxious to main
tain their i n d e p e n d e n c e a n d not contribute to the u p k e e p of the poor
in n e i g h b o u r i n g c o m m u n i t i e s . I n d e e d , T y n e s i d e w a s o n e of the worst
e x a m p l e s of class enclaves with resultant massive inefficiency. T h e r e
w e r e n o fewer t h a n fourteen local authorities o n T y n e s i d e in the inter
w a r y e a r s r e s p o n s i b l e for t h e p r o v i s i o n o f m a n y s o c i a l b e n e f i t s b u t
with greatly varying resources with w h i c h to provide t h e m . A s a
r e s u l t , b i r t h o r r e s i d e n c e o n o n e o r a n o t h e r s i d e o f a n artificial b o u n d
a r y h a d a d r a m a t i c i m p a c t o n life e x p e c t a n c y , e d u c a t i o n p r o v i s i o n
a n d m a n y other services. T h e discrepancies led to m a n y d e m a n d s
for a u n i f i e d T y n e s i d e - ' I f a civic c o n s c i e n c e is e v e r t o b e d e v e l o p e d ,
t h e fact m u s t b e f a c e d t h a t N e w c a s t l e , G o s f o r t h , a n d W h i t l e y B a y
a n d M o n k s e a t o n m u s t e n t e r a u n i f i e d T y n e s i d e a n d g i v e it t h e b e n e f i t
2 7
of their rateable v a l u e ' - but despite the setting up of a Royal C o m
mission o n the subject in t h e 1930s n o t h i n g w a s d o n e .
N a k e d s e l f - i n t e r e s t m a y h a v e b e e n a n i m p o r t a n t factor i n c r e a t i n g
t h e i n d u s t r i a l p r o s p e r i t y o f t h e l a t e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , b u t it w a s
25
Mess, Industrial Tyneside, pp. 167-8.
26
Goodfellow, Tyneside: The Social Facts, p. 69.
27
Ibid., p. 67.

464 D. J . R O W E
c e r t a i n l y a b a r r i e r to d e a l i n g w i t h t h e l e g a c y o f i n d u s t r i a l d e p r e s s i o n .
B u t it w a s n o t o n l y a failure to u n i t e to d e a l w i t h t h e p r o b l e m s -
there w a s a considerable lack of initiative. In 1928 M e s s wrote: ' A t
G a t e s h e a d a n d e l s e w h e r e t h e r u i n s o f b u i l d i n g s stick o u t as u n s i g h t l y
s t u m p s a l o n g t h e s l o p e o f t h e cliff. T h e s e s l o p e s , u n s u i t a b l e for
m o d e r n b u i l d i n g s o f a n y k i n d , m i g h t in s o m e c a s e s b e p l a n t e d w i t h
2 8
b u s h e s , and b e converted into h a n g i n g parks, with zig-zag p a t h s . '
F o r a l o n g t i m e n o t h i n g w a s d o n e a n d m o r e t h a n fifty y e a r s l a t e r
s o m e o f t h e a r e a s o f river b a n k a r e still a n e y e s o r e . T o t a k e a n o t h e r
e x a m p l e , t h e T o w n M o o r at N e w c a s t l e w a s ( a n d is) u s e d for o n e
w e e k a y e a r for t h e ' H o p p i n g s ' b u t , at t h e c o s t o f d i s p o s s e s s i n g t h e
freemen of their grazing rights, an imaginative use could h a v e b e e n
p r o v i d e d b y its d e v e l o p m e n t as a p e r m a n e n t p l e a s u r e a n d l e i s u r e
ground. While the terraces of Scots w o o d had no play areas, Newcastle
h a d t h e h i g h e s t ratio o f o p e n s p a c e to b u i l t - u p a r e a o f a n y l a r g e t o w n
- b u t t h e u s e m a d e o f t h e l a r g e s t a r e a o f o p e n s p a c e w a s trivial.
A l t h o u g h t h e y did n o t a p p l y t h e m s e l v e s to i m p r o v e m e n t o f t h e
r e g i o n a l e n v i r o n m e n t it w o u l d n o t d o to e n d t h i s s u r v e y w i t h o u t s a y
i n g s o m e t h i n g o f t h e p e o p l e o f t h e r e g i o n a n d t h e i r a c t i v i t i e s . First,
it is i m p o r t a n t to d r a w a t t e n t i o n to t h e i m p r e s s i v e s t r e a m o f i n v e n t i o n
a n d i n n o v a t i o n w h i c h c a m e f r o m i n d i v i d u a l s i n t h e r e g i o n - initially
from natives but frequently from the middle of the nineteenth century
f r o m i m m i g r a n t s as t h e p r o s p e r i t y o f i n d u s t r i a l g r o w t h a c t e d a s a
m e c c a for t h e d y n a m i c e n t r e p r e n e u r . I n a g r i c u l t u r e , J o h n R a s t r i c k ' s
thresher, John C o m m o n ' s reaper and the stock-breeding improve
m e n t s m a d e b y the brothers Culley and Colling stand out among
the features w h i c h m a d e the region significant b y the m i d - n i n e t e e n t h
century. In industry there were m a n y w h o m a d e major contributions
to k n o w l e d g e and productive techniques ranging from the well
k n o w n , s u c h as t h e S t e p h e n s o n s i n r a i l w a y s , A r m s t r o n g a n d P a l m e r
in s h i p b u i l d i n g a n d e n g i n e e r i n g , C h a r l e s P a r s o n s in m a r i n e and
turbine engineering a n d J o s e p h S w a n in electricity, t h r o u g h the
s l i g h t l y k n o w n , s u c h as J . W . I s h e r w o o d in s h i p d e s i g n , t o t h e h a r d l y
known, s u c h as E d w a r d Chapman, inventor of the ropemaking
m a c h i n e a n d J o h n W a l k e r o f S t o c k t o n , i n v e n t o r o f t h e friction m a t c h .
It is difficult to m e a s u r e a r e g i o n ' s i n v e n t i v e n e s s b u t d u r i n g its n i n e
teenth-century expansion those mentioned and m a n y others gave the
r e g i o n a c l a i m to h a v e m a d e a c o n t r i b u t i o n o f g r e a t e r s i g n i f i c a n c e
28
Mess, Industrial Tyneside, p. 97.

The north-east 465
t h a n m i g h t h a v e b e e n e x p e c t e d b y its s i z e . M a n y o f t h e m e n w h o
m a d e n o t i c e a b l e c o n t r i b u t i o n s t o i n v e n t i v e n e s s also d e v e l o p e d t h e i r
ideas a n d created e m p l o y m e n t opportunities a n d prosperity. In this
a r e a t h e y w e r e j o i n e d b y n u m e r o u s e n t r e p r e n e u r s w h o offered little
in t h e w a y o f n e w i d e a s b u t w h o h a d t h e ability t o u s e t h e i d e a s
of o t h e r s t o c r e a t e i n d u s t r i a l e n t e r p r i s e s . F r o m t h e i r efforts r e s u l t e d
t h e h u g e i r o n a n d s t e e l firms o f T e e s s i d e a n d t h e s h i p b u i l d i n g y a r d s
o n all t h r e e r i v e r s . T h e r e w e r e a l s o m a j o r c o n t r i b u t i o n s in c u l t u r a l
a r e a s . T y n e s i d e w a s t h e h o m e o f a n u m b e r of n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y
painters of distinction, a m o n g t h e m Carmichael, Perlee Parker, the
R i c h a r d s o n s a n d J o h n M a r t i n , w h o s e w o r k s are n o w c o l l e c t o r s ' i t e m s ,
while D o b s o n and others not only bespattered the region with elegant
c o u n t r y h o u s e s b u t a l s o d e s i g n e d for N e w c a s t l e t h e finest c e n t r e o f
a n y i n d u s t r i a l city.
W h a t h a p p e n e d to t h e s e v e i n s o f i n n o v a t i o n a n d e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l
ability after t h e First W o r l d W a r ? It w o u l d b e p o i n t l e s s a n d u n t r u e
t o s a y t h a t t h e y d r i e d u p , for t h e r e h a v e o b v i o u s l y b e e n m a n y n e w
i d e a s p r o d u c e d a n d s u c c e s s f u l b u s i n e s s m e n e s t a b l i s h e d in t h e r e g i o n
s i n c e t h a t t i m e . N e v e r t h e l e s s , it is c l e a r t h a t t h e n o r t h - e a s t h a s in
t h e last fifty y e a r s or s o b e e n l e s s d y n a m i c t h a n in h e r earlier h i s t o r y .
Perhaps the depression of the region and the attraction of other areas
(especially L o n d o n a n d the south-east) h a s led to the departure of
s o m e o f t h e m o s t i n n o v a t i v e . It is n o t difficult t o find e x a m p l e s . I s h e r -
w o o d t o o k h i s s h i p d e s i g n i d e a s to L o n d o n t o d e v e l o p h i s p r a c t i c e
in n a v a l a r c h i t e c t u r e a n d P e r c i v a l H u n t i n g a l s o t o o k h i s i n t e r e s t s in
aircraft a n d p e t r o l e u m t h e r e , f r o m w h i c h t h e H u n t i n g G r o u p o f c o m
panies developed. In addition the m o v e m e n t away from individual
to corporate enterprise h a s b o t h r e d u c e d the attention society pays
to i n d i v i d u a l s a n d c o n c e n t r a t e d t h e p o w e r t o s h a p e i n d u s t r i a l d e v e l o p
m e n t o n L o n d o n . T h e n o r t h - e a s t w a s , t h e r e f o r e , l i k e l y to attract o n l y
factory d e v e l o p m e n t , often in t h e f o r m o f b r a n c h e s o f n a t i o n a l a n d
i n c r e a s i n g l y i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o m p a n i e s (easily c l o s e d or t h e i r c a p a c i t y
r e d u c e d in t i m e o f r e c e s s i o n ) , a n d n o t t h e o u t s t a n d i n g i n v e n t o r or
entrepreneur.
F o r m u c h o f t h e p e r i o d u n d e r c o n s i d e r a t i o n it w a s t h e m a j o r i n d u s
trialists, t o g e t h e r w i t h t h e o l d - e s t a b l i s h e d l a n d o w n e r s , i n t o w h o s e
ranks the industrialists h a d b e e n absorbed b y the purchase of country
e s t a t e s , w h o h e l d p o w e r in t h e n o r t h - e a s t . I n t h e t o w n s , c o m m e r c i a l
and industrial oligarchies ran the corporations during the eighteenth
a n d m o s t of the nineteenth centuries. T h e creators of industrial

466 D. J . R O W E
e n t e r p r i s e s like P a l m e r at J a r r o w a n d H e n r y B o l c k o w a n d J o h n
V a u g h a n at M i d d l e s b r o u g h w e r e f r e q u e n t l y a m o n g t h e first m a y o r s
o f a n d M P s for t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e t o w n s . A s t h e y m o v e d i n t o l a n d e d
s o c i e t y , l e a v i n g a v a c u u m f r e q u e n t l y filled b y t r a d e s m e n , m a n y o f
t h e i n d u s t r i a l i s t s j o i n e d t h e l a n d o w n e r s as d e p u t y l i e u t e n a n t s a n d
sheriffs for t h e c o u n t i e s . T h e c o n t r a s t w h i c h h a s b e e n s e e n b e t w e e n
a g r i c u l t u r e a n d i n d u s t r y , t h e c o u n t r y h o u s e a n d u r b a n t e r r a c e affected
m a n y aspects of the north-east's history. O n e of the strongest con
trasts within the region lay b e t w e e n the traditional p o w e r of the land
owners and the Church of England and the growing power of the
workingpeople. T h e contrast was marked between the two counties.
N o r t h u m b e r l a n d w a s traditionally a very conservative a n d b a c k w a r d
c o u n t y in w h i c h t h e p o w e r o f t h e l a n d o w n e r s w a s c l o s e to f e u d a l
e v e n in t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y . T h i s m i g h t b e s e e n in t h e C h a r l t o n s
of H e s l e y s i d e o r t h e T r e v e l y a n s o f W a l l i n g t o n , m e n o f c o n s i d e r a b l e
significance w i t h r e g a r d t o a n y d e v e l o p m e n t , s u c h as r a i l w a y s , in
t h e i r local a r e a . B u t t h e m o s t significant o f all w e r e t h e D u k e s o f
N o r t h u m b e r l a n d , w h o s e v a s t o w n e r s h i p o f l a n d , b o t h rural a n d in
urban areas, was one reason w h y Northumberland was the English
c o u n t y w h i c h t h e 1 8 7 3 s u r v e y s h o w e d to h a v e t h e l a r g e s t p r o p o r t i o n
of all its l a n d h e l d in l a r g e e s t a t e s . T h r o u g h t h e i r d o m i n a n c e t h e l a r g e
l a n d o w n e r s e n s u r e d t h e c o n t i n u a n c e o f a t r a d i t i o n a l rural s o c i e t y ,
slowing the break-up of old patterns of behaviour. Nevertheless,
c h a n g e c a m e a n d N o r t h u m b e r l a n d p r o v i d e d , in T h o m a s B u r t , M P
for M o r p e t h , a n d later C h a r l e s F e n w i c k ( a n o t h e r Northumberland
m i n e r a n d e x - C h a r t i s t ) s o m e o f t h e first w o r k i n g - c l a s s M e m b e r s o f
P a r l i a m e n t . S o m e h o w , h o w e v e r , t h e r e s p e c t for l a n d in N o r t h u m b e r
l a n d h a s r e m a i n e d , e v i d e n c e d b y t h e fact t h a t a L o r d R i d l e y o f
Blagdon, d e s c e n d a n t of o n e of the earliest of T y n e s i d e m e r c h a n t s
to m o v e into land, could b e c h a i r m a n of N o r t h u m b e r l a n d County
C o u n c i l in t h e 1 9 7 0 s . B y c o n t r a s t , in C o u n t y D u r h a m , a l t h o u g h t h e r e
h a d b e e n great landed power, not least a m o n g the clergy, rising indus
trialisation b r o u g h t great c h a n g e . I n t h e m i d d l e o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n
tury the rector of S t a n h o p e w a s r e c k o n e d to b e richer t h a n m a n y
b i s h o p s b e c a u s e of the mineral royalties attached to his living and
the Earls of D u r h a m and Lords L o n d o n d e r r y h a d e n o r m o u s power,
political, rural a n d i n d u s t r i a l . B u t it w a s C o u n t y D u r h a m i n 1 9 1 9 w h i c h
b e c a m e t h e first c o u n t y c o u n c i l in t h e c o u n t r y t o h a v e a m a j o r i t y for
the Labour party. T h e gradual m o v e m e n t away from Liberalism, the
g r e a t political s t r e n g t h o f t h e coalfield, e p i t o m i s e d b y ' t h e D u r h a m

The north-east 467
thirteen' of 1874, through the election of 'Lib-Lab' M P s , had culmi

n a t e d in a m o o d of i n d e p e n d e n c e b r o u g h t b y the First W o r l d W a r .
A s J a c k L a w s o n p u t it, ' t h e o l d s o c i a l s u p e r s t i t i o n o f a s u p e r i o r p e o p l e
2 9
w h o a r e e n t i t l e d t o a s u p e r i o r life h a s g o n e f o r e v e r ' . Inevitably, he
exaggerated the change; the attitudes of centuries do not disappear
i n d e c a d e s b u t t h e f u t u r e g r e a t m e n o f C o u n t y D u r h a m w e r e to b e
n o l o n g e r t h e i n d u s t r i a l i s t s b u t w o r k i n g m e n , like h i m s e l f a n d P e t e r
Lee, w h o found that society could m a k e use of their talents elsewhere
t h a n pit-face, f u r n a c e a n d s h o p - f l o o r .
The m o o d which elected pitmen M P s and Labour county councillors
c a m e out of a recognition of the c o m m u n i t y of interests and p o w e r
o f t h e m a j o r i t y o f w o r k i n g p e o p l e , for it w a s t h e y w h o c r e a t e d t h e
s o c i e t y w h i c h w a s ( a n d is) t h e n o r t h - e a s t . W e a r e left w i t h t h e q u e s t i o n
' H o w far w e r e t h e p e o p l e o f t h e n o r t h - e a s t a n d t h e i r c u l t u r e differ
e n t ? ' , i n a d d i t i o n t o t h e d i f f e r e n c e s w h i c h h a v e b e e n s e e n in t h e i r
e n v i r o n m e n t . It is difficult t o w r i t e m u c h a b o u t t h e p e r i o d b e f o r e
the nineteenth century, w h e n population was small and divided b y
p o o r c o m m u n i c a t i o n s a n d a b o u t w h i c h w e k n o w s o little. I n a n y e v e n t ,
it is to t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , w i t h its g r o w t h i n p o p u l a t i o n and
s o c i a l a w a r e n e s s , to w h i c h w e n e e d to l o o k for c u l t u r a l i d e n t i t y . It
is i n t h a t p e r i o d t h a t t h e ' G e o r d i e ' c o n c e p t o r i g i n a t e d , r e l a t i n g n o t
m e r e l y t o T y n e s i d e b u t m o r e w i d e l y to t h e coalfield. T o s o m e e x t e n t ,
h o w e v e r , t h e coalfield a n d i n d u s t r i a l c o m m u n i t i e s w e r e d i s t i n c t . T h e
v e r y n a t u r e o f c o a l m i n i n g a n d its c o m m u n i t i e s m e a n t g r e a t e r i n s u l a r
ity a n d c l o s e n e s s t h a n c o u l d e x i s t i n t h e m u c h m o r e o p e n a n d c h a n g i n g
i n d u s t r i a l c o m m u n i t i e s a l o n g t h e r i v e r b a n k s . O n c e a pit w a s e s t a b
l i s h e d t h e r e w a s little c h a n g e i n s i z e o f c o m m u n i t y o v e r m a n y y e a r s ;
t h e pit w a s t h e o n l y s o u r c e o f e m p l o y m e n t - it d o m i n a t e d life. H o u s e s
i n pit c o m m u n i t i e s w e r e c o n t i n u a l l y o p e n to o t h e r m e m b e r s o f t h e
c o m m u n i t y a n d p r i v a c y w a s i m p o s s i b l e (in s m a l l h o u s e s it w a s n o t
e v e n p o s s i b l e w i t h i n a f a m i l y ) . F a m i l y life w a s s t r o n g , p a r t l y a r e s u l t
o f t h e fact t h a t t h e r e w e r e n o o p p o r t u n i t i e s for f e m a l e e m p l o y m e n t ,
a n d h o m e k e e p i n g w a s a r e s p e c t e d activity. Despite the distinctive
h o u r s of work, w h e t h e r o n the two- or three-shift system, wife/mother
w o u l d a l w a y s b e u p to s e e h e r m e n f o l k off t o t h e pit - ' t h e o l d l a w
of the colliery w o m a n ' - in case she never s a w t h e m again. But the
d i s t i n c t i v e n e s s o f t h e c o l l i e r y v i l l a g e w a s n o t j u s t m a d e u p o f fear,
dirt ( t h e first p i t - h e a d b a t h s i n t h e r e g i o n w e r e i n s t a l l e d at B o l d o n
29
Lawson, A Man's Life, p. 234.

468 D. J . R O W E
C o l l i e r y in 1 9 2 7 ) a n d c r a m p e d living c o n d i t i o n s . It c o n s i s t e d in a n
i m m e n s e a m o u n t o f p r i d e in t h e o c c u p a t i o n , t h e skill a n d i n d e p e n
d e n c e o f ' t h e b i g h e w e r ' , a n d t h e e t h o s o f t h e village s e e n in t h e
g l o r i o u s pit b a n n e r s . T h e r e w a s rivalry, often fierce, b e t w e e n v i l l a g e s
b u t t h e r e w a s also t h e c o m m u n a l spirit o f m i n i n g s e e n in ' t h e b i g
m e e t i n g ' , a n d a n n u a l m i n e r s ' gala at D u r h a m .
It is difficult to b e s u r e w h e t h e r t h e r e w e r e cultural activities w h i c h
distinguished the mining from industrial c o m m u n i t i e s , since mining
c o m m e n c e d o n t h e i n d u s t r i a l river b a n k s a n d o n l y later set u p distinc
tive, m o r e r e m o t e c o m m u n i t i e s . M a n y o f t h e d i s t i n c t i v e f e a t u r e s o f
w o r k i n g - c l a s s c u l t u r e o f t h e n o r t h - e a s t w e r e f o u n d e q u a l l y in b o t h
a r e a s , a l t h o u g h t h e s h o r t e r w o r k i n g h o u r s in m i n i n g c o m m u n i t i e s
(a d i s t i n c t i v e n o r t h - e a s t e r n f e a t u r e w i t h o n l y s e v e n h o u r s at t h e pit-
face b y t h e last q u a r t e r o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y ) m e a n t t h a t t h e r e
w a s greater time to indulge t h e m . G a r d e n i n g w a s a notable feature
of colliery v i l l a g e s , w h e r e t h e r e w a s t h e s p a c e t o d e v e l o p t h e activity,
b u t o n e s h o u l d n o t u n d e r e s t i m a t e t h e e x t e n t to w h i c h t h e d e s i r e to
g e t b a c k t o n a t u r e s u r v i v e d in all b u t t h e m o s t d e n s e b r i c k j u n g l e s
s u c h as t h e S c o t s w o o d t e r r a c e s . R e l i g i o n w a s c e r t a i n l y a m o r e d i s t i n c
tive f e a t u r e o f t h e colliery v i l l a g e s t h a n t h e l a r g e r u r b a n a r e a s . T h e
h u g e c h a p e l s , m o s t e s p e c i a l l y o f t h e P r i m i t i v e M e t h o d i s t s , still b e a r
w i t n e s s to t h e p o w e r o f n o n c o n f o r m i t y in D u r h a m m i n i n g villages
f r o m t h e 1 8 2 0 s . T h e c h a p e l , like e a r l y political activity in C h a r t i s m ,
gave m a n y w o r k i n g m e n self-confidence, taught t h e m not to h o n o u r
o t h e r m e n a n d g a v e t h e m o p p o r t u n i t i e s for l e a d e r s h i p . P r e s b y t e r i -
a n i s m , reflecting t h e c l o s e n e s s to S c o t l a n d , w a s s t r o n g e r t h a n t h e
n a t i o n a l a v e r a g e , as w a s R o m a n C a t h o l i c i s m , w h i c h h a d its s e c o n d
highest proportion o f a d h e r e n t s in t h e r e g i o n ( t h e h i g h e s t b e i n g
L a n c a s h i r e ) , o n l y p a r t l y a r e s u l t o f Irish i m m i g r a t i o n . A m o n g o t h e r
l e i s u r e activities d o g r a c i n g , e s p e c i a l l y w i t h w h i p p e t s , a p p e a r s to h a v e
b e e n a n e s s e n t i a l l y m i n i n g activity.
In the urban c o m m u n i t i e s there w a s less distinctive c o m m u n i t y
i n t e r e s t , p a r t l y b e c a u s e o f t h e i r l a r g e r size a n d p a r t l y b e c a u s e , w i t h
e x c e p t i o n s s u c h as J a r r o w a n d S c o t s w o o d , t h e y w e r e d e p e n d e n t o n
a wider range of occupations. T h e r e were, however, m a n y c o m m o n
l e i s u r e activities w h i c h to s o m e e x t e n t b o u n d p e o p l e o f o t h e r w i s e
distinct t y p e s . D r i n k i n g w a s p e r h a p s t h e m o s t o b v i o u s . I n t h e p e r i o d
of t h e h i g h e s t e v e r n a t i o n a l p e r c a p i t a l e v e l s o f a l c o h o l c o n s u m p t i o n
in t h e s e c o n d h a l f o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , t h e r e g i o n m a d e a m a j o r
c o n t r i b u t i o n to t h e statistics. H e a v y l a b o u r , as in m a n y o f t h e r e g i o n a l

The north-east 469
i n d u s t r i e s , is u s u a l l y l i n k e d to h i g h a l c o h o l c o n s u m p t i o n a n d t h e l e v e l
of e x p e n d i t u r e o n d r i n k w a s o n e o f t h e r e a s o n s for t h e failure to
raise living s t a n d a r d s d u r i n g a p e r i o d o f p r o s p e r i t y . I n 1 9 1 1 N o r t h u m
b e r l a n d w a s t h e l e a d i n g c o u n t y a n d D u r h a m w a s s e c o n d in t h e
n u m b e r o f c o n v i c t i o n s for d r u n k e n n e s s p e r 1 0 , 0 0 0 p o p u l a t i o n . O t h e r
activities w e r e l e s s socially divisive. R o w i n g w a s t h e m a j o r s p e c t a t o r
s p o r t o n T y n e s i d e in t h e m i d - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y - t h e T h a m e s b e i n g
t h e o n l y o t h e r river w h e r e t h e s p o r t w a s as significant. R o w i n g w a s
t o b e e c l i p s e d later in t h e c e n t u r y b y t h e rise o f a s s o c i a t i o n football
in w h i c h b o t h a m a t e u r a n d p r o f e s s i o n a l c l u b s in t h e r e g i o n w e r e to
p l a y a significant p a r t . H o r s e r a c i n g w a s a p o p u l a r s p e c t a t o r s p o r t
for w o r k i n g m e n , w h i l e p i g e o n - f a n c y i n g w a s a c o m m o n p a r t i c i p a t o r y
o n e . T h e s t r e n g t h o f local s o n g (often in dialect) a n d t h e m u s i c hall
are o t h e r f e a t u r e s o f w o r k i n g - c l a s s c u l t u r e in t h e r e g i o n . All o f t h e s e
w o r k i n g - c l a s s activities a d d to a c u l t u r e w h i c h w a s c e r t a i n l y differen
tiated from that of the middle classes with their Literary a n d Philoso
p h i c a l S o c i e t y at N e w c a s t l e , p r o f e s s i o n a l s o c i e t i e s ( s u c h as t h e N o r t h -
East Coast Institution of Engineers a n d Shipbuilders), concert socie
ties, l a w n t e n n i s c l u b s a n d s o o n . It is m o r e d u b i o u s as t o w h e t h e r
it differentiated w o r k i n g - c l a s s s o c i e t y f r o m its p e e r s in o t h e r p a r t s
of t h e c o u n t r y . It s e e m s m o r e likely t h a t t h e m u c h - f a m e d ' G e o r d i e '
c u l t u r e is m e r e l y a carefully c u l t i v a t e d a n d p r e s e r v e d m y t h , like t h e
local a c c e n t s a m e r e superficiality in t h e d i s t i n c t i o n s w h i c h m a k e u p
mankind.
S u c h superficialities h a v e b e g u n to b r e a k d o w n u n d e r t h e w i d e
s p r e a d i n f l u e n c e o f t h e m a s s m e d i a a n d m o b i l i t y i n t h e later t w e n t i e t h
c e n t u r y . S o m e h a v e c u l t i v a t e d n e w h o m e s in o t h e r r e g i o n s , o t h e r s
h a v e b e c o m e l e s s s t r o n g in t h e i r o w n h o m e a r e a . T h e d i s t i n c t i o n s
w h i c h r e m a i n are in t h e o l d a r e a o f i n s t i t u t i o n a l d e p r i v a t i o n . I n t h e
i n t e r w a r p e r i o d social c o m m e n t a t o r s n o t e d t h e p o o r s t a n d a r d s o f e d u
c a t i o n a l p r o v i s i o n in t h e r e g i o n . I n t h e m i d - 1 9 2 0 s in p u b l i c e l e m e n t a r y
s c h o o l s in all t h e c o u n t y b o r o u g h s o f E n g l a n d a n d W a l e s s o m e 2 2 . 5
p e r c e n t o f c h i l d r e n w e r e in c l a s s e s o f o v e r fifty c h i l d r e n , w h i l e in
N e w c a s t l e t h e figure w a s 4 6 . 1 p e r c e n t ; in H e b b u r n it w a s 6 5 . 7 p e r
c e n t w h i l e t h e a v e r a g e for u r b a n districts a n d m e t r o p o l i t a n b o r o u g h s
w a s 1 4 . 0 p e r c e n t . I n 1 9 2 6 - 7 t h r e e o f t h e four T y n e s i d e c o u n t y b o r
o u g h s w e r e a m o n g t h e fifteen n a t i o n a l l y (out o f a total o f e i g h t y - t w o )
which spent less than £ 1 0 per child on educational provision (while
t h e fourth, T y n e m o u t h , s p e n t o n l y slightly m o r e ) . I n t h e e a r l y 1 9 8 0 s ,
while expenditure on education compares well with the national

470 D. J. R O W E
average, the years of neglect have built a mould of educational expec

tation which does not break. Consequently, the 1982 edition of
Regional Trends shows that the northern region had the lowest propor
tion of children staying in full-time schooling after the age of sixteen
when compulsory education ends. The region's figure of 18.8 per
cent of the age group compared with a figure of 26.0 per cent for
the UK and 32.0 per cent for the south-east. The region also has the
lowest levels of achievement of school leavers at public examinations,
the lowest levels of the age group going into full-time further education
and even the lowest going into non-advanced further education. A
larger proportion of school leavers is therefore limited in its horizons
and condemned to a narrow range of job opportunities and so the
old expectations of education are reinforced in the next generation
- home background being the basic determinant of educational per
formance. In many other areas the deprivation of the region relative
to the national position continues - in the numbers of doctors and
dentists per 100,000 of the population, in car ownership and in any
one of a wide range of statistical comparisons. The 1982 edition of
Regional Trends shows that telephone possession (at 52 per cent of
houses against a national average of 65 per cent) was lower than in
any other region; that there were 5,068 persons per dentist (the highest
regional figure) against a national average of 3,725; that 46 per cent
of dwellings were owner-occupied (the lowest regional figure) against
a national average of 57 per cent; and that unemployment was the
30
highest of any region in Great Britain at 1.3 times the UK average.
Whether such relative deprivation (which mirrors that which is
increasingly occurring between Britain and other industrial countries)
is important can probably not be answered or even comprehended
by the individuals (including the writer) involved. Do they affect the
basic human activities of living, loving, hating? Does the risk of spelks
mean that making love on a board is less pleasure-giving than on
a Dunlopillo mattress?
30
Regional inequalities are usefully outlined in G. Taylor and N. Ayres, Born and
Bred Unequal (1969). Central Statistical Office, Regional Trends (1982), Tables 3.3,
4.9, 6.3, 7.6 and 9.5.

CHAPTER 7
London and the Home Counties

P. L. G A R S I D E
INTRODUCTION
The reality of London has never been easy to grasp - the character
of this vast city has been shrouded in uncertainty and ambiguity and
much has depended on the perspective of the observer. Most
obviously, there have been the contradictions arising from London's
various, overlapping spatial contexts - London has operated and has
been experienced at sub-metropolitan, metropolitan, regional, natio
nal and international levels. Each of these arenas has generated a
particular 'London view' and much of London's history since 1750
can be seen as a series of conflicts arising from the associated interests
and tensions. Yet despite its 'chinese box' character, a fundamental
feature of London has been its stability and continuity.
The basis of London's orderliness has, paradoxically, been its conti
nued dynamism, driven by a particular type of physical and economic
growth that permitted both interdependence and autonomy. The two
centuries between 1750 and 1950 can be regarded as the benchmarks
of this inherently stable, though expansionist era for London - after
1950, changed economic and political conditions accentuated the fragi
lity of London, forcing previously hidden and unresolved contradic
tions in metropolitan life to the centre of the social and political stage.
The prism through which London is viewed in what follows is that
of the impact of the metropolis on the Home Counties - that is, its
expansion from the old core cities of London and Westminster,
through Middlesex, and later Surrey, Essex, Kent and Hertfordshire.
The nature of that impact, its causes and consequences cannot, how
ever, be comprehensively assessed. While there are important
pointers from the new, quantitative economic history, and from old-
fashioned political and administrative history, the sheer scale and
diversity of the expanding metropolis appears to have daunted, and
471
diversity of the expanding metropolis appears to have daunted, and

472 P. L. GARS IDE
e v e n d e f e a t e d , social h i s t o r i a n s . L o n d o n h i s t o r y r e m a i n s a t h i n g o f
shreds and patches, lacking overall form. A s the L o n d o n giant grew,
neither his o w n clothes nor those fabricated b y historians have b e e n
q u i t e a b l e to g r o w w i t h h i m .
I LONDON: IMPERIAL CAPITAL AND MERCANTILE

STRONGHOLD 1750-1820
Oh, London is a fine town,

A very famous city,
Where all the streets are paved with gold,
And all the maidens pretty.
George Colman The Younger, The Heir at Law (1797)
The mysterious grandeur of London
The distinctiveness and separateness so emphatically displayed by

L o n d o n in the later e i g h t e e n t h century b o t h enthralled a n d alarmed
c o n t e m p o r a r y observers. T h e scale a n d complexity of L o n d o n ' s myr
iad worlds w a s generating a highly diverse, intricate yet interdepen
d e n t w a y o f life. A p p r o a c h i n g a p o p u l a t i o n o f 1 m i l l i o n in 1 8 0 1 ,
L o n d o n w a s t h e n a t i o n ' s f o r e m o s t m i l i e u for c o u r t a n d h i g h s o c i e t y :
it p r o v i d e d the seat of government, a mercantile stronghold for
t r a d e r s , f i n a n c i e r s a n d s p e c i a l i s t m a n u f a c t u r e r s , a c r a d l e for n e w p r o
fessions as well as the a p o g e e of the old, and the principal national
s t a g e for political m o v e m e n t s a n d e n t e r t a i n e r s a l i k e . L o n d o n - t h e
u n i q u e city - s t o o d a p a r t i n its m a g n i f i c e n c e a n d v a r i e t y , d i s t i n c t b o t h
from the rest of Britain's developing urban hierarchy a n d also from
its i m m e d i a t e r u r a l h i n t e r l a n d . I n t h e M i d l a n d s a n d t h e n o r t h t h e
expanding provincial manufacturing centres were establishing a
w h o l l y n e w ' u r b a n frontier', while in the agricultural areas bordering
t h e m e t r o p o l i s , t h e c o n t r a s t w i t h L o n d o n life w a s p a r t i c u l a r l y s t a r k :
i n d e e d , it h a s r e c e n t l y b e e n a r g u e d t h a t t h e r u r a l u n e m p l o y m e n t a n d
low w a g e s of Surrey, Kent, Middlesex and Hertfordshire resulted
directly from the capital's o w n i m m e n s e , but highly specialised
1
d e m a n d for g o o d s a n d s e r v i c e s .
Complexity, ambiguity, specialisation and distinctiveness were the
1
P. J. Corfield, The Impact of English Towns, 1700-1800 (Oxford, 1982), pp. 9-11.
K. D. M. Snell, 'Agricultural Seasonal Unemployment, the Standard of Living, and
Women's Work in the South and East, 1690-1860', Economic History Review, 2nd
ser.,34(1981), pp. 407-37.

London and the Home Counties 473
h a l l m a r k s o f late e i g h t e e n t h - a n d e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y L o n d o n .
T h e s c a l e , p a c e a n d i m p a c t o f t h e c a p i t a l ' s g r o w t h defied d e s c r i p t i o n
- indeed our u n d e r s t a n d i n g of L o n d o n ' s significance and wider
2
i n f l u e n c e r e m a i n s e v e n n o w partial a n d i n c o n c l u s i v e . T h e n e e d to
e v a l u a t e t h e l i n k s b e t w e e n L o n d o n a n d t h e c h a n g e s u n d e r w a y in
t h e s u r r o u n d i n g r e g i o n , a n d in t h e n a t i o n as a w h o l e , is o n e of t h e
m a j o r t h e m e s to b e e x p l o r e d in this c h a p t e r . T h e p r e s e n t state o f
k n o w l e d g e , h o w e v e r , m e a n s that while w e k n o w a considerable
a m o u n t a b o u t c e r t a i n a s p e c t s of L o n d o n life b e t w e e n 1 7 5 0 a n d 1 8 2 0 ,
the processes connecting these with broader metropolitan, regional
a n d n a t i o n a l c h a n g e s r e m a i n e n i g m a t i c a n d difficult to g r a s p . H i s t o r
i a n s h a v e b e g u n to e x p l o r e s o m e of t h e s e c o n n e c t i o n s in w a y s w h i c h
h a v e p r o v e d v e r y i l l u m i n a t i n g , b u t for t h e m o s t p a r t t h i s s e c t i o n m u s t
s e r v e s i m p l y to h i g h l i g h t t h o s e e l e m e n t s o f t h e L o n d o n s c e n e w h i c h
s e e m p a r t i c u l a r l y i m p o r t a n t in e s t a b l i s h i n g t h e f r a m e w o r k for t h e s u b
s e q u e n t d i s c u s s i o n s of t h e d y n a m i c s of c h a n g e in V i c t o r i a n L o n d o n .
T h e first p a r t o f w h a t f o l l o w s s e e k s to identify t h o s e a s p e c t s of L o n
d o n w h i c h h a d t h e m o s t significant social a n d e c o n o m i c i m p a c t o n
s u r r o u n d i n g c o u n t i e s a n d o n n a t i o n a l life as a w h o l e . T h e latter p a r t
e x a m i n e s m o r e directly t h e w o r l d o f L o n d o n itself, in particular, t h e
c o m p l e x i t i e s o f m e t r o p o l i t a n social a n d o c c u p a t i o n a l s t r u c t u r e , its built
f o r m , p u b l i c i n s t i t u t i o n s a n d c u l t u r a l life.
London and the national economy
T h e s i g n i f i c a n c e o f L o n d o n in t h e p e r i o d 1 7 5 0 - 1 8 2 0 o b v i o u s l y n e e d s
to b e a s s e s s e d in r e l a t i o n t o t h e k i n d o f p l a c e it w a s , a n d t h e e x p e r i e n c e
it afforded to t h o s e living t h e r e . T o Angliae Nottia in 1 7 0 2 , L o n d o n
w a s t h e e p i t o m e of E n g l a n d , t h e s e a t o f t h e B r i t i s h E m p i r e , t h e
C h a m b e r o f t h e K i n g , a n d t h e g r e a t e s t E m p o r i u m in t h e w h o l e w o r l d .
Indeed, L o n d o n ' s heterogeneity and multiple sources of growth con
f o u n d e d t h e classification s y s t e m s d e v i s e d b y c o n t e m p o r a r i e s to c o p e
with Britain's burgeoning urban network - spa town, dockyard town,
manufacturing town, resort, university town, 'thoroughfare town'.
A s c a r t o g r a p h e r s a n d p u b l i s h e r s o f g u i d e s a n d d i r e c t o r i e s s t r o v e to
identify L o n d o n ' s d i v e r s e p a r t s , c o m m e n t a t o r s s u c h as C h a m b e r l a y n e
a n d Defoe c o n c e d e d that the contiguous but highly varied built-up
2
Corfield emphasises the enigmatic nature of London's role as both 'exemplar and
exception', Impact of English Towns, p. 66. London provided both a model for provincial
towns, and also a unique configuration which none could hope to match.

474 P. L . G A R S I D E
a r e a s ' s e e m to m a k e i n d e e d o n e C i t y ' w h o s e 5 , 0 0 0 o r s o s t r e e t s a n d
alleys might o n e day e x t e n d from C h e l s e a to Deptford Bridge ' w h i c h
3
if it s h o u l d h a p p e n , w h a t a M o n s t e r m u s t L o n d o n b e ' .
L o n d o n e l u d e d a t t e m p t s t o d e f i n e it t h r o u g h c l a s s i f i c a t i o n s a n d s y s
t e m s , as it h a d e a r l i e r e l u d e d a t t e m p t s at p h y s i c a l c o n f i n e m e n t . R u d e
h a s i l l u s t r a t e d , for e x a m p l e , t h e i n a d e q u a c y o f b o t h ' t r a d i t i o n a l ' a n d
' r e a l i s t i c ' a s s e s s m e n t s o f L o n d o n ' s m u l t i p l i c i t y o f t r a d e s a n d crafts.
J o h n S t r y p e , w r i t i n g i n 1 7 2 0 , c o n c e n t r a t e d s o l e l y o n t h o s e t r a d e s still
regulated b y the old City c o m p a n i e s , a n d r e c o r d e d a m e r e sixty. E v e n
t h e m o r e e x t e n d e d list o f a ' G e n e r a l D e s c r i p t i o n o f all T r a d e s ' p u b
l i s h e d in 1 7 4 7 l i m i t e d its c o n c e p t i o n to t h e 1 3 5 crafts a n d 8 0 o t h e r
occupations w h i c h w e r e organised in the 'traditional' w a y with small
m a s t e r c r a f t s m e n , t h e i r j o u r n e y m e n a n d a p p r e n t i c e s . I n fact, a g r o w
i n g n u m b e r o f L o n d o n ' s i n d u s t r i e s a n d s e r v i c e s e i t h e r p a i d m e r e lip-
service to the regulations of the old guilds or ignored t h e m altogether,
b e i n g o r g a n i s e d ' o n a l m o s t capitalist l i n e s ' . F o l l o w i n g D r G e o r g e ,
R u d e s u g g e s t s t h a t L o n d o n ' s o c c u p a t i o n s are b e s t c o n s i d e r e d i n t h r e e
b r o a d c a t e g o r i e s : First, t r a d e s c a t e r i n g for L o n d o n ' s p o s i t i o n a s n a t i o
n a l a n d i n t e r n a t i o n a l m a r k e t - p l a c e a n d e n t r e p o t - s h i p b u i l d i n g , refin
i n g a n d p r o c e s s i n g o f r a w m a t e r i a l s e s p e c i a l l y b r e w i n g , distilling,
s u g a r - r e f i n i n g a n d d y e i n g . S e c o n d , l u x u r y t r a d e s p r o v i d i n g for t h e
w e a l t h y c o n s u m e r market in L o n d o n a n d abroad - furniture m a k i n g ,
coachbuilding, plate, porcelain, w a t c h e s a n d other precision instru
m e n t s . Third, trades c o m m o n to any urban area serving the city's
everyday needs - construction, food and drink manufacturers and
r e t a i l e r s , w i g m a k e r s , tailors, s h o e m a k e r s , c a r r i e r s , a n d s u p p l i e r s o f
professional a n d personal services. T h e range, v o l u m e a n d diversity
of e c o n o m i c activity i n L o n d o n w a s o f g r e a t s o c i a l s i g n i f i c a n c e . T h e
d e g r e e o f s p e c i a l i s a t i o n b e t w e e n a n d w i t h i n crafts a n d o t h e r e m p l o y
m e n t g r o u p s g a v e r i s e to a c o m p l e x s o c i a l s t r u c t u r e w h i c h w a s r e i n
forced b y spatial specialisation e v e n a m o n g comparatively petty
4
t r a d e s . T e c h n o l o g i c a l d e v e l o p m e n t s a n d c a p i t a l i s t o r g a n i s a t i o n dis
tinguished s o m e major industries and especially brewing and food
processing, but other sectors w e r e organised in small traditional
3
Quoted in ibid., p. 190.
4
G. Rude, Hanoverian London 1714-1808 (1971), pp. 2 5 - 6 . L. D. Schwarz, 'Conditions
of Life and Work in London c. 1770-1820, with Special Reference to East London'
(unpublished DPhil. thesis, University of Oxford, 1976). J. M. Howe, 'Occupations
in Bermondsey 1701-3', Genealogists' Magazine, 20 (1982). T. R. Forbes, 'Weaver and
Cordwainer: Occupations in the Parish of St Giles, London, in 1654-93 and 1729-43',
Guildhall Studies in London History, 4 (1980). I. T. Prothero, Artisans and Politics in
Early Nineteenth-Century London (Folkestone, 1979), chap. 2.

w o r k s h o p s , while in the docks, m e n w e r e e m p l o y e d predominantly

5
on a casual day-to-day b a s i s . O n e quarter of L o n d o n ' s workforce,
2 0 , 0 0 0 m e n , a r e e s t i m a t e d t o h a v e b e e n e m p l o y e d in t r a d e s c o n n e c t e d
with L o n d o n ' s docks in the early n i n e t e e n t h century, while the
construction industry d r e w similarly on a vast pool of skilled a n d
unskilled labour. ' L o n d o n ' s manufacturing', Schwarz has empha
s i s e d , ' c a t e r e d l a r g e l y for t h e local m a r k e t , w h i c h , a l t h o u g h v e r y l a r g e ,
6
w a s n o t a m a s s m a r k e t in t h e m o d e r n s e n s e ' .
L o n d o n ' s h i g h l y stratified a n d l o c a l i s e d e c o n o m i c s t r u c t u r e h a d t h e
effect o f d r i v i n g s o m e t r a d e s o u t o f t h e city a l t o g e t h e r i n t o s u r r o u n d i n g
a r e a s o r e v e n f u r t h e r afield. ' T h e M e t a m o r p h o s i s o f t h e P o r t o f L o n
7
d o n ' w a s o n e example of this effect. In 1700, s o m e 7 5 - 8 0 per cent
of all E n g l a n d ' s o v e r s e a s t r a d e w a s h a n d l e d b y t h e P o r t o f L o n d o n ,
a n d t h i s t r a d e c o n t i n u e d to g r o w t h r o u g h t h e e i g h t e e n t h century
t h o u g h L o n d o n ' s relative share declined. T h e Port, h o w e v e r , b e c a m e
increasingly unable to cope a n d unloading berths m o v e d d o w n s t r e a m
from the Pool to L i m e h o u s e a n d Millwall. T h e resulting problems
of theft, d e l a y a n d c o n g e s t i o n , w i t h 3 , 5 0 0 craft f e r r y i n g g o o d s f r o m
these 'sufferance wharfs' to the legal quays, e m p h a s i s e d that L o n d o n
w a s being by-passed technologically b y other ports that could provide
secure dock systems. Despite the opposition of the City Corporation,
P a r l i a m e n t s e t u p a c o m m i t t e e in 1 7 9 5 t o i n v e s t i g a t e t h e b e s t m e a n s
of providing the necessary a c c o m m o d a t i o n , a n d m e r c h a n t m o n o p o l i e s
subsequently built n e w docks a n d w a r e h o u s e s u n d e r special A c t s
of P a r l i a m e n t d o w n s t r e a m f r o m t h e o l d q u a y s o n b o t h s i d e s o f t h e
8
Thames. This ' e x p o r t ' of L o n d o n functions in an attempt to avoid
restrictions and seek out m o r e favourable locations occurred not only
in d a n g e r o u s a n d noxious trades but also in established trades s u c h
as s h o e m a k i n g a n d framework knitting: t h e s e latter w e r e transferred
9
to M i d l a n d t o w n s whilst continuing to serve the L o n d o n market.
By 1820, L o n d o n s e e m e d poised o n the verge of 'a n e w balanced
c o m p l e t e n e s s ' b u t at t h e s a m e t i m e it r e q u i r e d t h e i n p u t o f g o o d s
5
P. Mathias, The Transformation of England: Essays in the Economic and Social History
of England in the Eighteenth Century (1979), chaps. 11-13. W. L. Goodman, 'Christopher
Gabriel, his Book', Furniture History, 17(1981).
6
L. D. Schwarz, 'Social Class and Social Geography: The Middle Classes in London
at the End of the Eighteenth Century', Social History, 7 (1982), pp. 167-85.
7
R. C. Jarvis, 'The Metamorphosis of the Port of London', London Journal, 3 (1977).
8
Corheld, Impact of English Towns, p. 71.
9
P. G. Hall, 'The East London Footwear Industry: An Industrial Quarter in Decline',
East London Papers, 5 (1962).

476 P. L . G A R S I D E
a n d s e r v i c e s at a n e v e r - i n c r e a s i n g s c a l e to m a i n t a i n its g r o w t h a n d
equilibrium.
The i m p a c t o f L o n d o n o n t h e e c o n o m y a s a w h o l e a n d o n local
employment markets has b e e n discussed by historians over m a n y
d e c a d e s , y e t t h e r e is still c l e a r l y a g r e a t d e a l t o b e e x p l o r e d . I n m a n y
r e s p e c t s , L o n d o n ' s c o m m e r c i a l a n d t r a d i n g l i n k s w e r e a force for i n t e g
r a t i o n , b o t h at t h e g l o b a l s c a l e , a n d n o l e s s at t h e n a t i o n a l s c a l e . A s
a n e n t r e p o t for t h e r e s a l e o f c o l o n i a l g o o d s for h o m e a n d E u r o p e a n
c o n s u m p t i o n , L o n d o n b e c a m e a c l e a r i n g h o u s e for t h e p r o d u c e o f
the East and W e s t Indies. Spectral analysis has revealed the integration
of L o n d o n ' s c r e d i t a n d b a n k i n g s y s t e m s w i t h t h o s e o f A m s t e r d a m ,
and, indeed, L o n d o n eventually eclipsed the D u t c h capital as E u r o p e ' s
premier m o n e y and investment market. At h o m e , a m o d e l of L o n d o n ' s
economic importance 'as a potent engine working towards change
in E n g l a n d ' h a s b e e n postulated b y Wrigley, while Braudel h a s u s e d
e i g h t e e n t h - c e n t u r y L o n d o n as a n e x a m p l e o f moyenne duree i n h i s t o r i c
t i m e , i . e . a p h a s e o f s o m e 5 0 to 1 0 0 y e a r s w i t h a d i s t i n c t i v e a n d identify
ing feature. In this case, the distinguishing feature w a s the reign of
L o n d o n a n d its m o n e y m a r k e t , b y w h i c h u n i t y w a s c r e a t e d i n t h e
B r i t i s h m a r k e t t h r o u g h 'flux et reflux d e m e r c h a n d i s e s v e r s et p a r t i r
d e L o n d r e s , e n o r m e c o e u r e x i g e a n t q u i r y t h m e t o u t , b o u l e v e r s e et
1 0
apaise tout'.
W i t h its p o p u l a t i o n r i s i n g f r o m 5 7 5 , 0 0 0 i n 1 7 0 0 t o 9 0 0 , 0 0 0 in 1 8 0 1 ,
t h e r e is n o d o u b t t h a t L o n d o n r e q u i r e d v a s t s u p p l i e s o f daily n e c e s s i
t i e s , e s p e c i a l l y f o o d , w a t e r a n d fuel. A t t e m p t s to s p e c i f y t h e effects
of t h i s d e m a n d h a v e b e e n m a d e b y F i s h e r a n d b y W r i g l e y - n o t a b l y ,
a r a p i d s p r e a d o f m a r k e t g a r d e n i n g , e s p e c i a l l y in S u r r e y , K e n t a n d
other suitable areas near to L o n d o n , increasing local crop specialisa
t i o n , a s , for i n s t a n c e , t h e c o n v e r s i o n o f M i d d l e s e x to m o n o c u l t u r e
of h a y d u r i n g t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y , a n d t h e i n v o l v e m e n t o f w h o l e
salers either directly in food production, or indirectly t h r o u g h invest
1 1
m e n t of capital to improve production m e t h o d s . Wrigley estimates
that the resulting annual rise in national agricultural productivity dur
ing the period 1 6 5 0 - 1 7 5 0 w a s of the order of 10 per cent, though
10
E. A. Wrigley, 'A Simple Model of London's Importance in Changing English Society
and Economy 1650-1750', Past & Present, 37 (1967), pp. 44-70. F. Braudel, Civilisation
materielle, economie et capitalisme, XVe-XVIIIe siecle (Paris, 1979), p. 465.
11
Wrigley, 'A Simple Model of London's Importance'. F. J. Fisher, 'London as an
Engine of Growth', in J. S. Bromley and E. H. Kossman, eds., Britain and the Nether
lands (The Hague, 1971). F. M. L. Thompson, Hampstead: Building a Borough 1650-1964
(1978). Mathias, Transformation of England, chap. 13.

1 2
t h i s c a n n o t b e a t t r i b u t e d s o l e l y to L o n d o n . L o n d o n ' s i n d i r e c t effect,
h o w e v e r , m u s t h a v e b e e n s i g n i f i c a n t s i n c e its d i s t a n t consumption
market stimulated local s e c o n d a r y a n d tertiary e m p l o y m e n t , w h i c h
in t u r n c r e a t e d its o w n d e m a n d for f o o d . ' D r o v e r s , c a r t e r s , b a d g e r s ,
brokers, cattle dealers, corn chandlers, hostlers, i n n k e e p e r s a n d the
like g r e w m o r e a n d m o r e n u m e r o u s as l a r g e r a n d l a r g e r f r a c t i o n s
of t h e y e a r ' s flocks a n d c r o p s w e r e c o n s u m e d at a d i s t a n c e f r o m t h e
1 3
areas in w h i c h t h e y w e r e p r o d u c e d . '
N e v e r t h e l e s s , t h e L o n d o n m a r k e t for g o o d s w a s a v o l a t i l e o n e , s u b
j e c t t o w i d e s e a s o n a l f l u c t u a t i o n s f o l l o w i n g t h e e b b a n d flow o f s o c i e t y
and 'the Season'. Such fluctuations produced adolescent b o y s in
L o n d o n slums w h o s e growth w a s so stunted b y childhood deprivation
1 4
t h a t it s c a r c e l y m a t c h e d t h a t o f W e s t I n d i a n s l a v e s . M o r e o v e r , in
t h e s o u t h - e a s t o u t s i d e L o n d o n a n d its i m m e d i a t e e n v i r o n s , H a r v e y
has s h o w n the prevalence of low i n c o m e s , and Snell has suggested
t h a t t h e r e w a s ' a m a r k e d c o l l a p s e o f d e m a n d ' after 1 7 7 0 b e c a u s e o f
a decline in rural family i n c o m e s in the H o m e C o u n t i e s due to agricul
t u r a l r e s p o n s e s to t h e L o n d o n m a r k e t . E v i d e n c e b a s e d o n t h e P r o v i
s i o n s ' A c c o u n t s o f K e n t P o o r a n d W o r k h o u s e s s u g g e s t s a rise o f 1 2 0
1 5
per cent in agricultural labourers' living costs b e t w e e n 1790 a n d 1 8 1 2 .
Falling purchasing power led industry to seek out alternative
m a r k e t s i n t h e n o r t h a n d o v e r s e a s . L o n d o n itself i n d i r e c t l y a s s i s t e d
t h i s a d j u s t m e n t t h r o u g h its i n s u r a n c e a n d b a n k i n g s e r v i c e s e n s u r i n g
' a sort o f n a t u r a l b a l a n c e ' v i a t h e c i r c u l a t i o n o f c a p i t a l b e t w e e n a g r i c u l
ture, trade and the developing manufacturers of the Midlands and
north. Overall, one must agree that the nature and location of ' h o m e
d e m a n d ' 'remains an elusively vague concept' and therefore neat con
1 6
c l u s i o n s a b o u t L o n d o n ' s r o l e a r e l i k e l y to p r o v e p r e m a t u r e .
W h i l e c o n c l u d i n g t h a t 'it is t h e r e f o r e n o p a r t o f t h i s a r g u m e n t t h a t
the growth of L o n d o n in the century before 1750 w a s the sole e n g i n e
of c h a n g e i n t h e c o u n t r y ' , W r i g l e y h a s a r g u e d t h a t d e m o g r a p h i c a l l y ,
12
Wrigley, 'A Simple Model of London's Importance'.
13
Ibid., p. 229. P. E . Jones, The Butchers of London (1976).
14
R. Floud and K. W. Wachter, 'Poverty and Physical Stature: Evidence on the Stan
dard of Living of London Boys, 1770-1870, Social Science Journal, 4 (1982).
15
A. D. Harvey, 'The Regional Distribution of Incomes in England and Wales, 1803',
Local Historian, 13 (1979). Snell, 'Agricultural Seasonal Unemployment'.
16
P. G. M. Dickson, The Financial Revolution in England: The Story of the Development
of Public Credit 1688-1756 (1967). S. R. Cope, 'Bird, Savage and Bird of London,
Merchants and Bankers, 1782-1803', Guildhall Studies in London History, 4 (1982).
On the nature of 'home demand', see N. McKendrick, in N. McKendrick, J. Brewer
and J. H. Plumb, The Birth of a Consumer Society: The Commercialisation of Eighteenth-
Century England (1982).

478 P. L . G A R S I D E
at l e a s t , L o n d o n ' s e x p a n s i o n w a s c r u c i a l i n e n g e n d e r i n g ' t h e m a g i c
" t a k e - o f f " ' . H e a r g u e s t h a t t h e c h a n g e s w h i c h t o o k p l a c e i n t h e agri
c u l t u r a l s e c t o r , a n d t h e failure o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n t o i n c r e a s e , ' a r e
c l o s e l y i n t e r t w i n e d w i t h t h e g r o w t h o f L o n d o n , b u t not with each other'
(my italics). W i t h o u t L o n d o n ' s g r o w t h a n d t h e d e m a n d it c r e a t e d ,
' t h e a b s e n c e or s l i g h t n e s s o f p o p u l a t i o n g r o w t h o v e r a l l . . . m i g h t w e l l
h a v e i n h i b i t e d a g r i c u l t u r a l c h a n g e ' . W r i g l e y n o t e s t h a t in L o n d o n
the crude death rate w a s substantially higher t h a n the crude birth
r a t e for m o s t o f t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y , y e t t h e p r o p o r t i o n o f E n g l a n d ' s
total p o p u l a t i o n l i v i n g i n t h e c a p i t a l r o s e f r o m a b o u t 7 p e r c e n t in
1 6 5 0 t o a b o u t 1 1 p e r c e n t in 1 7 5 0 . W r i g l e y e s t i m a t e s t h a t n e t i m m i
gration into L o n d o n in the mid-eighteenth century m u s t h a v e b e e n
about 8,000 per a n n u m , representing the natural increase of 2.5 million
o u t o f E n g l a n d ' s total p o p u l a t i o n ( o u t s i d e t h e c a p i t a l ) o f o n l y 5 m i l l i o n .
Furthermore, the demographic pull of L o n d o n appears to have
b e c o m e m o r e concentrated on the extra-metropolitan parts of the
H o m e Counties and the Midlands w h e r e a surplus of births over
d e a t h s w a s m a i n t a i n e d , w h i l e t h e r e s t o f t h e c o u n t r y b a r e l y h e l d its
1 7
o w n in this r e s p e c t . In the south-east, Snell suggests, women's
e m p l o y m e n t opportunities declined b e c a u s e of m e n ' s d o m i n a n c e in
arable cultivation: t h e y w e r e d r a w n instead into domestic service a n d
prostitution in L o n d o n , a state h e describes as 'disguised u n d e r e m
p l o y m e n t ' c a r r y i n g h i g h m o r a l r i s k s e v e n for t h e ' b e t t e r s o r t ' o f s e r v a n t
18
girl. M i g r a t i o n to L o n d o n , t h e r e f o r e , s e e m s t o h a v e b e c o m e m o r e
l o c a l i s e d t h o u g h W e l s h , S c o t t i s h a n d I r i s h m i g r a n t s still c a m e in v a r y
1 9
ing numbers: W r i g l e y c o n c l u d e s t h a t fully o n e s i x t h o f t h e a d u l t
p o p u l a t i o n o f E n g l a n d m u s t h a v e s p e n t at l e a s t p a r t o f t h e i r l i v e s
i n t h e city. M o r e r e c e n t l y , W a r e i n g h a s a r g u e d t h a t t h e s i g n i f i c a n c e
of m i g r a t i o n t o L o n d o n n e e d s t o b e r e - e x a m i n e d . D r a w i n g o n s o m e
what variable apprenticeship evidence, h e argues that the declining
d i s t a n c e s t r a v e l l e d b y a p p r e n t i c e s b y 1 7 5 0 reflects a l o n g - t e r m d e c l i n e
in L o n d o n ' s function as a training centre. F u r t h e r m o r e , h e s h o w s
t h a t L o n d o n w a s n o t t h e u l t i m a t e d e s t i n a t i o n for m a n y t r a n s i e n t s ,
s i n c e it r e p r e s e n t e d for s o m e o n l y a first s t e p t o w a r d s emigration
17
Wrigley, 'A Simple Model of London's Importance'. See also A. Redford, Labour
Migration in England, 1800-1850, 2nd edn (Manchester, 1964), pp. 184-5.
18
Snell, 'Agricultural Seasonal Unemployment', p. 420. J. R. Gillis, 'Servants, Sexual
Relations, and the Risks of Illegitimacy in London, 1801-1900', Feminist Studies,
5(1979).
19
E . Jones, 'The Welsh in London in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries',
Welsh History Review, 10 (1981), pp. 461-79.

2 0
to A m e r i c a . O n e m u s t c o n c l u d e t h a t in t e r m s o f m i g r a t i o n p a t t e r n s
a n d e x p e r i e n c e s , e m p l o y m e n t g e n e r a t i o n or c o n s u m e r d e m a n d , m a n y
aspects of L o n d o n ' s impact remain elusive, despite historians' recent
a t t e m p t s to a d d r e s s s u c h q u e s t i o n s specifically.
The occupational structure of L o n d o n and the surrounding areas
h a s b e e n a p a r t i c u l a r l y n e g l e c t e d s u b j e c t p a r t l y d u e to t h e l a c k o f
c o n c i s e s o u r c e s . T h o u g h p a r i s h r e g i s t e r s b e g i n to r e c o r d o c c u p a t i o n s
from the early eighteenth century onwards, the time and effort
i n v o l v e d in u s i n g t h e s e s o u r c e s to e s t a b l i s h e m p l o y m e n t c h a n g e s h a s
prevented their systematic exploitation. Indeed, n o n e of L o n d o n ' s
p a r i s h e s is r e p r e s e n t e d in t h e 4 0 4 i n v e s t i g a t e d b y t h e Cambridge
G r o u p . S c h w a r z b a s e d his study of L o n d o n ' s middle class on the
1798 r e t u r n s o f t h e c o m m i s s i o n e r s for a s s e s s e d t a x e s , b u t t h e c o n n e c
t i o n s b e t w e e n h o u s e t a x , i n c o m e a n d o c c u p a t i o n a r e at b e s t i m p r e s
s i o n i s t i c , w i t h t h e e x c e p t i o n of s h o p k e e p e r s . S n e l l h a s u s e d e v i d e n c e
f r o m rural s e t t l e m e n t s to identify s o m e c a u s e s o f u n e m p l o y m e n t in
the south-east during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries,
but h e recognises that an understanding o f t h e a b s o l u t e or relative
size o f t h e w o r k f o r c e o r its c o n s t i t u e n t p a r t s r e m a i n s ' b e y o n d t h e
r e a c h o f h i s t o r i a n s ' . E v e n if t h e p i c t u r e c o u l d b e e s t a b l i s h e d , t h e p r o b
l e m o f i n t e r p r e t a t i o n w o u l d r e m a i n . O f c e n t r a l i m p o r t a n c e for h i s t o r
i a n s of L o n d o n , is t h e q u e s t i o n of h o w far t h e c h a n g e s i d e n t i f i e d
can b e a t t r i b u t e d to t h e c a p i t a l itself. C o r f i e l d t r e a t s L o n d o n b o t h
as ' e x e m p l a r ' a n d ' e x c e p t i o n ' in her study of the impact of English
t o w n s , b u t t h i s d i s t i n c t i o n fails to r e c o g n i s e t h e s i g n i f i c a n c e of t h e
d i s p a r a t e n a t u r e of t o w n s at every level. W e are still, t h e r e f o r e , u n a b l e
t o d e t e r m i n e t h e n a t u r e o f c h a n g e s in t h e e c o n o m i c a n d e m p l o y m e n t
s t r u c t u r e o f L o n d o n a n d t h e s o u t h - e a s t , still l e s s t o a s s e s s t h e r e l a t i v e
impact of L o n d o n c o m p a r e d with the spectrum of other t o w n s .
T h o u g h s y s t e m a t i c u n d e r s t a n d i n g is n o t w i t h i n o u r g r a s p , w e c a n
not doubt that the sheer p r e s e n c e of L o n d o n d o m i n a t e d the British,
E u r o p e a n a n d w o r l d s c e n e o f 1 8 0 1 . N o o t h e r c a p i t a l city c o u l d m a t c h
it for p o p u l a t i o n s i z e , p h y s i c a l e x t e n t or e c o n o m i c c o m p l e x i t y . T h o u g h
its s h a r e o f t h e n a t i o n a l p o p u l a t i o n w a s n o l o n g e r i n c r e a s i n g at its
previous rate, there w a s no doubting L o n d o n ' s continued i m m e n s e
attraction for n a t i o n a l and international produce of every kind.
20
J. Wareing, 'Changes in the Geographical Distribution of the Recruitment of Appren
tices to the London Companies 1486-1750', journal of Historical Geography, 6 (1980).
J. Wareing, 'Migration to London and Transatlantic Emigration of Indentured Ser
vants, 1683-1775', Journal of Historical Geography, 7 (1981).

480 P. L. G A R S I D E
Paradoxically, h o w e v e r , this h u g e d e m a n d operated partly as a force

for m a r k e t i n t e g r a t i o n a n d p a r t l y for d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n . It promoted
g r o w t h i n s o m e s e c t o r s a n d d e c a y i n o t h e r s at e v e r y s c a l e from
L o n d o n ' s o w n c o r e to t h e s u r r o u n d i n g r e g i o n a n d b e y o n d . T h e c o n
c e p t of L o n d o n a s ' a n e n g i n e ' o f social a n d e c o n o m i c c h a n g e h a s
b e e n m o d i f i e d b y t h e r e c o g n i t i o n t h a t its i m p a c t w a s differential, e v e n
n e g a t i v e , a n d t h a t i n c e r t a i n r e s p e c t s L o n d o n a c t e d as a d i v i s i v e f o r c e .
W h i l e o p e r a t i n g o v e r a l l as a p r o m o t e r o f e c o n o m i c g r o w t h , L o n d o n ' s
local a n d r e g i o n a l i m p a c t w a s u n e v e n . Its i n f l u e n c e o n s t a n d a r d s o f
living v a r i e d w i d e l y - C i t y m o g u l s a n d s u b u r b a n f a r m e r s a n d l a n d
owners flourished, while some agricultural workers and slum-
d w e l l e r s s u f f e r e d s e v e r e l y f r o m shifts i n L o n d o n ' s d e m a n d for g o o d s
and services. L o n d o n ' s national a n d international p r e - e m i n e n c e in
finance a n d c o m m e r c e w a s b e i n g b u i l t at c o n s i d e r a b l e c o s t for c e r t a i n
s e g m e n t s o f its o w n p o p u l a t i o n a n d t h a t o f s u r r o u n d i n g c o u n t i e s .
London life
L o n d o n ' s national a n d international role gave a distinctive character

to its social s t r u c t u r e . I n p a r t i c u l a r , L o n d o n e x h i b i t e d a m a r k e d c o n
c e n t r a t i o n o f aristocratic a n d m e r c a n t i l e w e a l t h , i n c r e a s i n g l y c o m p l e x
gradations a m o n g 'the middling sort', and a variety of occupational
e x p e r i e n c e s differentiating ' t h e w o r k i n g t r a d e s ' . R u d e e s t i m a t e s t h a t
d u r i n g t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y L o n d o n ' s social p y r a m i d w a s t o p p e d
by s o m e 1 8 0 - 3 0 0 noble families ranging from ' t h e ordinary aristocrat'
with an estimated annual i n c o m e of £ 8 , 0 0 0 to the 'great landed mag
n a t e s ' w h o s e agricultural i n c o m e alone might reach several times that
amount. Beneath these were s o m e several thousand 'gentle families'
deriving their wealth from sources similar to the aristocracy - land,
t r a d e a n d i n h e r i t a n c e . T h e i n c o m e o f t h e C i t y ' s m e r c a n t i l e a n d finan
cial b o u r g e o i s i e , h o w e v e r , w a s l a r g e l y d e r i v e d f r o m o v e r s e a s t r a d e
a n d b a n k i n g , a n d i n s u r a n c e r e c o r d s h a v e b e e n u s e d to d e m o n s t r a t e
2 1
t h a t t h e s e activities w e r e d o m i n a t e d b y a h a n d f u l of m e r c h a n t s .
The conventional view that these City moguls, w h o s e wealth out
stripped m a n y aristocratic families, t h e m s e l v e s sought l a n d e d status
has recently b e e n challenged. Rogers has argued that by 1760 L o n d o n
A l d e r m e n h a d g o n e b e y o n d this - not m e r e l y gracefully welding
21
Rude, Hanoverian London. L. D. Schwarz and L. J. Jones, 'Wealth, Occupations
and Insurance in the Late Eighteenth Century: The Policy Registers of the Sun
Fire Office', Economic History Review, 2nd ser., 36 (1983), pp. 365-73.

t h e m s e l v e s t o t h e ' w o r l d o f g e n t i l i t y ' t h r o u g h m a r r i a g e , b u t in t h e
process replacing aristocratic values with a bourgeois a n d plutocratic
e t h o s . A n d r e w h a s c h a l l e n g e d t h i s i n t e r p r e t a t i o n , a r g u i n g t h a t aristoc
ratic e x c l u s i v e n e s s i n t h e m a r r i a g e m a r k e t r e m a i n e d . B o t h a g r e e , h o w
e v e r , t h a t t h e t e n d e n c y for i n t e r m a r r i a g e b e t w e e n m e r c h a n t s , finan
ciers a n d gentry h a d increased b y 1800 as polite society b e c a m e m o r e
22
' s o c i a l l y a m b i g u o u s ' a n d o p e n t o all w i t h t h e n e c e s s a r y c r e d e n t i a l s .
In c o n t r a s t t o t h e m e r c h a n t s w i t h o v e r s e a s i n t e r e s t s , L o n d o n ' s h o m e
t r a d e r s a p p e a r to h a v e b e e n h i g h l y stratified. A t o n e e x t r e m e , t h e
cheese trade w a s apparently dominated b y a ring of twenty-five mer
chants, w h o m a i n t a i n e d their position partly t h r o u g h m o n o p o l y provi
sion of transport and partly t h r o u g h control of local (especially
Cheshire) producers. Bakers, b e c a u s e of the relative costs of their
operation were uniformly 'middling', while carpenters and builders
o p e r a t e d at v a r i o u s s c a l e s , h a v i n g s o m e r i c h , l a r g e - s c a l e c o n t r a c t o r s ,
23
although, overall, a generally l o w level of wealth prevailed. The
m u l t i p l i c i t y o f L o n d o n m a n u f a c t u r e s a n d crafts h a s a l r e a d y b e e n dis
cussed, a n d further light has b e e n s h e d o n the very varied experiences
of s h i p w r i g h t s , c o o p e r s , s h o e m a k e r s , t o o l m a k e r s a n d j o u r n e y m e n to
s u p p l e m e n t R u d e ' s still v a l u a b l e g e n e r a l i s a t i o n s a b o u t t h e c h a r a c t e r
2 4
of t h i s ' o t h e r ' L o n d o n .
L o n d o n ' s p h y s i c a l fabric r e f l e c t e d its d i v e r s e s o c i a l a n d e c o n o m i c
structure, especially in terms of land u s e a n d population density. T h e
C i t y o f L o n d o n itself w a s i n c r e a s i n g l y g i v e n o v e r t o offices, w a r e
h o u s e s a n d s h o p s a n d t h e C i t y g a t e s w e r e r e m o v e d after 1 7 6 0 to
p r e v e n t h i n d r a n c e t o c o m m e r c i a l traffic. R i s i n g g r o u n d r e n t s a s s o c i
ated with commercial redevelopment encouraged an exodus which
affected a l m o s t all s e c t i o n s o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n - o n l y t r a d e s m e n a n d
the poorest r e m a i n e d c o n c e n t r a t e d in the o v e r c r o w d e d 'rookeries'
of E a s t S m i t h f i e l d a n d M o o r f i e l d s , w h i l e o t h e r s r e l o c a t e d i n S t G i l e s ,
22
N. Rogers, 'Money, Land and Lineage: The Big Bourgeoisie of Hanoverian London',
Social History, 4 (1979). D. T. Andrew, 'Aldermen and Big Bourgeoisie of London
Reconsidered', Social History, 6 (1981).
23
W. M. Stern, 'Where, Oh Where, Are the Cheesemongers of London?', London
Journal, 5 (1979). J. M. Imray, 'The Mercers' Company and East London, 1750-1850',
East London Papers, 9 (1966). Schwarz and Jones, 'Wealth, Occupations and Insur
ance'. Jones, The Butchers of London.
24
Prothero, Artisans and Politics. P. Hudson and L. Hunter, 'The Autobiography of
William Hart, Cooper, 1796-1857: A Respectable Artisan in the Industrial Revolu
tion', London Journal, 7 (1981). J. Mansfield, 'John Brown, a Shoemaker in Place's
London', History Workshop Journal, 8 (1979), pp. 129-36. Goodman, 'Christopher
Gabriel'. S. Shipley, 'London Journeymen 1810-30', Bulletin of the Society for the
Study of Labour History, 36 (1978).

482 P. L. GARSIDE
a parish located west of the City and by 1801 the most densely occupied
20
registration district. T h o u g h a t e n d e n c y to s o c i a l s e g r e g a t i o n w a s
clear b y 1 8 0 0 , it h a d o n l y o c c u r r e d to a l i m i t e d d e g r e e . S c h w a r z h a s
s h o w n that a m o n g the 'middling sort' w h o formed s o m e 25 per cent
of L o n d o n ' s p o p u l a t i o n , t h e r i c h e s t w e r e c o n c e n t r a t e d in t h r e e W e s t
m i n s t e r p a r i s h e s , a n d in e i g h t e e n w a r d s w i t h i n - t h e - w a l l s , w h i l e t h e
p o o r e r s e c t i o n s o f t h e m i d d l e c l a s s w e r e c o n c e n t r a t e d to t h e s o u t h
a n d east of the City, especially a r o u n d the T o w e r . Yet t h r o u g h o u t
L o n d o n , t a x p a y e r s at all levels l i v e d n e a r to t h o s e n o t p a y i n g t a x e s
at all, a n d n o w h e r e did t h e v e r y w e a l t h y f o r m m o r e t h a n a h a l f o f
the population of a parish, usually less. This distribution, S c h w a r z
s u g g e s t s , r e f l e c t e d t h e w i d e s p r e a d o f m a n u f a c t u r i n g , s m a l l - s c a l e arti
s a n i n d u s t r y a n d s h o p k e e p i n g i n L o n d o n , as w e l l as t h e demand
for s e a s o n a l , l a b o u r - i n t e n s i v e s e r v i c e s ( a n d t h e r e f o r e s l u m s ) f r o m t h e
2 6
middle-class enclaves of squares a n d a v e n u e s .
G r y t z e l l ' s d e t a i l e d a c c o u n t o f c h a n g e s in p o p u l a t i o n n u m b e r s a n d
d e n s i t i e s at district a n d sub-district l e v e l for t h e c e n t u r y after 1 8 0 1
h e l p s t o p i n - p o i n t c h a n g e , s h o w i n g , for e x a m p l e , t h a t t h e d e c l i n e
in t h e C i t y p o p u l a t i o n b e g a n in t h a t p o r t i o n ' w i t h i n - t h e - W a l l s ' , w h i l e
t h e s h a r p e s t d e c l i n e s w e r e in S h a d w e l l - 10 p e r c e n t b e t w e e n 1 8 0 1
a n d 1 8 1 1 , a n d 4 per cent b e t w e e n 1811 a n d 1 8 2 1 . H e cites S p a t e ' s
e x p l a n a t i o n for t h e latter, t h a t c l e a r a n c e s for d o c k - b u i l d i n g were
r e s p o n s i b l e . I n g e n e r a l , G r y t z e l l s h o w s t h a t a r e a s i m m e d i a t e l y sur
r o u n d i n g the City increased in population size and density, a n d that
b y 1 8 2 1 t h e t r e n d for d e n s i t i e s to i n c r e a s e o v e r t h e w h o l e o f t h e c e n s u s
L o n d o n division w a s clearly established, with the fastest-growing
a r e a s l y i n g at t h e p e r i p h e r y in K e n s i n g t o n , P o p l a r a n d B r o m l e y . G r y t
zell, h o w e v e r , offers n o g e n e r a l e x p l a n a t i o n s o f h i s o w n , r e l y i n g o n
S p a t e a n d t h e c e n s u s r e p o r t s w h i c h offer s o m e w h a t eclectic e x p l a n a
t i o n s for local p o p u l a t i o n v a r i a t i o n s i n t e r m s o f g e n e r o u s p o o r l a w
p r o v i s i o n s ( C l e r k e n w e l l ) , b e t t e r c e n s u s r e t u r n s ( S a f f r o n Hill), d e m o
litions (St J a m e s ) a n d prison- and asylum-building (St J o h n ' s a n d
G r e e n w i c h ) . T h e r e is a s y e t n o s t u d y w h i c h i n c o r p o r a t e s s u c h l o c a l
detail i n t o a g e n e r a l f r a m e w o r k for e x p l a i n i n g d e m o g r a p h i c c h a n g e s
in L o n d o n .
T h e o b j e c t i v e s a n d i m p a c t o f ' i m p r o v e m e n t ' is a s u b j e c t w h i c h h a s
b e e n w i d e l y d i s c u s s e d in t e r m s o f its e c o n o m i c a n d s o c i a l s i g n i f i c a n c e .
T h e r e is n o d o u b t t h a t d o c k - b u i l d i n g , t h e c u t t i n g o f P a r l i a m e n t S t r e e t ,
25
K. Grytzell, Population Changes in London, 1801-1901 (Lund, 1969).
26
Schwarz, 'Social Class and Social Geography'.

t h e o p e n i n g o f s e c o n d a n d t h i r d T h a m e s b r i d g e s at W e s t m i n s t e r ( 1 7 5 0 )
a n d Blackfriars ( 1 7 6 9 ) , t h e c r e a t i o n o f L o n d o n ' s first b y - p a s s a l o n g
t h e N e w R o a d f r o m P a d d i n g t o n to I s l i n g t o n ( 1 7 5 6 ) a n d t h e c o n s t r u c
tion of the R e g e n t s ' C a n a l linking P a d d i n g t o n with the docks (1811)
w e r e i n t e n d e d in p a r t s i m p l y to i m p r o v e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s w i t h i n
L o n d o n , and b e t w e e n L o n d o n and the rest of the country. D y o s ,
h o w e v e r , has argued that these and other i m p r o v e m e n t s w e r e not
merely attempts to r e m o v e barriers to c o m m e r c e , but w e r e empirical
s o l u t i o n s t h a t e n a b l e d l a n d o w n e r s t o m e e t t h e i n c r e a s e d d e m a n d for
housing which the rapidly expanding suburbs could only partly
a c c o m m o d a t e , a n d to further e n h a n c e property values b y clearing
s o m e slums, while containing t h o s e that r e m a i n e d in separate, demar
2 7
cated areas. Certainly, the great landlords of L o n d o n ' s W e s t End,
not least the c r o w n u n d e r J o h n N a s h ' s guidance, r e s p o n d e d b y creat
i n g ' c o u r t l y s u b u r b s ' to c a t e r for t h e r e l o c a t i o n o f m e r c h a n t r e s i d e n c e s .
T h e t o w n v i l l a g e s t h a t w e r e g r o w i n g u p a f e w m i l e s o u t s i d e t h e built-
u p a r e a at H a m p s t e a d , C h e l s e a , G r e e n w i c h , C a m b e r w e l l , C l a p h a m ,
Dulwich, T w i c k e n h a m a n d W a n d s w o r t h h a v e b e e n s h o w n to b e resi
dential or semi-residential in nature rather t h a n c o m m u t e r suburbs
2 8
before 1820. T h e i r i n d i v i d u a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s , a n d t h e social g r o u p s
a t t r a c t e d t o t h e m , w e r e m a r k e d l y different, w i t h b o t h local t o p o g r a p h y
a n d the structure of the property market h e l p i n g to d e t e r m i n e relative
degrees of exclusiveness. T h e story of L o n d o n development and
i m p r o v e m e n t strongly suggests that the response of individual pro
p r i e t o r s is c r u c i a l in u n d e r s t a n d i n g its p a c e a n d c h a r a c t e r . T h e M i d d l e
sex R e g i s t e r o f D e e d s r e c o r d s i n d a u n t i n g detail e v e r y i n d i v i d u a l
t r a n s a c t i o n i n p r o p e r t y f r o m 1 7 1 0 , b u t i n s u m it is a l s o u s e f u l for
2 9
charting L o n d o n ' s building cycle. J o h n G w y n n e (1766) a n d J o h n
N a s h (1812) b o t h p r o p o s e d dramatic a n d c o m p r e h e n s i v e s c h e m e s to
dignify L o n d o n ' s i n d i v i d u a l i s t i c a n d n o n - a u t h o r i t a r i a n e x p a n s i o n , b u t
t h e f o r m e r failed a n d t h e latter w a s m u c h m o d i f i e d i n t h e face o f
those s a m e independent forces. D y o s ' s concern with the interaction
b e t w e e n p r o c e s s a n d p l a c e h a s b e e n m o s t fully e x p l o r e d i n r e l a t i o n
to L o n d o n ' s physical development in the eighteenth and early
27
H. J. Dyos, 'The Objects of Street Improvement in Regency and Early Victorian
London', International Review of Social History, 2 (1957).
28
M. H. Port, 'Metropolitan Improvements: From Grosvenor Square to Admiralty
Arch', London Journal, 7 (1981). John Summerson, The Life and Works of John Nash,
Architect (1981), chap. 12. Thompson, Hampstead, pp. 54-7.
29
F. H. W. Sheppard, V. Belcher and P. Cottrell, 'The Middlesex and Yorkshire Deeds
Registries and the Study of Building Fluctuations', London Journal, 5 (1979),
pp. 176-217.

484 P. L. G A R S I D E
n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r i e s , b u t t h e o p e r a t i o n of l a n d a n d h o u s i n g m a r k e t s
a n d t h e i r i n f l u e n c e o n i n d i v i d u a l p r o p r i e t o r s a n d t h e i r s c h e m e s is
30
not yet properly understood.
It is clear t h a t t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n L o n d o n ' s built f o r m a n d
e c o n o m i c a n d social c h a n g e s h o u l d n o t b e r e g a r d e d as a o n e - w a y
p r o c e s s . T h e i n t e r r e l a t i o n b e t w e e n t h e m h a s b e e n s u g g e s t e d in s t u d i e s
of four q u i t e different s t r u c t u r e s - i n n s w h i c h s p r a n g u p , a r c h i t e c t u r
ally distinct a n d c o m m a n d i n g , o n L o n d o n ' s t h o r o u g h f a r e s , c l u b s a n d
coffee-houses, public buildings associated with science, from S o m e r
set H o u s e to t h e M e c h a n i c s ' I n s t i t u t e s , a n d f o r m a l p a r k s a n d t h e a t r e s
3 1
in L o n d o n ' s W e s t E n d . Each of these building types m a y b e repre
s e n t e d as a r e a c t i o n to e c o n o m i c f o r c e s , b u t e a c h p l a y e d a l s o s o m e
specific a n d p o s i t i v e role in p r o m o t i n g or e a s i n g social a n d e c o n o m i c
c h a n g e . I n n s s e r v e d as i n f o r m a l l a b o u r e x c h a n g e s for n e w i m m i g r a n t s ;
c l u b s a n d c o f f e e - h o u s e s as w e l l as p u b l i c h o u s e s e n g e n d e r e d t h e n e w s
p a p e r a n d s e r v e d as t h e f o c u s of political a n d e d u c a t i o n a l activity
for v a r i o u s g r o u p s i n c l u d i n g t h e j o u r n e y m e n ' s friendly s o c i e t i e s ;
scientific m e e t i n g h o u s e s w e r e p l a c e s w h e r e ' g r o u p s b e i n g c o n t i n u a l l y
r e d e f i n e d as m a r g i n a l in a p e r i o d o f s t a g g e r i n g e c o n o m i c a n d social
c h a n g e ' c o u l d l e g i t i m i s e t h e i r c l a i m s to social s t a t u s , a n d p a r k s a n d
p l e a s u r e g a r d e n s , e x c l u s i v e at first, u l t i m a t e l y c a m e to act as ' a unify
i n g social i n f l u e n c e ' , a c o m m o n m e e t i n g g r o u n d for L o n d o n ' s aristo
cratic a n d 'carriage-folk' thereby further eroding aristocratic e x -
c l u s i v e n e s s a n d p r o m o t i n g t h e ' n e w v a l u e s ' of L o n d o n ' s c o m m e r c i a l
3 2
middle class.
T h e role o f l a n d - u s e c h a n g e s a n d p u b l i c b u i l d i n g in f u r t h e r i n g ' s o c i a l
c o n t r o l ' of t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s e s is a p r e o c c u p a t i o n o f h i s t o r i a n s o f t h e
V i c t o r i a n r a t h e r t h a n t h e G e o r g i a n p e r i o d . N e v e r t h e l e s s , as w e l l as
t h e e a r l y s t r e e t i m p r o v e m e n t s o b j e c t s as v a r i e d as p r i s o n s , h o s p i t a l s ,
t u r n p i k e s , d o c k s a n d s c h o o l s h a v e b e e n c i t e d as i n s t r u m e n t s w h e r e b y
t h e u n r u l y , n o t to s a y c r i m i n a l , t e n d e n c i e s o f t h e l o w e r c l a s s e s m i g h t
b e c u r b e d . T h i s is s c a r c e l y a m a j o r t h e m e , h o w e v e r , a n d S h e e n a n ,
in fact, s h o w s h o w s o l a c e as w e l l as p u n i s h m e n t c o u l d b e a c h i e v e d
30
D. J. Olsen, Town Planning in London in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries (1964).
31
J. A. Chartres, 'The Capital's Provincial Eyes: London's Inns in the Early Eighteenth
Century', London Journal, 3 (1977). A. Lejeune, The Gentlemen's Clubs of London (1979).
B. Lilly white, London Coffee Houses (1963). McKendrick, Brewer and Plumb, Birth
of a Consumer Society. A. Osier, 'The London University of 1742', London Journal,
6 (1980). I. Inkster, 'Science and Society in the Metropolis: A Preliminary Examin
ation of the Social and Institutional Context of the Askesian Society of London,
1796-1807', Annals of Science, 34 (1977).
32
G. Rude, Paris and London in the Eighteenth Century (1952).

in n e w l y rebuilt N e w g a t e , w h i l e T o b i a s a r g u e s t h a t t h o u g h b o t h s e c u r e
d o c k s a n d t u r n p i k e s l e d initially to a d e c l i n e in c r i m e , c r i m i n a l s s u b s e
q u e n t l y c h a n g e d t h e i r m e t h o d s to m e e t t h e n e w c o n d i t i o n s , b e c o m i n g
less personally and physically violent, but more organised and m o r e
c o n c e r n e d w i t h t h e o p p o r t u n i t i e s offered b y u n o c c u p i e d s h o p s a n d
3 3
warehouses, and unprotected houses. T h e nature of L o n d o n ' s law
lessness and the criminality associated with the G i n A g e (1720-51)
w a s apparently transformed b y social and e c o n o m i c c h a n g e , a n d b y
t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f a g e n c i e s s u c h as H e n r y F i e l d i n g ' s B o w S t r e e t
runners, and the H o r s e Patrole. Despite the e m e r g e n c e of the concept
of a ' c r i m i n a l c l a s s ' in L o n d o n , t h e e v i d e n c e s u g g e s t s a r e l a t i v e l y
l o w r a t e o f p e r c a p i t a c r i m e in b o t h t h e m e t r o p o l i s a n d t h e H o m e
3 4
Counties.
Q u e s t i o n s o f l a w a n d o r d e r in t h e b r o a d e r s e n s e h a v e b e e n a g r o w i n g
c o n c e r n of h i s t o r i a n s i n r e c e n t y e a r s . T h e s o c i a l a n d political signifi
33
c a n c e o f c r i m i n a l activity h a s b e e n o f p a r t i c u l a r i n t e r e s t . Elton, how
ever, has w a r n e d of the danger of using preconceived m o d e r n categor
ies w h i c h w o u l d h a v e b e e n m e a n i n g l e s s to c o n t e m p o r a r i e s a n d w h i c h
can r e s u l t in m i s l e a d i n g a n d d i s t o r t e d i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s of p a r t i c u l a r
c r i m i n a l a c t i v i t i e s . H e e m p h a s i s e s t h a t t h e s u b j e c t m a t t e r of c r i m e
must b e defined, and contemporary distinctions b e t w e e n different
t y p e s o f c r i m e e s t a b l i s h e d , before m o d e r n a n a l y t i c a l c a t e g o r i e s are
introduced. H i s t o r i a n s a g a i n s t w h o m s u c h c r i t i c i s m s are d i r e c t e d ,
h o w e v e r , maintain that this kind of ground-clearing operation already
f e a t u r e s in r e c e n t r e s e a r c h . C o c k b u r n , a n d B r e w e r a n d S t y l e s , for
example, have e x a m i n e d the nature of law, law enforcement and law
b r e a k i n g a n d h a v e u n d e r l i n e d t h e e s s e n t i a l l y political n a t u r e of l a w
in t h e s e v e n t e e n t h a n d e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r i e s , as w e l l as t h e l e g a l n a t u r e
36
of p o l i t i c s .
33
C. W. Chalklin, 'The Reconstruction of London's Prisons, 1770-1799: An Aspect
of the Growth of Georgian London', London journal, 9 (1983), pp. 21-32. W. J.
Sheenan, 'Finding Solace in Eighteenth-Century Newgate', in J. S. Cockburn, ed.,
Crime in England 1550-1800 (1977). J. S. Taylor, 'Philanthropy and Empire: Jonas
Hanway and the Infant Poor of London', Eighteenth Century Studies, 12 (1979).
P. McCann, 'Popular Education, Socialization and Social Control: Spitalfields 1812-
24', in P. McCann, Popular Education and Socialization in the Nineteenth Century (1977).
J. J. Tobias, Crime and Industrial Society in the Nineteenth Century (1967).
34
J. M. Beattie, 'Crime and the Courts in Surrey 1736-53', in Cockburn, ed., Crime
in England, pp. 155-86.
35
N. Rogers, 'Popular Protest in Early Hanoverian London', Past & Present, 74 (1978).
36
J. Brewer and J. Styles, An Ungovernable People: The English and their Law in the
Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries (1980). G. R. Elton, 'Crime and the Historian',
in Cockburn, ed., Crime in England.

486 P. L . G A R S I D E
T h e c l o s e i n t e r r e l a t i o n b e t w e e n political a n d l e g a l s y s t e m s had
i m p o r t a n t i m p l i c a t i o n s b o t h for t h e e x e r c i s e o f a u t h o r i t y b y t h e s t a t e ,
a n d for t h e t e n o r o f o p p o s i t i o n . F o r its p a r t , t h e s t a t e e m p l o y e d t h e
courts as the chief m e a n s of exercising authority a n d enforcing regula
t i o n s . C o n v e r s e l y , it w a s a c c e p t a n c e of, a n d r e g a r d for, ' t h e r u l e o f
l a w ' at l e a s t a s a n idea, w h i c h p r e v e n t e d i n d i v i d u a l g r i e v a n c e s f r o m
b e c o m i n g g e n e r a l i s e d i n t o a c r i t i q u e o f a u t h o r i t y o r t h e l a w . T h i s is
n o t to s a y t h a t s o m e ' c o n s e n s u a l v i e w ' p r e v a i l e d . C o n f l i c t c o u l d a n d
d i d o c c u r w h e r e p a r t i c i p a n t s w e r e u n m i s t a k a b l y m o t i v a t e d b y political
aims, as in the L o n d o n food riots a n d Wilkite agitations of the mid-
e i g h t e e n t h century. S u c h protests, h o w e v e r , could b e accepted as
an attempt to p r o v o k e a remedial r e s p o n s e a n d not as a challenge
37
to a u t h o r i t y per se.
T h e e s s e n t i a l l y l e g a l n a t u r e o f p o l i t i c s at t h i s t i m e s h o u l d c a u t i o n
a g a i n s t s i m p l i s t i c a t t e m p t s t o a s s o c i a t e specific o c c u p a t i o n a l g r o u p s
w i t h p a r t i c u l a r f o r m s o f political activity, n o t l e a s t in L o n d o n w h e r e
the legal a n d social structure w a s so c o m p l e x . S c h w a r z has pointed
to the socially a n d politically a m b i g u o u s position of L o n d o n ' s very
n u m e r o u s small employers a n d s h o p k e e p e r s : potential social leaders
in t h e poorer parts of L o n d o n , b u t of inferior status e l s e w h e r e ; w o o e d
b y the L o n d o n Corresponding Society in the 1790s, but emerging
as t h e d e f e n d e r s o f T a w a n d o r d e r ' b y 1 8 4 8 . T h e i r s o c i a l a n d political
characteristics, S c h w a r z suggests, m u s t b e analysed in the context
of t h e i r e v e r y d a y e x p e r i e n c e s , a n d n o t a s s u m e d f r o m t h e i r o c c u p a
3 8
tional l a b e l s . T h e political r o l e o f t h e s e ' m i d d l i n g s o r t s o f p e o p l e '
has b e e n e m p h a s i s e d , and Prothero has concluded that 'instead of
. . . t r e a t i n g " t h e a r t i s a n s " c o l l e c t i v e l y , w e m u s t a n a l y s e t h e differing
e x p e r i e n c e s o f s o m e o f t h e t r a d e s . O c c u p a t i o n a l d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n is
essential.' Prothero's study of J o h n Gast, the L o n d o n shipwrights
a n d t h e i r p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n r a d i c a l ' s u p r a - t r a d e a c t i v i t y ' in t h e e a r l y
n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y is a r i c h l y d e t a i l e d e x a m p l e o f t h e c u l t u r a l , social
39
a n d political w o r l d s o f o n e g r o u p o f ' s k i l l e d a r t i s a n s ' .
T h e n a t u r e a n d s c a l e o f political a g i t a t i o n i n L o n d o n b e t w e e n 1 7 5 0
and 1820 has led m a n y observers to think that L o n d o n ' s 'repertoire
of c o n t e n t i o n ' c a m e c l o s e t o r e v o l u t i o n . T h e y p o i n t to t h e f r e q u e n c y
of i n d u s t r i a l d i s p u t e s , t h e s i z e o f d e m o n s t r a t i o n s , t h e G o r d o n R i o t s
37
N. Rogers, 'Popular Disaffection in London during the Forty-Five', London Journal,
1 (1975). J. Stevenson, ed., London in the Age of Reform (1977).
38
Schwarz, 'Social Class and Social Geography'.
39
Prothero, Artisans and Politics, p. 6.

( 1 7 8 0 ) , t h e h i g h d e g r e e o f political o r g a n i s a t i o n d i s p l a y e d b y t h e L o n
don Corresponding Society and the insurrection of 1820 planned by
t h e C a t o S t r e e t c o n s p i r a t o r s . T h e p r o b l e m , h o w e v e r , is t o a c c o u n t
for t h e failure o f L o n d o n ' s ' r e v o l u t i o n a r y m o m e n t ' t o m a t e r i a l i s e .
S t e v e n s o n takes as his starting point the 'constitutional' nature of
L o n d o n political a g i t a t i o n , a n d e m p h a s i s e s t h a t t h e s o c i o - e c o n o m i c
d e m a n d s o f t h e g r o u p s i n v o l v e d w e r e h a r n e s s e d b y W i l k e s to t h e
cause of parliamentary reform. In an interim report on a long-term
study of the c h a n g i n g spatial pattern of ' c o n t e n t i o u s g a t h e r i n g s ' in
L o n d o n a n d t h e H o m e C o u n t i e s , Tilly a n d S c h w e i t z e r h a v e s u g g e s t e d
t h a t t h e riots a n d d e m o n s t r a t i o n s t y p i c a l o f t h e 1 7 6 0 s a n d 1 7 7 0 s c a m e
t o b e r e p l a c e d o v e r t h e n e x t fifty y e a r s b y s c h e d u l e d m e e t i n g s a n d
symbolic public assemblies w h e r e large n u m b e r s of workers travelled
long distances to m a k e orderly, but emotionally powerful, forays into
the alien, middle-class territory of L o n d o n ' s W e s t E n d . H o n e h a s ques
tioned the revolutionary c o m m i t m e n t of radical leaders, e m p h a s i s i n g
i n s t e a d t h e i r p r e f e r e n c e for ' k e e p i n g t h e i r political o p t i o n s o p e n ' a n d
t h e i r i n v o l v e m e n t i n a w i d e r a n g e o f activities - p h i l a n t h r o p i c , s c i e n
4 0
tific a n d e d u c a t i o n a l - i n t h e p u r s u i t o f s o c i a l c h a n g e .
W h i l e S t e v e n s o n , Tilly a n d S c h w e i t z e r a n d H o n e h a v e a r g u e d t h a t
L o n d o n ' s r e v o l u t i o n a r y m o m e n t w a s t r a n s f o r m e d b y political l e a d e r
s h i p o r s t r u c t u r a l c h a n g e , o t h e r s h a v e c a s t d o u b t o n its v e r y e x i s t e n c e .
D o b s o n has underlined the essential continuity of pre- and post-indus
trial l a b o u r r e l a t i o n s , e s p e c i a l l y i n t h e h i g h p r o p o r t i o n o f l a b o u r dis
putes w h i c h occurred in L o n d o n . E m s l e y has discussed the possibility
t h a t t h e g o v e r n m e n t ' c o n c o c t e d ' e v i d e n c e o f a n i n s u r r e c t i o n for its
o w n e n d s in the winter of 1792 in order to create a loyalist reaction
a g a i n s t t h e p o p u l a r t u r b u l e n c e o f t h e t i m e . S i m i l a r l y , t h e reliability
of e v i d e n c e a b o u t e v e n t s l e a d i n g u p to t h e r a i d o n t h e C a t o S t r e e t
s t a b l e h a s b e e n q u e s t i o n e d s i n c e m u c h o f it d e r i v e s f r o m g o v e r n m e n t
41
sources based on spies' reports. It i s , t h e r e f o r e , w i d e l y a c c e p t e d
t h a t t h e c h a r a c t e r o f L o n d o n p o l i t i c s a n d political c o n s c i o u s n e s s
c a n n o t b e explained simply in terms of e c o n o m i c a n d industrial
40
T. M. Parsinnen, 'The Revolutionary Party in London', Bulletin of the Institute of
Historical Research, 45 (1972). J. Stevenson, 'Disturbances and Public Order in London
1790-1821' (unpublished DPhil. thesis, Oxford University, 1973). C. Tilly and
R. A. Schweitzer, 'How London and its Conflicts Changed Shape 1758-1834', Histori
cal Methods, 15 (1982). J. A. Hone, For the Cause of Truth: Radicalism in London 1796-
1821 (Oxford, 1982).
41
C. R. Dobson, Masters and Journeymen: A Pre-History of Industrial Relations 1717-1800
(1980). C. Emsley, 'The London "Insurrection" of December 1792: Fact, Fiction
or Fantasy?', Journal of British Studies, 17 (1978). Hone, For the Cause of Truth.

488 P. L. G A R S I D E
c h a n g e - t h e v a r i e d e x p e r i e n c e s b e t w e e n a n d w i t h i n social g r o u p s ,
the influence of tradition a n d social ideals, a n d the c o m p l e x interrela
t i o n b e t w e e n L o n d o n a n d n a t i o n a l affairs all h a v e to b e t a k e n i n t o
a c c o u n t . T h r o u g h o u t t h e p e r i o d 1 7 5 0 - 1 8 2 0 , s e v e r a l political c e n t r e s
are identifiable in L o n d o n a n d t h i s factor t e n d e d to limit L o n d o n ' s
role in radical m o v e m e n t s . Initially, t h e C i t y , g o v e r n e d b y its t h r e e
c o u r t s , h a d t h e c e n t r a l r o l e , p r o v i d i n g ' c o n t i n u o u s o p p o s i t i o n ' to t h e
g o v e r n m e n t of the day m o s t particularly during the Wilkite agitation
of t h e 1 7 6 0 s a n d t h e 1 7 7 0 s . A f t e r 1 7 9 0 , h o w e v e r , t h e l e v e l a n d c h a r a c t e r
of C i t y a g i t a t i o n c h a n g e d , a n d t h o u g h r a d i c a l activity c o n t i n u e d , rela
42
tions with the g o v e r n m e n t b e c a m e m o r e conciliatory. Opposition
to i n c o m e t a x , t h e s u s p e n s i o n o f H a b e a s C o r p u s a n d t h e S i x A c t s c a m e
n o t s o m u c h f r o m t h e C i t y as f r o m W e s t m i n s t e r . I n d e e d , attempts
w e r e m a d e to e x t e n d c o - o p e r a t i o n b e t w e e n r a d i c a l s a c r o s s t h e m e t r o
polis as a w h o l e , a n d to d e v e l o p a political b o d y u n i t i n g n o t o n l y
t h e t w i n cities b u t a l s o S o u t h w a r k , M i d d l e s e x , S u r r e y , E s s e x a n d K e n t .
Despite t h e s e h o p e s of a metropolitan radical m o v e m e n t , t h e focus
of political a t t e n t i o n b e g a n to shift to t h e p r o v i n c e s after 1 8 1 5 . T h o u g h
the retreat of L o n d o n radicalism should not b e o v e r e m p h a s i s e d , L o n
d o n failed to m a i n t a i n its p r e v i o u s l y h i g h l e v e l o f political i n v o l v e m e n t
a n d l e a d e r s h i p . S t e v e n s o n h a s a r g u e d t h a t t h i s w a s n o t d u e to s t r u c
tural factors s u c h as L o n d o n ' s l a c k o f a m a n u f a c t u r i n g b a s e , n o r to
a l a c k o f i n t e r e s t t h e r e in t h e d o m i n a n t i s s u e o f p a r l i a m e n t a r y r e f o r m ,
b u t to t h e c i t y ' s s h e e r size a n d m u l t i p l e s p e c i a l i s e d h i e r a r c h i e s w h i c h
m a d e political m o b i l i s a t i o n o n a n y p a r t i c u l a r i s s u e v e r y difficult to
4 3
achieve. P a r a d o x i c a l l y , t h e d i v e r s i t y o f L o n d o n life n o t o n l y c r e a t e d
t h e p r e c o n d i t i o n s for d i s o r d e r a n d d i s i n t e g r a t i o n , b u t a l s o at t h e s a m e
t i m e p r e v e n t e d t h e c i t y ' s i n h e r e n t i n s t a b i l i t y f r o m m a n i f e s t i n g itself
in m e t r o p o l i t a n a n d n a t i o n a l p o l i t i c s .
T h e p e r i o d b e t w e e n 1 7 5 0 - 1 8 2 0 w a s o n e o f g r e a t c h a n g e for L o n d o n
a n d t h e H o m e C o u n t i e s , w h i c h w a s as e n i g m a t i c a n d difficult for
c o n t e m p o r a r i e s to u n d e r s t a n d a s it h a s b e e n for m o d e r n s o c i a l h i s t o r
ians. L o n d o n ' s complexities and paradoxes confounded the language
of e i g h t e e n t h - c e n t u r y o b s e r v e r s as w e l l as t w e n t i e t h - c e n t u r y e c o n o m
ists a n d s o c i o l o g i s t s . S o c i a l h i s t o r i a n s h a v e c o m e to r e c o g n i s e t h e n e e d
42
J. R. Dinwiddy, "'The Patriotic Linen-Draper": Robert Waithman and the Revival
of Radicalism in the City of London, 1795-1818', Bulletin of the Institute of Historical
Research, 46 (1973), pp. 72-94.
43
Stevenson, 'Disturbances and Public Order'. Hone, For the Cause of Truth.

t o u n d e r s t a n d t h e c o n t e m p o r a r y m e a n i n g s a t t a c h e d to o c c u p a t i o n a l
g r o u p s ( ' a r t i s a n s ' , ' j o u r n e y m e n ' , ' m e c h a n i c s ' ) a n d to political a n d
c r i m i n a l activity b e f o r e a d o p t i n g analytical frameworks borrowed
f r o m m o d e r n e c o n o m i c a n d social t h e o r i s t s . T h o u g h m a j o r c h a n g e s
w e r e u n d e r w a y , n o t all o f t h e m a p p e a r to h a v e w o r k e d in t h e d i r e c t i o n
t h e o r y s u g g e s t s . D e m o g r a p h i c a l l y a n d e d u c a t i o n a l l y , a n d e v e n politi
cally, L o n d o n ' s i n f l u e n c e s e e m e d to h a v e b e c o m e m o r e l o c a l i s e d b y
1 8 2 0 . L o n d o n ' s t r a n s f o r m a t i o n w a s i n c o m p l e t e : t h e i n f l u e n c e o f its
h i s t o r y a n d t r a d i t i o n s c o n t i n u e d t o m a r k its c h a r a c t e r , a n d t h e o p p o r
tunity of transforming British society w a s passing from L o n d o n and
its r a d i c a l s t o t h e i n d u s t r i a l l y b a s e d p r o v i n c i a l cities.
II METROPOLITAN MIST: LONDON AND ITS PROVINCIAL

RIVALS 1820-1870
Hell is a city much like London -

A populous and smoky city
P. B. Shelley, Peter Bell the Third, Part 3, 'Heir
It w a s L o n d o n ' s ' p a r t i c u l a r ' qualities w h i c h c a u g h t t h e i m a g i n a t i o n

of m i d - n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y w r i t e r s . T o D i c k e n s , S h e l l e y , D i s r a e l i a n d
T e n n y s o n , as w e l l as to t h e l e s s e r k n o w n G e r a l d M a s s e y a n d J a m e s
T h o m s o n , L o n d o n w a s a city like n o o t h e r - at least, n o t t h i s s i d e
of H e a v e n or H e l l . Its s m o k i n e s s p r o v i d e d a p o w e r f u l i m a g e of t h e
c i t y ' s ability to s w a l l o w u p c o u n t l e s s m u l t i t u d e s in its m y s t e r i o u s
d e p t h s - g u a r a n t e e i n g a n o n y m i t y . L o n d o n , B a g e h o t s a i d , w a s like
a n e w s p a p e r : e v e r y t h i n g w a s t h e r e , a n d n o t h i n g w a s c o n n e c t e d to
anything else. Nevertheless, L o n d o n ' s repellent strangeness and
formlessness could not extinguish the possibility that a poetic, surrea
list b e a u t y m i g h t y e t e m e r g e f r o m t h e city. S u c h a v i s i o n m a y p e r h a p s
b e e x p l a i n e d b y t h e s u r v i v a l of m a n y o f L o n d o n ' s p r e - i n d u s t r i a l quali
ties a n d a t t r i b u t e s , a n d b y its i n c o m p l e t e t r a n s f o r m a t i o n i n t o a n a r c h e
t y p a l i n d u s t r i a l city. T h e village-like c h a r a c t e r of m a n y of its r e s i d e n t i a l
a r e a s ( w h e t h e r h u m b l e or g r a n d ) , t h e p e r s i s t e n c e o f o l d p h y s i c a l a n d
i n s t i t u t i o n a l f o r m s a l o n g s i d e t h e n e w , a n d its r e s e m b l a n c e to g r e a t
a n d l u x u r i o u s cities o f t h e p a s t - all t h e s e s u s t a i n e d i n t i m a t i o n s o f
h u m a n i t y a n d s p l e n d o u r d e s p i t e t h e p o v e r t y , d i s e a s e a n d filth t h a t
h u n g a b o u t t h e city. T h e p e r i o d 1 8 2 0 - 7 0 s a w m a n y d i s t i n c t i v e c h a n g e s
in t h e life o f L o n d o n y e t t h e i r i m p a c t w a s m e d i a t e d b o t h b y v i s i o n s
of t h e future, a n d b y s h a d o w s o f t h e p a s t .

490 P. L . G A R S I D E
London and industrialisation
London's share in t h e unprecedented, bizarre and momentous

changes associated with the industrial revolution has b e e n variously
i n t e r p r e t e d . S h e p p a r d h a s p o r t r a y e d L o n d o n a s a city i n t h e i n d u s t r i a l
44
r e v o l u t i o n , b u t n o t o f it - its h u b , b u t n o t its d r i v i n g f o r c e . Certainly,
t h e o v e r w h e l m i n g g r o w t h o f L o n d o n c a n n o t b e d e n i e d : d e c a d e after
d e c a d e its p o p u l a t i o n e x p a n d e d at a c o n s t a n t r a t e b e t w e e n 1 6 a n d
2 1 p e r c e n t : b y 1 8 7 7 , it h a d r e a c h e d t h e e n o r m o u s s i z e o f 3 . 2 5 m i l l i o n
people. Y e t L o n d o n ' s position in the urban hierarchy w a s being chal
l e n g e d b y t h e b u r g e o n i n g g r o w t h o f a d o z e n o r m o r e p r o v i n c i a l cities
in t h e M i d l a n d s a n d the north, e a c h with a population of m o r e t h a n
100,000 in 1 8 7 1 . T h e growth of these ' s h o c k cities' suggested that
t h e c e n t r e o f n a t i o n a l e c o n o m i c life h a d s h i f t e d , l e a v i n g L o n d o n
' a l m o s t t o t a l l y i s o l a t e d ' i n t h e still p r e d o m i n a n t l y a g r i c u l t u r a l s o u t h .
This provincial approach to explanations of Britain's e c o n o m i c growth
has b e e n challenged. T h e exploitation of the northern provinces, Dyos
argued, occurred ' n o t as an a b a t e m e n t of the centripetal forces w h i c h
were concentrating the population and economic power on London,
but primarily as a r e d e p l o y m e n t of provincial resources, s o m e of t h e m
45
h a v i n g b e e n , a s it w e r e , p r o c e s s e d i n L o n d o n en route'. O n this
interpretation, L o n d o n played an essential part as o n e of the 'world
cities', functioning as a primary e l e m e n t in a national a n d international
control m e c h a n i s m which fostered both industrial a n d urban growth.
L o n d o n w a s , at o n e a n d t h e s a m e t i m e , c e n t r a l y e t p e r i p h e r a l , e c o n o
mically s e c o n d a r y yet socially d o m i n a n t , culturally inspirational yet
parasitic. F o r contemporaries, the duality of L o n d o n ' s role found
e x p r e s s i o n i n d i s l i k e , s u s p i c i o n a n d h o s t i l i t y . T h e i r d e s i r e to k e e p
L o n d o n in its p l a c e , a n d t o n u r t u r e t h e n e w - g r o w n i n d u s t r i a l c e n t r e s
is r e f l e c t e d in t h e fact t h a t t h e t e r m ' p r o v i n c e s ' b e c a m e e s t a b l i s h e d
as a c o l l e c t i v e a n d f a v o u r a b l e e x p r e s s i o n l o n g b e f o r e ' m e t r o p o l i s ' s h e d
its u n a c c e p t a b l y p o m p o u s o v e r t o n e s .
In the half-century b e t w e e n 1820 a n d 1870, L o n d o n indeed appeared

o v e r s h a d o w e d b y t h e s e provincial t o w n s - economically, politically
and administratively. Nonetheless, L o n d o n ' s aggrandisement conti
n u e d a n d its i s o l a t i o n f r o m t h e m a i n s t r e a m o f t h e i n d u s t r i a l r e v o l u t i o n
e n s u r e d t h a t its d e v e l o p m e n t r e m a i n e d u n i q u e , ' a f o r m a t i o n for w h i c h
44
F. H. W. Sheppard, London 1808-1870: The Infernal Wen (1971), pp. xvii-xix.
45
H . J . D y o s , ' Greater and Greater London: Notes on the Metropolis and the Provinces
in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries', in J. S. Bromley and E. H. Kossman,
eds., Britain and the Netherlands (The Hague, 1971).

4 6
no n a m e e x i s t s ' . This section examines the significance of L o n d o n ' s
a p p a r e n t i s o l a t i o n in t e r m s o f its e c o n o m y , its p h y s i c a l d e v e l o p m e n t ,
its social s t r u c t u r e a n d its political life.
London's economic growth - a provincial or metropolitan phenomenon?
D e s p i t e t h e c o n t i n u e d a b s e n c e o f ' a full-scale e c o n o m i c h i s t o r y o f
V i c t o r i a n L o n d o n ' l a m e n t e d b y D y o s in 1 9 7 1 , t h e m a i n e l e m e n t s are
q u i t e clear, n a m e l y a significant t h o u g h u n o b t r u s i v e manufacturing
b a s e , w i t h c o n s u m e r - o r i e n t e d e n t e r p r i s e s l a r g e l y o r g a n i s e d in s m a l l
specialist w o r k s h o p s , a n d a n i n c r e a s i n g l y w i d e - r a n g i n g s e r v i c e s e c t o r ,
w i t h s p e c i a l i s t financial a n d b a n k i n g activities c e n t r e d o n t h e C i t y .
L o n d o n i n d u s t r y a n d L o n d o n finance s e r v e d n o t o n l y m e t r o p o l i t a n
m a r k e t s , b u t a l s o r e g i o n a l a n d n a t i o n a l m a r k e t s . I n d e e d , it h a s b e e n
a r g u e d t h a t t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l m a r k e t for its g o o d s a n d s e r v i c e s out
s t r i p p e d d o m e s t i c o n e s , n o m a t t e r w h a t l e v e l is u s e d for c o m p a r i s o n .
C e r t a i n l y , t h e g r o w i n g d o m i n a t i o n o f L o n d o n in t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l
m o n e y m a r k e t s l e d to t h e C i t y ' s relative d e c l i n e in t h e h o m e m a r k e t .
Y e t it m u s t b e e m p h a s i s e d t h a t s u c h a d e c l i n e was o n l y r e l a t i v e , a n d
L o n d o n d o m i n a n c e of t h e d o m e s t i c s e c u r i t i e s m a r k e t w a s clearly
e s t a b l i s h e d after 1 8 5 0 . I n c r e a s i n g l y e x t e n s i v e p u b l i c i n v o l v e m e n t in
i n v e s t m e n t , t h e r e f o r e , c a m e to b e c h a n n e l l e d t h r o u g h L o n d o n d e s p i t e
4 7
t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f e x c h a n g e s in t h e p r o v i n c e s . The power and
size o f L o n d o n ' s financial i n s t i t u t i o n s d e r i v e d p a r t l y f r o m i n c r e a s e d
p r o v i n c i a l w e a l t h , b u t a l s o f r o m e n t e r p r i s e s c a r r i e d o n in L o n d o n
itself, a n d t h r o u g h o u t t h e w o r l d . I n r e t u r n , L o n d o n a c t e d as a n e s s e n
tial i n t e r m e d i a r y in m a n a g i n g s u p p l y a n d d e m a n d for i n v e s t m e n t
from industrialists and entrepreneurs in B r i t a i n , E u r o p e a n d the
E m p i r e , e s p e c i a l l y after 1 8 5 0 . I n v e s t m e n t b o t h at h o m e a n d a b r o a d
t e n d e d to b e in i n f r a s t r u c t u r e , n o t a b l y r a i l w a y s , r a t h e r t h a n in direct
i n d u s t r i a l capital. N e v e r t h e l e s s , t h e m a r k e t p r o v e d p r e c a r i o u s , a n d
t h e s p e c u l a t i v e b u b b l e o f t h e 1 8 6 0 s w h i c h c u l m i n a t e d in t h e c o l l a p s e
of O v e r e n d a n d G u r n e y w a s l a r g e l y d u e to o v e r - e x t e n s i v e r a i l w a y
i n v e s t m e n t in a n d a r o u n d L o n d o n itself. S u c h a n a n a l y s i s s u g g e s t s
t h a t L o n d o n s h o u l d n o t b e t h o u g h t o f as a n ' i n d e p e n d e n t v a r i a b l e '
in t h e g r o w t h of t h e n e w i n d u s t r i a l e c o n o m y , b u t n e i t h e r s h o u l d t h e
rise o f t h e i n d u s t r i a l n o r t h b e s e e n as ' s o m e k i n d o f c l a n d e s t i n e
46
Quoted in ibid., p. 54.
47
R. C. Michie, 'The London Stock Exchange and the British Securities Market 1850-
1914', Economic History Review, 2nd ser., 38 (1985), pp. 61-82.

492 P. L . G A R S I D E
4 8
extramural activity of L o n d o n ' . L o n d o n ' s specific i n v o l v e m e n t l a y
in p r o v i d i n g s p e c i a l i s t f i n a n c i a l s e r v i c e s to s e c u r e i n v e s t m e n t c a p i t a l
a n d insurance protection n e c e s s a r y to s u p p o r t t h e industrial infrastruc
t u r e . Its i n f l u e n c e w a s n o t w h o l l y b e n i g n - t h e v u l n e r a b i l i t y o f t h e
system was demonstrated b y the periodic crises of 1825, 1 8 3 6 - 9 and
1 8 5 7 , a n d t h e i n f l u e n c e o f L o n d o n m a d e itself felt i n c u l t u r a l as w e l l
as financial t e r m s t h r o u g h t h e s p r e a d o f a s s o c i a t e d c o m m u n i c a t i o n s
- not only the railway, but also the mail, press a n d electric telegraph.
H i s t o r i a n s ' efforts t o d e t e r m i n e L o n d o n ' s r o l e i n t h e ' i n d u s t r i a l r e v o
lution' have tended to proceed on the assumption that manufacturing
provided the k e y e l e m e n t in Britain's e c o n o m i c g r o w t h in the nine
teenth century. Recently, h o w e v e r , this a s s u m p t i o n has b e e n chal
l e n g e d i n w a y s w h i c h t h r o w a v e r y different l i g h t o n L o n d o n a n d
t h e n a t i o n a l e c o n o m y at t h i s t i m e . A t t e m p t s h a v e b e e n m a d e t o q u a n
tify c h a n g e s i n B r i t a i n ' s e c o n o m i c s t r u c t u r e at a r e g i o n a l r a t h e r t h a n
a national level, with the metropolitan region receiving particular
attention. Both Rubinstein's study of the distribution of wealth a n d
Lee's analysis of types of regional development have s h o w n the value
of s u c h a t t e m p t s at q u a n t i f i c a t i o n , w h e t h e r t h e y a r e c o n d u c t e d at
t h e b a s i c l e v e l o f careful c o u n t i n g , o r at t h e m o r e s o p h i s t i c a t e d l e v e l
49
of factor a n a l y s i s . I n t h e i r different w a y s , b o t h R u b i n s t e i n a n d L e e
s h o w that traditional generalisations c o n c e r n i n g the rise of industry,
and of industrial wealth, do not survive quantitative analysis. T h e y
both underline the importance of the service sector a n d of c o n s u m e r -
oriented industry as an e c o n o m i c force in Victorian Britain - generating
l a r g e p e r s o n a l f o r t u n e s , a n d at t h e s a m e t i m e f o r g i n g a n e w a n d h i g h l y
successful e c o n o m i c sector. This large, highly integrated, homo
g e n e o u s m a r k e t initially c o m p r i s e d L o n d o n a n d W e s t m i n s t e r , b u t
expanded rapidly into neighbouring, contiguous counties. Lee,
i n d e e d , g o e s s o far a s t o c o n c l u d e ' w e s h o u l d i n t e r p r e t V i c t o r i a n
Britain i n t e r m s o f t h e S o u t h - E a s t b e i n g t h e m o s t a d v a n c e d r e g i o n
in t h e B r i t i s h e c o n o m y , a n d m a k i n g a c o m m e n s u r a t e c o n t r i b u t i o n
to t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f t h a t n a t i o n a l e c o n o m y ' . W h a t t h a t ' c o m m e n s u r
ate c o n t r i b u t i o n ' w a s h a s y e t t o b e d e t e r m i n e d . C l e a r l y , h o w e v e r ,
L o n d o n l a c k e d t h o s e activities t r a d i t i o n a l l y r e g a r d e d as t h e ' d r i v i n g
forces' of Victorian expansion - mining, h e a v y industry, large-scale
48
Dyos, 'Greater and Greater London', p. 47.
49
W. D. Rubinstein, 'Wealth, Elites and the Class Structure of Modern Britain', Past
& Present, 76 (1977). C. H. Lee, 'Regional Growth and Structural Change in Victorian
Britain', Economic History Review, 2nd ser., 34 (1981), pp. 438-52.

textile m a n u f a c t u r i n g . I n d e e d , s o m e t e x t i l e f a c t o r i e s w h i c h h a d e x i s t e d
in L o n d o n in the early n i n e t e e n t h century w e r e e x p o r t e d to outlying
t o w n s s u c h as C o l c h e s t e r : t h e d e c l i n e o f t h e s e silk a n d w o o l l e n w e a v
i n g firms c o n t i n u e d i n t h e i r n e w l o c a t i o n s , h o w e v e r , d e s p i t e t h e l o w e r
5 0
local w a g e s . H e a v y i n d u s t r y a l o n g t h e T h a m e s a l s o t e n d e d to m o v e
o u t - l a r g e r c h e m i c a l i n d u s t r i e s s o u g h t c h e a p e r l a n d a n d f e w e r restric
t i o n s a n d m i g r a t e d a c r o s s t h e L e e v a l l e y t o W e s t H a m after 1 8 5 0 .
I n S t r a t f o r d , h o w e v e r , s m a l l e r c h e m i c a l firms f o r m e d a ' q u a r t e r ' for
t h e m s e l v e s w h e r e t h e y d e v e l o p e d that i n t e r d e p e n d e n c e a n d proxi
mity m o s t usually associated with L o n d o n ' s clothing, furniture and
instrumentmakers.
The L o n d o n e c o n o m y was increasingly based on high-technology,
consumer-oriented industry and an associated service sector, relying
a b o v e all o n its o w n l a r g e , d e n s e l y p o p u l a t e d a n d r e l a t i v e l y w e a l t h y
market. This great metropolitan market w a s essentially divided into
t w o , b o t h p h y s i c a l l y a n d s o c i a l l y . T h e c l o t h i n g t r a d e s illustrate t h i s
division - there w a s the W e s t E n d centre, north of Piccadilly and
e a s t o f R e g e n t S t r e e t , s p e c i a l i s i n g i n t h e h i g h e s t g r a d e b e s p o k e tailor
ing a n d ' C o u r t D r e s s m a k i n g ' , well placed to serve the highly personal
d e m a n d s o f its f a s h i o n a b l e c l i e n t e l e . Q u i t e s e p a r a t e , w a s t h e c l o t h i n g
i n d u s t r y o f t h e E a s t E n d , w h e r e ' P e t t i c o a t L a n e ' d e v e l o p e d as t h e
c e n t r e for c h e a p r e a d y - m a d e c l o t h e s a b o u t 1 8 5 0 . N e v e r t h e l e s s , n o
factory s y s t e m e m e r g e d , rather the productive process disintegrated
into small ' s w e a t e d ' shops equipped with cheap technical innovations
s u c h as the s e w i n g m a c h i n e a n d the b a n d s a w . Furnituremaking
s h o w e d a very similar k i n d of spatial a n d organisational structure,
a s d i d p r i n t i n g a n d t h e h i g h l y s k i l l e d crafts i n v o l v e d i n t h e m a n u f a c
t u r e o f w a t c h e s , c l o c k s a n d scientific i n s t r u m e n t s . A l l t h e s e t r a d e s
n e e d e d t o b e n e a r t h e i r m a r k e t , w h i c h b e c a u s e o f its s i z e a n d c o m
p l e x i t y , t e n d e d to s u p p o r t a s y s t e m o f s p e c i a l i s e d b u t h i g h l y i n t e r d e
p e n d e n t w o r k s h o p s . T h e 1851 census d o c u m e n t e d the extraordinary
r a n g e o f L o n d o n ' s o c c u p a t i o n s , a n d b y 1 8 6 1 , three-fifths o f all e m p l o y
m e n t in t h e C i t y w a s p r o v i d e d b y s m a l l - s c a l e i n d u s t r y a n d t h e s e r v i c e
sector.
The mid-nineteenth-century metropolitan economy was centred on
the Cities of L o n d o n a n d W e s t m i n s t e r and the county of Middlesex,
and was characterised b y a highly integrated group of consumer goods
50
A. F. J. Brown, 'Colchester 1815-1914', Essex Record Office Publications, 74 (1980).

494 P. L. G A R S I D E
a n d service industries: this e c o n o m i c sector w a s e x p a n d i n g more

quickly than the industrial sectors w h i c h have traditionally b e e n
r e g a r d e d as t h e m a j o r g r o w t h g e n e r a t o r s . O v e r a h a l f o f all n e w j o b s
in B r i t a i n b e t w e e n 1 8 4 1 a n d 1 9 1 1 w e r e c r e a t e d in s e r v i c e e m p l o y m e n t ,
a n d a h i g h p r o p o r t i o n o f t h e s e j o b s w e r e l o c a t e d in t h e s o u t h - e a s t ,
initially in L o n d o n a n d M i d d l e s e x . T h e H o m e C o u n t i e s w e r e n o t fully
i n c o r p o r a t e d i n t o t h e m e t r o p o l i t a n e c o n o m y b y 1 8 7 0 , a n d L e e ' s factor
a n a l y s i s o f t h e 1 8 5 1 a n d 1 8 6 1 c e n s u s s h o w s t h e o u t e r c o u n t i e s falling
into three separate groups with c o m m o n features distinguishing t h e m
b o t h f r o m e a c h o t h e r a n d f r o m L o n d o n itself. S i m i l a r g r o w t h profiles
d i s t i n g u i s h e d first, K e n t , S u r r e y a n d H a m p s h i r e , s e c o n d l y , S u s s e x ,
B e r k s h i r e a n d O x f o r d a n d finally, B u c k i n g h a m s h i r e , B e d f o r d s h i r e a n d
Hertfordshire. E a c h of these counties, h o w e v e r , m o v e d to adopt the
s t r u c t u r a l p a t t e r n o f t h e L o n d o n e c o n o m y , as t h e c e n t u r y p r o g r e s s e d .
A n i m p o r t a n t e l e m e n t in L e e ' s a r g u m e n t is t h a t t h e s e structural
c h a n g e s w e r e i n t e r n a l l y g e n e r a t e d - t h e p r o d u c t o f a l a r g e affluent
society 'enjoying conspicuous c o n s u m p t i o n and giving e m p l o y m e n t
to a w i d e r a n g e o f l a b o u r i n t e n s i v e s e r v i c e s - f r o m d o m e s t i c s e r v i c e
at o n e e x t r e m e to t r a d i t i o n a l p r o f e s s i o n s like m e d i c i n e , l a w a n d e d u
c a t i o n at t h e o t h e r ' . L e e e m p h a s i s e s t h e s e l f - g e n e r a t i n g c h a r a c t e r o f
L o n d o n ' s g r o w t h a n d calls i n t o q u e s t i o n t h e c o m m o n a s s u m p t i o n
that service e m p l o y m e n t w a s primarily a by-product of manufacturing
(i.e. provincial) growth. Rather, h e asserts, service e m p l o y m e n t arose
chiefly f r o m c e r t a i n t y p e s o f c o n s u m e r - o r i e n t e d m a n u f a c t u r i n g -
p a p e r , p r i n t i n g a n d p u b l i s h i n g , t i m b e r a n d furniture, c l o t h i n g , c h e m i
cals a n d ' h i g h - t e c h ' i n s t r u m e n t a n d electrical e n g i n e e r i n g i n d u s t r i e s
- all o f w h i c h w e r e p a r t i c u l a r l y a s s o c i a t e d w i t h n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y
L o n d o n and the surrounding counties. In other words, the L o n d o n
r e g i o n w a s o n t h e w a y t o b e c o m i n g ' t h e w o r l d ' s first l a r g e - s c a l e c o n
s u m e r s o c i e t y ' , n o t in a n y vital r e s p e c t d e p e n d e n t o n p r o v i n c i a l m a n u
facturing, but i n d e p e n d e n t a n d self-sustaining. S u c h an analysis goes
m u c h further t h a n B a r k e r o r D y o s , a n d d o e s n o t m e r e l y alter t h e
provincial perspective on L o n d o n ' s e c o n o m i c growth a n d role, but
virtually r e m o v e s it a l t o g e t h e r . L o n d o n ' s e c o n o m i c a c h i e v e m e n t s in
the mid-nineteenth century were not derived from, nor e v e n interde
p e n d e n t w i t h p r o v i n c i a l m a n u f a c t u r i n g t o w n s : it w a s n e i t h e r parasitic
51
n o r a m b i o t i c - it w a s s e p a r a t e , s e l f - g e n e r a t i n g a n d h i g h l y s u c c e s s f u l .
51
Lee, 'Regional Growth', pp. 450, 452.

London - the infernal wen
It is i m p o r t a n t to s e t t h i s a n a l y s i s o f a n i n t e g r a t e d , d y n a m i c a n d h i g h -
t e c h n o l o g y L o n d o n e c o n o m y in the c o n t e m p o r a r y physical a n d social
context. Cobbett's unbridled fury a g a i n s t t h e s w e l l i n g g r o w t h o f
L o n d o n as h e rode t h r o u g h S u r r e y a n d S u s s e x w a s portentous, but
in 1822 the transformation of the H o m e C o u n t i e s into metropolitan
s u b u r b i a w a s c e r t a i n l y i n c o m p l e t e , a n d r e m a i n e d s o as late as 1 8 7 0 .
E v e n in M i d d l e s e x in 1882, a W e a l d s t o n e vicar c o m p l a i n e d that h e
' m i g h t j u s t as w e l l b e in a r e m o t e p a r t o f Y o r k s h i r e ' for all t h e d i f f e r e n c e
L o n d o n m a d e . T h o u g h L e e ' s statistical a n a l y s i s o f o c c u p a t i o n s s h o w s
M i d d l e s e x firmly t i e d to t h e s t r u c t u r e o f a m e t r o p o l i t a n e c o n o m y ,
actual circumstances s u g g e s t e d distance, separation a n d rusticity in
5 2
many areas. While the system of turnpikes provided passable routes
towards L o n d o n , m a n y lanes of sticky m u d or rutted hard-baked clay
p e r s i s t e d far i n t o t h e c e n t u r y . T h e n e g l e c t o f l o c a l p a r i s h r o a d s m i g h t
indeed b e linked to the creation of the turnpikes w h i c h starved other
r o u t e s o f i n v e s t m e n t a n d a t t e n t i o n . S u r r e y , for e x a m p l e , c a m e t o b e
t r a v e r s e d b y a n e w s y s t e m o f direct t r u n k r o a d s b e t w e e n L o n d o n
and the coast, a n d also b y a close network of cross-country c o n n e c
tions. At the s a m e time, m a n y of the old p a t h w a y s which followed
natural contours a n d cut circuitous routes b e c a m e derelict. M u c h of
t h e S u r r e y W e a l d r e m a i n e d i n a c c e s s i b l e at m i d - c e n t u r y , t h e l a n d
5 3
u n c u l t i v a t e d , b e y o n d t h e r e a c h o f t h e m e t r o p o l i t a n m a r k e t for f o o d .
W h e r e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s w e r e g o o d , w h e t h e r at t h e f r i n g e o f L o n
d o n ' s b u i l t - u p a r e a , o r at n o d a l p o i n t s i n t h e t r a n s p o r t s y s t e m , t h e
i m p a c t o f ' L o n d o n - o u t - o f - t o w n ' w a s s t r o n g l y felt. U n t i l 1 8 7 0 , r o a d s ,
rather t h a n railways, w e r e the major carriers of people a n d g o o d s .
Nevertheless, though transport was a necessary cause of suburbanisa-
t i o n , it w a s n o t a sufficient o n e - a l s o i m p o r t a n t w a s t h e availability
of l a n d , c r e d i t a n d i n v e s t m e n t i n i n f r a s t r u c t u r e . T h e p h y s i c a l s p r e a d
of L o n d o n , t h e r e f o r e , p r o c e e d e d a l o n g a v e r y i r r e g u l a r p a t h b o t h i n
time and space, diverted n o w b y landownership patterns, n o w b y
t h e g e n e r a l financial s i t u a t i o n . I n t h e b u i l d i n g b o o m w h i c h f o l l o w e d
the e n d of the F r e n c h W a r s in 1815, areas to t h e w e s t a n d south
of L o n d o n s a w t h e m o s t r a p i d g r o w t h . T h e f a s h i o n a b l e e s t a t e s o f
T y b u r n i a a n d Belgravia in P a d d i n g t o n w e r e b e g u n in t h e 1820s, while
s o u t h o f t h e T h a m e s t h e t h r e e n e w b r i d g e s at V a u x h a l l , W a t e r l o o
52
M. Robbins, 'Transport and Suburban Development in Middlesex down to 1914',
Transactions of London and Middlesex Archaeological Society, 29 (1978), pp. 129-36.
53
P. Brandon, A History of Surrey (1977), pp. 7 1 - 6 .

496 P. L. GARSIDE
and S o u t h w a r k and their associated turnpikes o p e n e d up hitherto
isolated areas. In the 1820s, the population of both L a m b e t h and C a m -
b e r w e l l i n c r e a s e d b y o v e r 5 0 p e r c e n t , a n d it w a s t h r o u g h r o w s o f
t h e i r t e r r a c e h o u s e s t h a t C o b b e t t r o d e o n h i s w a y to C r o y d o n , itself
the fastest-growing outpost of the ' G r e a t W e n ' . Cobbett railed against
t h e s e 'horrible a n d ridiculous' r o w s surpassed in ugliness only b y
the m o r e distant 'hideous villas' of ' J e w s and j o b b e r s ' - b a n k e r s , stock
b r o k e r s a n d distillers - c l u s t e r e d a r o u n d n e w l y e n c l o s e d S u r r e y c o m
m o n s . E v e n w o r s e to Cobbett, w a s the j o b b e r s ' practice of b u y i n g
u p o l d S u r r e y f a r m h o u s e s a n d f u r n i s h i n g t h e m in n e w - f a n g l e d s t y l e s
w i t h p a r l o u r s , fine t a b l e w a r e set o n m a h o g a n y t a b l e s a n d w i t h ' c a r p e t
and bell-push too'. As the n e w owners 'skip backwards and forwards'
on coaches along the turnpikes, they transformed the physical and
social fabric of t h e p l a c e s t h e y t o u c h e d , s o m e t i m e s d e l i b e r a t e l y , o f t e n
u n c o n s c i o u s l y . N o t u n t i l t h e 1 8 6 0 s d i d a c o n c e r n for t r a d i t i o n a l b u i l d
i n g s t y l e s , a n d for t h e p r e s e r v a t i o n o f c o m m o n s , e m e r g e t o m o d i f y
5 4
these alien metropolitan a d v a n c e s .
L o n d o n ' s i n f l u e n c e c o u l d r e a c h e v e n as far as s m a l l t o w n s o n t h e
c o a s t a l fringe o f t h e s o u t h - e a s t . L o c a l s t u d i e s o f C o l c h e s t e r a n d R a m s -
g a t e h a v e s h o w n h o w g e n e r a l i s a t i o n s at c o u n t y l e v e l a b o u t t h e e x t e n t
of m e t r o p o l i t a n i n f l u e n c e m a y c o n c e a l m u c h v a r i a t i o n - in r u r a l M i d
d l e s e x a n d S u r r e y t h e ' m e t r o p o l i t a n effect' w a s o f t e n w e a k , w h i l e
55
in s o m e u r b a n c o a s t a l c e n t r e s i n E s s e x a n d K e n t it w a s c l e a r l y s t r o n g .
T h e a t t r a c t i o n o f C o l c h e s t e r for s o m e o f L o n d o n ' s c o n s u m e r i n d u s t r i e s
has already b e e n m e n t i o n e d - successive textile, tailoring a n d s h o e -
m a k i n g h r m s t o o k a d v a n t a g e of its c h e a p , r e a d i l y a v a i l a b l e l a b o u r
f o r c e a n d e s t a b l i s h e d b r a n c h e s in t h e t o w n b e t w e e n 1 8 1 5 a n d 1 8 7 0 ,
putting out work from their L o n d o n s h o w r o o m s . T h e c o m i n g of the
L o n d o n - C h e l m s f o r d - C o l c h e s t e r r a i l w a y in 1 8 4 3 e x p a n d e d t h e c o n
s u m e r m a r k e t for t h e s e firms b e y o n d L o n d o n to a w i d e r a r e a o f s o u t h
e a s t E n g l a n d . I n d e e d , in 1 8 5 7 C o l c h e s t e r ' s s h o e m a k e r s c l a i m e d t h a t
they had b e c o m e the Great Eastern Railway's chief commercial cus
t o m e r in t h e t o w n . C o m m e r c i a l l i n k s a l s o l a y b e h i n d s o m e i m p o r t a n t
political i n t e r p l a y b e t w e e n L o n d o n a n d C o l c h e s t e r . C o l c h e s t e r ' o u t
v o t e r s ' formed a cohesive g r o u p in the 1820s. Liberal in s y m p a t h y ,
these Colchester-born artisans, commercial and professional m e n met
54
W. Cobbett, Rural Rides (1930 edn), quoted in Sheppard, Infernal Wen.
53
Brown, 'Colchester 1815-1914'. R. S. Holmes, 'Continuity and Change in a Mid-
Victorian Resort: Ramsgate 1851-1871' (unpublished DPhil. thesis, University of
Kent, 1977).

in certain L o n d o n inns and e s p o u s e d the cause of parliamentary

reform. L e d by Colchester's Liberal M P , D . W . Harvey, w h o m they
h a d themselves h e l p e d to elect, these Colchester out-voters c a m e
h o m e t o v o t e ' f o r t h e e x t i n c t i o n o f t h e i r o w n political f r a n c h i s e ' , a n d
56
were duly disenfranchised by the Reform Bill. T h e coming of the
railway m a d e L o n d o n available to a wide section of C o l c h e s t e r ' s resi
d e n t s , e s p e c i a l l y for e n j o y m e n t a n d for social activities. C h e a p e x c u r
s i o n s at B a n k H o l i d a y s w e r e p o p u l a r , a n d s p e c i a l a t t r a c t i o n s like t h e
G r e a t E x h i b i t i o n , c o n f e r e n c e s a n d political rallies s u c h as t h e P e o p l e ' s
W e l c o m e t o G a r i b a l d i a t t r a c t e d t h o u s a n d s o f C o l c e s t r i a n s to t h e c a p i
tal. F o r t h e m , L o n d o n w a s n o t r e m o t e , b u t a n i m m e d i a t e a n d direct
experience.
While Colchester's relation with L o n d o n was primarily commercial,
R a m s g a t e v a l u e d a c e r t a i n social ' t o n e ' w h i c h r e f l e c t e d a m o r e i n t i m a t e
relationship with s o m e of the wealthier m e m b e r s of L o n d o n society.
H e r e L o n d o n e r s established not b r a n c h factories, but residential
enclaves, thereby heightening residential segregation within the
t o w n . T h e s i z e o f R a m s g a t e - 1 1 , 0 0 0 p o p u l a t i o n in 1 8 5 1 a n d 1 4 , 0 0 0
in 1 8 7 1 - h a s m a d e p o s s i b l e a s t u d y o f t h e t o w n ' s s t r u c t u r e w i t h o u t
t h e n e e d for s a m p l i n g : u s i n g a c o m b i n a t i o n o f c e n s u s a n d rate b o o k
data, H o l m e s h a s c o m p a r e d social a n d e c o n o m i c v a r i a b l e s b e t w e e n
n e i g h b o u r i n g h o u s e h o l d s , s t r e e t s a n d a r e a s . R e j e c t i n g factor a n a l y s i s
as ' i n a p p r o p r i a t e a n d m i s l e a d i n g ' , H o l m e s h a s c o n c e n t r a t e d o n a n
a n a l y s i s o f ' k e y ' v a r i a b l e s , in particular, t e n u r i a l s t a t u s , r e s i d e n t i a l
mobility a n d rateable values. H e draws attention to o n e striking dicho
t o m y - t h e t o w n ' s stability in t e r m s o f o v e r a l l s t r u c t u r e , a n d its fluidity
in t e r m s o f i n d i v i d u a l m o v e m e n t s . A m a j o r factor in t h i s s i t u a t i o n
was undoubtedly t h e i n f l u e n c e o f w e a l t h y L o n d o n families who
s o u g h t e v e r m o r e e x c l u s i v e l o c a t i o n s , b u t w h o , o n c e satisfied, s e l d o m
m o v e d , thereby creating a stable growth pole of high-status h o u s e
holds, w h e r e t h e y w e l c o m e d L o n d o n lodgers a n d visitors with the
help of their L o n d o n - b o r n servants. S u c h a well-entrenched, high-
s t a t u s c o m p o n e n t in R a m s g a t e ' s social a n d e c o n o m i c s t r u c t u r e m a d e
for o v e r a l l stability in t h e t o w n ' s spatial a n d s o c i e t a l c h a r a c t e r , a n d
ensured a growing L o n d o n influence on h o u s e h o l d structure, residen
tial p a t t e r n s a n d i n t e r n a l m o b i l i t y .
T h e impact of L o n d o n o n the inner ring of H o m e Counties and
56
Harvey is said to 'have made history by inspiring fifty wives of London voters
to form a group to raise funds for him and to assist in other ways, the earliest
known case of women participating in Colchester polities', ibid., p. 79.

498 P. L. G A R S I D E
o n t h o s e b e y o n d in t h e m i d - n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y w a s c l e a r l y n o t s i m p l y
a m a t t e r o f g e o g r a p h i c p r o p i n q u i t y , b u t w a s r e l a t e d to m a n y o t h e r
factors n o t l e a s t t h e c i r c u m s t a n c e s p r e v a i l i n g in t h e ' r e c e i v i n g ' locality,
a n d t h e t y p e o f i n v o l v e m e n t s o u g h t b y L o n d o n e r s o n t h e m o v e . It
is t h e d i v e r s i t y o f L o n d o n ' s i m p a c t a n d t h e r e s i l i e n c e o f local w a y s
in life t h a t is m o s t striking: C o b b e t t ' s v i e w o f t h e u n r e m i t t i n g , undiffer
entiated absorption of neighbouring areas b y relentlessly expanding
a n d m u l t i p l y i n g s u b u r b s is p o l e m i c a l r a t h e r t h a n factual. A t t h e s a m e
t i m e , h o w e v e r , r e c e n t statistical g e n e r a l i s a t i o n s at c o u n t y l e v e l s u g g e s t
a g r e a t e r d e g r e e o f e c o n o m i c i n t e g r a t i o n t h a n w a s a p p a r e n t to m a n y
at t h e t i m e .
Demographic transition
I n m a n y r e s p e c t s 1 8 7 1 r e p r e s e n t s a d e m o g r a p h i c w a t e r s h e d for L o n
d o n a n d its n e i g h b o u r i n g c o u n t i e s , for b y t h a t d a t e t h e a r e a w a s b e g i n
n i n g t o s h o w a b u o y a n t a n d s e l f - g e n e r a t i n g g r o w t h in t e r m s o f
p o p u l a t i o n , as m u c h as in e c o n o m i c activity. T h e 1 8 7 1 c e n s u s w a s
t h e last o n e to r e c o r d p o p u l a t i o n i n c r e a s e s in t h e i n n e r a r e a t h a t w a s
to b e c o m e t h e A d m i n i s t r a t i v e C o u n t y o f L o n d o n a l t h o u g h o v e r a l l ,
L o n d o n and the H o m e Counties were growing rapidly and remained
t h e l a r g e s t n a t i o n a l f o c u s for m i g r a n t s . T h e p r o p o r t i o n o f m i g r a n t s
in L o n d o n ' s p o p u l a t i o n w a s falling, h o w e v e r , as t h e b i r t h r a t e r o s e
above the national average b e t w e e n 1 8 6 5 - 1 8 7 0 and the death rate
b e g a n to fall.
Assessments of London's demographic structure from 1840
o n w a r d s rest o n w h a t W r i g l e y h a s c a l l e d t h e ' d e l u s i v e clarity a n d
a p p a r e n t a u t h o r i t y ' o f official statistics - p r i m a r i l y t h e c e n s u s ( w h e r e
the n a m e s of h o u s e h o l d m e m b e r s were recorded from 1841) and the
5 7
r e c o r d s o f t h e R e g i s t r a r G e n e r a l o f B i r t h s a n d D e a t h s (from 1 8 3 6 ) .
E m b a r r a s s i n g as t h e s e s o u r c e s are in t h e i r s h e e r b u l k , h i s t o r i a n s h a v e
b e e n d e v i s i n g t e c h n i q u e s for c l a s s i f y i n g a n d m a r s h a l l i n g t h e s e s e t s
of d a t a , a n d for d e v e l o p i n g a p p r o p r i a t e e x p l a n a t o r y f r a m e w o r k s . A
s e r i o u s p r o b l e m for L o n d o n h i s t o r i a n s is t h a t m a n y o f t h e t e c h n i q u e s
t h a t h a v e b e e n d e v e l o p e d for c e n s u s a n a l y s i s - for e x a m p l e , s a m p l i n g ,
a n d f a m i l y o r h o u s e h o l d r e c o n s t r u c t i o n - are v e r y difficult t o a p p l y
in s u c h a l a r g e a n d h e t e r o g e n e o u s city. T h e c e n s u s p e r m i t s L o n d o n
h i s t o r i a n s t o identify g e n e r a l d e m o g r a p h i c t r e n d s a n d c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s ,
57
E. A. Wrigley, 'Baptism Coverage in Early Nineteenth Century England', Population
Studies, 29 (1975), pp. 229-316.

b u t t h e s e m e r e l y ' s e t t h e s t a g e ' for a n e x p l o r a t i o n o f t h e c i r c u m s t a n c e s

surrounding the population changes. This kind of explanation has
p r o v e d v e r y difficult, a n d v e r y f e w a t t e m p t s h a v e b e e n m a d e to
explore t h e process of d e m o g r a p h i c c h a n g e in relation to particular
5 8
areas or occupational g r o u p s .
The value and limitations of the n e w demographic techniques can
be illustrated b y Friedlander's study of inter-censal migration flows
5 9
b e t w e e n the counties of south-east E n g l a n d . Friedlander shows the
changing pattern of origin a n d destination of L o n d o n migrants from
1 8 5 1 to 1 9 5 1 . I n t h e 1 8 4 0 s , L o n d o n a n d M i d d l e s e x g a i n e d p o p u l a t i o n
at t h e e x p e n s e o f t h e a d j a c e n t c o u n t i e s o f E s s e x , S u r r e y a n d K e n t .
T h o u g h there w e r e s o m e early signs of population dispersal from
L o n d o n to Middlesex, the d o m i n a n t feature w a s o n e of massive p o p u
lation concentration in t h e centre. M o s t migrants to L o n d o n , h o w e v e r ,
t r a v e l l e d o n l y s h o r t d i s t a n c e s e v e n after t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f r a i l w a y s .
Important migration flows are established b y Friedlander, yet his
explicit a s s u m p t i o n s c l e a r l y s h o w t h a t h e r e t o o t h e r e is a ' d e c e p t i v e
clarity'. In constructing his analytical framework, Friedlander adopts
the following conventions.
1. A p e r s o n w h o m o v e s a n d t h e n d i e s i n t h e i n t e r - c e n s a l p e r i o d is
d e e m e d o n l y t o d i e , a n d t o d o s o i n h i s l o c a l i t y at t h e f o r m e r c e n s u s .
2. A p e r s o n m o v i n g from K to L , a n d t h e n L to M in an inter-censal
p e r i o d is d e e m e d t o h a v e m o v e d o n l y f r o m K t o M .
3. If a n a t i v e o f a n y c o u n t y m o v e s f r o m K t o L a n d a n o t h e r n a t i v e
of t h e s a m e c o u n t y m o v e s f r o m L t o K , n o m o v e m e n t is a s s u m e d .
This ' s m o o t h i n g ' of the data distorts the s u b s e q u e n t analysis to an

u n k n o w n e x t e n t : t h e s e u n k n o w n s a r e c o m p o u n d e d b y t h e fact t h a t
t h e c e n s u s itself r e c o r d s n o i n t e r v e n i n g m o v e s w i t h i n d e c a d e s , t h u s
l i m i t i n g t h e c o m p l e t e n e s s o f t h e r a w d a t a itself. S u c h a n a l y s i s c a n
58
Census studies show 'a marked concentration on localities in Lancashire, Yorkshire
and the East Midlands' according to C. G. Pearce and D. R. Mills, Census Enumerators'
Books: An Annotated Bibliography of Published Work Based Substantially on the Nineteenth
Century Census Enumerators' Books (Milton Keynes, 1982), p. vi. The Home Counties
in particular have received little attention. They are (a) Essex: Colchester (L. Davi-
doff), Elmdon (J. Robin) and Little Beddow (S. V. Rowley); (b) Kent: Margate
(L. Davidoff), Preston-next-Faversham (K. Duffy), Ramsgate (R. Holmes), Sheergate
(N. Buck); and (c) Middlesex: Ealing (D. Thompson). The Inner London Suburbs feature
in several publications, they are: Bethnal Green (B. Coleman), Camberwell (H. J.
Dyos), Highbury (T. Hinchcliffe), Hoxton (B. Knott), Kensington (P. Malcolmson),
North Lambeth (H. C. Binford), and five inner parishes (L. Lees).
59
D. Friedlander, 'London's Urban Transition, 1851-1951', Urban Studies, 2 (1974),
pp. 127-41.

500 P. L . G A R S I D E
t h r o w n o light o n t h e q u e s t i o n s r a i s e d b y H o l m e s in h i s s t u d y o f
R a m s g a t e about the strength of 'counter-currents' b e t w e e n the seaside
t o w n a n d L o n d o n , n o r a b o u t t h e e x t e n t o f direct m o v e s via L o n d o n
into R a m s g a t e - a p h e n o m e n o n suggested b y data on the birthplace
60
of y o u n g e s t c h i l d r e n .
Within these limitations, Friedlander's decennial county level analy
sis s h o w s t h e i n t e r c o n n e c t i o n s b e t w e e n i m m i g r a t i o n flows i n t o a n d
within L o n d o n and the surrounding counties. Sub-division below
c o u n t y l e v e l is n o t a t t e m p t e d b u t , n e v e r t h e l e s s , F r i e d l a n d e r p r e s e n t s
a s e r i e s o f s n a p s h o t s o f t h e aerial v a r i a t i o n o f m i g r a t i o n f l o w s a n d
c o n f i r m s t h e a b s o r p t i o n o f s u r r o u n d i n g c o u n t i e s like S u r r e y a n d M i d
dlesex into the L o n d o n migration z o n e . B y 1871, the expanding area
of a t t r a c t i o n for L o n d o n m i g r a n t s h a d r e a c h e d D o r s e t , S o m e r s e t a n d
D e v o n , w h i l e t h e p r e f e r r e d r e c e p t i o n a r e a s h a d b e g u n to shift f r o m
L o n d o n a n d M i d d l e s e x to a d j a c e n t c o u n t i e s .
W h i l e l o n g - d i s t a n c e m i g r a t i o n to L o n d o n f r o m E n g l i s h c o u n t i e s w a s
g r o w i n g b y 1 8 7 1 , t h a t f r o m I r e l a n d w a s falling: t h e 1 8 4 0 s h a d s e e n
a t r e m e n d o u s I r i s h e x o d u s f o l l o w i n g s u c c e s s i v e failures of t h e p o t a t o
h a r v e s t . I n t h e d e c a d e 1 8 4 1 - 5 1 , o u t o f a n e s t i m a t e d total o f 3 3 0 , 0 0 0
6 1
n e w m i g r a n t s a r r i v i n g in L o n d o n , 4 6 , 0 0 0 w e r e ' e x i l e s of E r i n ' . By
1 8 5 1 , t h e r e w e r e s o m e 1 0 9 , 0 0 0 Irish l i v i n g in L o n d o n , n o l e s s t h a n
4 . 6 p e r c e n t o f t h e m e t r o p o l i t a n p o p u l a t i o n . F r o m t h a t p e a k , t h e Irish
p r o p o r t i o n d e c l i n e d , a n d t h e n u m b e r s a r r i v i n g fell to 1 4 , 0 0 0 i n t h e
1 8 5 0 s , w i t h a s l i g h t r i s e t o 1 9 , 0 0 0 in t h e 1 8 6 0 s . S u c h figures e x c l u d e
E n g l i s h - b o r n c h i l d r e n , s o t h e total n u m b e r o f Irish r e s i d e n t s m i g h t
6 2
w e l l h a v e b e e n 5 0 p e r c e n t h i g h e r , as L y n n L e e s h a s suggested.
I n m a n y w a y s , t h e Irish s e e m to h a v e r e v e r s e d t h e c o m m o n p a t t e r n s
of m i g r a t i o n i n E n g l a n d . W h e r e a s E n g l i s h u r b a n m i g r a n t s m o s t fre
q u e n t l y m o v e d s h o r t d i s t a n c e s , p r o v i n g t h e m s e l v e s in s m a l l e r a n d
l e s s c o m p l i c a t e d t o w n s b e f o r e m o v i n g o n to t h e l a r g e r c e n t r e s , t h e
I r i s h l e a p t s t r a i g h t to L o n d o n . T h o u g h p o o r l y s u i t e d to t h e c a p i t a l
b y skills, c o n t a c t s a n d e x p e r i e n c e , t h e I r i s h u r b a n s c e n e offered t h e
rural migrants n o easier alternatives. Pitched into L o n d o n ' s casual
l a b o u r m a r k e t , t h e Irish f o r m e d c l o s e c o m m u n i t i e s in t h e ' r o o k e r i e s '
60
Holmes, 'Continuity and Change: Ramsgate 1851-1871', p. 201. Holmes found that
the youngest child of migrants to Ramsgate was three times as likely to be London-
born as the head of the household, and suggests that this might be due to indirect
moves via London.
61
H. A. Shannnon, 'Migration and the Growth of London 1841-91', Economic History
Review, 2nd ser., 5 (1955), p. 81.
62
L . H. Lees, 'Social Change and Social Stability among the London Irish, 1830-1870'
(unpublished PhD thesis, Harvard, 1969).

of t h e c e n t r a l districts - t h e n o t o r i o u s S t G i l e s a r e a o f H o l b o r n , t h e
S e v e n Dials and the riverside parish of St O l a v e ' s , east of L o n d o n
B r i d g e . S o m e Irish e n c l a v e s a l s o f o r m e d in s u b u r b a n a r e a s s u c h as
N o r t h K e n s i n g t o n a n d N o r t h C a m b e r w e l l w h e r e t h e r e w e r e local
s h o r t a g e s for u n s k i l l e d l a b o u r , e s p e c i a l l y in b u i l d i n g . T h e i r i s o l a t i o n
w a s n o t , h o w e v e r , total: r e c e n t r e s e a r c h b a s e d o n 1 8 5 1 a n d 1 8 6 1 c e n s u s
d a t a h a s s h o w n h o w Irish s e t t l e r s c a m e to a d o p t s i m i l a r fertility p a t
t e r n s to L o n d o n e r s in g e n e r a l - m a r r y i n g y o u n g e r , b u t n e v e r t h e l e s s
63
h a v i n g f e w e r c h i l d r e n t h a n t h e i r c o u n t r y m e n in r u r a l I r e l a n d .
Employment and unemployment
A p a r t i c u l a r v a l u e o f t h e Irish s t u d i e s is t h a t t h e y p r o v i d e a ' t r a c e r '

flowing along well-marked channels which s h o w b y their surges and
d i v e r s i o n s t h e a r e a s o f flux a n d stability in L o n d o n ' s social a n d e c o n
o m i c s t r u c t u r e . I n p a r t i c u l a r , c o n c e n t r a t i o n s o f I r i s h s e t t l e m e n t act
as p o i n t e r s , d r a w i n g a t t e n t i o n t o t h e b a s i c s t r u c t u r e o f t h e L o n d o n
l a b o u r m a r k e t , w i t h its h i g h l e v e l o f u n e m p l o y m e n t a n d c a s u a l l a b o u r .
W h e r e v e r t h e Irish s e t t l e d , t h e i r p r e s e n c e i n d i c a t e d a m a r k e t for
unskilled, itinerant workers, bordering always o n destitution and
c r i m e . T h e d o c k s , t h e m a r k e t s , t h e brickfields a n d t h e W e s t E n d s t r e e t s
offered e m p l o y m e n t o f t h i s k i n d t o ' e v e r y o n e (for t h e w o r k n e e d s
6 4
n o t r a i n i n g ) w h o w a n t s a loaf, a n d w h o is w i l l i n g to w o r k for i t ' .
E m p l o y m e n t in the capital w a s sporadic a n d fiercely competitive -
t h e 1 8 5 1 c e n s u s s h o w e d a l m o s t h a l f L o n d o n ' s p o p u l a t i o n to b e w i t h
o u t f o r m a l e m p l o y m e n t . C l o s e d to all e x c e p t t h e m o s t p e r s i s t e n t a n d
f o r t u n a t e , w e r e t h e e m p l o y m e n t n e t w o r k s for c r a f t s m e n a n d p r o
fessionals, each with their o w n codes and rules of entry: n e w migrants
'knowing no-one, nor being known to any' were particularly
6 5
excluded.
E a c h e m p l o y m e n t g r o u p d e v e l o p e d v e r y specific m e c h a n i s m s a n d
p a t h w a y s for n e w r e c r u i t s . F o r w o m e n , t h e m a i n p a t h w a y s l e d t o
domestic service and to p r o s t i t u t i o n : indeed, the two virtually
6 6
a m o u n t e d to t h e s a m e t h i n g i n s o m e w e a l t h i e r h o u s e h o l d s . The
1861 c e n s u s recorded a quarter of a million domestic servants in
63
L. H. Lees and J. Modell, 'The Irish Countryman Urbanized: A Comparative Perspec
tive on the Famine Migration', Journal of Urban History, 3 (1977).
64
Henry Mayhew and John Binney, The Criminal Prisons of London and the Scenes of
Prison Life (1862), quoted in Sheppard, Infernal Wen, p. 364.
65
William Lovett, The Life and Struggles of William Lovett in his Pursuit of Bread, Knowledge
and Freedom (1876), quoted in Sheppard, Infernal Wen, p. 3.
66
See above p. 478.

502 P. L. G A R S I D E
L o n d o n , o f w h o m five-sixths w e r e w o m e n , m a n y o f t h e m r e c e n t
m i g r a n t s . I n all, o n e i n e v e r y six L o n d o n w o m e n w e r e employed
in domestic service: of t h o s e in paid e m p l o y m e n t , t h e proportion w a s
n e a r e r t w o - t h i r d s . T h e v a s t m a j o r i t y o f o t h e r L o n d o n j o b s w e r e strictly
male preserves, with the exception of the clothing trade. O n e large
g r o u p o f w o m e n u s e d t h e h o m e itself t o i n c r e a s e f a m i l y i n c o m e s b y
t a k i n g in l o d g e r s , e s p e c i a l l y t h e c l e r k s a n d s h o p a s s i s t a n t s w h o s o u g h t
6 7
a c c o m m o d a t i o n i n districts like K e n s i n g t o n a n d C a m b e r w e l l .
M a n y s k i l l e d a n d s e m i - s k i l l e d w o r k e r s s o u g h t to e s t a b l i s h a n d m a i n
tain L o n d o n - w i d e conditions of e m p l o y m e n t a n d w a g e rates, but the
size a n d d i v e r s i t y o f t h e l a b o u r m a r k e t l e d i n s t e a d to a g o o d d e a l
of l o c a l i s a t i o n . N e v e r t h e l e s s , a s H o b s b a w m h a s p o i n t e d o u t , t h e r e
is g r e a t s i g n i f i c a n c e for t h e h i s t o r i a n i n t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f t h e idea
of a s i n g l e , a l l - L o n d o n district for w a g e s a n d c o n d i t i o n s , a c o n c e p t
6 8
w h i c h never d e v e l o p e d in a n y of the other c o n u r b a t i o n s . Trade-
u n i o n L o n d o n did not coincide with administrative boundaries - the
Metropolitan Police District, the Metropolitan B o a r d of W o r k s , or the
L o n d o n P o s t a l D i s t r i c t - b u t w a s u s u a l l y r e p r e s e n t e d a s a circle o f
given radius from C h a r i n g Cross: the radius w a s e x p a n d e d as the
c e n t u r y p r o g r e s s e d , e v e n t u a l l y o u t s t r i p p i n g for s o m e t r a d e s e v e n t h e
n e w l y c r e a t e d a d m i n i s t r a t i v e a n d political b o u n d a r i e s . B y 1 8 5 5 , t h e
L o n d o n c o m p o s i t o r s w e r e c l a i m i n g a n a r e a of 1 5 m i l e s f r o m C h a r i n g
C r o s s , p l u s s o m e i s o l a t e d p l a c e s f u r t h e r afield: i n 1 8 7 7 t h e b r i c k l a y e r s
w e r e using a 12-mile radius. Again, incorporation in the metropolitan
w a g e structure w a s not defined b y the built-up area, nor b y geographi
cal p r o p i n q u i t y : a b s o r p t i o n r e f l e c t e d e c o n o m i c r e a l i t y t h a t w a s n o t
spatially defined, but w a s d e t e r m i n e d b y patterns of interaction. T h e
tailors, for e x a m p l e , w e r e c o n t e n t t o e n f o r c e w a g e r a t e s o v e r a v e r y
s m a l l district (reflecting t h e i r c o n c e n t r a t i o n in c e n t r a l L o n d o n and
their w e a k , female, s w e a t e d labour force); printers o n the other h a n d
s o u g h t t o e s t a b l i s h a m u c h w i d e r district (reflecting t h e d e c e n t r a l i s a
t i o n o f t h e i r t r a d e ) . W h e r e d e m a n d for l a b o u r w a s s t r o n g , as it w a s
for c a r p e n t e r s , t r a d e s u s e d t h e i r b a r g a i n i n g p o w e r t o w i d e n t h e a r e a
of s t a n d a r d w a g e s , a n d t h e s e g r o u p s r e a c h e d E a l i n g i n t h e w e s t , W o o d
G r e e n in t h e n o r t h , a n d G r e e n w i c h a n d F o r e s t Hill in t h e south.
Even among some unskilled, unorganised occupations such as
67
L. Davidoff, 'Separation of Home and Work?', in S. Burman, ed., Fit Work for Women
(1979), pp. 64-97.
68
E . J. Hobsbawm, T h e Nineteenth Century London Labour Market', in R. Glass,
ed., London: Aspects of Change (1964), pp. 3-28.

b u i l d i n g , a m e t r o p o l i t a n l e v e l o f w a g e s a n d c o n d i t i o n s c a m e to b e
accepted b y m e n a n d employers alike.
U p to the 1870s, h o w e v e r , w h e n c h e a p a n d w i d e s p r e a d public trans
port was introduced, local s u b - d i v i s i o n s p e r s i s t e d in t h e labour
m a r k e t . F o r m o s t u n s k i l l e d w o r k e r s , 'all t h a t l a y b e y o n d a t i n y circle
6 9
of p e r s o n a l a c q u a i n t a n c e o r w a l k i n g d i s t a n c e w a s d a r k n e s s ' . Lovett
describes the 'footsore and h u n g r y ' walking about that h e and three
f e l l o w - C o r n i s h m e n w e r e e n g a g e d in d a y after d a y d u r i n g t h e i r s e a r c h
for work. M o r e settled searchers, whether skilled or unskilled,
d e p e n d e d l a r g e l y o n h e a r s a y a n d p e r s o n a l t i p s , s o t h a t f r o m t h e indivi
dual w o r k e r ' s point of v i e w the metropolitan ideal faded before the
reality o f a m u c h m o r e l o c a l i s e d p a t t e r n o f e m p l o y m e n t . E v e n t h e
u n i o n s r e c o g n i s e d a s u b - d i v i s i o n i n t o districts, o f t e n c o i n c i d i n g w i t h
b r a n c h b o u n d a r i e s , a n d reflecting a b o v e all a tripartite d i v i s i o n i n t o
north and west, north and east, and south regions. T h e boundaries
b e t w e e n t h e s e districts w e r e m a r k e d b y t h e T h a m e s , a n d b y t h e w i d e
w e d g e o f b u s i n e s s districts ( t h e C i t y a n d H o l b o r n ) , o p e n s p a c e s a n d
high-class residential areas (Highgate and Hampstead) running out
from the centre to the north.
E a c h o f t h e s e districts differed in i d e o l o g i c a l a n d political c h a r a c t e r ,
a n d represented very real divisions b e t w e e n L o n d o n ' s working-class
a r e a s . T h e s o u t h h a d a p a r t i c u l a r l y s t r o n g radical c h a r a c t e r , h a v i n g
t h e l a r g e s t c o n c e n t r a t i o n o f t r a d e u n i o n i s t s a n d activists in t h e m e t r o
polis. W e s t e r n working-class L o n d o n , on the other hand, was 'merely
a g e o g r a p h i c a l c a t e g o r y ' a n d e v e n e a s t L o n d o n w a s Tittle m o r e t h a n
a trade unionist desert, an a m o r p h o u s z o n e of w e a k a n d fluctuating
7 0
o r g a n i s a t i o n u n i t e d o n l y b y its g e n e r a l p o v e r t y ' . Despite the desire
for m e t r o p o l i t a n w a g e r a t e s , t h e reality w a s o f l o c a l i s e d a n d c a p r i c i o u s
v a r i a t i o n s w h i c h s o m e t i m e s b o r d e r e d o n total i n c o h e r e n c e .
O n e c a n n o t t h e r e f o r e v i s u a l i s e L o n d o n as a h i g h p l a t e a u o f w a g e
r a t e s , e x e r c i s i n g s o m e g e n e r a l i n f l u e n c e o v e r t h e s i t u a t i o n in n e i g h
bouring counties. W h a t that situation was remains unclear, but Hobs-
b a w m ' s g e n e r a l o u t l i n e is still w o r t h c o n s i d e r i n g e s p e c i a l l y n o w t h a t
s o m e local a c c o u n t s o f w a g e r a t e s h a v e a l s o b e c o m e a v a i l a b l e . K e n t
s e e m s to have h a d closer links with the L o n d o n labour market than
any of the other H o m e Counties. Nevertheless, the influence w a s
b y n o m e a n s all o n e w a y : t h e e x t e n t o f rural u n e m p l o y m e n t and
69 70
Ibid., p. 8. Ibid., pp. 12-13.

504 P. L. GARSIDE
u n d e r e m p l o y m e n t in K e n t , a m o u n t i n g to p e n u r y for s o m e t h i r d o f
t h e l a b o u r f o r c e p r o d u c e d n o t o n l y t h e ' S w i n g ' riots o f t h e 1 8 3 0 s ,
b u t a l s o r e l a t i v e l y lower w a g e r a t e s in s o u t h - e a s t L o n d o n at t h e p o i n t
7 1
of e n t r y for K e n t i s h m i g r a n t s . North a n d westwards from L o n d o n ,
t h e m e t r o p o l i t a n effect w a s l e s s m a r k e d . M o s t s t r i k i n g p e r h a p s are
the tentacles which linked L o n d o n with remoter parts of the country,
especially w h e r e sea links w e r e strong. In 1853, C o l c h e s t e r ' s building
w o r k e r s , for e x a m p l e , s e c u r e d a n i n c r e a s e o f 4 - 6 d . a d a y to b r i n g
t h e i r w a g e s a little n e a r e r L o n d o n r a t e s . O t h e r d a t a , a d m i t t e d l y frag
mentary, suggest a pattern of influence through a series of j u m p s
to m a j o r c e n t r e s a r o u n d t h e c o a s t o f t h e n o r t h , s o u t h a n d e a s t , a n d
e v e n as far afield as B r i s t o l a n d S o u t h W a l e s .
Places and classes
The primary focus of this section h a s b e e n the significance of L o n d o n

in t h e life o f t h e r e g i o n a n d o f t h e n a t i o n as a w h o l e . T h i s e m p h a s i s
is j u s t i f i a b l e g i v e n t h e o v e r a l l c o n c e r n o f t h e v o l u m e for t h e i n t e r a c t i o n
of l o c a l i t i e s , r e g i o n s a n d n a t i o n a l life. It a l s o reflects t h e fact t h a t t h e
e n i g m a o f L o n d o n ' s w i d e r i n f l u e n c e h a s r e c e n t l y b e e n e v a l u a t e d in
s o m e p a r t i c u l a r l y i n n o v a t i v e r e s e a r c h . I n t h e p e r i o d to b e c o n s i d e r e d
n e x t , h o w e v e r , t h e h a l f - c e n t u r y after 1 8 7 0 , t h e f o c u s h a s to c h a n g e .
L o n d o n ' s o w n d o m e s t i c p r o b l e m s w e r e to f o r c e t h e m s e l v e s f o r w a r d
as the n a t i o n a l i s s u e s o f t h e m o m e n t . I n t h e 1 8 8 0 s a n d 1 8 9 0 s p r o b l e m s
of u n e m p l o y m e n t , p o v e r t y , h o u s i n g a n d l a w a n d o r d e r w e r e to b e
v i e w e d through the prism of the L o n d o n experience. Nevertheless,
t h e p o l i c i e s d e v i s e d to m e e t t h e s e m e t r o p o l i t a n p r o b l e m s w e r e to b e
applied t h r o u g h national legislation to the w h o l e of the country.
In m a n y w a y s , t h e f e a t u r e o f L o n d o n life w h i c h d i s t i n g u i s h e s t h e
p r e - 1 8 7 0 p e r i o d f r o m t h e o n e t h a t f o l l o w e d is t h e n a t u r e o f t h e r e l a t i o n
ship within a n d b e t w e e n the social classes, particularly that of the
middle and the working classes. With the burgeoning of L o n d o n ' s
o w n s e r v i c e s e c t o r , t h e m e t r o p o l i s c a m e to d i s p l a y ' a n a g g r e g a t e o f
p e r s o n s o f m i d d l e r a n k c o l l e c t e d in o n e s p o t . . . T h e like o f w h i c h
exists in n o other spot o n earth.' I n c o n s e q u e n c e , t h e fabric o f
71
T. L. Richardson, 'The Agricultural Labourers' Standard of Living in Kent, 1790-
1840', in D. J. Oddy and D. S. Miller, The Making of the Modern British Diet (1976),
pp. 103-16.

L o n d o n ' s inner areas w a s physically and architecturally transformed.

T h e r a i l w a y s a b o v e all p l a y e d t h i s d u a l r o l e - d i s p e r s i n g t h e m i d d l e
c l a s s e s to t h e i r a l l o t t e d a d d r e s s e s , e a c h w i t h its o w n 'distinctive
s o u n d ' a n d concentrating the w o r k i n g classes in the ever-more c o m
7 2
pacted centre. T h e building and operation of transport services,
d e p a r t m e n t s t o r e s , p a r k s a n d p l e a s u r e g a r d e n s , m u s e u m s a n d galler
ies p u s h e d t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s e s ' f u r t h e r d o w n a n d d o w n ' a n d h e l d
t h e m t h e r e b y t h e d e m a n d for c a s u a l a n d s e a s o n a l l a b o u r t h a t w a s
7 3
generated. F o r t h e t i m e b e i n g , h o w e v e r , t h e s i t u a t i o n a n d its i m p l i
cations were hidden. M a s t e r m a n e m p l o y e d the powerful image of
t h e r a i l w a y v i a d u c t s to c o n v e y t h e e a s e w i t h w h i c h t h e m i d d l e c l a s s e s
r o s e a b o v e t h e n e t h e r w o r l d o f t h e s l u m s in r e a c h i n g t h e i r j o b s a n d
74
p l e a s u r e s in t h e h e a r t o f t h e m e t r o p o l i s . A s t h e e a r l i e r p a s s i o n for
exact k n o w l e d g e of the circumstances of the urban poor faded and
the j o u r n a l i s m of M a y h e w replaced the social analysis of Disraeli,
the relationship b e t w e e n the classes b e c a m e o n e of separation and
i g n o r a n c e . R e g a r d e d as a p u b l i c s p e c t a c l e b y s o m e a n d as a n o b j e c t
of c h a r i t y b y a f e w , L o n d o n ' s s l u m c o m m u n i t i e s r e m a i n e d u n t o u c h e d
by the middle class a n d developed their o w n distinctiveness and value
systems. E v e n the early Victorian obsession with urban disorder
waned, as the formation of the Metropolitan Police provided the
m e a n s for a c h i e v i n g s o c i a l stability t h r o u g h a ' c o n s i d e r a b l e d e g r e e
75
of b u r e a u c r a t i c i n t e r v e n t i o n i n daily l i f e ' .
The middle classes t u r n e d in o n t h e m s e l v e s to explore a n d c o m e
t o t e r m s w i t h t h e i r o w n i n t e r n a l p r o b l e m s o f s o c i a l c o h e s i o n a n d differ
entiation. A s the gap b e t w e e n slum-dwellers and the rest of society
w i d e n e d , m o r e a n d m o r e s t e p s a p p e a r e d i n t h e s o c i a l l a d d e r at t h e
h i g h e r l e v e l s , a n d t h e g a p s b e t w e e n t h e s t e p s o c c u r r e d at s m a l l e r
i n t e r v a l s . S o c i a l a n d g e o g r a p h i c a l m o b i l i t y c r e a t e d t h e n e e d for t h e
'paraphernalia of gentility' to define propriety, d e c o r u m a n d proper
b e h a v i o u r for e a c h s t a t u s g r o u p . T h i s n e e d f o u n d s o c i a l e x p r e s s i o n
i n i n t r i c a t e rituals o f e t i q u e t t e , a n d p h y s i c a l e x p r e s s i o n i n t h e v a r i e d
location and form of suburbs, and the facade and ornamentation of
72
H. McLeod, Class and Religion in the Mid-Victorian City (1974), p. 2.
73
H. J. Dyos, 'The Slums of Victorian London', Victorian Studies, 11 (1968) (reprinted
in D. Cannadine and D. Reeder, eds., Exploring the Urban Past (Cambridge, 1982),
p. 149).
74
Ibid., p. 142.
75
H. Cunningham, 'The Metropolitan Fairs: A Case Study in the Social Control of
Leisure', in A. P. Donajgrodzki, ed., Social Control in Nineteenth Century Britain (1977).

506 P. L . G A R S I D E
7 6
houses. B y negotiating their w a y through the labyrinth of rules
g o v e r n i n g social a c c e p t a n c e o r r e j e c t i o n , n e w c o m e r s s o u g h t t o e s t a b
lish t h e i r p l a c e i n L o n d o n ' s o c i e t y ' .
The calling-card s y s t e m protected the sanctity of the h o m e as the
h e a r t o f m i d d l e - c l a s s p r i v a t e a n d social life. O p p o r t u n i t i e s for a m u s e
m e n t s , h o w e v e r , increasingly took the middle class out of doors, into
t h e ' r e l a t i v e l y u n s t r u c t u r e d a r e a i n l i f e - s p a c e ' , g i v i n g r i s e to r e n e w e d
anxieties about status boundaries w h i c h w e r e easily b r e a c h e d in these
7 7
pleasurable but unprotected leisure a r e n a s .
T h e p h y s i c a l a n d social s e p a r a t i o n o f L o n d o n ' s m i d d l e a n d w o r k i n g
classes, a n d the size a n d differentiation of b o t h groups h a d a profound
i m p a c t o n L o n d o n political life a r o u n d m i d - c e n t u r y : p a r t i c u l a r l y s i g n i
ficant w a s t h e c a r d i n a l d i s t i n c t i o n b e t w e e n t h e s k i l l e d a n d u n s k i l l e d
s e c t i o n s o f t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s . L o n d o n ' s political o r g a n i s a t i o n a n d will
w e r e u n d e r m i n e d b y t h e s e gulfs a n d g r a d a t i o n s d e s p i t e t h e i n v o l v e
m e n t in t h e p r o m o t i o n o f n e w i d e a s a n d i n political a g i t a t i o n . I n t h e
a f t e r m a t h o f t h e 1 8 3 2 R e f o r m Bill, R o b e r t O w e n f o r m e d t h e G r a n d
N a t i o n a l C o n s o l i d a t e d T r a d e s U n i o n i n L o n d o n , o n l y to s e e it r a p i d l y
collapse. L o n d o n leadership was noticeably absent from the Chartist
m o v e m e n t . T h e a l i e n a t i o n a n d rifts b e t w e e n L o n d o n ' s m i d d l e - a n d
w o r k i n g - c l a s s political l e a d e r s c u l m i n a t e d i n l o c k - o u t s i n t h e e n g i n e e r
ing a n d building industries. L o n d o n middle-class reformers like Lovett
f o u n d t h e m s e l v e s o v e r t a k e n b y t h e m o r e r a d i c a l a n d v i o l e n t political
leaders, while L o n d o n ' s labour leaders concentrated on building up
their o w n authority through amalgamation and absorption of smaller
unions. T h e 1860s saw the foundation of both the L o n d o n Trades
Council and the International Working M e n ' s Association, both of
w h i c h w e r e u s e d as i n s t r u m e n t s o f political p r e s s u r e at n a t i o n a l a n d
international level. L o n d o n ' s role w a s as a source of ideas, rather
t h a n as a centre of action.
T h e p r o m o t i o n o f r a d i c a l i d e a s in L o n d o n d i d n o t , h o w e v e r , r e s u l t
i n t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f r a d i c a l v i e w s about L o n d o n - its d i v e r s i t y h a m
p e r e d t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f a m e t r o p o l i t a n political c o n s c i o u s n e s s , a n d
gave rise to a disjuncture between administrative and political
76
L . Davidoff, The Best Circles: Society, Etiquette and the Season (1973). T. Hinchcliffe,
'Highbury New Park: A Nineteenth Century Middle-Class Suburb', London Journal,
7 (1981). H. J. Dyos and D. A. Reeder, 'Slums and Suburbs', in H. J. Dyos and
M. Wolff, eds., The Victorian City, vol. 1: Images and Realities (1973). S. Muthesius,
The English Terraced House (1982).
77
P. Bailey, ' " A Mingled Mass of Perfectly Legitimate Pleasures": The Victorian
Middle Class and the Problem of Leisure', Victorian Studies, 21 (1977).

L o n d o n . F o r c e r t a i n p r a c t i c a l p u r p o s e s , it is t r u e , L o n d o n c a m e to
b e t r e a t e d as a w h o l e after 1 8 2 0 . S e w e r a g e , p o l i c e , c a s u a l w a r d s for
v a g r a n t s , a s y l u m s a n d p r o v i s i o n for t h e s i c k p o o r - all t h e s e w e r e
c o n s i d e r e d a p p r o p r i a t e for u n i f i e d t r e a t m e n t a c r o s s t h e m e t r o p o l i s .
Y e t as l a t e as 1 8 5 5 , The Times j u d g e d t h a t L o n d o n w a s ' r e n t i n t o a n
affinity o f d i v i s i o n s , districts a n d a r e a s . . . W i t h i n t h e m e t r o p o l i t a n
l i m i t s , t h e l o c a l a d m i n i s t r a t i o n is c a r r i e d o n b y n o f e w e r t h a n 3 0 0
7 8
different b o d i e s d e r i v i n g p o w e r s f r o m a b o u t 2 5 0 different local A c t s /
L o n d o n h a d failed to p a s s t h r o u g h t h e m u n i c i p a l r e v o l u t i o n o f 1 8 3 5 ,
and although Chadwick's 1847 report on the Health of the Metropolis
l e d to t h e i m m e d i a t e s e t t i n g u p o f t h e M e t r o p o l i t a n C o m m i s s i o n o f
S e w e r s , y e t d i s c r e d i t q u i c k l y f o l l o w e d after t h e m i s h a n d l i n g o f t h e
1848 cholera epidemic. E v e n w h e n the Metropolitan Board of W o r k s
w a s s e t u p in 1 8 5 5 , C h a d w i c k c o m p l a i n e d t h a t P a r l i a m e n t h a d i g n o r e d
' T h e e x p e r i e n c e o f evils a r i s i n g f r o m t h e w a n t o f u n i t y i n t h e m e t r o p o
7 9
lis.' Instead, the Metropolitan M a n a g e m e n t Act w a s said to repre
8 0
sent the 'definitive t r i u m p h of the vestry m o v e m e n t ' . Nevertheless,
t h e glorification o f L o n d o n ' s l o c a l l e a d e r s w a s i n c o m p l e t e - at l e a s t
o u t s i d e t h e C i t y a n d its C o r p o r a t i o n , v e s t r y m e n c o u l d n o t c l a i m politi
cal p a r i t y w i t h p r o v i n c i a l t o w n s . F u r t h e r m o r e , a s t h e M e t r o p o l i t a n
B o a r d o f W o r k s s t e a d i l y e x p a n d e d its activities, t h e m u l t i - f a c e t e d f u n c
t i o n a l u n i t o f t h e m e t r o p o l i s w a s u n d e r l i n e d . A f o c u s for m e t r o p o l i t a n
consciousness w a s being created, stimulating visions a n d images of
a future L o n d o n w h i c h s e e m e d b o t h p o e t i c a n d p r a c t i c a l .
in 'THE N E W URBAN REGION': LONDON AND THE

HOME COUNTIES 1870-1918
Forget six counties overhung with smoke,

Forget the snorting steam and piston stroke,
Forget the spreading of the hideous town;
Think rather of the pack-horse on the down,
And dream of London, small, and white and clean,
The clear Thames bordered by its gardens green.
William Morris, The Wanderer
T h e e n d of the n i n e t e e n t h century clearly represented a turning point

i n L o n d o n ' s d e v e l o p m e n t - b y 1 8 9 1 , it h a d g r o w n t o b e t h e l a r g e s t
78
The Times, 20 March 1855.
79
E . Chadwick, 'London Centralised', Contemporary Review, 45 (1884), p. 794.
80
S. E. Finer, The Life and Times of Sir Edwin Chadwick (1952), p. 484.

508 P. L . G A R S I D E
city t h e w o r l d h a d e v e r k n o w n . W i t h a p o p u l a t i o n o f m o r e t h a n 5 . 5
m i l l i o n , L o n d o n w a s five t i m e s m o r e p o p u l o u s t h a n e i t h e r o f its p r o v
incial rivals, L i v e r p o o l a n d M a n c h e s t e r , a b s o r b i n g s o m e 2 0 p e r c e n t
of t h e p o p u l a t i o n o f E n g l a n d a n d W a l e s . A f t e r 1 8 9 1 , h o w e v e r , t h e
p o p u l a t i o n o f L o n d o n ' s c e n t r a l districts b e g a n to fall, a n d e v e n t h e
c o n g e s t e d districts o f t h e E a s t E n d b a r e l y r e t a i n e d t h e i r n u m b e r s .
B y c o n t r a s t , g r o w t h in t h e a d j o i n i n g c o u n t i e s w a s d r a m a t i c . A s t h e
n e w century opened, Essex (36.3 per cent), Surrey (20.5 per cent)
8 1
a n d K e n t (16.8 per cent) h a d the fastest g r o w t h rates in the c o u n t r y .
T h e b o u n d a r i e s o f L o n d o n , e v e n in s i m p l e , p h y s i c a l t e r m s h a d b e c o m e
o b s c u r e ; m o r e o v e r , m a s s i v e c o m p l e x m o v e m e n t s in g o o d s a n d ser
v i c e s , a n d i n c r e a s e d p e r s o n a l m o b i l i t y , c h a l l e n g e d t h e n a s c e n t , fragile
sense of metropolitan w h o l e n e s s and unity. T h e City of L o n d o n
displayed these paradoxes most dramatically - in 1 8 7 1 , 7 5 0 , 0 0 0
clients a day p o u r e d into the commercial heart of L o n d o n , served
by 12 railway stations and 170,000 employees, but fewer than 75,000
82
residents. T h e scale a n d intricate i n t e r d e p e n d e n c e of the ex
panding metropolis r e a w a k e n e d public concern and u n e a s e and the
fifty y e a r s b e t w e e n 1 8 7 0 a n d 1 9 2 0 s a w r e p e a t e d a n d continually
shifting a t t e m p t s t o c o m p r e h e n d t h e p h e n o m e n a t h a t w a s L o n d o n .
The t a s k w a s n o t o n l y t o a s s e m b l e t h e facts, b u t a l s o to order
and interpret t h e m - a task which required n e w concepts and termin
o l o g i e s t o d e s c r i b e w h a t it w a s t h a t w a s h a p p e n i n g t o t h i s ' G r e a t e r
L o n d o n ' , itself a t e r m i n v e n t e d for statistical p u r p o s e s i n t h e 1 8 8 1
8 3
census.
The London phenomenon
A f e w s i m p l e p r o t a g o n i s t s o f L o n d o n c o u l d still b e f o u n d . O n a n
i n t e l l e c t u a l p l a n e , its d i v e r s i t y still p r o v i d e d a d a z z l i n g a n d u n e n d i n g
spectacle - 'a perennial Nijins N o v g o r o d bazaar, a permanent world's
84
fair'. S u c h a d m i r a t i o n d e r i v e d f r o m L o n d o n ' s r o l e as a w o r l d city,
the commercial a n d cultural h u b of a vast, expanding a n d unrivalled
overseas Empire. L o n d o n , D y o s has written, was ' T h e B a b y l o n ' of
81
S. J. Low, 'The Rise of the Suburbs', Contemporary Review, 60 (1891), p. 546.
82
M. Drake, 'The Census 1801-1901', in E. A. Wrigley, Nineteenth-Century Society:
Essays in the Use of Quantitative Methods for the Study of Social Data (Cambridge,
1972), p. 19.
83
Dyos, 'Greater and Greater London', p. 46.
84
Quoted in A. Lees, 'The Metropolis and the Intellectual', in A. Sutcliffe, ed., Metropo
lis 1890-1940 (1984), p. 88.

the Victorians, displaying a range of both ordinary and extraordinary

e v e n t s t h a t w e r e at o n c e w o n d e r f u l a n d t e r r i b l e . A c c o u n t s o f L o n d o n ' s
pleasures readily s h a d e d into catalogues of L o n d o n ' s sins, calling u p
v i s i o n s o f i n c i p i e n t d i s a s t e r . Jefferies offered o n e s u c h a p o c a l y p t i c
v i s i o n i n After London: Or Wild England ( 1 8 8 5 ) . S u b m e r g e d in its o w n
filth as a r e s u l t o f s o m e u n e x p l a i n e d c a t a s t r o p h e , t h e r u i n s o f L o n d o n
h a d b e c o m e a s w a m p 'which no m a n dare enter, since death would
8 5
be his inevitable f a t e ' . T h o s e w h o s u r v i v e d t h e d e l u g e are p o r t r a y e d
n o t as n o b l e s a v a g e s i n t h e i r n e w , p r i m i t i v e h a b i t a t , b u t as c o r r u p t
e n s l a v e r s . O n e m a n , F e l i x , k e e p s alive t h e h o p e o f a n e w c i v i l i s a t i o n
a n d a n e w n o b i l i t y , as h e sails t h e p o l l u t e d w a t e r s a l o n e . O t h e r w r i t e r s ,
w h i l e s h a r i n g J e f f e r i e s ' s fear o f d i s a s t e r , offered a g r e a t e r h o p e o f
r e d e m p t i o n t h r o u g h r e c o n s t r u c t i o n , b o t h p h y s i c a l a n d m o r a l . All w e r e
s e e k i n g to g r a s p a n d e x p r e s s t h e totality o f t h e m o d e r n city, e x e m p l i
fied i n L o n d o n . H . G . W e l l s p u t h i s faith i n t h e p o w e r o f s c i e n c e
to t r a n s f o r m u r b a n life i n t o a g l a s s - d o m e d city s u p p o r t e d b y a n d
w h o l l y d e p e n d e n t o n n e w t e c h n o l o g i e s in b u i l d i n g a n d e n e r g y s u p
8 6
ply. To Ebenezer Howard and William Morris, however, the n e w
t e c h n o l o g i e s , e s p e c i a l l y in t r a n s p o r t , s e e m e d to offer a different k i n d
of t r a n s f o r m a t i o n - for t h e m , t h e h o p e o f d e c e n t r a l i s i n g a n d b r e a k i n g
u p l a r g e cities, e s p e c i a l l y L o n d o n , f o u n d e x p r e s s i o n in G a r d e n C i t y
i d e a s w h i c h w e r e first e l a b o r a t e d in t h e 1 8 9 0 s . B y s u c h r e f o r m a t i o n ,
L o n d o n might yet emerge 'small, and white and clean'. Through
reconstruction, the n e w London would embody a n e w 'Social City'
b a s e d o n social co-operation a n d social c o h e s i o n .
In t h e first d e c a d e s o f t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y , t h e s e i d e a s w e r e e l a b o r
ated a n d developed b y t o w n planners w h o s e sights r e m a i n e d set
a b o v e all o n L o n d o n a n d its p r o b l e m s . A r t h u r C r o w ' s ' c i t i e s o f h e a l t h ' ,
G e o r g e Pepler and R a y m o n d U n w i n ' s 'green girdle' and C. B . Pur-
d o m ' s ' n e w t o w n s ' all f o c u s s e d o n L o n d o n - t h e i r u n d e r l y i n g m e s s a g e
b e i n g t h a t t h e g i a n t a n d s p r a w l i n g city m u s t a n d s h o u l d b e s t r u c t u r e d
a n d c o n t r o l l e d , its s o c i a l a n d e c o n o m i c p r o c e s s e s d i r e c t e d a n d m a n i
p u l a t e d , s o t h a t d i s a s t e r c o u l d b e a v e r t e d . T h e i r o n y is t h a t t h e p r o c e s s
of L o n d o n ' s g r o w t h c o n t i n u a l l y o u t r a n t h e c o n c e p t s a n d structures
e v o l v e d to m a n a g e it.
E. Thomas, Richard Jefferies (1977), p. 234.

H. G. Wells, When the Sleeper Wakes (1899), revised as The Sleeper Wakes (1910).

510 P. L. G A R S I D E
The 'residuum', revolution and reform
In the 1880s and 1890s, the introduction of n e w m e a n s of c o m m u n i c a

t i o n a n d e l e c t r i c p o w e r e n a b l e d L o n d o n t o b e g i n s h e d d i n g its p o p u l a
tion and industry, yet concern was increasingly focussed on the
p r o b l e m s o f t h e c e n t r e - o v e r c r o w d i n g a n d c o n g e s t i o n , ' t h e r a w facts
8 7
of p o v e r t y , p o o r h o u s i n g a n d s o c i a l m a l a i s e ' . Despite the growth
of s u b u r b a n l o w - d e n s i t y , s i n g l e - f a m i l y d w e l l i n g s , t h e u r g e n t d e b a t e s
about L o n d o n living a n d w o r k i n g conditions obsessively revolved
around the sub-standard and overcrowded h o m e s of the centre and
the East End.
A g a i n s t a b a c k g r o u n d o f i n c r e a s i n g s o c i a l t u r m o i l a n d fears o f politi
cal u p h e a v a l a n d a c t u a l r e v o l u t i o n , t w o v e r y different approaches
t o L o n d o n ' s p r o b l e m s w e r e p r o p o s e d in t h e c l o s i n g d e c a d e s o f t h e
nineteenth century. There was, on the one hand, an international
s o l u t i o n a n d , o n t h e o t h e r , a l o c a l s o l u t i o n - n o t a b l e b y its a b s e n c e
was any solution which acknowledged the regional interdependence
of L o n d o n w i t h t h e H o m e C o u n t i e s .
A s an intellectual centre, L o n d o n harboured m a n y C o m m u n i s t and
a n a r c h i s t t h e o r i s t s . M a n y o f t h e m f o u n d a c t u a l a n d spiritual h o m e s
in t h e E a s t E n d , t h e r e b y c e m e n t i n g i n m a n y m i n d s t h e a s s o c i a t i o n
b e t w e e n p o v e r t y a n d r e v o l u t i o n . L o n d o n ' s c a s u a l w o r k e r s , suffering
m i s e r a b l y f r o m t h e effects o f d e c l i n i n g profits a n d r i s i n g u n e m p l o y
m e n t b e t w e e n 1 8 8 3 a n d 1 8 8 7 , s e e m e d a b o u t to fall u n d e r t h e s w a y
of socialist o r a t o r s l i k e B u r n s a n d M a n n : e v e n E n g e l s h i m s e l f felt t h a t
the great D o c k Strike of 1889 h e r a l d e d the creation of a truly revol
u t i o n a r y w o r k e r s ' p a r t y in t h e E a s t E n d . ' H o w g l a d I a m to h a v e
8 8
l i v e d to s e e t h i s d a y ' , h e w r o t e . M a s t e r m a n later recalled that in
t h e 1 8 8 0 s , t h e future t h a t all h a d f o r e t o l d w a s o n e o f c l a s s w a r .
N e v e r t h e l e s s , fears o f i n s u r r e c t i o n f a d e d r a p i d l y o n c e t h e d e p r e s s i o n
lifted a n d L o n d o n failed to l e a d t h e ' s o c i a l r e v o l u t i o n ' a s H y n d m a n
h a d p r e d i c t e d . T h e D o c k S t r i k e o f f e r e d at b e s t a p y r r h i c v i c t o r y to
t h o s e w h o s u p p o r t e d it, a s e m p l o y e r s w e e d e d o u t t h e unfit, w h i l e
e x p a n d i n g a n d s e c u r i n g t h e w o r k a v a i l a b l e for ' f i t t e r ' l a b o u r e r s .
S o c i a l i s m m a i n t a i n e d s o m e o f its a p p e a l o n l y in t h e o u t l y i n g , m o r e
i n d u s t r i a l districts o f B o w , W e s t H a m a n d W o o l w i c h , a n d t h e r a d i c a l
87
P. Hall, 'Metropolis 1890-1940: Challenge and Response', in Sutcliffe, ed., Metropo
lis, p. 19.
88
Letter from Engels to Bernstein, 22 August 1889, quoted in G. Stedman Jones,
Outcast London: A Study in the Relationship between Classes in Victorian Society (1976
edn), p. 346.

initiative p a s s e d to t h e n o w s o b e r , c o - o p e r a t i v e a n d n o n c o n f o r m i s t
p r o v i n c e s . N e i t h e r t h e S D F n o r its s u c c e s s o r t h e B S P e v e r p o s s e s s e d
m o r e t h a n 3,000 m e m b e r s out of L o n d o n ' s population of 5.5 million.
The s o l u t i o n offered b y i n t e r n a t i o n a l C o m m u n i s m m a d e n o l a s t i n g
i m p r e s s i o n o n t h e L o n d o n l a b o u r m o v e m e n t n o r a n y , b y default,
o n the wider British scene.
In contrast to the broad horizons of revolutionary socialists,
r e f o r m e r s as d i v e r s e as C h a r l e s B o o t h , O c t a v i a Hill a n d t h e e a r l y e u g e -
n i s t s s o u g h t t o t r e a t L o n d o n as a l o c a l i s e d , s e l f - c o n t a i n e d u n i t , t o
which independent remedies could be applied. U n d i s m a y e d by his
findings t h a t i n m o s t o f i n n e r L o n d o n 4 0 p e r c e n t o f families w e r e
in poverty, B o o t h argued that r e m o v i n g the lowest socio-economic
groups to labour colonies b e y o n d the built-up area would enable the
s e l f - r e g u l a t i n g L o n d o n e c o n o m y to r e c o v e r its e q u i l i b r i u m a n d r e s t o r e
a d e q u a t e w a g e s a n d e m p l o y m e n t l e v e l s to all t h o s e w h o r e m a i n e d
8 9
behind. B o o t h ' s p r o p o s i t i o n is a c l e a r e x a m p l e o f a s o l u t i o n w h i c h
t o o k n o a c c o u n t o f L o n d o n ' s i n t e r d e p e n d e n c e at t h e r e g i o n a l s c a l e ,
still l e s s at t h e n a t i o n a l a n d i n t e r n a t i o n a l s c a l e . F u n d a m e n t a l l y s i m i l a r
in t h i s r e s p e c t w e r e t h e e u g e n i s t s ' p l a n s for e n f o r c e d d e t e n t i o n o f
t h e ' f e e b l e m i n d e d ' a n d t h e p a u p e r , a n d for c o n t r o l l e d r e p r o d u c t i o n
90
of L o n d o n ' s g e n e t i c a l l y ' u n f i t ' . At a distinctly smaller but certainly
m o r e h u m a n e l e v e l , O c t a v i a Hill d i r e c t e d t h e efforts o f h e r w o m e n
h o u s e property managers towards training the L o n d o n poor: by their
r e g u l a r v i s i t i n g a n d d i s c i p l i n e , h o u s i n g m a n a g e r s w e r e to r a i s e s t a n
d a r d s o f h o u s e k e e p i n g a n d b e h a v i o u r s o as t o fit s l u m - d w e l l e r s for
l i v i n g in L o n d o n ' s c o n g e s t e d c e n t r e .
D e s p i t e w i d e s p r e a d fears t h a t L o n d o n ' s p o v e r t y , unemployment
a n d overcrowding might lead to revolution, the e c o n o m i c and imperial
bases of these p r o b l e m s w e r e ignored and they c a m e to b e presented
a s local, e n v i r o n m e n t a l , social i s s u e s . T h e s o l u t i o n s e n v i s a g e d w e r e
p r i m a r i l y p h y s i c a l , p a r o c h i a l a n d p e r s o n a l a n d c e n t r e d a b o v e all o n
r e m e d y i n g t h e d o m e s t i c c o n d i t i o n s w h i c h p r e v a i l e d in L o n d o n s l u m s .
The H o m e C o u n t i e s w e r e n o t r e g a r d e d as p a r t o f t h e p r o b l e m , n o r
w e r e t h e y s e e n as t h e u n i t w i t h i n which a solution should be
s o u g h t . E v e n to B o o t h , t h e H o m e C o u n t i e s a p p e a r e d s i m p l y as a n
89
E. P. Hennock, 'Poverty and Social Theory in England: The Experience of the 1880s',
Social History, 1 (1976), pp. 67-92.
90
P. M. H. Mazumdar, 'The Eugenists and the Residuum: The Problem of the Urban
Poor', Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 54 (1980), pp. 204-15.

512 P. L. G A R S I D E
undeveloped hinterland which could provide the physical separation

n e c e s s a r y for t h e d i s p e r s i o n a n d i s o l a t i o n of ' u n f i t s ' .
Metropolitan management
T h e events of the 1880s and the reformulation of the L o n d o n problem

w h i c h e n s u e d p l a c e d t h e q u e s t i o n o f m e t r o p o l i t a n m a n a g e m e n t in
a n e w c o n t e x t . I n t h e a f t e r m a t h o f t h e D o c k S t r i k e , t h e capital n o
l o n g e r s e e m e d at risk f r o m d e s t r u c t i o n b y a n o v e r w h e l m i n g c a t a s
t r o p h e . S u c h fears c o u l d b e d i s m i s s e d as ' a fantastic m y t h ' . T h e v a s t
a n d u n c o n t r o l l a b l e m a s s o f L o n d o n ' s E a s t E n d w a s n o w s e e n as a
h i g h l y differentiated g r o u p , w i t h l a r g e n u m b e r s o f r e s p e c t a b l e w o r k
ing-class p e o p l e q u i t e s e p a r a t e f r o m t h e f e c k l e s s , h o p e l e s s r e m n a n t
of t h e ' r e s i d u u m ' . T h i s unfit r u m p w a s n o l o n g e r p e r c e i v e d as a politi
cal t h r e a t : t h e y c o u l d b e r e g a r d e d as a n u r g e n t b u t l i m i t e d social p r o b
lem - 'a nuisance to administrators rather than a threat to
91
civilization'. Revolutionary d e m a n d s h a d b e e n turned aside, and
r e c o g n i t i o n c o u l d b e e x t e n d e d to t h e l e g i t i m a t e g r i e v a n c e s o f L o n d o n ' s
respectable working class. In this n e w , m o r e relaxed a t m o s p h e r e , the
role o f t h e state n e e d e d to b e r e d e f i n e d , a n d t h e f u n c t i o n s o f local
a n d c e n t r a l g o v e r n m e n t e v a l u a t e d afresh.
N o w t h a t L o n d o n h a d b e e n m a d e safe f r o m r e v o l u t i o n , t h e n a t i o n a l
g o v e r n m e n t ' s dislike o f g i v i n g t h e capital its o w n e l e c t e d a u t h o r i t y
diminished. T h e reform of L o n d o n g o v e r n m e n t along the lines already
a p p l i e d to p r o v i n c i a l cities w a s n o l o n g e r u n t h i n k a b l e - p o s i t i v e a c t i o n
in P a r l i a m e n t , h o w e v e r , r e q u i r e d t h e p o l i t i c i a n s t o g i v e priority to
t h e i s s u e . T h e g r o w i n g r e c o g n i t i o n o f t h e n e e d for a c e n t r a l a u t h o r i t y
in L o n d o n c o u l d b e j e o p a r d i s e d at n a t i o n a l l e v e l b y c a l c u l a t i o n s o f
p a r t y a d v a n t a g e , a n d at local l e v e l b y p o w e r f u l i n t e r e s t s in t h e C i t y
a n d t h e v e s t r i e s . N e v e r t h e l e s s , t h e u n i t y o f L o n d o n for p r a c t i c a l p u r
poses which h a d b e e n exemplified b y the Metropolitan Board of W o r k s
a n d t h e L o n d o n S c h o o l B o a r d b e c a m e a c e n t r a l t e n e t o f L o n d o n radi
cals, as w e l l as o f s o m e k e y p r o f e s s i o n s s u c h as p u b l i c h e a l t h officials,
statisticians a n d e n g i n e e r s .
Major obstacles to the reform of L o n d o n g o v e r n m e n t nevertheless
r e m a i n e d . B o t h p a r o c h i a l a n d n a t i o n a l a u t h o r i t i e s f e a r e d that t h e y
w o u l d h a v e to c e d e p o w e r b e f o r e a c e n t r a l L o n d o n a u t h o r i t y c o u l d
be established. Dismantling not only the p o w e r of the City Corpor
ation, b u t also p o s s i b l y g o v e r n m e n t c o n t r o l o f t h e M e t r o p o l i t a n P o l i c e
91
Stedman Jones, Outcast London, p. 320.

w e r e p a r t i c u l a r l y c o n t e n t i o u s i s s u e s . It w a s t h e i n t e n s e d e b a t e s a b o u t
h o u s i n g a n d t h e c a s u a l p o o r i n t h e late 1 8 8 0 s w h i c h r e n e w e d p r e s s u r e
o n t h e c a b i n e t , a n d u l t i m a t e l y o v e r c a m e m i n i s t e r s ' r e l u c t a n c e to c o n
front t h e r e s u r g e n c e o f L o n d o n l o c a l i s m w h i c h h a d d e f e a t e d t h e L o n
d o n M u n i c i p a l Bill o f 1 8 8 4 . A directly e l e c t e d L o n d o n C o u n t y C o u n c i l
w a s finally c r e a t e d in 1 8 8 8 , a l m o s t as a n a f t e r t h o u g h t in a g e n e r a l
r e f o r m o f E n g l i s h local g o v e r n m e n t .
B o u n d a r y c h a n g e s after t h e T h i r d R e f o r m Bill offered t h e p r o s p e c t
of L o n d o n as a T o r y s t r o n g h o l d , y e t v i c t o r y in t h e 1 8 8 9 L C C e l e c t i o n s
w e n t to t h e P r o g r e s s i v e s . L o r d S a l i s b u r y r e m a i n e d s a n g u i n e , confi
d e n t t h a t L o n d o n ' s b a s i c c o n s e r v a t i s m w o u l d a s s e r t itself: T r a t h e r
l o o k to t h e n e w L o n d o n C o u n t y C o u n c i l t o p l a y t h e d r u n k e n h e l o t
for o u r b e n e f i t . S u c h a b o d y at t h e o u t s e t m u s t m a k e s o m e p o r t e n t o u s
b l u n d e r s : a n d I a m n o t s o r r y t h a t , as l u c k will h a v e it, t h e y will b e
9 2
carried to the account of the R a d i c a l s . '
A l t h o u g h the issue of L o n d o n g o v e r n m e n t h a d b e c o m e a party ques
tion, discussion did not polarise along party lines. T h o u g h Conserva
tive p o l i t i c i a n s m o s t often f a v o u r e d l o c a l i s m a n d t h e d e c e n t r a l i s a t i o n
of p o w e r in L o n d o n g o v e r n m e n t , a n d L i b e r a l s s u p p o r t e d a c e n t r a l
a u t h o r i t y for t h e m e t r o p o l i s , y e t t h e p a r t i e s w e r e t h e m s e l v e s d i v i d e d .
Political allies f o u n d t h e m s e l v e s t a k i n g u p o p p o s i n g p o s i t i o n s o n t h e
i s s u e , d e p e n d i n g o n t h e i r different v a n t a g e p o i n t s as v e s t r y m e n , p r o v
incial M P s o r L o n d o n M P s .
T h e L C C itself w a s e s t a b l i s h e d as a n a d d i t i o n a l a r e n a for p a r t y c o n
flict f r o m t h e first e l e c t i o n s : w i t h i n a f e w y e a r s , t h e m e c h a n i s m s for
p a r t y c o n t r o l o v e r its b u s i n e s s h a d b e e n e s t a b l i s h e d . T h e radical plat
f o r m a d o p t e d b y t h e P r o g r e s s i v e s did, as S a l i s b u r y h a d p r e d i c t e d ,
engender organised opposition especially from L o n d o n ' s property
i n t e r e s t s . T h e L o n d o n M u n i c i p a l S o c i e t y w a s f o r m e d in 1 8 9 4 t o o p p o s e
t h e ' s p e n d t h r i f t s ' of C o u n t y H a l l , a n d t o r e v i v e p r e s s u r e for t h e d e c e n
t r a l i s a t i o n o f p o w e r f r o m t h e L C C to n e w m e t r o p o l i t a n b o r o u g h c o u n
cils. S o m e P r o g r e s s i v e s w e l c o m e d t h i s in p r i n c i p l e , b u t b a u l k e d at
the links b e i n g d r a w n b e t w e e n the establishment of b o r o u g h councils,
and the preservation of the City Corporation. Criticism of the L C C
m o u n t e d , n o t o n l y b e c a u s e its p o l i c i e s w e r e r a d i c a l in t o n e , b u t also
b e c a u s e its size p r e v e n t e d it f r o m d e a l i n g a d e q u a t e l y w i t h L o n d o n ' s
problems.
Efficient m a n a g e m e n t o f t h e m e t r o p o l i s , L o r d S a l i s b u r y a r g u e d ,
92
R. Taylor, Lord Salisbury (1975), p. 126.

514 P. L. GARSIDE
r e q u i r e d a n ' a g g r e g a t e o f m u n i c i p a l i t i e s ' to b e e s t a b l i s h e d within
L o n d o n : such a structure would r e m e d y the overconcentration of
p o w e r i n t h e L C C , a n d r e c o g n i s e t h e s t a t u s a n d w e a l t h of m a n y of
L o n d o n ' s i n d i v i d u a l districts. S o m e L i b e r a l M P s w e r e p e r s u a d e d of
t h e n e e d to i n c r e a s e t h e efficiency a n d r e p r e s e n t a t i v e n e s s o f L o n d o n
g o v e r n m e n t b y d e v o l v i n g p o w e r to m e t r o p o l i t a n b o r o u g h c o u n c i l s
a n d t h e y s u p p o r t e d t h e p r i n c i p l e o f t h e L o n d o n G o v e r n m e n t Bill
w h i c h e s t a b l i s h e d t h e m in 1 8 9 9 . L o n d o n L i b e r a l s , h o w e v e r , b i t t e r l y
a t t a c k e d t h e Bill w i t h its ' c o n g l o m e r a t e o f s h a m m u n i c i p a l i t i e s ' , fear
i n g for t h e ' u n i t y , s i m p l i c i t y a n d e q u a l i t y o f t r e a t m e n t w h i c h a r e t h e
9 3
cardinal principles of the reformation of L o n d o n ' .
In p r a c t i c e , t h e n e w s t r u c t u r e did n o t d i m i n i s h t h e p o w e r o f t h e
LCC. I n d e e d , it c o u l d b e a r g u e d t h a t t h e L C C ' s b r o a d e r v i s i o n w a s
s t r e n g t h e n e d . W i t h t h e m e t r o p o l i t a n b o r o u g h c o u n c i l s offering a f o c u s
for p a r o c h i a l p r i d e , t h e L C C c o u l d m o r e e a s i l y i n s u l a t e itself f r o m
local i n t e r e s t s , p r o j e c t i n g a n d d e v e l o p i n g a L o n d o n - w i d e b a s e as a
f r a m e w o r k for p o l i c y a n d d e c i s i o n - m a k i n g . T h e L C C c o u l d a v o i d t h e
p r e s s u r e s o f ' w a r d p o l i t i e s ' , e n c o u r a g i n g its m e m b e r s to r e g a r d t h e m
s e l v e s as r e p r e s e n t a t i v e o f t h e C o u n t y of L o n d o n , n o m a t t e r w h i c h
area had elected t h e m . This broad approach was a hallmark of m a n y
of t h e L C C ' s activities in t h e e a r l y t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y , m o s t n o t a b l y
in education and housing.
Slums and housing policy
In t h e 1 8 8 0 s a n d 1 8 9 0 s , L o n d o n ' s h o u s i n g p r o b l e m s h a d emerged
a s the m o s t i m p o r t a n t social a n d political i s s u e for g o v e r n m e n t . T h e
persistence of L o n d o n ' s slums, their poverty, their extent - above
all, t h e i r l o c a t i o n at t h e ' H e a r t o f t h e E m p i r e ' s e e m e d to t h r e a t e n
t h e stability o f m e t r o p o l i s , n a t i o n a n d c o l o n i e s a l i k e . T o a c k n o w l e d g e
that neither London's magnitude nor London's slums could be
m a t c h e d b y a n y o t h e r g r e a t city w a s to c o n f r o n t t h e real p a r a d o x
of B r i t a i n ' s i m p e r i a l s t a t u s a n d p o w e r .
The centre of imperialism, as Lord Rosebery is never tired of reiterating,

rests in London. With the perpetual lowering of the Imperial Race in the
great cities of the kingdom through overcrowding in room and area, no
93
Quoted in K. Young and P.L. Garside, Metropolitan London: Politics and Urban Change
1837-1981 (1982), p. 101.

amount of hectic, feverish activity on the confines of the Empire will be able
94
to arrest the inevitable decline.
The severity of L o n d o n ' s problems h a d b e e n exposed, not least

by the Royal C o m m i s s i o n o n the Housing of the Working Classes
( 1 8 8 4 - 5 ) - t h e r e m e d i e s r e q u i r e d , h o w e v e r , h a d still t o b e i d e n t i f i e d .
The making of policies and p r o g r a m m e s required the development
of c o n c e p t s t o f o r m u l a t e a n d d e f i n e t h e n a t u r e o f t h e h o u s i n g p r o b l e m
in L o n d o n . T h e matter w a s also d e p e n d e n t o n e c o n o m i c circumstances
a n d political w i l l . M o s t s i g n i f i c a n t o f all w a s t o b e t h e i n t e r a c t i o n
o f L o n d o n ' s ' p r i n c i p a l i t i e s a n d p o w e r s ' - n o t o n l y conflict b e t w e e n
t h e v a r i o u s political a r e n a s , b u t a l s o w i t h i n t h e m , a s d i f f e r e n c e s
w i d e n e d a n d d e e p e n e d . A s t h e L C C b e g a n to f o r m u l a t e a b r o a d l y
b a s e d a n d L o n d o n - w i d e a p p r o a c h t o m e t r o p o l i t a n p r o b l e m s , it w a s
m a t c h e d b y opposition in kind. T h e language of debate w a s derived
n o t f r o m e c o n o m i c o r p e r s o n a l i n t e r e s t , b u t f r o m political p r i n c i p l e .
This high level of politicisation w a s a distinguishing feature of L o n d o n
a d m i n i s t r a t i o n , affecting t h e i n i t i a t i o n , i m p l e m e n t a t i o n a n d o u t c o m e
of p o l i c y i n a d i r e c t b u t o f t e n c o m p l e x m a n n e r .
T h e first s t e p a l o n g t h i s r o a d w a s a s e m a n t i c shift i n t h e t e r m ' s l u m '
w h i c h h a d a p r o f o u n d effect o n t h e r e m e d i e s p r o p o s e d . T h i s shift
occurred b e t w e e n the Cross Act of 1875, a n d the H o u s i n g Act of 1890.
T h e C r o s s A c t w a s d i s t i n g u i s h e d b y its e m p h a s i s o n t h e p h y s i c a l a n d
social i s o l a t i o n o f s l u m s , t h o s e ' p l a g u e s p o t s w h e r e all t h e s e evils
flourish a n d w h e n c e t h e y s p r e a d a r e m a p p e d o u t . . . as c l e a r l y a s
9 5
t h e m o u n t a i n s o f t h e m o o n a r e , b y t h e a i d o f scientific d i s c o v e r y ' .
This typihcation set the s l u m apart from the normal workings of
L o n d o n society, removing such places from any general, economic
framework, a n d p r e s e n t i n g t h e m as insanitary a n d i m m o r a l ' p o c k e t s '
clearly d e m a r c a t e d in extent, a n d distinguished b y their grim bleak
ness from the 'normal' world outside. S u c h a formulation suggested
remedies w h i c h w o u l d erase these alien p h e n o m e n a a n d normalise
t h e m through rebuilding with sanitary dwellings. T h e problem and
t h e r e m e d y w a s t h u s p h y s i c a l a n d finite. B o t h B o o t h ' s L o n d o n s u r v e y
a n d t h e R o y a l C o m m i s s i o n o f 1 8 8 4 - 5 , h o w e v e r , u n d e r m i n e d t h e clar
ity o f t h i s a p p r o a c h . A b o v e all, t h e s e i n v e s t i g a t i o n s h e l p e d t o b r e a k
d o w n t h e w a y i n w h i c h t h e s l u m s h a d b e e n s e p a r a t e d off f r o m t h e
rest of society. Their findings s h o w e d overcrowding a n d poor housing
t o b e a g e n e r a l p r o b l e m w h i c h affected a w i d e s p e c t r u m o f t h e w o r k i n g
94
C. F. G. Masterman, ed., The Heart ofEmpire (1901).
95
R. Cross, Homes of the London Poor in the Nineteenth Century (1882), p. 231.

516 P. L. GARSIDE
class, a n d w h o l e areas of inner L o n d o n . T h e solution that w a s required
c a m e to b e s e e n as s o m e t h i n g different f r o m i s o l a t e d s l u m c l e a r a n c e
s c h e m e s . ' W h a t is w a n t e d is m o r e - m u c h m o r e - h o m e a c c o m m o
96
dation.' I n effect, t h i s m e a n t h a r n e s s i n g a n d p r o m o t i n g t h e g e n e r a l
d e v e l o p m e n t p r o c e s s e s at w o r k i n L o n d o n , a n d e s p e c i a l l y t h e g r o w t h
of t h e s u b u r b s . H o u s i n g p o l i c y t h u s b e c a m e l i n k e d to i s s u e s o f r e g i o n a l
d e v e l o p m e n t , a n d in p a r t i c u l a r t h e p r o v i s i o n o f t r a n s p o r t . B y 1 9 0 0 ,
an American expert on municipal government, Albert S h a w , was no
t i n g t h a t L o n d o n ' s g o v e r n o r s w e r e i n v e s t i n g m u c h m o r e in s u r f a c e
a n d u n d e r g r o u n d t r a n s p o r t t o d e c a n t p o p u l a t i o n t h a n in h e a l t h a n d
97
housing directly. Indeed, slum clearance and rehousing schemes
of t h e C r o s s t y p e w e r e n o w t h e m s e l v e s b e i n g d e p i c t e d as a n interfer
9 8
e n c e in t h e n a t u r a l d e v e l o p m e n t o f L o n d o n .
T h o u g h t h e d i a g n o s i s a n d t h e r e m e d y for L o n d o n ' s h o u s i n g p r o b
l e m s h a d c h a n g e d , t h e v a r i o u s a g e n c i e s i n v o l v e d in t h e i m p l e m e n
t a t i o n o f p o l i c y w e r e c o n f r o n t e d w i t h e x t r e m e l y difficult e c o n o m i c
a n d political r e a l i t i e s . T h e v e r y scale a n d i n t e n s i t y o f t h e L o n d o n h o u s
i n g p r o b l e m , h i g h l a n d p r i c e s a n d r i s i n g r e s i d e n t i a l r e n t s all affected
t h e ability o f local a u t h o r i t i e s to r e s p o n d . T h o u g h L o n d o n p r o p e r t y
p r i c e s s l u m p e d at t h e e n d o f t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , t h e y r e m a i n e d
higher than comparable prices elsewhere, and rents remained high
t h r o u g h o u t . It h a s b e e n e s t i m a t e d t h a t in 1 9 0 1 , a b u i l t - u p a c r e in
t h e C i t y o f L o n d o n r e n t e d o n a n a v e r a g e for a b o u t f o u r thousand
t i m e s as m u c h as a n a c r e o f f a r m l a n d . I n 1 9 0 5 , a p l o t o f l a n d n e a r
t h e B a n k o f E n g l a n d w a s s o l d for t h e e q u i v a l e n t o f £ 3 . 2 5 m i l l i o n a n
9 9
a c r e , ' a b o u t o n e - t e n t h o f t h e b u l l i o n in t h e v a u l t s ' . House rents
r e m a i n e d s t a b l e at h i g h l e v e l s , w i t h p a r t i c u l a r l y s t e e p i n c r e a s e s in
t h e e x p a n d i n g n o r t h - w e s t s u b u r b s , a n d in t h e E a s t E n d - r e n t s i n
W e s t H a m r o s e b y 15 p e r c e n t , a n d in S t e p n e y b y 2 5 p e r c e n t o v e r
t h e p e r i o d 1 8 9 0 to 1 9 1 2 . R e s i d e n t i a l r e d e v e l o p m e n t in t h e c e n t r a l a r e a
c o u l d s c a r c e l y b e c o n t e m p l a t e d e x c e p t in s p e c i a l c i r c u m s t a n c e s , a n d
e v e n t h e s u b u r b a n s o l u t i o n w a s p u t in j e o p a r d y as p o t e n t i a l sites
96
RC on Alien Immigration, PP 1903, IX, evidence of Sanitary Officer for Bethnal Green,
q. 6719. This shift in attitudes to slums clearly follows shifts in attitude towards
the poor, see above, pp. 510-11.
97
Quoted in P. J. Waller, Town, City and Nation, England 1850-1914 (Oxford, 1983),
p. 30.
98
The change from inner area clearance to suburban estate-building is clearly indicated
by maps locating LCC housing sites in Young and Garside, Metropolitan London,
Figures 6.3 and 6.4, pp. 164-5.
99
A. Offer, Property and Politics 1870-1914: Landownership, Law, Ideology and Urban
Development in England (Cambridge, 1981), p. 255.

r e c e d e d further a n d further f r o m t h e c e n t r e . ' Y e s t e r d a y ' , o n e c o m

m e n t a t o r w r o t e in 1 9 0 1 , ' [ t h e s o l u t i o n ] l a y in W e s t H a m , in S t r e a t h a m ,
H a c k n e y a n d T o t t e n h a m : t o d a y it lies in E a s t H a m , in C r o y d o n a n d
1 0 0
in H a r r o w : t o m o r r o w it will b e t h e b e l t o f c o u n t r y l y i n g b e y o n d . '
E c o n o m i c v a r i a b l e s , h o w e v e r , s h o u l d n o t b e s e e n as e x e r c i s i n g a
w h o l l y i n d e p e n d e n t effect o n h o u s i n g p o l i c y - t h e w o r k of Offer a n d
E n g l a n d e r h a s s h o w n t h a t t h e r e w a s a political d i m e n s i o n at w o r k
w h i c h o p e r a t e d m o s t directly o n p r o p e r t y v a l u e s t h r o u g h t h e i n s t r u
1 0 1
m e n t of t h e r a t e s . T h e first d e c a d e o f t h e t w e n t i e t h c e n t u r y s a w
o v e r c r o w d i n g o n c e m o r e o n t h e i n c r e a s e in L o n d o n d e s p i t e t h e col
l a p s e i n t h e r e s i d e n t i a l p r o p e r t y m a r k e t a n d t h e a b u n d a n c e of e m p t y
p r o p e r t y . Offer h a s a r g u e d t h a t t h i s s i t u a t i o n w a s n o t t h e r e s u l t o f
m a r k e t e c o n o m i c s a l o n e , b u t is to b e e x p l a i n e d b y r e f e r e n c e to political
s t r u g g l e s . T h e e l e m e n t t h a t g a i n e d m o s t f r o m p o l i t i c s , it s e e m s , w a s
t h a t o f r i s i n g r a t e s . Offer h a s e s t i m a t e d t h a t i n c r e a s e s in t h i s local
t a x a t i o n c o u l d a c c o u n t for a b o u t o n e q u a r t e r o f t h e d e c l i n e o f p r o p e r t y
v a l u e s in L o n d o n . T h e i m p a c t o f this, h o w e v e r , w a s m a g n i f i e d in
i n v e s t o r s ' m i n d s b y n a t i o n a l C o n s e r v a t i v e p r o p a g a n d a after 1 9 0 5 , a n d
m o r e i m m e d i a t e l y b y t h e m o b i l i s a t i o n of r a t e p a y e r s i n t o m u n i c i p a l ,
and especially London, politics b y b o d i e s such as t h e Property
O w n e r s ' Protection Association. Furthermore, t h e i n t r o d u c t i o n of
l a n d v a l u e t a x e s in L l o y d G e o r g e ' s ' P e o p l e ' s B u d g e t ' of 1 9 0 9 o n l y
i n c r e a s e d t h e financial i n s e c u r i t y a n d political a w a r e n e s s of i n v e s t o r s
1 0 2
in h o u s i n g .
T h e effect o n L o n d o n politics w a s d r a m a t i c . F r o m t h e e a r l y 1 9 0 0 s ,
m e t r o p o l i t a n c o n s e r v a t i s m b e g a n to c o n s t r u c t a n e w p o p u l i s t p l a t f o r m
u n d e r t h e b a n n e r of a ' n o n - p o l i t i c a l ' ' M u n i c i p a l R e f o r m S o c i e t y ' . T h e
r a l l y i n g c r y o f t h e m o v e m e n t , b a s e d in r e j u v e n a t e d r a t e p a y e r s ' a s s o c i
a t i o n s w a s o p p o s i t i o n to ' m u n i c i p a l s o c i a l i s m ' a n d civic e x p e n d i t u r e .
T h e c a m p a i g n fell o n w i l l i n g e a r s - L o n d o n ' s s h o p k e e p e r s , c l e r k s
a n d p r o f e s s i o n a l s w e r e b e i n g s e v e r e l y affected b y t h e c o m b i n a t i o n
of e c o n o m i c s t a g n a t i o n a n d r i s i n g r a t e s . A g a i n s t t h e tide of n a t i o n a l
p o l i t i c s , t h e r a t e p a y e r r e v o l t b r o u g h t d e f e a t to P r o g r e s s i v e s at t h e
m e t r o p o l i t a n b o r o u g h e l e c t i o n s in 1 9 0 6 , a n d at t h e L C C e l e c t i o n s i n
1907. After these Conservative victories, b o t h L C C rates a n d municipal
d e b t l e v e l l e d off.
F. W. Lawrence, 'The Housing Problem', in Masterman, Heart of Empire.

D. Englander, 'Landlord and Tenant in Urban Britain: The Politics of Housing
Reform 1838-1924' (unpublished PhD thesis, University of Warwick, 1979).
Offer, Property and Politics, pp. 308-11.

518 P. L. G A R S I D E
T h i s i n t e r p l a y b e t w e e n c o n c e p t s , e c o n o m i c s a n d politics p r e v e n t e d
a n y u n i l i n e a r d e v e l o p m e n t t o w a r d s m u n i c i p a l h o u s i n g p r o v i s i o n in
L o n d o n . W h i l e P r o g r e s s i v e s w e r e f o r c e d to t a k e a c c o u n t o f m a r k e t
p r e s s u r e s a n d o f t h e activities o f o t h e r a g e n c i e s , M u n i c i p a l R e f o r m e r s
r e m a i n e d r e c e p t i v e to a r g u m e n t s a b o u t t h e n e e d for h o u s i n g r e f o r m
1 0 3
in t h e i n t e r e s t s o f t h e N a t i o n , t h e R a c e a n d t h e E m p i r e . For the
Progressives o n the L C C , the dilemma hinged o n their c o m m i t m e n t
t o b u i l d in t h e p o o r e s t p a r t s o f e a s t a n d s o u t h - e a s t L o n d o n , w h i l e
at t h e s a m e t i m e t h e y r e q u i r e d h i g h - q u a l i t y c o n s t r u c t i o n , e c o n o m i c
rents a n d responsible tenants. This led t h e m eventually to prefer
lower-cost suburban sites, a n d socially superior tenants. M a n y of
t h e e a r l y L C C e s t a t e s built o n c e n t r a l sites r e s u l t e d n o t f r o m direct
p o l i c y , b u t w e r e t h e r e s u l t o f o t h e r p u b l i c c o n s t r u c t i o n s u c h as t h e
R o t h e r h i t h e a n d B l a c k w a l l t u n n e l s , a n d E a s t E n d B o a r d S c h o o l s . After
M u n i c i p a l R e f o r m e r s g a i n e d p o w e r in 1 9 0 7 , t h e e m p h a s i s o n p u b l i c
housing diminished: the slum clearance programme was w o u n d down
and the Works Department was abolished. S o m e building continued
o n s u b u r b a n e s t a t e s at O l d O a k a n d T o t t e r d o w n F i e l d s , b u t u n d e v e
loped parts of Norbury and W h i t e Hart L a n e were sold.
O v e r a l l , t h e h o u s i n g p o l i c y o f t h e L C C reflects t h e o u t c o m e o f politi
cal conflicts at b o t h c e n t r a l a n d l o c a l l e v e l c e n t r i n g o n t h e i s s u e o f
r a t e s : o v e r l a y i n g this w a s a n u n r e s o l v e d t e n s i o n b e t w e e n a c o m m i t
m e n t to s o m e public h o u s i n g provision, a n d building a n d m a n a g e
m e n t s t r a t e g i e s w h i c h w e r e e n m e s h e d in t h e e c o n o m i c s o f t h e p r i v a t e
s e c t o r . T h e L C C w a s free f r o m t h e direct i n f l u e n c e o f s l u m l a n d l o r d s
w h o h a d d o m i n a t e d t h e v e s t r i e s , b u t its m e m b e r s c o u l d n o t i g n o r e
t h e c h a n g i n g c h a r a c t e r o f i n v e s t o r s in h o u s e p r o p e r t y w h i c h its o w n
interventionist policies h a d brought about. Moreover, though the L C C
c o n s c i o u s l y p r o j e c t e d a L o n d o n v i s i o n , it r e m a i n e d c o n s t r a i n e d b y
market forces a n d b y the Balkanisation of p o w e r s a n d spheres of
i n f l u e n c e , s o m e o f w h i c h a g a i n w e r e o f its o w n m a k i n g .
Metropolitan man
The L C C ' s early struggles to determine w h a t L o n d o n might b e were

m a t c h e d b y t h e efforts o f social c o m m e n t a t o r s t o e s t a b l i s h w h a t
L o n d o n was - in particular, t o define t h e c h a r a c t e r a n d p e r s o n a l i t y
103
S. Lawrence, T h e Politics of Housing: Ratepayers and Municipal Reformers in
Hackney 1880-1914' (paper presented to Urban History Group Conference, April
1986).

of L o n d o n e r s , a n d t o d i s c o v e r t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f t h e n e w ' m e t r o
politan m a n ' . M a n y reporters were simply o v e r w h e l m e d b y the sheer
range of characters they encountered, not least those w h o sought
to identify s o m e standard metropolitan type. F o r historians, t h e s e
a t t e m p t s to d o c u m e n t L o n d o n ' s p e o p l e a r e a s i g n i f i c a n t e v e n t s i n c e
t h e y reflect r e n e w e d i n t e r e s t i n L o n d o n ' s c h a r a c t e r , a n d i n its p o t e n t i a l
s i g n i f i c a n c e a s a social f o r c e , c a p a b l e o f m o u l d i n g a t t i t u d e s a n d v a l u e s
over an ever-widening area.
H e n r y M a y h e w and Charles Booth were the most indefatigable of
L o n d o n ' s explorers. M a y h e w , in particular, demonstrated in his
'cyclopaedia' an endless curiosity about L o n d o n labour, and especially
its s t r e e t - f o l k , ' c o m p r i s i n g s t r e e t s e l l e r s , s t r e e t b u y e r s , s t r e e t f i n d e r s ,
1 0 4
street performers, street artisans [and] street l a b o u r e r s ' . Limited
t h o u g h its s c o p e w a s , M a y h e w w a s r i g h t l y p r o u d o f h i s w o r k ' a s
b e i n g t h e first c o m m i s s i o n o f i n q u i r y i n t o t h e s t a t e o f t h e p e o p l e ,
undertaken b y a private individual.' Booth, b y contrast, sought a
1 0 5
wider canvas a n d a m o r e analytical a p p r o a c h . B o o t h i n c l u d e d statis
tics o f p o v e r t y , a n d c l a s s i f i c a t i o n s a n d d e s c r i p t i o n s o f s t r e e t s , t r a d e s ,
institutions a n d groups, s u c h as m o d e l dwellings, c o m m o n lodging-
h o u s e s a n d h o m e l e s s m e n . T h o u g h in the beginning B o o t h claimed
that T h a d n o p r e c o n c e i v e d ideas, n o theory to w o r k u p to, n o pet
s c h e m e i n t o a g r e e m e n t w i t h w h i c h t h e facts c o l l e c t e d w e r e t o b e
twisted or to w h i c h t h e y w o u l d h a v e to b e squared', yet ' A t t h e s a m e
time the consideration and h o p e of r e m e d y have never b e e n out of
m y m i n d . ' F o r s e v e n t e e n years B o o t h ' s 'spirit of e n q u i r y ' w a s abroad
i n L o n d o n . O v e r w h e l m e d b y h i s o w n a p p e t i t e for f a c t s , B o o t h c o n
f e s s e d t h a t T h a v e at t i m e s d o u b t e d w h e t h e r t h e p r o l o n g a t i o n o f t h i s
w o r k h a s h a d a n y other basis t h a n an inability o n m y part to c o m e
to a c o n c l u s i o n . ' Nevertheless, later c o m m e n t a t o r s h a v e detected a
conceptual framework underpinning Booth's gargantuan diet o f
observations which enabled h i m to present his optimistic view of Lon
106
d o n p o v e r t y , a n d h i s s i m p l e r e m e d y for its e r a d i c a t i o n .
Alongside the m a m m o t h investigations of Booth and M a y h e w , other
i n d i v i d u a l r e v e l a t i o n s o f life i n L o n d o n ' s w o r k h o u s e s a n d r o o k e r i e s
c a u s e d a s e n s a t i o n at t h e t i m e a s ' t h e h o l e s a n d c o r n e r s ' o f L o n d o n
society were revealed. Their horrors were c o m p a r e d with those of
104
H. Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, 4 vols. (1861-2).
105
C. Booth, ed., Life and Labour of the People in London, 1st ser., Poverty, 4 vols. (1889-
91).
106
See above, pp. 511-12.

520 P. L. G A R S I D E
'distant tribes' and 'the middle passage of s o m e slave ship', while

alongside and interdependent with t h e m lay the 'unrestricted luxury
and worse than useless extravagance that characterise the wealthy
107
neighbouring districts'. S t o r i e s a n d n o v e l s also p r o v i d e d outstand
i n g s o c i a l r e p o r t a g e in t h e f o r m o f fiction. A r t h u r M o r r i s o n ' s p o r t r a y a l
of E a s t E n d life w a s v i o l e n t a n d p e s s i m i s t i c - e v e n t h e L C C s B o u n d a r y
Street clearance s c h e m e could not clear a w a y the foulness of an area
like t h e J a g o . I n t h e p r e f a c e to t h e t h i r d e d i t i o n o f A Child of the Jago,
M o r r i s o n w r o t e : ' T h e J a g o as m e r e b r i c k s a n d m o r t a r is g o n e . B u t
t h e J a g o in flesh a n d b l o o d still l i v e s , a n d is c r o w d i n g i n t o n e i g h b o u r
1 0 8
hoods already densely p o p u l a t e d . ' T o G e o r g e G i s s i n g , t h e flesh
and blood of metropolitan m a n w a s unremittingly drab and desolate
- not only the slum-dweller, but the better paid also.
To walk about a neighbourhood such as this [the Wilton Square district of

Islington] is the dreariest exercise to which a man can betake himself: the
heart is crushed by uniformity of decent squalor; one remembers that each
of the dead-faced houses, often each separate blind window represents a
7 109
'home , and the associations of the word whisper blank despair.
M e t r o p o l i t a n life r e p r e s e n t e d to G i s s i n g t h e d e f e a t o f h u m a n i t y , a
dreadful, damned and nightmare experience 'beyond the outmost
limits of d r e a d ' .
W a l t e r B e s a n t p o r t r a y e d L o n d o n life o u t s i d e t h e C i t y a n d t h e W e s t
110
End as a t r a v e s t y of u r b a n c i v i l i s a t i o n . W h a t e v e r identity e m e r g e d
f r o m t h i s v a c u i t y , it a p p e a r e d e v e n to t h e m o s t o p t i m i s t i c as m e r e l y
1 1 1
'something more than confusion of casual a c c i d e n t s ' . More mobile
L o n d o n e r s sought individual identity in the a n o n y m i t y of suburban
family life. H e r e t h e m a i n f o c u s o f p u b l i c activity w a s t h e self-effacing
a r e n a o f c h u r c h or c h a p e l . I n L o n d o n ' s i n n e r a r e a s , h o w e v e r , w o r k e r s
o t h e r t h a n J e w s did n o t l o o k to t h e c h u r c h for spiritual r e f r e s h m e n t .
M a n y o f t h e m f o u n d t h a t in t h e n a r r o w c o n f i n e s o f t h e i r h o u s e s a n d
y a r d s . B o o t h d r e w a t t e n t i o n to t h e ' s m a l l r o u g h r o o f e d e r e c t i o n s
i n t e r s p e r s e d w i t h little g l a s s h o u s e s ' at t h e b a c k s o f t h e cramped
h o u s e s . ' T h e s e ' , he wrote, 'represent hobbies, pursuits of leisure
A. Sherwell, Life in West London: A Study and a Contrast (1897).

A. Morrison, A Child of the Jago, 3rd edn (1897). Also, idem, The Hole in the Wall
(1902), and idem, Tales of Mean Streets (1906).
Quoted in Waller, Town, City and Nation, p. 43.
W. Besant, South London (1899), and idem, East London (1901).
Quoted in A. Briggs, Victorian Cities (Harmondsworth, 1968), pp. 348-9.

h o u r s - p l a n t s , f l o w e r s , f o w l s , p i g e o n s , a n d t h e r e is r o o m to sit out,
1 1 2
w h e n t h e w e a t h e r is fine e n o u g h , w i t h f r i e n d a n d p i p e / The LCC
a n d t h e m e t r o p o l i t a n b o r o u g h c o u n c i l s s o u g h t to e x p a n d t h e r e c r e a
t i o n a l r o o m a v a i l a b l e to L o n d o n e r s b y p r o v i d i n g p a r k s a n d open
spaces. T h e L C C alone controlled 113 parks, gardens and open spaces
b y 1 9 1 0 , r e p r e s e n t i n g £ 2 m o f capital e x p e n d i t u r e , £ 1 3 0 , 0 0 0 a n n u a l
m a i n t e n a n c e a n d direct e m p l o y m e n t for 1,000 w o r k e r s .
B y 1 9 1 4 , s u c h p a r k s p l a y e d t h e i r p a r t in w o r k i n g - c l a s s l e i s u r e a l o n g
w i t h m u s i c h a l l s , d a n c e h a l l s , c i n e m a s , football a n d dog racing.
W h e t h e r these more formalised types of leisure provision should be
regarded as a n attempt at ' s o c i a l c o n t r o l ' is o p e n to question.
F . M . L . T h o m p s o n h a s d r a w n a t t e n t i o n to t h e d i s t i n c t i o n b e t w e e n
' s o c i a l i s a t i o n ' w h e r e a g r o u p s o c i a l i s e s its m e m b e r s b y i m b u i n g t h e m
w i t h its own m o r e s , a n d ' s o c i a l c o n t r o l ' w h e r e t h e p r o c e s s t a k e s p l a c e
1 1 3
o n a n inter-class b a s i s . Whatever intentions there may have been,
S t e d m a n J o n e s h a s c o n c l u d e d t h a t ' B y t h e E d w a r d i a n p e r i o d , it h a d
b e c o m e i n e s c a p a b l y c l e a r t h a t m i d d l e c l a s s e v a n g e l i s m h a d failed to
c r e a t e a w o r k i n g c l a s s in its o w n i m a g e . T h e g r e a t m a j o r i t y o f L o n d o n
1 1 4
w o r k e r s w e r e n o t C h r i s t i a n , p r o v i d e n t , c h a s t e or t e m p e r a t e . '
A new urban region
T h e r a p i d e x p a n s i o n of L o n d o n s u b u r b s u p t o 1 9 1 4 o v e r t o o k n o t o n l y
the recently drawn administrative boundaries, but even the language
a v a i l a b l e to d e s c r i b e t h e p r o c e s s . N e w t e r m s h a d o n c e m o r e to b e
f o r g e d to l a b e l t h e p h e n o m e n o n t h a t L o n d o n h a d b e c o m e . It w a s
G e d d e s w h o offered a n e w , s o c i o l o g i c a l d i m e n s i o n to m e t r o p o l i t a n
analysis, a n d w h o c o i n e d the term ' c o n u r b a t i o n ' to articulate such
1 1 5
g r o w t h at t h e r e g i o n a l s c a l e .
L o n d o n ' s n e w Edwardian suburbs were predominantly residential
in c h a r a c t e r , w i t h f e w i n d u s t r i a l e s t a b l i s h m e n t s , a s b e f i t t e d t h e i r s t a t u s
as d w e l l i n g - p l a c e s for L o n d o n ' s m o r e s e n i o r c l e r k s a n d e x e c u t i v e s .
W o r k i n g - c l a s s s u b u r b a n i s a t i o n h a d fallen a w a y , t h e v i c t i m of r i s i n g
u n e m p l o y m e n t a n d s t a g n a t i o n in t h e s t a n d a r d o f l i v i n g . I n t h e d e c a d e
b e f o r e t h e First W o r l d W a r , m o v i n g to t h e s u b u r b s b e c a m e t h e
112
Quoted in Waller, Town, City and Nation, p. 51.
113
F. M. L. Thompson, 'Social Control in Victorian Britain', Economic History Review,
2nd ser., 34 (1981), pp. 189-208.
114
G. Stedman Jones, 'Working-Class Culture and Working-Class Politics in London,
1870-1900: Notes on the Remaking of a Working Class', Journal of Social History,
7(1974), p. 471.
115
G. Cherry, The Evolution of British Town Planning (1974), p. 52.

522 P. L . G A R S I D E
1 1 6
preserve of social g r o u p s of the rank of clerk a n d a b o v e . Their aspi
rations found a r e s p o n s e in the ideals of the G a r d e n City m o v e m e n t .
A s its r e d u c e d h o u s i n g p r o g r a m m e m o v e d o u t w a r d s p h y s i c a l l y a n d
u p w a r d s s o c i a l l y , t h e L C C a l s o a d o p t e d G a r d e n C i t y f o r m s i n its
suburban estates. T h e O l d O a k estate reflected this m o d e in the pictur
e s q u e s t y l e o f its h o u s e s , w i t h t h e i r s t e e p l y p i t c h e d r o o f s a n d g a b l e s ,
a n d i n t h e l a y o u t , w i t h its s e t b a c k s a n d ' v i l l a g e ' g r e e n s . A t L e t c h w o r t h
G a r d e n C i t y ( 1 9 0 3 ) a n d at H a m p s t e a d G a r d e n S u b u r b ( 1 9 0 6 ) p r i v a t e
capital u n d e r p i n n e d attempts to carry out G a r d e n City ideals, t h o u g h
at H a m p s t e a d t h e n e w s u b u r b r e m a i n e d c l o s e l y t i e d to L o n d o n l a b o u r
and consumer markets.
A s t h e m i d d l e - c l a s s s u b u r b s a r o u n d L o n d o n g r e w , s o did c o m
m u t i n g a n d traffic c o n g e s t i o n . T h e p r o b l e m s o f L o n d o n transport
prompted n e w questions about the form, function and co-ordination
1 1 7
of t h e H o m e C o u n t i e s in r e l a t i o n t o L o n d o n .
S o m e planners sought solutions derived from the American City
Beautiful m o v e m e n t , advocating 'radial m o t o r w a y s ' and parkway
1 1 8
r i n g r o a d s t o o r g a n i s e a n d d e l i v e r a r o a d s y s t e m for L o n d o n . In
1 9 0 3 , t h e R o y a l C o m m i s s i o n o n L o n d o n Traffic w a s s e t u p ' t o e n q u i r e
into the m e a n s of l o c o m o t i o n a n d transport in L o n d o n ' . W h i l e recog
nising the appeal of suburban ringroads, the Commission favoured
t a c k l i n g L o n d o n ' s p r o b l e m at t h e c e n t r e - p a r t l y b y r e s t r i c t i n g p a r k i n g
but chiefly b y constructing t w o c r o s s - L o n d o n double-deck a v e n u e s
1 1 9
intersecting near the British M u s e u m . S u c h a drastic s c h e m e can
o n l y b e e x p l a i n e d b y t h e v e r y r e a l fears t h a t L o n d o n m i g h t ' s u f f o c a t e '
if traffic w a s n o t d e a l t w i t h . N e v e r t h e l e s s , t h e B o a r d o f T r a d e ' s L o n d o n
Traffic B r a n c h w h i c h s u c c e e d e d t h e R o y a l C o m m i s s i o n in 1 9 0 7 p u t
its faith i n s u b u r b a n b y - p a s s e s - a s o l u t i o n w h i c h r e s t o r e d t h e q u e s t i o n
of t h e L o n d o n ' r e g i o n ' t o t h e political a g e n d a .
T h e R o y a l C o m m i s s i o n h a d f o u n d t h a t L o n d o n traffic s u f f e r e d fun
damentally from a want of co-ordination and planning and recom
mended a London Traffic Board, but the suggestion was not
implemented. Although the tramways, railways and bus services were
being brought under single ownership b y Albert Stanley's Under
g r o u n d g r o u p , t h e m a i n l i n e r a i l w a y s r e m a i n e d o u t s i d e its c o n t r o l .
116
P. L. Garside, 'West End, East End: London 1890-1940', in Sutcliffe, ed., Metropolis,
p. 238.
117
P. L. Garside, 'London 1919-1950: Metropolitan Development and Planning', Plan
ning History Bulletin, 6 (1984).
118
H. W. Wilson, 'Will London be Suffocated?', National Review, 37(1902), pp. 598-609.
119
Garside, 'West End, East End', p. 238.

M o r e o v e r , r e s p o n s i b i l i t y for r o a d s r e m a i n e d d i v i d e d b e t w e e n t h e local
a u t h o r i t i e s o f L o n d o n a n d t h e H o m e C o u n t i e s w h o b r i d l e d at relin
quishing authority to a n y central b o d y . T h e question w a s dealt with
at a s e r i e s o f c o n f e r e n c e s - t h e G r e a t e r L o n d o n A r t e r i a l R o a d s C o n f e r
e n c e s 1 9 1 3 - 1 6 - w h i c h split L o n d o n i n t o s e v e n s e c t i o n s w i t h t h e c o n s t i
tuent local authorities working under a central government
department - the Local G o v e r n m e n t Board. This solution displayed
m a n y o f t h e f e a t u r e s w h i c h w e r e to typify s o l u t i o n s to L o n d o n ' s
r e g i o n a l p r o b l e m s - t h e ad hoc s i n g l e - p u r p o s e b o d y , t h e a v o i d a n c e
of local a u t h o r i t y r e f o r m , a r e l i a n c e o n p r i v a t e e n t e r p r i s e , t h e s h e l v i n g
of t h e p r o b l e m s o f c e n t r a l L o n d o n , a n d a c o n c e n t r a t i o n o n m a n a g i n g
g r o w t h at t h e p e r i p h e r y .
I m p r o v i n g t r a n s p o r t l i n k s w i t h t h e s u b u r b s , it w a s a c k n o w l e d g e d ,
w o u l d inevitably generate further suburban d e v e l o p m e n t . Charles
B o o t h h a d a s s u m e d t h a t o n e effect o f t h i s w o u l d b e a n i n c r e a s e i n
' l o c a l life' s o t h a t t h e r e w o u l d b e n o n e e d to fear t h a t ' b e t t e r a n d
120
more rapid communication would . . . increase centralisation'. H.
G. Wells, h o w e v e r , maintained that this process of 'délocalisation'
w a s irreversibly u n d e r w a y in L o n d o n , b r o u g h t about b y improve
m e n t s in c o m m u n i c a t i o n : ' e v e r y t r a m w a y , every twopenny tube,
e v e r y i m p r o v e m e n t i n y o u r o m n i b u s s e r v i c e s , in y o u r t e l e p h o n e ser
v i c e s , in y o u r o r g a n i s a t i o n o f c r e d i t i n c r e a s e s t h e p r o p o r t i o n o f y o u r
delocalised class, and sucks the ebbing blood from your old c o m m u n i
1 2 1
ties i n t o t h e v e i n s o f t h e n e w ' . T h e a n s w e r to t h i s d é l o c a l i s a t i o n ,
Wells argued, was n e w ' m a m m o t h municipalities' delimited by the
n a t u r a l w a t e r s h e d s o f e c o n o m i c activity a n d m o v e m e n t . I n L o n d o n ,
h e envisaged an area m u c h larger than the Administrative County,
i n c l u d i n g w i t h i n it ' T h e w h o l e s y s t e m o f w h a t I m i g h t call t h e L o n d o n -
centred population.'
Wells's proposals found favour with the Fabians and L C C Progress
i v e s b u t w e r e o p p o s e d in C o n s e r v a t i v e circles as ' c e n t r a l i s a t i o n g o n e
mad'. Suburban authorities, whatever t h e i r political persuasion,
o p p o s e d the idea of 'annexation'. T h e onset of war, h o w e v e r , brought
LCC Progressives and Municipal Reformers into agreement on the
n e e d t o c o n s o l i d a t e g o v e r n m e n t in t h e L o n d o n r e g i o n . B u i l d i n g o n
t h e n e w 'scientific u n d e r s t a n d i n g ' o f g e o g r a p h e r s , s o c i o l o g i s t s a n d
120
C. Booth, Improved Means of Locomotion as a First Step towards the Cure of the Housing
Difficulties of London (1901).
121
H. G. Wells, 'The Question of Scientific Administrative Areas', published as an
appendix to Mankind in the Making (1903).

524 P. L . G A R S I D E
political s c i e n t i s t s , t h e p o l i t i c i a n s h o p e d p e a c e w o u l d b r i n g ' a n e w
e r a in L o n d o n g o v e r n m e n t ' b a s e d o n a r e c o g n i t i o n o f t h e c o m p l e x
and nebulous structure that L o n d o n n o w possessed. In 1919, the L C C
called o n the g o v e r n m e n t to institute an enquiry to determine
The particular services which should be brought under a single administration

throughout Greater London; the area of Greater London which should be
unified in respect of the administration of those services; the authority to
which should be entrusted the administration of those services; and the rela
122
tion of that authority to other local committees in the a r e a .
T h e clear m e s s a g e w a s that L o n d o n could n o longer b e regarded as

c o t e r m i n o u s w i t h its b u i l t - u p a r e a - r a t h e r it h a d t o b e r e c o g n i s e d
t h a t ' i n a m a n n e r , all s o u t h - e a s t E n g l a n d is a s i n g l e u r b a n c o m m u n i t y ,
1 2 3
for s t e a m a n d e l e c t r i c i t y a r e c h a n g i n g o u r g e o g r a p h i c a l c o n c e p t i o n s ' .
In 1919, the prophets of the n e w age could delineate the L o n d o n
r e g i o n w i t h t h e i r i n n o v a t i v e statistical a n d g r a p h i c a l t e c h n i q u e s . I n
m a n y respects, the truth of the image they drew could not b e denied.
T h e c o m m e r c i a l p u l l o f L o n d o n for w o r k , for s e r v i c e s a n d for l e i s u r e
w a s u n m i s t a k a b l e . S u b u r b a n i s a t i o n s e e m e d t o f e e d o n itself m o u l d i n g
rural i m m i g r a n t s f r o m t h e d e p r e s s e d a n d c o n s e r v a t i v e H o m e C o u n t i e s
and the ex-urbanites into one huge c o n s u m e r market. O n e section
of L o n d o n , h o w e v e r , still s t o o d a p a r t - t h e c a s u a l p o o r o f L o n d o n ' s
E a s t E n d . A s r e n t s a n d p r i c e s r o s e after 1 9 0 0 , a s w a g e s s t a g n a t e d
a n d u n e m p l o y m e n t featured p r o m i n e n t l y in their lives, t h e s e L o n
doners remained stranded ' b e t w e e n a small w o r k s h o p s y s t e m that
r e f u s e d t o die a n d a s y s t e m o f f a c t o r y p r o d u c t i o n w h i c h h a d s c a r c e l y
1 2 4
b e g u n to d e v e l o p ' . T h e y w e r e still r e c o g n i s a b l e a n d s t i g m a t i s e d
as ' u n f i t ' , ' l o a f e r s ' , ' u n e m p l o y a b l e s ' a n d ' d e g e n e r a t e s ' . T h e a n x i e t i e s
generated by L o n d o n ' s casual labourers remained widely shared by
p o l i t i c i a n s a c r o s s t h e political s p e c t r u m - v e r m i n o u s a n d f o u l - s m e l l
ing, t h e i r m e m o r y l i n g e r e d p o w e r f u l l y a n d l o n g w h e r e v e r t h e y w e r e
1 2 5
e n c o u n t e r e d , e v e n as far afield a s t h e h o p f i e l d s o f K e n t . Their prob
lems, and the problem they presented, however, temporarily evapor
a t e d w i t h t h e First W o r l d W a r a s all s u r p l u s l a b o u r w a s a b s o r b e d
b y t h e n e e d s o f w a r . D e s p i t e t h e i m m e d i a t e p o s t w a r crisis, a t t e n t i o n
switched e l s e w h e r e as the world depression of the 1930s u n d e r m i n e d
122
LCC, Minutes of Proceedings, 28 October 1919.
123
H. J. Mackinder, Britain and the British Seas (Oxford, 1907), p. 258.
124
Stedman Jones, 'Working-Class Culture', p. 489.
125
T. C. Barker and J. Whyman, Life in Kent before 1914, SSRC Final Report, HR 2830
(1977), pp. 5 1 - 4 .

t h e s t a p l e i n d u s t r i e s o f t h e p r o v i n c i a l cities l e a v i n g a m i l l i o n u n e m
ployed. T h e nature of Britain's regional p r o b l e m c a m e to b e fundamen
tally r e d e f i n e d - L o n d o n w a s n o l o n g e r at its c e n t r e , b u t r e p r e s e n t e d
a n enclave of success a n d prosperity aloof from but nevertheless per
h a p s r e s p o n s i b l e for t h e p a i n f u l d e c a y o f t h e p r o v i n c e s .
IV THE 'WALL-LESS WORLD' OF LONDON 1918-50
No place is safe: no place at peace. There is no place where a woman

and her daughter can hide and be at peace. The war comes through
the air, bombs drop in the night. Quiet people go out in the morning
and see air-fleets passing overhead - dripping death - dripping death.
H. G . Wells, War in the Air (1908)
The d e c a d e s s p a n n i n g t h e t w o w o r l d w a r s h e i g h t e n e d t h e n e e d to
analyse the 'wall-less w o r l d ' that L o n d o n h a d b e c o m e a n d to evaluate
its a c t u a l a n d s y m b o l i c s i g n i f i c a n c e . R e p o r t s o f e n q u i r i e s , i n v e s t i
g a t i o n s a n d a n a l y s e s a p p e a r e d r e g u l a r l y a s t h e effort t o c o m p r e h e n d ,
assess a n d m a n a g e the capital continued. T o s o m e , like L e w i s M u m -
f o r d , it s e e m e d t h a t t h e familiar m e t r o p o l i t a n p r o b l e m s o f o v e r g r o w t h
a n d disintegration w e r e simply intensifying. ' T h e Parasitopolis of the
late n i n e t e e n t h century h a s already b e c o m e the spectral Necropolis
1 2 6
of the mid-twentieth c e n t u r y ' , M u m f o r d w r o t e . B y 1 9 3 9 , it w a s
being said that L o n d o n w a s n o longer simply a p r o b l e m 'sui generis',
b u t h a d b e c o m e a t h r e a t to n a t i o n a l life as a w h o l e . I n t h e 1 9 2 0 s ,
t h e p r o b l e m s o f m e t r o p o l i t a n e x p a n s i o n w e r e i d e n t i f i e d as i n t e r n a l
c o n g e s t i o n a n d co-ordination but in the 1930s opinion shifted. Within
the capital, L o n d o n ' s L a b o u r politicians raised the issues of equity
a n d the distribution of r e s o u r c e s . At the s a m e time, national politicians
a n d experts w e r e p r e s e n t i n g t h o s e s a m e issues as a p r o b l e m of
L o n d o n ' s relationship with the provinces. F r o m the national perspec
tive, L o n d o n ' s o v e r g r o w t h a n d the depression suffered in the regions
w e r e but t w o aspects of the s a m e problem. B y 1939, the L o n d o n ques
t i o n h a d b e c o m e a n a t i o n a l , i n t r a - r e g i o n a l i s s u e a s t h e i n e x o r a b l e 'drift
to the south-east' c o n t i n u e d .
The u r g e n c y of the p r o b l e m w a s increased as L o n d o n ' s continued
p h y s i c a l e x p a n s i o n a n d its g r o w i n g e c o n o m i c i m p o r t a n c e a p p e a r e d
vulnerable as n e v e r before. T h e experience of total w a r b e q u e a t h e d
n e w s o c i a l t e n s i o n s a n d f o r e b o d i n g s o f u n p r e c e d e n t e d h o r r o r still
126
L. Mumford, 'The Plan for London', in City Development: Studies in Disintegration
and Renewal (1947), p. 184.

526 P. L. G A R S I D E
to c o m e f r o m aerial b o m b a r d m e n t . T h e m e t r o p o l i s h a d l o n g s e e m e d
d a n g e r o u s ; in 1 9 1 9 a n d e v e n m o r e in 1 9 3 9 , it s e e m e d s i m p l y d i s a s
trous.
Despite the wealth of contemporary material and c o m m e n t , the his
t o r y o f i n t e r w a r a n d w a r t i m e L o n d o n is n e v e r t h e l e s s l a r g e l y u n w r i t
t e n . H o u s i n g a n d politics are t h e m a j o r e x c e p t i o n s to t h i s . F o r t h e
m o s t p a r t , w h i l e c o n t e m p o r a r y a c c o u n t s p r o v i d e a w e a l t h o f detail
o n L o n d o n ' s p h y s i c a l , e c o n o m i c a n d s o c i a l fabric, w e l a c k t h e n e c e s s
a r y s y n t h e s i s . M u c h o f t h e s e c o n d a r y d a t a s u c h as t h e c e n s u s r e m a i n
u n e x p l o r e d . T h e r e are n o a n a l y s e s o f L o n d o n ' s o v e r a l l s t r u c t u r e , a n d
o n l y a v e r y f e w i n t e n s i v e s t u d i e s o f t h e q u a l i t y o f m e t r o p o l i t a n life.
T h i s final s e c t i o n , t h e r e f o r e , is i n e v i t a b l y m o r e i m p r e s s i o n i s t i c a n d
s p e c u l a t i v e t h a n t h o s e t h a t h a v e g o n e b e f o r e . T h e m a j o r t h e m e s are
the nature of metropolitan growth a n d politics a n d their impact on
e n v i r o n m e n t a l m a n a g e m e n t , e s p e c i a l l y in t e r m s o f h o u s i n g a n d p l a n
ning policy.
The Armistice, peace and urban order
T h e A r m i s t i c e o f N o v e m b e r 1918 b r o u g h t relief f r o m h o s t i l i t i e s a b r o a d
a n d f r o m Z e p p e l i n s o v e r L o n d o n , b u t at t h e s a m e t i m e it b r o u g h t
t h e t h r e a t o f b i t t e r conflict at h o m e . E v i d e n c e f r o m c a b i n e t p a p e r s
s t r o n g l y s u g g e s t s a g r o w i n g fear o f i n s u r r e c t i o n a s t h e t r o o p s r e t u r n e d .
T h e i r d i s c i p l i n e a n d t r a i n i n g a c q u i r e d for w a r , it w a s f e a r e d , w o u l d
p r o v e d a n g e r o u s a s s e t s in a d i s a f f e c t e d w o r k i n g c l a s s w i t h t h e e x a m p l e
of r e c e n t B o l s h e v i k u p r i s i n g s in E u r o p e a n c a p i t a l s a n d i n R u s s i a b e f o r e
t h e m . T h e p r o s p e c t o f civil u n r e s t , e s p e c i a l l y i n L o n d o n , h a d a g a i n
b e c o m e a r e a l a n d a l a r m i n g p o s s i b i l i t y . L l o y d G e o r g e ' s ' H o m e s for
H e r o e s ' c a m p a i g n w a s tactically i n s t i g a t e d a s a m e a n s o f d e f u s i n g
potential revolution through the promise of a massive housing pro
g r a m m e w h o s e every aspect w a s i m b u e d with the social a n d architec
1 2 7
tural values of order, balance a n d h a r m o n y .
T h i s v i s i o n of s o c i a l h a r m o n y w a s e s p e c i a l l y difficult t o a c h i e v e in
L o n d o n . Rustic housing estates planned o n G a r d e n City lines and
separated from existing built-up areas w e r e the ideal, but p r o b l e m s
arose b e c a u s e of L o n d o n ' s existing size (the 1921 c e n s u s recorded
a p o p u l a t i o n o f 7 . 5 m i l l i o n for G r e a t e r L o n d o n ) a n d b e c a u s e o f its
127
M. Swenarton, Homes Fit for Heroes: The Politics and Architecture of Early State Housing
in Britain (1981).

fragmented governmental structure. H. de R. Walker, Progressive

Chairman of the L C C ' s Housing of the Working Classes Committee
l a m e n t e d this fragmentation a n d e x p r e s s e d a p p r e h e n s i o n that c h a o s
m i g h t e n s u e in a n y attempt to m o u n t an ambitious h o u s i n g pro
g r a m m e in the region. T m a y a d d ' , h e c o n t i n u e d enviously, 'that
s u c h a p r o b l e m w o u l d n o t a r i s e i n t h o s e o f t h e g r e a t p r o v i n c i a l cities
which, having extended their borders, have the whole matter within
t h e i r s u r v e y , a n d a r e a b l e t o s o l v e it w i t h i n t h e l i m i t s o f t h e i r o w n
1 2 8
municipal area.' T h e urgency of the immediate situation m e a n t that
efforts t o r e f o r m L o n d o n g o v e r n m e n t h a d to b e s h e l v e d a n d p o l i c y
m a k i n g in L o n d o n b e c a m e increasingly d e p e n d e n t o n bargainings,
compromises, action and counteraction b e t w e e n the parties c o n c e r n e d
at n a t i o n a l , r e g i o n a l a n d local l e v e l . T h e effect w a s t o a t t e n u a t e t h e
links b e t w e e n L o n d o n ' s problems and the objectives and outcomes
of p o l i c y .
The postwar debate about L o n d o n ' s housing, the 'Greater London
H o u s i n g C a m p a i g n ' a n d the reform of local g o v e r n m e n t revolved
a r o u n d t h e future o f t h e L C C . I n 1 9 1 9 , P r o g r e s s i v e a n d M u n i c i p a l
R e f o r m l e a d e r s at C o u n t y H a l l a n d t h e M i n i s t e r o f H e a l t h all s e e m e d
to agree that L o n d o n g o v e r n m e n t s h o u l d b e reviewed, a n d that in
the m e a n t i m e the L C C s h o u l d 'take the l e a d ' in m e e t i n g h o u s i n g
needs throughout the Conurbation. T h e reaction of the outer areas
was, h o w e v e r , b o t h h o s t i l e a n d w e l l o r g a n i s e d . S u b u r b a n fears o f
invasion a n d annexation p r o v o k e d powerful resistance to the L C C
- a 'wolf o n the p r o w l ' stalking defenceless rural ' c h i c k e n s ' to provide
sites for v a s t w o r k i n g - c l a s s h o u s i n g e s t a t e s . I n 1 9 2 0 , t h e M i n i s t r y o f
Health's Committee on Unhealthy Areas had c a l l e d for London
g o v e r n m e n t to b e unified, but b y 1923 a Royal C o m m i s s i o n o n L o n d o n
G o v e r n m e n t o p p o s e d a n y c h a n g e , r e c o g n i s i n g t h a t a n y a t t e m p t to
extend the authority of the L C C would provoke such extensive oppo
s i t i o n a s t o r e n d e r p r o p o s a l s futile. M u n i c i p a l R e f o r m e r s a l s o r e v e r t e d
to opposition - their misgivings w e r e partly b a s e d on the g r o u n d s
o f efficiency, b u t t o a g r e a t e x t e n t t h e y f e a r e d t h e t h r e a t t h a t a G r e a t e r
L o n d o n a u t h o r i t y w o u l d p o s e t o n a t i o n a l g o v e r n m e n t b e c a u s e o f its
scale, and b e c a u s e such aggrandisement represented 'a part of the
p l a n for t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f S o c i a l i s m ' . F e w s u p p o r t e r s o f a G r e a t e r
L o n d o n authority remained, and throughout the interwar period the
Quoted in Young and Garside, Metropolitan London, p. 148.

528 P. L. G A R S ID E
L C C faced a defensive alliance of suburban authorities a n d a 'delicate,

1 2 9
d i p l o m a t i c s i t u a t i o n ' in d e a l i n g w i t h t h e m .
T h e ' H o m e s for H e r o e s ' c a m p a i g n n e v e r t h e l e s s p l a c e d a m a j o r h o u s
ing responsibility on the L C C , and the President of the Local G o v e r n
m e n t B o a r d , H a y e s F i s h e r , specifically e n j o i n e d t h e L C C to g i v e ' a
c e r t a i n a m o u n t o f l e a d i n g light a n d g u i d a n c e ' o v e r t h e w h o l e m e t r o p o
litan a r e a . S u b u r b a n o p p o s i t i o n , h o w e v e r , s h a p e d t h e L C C ' s activi
ties, c o n f i n i n g its e s t a t e s t o a r e a s o f l o w social s t a t u s a n d c o m p l i a n t
local c o u n c i l s m a i n l y to t h e s o u t h a n d e a s t o f L o n d o n . T h e s c a l e o f
L C C housing operations where conditions proved favourable only
s e r v e d to s t r e n g t h e n o p p o s i t i o n e l s e w h e r e . T h e v i s u a l a n d social
i m p a c t o f B e c o n t r e e , set d o w n in t h e E s s e x m a r s h e s , c o u l d o n l y rein
force t h e m i s g i v i n g s o f s u b u r b a n authorities. Absolute resistance
s e e m e d t h e o n l y v i a b l e s t r a t e g y . W h e r e c h i n k s a p p e a r e d in s u b u r b a n
defences, the L C C poured through, building more than 17,000 houses
in t h e H o m e C o u n t i e s b e t w e e n 1 9 1 9 a n d 1 9 2 9 , 1 3 , 0 0 0 o f t h e m at B e c o n
tree.
Social polarisation and the 'unhealthy areas'
It w a s q u i c k l y a p p a r e n t at t h e t i m e , a n d h a s g e n e r a l l y b e e n a g r e e d
s i n c e , t h a t t h e s u b u r b a n e s t a t e s c r e a t e d i n t h e 1 9 2 0 s d i d little t o m e e t
t h e g e n e r a l n e e d s of L o n d o n ' s s l u m - d w e l l e r s a n d still l e s s t o s o l v e
the problem of the ' r e s i d u u m ' . T h e 1921 census s h o w e d that the
c o l l a p s e of t h e p r i v a t e h o u s i n g m a r k e t w a s t r a p p i n g a w i d e social
r a n g e of n e w l y f o r m e d h o u s e h o l d s in L o n d o n ' s i n n e r a r e a s . M a j o r
H a r r y B a r n e s , a l e a d i n g L a b o u r m e m b e r o f t h e L C C w r o t e in 1 9 2 5
t h a t ' O v e r c r o w d i n g in L o n d o n is d e v e l o p i n g a n e w a n d s i n i s t e r a s p e c t
. . . It is s p r e a d i n g a n d r a p i d l y m a k i n g i n n e r L o n d o n i n t o o n e v a s t
s l u m . H a r d w o r k i n g , s e l f - r e s p e c t i n g p e o p l e . . . are n o w living in h i d
d e n d e n s t h a t are n o t fit t o h o u s e t h e m o s t d e g r a d e d o f h u m a n
1 3 0
beings.' It w a s t h e s e n e w l y a n d ' u n j u s t i f i a b l y ' o v e r c r o w d e d p e o p l e
t h a t t h e ' H o m e s for H e r o e s ' c a m p a i g n a i m e d t o h e l p - e s t a b l i s h i n g
a n e w definition o f t h e d e s e r v i n g a n d t h e u n d e s e r v i n g w h i c h c o u l d
c o m m a n d immediate and wide support. T h e problem of the old-estab
l i s h e d s l u m s w a s c o n s c i o u s l y a n d d e l i b e r a t e l y s h e l v e d b y civil s e r v a n t s
Ibid., 126-39.
Major H. Barnes, T h e Slum Problem', Journal of the Town Planning Institute, 13
(1926-7), p. 148.

and ministers w h o recognised the extent of 'unhealthy areas' but could

131
see n o m e a n s of confronting t h e m p u b l i c l y .
The r a d i c a l p r o p o s a l s o f t h e U n h e a l t h y A r e a s C o m m i t t e e for a
r e g i o n a l g o v e r n m e n t w i t h w i d e p l a n n i n g p o w e r s for L o n d o n d e r i v e d
f r o m its o r i g i n a l b r i e f ' t o e x p l o r e f u r t h e r s o m e o f t h e v e r y difficult
questions relating to s l u m a r e a s ' in t h e capital. T h e scale a n d costliness
of t h e r e p l a n n i n g a n d t h e d e v e l o p m e n t p r o p o s e d a l a r m e d M i n i s t r y
of H e a l t h officials: e v e n t h o u g h t h e M i n i s t r y a c k n o w l e d g e d t h a t c o n
ditions in L o n d o n slums w e r e 'atrocious' t h e y w e r e unwilling to inves
tigate or discuss this publicly because of the effect on public
expectations. T h e true extent of the 'lamentable conditions' that
existed h a d to remain hidden, slum clearance s c h e m e s were delibera
t e l y a l l o w e d t o ' p r o c e e d s l o w l y ' t h r o u g h W h i t e h a l l , a n d official p o l i c y
r e s t e d o n l i m i t e d , t o k e n activity - ' p a t c h r e p a i r s ' o f unfit h o u s e s ,
a n d m a n a g e m e n t o f t h e w o r s t p r o p e r t y o n O c t a v i a Hill l i n e s to s e c u r e
' a s little d e t e r i o r a t i o n a s p o s s i b l e ' . It w a s , at b e s t , a c o s m e t i c h o l d i n g
operation, a gesture that something was being done. During the 1920s,
t h e calls o f e u g e n i s t s t h a t p u b l i c h e a l t h r e q u i r e d t h e c o n t r o l l e d b r e e d
ing of p e o p l e living in slums w a s h e a r d with r e n e w e d insistence as
conditions there worsened and the policy v a c u u m persisted.
In t h e l a t e 1 9 2 0 s , it c o u l d n o l o n g e r b e d e n i e d t h a t s o m e n e w g r o u n d
h a d t o b e d e f i n e d o n w h i c h to b a s e future h o u s i n g p o l i c y . P o l i t i c a l
a n d social m i s g i v i n g s a b o u t t h e w i s d o m o f t h e L C C ' s s u b u r b a n e s t a t e -
building programme and the consequent neglect of the slums were
reinforced b y the c o n s e q u e n c e s of a private sector house-building revi
val, o n l y briefly i n t e r r u p t e d b y t h e 1 9 2 9 - 3 1 s l u m p . C o m p e t i t i o n for
scarce sites in outer L o n d o n intensified a n d the opposition of s u b u r b a n
local a u t h o r i t i e s to t h e L C C i n c r e a s e d . T h e h o u s i n g r e c o r d o f t h e
Municipal Reform party b e c a m e a prominent election issue. By the
e n d of 1933, only 118 dwellings h a d b e e n c o m p l e t e d out of a target
of 2 , 0 0 0 . H e r b e r t M o r r i s o n ' s L a b o u r m e m b e r s o n t h e L C C c o m m i t t e d
t h e m s e l v e s to replacing this 'as a n d w h e n ' h o u s i n g policy with 'plan
1 3 2
and drive', ending the slums with 'a vigorous rehousing drive'.
The e m p h a s i s c h a n g e d from suburban cottage estates to building
dwellings in or near the centre of L o n d o n . T h e h u g e dormitory cottage
estates w e r e c o n d e m n e d as 'depressingly uniform', a n d ' o f n o practi
cal u s e t o m o s t f a m i l i e s l i v i n g i n s l u m h o u s e s o r in o v e r c r o w d e d
131
P. L . Garside, '"Unhealthy Areas": Town Planning and the Slums', Planning
Perspectives, 2 (1987).
132
H. Morrison, 'Plans for London', Geographical Magazine, 8 (1938), p. 83.

530 P. L . G A R S I D E
1 3 3
conditions'. After L a b o u r ' s victory in the L C C elections of 1934,
policy shifted t o w a r d s clearance a n d r e d e v e l o p m e n t in 'unhealthy
areas' and the pace of building quickened considerably. Nevertheless,
if s i t e s c l o s e t o t h e p e r i p h e r y o f L o n d o n b e c a m e a v a i l a b l e a t t e m p t s
c o n t i n u e d to b e m a d e to secure t h e m . Despite the c h a n g e of e m p h a s i s ,
a n o p p o r t u n i s t i c h o u s i n g p o l i c y c o n t i n u e d to b e p u r s u e d . I n E s s e x ,
a f u r t h e r 1 , 0 0 0 a c r e s at F a i r l o p P l a i n w a s a c q u i r e d b y t h e L C C in
1 9 3 5 d e s p i t e t h e o p p o s i t i o n o f Ilford C o u n c i l . W i t h i n t h e A d m i n i s t r a
t i v e C o u n t y itself, f o u r b o r o u g h s r e c e i v e d h a l f o f t h e L C C ' s e n t i r e
building programme in the late 1930s - C a m b e r w e l l , L e w i s h a m ,
Wandsworth a n d L a m b e t h , whilst in others the L C C w a s totally
excluded. T h e correlation of housing stress with L C C house-building
in L o n d o n w a s p o o r , a n d t h e l o c a t i o n o f flats w a s d e t e r m i n e d n o t
b y h o u s i n g n e e d , b u t b y t h e political c o m p l e x i o n o f t h e l o c a l b o r o u g h
c o u n c i l a n d t h e availability o f s i t e s . M o r r i s o n a n d t h e L o n d o n L a b o u r
party a c c e p t e d this c o n t a i n m e n t as the price of low-profile politics
a n d m i n i m u m c o s t p o l i c i e s d e s i g n e d t o r e s t o r e a b o v e all L a b o u r ' s
fitness t o g o v e r n after t h e d e b a c l e o f 1 9 3 1 . I n t h e p r o c e s s , t h e face
of l a r g e p a r t s o f L o n d o n w a s t r a n s f o r m e d b y r a n k s o f f i v e - s t o r e y h i g h -
d e n s i t y flats. G r e e n w o o d c o m m e n t e d t h a t ' L o n d o n h a s i n d e e d s u c
c u m b e d t o t h e " f l a t " m e t h o d o f a c c o m m o d a t i o n to a g r e a t e r d e g r e e
, 1 3 4
than any other part of the c o u n t r y .
L e s s s a n g u i n e in h i s a t t i t u d e w a s F r e d e r i c O s b o r n , o n e o f t h e o r i g i n a l
and most vociferous advocates of Garden Cities. O s b o r n derided the
options o p e n to L o n d o n e r s of a centrally located t e n e m e n t or a subur
b a n h o u s e a n d garden. ' T h u s the L o n d o n e r has to c h o o s e b e t w e e n
b e i n g a rat i n a d r a i n o r a s q u i r r e l i n a c a g e ' , h e r a g e d . N e i t h e r d e c e n t r a
lisation into G a r d e n Cities, n o r large-scale r e d e v e l o p m e n t of L o n d o n ' s
c o n g e s t e d a r e a s c o u l d find m u c h s u p p o r t a m o n g p o l i c y - m a k e r s b e f o r e
the e n d of the 1930s. T h e n e e d to p r o m o t e e c o n o m i c growth and
enterprise a n d the pursuit of self-interest b y politicians, property
o w n e r s a n d s p e c u l a t o r s alike stifled a t t e m p t s to l e g i s l a t e for a b r o a d e r
1 3 5
approach. S u c h limitations e n a b l e d b a c k w a t e r s such as C a m p b e l l
B u n k in N o r t h Islington to survive, stigmatising t h o u s a n d s of L o n
d o n ' s Tumpenproletariat' simply b y virtue of their address, while
p r o v i d i n g t h e m w i t h t h e n e c e s s a r y a r e n a for t h e ' w h i r l w i n d o f m o t i o n '
133
London Labour party, A Housing Policy for London (1934).
134
Introduction to H. Bingham Ashworth, Flats: Design and Equipment (1936).
135
Garside, '"Unhealthy A r e a s ' " , and P. L . Garside, 'Town Planning in London
1930-1961: A Study of Pressures, Interests and Influences Affecting the Formation
of Policy' (unpublished PhD thesis, University of London, 1979).

t h a t w a s t h e life o f t h e c a s u a l l y s e l f - e m p l o y e d . I n s u c h p l a c e s , ' t h e
v e r y p o o r h e l p e d the v e r y p o o r within the c o n s t r a i n e d limits of their
p o v e r t y ' b u t s u p p o r t v i e d w i t h c o m p e t i t i o n a n d at t i m e s t h e p e o p l e
of C a m p b e l l B u n k f o u g h t a m o n g t h e m s e l v e s for t h e little t h a t w a s
a v a i l a b l e i n a ' d o g - e a t - d o g ' affair. T h e s e p a r a t e n e s s o f e n c l a v e s like
C a m p b e l l B u n k w a s e n s u r e d b y t h e i r v e r y life s t y l e - t h e fights, t h e
s l a n g , t h e g a n g a c t i v i t i e s . C a m p b e l l B u n k is a v i v i d e x a m p l e o f a s u b -
c u l t u r a l z o n e t h a t r e m a i n e d u n a s s i m i l a t e d i n t o L o n d o n life u n t i l after
1950. T h e contrast with the n e w working-class ' n o r m ' of tenement
b l o c k s w a s s t r o n g , b u t t h a t w i t h t h e n e w l y built s u b u r b s w a s e x t r e m e .
In their healthiness, orderliness and quietness, the suburbs presented
a w h o l l y different s c e n e , w h e r e life c e n t r e d o n h o m e a n d f a m i l y , a n d
i n t e r e s t s r e v o l v e d a r o u n d ' c r i c k e t a n d football r e s u l t s , b o o k - t a l k , l o v e -
1 3 6
m a k i n g , c r o q u e t a n d t e n n i s p a r t i e s for y o u n g m e n a n d women'.
T h e r e a l i t i e s o f life i n L o n d o n s l u m s m u s t i n d e e d h a v e s e e m e d r e m o t e
a n d b e y o n d imagining. A s L o r d M o y n e c o m m e n t e d in 1934, ' M a n y
i n t e r e s t s w e r e c o m b i n i n g t o c a u s e t h e w e l l - t o - d o a n d t h e p o o r to live
137
apart in separate territories.'
Semi-detached London
T o a considerable extent, the social polarisation of L o n d o n , the rise

of L a b o u r to p o w e r , a n d t h e L C C ' s r e t r e a t f r o m o u t - c o u n t y e s t a t e s ,
all d e r i v e d f r o m t h e s a m e s e t o f c i r c u m s t a n c e s - t h e r e s u r g e n c e o f
L o n d o n ' s growth and the continued exodus of people from the County
of L o n d o n . W h i l e the inner L o n d o n population c o n t i n u e d to decline,
the surrounding areas grew by more than a million b e t w e e n 1921
a n d 1 9 3 1 . A s C h a m b e r l a i n g r a p h i c a l l y p o i n t e d o u t in 1 9 2 7 , ' a city
1 3 8
the size of M a n c h e s t e r h a s b e e n a d d e d to L o n d o n since the W a r ' .
M i g r a t i o n f r o m a r e a s as far a w a y as N o r t h u m b e r l a n d a n d G l a m o r g a n
made a significant contribution to London's suburban growth,
a c c o u n t i n g for two-fifths o f t h e t o t a l p o p u l a t i o n i n c r e a s e - t h e r e s t
139
being supplied b y natural growth of the existing population. The
m a j o r Contibutor t o s u b u r b a n e x p a n s i o n w a s t h e p r i v a t e b u i l d e r w h o
J. White, 'Campbell Bunk: A Lumpen Community in London between the Wars',

History Workshop Journal, 8 (1979), pp. 2-42.
The Times, 23 March 1934.
Young and Garside, Metropolitan London, pp. 2 0 0 - 1 .
D. Friedlander and R. J. Roshier, 'A Study of Internal Migration in England and
Wales: Part V, Population Studies, 19 (1965-6), p. 264.

532 P. L. G A R S I D E
c o n t r i b u t e d 8 0 p e r c e n t o f all t h e h o u s e s b u i l t in t h e C o n u r b a t i o n
b e t w e e n the wars. T h e c o n n e c t i o n s b e t w e e n s u b u r b a n living, o w n e r -
o c c u p a t i o n a n d r i s i n g social s t a t u s w e r e b e i n g f o r g e d a n d r e i n f o r c e d
in the H o m e C o u n t i e s especially in the area b e t w e e n the Administra
tive C o u n t y a n d the C o n u r b a t i o n b o u n d a r i e s .
N e v e r t h e l e s s , m a n y o f t h e o u t e r districts i n t h e C o n u r b a t i o n w e r e
only loosely tied to L o n d o n as a w h o l e a n d m a n y r e m a i n e d ' b e y o n d
t h e daily s p h e r e o f i n f l u e n c e ' o f t h e m e t r o p o l i s . P l a c e s s u c h as O r p
i n g t o n , B e x l e y , C h i s l e h u r s t a n d S i d c u p in K e n t , B e n s t e a d , E p s o m
a n d E s h e r i n S u r r e y , a n d o t h e r s in H e r t f o r d s h i r e , M i d d l e s e x a n d E s s e x
s a w l e s s t h a n 15 p e r c e n t o f t h e i r o c c u p i e d ' n i g h t p o p u l a t i o n ' t a k i n g
t h e m o r n i n g t r a i n to L o n d o n . G e n e r a l l y , j o u r n e y s to w o r k t h r o u g h o u t
t h e C o n u r b a t i o n w e r e local, w i t h i n t h e i m m e d i a t e or n e i g h b o u r i n g
districts f r o m t h e h o m e . O n l y t h e c e n t r e o f L o n d o n e x e r c i s e d a n y
l o n g - d i s t a n c e a t t r a c t i o n for e m p l o y m e n t - o n e t h i r d o f its w o r k e r s
j o u r n e y e d from h o m e s b e y o n d the C o u n t y , t h o u g h only o n e sixth
1 4 0
c a m e from the outer fringes of the C o n u r b a t i o n . A l m o s t all o f t h e s e
commuters were male. M a n y suburban a r e a s w e r e l a r g e l y self-
contained economically, especially w h e r e unskilled or semi-skilled
j o b s offered e m p l o y m e n t for a r e s i d e n t w o r k i n g - c l a s s population.
B e t w e e n 1 9 3 2 a n d 1 9 3 6 , a l m o s t h a l f o f all n e w f a c t o r i e s e m p l o y i n g
m o r e t h a n twenty-three p e r s o n s w h i c h o p e n e d in G r e a t e r L o n d o n
w e r e l o c a t e d in t h e o u t e r s u b u r b s . T h e w e s t e r n a p p r o a c h e s o f t h e
A 4 0 to the Midlands, a n d the U p p e r L e a valley suburbs of Enfield
a n d E d m o n t o n w e r e particularly favoured, a n d the m o d e r n functional
a r c h i t e c t u r e o f t h e n e w f a c t o r i e s o f H o o v e r a n d F i r e s t o n e in H o u n s l o w
symbolised the n e w industrial order.
E v e n m i d d l e - c l a s s s u b u r b s w e r e c o m i n g to offer a n i n c r e a s i n g r a n g e
of e m p l o y m e n t , m o r e e s p e c i a l l y for m e n , t h o u g h l e s s s o for w o m e n .
T h e expansion of shops, transport, education and other services pro
v i d e d v a r i e d a n d r e l a t i v e l y s e c u r e , if n o t a l w a y s h i g h l y p a i d , e m p l o y
m e n t . T h e suburbs provided their o w n rich recreational mix of clubs
and societies, cinemas and music halls, and the roads were a h a v e n
for t h e m o t o r i s t a n d cyclist. M a n y h a n d s w e r e n e e d e d to c a t e r for
t h e s e eclectic l e i s u r e o u t l e t s . F o r m a n y , L o n d o n r e m a i n e d s i m p l y ' t h e
s m o k e ' t o b e v i s i t e d , if at all, o n l y for c e r e m o n i a l o c c a s i o n s a n d s p e c i a l
ist s e r v i c e s . D e v e l o p e r s m i g h t r e s o r t to ' h a r d - s e l l ' t e c h n i q u e s to
140
J. H. Westergaard, 'The Structure of Greater London', in Ruth Glass, ed., London:
Aspects of Change (1964), p. 105.

capture individual buyers, but the general appeal of suburban life

1 4 1
was unmistakable by the 1930s.
T h e a p p a r e n t l y e n d l e s s flood o f L o n d o n ' s s u b u r b s i n t h e i n t e r w a r
period raised continually and insistently the dual problem of compre
h e n s i o n a n d a p p r o p r i a t e a c t i o n . It s e e m e d i m p o s s i b l e for L o n d o n e r s
a n y l o n g e r to h a v e a d i s t i n c t i m a g e o f t h e m e t r o p o l i s in its e n t i r e t y .
E v e n t h e efforts o f c a r t o g r a p h e r s w h i c h h a d e n a b l e d n i n e t e e n t h - c e n
t u r y r e s i d e n t s a n d v i s i t o r s to m a p t h e city n o l o n g e r p r o v i d e d a u s a b l e
g u i d e . L o n d o n c a m e t o b e r e p r e s e n t e d n o t b y its a c t u a l s h a p e , b u t
by a series of abstract diagrams, each a specialised representation
of L o n d o n for s o m e specific o r p a r t i c u l a r p u r p o s e . T h e m o s t s t r i k i n g
e x a m p l e o f t h e c h a n g e is t h e r e a l i g n m e n t o f L o n d o n ' s u n d e r g r o u n d
s y s t e m b y F r a n k P i c k . A b a n d o n i n g l i n k s w i t h t h e real w o r l d a b o v e ,
Pick's 'tube m a p ' recast the Underground into a rationalised but
1 4 2
unrealistic diagram of suburban and subterranean l i n e s . A whole
r a n g e o f s u c h ' u r b a n e x p e r t s ' c a m e to t h e fore in t h e 1 9 3 0 s , e a c h
p r e s e n t i n g t h e i r o w n s t y l i s e d v e r s i o n o f L o n d o n . Traffic e n g i n e e r s
a n d t o w n p l a n n e r s w e r e at t h e c e n t r e o f t h i s k i n d o f activity as
t h e y s o u g h t to d e v i s e w a y s o f b r i n g i n g o r d e r f r o m d i s o r d e r , and
control from c h a o s . B y s u p e r i m p o s i n g a simplified plan onto the un
c o o r d i n a t e d a n d a n a r c h i c m i x t u r e o f L o n d o n life, t h e m e d i u m c a m e
to b e i d e n t i f i e d w i t h t h e m e s s a g e - t h e p r o c e s s o f p l a n - m a k i n g a n d
t h e a c h i e v e m e n t o f o r d e r e d u r b a n m a n a g e m e n t w e r e p r e s e n t e d as
essentially the s a m e thing.
T h e c l a i m o f p l a n n e r s to k n o w L o n d o n i n a n e w a n d a u t h o r i t a t i v e
w a y did not, h o w e v e r , carry the day until the very e n d of the 1930s.
T h e demise of the Greater L o n d o n Regional Planning C o m m i t t e e ,
the 'butchering' of the 1932 T o w n and Country Planning Act, the
narrow c o m p a s s of the L C C ' s t o w n planning s c h e m e s , and the piece
m e a l i m p l e m e n t a t i o n o f t h e L o n d o n G r e e n B e l t all illustrate t h e p r e
vailing p o w e r of the status q u o - not only in terms of e c o n o m i c a n d
i n d u s t r i a l i n t e r e s t s , b u t a l s o in t e r m s o f e x i s t i n g political a n d a d m i n i s
t r a t i v e s t r u c t u r e s a n d p r e v a i l i n g political n o r m s . A b o v e all, t h e ' b u r
eaucratic m a c h i n e politics' of Herbert M o r r i s o n ' s L o n d o n Labour
party reinforced rather than challenged those norms and structures
1 4 3
i n p l a n n i n g , as i n h o u s i n g .
141
A. A. Jackson, Semi-Detached London: Suburban Development, Life and Transport, 1900-
39 (1973).
142
Garside, 'West End, East End', p. 252.
143
G. W. Jones and B. Donoughue, Herbert Morrison: Portrait of a Politician (1973).

534 P. L . G A R S I D E
Neither central L o n d o n n o r the L o n d o n region w a s recast in the

1 9 3 0 s . T h e d e s i r e to d e a l w i t h L o n d o n ' s g r o w t h i n a c o m p r e h e n s i v e
m a n n e r , a n d at a s c a l e d i c t a t e d b y ' n a t u r a l ' b o u n d a r i e s f a l t e r e d l a r g e l y
b e c a u s e o f t h e c o n s t i t u t i o n a l a n d political q u e s t i o n s t h a t w e r e i n e v i
t a b l y r a i s e d . A s t h e S e c o n d W o r l d W a r a p p r o a c h e d , it w a s t h e r e a l i t y
of London rather than any planner's s c h e m e that demanded a
r e s p o n s e . I n a s e r i e s o f articles p u b l i s h e d i n 1 9 3 8 a n d 1 9 3 9 , The Econom
ist a n d t h e Spectator a s k e d ' C a n W e S c r a p L o n d o n ? ' a n d ' W h y L o n
d o n ? ' . L l e w e l l y n S m i t h h a d c o n c l u d e d h i s n i n e - v o l u m e Survey of
London Life and Labour w i t h a n affirmation o f h o p e i n L o n d o n ' s vitality
d e s p i t e t h e dire p o v e r t y o f h a l f a m i l l i o n o f its p e o p l e . Clough
Williams-Ellis recognised that the fashion w a s 'to deplore the size
of L o n d o n ' , b u t t h e e d i t o r o f The Economist c o n c l u d e d t h a t i n e c o n o m i c
t e r m s t h e c o n t i n u e d g r o w t h o f L o n d o n h a d b e e n a c l e a r g a i n for t h e
1 4 4
nation. Not even the Royal Commission on the Distribution of the
Industrial Population appointed in 1937 could d e n y t h e e c o n o m i c con
t r i b u t i o n of L o n d o n , w h a t e v e r its w i d e r s o c i a l effects.
War and the re-evaluation of London
W a r , it s e e m e d , w a s t h e o n e f a c t o r t h a t c o u l d shift t h e b a l a n c e o f
opinion. W h e n he announced the appointment of the Barlow C o m m i s
s i o n , E r n e s t B r o w n , M i n i s t e r o f L a b o u r , h a d r e f e r r e d specifically t o
strategic considerations. ' T h e e x t e n s i o n of industry in G r e a t e r L o n
d o n ' , h e s a i d , ' g i v e s rise t o g r a v e p r o b l e m s , n o t m e r e l y o f i n d u s t r y ,
but of h e a l t h , communications, and vulnerability from the air.' M a n y
people shared Bertrand Russell's view that 'an avalanche of terror'
w o u l d follow an outbreak of w a r as L o n d o n w a s 'levelled to the
1 4 5
ground'. For 'the clean sheet' that L o n d o n w o u l d then present,
a c h o i c e o f p l a n s w a s at h a n d - t h e r e m i g h t b e t h e G a r d e n C i t y m o d e l
of total d i s p e r s a l , o r G a r d e n S u b u r b s a r o u n d a c e n t r a l city, o r t h e
e c o n o m i c / f u n c t i o n a l m o d e l s e t o u t b y t h e M A R S g r o u p , o r t h e arterial/
1 4 6
architectural m o d e of Bressey and the Royal A c a d e m y . W h e n war
finally c a m e , t h e ' B l i t z ' b r o u g h t f e a r s o m e , b u t far f r o m total, d e v a s
t a t i o n t o L o n d o n . N e i t h e r t h e p h y s i c a l fabric n o r t h e institutional
f r a m e w o r k w a s s w e p t a w a y . D e s p i t e t h e swift p r e p a r a t i o n of the
144
C. Williams-Ellis, 'Can W e Scrap London?', Spectator, 11 November 1938; idem,
'Why London?', The Economist, 18 February 1939.
145
B. Russell, Which Way to Peace? (1936), p.37.
146
D. Foley, Controlling London's Growth: Planning the Great Wen 1940-1960 (London
and Los Angeles, 1963), pp. 46-50.

County of L o n d o n and Greater L o n d o n Plans - those pinnacles of

diagrammatic blueprint p l a n n i n g - the reality c o n t i n u e d to b e that
o f ad hoc, i n c r e m e n t a l a d j u s t m e n t . T h e e m p h a s i s s h i f t e d f r o m p h y s i c a l
reconstruction to e c o n o m i c revival a n d Sir G w i l y m G i b b o n , retired
Director of the Local G o v e r n m e n t Division of the Ministry of Health
w a s q u i c k to u r g e all c o n c e r n e d t h a t r e c o n s t r u c t i o n m u s t t a k e t h e
f o r m o f 'filling i n g a p s , s o m e b i g , s o m e s m a l l , n o t o f p r o v i d i n g a
w h o l e plate'. 'Resourceful o p p o r t u n i s m ' h a d b e e n , a n d w a s to remain,
1 4 7
the mainstay of redevelopment in L o n d o n .
A s t h e w a r d r e w to a c l o s e , t h e b e l i e f t h a t ' L o n d o n m u s t a n d s h a l l
1 4 8
remain London' gained ground. Lord Latham, Labour leader of
t h e L C C d e c l a r e d , ' L o n d o n is L o n d o n . It is i m m e n s e , m a y b e t o o
i m m e n s e , b u t it is h e r e , a l i v i n g , vital h u m a n fact, a n d a n y u n r e a s o n
a b l e a t t e m p t f o r c i b l y t o r e d u c e it c o u l d d o i n c a l c u l a b l e h a r m s o c i a l l y
a n d e c o n o m i c a l l y . ' W a r h a d i n fact d e m o n s t r a t e d n o t t h e m o n s t r o u s
149
folly o f L o n d o n , b u t r a t h e r its s t r e n g t h a n d r e s i l i e n c e . London's
p r i d e i n its ability t o s o l v e its o w n p r o b l e m s , f o s t e r e d b y M o r r i s o n
in the 1930s, h a d b e e n reinforced. T h e p o w e r of L o n d o n ' s institutions
to resist, ignore or modify the v i e w s of experts w a s secured. T h e
r e a l i s a t i o n o f A b e r c r o m b i e ' s p o s t w a r v i s i o n for L o n d o n d e p e n d e d o n
g o v e r n m e n t intervention in the structure of landownership and mar
ket values, in t h e e x t e n s i o n of planning p o w e r s a n d in the institutions
of local, r e g i o n a l a n d n a t i o n a l g o v e r n m e n t . T h e p o s t w a r distortion
of t h e d r e a m w a s i n e v i t a b l e b e c a u s e t h e s e m a t t e r s p r o v e d t o o c o n t e n
t i o u s a n d difficult to r e s o l v e , e x i s t i n g e c o n o m i c a n d political s t r u c t u r e s
remained unaltered, and London's entrenched principalities and
powers reasserted their influence. Most important, Morrison's
L o n d o n L a b o u r p a r t y c o n t i n u e d t o d o m i n a t e t h e p o s t w a r political
s c e n e , a d v i s e d b y a v i r t u a l l y u n c h a n g e d g r o u p o f L C C officials.
Postwar reconstruction
I n t h e p o s t w a r d e c a d e , t h e g o v e r n m e n t ' s p r i o r i t i e s w e r e to r e v i v e
the British e c o n o m y in a world u n d e r g o i n g fundamental trading rea
lignments, a n d to create a c o m p r e h e n s i v e welfare state. At the e n d
of t h e F i r s t W o r l d W a r , b y c o n t r a s t , a n y s u c h e c o n o m i c a n d s o c i a l
objectives had b e e n subsumed in the physical p r o g r a m m e of the
147
Young and Garside, Metropolitan London, pp. 231-2.
148
W. H. Ansell, 'The London of the Future', Journal of the Royal Society of Arts,
18 April 1941, p. 317.
149
Young and Garside, Metropolitan London, pp. 232-4.

536 P. L . G A R S I D E
' H o m e s for H e r o e s ' c a m p a i g n . I n 1 9 4 5 , h o u s i n g a n d t o w n p l a n n i n g

w a s o n l y o n e e l e m e n t i n t h e n e w L a b o u r g o v e r n m e n t ' s b r o a d social
programme, and in many respects physical reconstruction was
r e g a r d e d as a s u b s i d i a r y a i m . L o n d o n ' s c e n t r a l e c o n o m i c i m p o r t a n c e
e n s u r e d its c o n t i n u e d d o m i n a n c e a n d e x p a n s i o n w h a t e v e r m i s g i v i n g s
from a physical and aesthetic viewpoint there might b e .
W i t h so m a n y social boundaries b e i n g r e d r a w n , c o m p r o m i s e o n
physical objectives s e e m e d b o t h reasonable a n d practical. Excessive
i n s i s t e n c e o n i d e a l s c h e m e s s u c h as t h e G r e a t e r L o n d o n P l a n w a s
s e e n as c o u n t e r - p r o d u c t i v e s i n c e it w o u l d ' p a r a l y s e t h e c o l l a b o r a t i o n
b e t w e e n central a n d local authorities, a n d private interests o n w h i c h
p o s t w a r d e v e l o p m e n t w o u l d d e p e n d ' . The Economist took up the
t h e m e t h a t ' H o u s e s will h a v e t o b e e r e c t e d at o n c e w h e n t h e w a r
is o v e r , a n d as t h e y c a n n o t b e p u t w h e r e t h e y o u g h t t o g o , t h e y
1 5 0
will g o w h e r e t h e y c a n . ' T h e general conclusion w a s that 'only
b y a c o l d a s s e s s m e n t of t h e realities c a n t h e b e s t p o s s i b l e r e s u l t s b e
a c h i e v e d ' . A r e t r e a t f r o m t h e i d e a l i s m o f t h e w a r t i m e p l a n s for L o n d o n
w a s w e l c o m e d , n o t o n l y b y p o l i t i c i a n s a n d officials o f t h e L C C , b u t
a l s o b y t h o s e in t h e H o m e C o u n t i e s a n d e s p e c i a l l y in M i d d l e s e x . T h e r e
was general agreement that 'the planners have very properly had
their vision', but that actual reconstruction w o u l d proceed on less
1 5 1
ambitious lines. J o h n Hare, o n e of the leading Conservatives on
the L C C , s u m m e d up the situation:
The LCC had paid lip-service to Abercrombie, but its actions had belied that
lip-service . . . Instead, there has been a policy of grabbing land wherever
it can be found, irrespective of the interests of its neighbours and of the
Green Belt, and irrespective even of the health and interests of those people
152
who are in fact going to be rehoused in those sites.
N o t s u r p r i s i n g l y , t h e r e f o r e , p o s t w a r L o n d o n t o o k o n t h e f o r m familiar
from the interwar years, with a well-defined centre, the inner suburbs
c o n t a i n e d within a roughly circular G r e e n Belt, but with rapid e c o n
o m i c g r o w t h o n t h e f r i n g e s o n l y p a r t l y o r g a n i s e d i n t o specific c e n t r e s .
The re-establishment of old patterns, and especially the L C C ' s 'land-
g r a b ' t a c t i c s , briefly r e v i v e d calls for t h e r e f o r m o f L o n d o n g o v e r n
m e n t . Y e t a g a i n , h o w e v e r , t h e t i m e did n o t a p p e a r p r o p i t i o u s - like
planning, reform of local g o v e r n m e n t took s e c o n d place to the govern
m e n t ' s social a n d welfare p r o g r a m m e s . L e w i s Silkin, ex-chairman of
150
Ibid., p. 249.
151
Garside, 'Town Planning in London', pp. 289-90, 318-19.
152
House of Commons Debates, 5th ser., vol. 427, 21 October 1946, col. 1375.

the L C C ' s T o w n Planning Committee, and the Labour government's

Minister of T o w n and Country Planning wrestled with the intercon
nected problems of government, e m p l o y m e n t and redevelopment that
1 5 3
L o n d o n p r e s e n t e d in 1 9 4 5 . D e s p e r a t e to a v o i d a f u r t h e r r o u n d o f
L C C overspill estates, Silkin severed the G o r d i a n knot b y foisting
a 'brazen start' to the N e w T o w n p r o g r a m m e o n an unwilling a n d
unenthusiastic cabinet. In L a b o u r circles, the N e w T o w n ideal w a s
1 5 4
far f r o m b e i n g a c c e p t e d as ' a m a t t e r o f c o n v e n t i o n a l wisdom'.
Silkin, b a c k e d b y the Reith C o m m i t t e e report that h e himself had
i n s t i g a t e d , w a s a b l e to w i n h i s c o l l e a g u e s o v e r for t w o m a i n r e a s o n s .
First, b e c a u s e t h e p r o g r a m m e e n a b l e d t h e m t o p o s t p o n e t h e m o r e
contentious issues of c o m p e n s a t i o n and betterment that w e r e bedevil
l i n g t h e drafting o f a n e w P l a n n i n g Bill, a n d s e c o n d l y , b e c a u s e t h e
establishment of N e w T o w n Corporations gave the government a
direct t o o l t o p r o m o t e d e c e n t r a l i s a t i o n i n d e p e n d e n t o f L o n d o n ' s exist
ing local authorities.
By the end of 1949, eight N e w T o w n s had b e e n designated around
London. T h e very existence of the programme e n a b l e d S i l k i n to
achieve his aim of containing the L C C housing m a c h i n e and insulating
t h e G r e e n B e l t f r o m its ' l a r g e s t d e v e l o p e r ' . I n 1 9 5 0 , A n e u r i n B e v a n ,
the Minister of Health a n n o u n c e d that h e w o u l d not approve any
f u r t h e r a c q u i s i t i o n s o f h o u s i n g sites b y t h e L C C o u t s i d e t h e C o u n t y
area. Furthermore, the creation of the N e w T o w n D e v e l o p m e n t Cor
porations kept the reform of L o n d o n government on the ministerial
shelf, s i n c e t h e y p r o v i d e d t h e m e a n s for h a n d l i n g o v e r s p i l l a n d d e c e n
tralisation without interference with the existing structure of govern
m e n t in t h e south-east.
London in the mid-twentieth century
The mid-twentieth century saw London poised on the brink of a n e w

a g e , b u t still a n x i o u s t o reaffirm its l i n k s w i t h t h e p a s t . T h e 1 9 5 1 F e s t i
val of Britain w a s the physical manifestation of a L o n d o n poised
b e t w e e n old a n d n e w . D e s i g n e d partly to celebrate the h u n d r e t h anni
v e r s a r y o f t h e G r e a t E x h i b i t i o n , it w a s a l s o a n affirmation o f faith
i n t h e f u t u r e . S y m b o l i c a l l y , t h e site for t h e F e s t i v a l h a d b e e n r e c l a i m e d
f r o m t h e T h a m e s a l o n g s i d e C o u n t y H a l l , a n d t h e familiar l a n d m a r k
of a s h o t t o w e r h a d b e e n d e s t r o y e d t o m a k e w a y for t h e futuristic
P. L . Garside, 'Shaping London's Future: The Role of the New Towns', in Von
Karl Schwarz, ed., Die Zukunft der Metropolen (Berlin, 1984), pp. 184-9.
Cherry, Evolution of British Town Planning, p. 140.

538 P. L. G A R S I D E
a r c h i t e c t u r e o f t h e R o y a l F e s t i v a l H a l l , a n d for t h e fragile a n d d e l i c a t e
frame of the ' S k y l o n ' . Significantly, the Festival bore the hallmarks
of H e r b e r t M o r r i s o n - b o t h t h e S o u t h B a n k site a n d t h e L C C s h o w p i e c e
e s t a t e in P o p l a r ' s L a n s b u r y n e i g h b o u r h o o d h a d f o r m e d p a r t o f h i s
p r e w a r priorities for r e d e v e l o p m e n t . R e d r e s s i n g t h e b a l a n c e b e t w e e n
s o u t h a n d n o r t h , a n d b e t w e e n e a s t a n d w e s t in L o n d o n , M o r r i s o n ' s
a i m w a s to r e m o v e t h e s t i g m a t h a t w a s still a t t a c h e d t o t h o s e a r e a s ,
a n d to r e n d e r t h e m at last ' a m e r e g e o g r a p h i c a l e x p r e s s i o n ' .
N e v e r t h e l e s s , in 1 9 5 1 , m a n y n e w d i v i s i o n s w e r e e m e r g i n g s u p e r i m
p o s e d o n m a n y o f t h e o l d d i s t i n c t i o n s . Different p a r t s o f t h e C o n u r b a
t i o n d i s p l a y e d distinct i d e n t i t i e s . A n a n a l y s i s o f t h e 1 9 5 1 c e n s u s
r e v e a l e d a c l e a r p a t t e r n o f ' n a t u r a l a r e a s ' - t h e c e n t r e itself, t h e i n n e r
working-class areas, a group of middle a n d outer z o n e s of relatively
l o w social s t a t u s , a h o m o g e n e o u s a r e a o f i n t e r m e d i a t e s t a t u s s o u t h
of t h e T h a m e s , a w e s t e r n e n c l a v e o f v e r y m i x e d social c h a r a c t e r w h e r e
h i g h - c l a s s r e s i d e n t i a l s t r e e t s in K e n s i n g t o n , C h e l s e a a n d H a m p s t e a d
mingled with poor lodging-houses, and an outer suburban ring with
r e l a t i v e l y u n i f o r m h i g h social s t a t u s . S i n c e 1 9 2 1 , c e n t r a l L o n d o n , t h e
E a s t E n d a n d t h e s o u t h d o c k s i d e b o r o u g h s h a d lost h a l f o f t h e i r p o p u
lation, y e t t h e e x p a n s i o n o f t h e C o n u r b a t i o n c o n t i n u e d , w i t h p o p u l a
t i o n g r o w t h n o w c o n c e n t r a t e d in districts 3 0 - 4 0 m i l e s f r o m t h e c e n t r e .
W h i l e t h e c e n t r a l a r e a p r o v i d e d 2 9 p e r c e n t o f j o b s in t h e C o n u r b a t i o n ,
other subsidiary e m p l o y m e n t centres c o n t i n u e d to expand, especially
in M i d d l e s e x . M o s t l o n g - d i s t a n c e c o m m u t i n g still f o c u s s e d o n c e n t r a l
L o n d o n , w h i c h provided ' T h e c o m m o n link without w h i c h Greater
L o n d o n w o u l d b e r a t h e r like a c o n g l o m e r a t i o n o f i n d e p e n d e n t t o w n s
155
and villages'. T h e p i c t u r e w a s still o n e o f i n t e r d e p e n d e n c e , but
m e t r o p o l i t a n i n t e g r a t i o n s e e m e d as far a w a y as e v e r . S u p e r i m p o s e d
o n t h e o l d c l e a v a g e s w a s a w e b o f n e w e r d i v i s i o n s , w h i c h w e r e as
yet hardly recognised.
CONCLUSIONS
D e s p i t e n i n e t e e n t h - c e n t u r y t h r e a t s o f r e v o l u t i o n , d e s p i t e t h e political
upheavals and economic depression of the 1930s, despite the traumas
of t w o w o r l d w a r s , t h e m o s t s t r i k i n g f e a t u r e o f L o n d o n in 1 9 5 0 w a s
its c o n t i n u i t y . T h e d y n a m i s m o f t h e c o n s u m e r e c o n o m y b a s e d o n
L o n d o n a n d the H o m e Counties h a d absorbed these crises a n d h a d
e m e r g e d w i t h t h e m o m e n t u m o f m e t r o p o l i t a n g r o w t h b a r e l y affected.
155
Westergaard, 'Structure of Greater London', p. 109.

P o i s e d b e t w e e n o l d a n d n e w , t h e 1 9 5 0 s w e r e to b r i n g c h a l l e n g e s for
London which demanded change. T h e return of a Conservative
g o v e r n m e n t in 1 9 5 1 b r o u g h t a n e v e n m o r e d e t e r m i n e d a t t e m p t t o
c o n f i n e t h e L C C to i n n e r L o n d o n h o u s i n g , e n d i n g its efforts t o o p e n
u p ' m i l l i o n a i r e s ' r o w s ' in R o e h a m p t o n a n d D u l w i c h w i t h t o w e r b l o c k s
1 5 6
of flats, albeit c l o t h e d i n d r a m a t i c a r c h i t e c t u r a l f o r m s . Worsening
traffic c o n g e s t i o n f o r c e d t h e L C C t o f o r m u l a t e a r o a d s programme,
r e q u i r i n g p o l i t i c i a n s a n d officials alike to r e a c h o u t t o m e t r o p o l i t a n
b o r o u g h c o u n c i l s t h a t h a d h i t h e r t o lain o u t s i d e t h e L C C ' s s p h e r e o f
o p e r a t i o n s . T h e c o n t i n u i n g n e g l e c t o f h o u s i n g c o n d i t i o n s in t h e ' t w i
light z o n e s ' o f K e n s i n g t o n a n d P a d d i n g t o n w a s a b o u t t o b e t h r u s t
into the public eye b y the concentration there of W e s t Indian immi
grants. A s the structure of L o n d o n b e c a m e increasingly fragmented,
t h e v a r i e d e l e m e n t s s o u g h t t o a s s e r t t h e i r i n d i v i d u a l i d e n t i t y a n d sig
n i f i c a n c e . T h e L C C political m a c h i n e t h a t h a d s u r v i v e d b y a b s o r b i n g
a n d d e f u s i n g p o t e n t i a l l y radical d e m a n d s w a s w e a k e n i n g : t h e gulfs
b e t w e e n i n n e r a n d o u t e r L o n d o n w e r e w i d e n i n g socially, racially a n d
e c o n o m i c a l l y . L o n d o n w a s c o m i n g t o d i s p l a y t h e f e a t u r e s o f political
d i s i n t e g r a t i o n , social p o l a r i s a t i o n a n d e c o n o m i c u p h e a v a l t y p i c a l o f
a post-industrial metropolis.
I n 1 8 0 0 , L o n d o n h a d b e e n o n e o f t h e w o r l d ' s g r e a t cities d o m i n a t i n g
l o n g - d i s t a n c e t r a d e a n d c o m m e r c e a n d w i t h a n a p p a r e n t l y i n b u i l t abi
lity to c o m b i n e t u r b u l e n c e w i t h f u n d a m e n t a l o r d e r l i n e s s . B y t h e late
nineteenth century, London and the H o m e Counties were being
f o r g e d i n t o t h e w o r l d ' s first d y n a m i c c o n s u m e r e c o n o m y which
neither national nor local politicians w e r e able to challenge or modify
for l o n g . B y 1 9 5 0 , h o w e v e r , t h e t e n s i o n s , conflicts a n d disparities
w i t h i n t h e m e t r o p o l i t a n r e g i o n w e r e c o m i n g t o t h e fore - L o n d o n
w a s b e g i n n i n g t o b e a b s o r b e d i n t o a n e w g l o b a l e c o n o m y t h a t it n o
l o n g e r d o m i n a t e d politically o r c o m m e r c i a l l y . N e i t h e r t h e e c o n o m i c ,
social o r political s t r u c t u r e s t h a t h a d s e r v e d L o n d o n for s o l o n g w e r e
to survive intact.
P. L . Garside, 'Intergovernmental Relations and Housing Policy in London 1919-

1970, with Special Reference to the Density and Location of Council Housing',
London Journal, 9 (1983).

Bibliographies
P l a c e o f p u b l i c a t i o n is L o n d o n , u n l e s s o t h e r w i s e s t a t e d .
1 TOWN AND CITY
Anderson, Michael, Family Structure in Nineteenth-Century Lancashire (Cam

bridge, 1971)
Andrews, C. Bruyn, ed., The Torrington Diaries (1954 edn)
Beckett, J. V., The Aristocracy in England, 1660-1914 (Oxford, 1986)
Beresford, M. W., T h e Back-to-Back House in Leeds, 1787-1937', in S. D.
Chapman, ed., The History of Working-Class Housing (Newton Abbot, 1971)
Booth, Charles, ed., Life and Labour of the People in London, 1st ser., 4 vols.
(1889-91); 3rd ser., 7 vols. (1902-3)
Borsay, Peter, ' "All the Town's a Stage": Urban Ritual and Ceremony, 1660-
1800', in Peter Clark, ed., The Transformation of English Provincial Towns,
1600-1800(1984)
Briggs, Asa, Victorian Cities (1963)
Brown, J., 'Charles Booth and Labour Colonies, 1889-1905', Economic History
Review, 2nd ser., 21 (1968)
Cannadine, David, Lords and Landlords: The Aristocracy and the Towns 1774-1967
(Leicester, 1980)
'Introduction', in David Cannadine, ed., Patricians, Power, and Politics in
Nineteenth-Century Towns (Leicester, 1982)
Carr, M. C.,' The Development and Character of a Metropolitan Suburb:
Bexley, Kent', in F. M. L. Thompson, ed., The Rise of Suburbia (Leicester,
1982)
Chadwick, Edwin, Report on the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population
of Great Britain (1842)
Chalklin, C. W., The Provincial Towns of Georgian England (1974)
'Capital Expenditure on Building for Cultural Purposes in Provincial Eng
land, 1730-1830', Business History, 22 (1980)
Chapman, S. D., 'Working-Class Housing in Nottingham', in S. D. Chapman,
ed., The History of Working-Class Housing (Newton Abbot 1971)
Cherry, Gordon, ed., Pioneers in British Planning (1981)
Clapham, J. H., An Economic History of Modern Britain: The Early Railway Age,
1820-50 (Cambridge, 1950 edn)
Clark, Peter, ed., The Transformation of English Provincial Towns, 1600-1800
(1984)
541

542 Bibliographies
Coppock, J. T., 'Dormitory Settlements around London', in J. T. Coppock

and H. C. Prince, eds., Greater London (1964)
Corheld, P. J., The Impact of English Towns, 1700-1800 (Oxford, 1982)
Crossick, Geoffrey, 'The Emergence of the Lower Middle Class in Britain:
A Discussion', in Geoffrey Crossick, ed., The Lower Middle Class in Britain,
1870-1914(1977)
'Urban Society and the Petty Bourgeoisie in Nineteenth-Century Britain',
in Derek Fraser and Anthony Sutcliffe, eds., The Pursuit of Urban History
(1983)
ed., The Lower Middle Class in Britain, 1870-1914 (1977)
Daunton, M. J., Coal Metropolis: Cardiff, 1870-1914 (Leicester, 1977)
Davidoff, Leonore, The Best Circles: Society, Etiquette and the Season (1973)
Davidoff, Leonore, and Hall, Catherine, Family Fortunes: Men and Women of
the English Middle Class, 1780-1850 (1987)
Deane, P., and Cole, W. A., British Economic Growth 1688-1959, 2nd edn
(Cambridge, 1967)
Dennis, Richard, English Industrial Cities of the Nineteenth Century (Cambridge,
1984)
Dix, Gerald, 'Patrick Abercrombie', in Gordon Cherry, ed., Pioneers in British
Planning (1981)
Dyos, H. J., ed., The Study of Urban History (1968)
Dyos, H. J . , and Wolff, Michael, eds., The Victorian City, vol. 1: Images and
Realities (1978 edn)
Engels, F . , The Condition of the Working Class in England (Panther edn, 1969)
Englander, David, Landlord and Tenant in Urban Britain, 1838-1918 (Oxford
1983)
Faucher, L., Manchester in 1844 (1844)
Feinstein, C. H., Statistical Tables of National Income, Expenditure, and Output
of the U.K. 1855-1965 (Cambridge, 1976)
Foster, John, Class Struggle and the Industrial Revolution (1974)
Fraser, Derek, Urban Politics in Victorian England (Leicester, 1976)
Power and Authority in the Victorian City (1979)
ed., A History of Modern Leeds (Manchester, 1980)
Fraser, Derek, and Sutcliffe, Anthony, eds., The Pursuit of Urban History (1983)
Girouard, M., The Victorian Country House (1979)
Gordon,George., ed., Regional Cities in the U.K. 1890-1980 (1986)
Harris, J. R., 'The Employment of Steam Power in the Eighteenth Century',
History, 52 (1967)
Hennock, E. P., 'The Social Composition of Borough Councils in Two Large
Cities, 1835-1914', in H. J. Dyos, ed., The Study of Urban History (1968)
Fit and Proper Persons: Ideal and Reality in Nineteenth-Century Urban Government
(1973)
Hobsbawm, E. J., The Age of Capital, 1848-75(1975)
Howell, David W., Patriarchs and Parasites: The Gentry of South-West Wales
in the Eighteenth Century (Cardiff, 1986)
Jackson, A. A., Semi-Detached London: Suburban Development, Life and Transport,
1900-39(1973)
Kellett, J. R.,The Impact of Railways on Victorian Cities (1969)
Law, C M . , 'The Growth of Urban Population in England and Wales, 1801-
1911', Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 41 (1967)
Lees, Andrew, Cities Perceived: Urban Society in European and American Thought,
1820-1940 (Manchester, 1985)

1 Town and city 543
Lees, Lynn Holies, Exiles of Erin: Irish Migrants in Victorian London (Manchester,
1979)
McLeod, Hugh,'White Collar Values and the Role of Religion', in Geoffrey
Crossick, ed., The Lower Middle Class in Britain, 1870-1914 (1977)
Meacham, Standish, A Life Apart: The English Working Class, 1890-1914 (1977)
Meadowcraft, Michael, 'The Years of Political Transition, 1914-39', in Derek
Fräser, ed., A History of Modern Leeds (Manchester, 1980)
Mellor, H. E . , Leisure and the Changing City, 1870-1914 (1976)
Mitchell, B. R., and Deane, P., Abstract of British Historical Statistics (Cam
bridge, 1962)
Mitchell, B. R., and Jones, H. G., Second Abstract of British Historical Statistics
(Cambridge 1971)
Morris, R. J . , 'Middle-Class Culture, 1700-1914', in Derek Fräser, ed., A His
tory of Modern Leeds (Manchester, 1980)
Musson, A. E . , 'Industrial Motive Power in the United Kingdom, 1800-70',
Economic History Review, 2nd ser., 29 (1976)
Muthesius, Stefan, The English Terraced House (1982)
Newman, Gerald, The Rise of English Nationalism, 1740-1830(1987)
Newton, R., 'Society and Politics in Exeter, 1837-1914', in H. J. Dyos, ed.,
The Study of Urban History (1968)
Offer, Avner, Property and Politics 1870-1914: Landownership, Law, Ideology and
Urban Development in England (Cambridge, 1981)
Olney, R. J . , Rural Society and County Government in Nineteenth-Century Lincoln
shire (Lincoln, 1979)
Olsen, Donald J., 'House upon House', in H. J. Dyos and Michael Wolff,
eds., The Victorian City, vol. 1: Images and Realities (1978 edn)
The City as a Work of Art: London, Paris, Vienna (1986)
Pähl, R. E . , Urbs in Rure (1965)
Perkin, H. J., The Origins of Modern English Society, 1780-1880 (1969)
Pimlott, J. A. R., The Englishman's Holiday (Hassocks, Sussex, 1976 edn)
Ravetz, Alison, The Government of Space (1986)
Rawcliffe, J. M., 'Bromley: Kentish Market Town to London Suburb, 1841-81',
i n F . M. L. Thompson, ed., The Rise of Suburbia (Leicester, 1982)
Redford, A., Labour Migration in England, 1800-50, 2nd edn (Manchester, 1964)
Roberts, Richard, 'Leasehold Estates and Municipal Enterprise: Landowners,
Local Government, and the Development of Bournemouth, c. 1850 to
1914', in David Cannadine, ed., Patricians, Power, and Politics in Nineteenth-
Century Towns (Leicester, 1982)
'The Corporation as Impresario: The Municipal Provision of Entertainment
in Victorian and Edwardian Bournemouth', in John K. Walton and James
Walvin, eds., Leisure in Britain, 1780-1939 (Manchester, 1983)
Roberts, Robert, The Classic Slum (Manchester, 1971)
Robson, B. T., Urban Growth: An Approach (1973)
'Coming Full Circle: London versus the Rest, 1890-1980', in George Gordon,
ed., Regional Cities in the U.K. 1890-1980 (1986)
Rogers, N., 'Money, Land and Lineage: The Big Bourgeoisie of Hanoverian
London', Social History, 4 (1979)
Rubinstein, W. D., Men of Property: The Very Wealthy in Britain since the Industrial
Revolution (1981)
Simpson, M. A., and Lloyd, T. H., eds., Middle-Class Housing in Britain
(Newton Abbot, 1977)
Spring, D., 'English Landowners and Nineteenth-Century Industrialism', in

544 Bibliographies
J. T. Ward and R. G. Wilson, eds., Land and Industry (Newton Abbot,

1971)
Stedman Jones, G., Outcast London: A Study in the Relationship between Classes
in Victorian Society (Oxford, 1971)
Stevenson, John, British Society, 1914-45 (1984)
Stone, Lawrence, and Stone, Jeanne C. Fawtier, An Open Elite? England, 1540-
1880 (Oxford, 1984)
Summerson, John, Georgian London (1945)
Sutcliffe, Anthony, 'The "Midland Metropolis": Birmingham, 1890-1980',
in George Gordon, ed., Regional Cities in the U.K. 1890-1980 (1986)
Swenarton, Mark, Homes Fit for Heroes: The Politics and Architecture of Early
State Housing in Britain (1981)
Swenarton, Mark, and Taylor, Sandra, 'The Scale and Nature of the Growth
of Owner-Occupation in Britain between the Wars', Economic History
Taylor, A. J. P., English History, 1914-1945 (Oxford, 1965)
Thane, Pat, Foundations of the Welfare State (1982)
Thompson, F. M. L . , T o w n s , Industry, and the Victorian Landscape', in
S. R. J. Woodell, ed., The English Landscape (Oxford, 1985)
ed., The Rise of Suburbia (Leicester, 1982)
Treen, C , 'The Process of Suburban Development in North Leeds, 1870-1914',
inF. M. L. Thompson, ed., The Rise of Suburbia (Leicester, 1982)
Waller, P. J., Democracy and Sectarianism: A Political and Social History of Liverpool,
1868-1939 (Liverpool, 1981)
Town, City and Nation: England, 1850-1914 (Oxford, 1983)
Walton, John K., The English Seaside Resort: A Social History, 1750-1914
(Leicester, 1983)
Walton, John K., and Walvin, James, eds., Leisure in Britain, 1780-1939
(Manchester, 1983)
Ward, J. T., and Wilson, R. G., eds., Land and Industry (Newton Abbot, 1971)
Weber, A. F . , The Growth of Cities in the Nineteenth Century (1899; reprinted
1967)
Wiener, Martin J., English Culture and the Decline of the Industrial Spirit, 1850-
1980 (Cambridge, 1981)
Wilson, C , England's Apprenticeship, 1603-1763 (1965)
Wilson, R. G., Gentlemen Merchants: The Merchant Community in Leeds, 1700-
1830 (Manchester, 1971)
Wohl, Anthony S., Endangered Lives: Public Health in Victorian Britain (1983)
Young, Michael and Willmott, Peter, Family and Kinship in East London (1957)
2 THE COUNTRYSIDE
Abrams, M. A., 'A Contribution to the Study of Occupational and Residential

Mobility in the Cotswolds, 1921-31', Journal and Proceedings of the Agricul
tural Economics Society, 2 (1932)
Agar, N., The Bedfordshire Farm Worker in the Nineteenth Century (Bedfordshire
Historical Record Society, 60,1981)
Ambrose, P., The Quiet Revolution: Social Change in a Sussex Village, 1871-1971
(1974)
Anderson, M., 'Marriage Patterns in Victorian Britain: An Analysis Based

on Registration District Data for England and Wales', Journal of Family

History 1 (1976)
Armstrong, W. A., 'La Population de l'Angleterre et du Pays de Galles, 1789-
1815', Annales de Demographie Historique, 1 (1965)
'The Flight from the Land', in G. E. Mingay, ed., The Victorian Countryside,
vol. 1 (1981)
'The Workfolk', in G. E . Mingay, ed., The Victorian Countryside, vol. 2 (1981)
Aronson, H., The Jjand and the Labourer (1914)
Ashby, A. W . , and Evans, I. L . , The Agriculture of Wales and Monmouthshire
(Cardiff, 1944)
Ashby, A. W., and Smith, J. H. 'Agricultural Labour in Wales under Statutory
Regulation of Wages, 1924-37', Welsh Journal of Agriculture, 14 (1938)
Ashby, M. K., 'Recent Rural Changes as they Affect the Younger Generation',
Journal and Proceedings of the Agricultural Economics Society, 2 (1933)
Joseph Ashby of Tysoe, 1859-1919 (Cambridge, 1961)
Astor, Viscount, and Rowntree, B. S., British Agriculture (1938)
Bagwell, P. S., 'The Decline of Rural Isolation', in G. E . Mingay, ed., The
Victorian Countryside, vol. 1 (1981)
Barnett, D. C , 'Allotments and the Problem of Rural Poverty', in E. L. Jones
and G. E . Mingay, eds., Land, Jjabourand Population in the Industrial Revolu
tion (1967)
Baugh, D. A., 'The Cost of Poor Relief in South-East England, 1790-1834',
Bell, C , and Newby, H., Community Studies (1971)
Bennett, E. N., Problems of Village Life (n.d. 1913?)
Benusan, S. L . , Latterday Rural England (1927)
Beresford, J . , ed., The Diary of a Country Parson, 5 vols. (Oxford, 1924-31)
Blythe, R., Akenfield (Harmondsworth, 1972)
Bosanquet, B. S., 'Quality of the Rural Population', Eugenics Review, 42 (1950)
Bracey, H. E . , 'Rural Planning: An Index of Social Provision', Journal and
Proceedings of the Agricultural Economics Society, 9 (1951)
Bushaway, B., By Rite: Custom, Ceremony and Community in England, 1700-1880
(1982)
Bythell, D., The Sweated Trades: Outwork in Nineteenth Century Britain (1978)
Caird, J . , English Agriculture in 1850-51, 2nd edn (1968)
Cairncross, A. K., Home and Foreign Investment, 1870-1913 (Cambridge, 1953)
Chalklin, C. W., 'Country Towns', in G. E . Mingay, ed., The Victorian Country
side, vol. 2 (1981)
Chambers, J. D., The Vale of Trent, 1670-1800 (Economic History Review, Supple
ment No. 3 , 1 9 5 7 )
Nottinghamshire in the Eighteenth Century, 2nd edn (1966)
Chambers, J. D., and Mingay, G. E . , The Agricultural Revolution, 1750-1880
(1966)
Charlesworth, A., An Atlas of Rural Protest in Britain, 1548-1900 (1983)
Chartres, J. A., and Turnbull, G. L . , 'Country Craftsmen', in G. E. Mingay,
ed., The Victorian Countryside, vol. 1 (1981)
Cirket, A. F . , 'The 1830 Riots in Bedfordshire', in Bedfordshire Historical Record
Society, 57 (1978)
Cresswell, G., Norfolk and its Squires, Clergy, Farmers and Labourers (1875)
Crosby, T. L . , English Farmers and the Politics of Protection, 1815-52 (Hassocks,
Sussex, 1977)
Currie, R., Gilbert, A., and Horsley, L . , Churches and Churchgoers: Patterns

546 Bibliographies
of Church Growth in the British Isles since 1700 (Oxford, 1977)

Davies, C. S., The Agricultural History of Cheshire, 1750-1850 (Manchester,
1960)
Davies, D., The Case of the Labourers in Husbandry Stated and Considered (1795)
Davies, E., 'The Small Landowner, 1780-1832, in the Light of the Land Tax
Assessments', Economic History Review, 1 (1927)
Davies, M. F., Life in an English Country Village: An Economic and Historical
Survey of the Parish ofCorsley in Wiltshire (1909)
Deane, P., and Cole, W. A., British Economic Growth 1688-1959 (Cambridge,
1962)
Dewey, P. E . , 'Agricultural Labour Supply in England and Wales during
the First World War', Economic History Review, 2nd ser., 28 (1975)
Digby, A., Pauper Palaces (1978)
Dunbabin, J. P. D., 'The Revolt of the Field: The Agricultural Labourers'
Movement in the 1870s', Past & Present, 26 (1963)
'The Incidence and Organisation of Agricultural Trades Unionism in the
1870s', Agricultural History Review, 16 (1968)
Eden, F. M., The State of the Poor, 3 vols. (1797)
Edsall, N. C , The Anti-Poor Law Movement, 1834-44 (Manchester, 1971)
Erickson, C , Emigration from Europe, 1815-1914 (1976)
Ernie, Lord, English Farming, Past and Present, 5th edn (1936)
Evans, G. E . , Where Beards Wag All (1970)
Everitt, A. M., 'Farm Labourers', in J. Thirsk, ed., The Agrarian History of
England and Wales, vol. 4: 1500-1640 (Cambridge, 1967)
ed., Perspectives in English Urban History (1973)
Fairfax-Blakeborough, J., Sykes ofSledmere (1929)
Fitton, R. S., and Wadsworth, A. P., The Strutts and the Arkwrights (Manches
ter, 1958)
Fitzrandolph, H. E . , and Hay, M. D., The Rural Industries of England and Wales,
4 vols. (Oxford, 1926-7)
Fletcher, T. W., 'The Great Depression of English Agriculture, 1873-96', Econ
omic History Review, 2nd ser., 13 (1961)
Flinn, M. W., 'Trends in Real Wages, 1750-1850', Economic History Review,
2nd ser., 27 (1974)
Foster, J., Class Struggle and the Industrial Revolution (1974)
Gash, N., 'Rural Unemployment, 1815-34', Economic History Review, 6 (1935)
Glyde, J., Suffolk in the Nineteenth Century (1856)
Autobiography of a Suffolk Farm Labourer (East Suffolk Record Office, q. S9)
Gosden, P. H. J. H., The Friendly Societies in England, 1815-75 (Manchester,
1961)
Graham, P. A., The Rural Exodus (1892)
Green, F. E . , History of the English Agricultural Labourer, 1870-1920 (1920)
Gretton, M. S., A Corner of the Cotswolds through the Nineteenth Century (1914)
Groves, R., Sharpen the Sickle: The History of the Farm Workers' Union, 2nd
edn (1981)
Haggard, H. R., Rural England, 2nd edn, 2 vols. (1906)
Hall, A. D., A Pilgrimage of British Farming, 1910-12 (1912)
Hammond, J. L . , and B., The Village Labourer, new edn (1978)
Hardy, T., Tess of the d'Urbervilles, new edn (1974)
Hasbach, W., A History of the English Agricultural Labourer (1894; Eng. edn 1908)
Havinden, M. A., Estate Villages (1966)
'The South-West: A Case of Rural De-Industrialisation?', in M. Palmer,

ed., The Onset of Industrialisation (Nottingham University, Department

of Adult Education, 1976)
Hobsbawm, E. J . , and Rude, G., Captain Swing (1969)
Hobson, J. W . , and Henry, H., The Rural Market: A Compilation of Facts Related
to the Agricultural Industry and Rural Standards of Living and Rural Purchasing
Habits (1948)
Holdenby, C , Folk of the Furrow (1913)
Holderness, B. A., 'Personal Mobility in Some Rural Parishes of Yorkshire,
1777-1812', Yorkshire Archaeological Journal, 42 (1971)
'The Victorian Farmer', in G. E . Mingay, ed., The Victorian Countryside,
vol. 1 (1981)
Horn, P., Joseph Arch (Kineton, Warwicks., 1971)
Labouring Life in the Victorian Countryside (Dublin, 1976)
The Rural World, 1780-1850 (1980)
'Women's Cottage Industries', in G. E . Mingay, ed., The Victorian Country
side, vol. 1 (1981)
Howkins, A., Poor Labouring Men: Rural Radicalism in Norfolk 1870-1923 (1985)
Hunt, E. H., Regional Wage Variations in Britain, 1850-1914 (Oxford, 1973)
Huzel, J. B., 'The Demographic Impact of the Old Poor Law: More Reflexions
on Malthus', Economic History Review, 2nd ser., 33 (1980)
'The Labourer and the Poor Law', in G. E. Mingay, ed., The Agrarian History
of England and Wales, vol. 6: 1750-1850 (Cambridge, 1989)
Inglis, K. S., 'Patterns of Religious Worship in 1851', Journal of Ecclesiastical
History, 11 (1960)
Innes, J. W., 'Class Birth Rates in England and Wales, 1921-31', Milbank
Memorial Fund Quarterly, 19 (1941)
Irons, W., 'Agriculture in Warwickshire', Journal of the Royal Agricultural
Society, 91 (1930)
Itzkowitz, D. C , Peculiar Privilege: A Social History of English Foxhunting, 1753-
1885 (Hassocks, Sussex, 1977)
Jefferies, R., Hodge and his Masters, new edn (1979)
Jessopp, A., Arcady: For Better for Worse (1887)
Jones, D., 'Thomas Campbell Foster and the Rural Labourer: Incendiarism
in East Anglia in the 1840s', Social History, 1 (1976)
Jones, E . L., 'The Agricultural Labour Market in England, 1793-1872', Economic
History Review, 2nd ser., 17 (1964)
Agriculture and Economic Growth in England, 1650-1850 (1967)
The Development of English Agriculture, 1815-73 (1968)
Jones, R. E . , 'Infant Mortality in Rural North Shropshire, 1561-1810', Popula
tion Studies, 30 (1976)
Julian, J . , A Dictionary ofHymnology (1907)
Kenyon, G. H., 'Petworth Town and Trades, 1610-1760', Sussex Archaeological
Collections, 95 (1958)
Kerridge, E . , Review of G. E. Mingay, ed., The Victorian Countryside, in Econ
Kussmaul, A., Servants in Husbandry in Early Modern England (Cambridge,
1981)
Landsberger, H. A., ed., Rural Protest: Peasant Movements and Social Change
(1974)
Levine, D., Family Formation in an Age of Nascent Capitalism (1977)
Lindert, P. H., and Williamson, J. G., 'English Workers' Living Standards
during the Industrial Revolution: A New Look', Economic History Review,

548 Bibliographies
2nd s e r . , 3 6 (1983)
Long, W. H., and Carson, S. H., 'Farmers and Motor Cars', The Farm Economist
1(1935)
Longmate, N., How We Lived Then (1971)
Longstaff, G. B., 'Rural Depopulation', Journal of the Royal Statistical Society
56 (1893)
McClatchey, D., Oxfordshire Clergy, 1777-1869 (Oxford, 1960)
MacDonald, S., 'Agricultural Response to a Changing Market during the
Napoleonic Wars', Economic History Review, 2nd ser., 33 (1980)
Mann, H. H., 'Life in an Agricultural Village in England', Sociological Papers,
1 (1905)
Marshall, J. D., 'The Lancashire Rural Labourer in the Early Nineteenth Cen
tury', Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society, 71
(1961)
'Nottinghamshire Labourers in the Early Nineteenth Century', Transactions
of the Thornton Society, 64 (1961)
The Old Poor Law, 1795-1834 (1968)
Martins, S. W., A Great Estate at Work (Cambridge, 1980)
Mejer, E . , Agricultural Labour in England and Wales, Part II, Farm Workers' Earn
ings, 1917-51 (Nottingham University, Department of Agricultural Econ
omics, 1951)
Mills, D., 'The Quality of Life in Melbourne, Cambs., in the Period 1800-50',
International Review of Social History, 23 (1978)
Mingay, G. E . , 'The Size of Farms in the Eighteenth Century', Economic History
English Landed Society in the Eighteenth Century (1963)
Enclosure and the Small Farmer in the Age of the Industrial Revolution (1968)
Rural Life in Victorian England (1977)
ed., The Victorian Countryside, 2 vols. (1981)
ed., The Agrarian History of England and Wales, vol. 6: 1750-1850 (Cambridge,
1989)
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Report of Proceedings under the
Agricultural Wages (Regulation) Act, 1924, for the Two Years Ending 1931
(1931)
Studies in Urban Household Diets, 1944-9. Second Report of the National Food
Survey Committee (1956)
A Century of Agricultural Statistics. Great Britain, 1866-1966 (1968)
Ministry of Health, Rural Housing. Third Report of the Rural Housing Sub-
Committee of the Central Housing Advisory Committee (1944)
Mitchell, B. R., and Deane, P., Abstract of British Historical Statistics (Cam
bridge, 1962)
Moore, D. C , 'The Gentry', in G. E. Mingay, ed., The Victorian Countryside,
vol. 2 (1981)
Morris, R. J., Class and Class Consciousness in the Industrial Revolution (1979)
Munsche, P. B., Gentlemen and Poachers: The English Game Laws 1671-1831
(Cambridge, 1981)
Murray, K. A. H., Agriculture: History of the Second World War, Civil Series
(1955)
Newby, H., The Deferential Worker (1977)
Green and Pleasant Land? Social Change in Rural England (Harmondsworth,
1980)
Obelkevich, J., Religion and Rural Society: South Lindsey, 1825-75 (Oxford, 1976)

O'Leary, J. G., ed., The Autobiography of Joseph Arch (1966)

Orwin, C. S., Problems of the Countryside (Cambridge, 1945)
Orwin, C. S., and Whetham, E. H., History of British Agriculture, 1846-1914
(1964)
Pahl, R. E . , Urbs in Rure (1965)
Peacock, A. J., Bread or Blood: The Agrarian Riots in East Anglia, 1816 (1965)
Peake, H., The English Village: The Origin and Decay of its Community (1922)
Pedley, W. H., Labour on the Land (1942)
Perkin, H. J., The Origins of Modern English Society, 1780-1880 (1969)
Phythian-Adams, C , 'Rural Culture', in G. E. Mingay, ed., The Victorian
Countryside, vol. 2 (1981)
Poynter, J. R., Society and Pauperism: English Ideas on Poor Relief 1795-1834
(1969)
Razzell, P. E . , and Wainwright, R. J. W., eds., The Victorian Working Class:
Selections from the Morning Chronicle (1973)
Reeves, M., Sheep Bell and Ploughshare (1980)
'Reminiscences of Frederick Swaffield, 1895-1924' (Dorset Record Office,
D459/1)
Rew, R. H., An Agricultural Faggott (1913)
Roberts, S. C , ed., A Frenchman in England, 1784: Being the 'Melanges sur
VAngleterre' ofFranqois de la Rochefoucauld (Cambridge, 1933)
Robertson-Scott, J. W., England's Green and Pleasant Land (1925)
Robin, J., Elmdon: Continuity and Change in a North-West Essex Village, 1861-1964
(Cambridge, 1980)
Rowntree, B. S., and Kendall, M., How the Labourer Lives: A Study of the Rural
Labour Problem (1913)
Rude, G., The Crowd in History, 1730-1848 (1964)
Ruggles, T., 'On the Police and Situation of the Poor', Annals of Agriculture,
16 (1791)
Rule, J . , 'Social Crime in the Rural South in the Eighteenth and Early Nine
teenth Centuries', Southern History, 1 (1979)
Russell, R. C , The Revolt of the Field in Lincolnshire (Lincoln, 1956)
Savage, W. G., Rural Housing (1915)
Saville, J., Rural Depopulation in England and Wales, 1851-1951 (1957)
Sellman, R. R., Devon Village Schools in the Nineteenth Century (Newton Abbot,
1967)
Snell, K. D. M., 'Agricultural Seasonal Employment, the Standard of Living,
and Women's Work in the South and East, 1690-1860', Economic History
Annals of the Labouring Poor: Social Change and Agrarian England 1660-1900
(Cambridge, 1985)
Spenceley, G. F. R., 'The English Pillow-Lace Industry, 1840-80: A Rural
Industry in Competition with Machinery', Business History, 19 (1977)
Springall, L. M., Labouring Life in Norfolk Villages, 1834-1914 (1936)
Stevens' Directory of Canterbury and Neighbourhood (1889)
Sturt, G., The Memoirs of a Surrey Labourer (1907)
Lucy Bettesworth (1913)
William Smith, Potter and Farmer (1919)
Change in the Village (Readers Library edn, 1920)
The Wheelwright's Shop (Cambridge, 1923)
Taylor, F. D. W., 'United Kingdom: Numbers in Agriculture', The Farm

550 Bibliographies
Economist, 8 (1955)
Thomas, F. G., The Changing Village (1939)
Thomas, J . , The Rise of the Staffordshire Potteries (Bath, 1971)
Thompson, E. P., 'Eighteenth-Century English Society: Class Struggle with
out Class?', Social History, 3 (1978)
Thompson, F . , Lark Rise to Candleford (1954 edn)
Thompson, F. M. L . , English Landed Society in the Nineteenth Century (1963)
'Landowners and the Rural Community', in G. E . Mingay, ed., The Victorian
Countryside, vol. 2 (1981)
Thresh, J. C , The Housing of the Agricultural Labourer, with Special Reference
to Essex (Chelmsford, 1919)
Tillott, P. M., ed., Victoria County History: City of'York (1961)
Turner, M. E . , English Parliamentary Enclosure (Folkestone, 1980)
'Sitting on the Fence of Parliamentary Enclosure: A Regressive Social Tax
with Problematic Efficiency Gains', in Agricultural History, Papers Pre
sented to the Economic History Conference (Canterbury, 1983)
Unwin, G., Samuel Oldknowand the Arkwrights (Manchester, 1924)
Ward, J. T., 'Changes in the Sale Value of Farm Real Estate in England and
Wales', The Farm Economist, 7 (1953)
Ward, W. R., Religion and Society in England, 1790-1850 (1972)
Welton, T., 'On the Distribution of Population in England and Wales, 1801-
91', Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 63 (1900)
Whetham, E. H., The Agrarian History of England and Wales, vol. 8: 1914-39
(Cambridge, 1978)
Williams, R., The Country and the City (1973)
Winstanley, M., Life in Kent at the Turn of the Century (Folkestone, 1978)
'Voices from the Past: Rural Kent at the Close of an Era', in G. E . Mingay,
ed., The Victorian Countryside, vol. 2 (1981)
Woodruff, D., 'Expansion and Emigration', in G. M. Young, ed., Early Victor-
ian England, vol. 2 (Oxford, 1934)
Wordie, J. R., 'Social Change on the Leveson-Gower Estates, 1714-1832',
Wrigley, E. A., and Schofield, R. S., The Population History of England, 1541-
1871: A Reconstruction (1981)
Yelling, J. A., Common Field and Enclosure in England, 1450-1850 (1977)
Young, A., General Report on Enclosures, 1808 (reprint, New York, 1971)
'Gleanings in an Excursion to Lewes Fair', Annals of Agriculture, 27 (1792)
3 SCOTLAND
Adam, R. } . , ed., Papers on Sutherland Estate Management, Scottish History

Society, 2 vols. (Edinburgh, 1972)
Adams, I. H., The Making of Urban Scotland (1978)
Aiton, W., General View of the Agriculture of the County of Ayr (Glasgow, 1811)
Alison, W. P., Observations on the Management of the Poor in Scotland (Edinburgh,
1840)
Allan, C M . , 'The Genesis of British Urban Redevelopment with Special
Reference to Glasgow', Economic History Review, 2nd ser., 18 (1965)
Anderson, R. D., Education and Opportunity in Victorian Scotland (Oxford, 1983)
Arnot, R. P., A History of the Scottish Miners (1955)
Aspinall, A., The Early English Trade Unions (1949)

3 Scotland 551
Aspinwall, Bernard, Portable Utopia: Glasgow and the United States, 1870-1920
(Aberdeen, 1984)
Baedeker, K., Great Britain: Handbook for Travellers, 9th edn (1937)
Baird, R., 'Housing', in A. J. Cairncross, ed., The Scottish Economy (Cambridge,
1954)
Barron, D. G., ed., The Court Book of the Barony of Urie, Scottish History Society,
12 (Edinburgh, 1892)
Best, G., 'The Scottish Victorian City', Victorian Studies, 11 (1968)
Bewley, Christina, Muir of Huntershill (Oxford, 1981)
Boyd, K., Scottish Church Attitudes to Sex, Marriage and the Family 1850-1914
(Edinburgh, 1980)
Bradley, A. G., When Squires and Farmers Thrived (1927)
Brady, F . , and Pottle, R. A., eds., Boswell in Search of a Wife, 1766-1769 (1957)
Brennan, T., Reshaping a City (Glasgow, 1959)
Brewster, P., The Seven Chartist and Military Discourses Libelled by the Marquis
ofAbercorn (Paisley, 1843)
Brotherston, J. H. F . , Observations on the Early Public Health Movement in Scotland
(1952)
Brown. R., The History of Paisley (Paisley, 1886)
Brown, Stewart J . , Thomas Chalmers (Oxford, 1982)
Bumsted, J. M., The People's Clearance 1770-1815 (Edinburgh, 1892)
Butt, J., 'Working Class Housing in Glasgow, 1851-1914', in S. D. Chapman,
ed., The History of Working-Class Housing (Newton Abbot, 1971)
Buxton, N. K., 'Economic Growth in Scotland between the Wars: The Role
of Production, Structure and Rationalization', Economic History Review,
2nd ser., 33 (1980)
Cage, R. A., The Scottish Poor Law 1745-1845 (Edinburgh, 1981)
Cage, R. A., and Checkland, O., 'Thomas Chalmers and Urban Poverty:
The St John's Parish Experiment in Glasgow, 1819-1837', Philosophical
Journal, 13 (1976)
Cameron, R., Banking in the Early Stages of Industrialisation (Oxford, 1967)
Campbell, Alan B., The Lanarkshire Miners: A Social History of their Trade Unions
1775-1974 (Edinburgh, 1979)
Campbell, A, D., 'Income', in A. J. Cairncross, ed., The Scottish Economy
(Cambridge, 1954)
'Changes in Scottish Incomes, 1924-1949', Economic Journal, 65 (1955)
Campbell, R. H., Scotland since 1707: The Rise of an Industrial Society (Oxford,
1965)
The Rise and Fall of Scottish Industry, 1707-1939 (Edinburgh, 1980)
Carter, Ian R., Farm Life in North East Scotland, 1840-1914 (Edinburgh, 1973)
Chadwick, E . , Report on the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population of
Great Britain (1842; reprinted, M. W. Flinn, ed., Edinburgh, 1965)
Checkland, O., Philanthropy in Victorian Scotland (Edinburgh, 1980)
Checkland, S. G., The Rise of Industrial Society in England (1964)
The Upas Tree (Glasgow, 1977)
Clark, Ian D. L . , 'From Protests to Reaction: The Moderate Regime in the
Church of Scotland 1752-1805', in N. T. Phillipson and Rosalind
Mitchison, eds., Scotland in the Age of Improvement (Edinburgh 1970)
Cockburn, H., Memorials of his Time (Edinburgh, 1909)
Collier, A., The Crofting Problem (Cambridge, 1953)
Cowan, R., Statistics of Fever in Glasgow (Glasgow, 1838)
Craig, D., Scottish Literature and the Scottish People (1961)

552 B ibliograph ies
Cramond, R. D., Housing Policy in Scotland, 1919-64 (Edinburgh, 1966)

Crowley, D. W., 'The "Crofters' Party", 1885-1892', Scottish Historical Review,
35 (1956)
Cullen, L. M., and Smout, T. C , eds., Comparative Aspects of Irish and Scottish
Economic and Social History, 1600-1900 (Edinburgh, 1977)
Darner, S., 'State, Class and Housing: Glasgow, 1885-1919', in J. Melling,
ed., Housing, Social Policy and the State (1980)
Darling, F. F . , West Highland Survey: An Essay in Human Ecology (1955)
Davie, G. E . , The Democratic Intellect (Edinburgh, 1961)
Day, J. P., Public Administration in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland (1918)
Devine, T. M., 'Social Stability and Agrarian Change in the Eastern Lowlands
of Scotland, 1810-1840', Social History, 3 (1978)
'Temporary Migration and the Scottish Highlands in the Nineteenth Cen
tury', Economic History Review, 2nd ser., 32 (1979)
Dewey, C , 'Celtic Agrarian Legislation and the Celtic Revival: Historical
Implications of Gladstone's Irish and Scottish Land Acts, 1870-1886',
Past & Present, 64(1974)
Dodgshon, R. A., Land and Society in Early Scotland (Oxford, 1981)
'Agricultural Change and its Social Consequences in the Southern Uplands
of Scotland, 1600-1780', in T. M. Devine and David Dickson, eds., Ireland
and Scotland 1600-1830 (Edinburgh, 1983)
Donachie, Ian, 'Scottish Criminals and Transportations to Australia, 1786-
1852', Scottish Economic and Social History, 4 (1984)
Drummond, A. J., and Bulloch, J., The Scottish Church, 1688-1843 (Edinburgh,
1973)
The Church in Victorian Scotland, 1843-1874 (Edinburgh, 1975)
Dunlop, John, Artificial and Compulsory Drinking Usages in North Britain
(Greenock, 1836)
DurKacz, V. E . , The Decline of the Celtic Languages (Edinburgh, 1983).
Edwards, O. D., and Ransome, B., eds., James Connolly, Selected Political Writ
ings (1973)
Erskine, S., ed., The Earl of Mar's Legacies to Scotland, Scottish History Society,
26 (Edinburgh, 1896)
Fenton, A., Scottish Country Life (Edinburgh, 1976)
Ferguson, T., The Dawn of Scottish Social Welfare (Edinburgh, 1948)
Scottish Social Welfare, 1864-1914 (Edinburgh , 1958)
Ferguson, W., Scotland, 1689 to the Present (Edinburgh, 1968)
Flinn, M. W., ed., Scottish Population History from the 17th Century to the 1930s
(Cambridge, 1977)
Fraser, David, ed., The Christian Watt Papers (Edinburgh, 1983)
Fraser Darling, F., ed., West Highland Survey (Oxford, 1955)
Fullarton, W., General View of the Agriculture of the County ofAyr... (Edinburgh,
1793)
Gourvish, T. R., 'The Cost of Living in Glasgow in the Early Nineteenth
Century', Economic History Review, 2nd ser., 25 (1972)
Gray, Malcolm, The Highland Economy, 1750-1850 (Oxford, 1955)
'Scottish Emigration: The Social Impact of Agrarian Change in the Rural
Lowlands, 1775-1875', Perspectives in American History, 8 (1973)
Gray, R. Q., The Labour Aristocracy in Victorian Edinburgh (Oxford, 1976)
Hamilton, H., An Economic History of Scotland in the Eighteenth Century (Oxford,
1963)
The Healers: A History of Medicine in Scotland (Edinburgh, 1981)

3 Scotland 553
Handley, J. E . , The Irish in Modern Scotland (Cork, 1947)

The Navvy in Scotland (Cork, 1970)
Hanham, H. J., The Scottish Political Tradition (Edinburgh, 1964)
Scottish Nationalism (1969)
'The Problem of Highland Discontent, 1880-1885', Transactions of the Royal
Historical Society, 4th ser., 19 (1969)
Harvie, C , Scotland and Nationalism (1977)
No Gods and Precious Few Heroes, Scotland 1914-1980 (Edinburgh, 1981)
Highet, J . , 'The Churches', in A. J. Cairncross, ed., The Scottish Economy
(Cambridge, 1954)
Hinton, James, The First Shop Stewards' Movement (1973)
Houston, R., 'The Literacy Myth? Illiteracy in Scotland, 1630-1760', Past &
Present, 96 (1982)
Hunt, E. H , Regional Wage Variations in Britain, 1850-1914 (Oxford, 1973)
Hunter, J., The Making of the Crofting Community (Edinburgh, 1976)
Hutchison, I. G. C , A Political History of Scotland, 1832-1924: Parties, Elections
and Issues (Edinburgh, 1985)
Johnston, T., Memories (1952)
Journal of Henry Cockburn, 1831-1854, vol. 2 (Edinburgh, 1874)
Keating, M., and Bleiman, D., Labour and Scottish Nationalism (1979)
Kellas, J. G., Modern Scotland (1968)
The Scottish Political System (Cambridge, 1973)
Kellett, J. R., The Impact of Railways on Victorian Cities (1969)
Kendall, Walter, The Revolutionary Movement in Britain 1900-21 (1969)
Kerr, J., Memories Grave and Gay (Edinburgh, 1903)
Kinloch, J . , and Butt, J . , History of the Scottish Co-Operative Wholesale Society
Limited (Glasgow, 1981)
Knox, W., ed., Scottish Labour Leaders, 1918-39: A Biographical Dictionary (Edin
burgh, 1984)
Labour in Europe and America (Government Printing Office, Washington, DC,
1876)
Lee, C. H., British Regional Employment Statistics 1841-1971 (Cambridge,
1979)
Lenman, B., An Economic History of Modern Scotland (1977)
Levitt, I., 'The Scottish Poor Law and Unemployment, 1890-1929', in T. C.
Smout, ed., The Search for Wealth and Stability: Essays in Economic and
Social History Presented to M. W. Flinn (1979)
Levitt, I., and Smout, T. C , The State of the Scottish Working Class in 1843
(Edinburgh, 1979)
Lindsay, I. G., and Cosh, Mary, Inveraray and the Dukes of Argyll (Edinburgh,
1973)
Lindsay, P., The Interest of Scotland Considered (Edinburgh, 1733)
Logue, K., Popular Disturbances in Scotland 1780-1815 (Edinburgh, 1979)
Lond, R. E.C., Fortnightly Review (Jan. 1903)
Lythe, S. G. E . , and Butt, J . , An Economic History of Scotland, 1100-1939
(Glasgow, 1975)
McAllister, G., James Maxton, the Portrait of a Rebel (1935)
McCrone, Gavin, Regional Policy in Britain (1969)
Macintyre, S., Little Moscows: Communism and Working-Class Militancy in Inter-
War Britain (1980)
Mackenzie, O. H., A Hundred Years in the Highlands (1921)
MacLaren, A. A., 'Presbyterianism and the Working Class in a

554 Bibliographies
Mid-Nineteenth Century City', Scottish Historical Review, 46 (1967)

Religion and Social Class: The Disruption Years in Aberdeen (1974)
ed., Social Class in Scotland (1976)
McLean, I., 'Popular Protest and Public Order, Red Clydeside 1915-1919',
in R. Quinault and J. Stevenson, eds., Popular Protest and Public Order
(1974)
KeirHardie (New York, 1975)
McPherson, A., 'An Angle on the Geist: Persistence and Change in the
Scottish Educational Tradition', in W. M. Humes and H. M. Paterson,
eds., Scottish Culture and Scottish Education, 1800-1980 (Edinburgh,
1983)
McRoberts, D., ed., Modern Scottish Catholicism, 1878-1978 (Glasgow, 1979)
McShane, Harry and Smith, Joan, No Mean Fighter (1978)
Marshall, Rosalind, The Days of Duchess Anne, (1973)
Marwick, W. H., A Short History of Labour in Scotland (Edinburgh, 1967)
Matheson, P., 'Scottish War Sermons', Records of the Scottish Church History
Society, 17 (1972)
Mathieson, W. L . , Church and Reform in Scotland (Glasgow, 1911)
Meikle, H. W., Scotland and the French Revolution (Glasgow, 1912)
Meiling, J . , 'Clydeside Housing and the Evolution of State Rent Control 1900-
1939', in J. Meiling, ed., Housing, Social Policy and the State (1980)
'Scottish Industrialists and the Changing Character of Class Relations in
the Clyde Region, c. 1880-1918', in T. Dickson, ed., Capital and Class in
Scotland (Edinburgh, 1982)
Middlemas, R. K., The Clydesiders (1965)
Milton, N., John Maclean (1973)
Minutes of Evidence Taken before Glasgow Municipal Commission on the Housing
of the Poor (Glasgow, 1904)
Mitchison, Rosalind, 'The Government and the Highlands, 1707-1745', in
N. T. Phillipson and Rosalind Mitchison, eds., Scotland in the Age of
Improvement (Edinburgh, 1970)
'The Making of the Old Scottish Poor Law', Past & Present, 63 (1974)
'Patriotism and National Identity in Eighteenth Century Scotland', in T.
W. Moody, ed., Nationality and the Pursuit of National Independence (Belfast,
1978)
'The Creation of the Disablement Rule in the Scottish Poor Law', in T.
C. Smout, ed., The Search for Wealth and Stability: Essays in Economic and
Social History Presented to M. W. Flinn (1979)
'Death in Tranent', Transactions of the East Lothian Antiquarian and Field Natu
ralist Society, 16 (1979)
Morgan, K. O., KeirHardie, Radical and Socialist (1975)
Morgan, V., 'Agricultural Wage Rates in Late-Eighteenth Century Scotland',
Morris, R. J., Cholera 1832 (1976)
Muir, Edwin, Scottish Journey, ed. T. C. Smout (Edinburgh, 1979)
Murray, N., The Scottish Hand Loom Weavers 1790-1850: A Social History (Edin
burgh, 1971)
Murray, W. H., The Islands of Western Scotland (1973)
Nairn, T., The Break-Up of Britain, 2nd edn (London, 1981)
Neill, A. S., A Dominie's Log (1915)
Nicholson, N., Lord of the Isles: Lord Leverhulme in the Hebrides (1960)
Niven, D., The Development of Housing in Scotland (1979)

3 Scotland 555
Orwin, C. S., and Whetham, E. H., History of British Agriculture, 1846-1914

(1971)
Osborne, G. S., Scottish and English Schools: A Comparative Survey of the Past
Fifty Years (Pittsburg, 1966)
Paterson, A., T h e Poor Law in Nineteenth-Century Scotland', in D. Fraser,
ed., The New Poor Law in the Nineteenth Century (1976)
Paton, D. N., Dunlop, J. C , and Inglis, E. M., A Study of the Diet of the
Labouring Classes in Edinburgh (Edinburgh, 1900)
Paton, H., ed., The Session Book of Rothesay 1658-1750 (privately published,
1931)
Pennant, T., Tour in Scotland and Voyages to the Hebrides, 1772 (1790)
Price, S. F . , 'Rivetters' Earnings in Clyde Shipbuilding 1889-1913', Scottish
Economic and Social History, 1 (1981)
Pryde, G. S., Central and Local Government in Scotland since 1707 (Historical
Association Pamphlet No. 45,1960)
Reid, F . , KeirHardie, the Making of a Socialist (1975)
Report to the Board of Supervision by Sir John McNeill, GCB, on the Western High
lands and Islands (Edinburgh, 1851)
Report on the State of the Poor in Berwickshire (Edinburgh, 1841)
Richards, E . , 'Patterns of Highland Discontent', in R. Quinault and J. Steven
son, eds., Popular Protest and Public Order (1974)
A History of the Highland Clearances: Agrarian Transformation and the Evictions,
1746-1886(1982)
Roach, W. M., 'Alexander Richmond and the Radical Reform Movement in
Glasgow in 1816-7', Scottish Historical Review, 51 (1972)
Robertson, D. J . , 'Population Growth and Movement' and 'Wages', in
A . J . Cairncross, ed., The Scottish Economy (Cambridge, 1954)
Robertson, G., Rural Recollections (Irvine, 1829)
Rubinstein, W. D., 'The Victorian Middle Classes: Wealth, Occupation and
Geography', Economic History Review, 2nd ser., 30 (1977)
Saul, S. B., 'The Shortcomings of Scottish Industry', Scottish Economic and
Social History, 1 (1982)
Saunders, L. J., Scottish Democracy, 1815-1840 (Edinburgh, 1950)
Scotland, J., The History of Scottish Education, 2 vols. (1969)
Scott, J., and Hughes, M., The Anatomy of Scottish Capital (1980)
Shaw, J. S., The Management of Scottish Society 1707-1764 (Edinburgh, 1983)
Sher, Richard B., 'Moderates, Managers and Popular Politics in Mid-
Eighteenth Century Edinburgh: The Drysdale Bustle of the 1760s', in J.
Dwyer, Roger A. Mason and Alexander Murdoch, eds., New Perspectives
on the Politics and Culture of Early Modern Scotland (Edinburgh, 1982)
Slaven, A., The Development of the West of Scotland, 1750-1960 (1975)
Smith, A., The Third Statistical Account of Scotland: The County of Fife (Edinburgh
1952)
Smout, T. C , A History of the Scottish People, 1560-1830 (1969)
'The Landowner and the Planned Village in Scotland, 1730-1830', in
N. T. Phillipson and Rosalind Mitchison, eds., Scotland in the Age of
Improvement (Edinburgh, 1970)
'The Strange Intervention of Edward Twistleton: Paisley in Depression,
1841-3', in T. C. Smout, ed., The Search for Wealth and Stability: Essays
in Economic and Social History Presented to M. W. Flinn (1979)
'U.S. Consular Reports: A Source for Scottish Economic Historians', Scottish
Historical Review, 58 (1979)

556 Bibliographies
'American Consular Reports on Scotland', Business History, 33 (1981)

'Scottish Marriage, Regular and Irregular, 1500-1940', in R. B. Outhwaite,
ed., Marriage and Society: Studies in the Social History of Marriage (1981)
'Born again at Cambuslang: New Evidence on Popular Religion and Literacy
in Eighteenth Century Scotland', Past & Present, 97 (1982)
Solow, Lee, 'An Index of the Poor and Rich in Scotland, 1861-1961', Scottish
journal of Political Economy, 18 (1971)
Sprott, Gavin, 'A Weel Plou'd Rig: The Era of the Working Horse on the
Farms of the East Coast of Scotland', in B. Kay, ed., Odyssey (Edinburgh,
1980)
Symon, J. A., Scottish Farming Past and Present (Edinburgh, 1959)
Tannahill, R., Poems and Songs, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect (1815)
Thorn, W., Rhymes and Recollections of a Hand Loom Weaver (1843)
Thomson, G. M., Scotland, that Distressed Area (Edinburgh, 1935)
Timperley, L . , 'The Pattern of Landholding in Eighteenth Century Scotland',
in M. L. Parry and T. R. Slater, eds., The Making of the Scottish Countryside
(1980)
Townshend, Joseph, A Dissertation on the Poor Laws, 2nd edn (1787), Section
XIII
Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, new ser., 11
(1837)
Tuckett, A., The Scottish Carter (1967)
Vincent, J. R., The Formation of the Liberal Party, 1857-68 (1966)
Watt, Robert, An Inquiry into the Relative Mortality of Children in Glasgow (Glas
gow, 1813)
Webb, B., Diaries 1924-32 (1956)
Whetstone, Ann E., Scottish County Government in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth
Centuries (Edinburgh, 1981)
Whyte, I. D., Agriculture and Society in Seventeenth Century Scotland (Edinburgh,
1979)
Wilson, A., The Chartist Movement in Scotland (Manchester, 1970)
Wilson, G. B., Alcohol and the Nation (1940)
Withers, C. W. J . , Gaelic in Scotland, 1698-1981: The Geographical History of
a Language (Edinburgh, 1984)
Young, J. D., The Rousing of the Scottish Working Class (1979)
Youngson, A. J . , After the Forty Five (Edinburgh, 1973)
4 WALES
Anthony-Jones, W. J . , 'The Tourist Industry in Wales', Welsh Anvil, 3 - 4

(1951-2)
Ashby, A. W., 'The Agricultural Depression in Wales', Welsh Outlook, 16 (1929)
'Some Characteristics of Welsh Farming', Welsh Outlook, 20 (1933)
'The Peasant Agriculture of Wales', Welsh Review, 3 (1944)
Ashby, A. W., and Evans, I. L . , The Agriculture of Wales and Monmouthshire
(Cardiff, 1944)
Ashby, A. W. and Jones, J. M., 'The Social Origin of Welsh Farmers', Welsh
Journal of Agriculture, 2 (1926)
Atkinson, M., and Baber, C , The Rise and Decline of the South Wales Iron Indus
try, 1760-1880 (Cardiff, 1987)
Baber, C , 'The Subsidiary Industries of Glamorgan, 1760-1914', in A. H.

4 Wales 557
John and Glanmor Williams, eds., Glamorgan County History, vol. 5: Indus
trial Glamorgan (Cardiff, 1980)
'Canals and the Economic Development of South Wales', in C. Baber and
L. J. Williams, eds., Modern South Wales: Essays in Economic History (Car
diff, 1986)
Baber, C , and Thomas, D., 'The Glamorgan Economy, 1914-1945', in A.
H. John and Glanmor Williams, eds., Glamorgan County History, vol. 5:
Industrial Glamorgan (Cardiff, 1980)
Baber, C , and Williams, L. J . , eds., Modern South Wales: Essays in Economic
History (Cardiff, 1986)
Baines, D., Migration in a Mature Economy: Emigration and Internal Migration
in England and Wales, 1861-1900 (Cambridge, 1985)
Bowen, E. G., 'The Heartland', in E. G. Bowen, ed., Wales: A Physical, Histori
cal and Regional Geography (1957)
Boyns, T., Thomas, D., and Baber, C., 'The Iron, Steel and Tinplate Industries,
1750-1914', in A. H. John and Glanmor Williams, eds., Glamorgan County
History, vol. 5: Industrial Glamorgan (Cardiff, 1980)
Brennan, T., Cooney, E . W . , and Pollins, H., eds., Social Change in South-West
Wales (1954)
Carter, H., The Towns of Wales (Cardiff, 1966)
'The Growth and Decline of Welsh Towns', in D. Moore, ed., Wales in
the Eighteenth Century (Swansea, 1976)
Ceredig Davies, J . , Welsh Folk Lore (Aberystwyth, 1911)
Chappell, Edgar, 'The Development of Rural Industries', Welsh Outlook, 10
(1923)
Checkland, S. G., The Rise of Industrial Society in England, 1815-85 (1964)
Colyer, R. J . , 'The Gentry and the County in Nineteenth-Century Cardigan
shire', Welsh History Review, 10 (1980-1)
Coupland, R., Welsh and Scottish Nationalism (1954)
Daunton, M. J . , Coal Metropolis: Cardiff, 1870-1914 (Leicester, 1977)
Davies, D. H., The Welsh Nationalist Party, 1925-45 (Cardiff, 1983)
Davies, E . , and Rees, A . D . , eds., Welsh Rural Communities (Cardiff, 1950)
Davies, E. T., Religion in the Industrial Revolution in South Wales (Cardiff, 1965)
Religion and Society in the Nineteenth Century (Llandybie, 1981)
Davies, G., 'The Agricultural Labourer in Wales', in Anon., Social Problems
in Wales (1913)
Davies, G., 'Community and Social Structure in Bethesda, 1840-70', Carnar
vonshire Historical Society Transactions, 41 (1980)
Davies, J . , 'The End of the Great Estates and the Rise of Freehold Farming
in Wales', Welsh History Review, 7 (1974)
Davies, R. C , 'The Present Condition of the Welsh Nation', Red Dragon,
4 (1883)
Dodd, A. H., The Industrial Revolution in North Wales (Cardiff, 1933)
Douglas, R., Land, People and Politics (1976)
Dunbabin, J. P. D., Rural Discontent in Nineteenth-Century Britain (1974)
Edmunds, E. L . , ed., I Was There: The Memoirs ofH. S. Tremenheere (Windsor,
1965)
Edwards, H. W . , The Good Patch (1938)
Edwards, Wil Jon, From the Valley I Came (1956)
England, J. W . , 'The Inheritance', in G. Humphrys, Industrial Britain, South
Wales (Newton Abbot, 1972)
Evans, E. D., A History of Wales, 1660-1815 (Cardiff, 1976)

558 Bibliographies
Evans, E. W., Mabon (Cardiff, 1959)

The Miners of South Wales (Cardiff, 1961)
Evans, F . , T h e Problem of the Rural School', Welsh Outlook, 15 (1928)
Evans, N., 'The South Wales Race Riots of 1919', Llafur, 3 (1980)
'The Welsh Victorian City: The Middle Class and Civic and National Con
sciousness in Cardiff', Welsh History Review, 12 (1985)
Francis, H., 'South Wales', in J. Skelley, ed., The General Strike (1976)
Francis, H., and Smith, D., The Fed (1980)
Griffith, Wyn, 'What is the Welsh Way of Life?', Welsh Outlook, 52 (1965)
Griffiths, Jim, Pages from Memory (1969)
Gwyther, C. E . , The Valley Shall Be Exalted (1949)
Gwyther, C , 'Sidelights on Religion and Politics in the Rhondda Valley,
1906-26', Llafur, 3 (1980)
Heath, R., 'The Rural Revolution', Contemporary Review, 67 (1895)
Hobsbawm, E. J., Industry and Empire (1968)
Holloway, F . , T h e Inter-War Depression in the Wrexham Coalfield', Denbigh
shire Historical Society Transactions, 27 (1978)
Hopkin, D., 'The Llanelli Riots, 1911', Welsh History Review, 11 (1983)
Hopkins, K. S., ed., Rhondda Past and Future (Rhondda Borough Council,
1975)
Howell, D. W., Land and People in Nineteenth-Century Wales (1978)
Patriarchs and Parasites: The Gentry of South-West Wales in the Eighteenth Cen
tury (Cardiff, 1986)
Howse, W. H., Radnorshire (Hereford, 1949)
Hutt, A., The Condition of the Working Class in Britain: South Wales (1933)
Jenkins, D., 'The Part Played by Craftsmen in the Religious History of Modern
Wales', Welsh Anvil, 5 - 6 (1953-4)
The Agricultural Community of South-West Wales at the Turn of the Twentieth
Century (Cardiff, 1971)
'Rural Society Inside Out', in D. Smith, ed., A People and a Proletariat (1980)
Jenkins, J. G., 'Rural Industry in Cardiganshire', Ceredigion, 6 (1968-71)
Welsh Crafts and Craftsmen (Llandysul, 1975)
Maritime Heritage: The Ships and Seamen of Southern Ceredigion (Llandysul,
1982)
Jennings, H., Brynmawr (1934)
John, A. H., The Industrial Development of South Wales (Cardiff, 1950)
John, A. H., and Williams, Glanmor, eds., Glamorgan County History, vol.
5: Industrial Glamorgan (Cardiff, 1980)
John, A. V., 'The Chartist Endurance', Morgannwg, 15 (1971)
Jones, B., 'The Present Agricultural Position', Welsh Outlook, 10 (1923)
Jones, C. B., 'Some Welsh Rural Problems', Welsh Outlook, 17 (1930)
Jones, D. J. V., Before Rebecca (1973)
'Crime, Protest and Community in Nineteenth-Century Wales', Llafur 1
(1974)
'The Second Rebecca Riots', Llafur, 2 (1976)
The Last Rising (Oxford, 1984)
T h e Welsh and Crime, 1801-1891', in C. Emsley and J. Walvin, eds., Arti
sans, Peasants and Proletarians (1985)
Jones, G. E . , Controls and Conflict in Welsh Secondary Education, 1889-1944
(Cardiff, 1982)
Jones, I. G., 'The South Wales Collier in Mid-Nineteenth Century', in Victorian
South Wales Architecture, Industry and Society (Victorian Society, 7th

4 Wales 559
Conference Report, 1969)

T h e Valleys: The Making of a Community', in P. H. Ballard and E. Jones,
eds., The Valleys Call (Ferndale, 1975)
Health, Wealth and Politics in Victorian Wales (Swansea, 1979)
Explorations and Explanations (Llandysul, 1981)
Jones, I. W . , Llandudno (Cardiff, 1975)
Jones, J. M., 'Agricultural Co-Operation in Wales, 1902-26', Welsh Outlook,
15(1928)
Jones, Merfyn, 'Class and Society in Nineteenth-Century Gwynedd', in D.
Smith, ed., A People and a Proletariat (1980)
Jones, P. N., Colliery Settlement in the South Wales Coalfield, 1850-1926 (Hull,
1969)
Jones, R. M., 'A Note on 1926 in North Wales', Llafur, 2 (1977)
The North Wales Quarrymen, 1874-1922 (Cardiff, 1982)
Jones, T., Rhymney Memories (Newtown, 1938)
Jones, Thomas., Welsh Broth (1952)
Jones-Parry, S. H., 'Crime in Wales', Red Dragon, 4 (1883)
Khleif, Bud B., Language,Ethnicity and Education in Wales (The Hague, 1980)
Lambert, W., 'Some Working-Class Attitudes towards Organised Religion
in Nineteenth-Century Wales', Llafur, 2 (1976)
Lewis, E. D., TheRhondda Valleys (1959)
Lewis, W. J . , Lead Mining in Wales (Cardiff, 1967)
Lile, B., and Farmer, D., 'The Early Development of Association Football
in South Wales, 1890-1906', Transactions of the Honourable Society ofCymm-
rodorion (1984)
Lush, A., The Young Adult in South Wales (Cardiff, 1941)
McCay, T., 'Edward Hughes, 1856-1925, North Wales' Miners' Agent',
Llafur, 2 (1979)
Madgwick, P. J . , The Politics of Rural Wales (1972)
Martin, A., 'Agriculture', in B. Thomas, ed., The Welsh Economy (Cardiff, 1961)
Matthews, E . , 'Anglesey Union of Village Halls and Societies', Welsh Outlook,
10(1923)
Minchinton, W. E . , The British Tinplate Industry: A History (Oxford, 1957)
ed., Industrial South Wales, 1750-1914 (1969)
Moore, D., ed., Barry: The Centenary Book, 2nd edn (Barry, 1985)
Morgan, Jane, 'Denbighshire's Annus Mirabilis : The County and Borough
Elections of 1868', Welsh History Review, 7 (1974)
Morgan, K. O., Wales in British Politics, 2nd edn (Cardiff, 1970)
'From Cymru Fydd to Crowther', in B. Jones, ed., The Anatomy of Wales
(Cardiff, 1972)
Rebirth of a Nation, Wales 1880-1980 (Oxford and Cardiff, 1981)
'The Welsh in English Polities', in R. R. Davies, R. A. Griffiths, I. G. Jones
and K. O. Morgan, eds., Welsh Society and Nationhood (Cardiff, 1984)
Morgan, L . , 'The Future of Welsh Nonconformity', Welsh Outlook, 18 (1931)
Morgan, P., The Eighteenth-Century Renaissance (Llandybie, 1981)
Morgan, P., and Thomas, D., Wales: The Shaping of a Nation (Newton Abbot,
1984)
Morgan, T. J., 'Peasant Culture in the Swansea Valley', in S. Williams, ed.,
Glamorgan Historian, vol. 9 (Cowbridge, 1973)
Morris, J . , and Williams, L. J . , The South Wales Coal Industry, 1841-1875 (Car
diff, 1958)
Owen, T. M., Welsh Folk Customs, new edn (Llandysul, 1987)

560 Bibliographies
Parry, Thomas, T h e Welsh Renaissance of the Twentieth Century', in A.

J. Roderick, ed., Wales through the Ages, vol. 2 (Llandybie, 1960)
Parry-Jones, D., My Own Folk (Llandysul, 1972)
Peate, I., 'Society in Wales', in B. Jones, ed., The Anatomy of Wales (Cardiff,
1972)
Peate, I. C , 'Welsh Rural Crafts', Welsh Outlook, 16 (1929)
Perrie Williams, G., Welsh Education in Sunlight and Shadow (1916)
Philip, A. B., The Welsh Question: Nationalism in Welsh Politics, 1945-1970
(Cardiff, 1975)
Phillips, T., Wales (1849)
Pierce, G. O., 'University College Cardiff 1883-1893', Transactions of the
Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion (1984)
Pretty, D. A., Two Centuries of Anglesey Schools (Llangefni, 1977)
Price, C , 'Portable Theatres in Wales 1843-1914', National Library of Wales
Journal, 9 (1955-6)
The Professional Theatre in Wales (Swansea, 1984)
Price, M. R. C , Industrial Saundersfoot (Llandysul, 1982)
Razell, P. E . , and Wainwright, R. J. W., eds., The Victorian Working Class:
Selections from the Morning Chronicle (1973)
Rees, A. D., Life in a Welsh Countryside (Cardiff, 1950)
Rees, D. B., Chapels in the Valley (Wirral, 1975)
Rees, J. L . , and Nicholas, N., 'The Policy of the Colliers', Welsh Outlook,
2(1915)
Richards, B., History of the Llynfi Valley (Cowbridge, 1982)
Roberts, R. O., 'The Smelting of Non-Ferrous Metals since 1750', in A. H.
John and Glanmor Williams, eds., Glamorgan County History, vol. 5: Indus
trial Glamorgan (Cardiff, 1980)
Roberts, W. G., 'Nonconformity: A Force in Welsh National Life', Young
Wales, 9 (1903)
Rocyn-Jones, D., 'Public Health in Wales', Welsh Review, 1 (1939)
Rogers, E . , 'The History of Trade Unionism in the Coal Mining Industry
of North Wales to 1914', Denbighshire Historical Society Transactions, 15
(1966)
Smith, D., 'Tonypandy 1910: Definitions of Community', Past & Present, 87
(1980)
Wales! Wales? (1984)
ed., A People and a Proletariat (1980)
Southall, J. E . , Bi-Lingual Teaching in Welsh Elementary Schools (Newport, 1888)
Wales and her Language, 2nd edn (1893)
Stead, P., 'Working-Class Leadership in South Wales, 1900-20', Welsh History
Review, 6 (1973)
'Schools and Society in Glamorgan before 1914', Morgannwg, 19 (1975)
Coleg Harlech (Cardiff, 1977)
'The Swansea of Dylan Thomas', in A Memorable Year 1977-8, (Dylan Thomas
Society Wales Branch, 1978)
'Establishing a Heartland - The Labour Party in Wales', in K. D. Brown,
ed., The First Labour Party 1906-1914 (1985)
T h e Town that had Come of Age, 1918-39', in D. Moore, ed., Barry: The
Centenary Book, 2nd edn (Barry, 1985)
Thomas, B., 'Organisation of Religion in Wales', Welsh Outlook, 16 (1929)
Thomas, B., 'The Influx of Labour into London and the South-East, 1920-
1936', Economica, 4 (1937)

'The Influx of Labour into the Midlands, 1920-37', Economica, 5 (1937)

'Wales and the Atlantic Economy', in B. Thomas, ed., The Welsh Economy
(Cardiff, 1961)
'Post-War Expansion', in B. Thomas, ed., The Welsh Economy (Cardiff, 1961)
'The Industrial Revolution and the Welsh Language', in C. Baber and
L. J. Williams, eds., Modern South Wales: Essays in Economic History (Car
diff, 1986)
Thomas, D. A., 'War and the Economy: The South Wales Experience', in
C. Baber and L. J. Williams, eds., Modern South Wales: Essays in Economic
History (Cardiff, 1986)
Thomas, J. G., 'Population Trends in Wales', Welsh Anvil, 3 - 4 (1951-2)
Tomley, J. E . , 'The Inquiry into the Anti-Tuberculosis Service in Wales and
Monmouthshire', Welsh Review, 1 (1939)
Vincent, J. E . , The Land Question in North Wales (1896)
Williams, A . B . , 'Courtship and Marriage in the Nineteenth Century', Montgo
meryshire Collections, 51 (1949)
Williams, A. H., Public Health in Mid-Victorian Wales (Cardiff, 1983)
Williams, D., Modern Wales (1950)
The Rebecca Riots (Cardiff, 1955)
Williams, G., 'On Class and Status Groups in Welsh Rural Society', in G.
Williams, ed., Crisis of Economy and Ideology (Sociology of Wales Studies
Group, 1983)
Williams, Glanmor, Religion, Language and Nationality in Wales (Cardiff, 1979)
Williams, G. A., 'The Emergence of a Working Class Movement', in A. J.
Roderick, ed., Wales through the Ages, vol. 2 (Llandybie, 1960)
The Merthyr Rising (1978)
'Locating a Welsh Working Class', in D. Smith, ed., A People and a Proletariat
(1980)
When Was Wales? (1985)
Williams, L. J . , 'The New Unionism in South Wales', Welsh History Review,
1(1963)
'The Strike of 1898', Morgannwg, 9 (1965)
'The Road to Tonypandy', Llafur, 1 (1973)
'The Coalowners', in D. Smith, ed., A People and a Proletariat (1980)
'The Coal Industry, 1750-1914', in A. H. John and Glanmor Williams, eds.,
Glamorgan County History, vol. 5: Industrial Glamorgan (Cardiff, 1980)
Williams, L. J . , and Boyns, T., 'Occupations in Wales, 1851-1971', Bulletin
of Economic Research, 29 (1977)
Williams, T. N., 'The Sunday School: Its Failure and Future', Welsh Outlook,
17 (1930)
Williams-Davies, J . , 'Merchedd y Gerddi: A Seasonal Migration of Female
Labour from Rural Wales', Folk Life, 15 (1977)
Wynne Evans, L . , Education in Industrial Wales, 1700-1900 (Cardiff, 1971)
5 THE NORTH-WEST
Addy, J., 'Bishop Porteous' Visitation of the Diocese of Chester, 1778', North
ern History, 13 (1977)
Ainsworth, A., 'Religion in the Working-Class Community and the Evolution
of Socialism in Late Nineteenth-Century Lancashire: A Case of Working-
Class Consciousness', Histoire Sociale, 20 (1977)

562 Bibliographies
Anderson, G., Victorian Clerks (Manchester, 1976)

Anderson, M., Family Structure in Nineteenth-Century Lancashire (Cambridge,
1971)
'Sociological History and the Working-Class Family: Smelser Revisited',
Ashmore, O., The Industrial Archaeology of Lancashire (Newton Abbot, 1969)
Ashton, T. S., An Eighteenth-Century Industrialist: Peter Stubs of Warrington
(Manchester, 1939)
Aspinall, P. J . , and Hudson, D., Ellesmere Port: The Making of an Industrial
Borough (Neston, 1962)
Bailey, P., Leisure and Class in Victorian England (1978)
Barker, T. C , The Glassmakers (1977)
Barker, T. C , and Harris, J. R., A Merseyside Town in the Industrial Revolution
(Liverpool, 1954)
Belchem, J., 'English Working-Class Radicalism and the Irish 1815-50', North
west Labour History Society Bulletin, 8 (1982-3)
Board of Trade, An Industrial Survey of the Lancashire Area (1932)
Bohstedt, J . , Riots and Community Politics in England and Wales 1790-1810
(1983)
Booth, A., 'Food-Riots in the North-West of England, 1790-1801', Past &
Present, 77 (1977)
Bowker, B., Lancashire under the Hammer (1928)
Boyson, R.,'The New Poor Law in North-East Lancashire, 1834-71', Lancashire
and Cheshire Antiquarian Society, 70 (1960)
The Ashworth Cotton Enterprise: The Rise and Fall of a Family Firm, 1818-80
(Oxford, 1970)
Bristow, B., 'An Artisan Elite Residential District in Preston, 1851', Manchester
Geographer, N.S., 3 (1982)
Burgess, K., The Origins of British Industrial Relations (1975)
Burr-Litchheld, R., 'The Family and the Mill', in A. Wohl, ed., The Victorian
Family (1978)
Bythell, D., The Hand-Loom Weavers (Cambridge, 1969)
Calhoun, C , The Question of Class Struggle (Oxford, 1982)
Challinor, R., and Ripley, B., The Miners' Association: A Trade Union in the
Age of the Chartists (1968)
Chaloner, W. H., The Social and Economic Development of Crewe (Manchester,
1950)
Chapman, S. D.,'Fixed Capital Formation in the British Cotton Manufacturing
Industry', in J. P. P. Higgins and S. Pollard, eds., Aspects of Capital Forma
tion in Great Britain 1750-1850 (1971)
'Financial Restraints on the Growth of Firms in the Cotton Industry, 1790-
1850', Economic History Review, 2nd ser., 32 (1979)
Chorley, K., Manchester Made Them (1950)
Clarke, A., The Effects of the Factory System (1899)
Clarke, P. F . , Lancashire and the New Liberalism (Cambridge, 1971)
Cruickshank, M., 'The Anglican Revival and Education: A Study of School
Expansion in the Cotton Manufacturing Areas of North-West England,
1840-50', Northern History, 15 (1979)
Children and Industry (Manchester, 1981)
Danson, J. T., and Welton, T. A., 'On the Population of Lancashire and
Cheshire and its Local Distribution during the Fifty Years 1801-51', Trans
actions of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, 11 (1858-9)

Davies, C. S., The Agricultural History of Cheshire, 1750-1850 (Manchester,

1960)
Davies, R. S. W., 'The Liverpool Labour Party and the Liverpool Working
Class, 1900-39', North-West Labour History Society Bulletin, 6 (1979-80)
Dick, M., 'The Myth of the Working-Class Sunday School', History of Edu
cation, 9(1980)
Didsbury, B., 'Cheshire Saltworkers', in R. Samuel, ed., Miners, Quarrymen
and Saltworkers (1977)
Dutton, H. I., and King, J. E . , Ten Per Cent and No Surrender (Cambridge, 1981)
'The Limits of Paternalism: The Cotton Tyrants of North Lancashire, 1836-
54', Social History, 7 (1982)
Edsall, M. C , The Anti-Poor Law Movement, 1834-44 (Manchester, 1971)
Edwards, M. M., The Growth of the British Cotton Trade 1780-1815 (Manchester,
1967)
Elbourne, R., Music and Tradition in Early Industrial Lancashire 1780-1840
(Woodbridge, 1980)
Engels, F . , The Condition of the Working Class in England (Panther edn, 1969)
Farnie, D. A., The Lancashire Cotton Industry and the World Market 1815-96 (1979)
The Manchester Ship Canal and the Rise of the Port of Manchester (Manchester,
1980)
Foster, J . , Class Struggle and the Industrial Revolution (1974)
Fowler, A., 'Lancashire and the New Liberalism: A Review', North-West Labour
History Society Bulletin, 4 (1977)
Fraser, D., Urban Politics in Victorian England (Leicester, 1976)
Freeman, T. W., Rodgers, H. B., and Kinvig, R. H., Lancashire, Cheshire and
the Isle of Man (1966)
Gadian, D. S., 'Class Consciousness in Oldham and Other North-West Indus
trial Towns', Historical Journal, 21 (1978)
Garrard, J., Leadership and Power in Victorian Industrial Towns 1830-80 (Manches
ter, 1983)
Gatrell, V. A. C , 'Labour, Power and the Size of Firms in Lancashire Cotton
in the Second Quarter of the Nineteenth Century', Economic History
'Incorporation and the Pursuit of Liberal Hegemony in Manchester 1790-
1839', in D. Fraser, ed., Municipal Reform and the Industrial City (Leicester,
1982)
Gibson, R., Cotton Textile Wages in the United States and Great Britain: A Compari
son of Trends, 1860-1945 (New York, 1948)
Hewitt, M., Wives and Mothers in Victorian Industry (1958)
Hikins, H., ed., Building the Union (Liverpool, 1973)
Hills, R., Power in the Industrial Revolution (Manchester, 1970)
Hindle, G. B., Provision for the Relief of the Poor in Manchester, 1754-1826
(Manchester, 1975)
Hopwood, E . , The Lancashire Weavers' Story (Manchester, 1969)
Hunt, K., 'Women and the Social Democratic Federation: Some Notes on
Lancashire', North-West Labour History Society Bulletin, 7 (1980-1)
Hutchins, B. L . , and Harrison, A., A History of Factory Legislation, 2nd edn
(1911)
Hyde, F. E . , Liverpool and the Mersey (Newton Abbot, 1971)
Jenkins, M., The General Strike of 1842 (1980)
Jewkes, J . , and Gray, F. M., Wages and Labour in the Lancashire Cotton Industry
(Manchester, 1935)

564 Bibliographies
John, A. V., By the Sweat of their Brow: Women Workers at Victorian Coalmines
(1980)
Jones, D. Caradog, The Social Survey of Mersey side, 3 vols. (Liverpool, 1934)
Joyce, P., Work, Society and Politics (Brighton, 1980)
Kay, J. P., The Moral and Physical Condition of the Working Classes Employed
in the Cotton Manufacture of Manchester (1832)
Kirby, R. G., andMusson, A. E . , The Voiceof the People: John Doherty, 1798-1854
(Manchester, 1975)
Kirk, N., 'Ethnicity and Popular Toryism, 1850-70', in K. Lunn, ed., Hosts,
Immigrants and Minorities (Folkestone, 1980)
Lancashire Industrial Development Association, Industrial Reports (1948-56)
Langton, J., Geographical Change and Industrial Revolution: Coalmining in South
west Lancashire, 1590-1799 (Cambridge, 1979)
Laqueur, T. W., Religion and Respectability: Sunday Schools and Working-Class
Culture, 1780-1850(1976)
Lazonick, W., 'Industrial Relations and Technical Change: The Case of the
Self-Acting Mule', Cambridge Journal of Economics, 3 (1979)
'Factor Costs and the Diffusion of Ring Spinning in Britain prior to World
War I', Quarterly Journal of Economics, 96 (1981)
Lee, J. M., Social Leaders and Public Persons (1963)
Liddington, J., and Norris, J., One Hand Tied Behind Us (1978)
Liddle, J. G., 'Estate Management and Land Reform Politics: The Hesketh
and Scarisbrick Families and the Making of Southport, 1842-1914', in
D. Cannadine, ed., Patricians, Power and Politics in Nineteenth-Century
Towns (Leicester, 1982)
Lloyd-Jones, R., and Le Roux, A. A., 'The Size of Firms in the Cotton Industry:
Manchester, 1815-41', Economic History Review, 2nd ser., 33 (1980)
Lowe, J. C , 'The Tory Triumph of 1868 in Blackburn and in Lancashire',
Historical Journal, 16 (1973)
McCord, N., The Anti-Corn Law League (1958, reprinted 1968)
McKenzie, J., 'The Composition and Nutritional Value of Diets in Manchester
and Dukinneld', Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society, 72 (1962)
Marriner, S., The Economic and Social Development ofMerseyside (1982)
Marshall, J. D., 'The Lancashire Rural Labourer in the Early Nineteenth Cen
tury', Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society, 71
(1961)
Furness and the Industrial Revolution (Barrow, 1958; reprinted Beckermet,
1981)
ed., The History of Lancashire County Council (1977)
Mather, F. C , After the Canal Duke (Oxford, 1970)
Midwinter, E. C., Social Administration in Lancashire, 1830-60 (Manchester,
1969)
Mitchell, H., The Hard Way Up (1968)
Musson, A. E . , Enterprise in Soap and Chemicals (Manchester, 1965)
'Class Struggle and the Labour Aristocracy, 1830-60', and reply by J. Foster,
Mutch, A., 'Lancashire's "Revolt of the Field"', North-West Labour History
Society Bulletin, 8 (1982-3)
Poole, R., Popular Leisure and the Music-Hall in Nineteenth-Century Bolton
(Lancaster, 1982)
'Oldham Wakes', in J. K. Walton and J. Walvin, eds., Leisure in Britain,
1780-1939 (Manchester, 1983)

Pooley, C . G . , T h e Residential Segregation of Migrant Communities in Mid-

Victorian Liverpool', Institute of British Geographers, N.S., 2 (1977)
Porteous, J. D., Canal Ports (1977)
Read, D., 'Chartism in Manchester', in A. Briggs, ed., Chartist Studies (1959)
Roberts, E . , 'Working-Class Standards of Living in Three Lancashire Towns,
1890-1914', International Review of Social History, 27 (1982)
Roberts, R., The Classic Slum (Manchester, 1971)
A Ragged Schooling (Manchester, 1976)
Sandberg, L. C , Lancashire in Decline (Columbus, Ohio, 1974)
Sanderson, M., 'Education and the Factory in Industrial Lancashire, 1780-
1840', Economic History Review, 2nd ser., 20 (1967)
Shallice, A., 'Liverpool Labourism and Irish Nationalism in the 1920s and
1930s', North-West Labour History Society Bulletin, 8 (1982-3)
Smelser, N. J., Social Change in the Industrial Revolution (1959)
Stedman Jones, G., 'The Language of Chartism', in J. Epstein and D. Thomp
son, eds., The Chartist Experience: Studies in Working-Class Radicalism and
Culture 1830-1860 (1982)
Stephens, W. B., Adult Education and Society in an Industrial Town: Warrington,
1800-1900 (Exeter, 1980)
Sykes, R.,'Working-Class Consciousness in Oldham, 1830-42', Historical Jour
nal, 23 (1980)
'Early Chartism and Trade Unionism in South-East Lancashire', in J. Epstein
and D. Thompson, eds., The Chartist Experience (1982)
Timmins, G., Hand-Loom Weavers' Cottages in Central Lancashire (Lancaster,
1977)
Turner, H . A . , Trade Union Growth, Structure and Policy (1962)
Tylecote, M., The Merchants' Institutes of Lancashire and Yorkshire before 1851
(Manchester, 1957)
Tyson, R. E . , 'The Cotton Industry', in D. H. Aldcroft, ed., The Development
of British Industry and Foreign Competition 1875-1914 (1968)
Vigier, F . , Change and Apathy: Liverpool and Manchester during the Industrial
Revolution (1970)
Vincent, J. R., The Formation of the Liberal Party, 1857-68 (1966)
'The Effect of the Second Reform Act in Lancashire', Historical Journal, 11
(1968)
Wads worth, A. P., and Mann, J. de L . , The Cotton Trade and Industrial Lanca
shire, 1600-1780(1931)
Waller, P. J., Democracy and Sectarianism: A Political and Social History of Liverpool,
1868-1939 (Liverpool, 1981)
Walton, J. K., The Blackpool Landlady: A Social History (Manchester, 1978)
'Lunacy in the Industrial Revolution: A Study of Asylum Admissions in
Lancashire, 1848-50', Journal of Social History, 13 (1979-80)
'The Demand for Working-Class Seaside Holidays in Victorian England',
Walton, J. K., and Poole, R., 'The Lancashire Wakes in the Nineteenth Cen
tury', inR. D. Storch, ed., Popular Culture and Custom in Nineteenth-Century
England (1982)
Ward, J. T., The Factory Movement 1830-55 (1962)
Warren, K., Chemical Foundations (Oxford, 1980)
White, B. D., A History of the Corporation of Liverpool (Liverpool, 1951)
White, J., 'A Panegyric on Edwardian Progressivism', Journal of British Studies,
16 (1976-7)

566 Bibliographies
White, J. L . , The Limits of Trade Union Militancy (1978)
6 THE NORTH-EAST
Armstrong, H. E . , 'Sketch of the Sanitary History of Newcastle-upon-Tyne',

Transactions of the Sanitary Institute of Great Britain, 4 (1883)
Atkinson, F . , Life and Tradition in Northumberland and Durham (1977)
Briggs, A., Victorian Cities (1963)
Chadwick, E . , 'Address on Health', Transactions of the National Association
for the Promotion of Social Science, Aberdeen Meeting 1877 (1878)
Chaplin, S.,The Thin Seam (1950)
Colls, R., The Collier's Rent: Song and Culture in the Industrial Village (1977)
Daysh, G. H., et al, 'Inter-War Unemployment in West Durham 1929-39',
in M. Bulmer, ed., Mining and Social Change: Durham County in the Twen
tieth Century (1978)
Deane, P., and Cole, W. A., British Economic Growth 1688-1959, 2nd edn (Cam
bridge, 1967)
Dewsnup, E. R., The Housing Problem in England (Manchester, 1907)
Goodfellow, D . M . , Tyneside: The Social Facts (Newcastle upon Tyne, 1940)
Hadfield, J., Health in the Industrial North-East (n.d.)
House, J. W . , North-Eastern England: Population Movements and the Landscape
since the Early Nineteenth Century (King's College, Newcastle upon Tyne,
Department of Geography, research series 1,1954)
Hunt, E. H., Regional Wage Variations in Britain, 1850-1914 (Oxford, 1973)
Lawson, }.,A Man's Life (1932)
McCord, N , North East England: The Region's Development 1760-1960 (1979)
McCord, N., and Rowe, D. J . , 'Industrialisation and Urban Growth in North-
East England', International Review of Social History, 22 (1977)
Macdonald, S., 'The Role of the Individual in Agricultural Change: The Exam
ple of George Culley of Fenton, Northumberland', in H. S. A. Fox and
R. A. Butlin, eds., Change in the Countryside (1979)
Mess, H. A., Industrial Tyneside (1928)
Ministry of Health, Report on the Overcrowding Survey in England and Wales
(1936)
Moore, R. S., Pitmen, Preachers and Politics: The Effects of Methodism in a Durham
Mining Community (Cambridge, 1974)
Muthesius, S., The English Terraced House (1982)
Pickering, W. S. F . , ed., A Social History of the Diocese of Newcastle (1981)
Pilgrim Trust, Men Without Work (Cambridge, 1938)
Reid, D. B., Report on the State of Newcastle upon Tyne and Other Towns (1845)
Rowe, D. J . , 'The Culleys, Northumberland Farmers 1767-1813', Agricultural
History Review, 19 (1971)
'The Economy of the North-East in the Nineteenth Century: A Survey with
a Bibliography of Works Published since 1945', Northern History, 6 (1971)
'Occupations in Northumberland and Durham 1851-1911', Northern History,
8(1973)
'Population of Nineteenth Century Tyneside', in N. McCord, ed., Essays
in Tyneside Labour History (Newcastle upon Tyne, 1977)
Smith, J . , 'Public Health on Tyneside 1850-80', in N. McCord, ed., Essays
in Tyneside Labour History (Newcastle upon Tyne, 1977)
Taylor, G., and Ayres, N., Born and Bred Unequal (1969)

7 London and the Home Counties 567
Williamson,W., Class, Culture and Community: A Biographical Study of Social

Change in Mining (1982)
7 LONDON AND THE HOME COUNTIES
Alexander, S., 'Women's Work in Nineteenth Century London: A Study

of the Years 1820-1850', in J. Mitchell and A. Oakley, eds., Rights and
Wrongs of Women (1976)
Andrew, D. T., 'Aldermen and Big Bourgeoisie of London Reconsidered',
Ansell, W. H., 'The London of the Future', Journal of the Royal Society of Arts
(1941)
Ashplant, T. G., 'London Working Men's Clubs 1875-1914', in E. Yeo and
S. Yeo, eds., Popular Culture and Class Conflict, 1590-1914: Explorations
in the History of Labour and Leisure (Brighton, 1981)
Atkins, P. J . , 'London's Intra-Urban Milk Supply c. 1790-1914', Institute of
British Geographers Transactions, 11 (1977)
Baer, M. B., 'Social Structure, Voting Behaviour and Political Change in Victor
ian London', Albion, 9 (1977)
Bailey, P., ' "A Mingled Mass of Perfectly Legitimate Pleasures": The Victor
ian Middle Class and the Problem of Leisure', Victorian Studies, 21 (1977)
Bailey, V., 'The Metropolitan Police, the Home Office and the Threat of Out
cast London', in V. Bailey, ed., Policing and Punishment in Nineteenth-
Century Britain (1981)
Barker, T. C., and Robbins, M., A History of London Transport (1963)
Barker, T. C , and Whyman, J . , Life in Kent before 1914 (1977)
Barnes, H., 'The Slum Problem', Journal of the Town Planning Institute, 13
(1926-7)
Beattie, J. M., 'Crime and the Courts in Surrey 1736-53', in J. S.Cockburn,
ed., Crime in England, 1550-1800 (1977)
Besant, W., South London (1899)
East London (1901)
Binford, H. C , 'Land Tenure, Social Structure and Railway Impact in North
Lambeth 1830-1861', Journal of Transport History, 2 (1974)
Bingham Ashworth, H., Flats: Design and Equipment (1936)
Booth, C , Improved Means of Locomotion as a First Step towards the Cure of the
Housing Difficulties of London (1901)
ed., Life and Labour of the People in London, 1st ser., 4 vols. (1889-91)
Brandon, P., A History of Surrey (1977)
Branson, N., Popularism 1919-1925: George Lansbury and the Councillors' Revolt
(1979)
Braudel, F . , Civilisation materielle, economie et capitalisme XVe-XVIIIe siecle (Paris,
1979)
Brewer, J . , and Styles, J . , An Ungovernable People: The English and their Law
in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries (1980)
Briggs, A., Victorian Cities (Harmondsworth, 1968)
Brown, A. F. J . , 'Colchester 1815-1914', Essex Record Office Publications, 74
(1980)
Bush, J . , 'East London Jews and the First World War', London Journal, 6 (1980)
Chadwick, E . , 'London Centralised', Contemporary Review, 45 (1884)

568 Bibliographies
Chalklin, C. W., 'The Reconstruction of London's Prisons, 1770-1799: An

Aspect of the Growth of Georgian London', London Journal, 9 (1983)
Chapman, I., 'Living Conditions in Nineteenth-Century London', Bloomsbury
Geographer, 11 (1983)
Chartres, J. A., 'The Capital's Provincial Eyes: London's Inns in the Early
Eighteenth Century', London Journal, 3 (1977)
Cherry, G., The Evolution of British Town Planning (1974)
Cooney, E. W., 'The Origins of the Victorian Master Builders', Economic History
Review, 2nd ser., 8 (1955-6)
Cope, S. R., 'Bird, Savage and Bird of London, Merchants and Bankers,
1782-1803', Guildhall Studies in London History, 4 (1982)
Corfield, P. J., The Impact of English Towns, 1700-1800 (Oxford, 1982)
Cox, J . , The English Churches in a Secular Society: Lambeth 1870-1930 (New
York and Oxford, 1982)
Cox, R. C. W., 'The Old Centre of Croyden: Victorian Decay and Redevelop
ment', in A. Everitt, ed., Perspectives in English Urban History (1973)
Cross, R., Homes of the London Poor in the Nineteenth Century (1882)
Crossick, G., 'The Labour Aristocracy and its Values: A Study of Mid-Victor
ian Kentish London', Victorian Studies, 19 (1976)
Cullen, M., 'Charles Booths's Poverty Survey: Some New Approaches', in
T. C. Smout, ed., The Search for Wealth and Stability: Essays in Economic
and Social History Presented to M. W. Flinn (1979)
Cunningham, H., 'The Metropolitan Fairs: A Case Study in the Social Control
of Leisure', in A. P. Donajgrodzki, ed., Social Control in Nineteenth Century
Britain (1977)
Davidoff, L . , The Best Circles: Society, Etiquette and the Season (1973)
'Separation of Home and Work?', in S. Burman, ed., Fit Work for Women
(1979)
Davies, W. K. D., 'Charles Booth and the Measurement of Urban Social Char
acter', Area, 10 (1978)
Dickson, P. G. M., 'The Financial Revolution in England: The Story of the Develop
ment of Public Credit 1688-1756 (1967)
Dinwiddy, J. R., '"The Patriotic Linen-Draper": Robert Waithman and the
Revival of Radicalism in the City of London, 1795-1818', Bulletin of the
Institute of Historical Research, 46 (1973)
Dobson, C. R., Masters and Journeymen: A Pre-History of Industrial Relations
1717-1800(1980)
Drake, M., 'The Census 1801-1901', in E. A. Wrigley, Nineteenth-Century
Society: Essays in the Use of Quantitative Methods for the Study of Social Data
(Cambridge, 1972)
Dyos, H. J., 'Workmen's Fares in South London, 1860-1914', Journal of Trans
port History 1(1953)
'The Objects of Street Improvement in Regency and Early Victorian
London', International Review of Social History, 2 (1957)
Victorian Suburbs: A Study of the Growth ofCamberwell (Leicester, 1961)
'The Slums of Victorian London', Victorian Studies, 11 (1968)
'The Speculative Builders and Developers of Victorian London', Victorian
Studies, 11, Supplement (1968)
'Greater and Greater London: Notes on the Metropolis and the
Provinces in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries', in J. S. Brom
ley and E. H. Kossman, eds., Britain and the Netherlands (The Hague,
1971)

'Some Social Costs of Railway-Building in London', in D. Cannadine

and D. Reeder, Exploring the Urban Past (Cambridge, 1982)
Dyos, H. J. and Reeder, D. A., 'Slums and Suburbs', in H. J. Dyos and
M. Wolff, eds., The Victorian City, vol. 1: Images and Realities (1973)
Elton, G. R., 'Crime and the Historian', in J. S. Cockburn, ed., Crime in
England 1550-1800 (1977)
Emsley, C , 'The London "Insurrection" of December 1792: Fact, Fiction or
Fantasy?', journal of British Studies, 17 (1978)
Englander, David, Landlord and Tenant in Urban Britain, 1838-1918 (Oxford,
1983)
Fido, J . , 'The Charity Organisation Society and Social Casework in London
1869-1900', in A. P. Donajgrodzki, ed., Social Control in Nineteenth Century
Britain (1977)
Finer, S. E . , The Life and Times of Sir Edwin Chadwick (1952)
Fisher, F. J . , 'London as an Engine of Growth', in J. S. Bromley and E . H .
Kossman, eds., Britain and the Netherlands (The Hague, 1971)
Floud, R., and Wächter, K. W., 'Poverty and Physical Stature: Evidence on
the Standard of Living of London Boys, 1770-1870', Social Science Journal,
4 (1982)
Foley, D., Controlling London's Growth: Planning the Great Wen 1940-1960
(London and Los Angeles, 1963)
Forbes, T. R., 'Weaver and Cordwainer: Occupations in the Parish of St Giles,
London, in 1654-93 and 1729-43', Guildhall Studies in London History, 4
(1980)
Friedlander, D., 'London's Urban Transition, 1851-1951', Urban Studies, 2
(1974)
Friedlander, D., and Roshier, R. J., 'A Study of Internal Migration in England
and Wales: Part I', Population Studies, 19 (1965-6)
Gar side, P. L . , 'Intergovernmental Relations and Housing Policy in London
1919-1970, with Special Reference to the Density and Location of Council
Housing', London Journal, 9 (1983)
'Shaping London's Future: The Role of the New Towns', in Von Karl
Schwarz, ed., Die Zukunft der Metropolen (Berlin, 1984)
'London 1919-1950: Metropolitan Development and Planning', Planning
History Bulletin, 6 (1984)
'West End, East End: London 1890-1940', in A. Sutcliffe, ed., Metropolis
1890-1940(1984)
' "Unhealthy Areas": Town Planning and the Slums', Planning Perspectives,
2 (1987)
Gillis, J. R., 'Servants, Sexual Relations, and the Risks of Illegitimacy in
London, 1801-1900', Feminist Studies, 5 (1979)
Goodman, W. L . , 'Christopher Gabriel, his Book', Furniture History, 17(1981)
Goodway, D., London Chartism, 1838-1848 (Cambridge, 1982)
Green, D. R., 'Street Trading in London: A Case Study of Casual Labour
1830-1860', i n j . H. Johnson and C. G. Pooley, The Structure of Nineteenth-
Century Cities (1982)
Grytzell, K., Population Changes in London, 1801-1901 (Lund, 1969)
Hall, P., 'Metropolis 1890-1940: Challenge and Response', in A. Sutcliffe,
ed., Metropolis 1890-1940 (1984)
Hall, P. G., 'The East London Footwear Industry: An Industrial Quarter in
Decline', East London Papers, 5 (1962)
The Industries of London since 1861 (1962)

570 Bibliographies
Hamley, W., 'The Expansion of Victorian and Edwardian Colchester', Essex

Journal 14 (1979)
Harvey, A . D . , 'The Regional Distribution of Incomes in England and Wales,
1803', Local Historian, 13 (1979)
Hennock, E . P., 'Poverty and Social Theory in England: The Experience of
the 1880s', Social History, 1 (1976)
Hinchcliffe, T., 'Highbury New Park: A Nineteenth Century Middle-Class
Suburb', London Journal, 7 (1981)
Hirst, J. D., 'A Failure "Without Parallel": The School Medical Service and
the LCC1907-1912', Medical History, 25 (1981)
Hobsbawm, E. J . , 'The Nineteenth Century London Labour Market', in R.
Glass, ed., London: Aspects of Change (1964)
Hone, J. A., For the Cause of Truth: Radicalism in London 1796-1821 (Oxford,
1982)
Howe, J. M., 'Occupations in Bermondsey 1701-3', Genealogists' Magazine,
20(1982)
Hoyle, S. R., 'The First Battle for London: The Royal Commission on Metropo
litan Termini 1846', London Journal, 8 (1982)
Hudson, P., and Hunter, L . , 'The Autobiography of William Hart, Cooper,
1776-1857: A Respectable Artisan in the Industrial Revolution', London
Journal, 7 (1981)
Husbands, C. T., 'East End Racism, 1900-80', London Journal, 8 (1982)
Imray, J. M., 'The Mercers' Company and East London, 1750-1850', East
London Papers, 9 (1966)
Inkster, I., 'Science and Society in the Metropolis: A Preliminary Examination
of the Social and Institutional Context of the Askesian Society of London,
1796-1807', Annals of Science, 34 (1977)
Inkster, I., and Morrell, J . , eds., Metropolis and Province in British Culture,
1780-1850(1983)
Jackson, A. A., Semi-Detached London: Suburban Development, Life and Transport,
1900-1939 (1973)
London's Local Railways (Newton Abbot, 1978)
Jarvis, R. C , 'The Metamorphosis of the Port of London', London Journal,
3 (1977)
Johnson, J. H., 'The Suburban Expansion of Housing in London 1918-1939',
in J. T. Coppock and H. C. Prince, eds., Greater London (1964)
Jones, E . , 'The Welsh in London in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centur
ies', Welsh History Review, 10 (1981)
Jones, G. W., 'How Herbert Morrison Governed London 1934-1940', Local
Government Studies, 5 (1973)
Jones, G. W., and Donoughue, B., Herbert Morrison: Portrait of a Politician
(1973)
Jones, J. W., 'The London Busmen's Rank-and-File Movement of the 1930s',
Bulletin of the Society for the Study of Labour History, 38 (1979)
Jones., P . E . , The Butchers of London (1976)
Judd, M., '"The Oddest Combination of Town and Country": Popular Cul
ture and the London Fairs, 1800-1860', in J. K. Walton and J. Walvin,
eds., Leisure in Britain, 1780-1939 (Manchester, 1983)
Korr, C P . , 'West Ham United Football Club and the Beginnings of Pro
fessional Football in East London 1895-1914', Journal of Contemporary
History, 13 (1979)
Large, D., 'London in the Year of Revolutions, 1848', in J. Stevenson, ed.,

London in the Age of Reform (1977)

Law, C. M., British Regional Development since World War I (Newton Abbot,
1980)
Lawrence, F. W., T h e Housing Problem', in C. F. G. Masterman, ed., Heart
ofEmpire (1901)
Lawton, R., 'Regional Population Trends in England and Wales 1750-1971',
in P. Rees and J. Hobcraft, eds., Regional Demographic Development (1979)
Lee, C. H., 'Regional Growth and Structural Change in Victorian Britain',
Lees, A., 'The Metropolis and the Intellectual', in A. Sutcliffe, ed., Metropolis
1890-1940(1984)
Lees, L. H., Exiles of Erin: Irish Migrants in Victorian London (Manchester, 1979)
Lees, L. H., and Modell, J . , 'The Irish Countryman Urbanized: A Comparative
Perspective on the Famine Migration', Journal of Urban History, 3 (1977)
Lejeune, A., The Gentlemen's Clubs of London (1979)
Lillywhite, B., London Coffee Houses (1963)
London Labour party, A Housing Policy for London (1934)
Lovell, J., T h e Irish and the London Dockers', Bulletin Society Study of Labour
History, 35 (1977)
Lovett, William, The Life and Struggles of William Lovett in his Pursuit of Bread,
Knowledge and Freedom (1876)
Low, S. J., 'The Rise of the Suburbs', Contemporary Review, 60 (1891)
Luckin, W., 'The Final Catastrophe: Cholera in London 1866', Medical History,
21 (1977)
McCann, P., 'Popular Education, Socialization and Social Control: Spitalhelds
1812-24', in P. McCann, Popular Education and Socialization in the Nineteenth
Century (1977)
McKendrick, N., Brewer, J., and Plumb, }. H., The Birth of a Consumer Society:
The Commercialisation of Eighteenth-Century England (1982)
Mackinder, H. J., Britain and the British Seas (Oxford, 1907)
McLeod, H., Class and Religion in the Mid-Victorian City (1974)
Malcolmson, P. E . , 'Getting a Living in the Slums of Victorian London',
London Journal, 1 (1975)
Mansfield, J., 'John Brown, a Shoemaker in Place's London', History Workshop
Journal, 8 (1979)
Masterman, C. F. G., ed., The Heart of Empire (1901)
Mathias, P., The Transformation of England: Essays in the Economic and Social
History of England in the Eighteenth Century (1979)
Mayhew, H., London Labour and the London Poor, 4 vols. (1861-2)
Mayhew, Henry, and Binney, John, The Criminal Prisons of London and the
Scenes of Prison Life (1862)
Mazumdar, P. M. H., 'The Eugenists and the Residuum: The Problem of
the Urban Poor', Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 54 (1980)
Michie, R. C , 'The London Stock Exchange and the British Securities Market
1850-1914', Economic History Review, 2nd ser., 38 (1985), pp. 61-82
Miller, W., 'Police Authority in London and New York City, 1830-1870', Jour
nal of Social History, 8 (1975)
Morrison, A., A Child of the Jago, 3rd edn (1897)
Tales of Mean Streets (1906)
Morrison, H., 'Plans for London', Geographical Magazine, 8 (1938)
Mumford, L . , 'The Plan for London', in City Development: Studies in Disinte
gration and Renewal (1947)

572 Bibliographies
Muthesius, S., The English Terraced House (1982)

Offer, A., Property and Politics 1870-1914: Landownership, Law, Ideology and
Urban Development in England (Cambridge, 1981)
Oliver, H., The International Anarchist Movement in Late Victorian England (1983)
Olsen, D. J., Town Planning in London in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
(1964)
The Growth of Victorian London (1976)
Osier, A., T h e London University of 1742', London Journal, 6 (1980)
Parsinnen, T. M., T h e Revolutionary Party in London', Bulletin of the Institute
of Historical Research, 45 (1972)
Pearce, C. G., and Mills, D. R., Census Enumerators' Books: An Annotated Biblio
graphy of Published Work Based Substantially on the Nineteenth Century Census
Enumerators ' Books (Milton Keynes, 1982)
Pepper, S., 'Ossulston Street: Early LCC Experiments in High-Rise Housing
1925-29', London Journal, 7 (1981)
Port, M. H., 'Metropolitan Improvements: From Grosvenor Square to Admir
alty Arch', London Journal, 7 (1981)
Prothero, I. T., 'London Chartism and the Trades', Economic History Review,
24 (1971)
'London Trade Unionism in the 1830s-40s', Bulletin Society Study of Labour
History, 36 (1978)
Artisans and Politics in Early Nineteenth-Century London (Folkestone, 1979)
Reeder, D. A., 'A Theatre of Suburbs: Some Patterns of Development in
West London, 1801-1911', in H. J. Dyos, ed., The Study of Urban History
(1968)
Richardson, T. L . , 'The Agricultural Labourers' Standard of Living in Kent,
1790-1840', in D. J. Oddy and D. S. Miller, The Making of the Modern
British Diet (1976), pp. 103-16
Robbins, M., 'Transport and Suburban Development in Middlesex down to
1914', Transactions of London and Middlesex Archaeological Society, 29 (1978)
Roebuck, J., Urban Development in 19th Century London: Lambeth, Battersea and
Wandsworth 1838-88 (Chichester, 1979)
Rogers, N , 'Popular Disaffection in London during the Forty-Five', London
Journal, 1 (1975)
'Popular Protest in Early Hanoverian London', Past & Present, 74 (1978)
'Money, Land and Lineage: The Big Bourgeoisie of Hanoverian London',
Ross, E . , 'Survival Networks: Women's Neighbourhood Sharing in London
before World War One', History Workshop Journal, 15 (1983)
Rowe, D. J., ed., London Radicalism, 1830-1843 (1970)
Rubinstein, D., School Attendance in London 1870-1904: A Social History (1969)
Rubinstein, W. D., 'Wealth, Elites and the Class Structure of Modern Britain',
Past & Present, 76 (1977)
T h e Victorian Middle Classes: Wealth, Occupation and Geography', Econ
Rude, G., Paris and London in the Eighteenth Century (1952)
Hanoverian London 1714-1808 (1971)
Russell, B., Which Way to Peace? (1936)
Ryan, P.A., '"Poplarism" 1894-1930', in P. Thane, ed., The Origins of British
Social Policy (1978)
'Politics and Relief: East London Unions in the Late Nineteenth and Early

Twentieth Centuries', in M. E. Rose, ed., The Poor and the City: The English
Poor Law in its Urban Context 1834-1914 (Leicester, 1985)
Samuel, R., 'The London Labour Movement', Bulletin Society Study of Labour
History, 36 (1978)
Schwarz, L. D., 'Social Class and Social Geography: The Middle Classes
in London at the End of the Eighteenth Century', Social History, 7 (1982)
'The Standard of Living in the Long Run: London, 1700-1860', Economic
Schwarz, L. D., and Jones, L. J . , 'Wealth, Occupations and Insurance in
the Late Eighteenth Century: The Policy Registers of the Sun Fire Office',
Shannon, H. A., 'Migration and the Growth of London 1841-91', Economic
Sheenan, W. J . , 'Finding Solace in Eighteenth-Century Newgate', in J. S.
Cockburn, ed., Crime in England 1550-1800 (1977)
Sheppard, F. H. W., London 1808-1870: The Infernal Wen (1971)
Sheppard, F. H. W . , Belcher, V., and Cottrell, P., 'The Middlesex and York
shire Deeds Registries and the Study of Building Fluctuations', London
Journal, 5 (1979)
Sherwell, A., Life in West London: A Study and a Contrast (1897)
Shipley, S., 'London Journeymen 1810-30', Bulletin of the Society for the Study
of Labour History, 36 (1978)
Snell, K. D. M., 'Agricultural Seasonal Unemployment, the Standard of
Living, and Women's Work in the South and East, 1690-1860', Economic
Stedman Jones, G., 'Working-Class Culture and Working-Class Politics in
London, 1870-1900: Notes on the Remaking of a Working Class', Journal
of Social History, 7 (1974)
Outcast London: A Study in the Relationship between Classes in Victorian Society
(1976 edn)
Stern, W. M., 'Where, Oh Where, Are the Cheesemongers of London?',
London Journal, 5 (1979)
Stevenson, J . , 'The B.U.F., the Metropolitan Police and Public Order', in
K. Lunn and R. Thurlow, eds., British Fascism: Essays on the Radical Right
in Inter-War Britain (1980)
ed., London in the Age of Reform (1977)
Summerson, J., The London Building World of the 1860s (1973)
The Life and Works of John Nash, Architect (1981)
Swenarton, M., Homes Fit for Heroes: The Politics and Architecture of Early State
Housing in Britain (1981)
Taylor, B . , ' "The Men Are as Bad as their Masters . . . " : Socialism, Feminism,
and Sexual Antagonism in the London Tailoring Trade in the 1830s',
in J. Newton, M. Ryan, and J. Walkowitz, eds., Sex and Class in Women's
History (1983)
Taylor, J. S., 'Philanthropy and Empire: Jonas Hanway and the Infant Poor
of London', Eighteenth Century Studies, 12 (1979)
Taylor, R., Lord Salisbury (1975)
Thomas, E . , Richard Jefferies (1977)
Thompson, F. M. L . , Hampstead: Building a Borough 1650-1964 (1978)
'Social Control in Victorian Britain', Economic History Review, 2nd ser., 34
(1981)
ed., The Rise of Suburbia (Leicester 1982)

574 Bibliographies
Thompson, P., The Struggle for London 1885-1914 (1967)

Tilly, C , and Schweitzer, R. A., 'How London and its Conflicts Changed
Shape 1758-1834', Historical Methods, 15 (1982)
Tobias, J. J., Crime and Industrial Society in the Nineteenth Century (1967)
Waller, P. J . , Town, City and Nation: England 1850-1914 (Oxford, 1983)
Walton, J. K., 'The Demand for Working-Class Seaside Holidays in Victorian
London', Economic History Review, 2nd ser., 34 (1981)
Wareing, J . , 'Changes in the Geographical Distribution of the Recruitment
of Apprentices to the London Companies 1486-1750', Journal of Historical
Geography, 6 (1980)
'Migration to London and Transatlantic Emigration of Indentured Servants,
1683-1775', Journal of Historical Geography, 7 (1981)
Wells, H. G., 'The Question of Scientific Administrative Areas', Mankind in
the Making, appendix (1903)
When the Sleeper Wakes (1899), revised as The Sleeper Wakes (1910)
Westergaard, J. H., 'The Structure of Greater London', in Ruth Glass, ed.,
London: Aspects of Change (1964)
White, J . , 'Campbell Bunk: A Lumpen Community in London between the
Wars', History Workshop Journal, 8 (1979)
Rothschild Buildings: Life in an East End Tenement Block, 1887-1920 (1980)
'Police and People in London in the 1930s', Oral History, 11 (1983)
Whyman, J., 'Visitors to Margate in the 1841 Census Returns', Local Population
Studies, 8 (1972)
Wilson, H. W., 'Will London be Suffocated?', National Review, 37 (1902)
Winstanley, M., Life in Kent at the Turn of the Century (Folkestone, 1978)
Wohl, A. S., 'The Housing of the Working Classes in London, 1815-1914',
in S. D. Chapman, ed., The History of Working-Class Housing (Newton
Abbot, 1971)
The Eternal Slum: Housing and Social Policy in Victorian London (1977)
Wrigley, E. A., 'A Simple Model of London's Importance in Changing English
Society and Economy 1650-1750', Past & Present, 37 (1967)
'Baptism Coverage in Early Nineteenth Century England', Population Stu
dies, 29 (1975)
Yelling, J. A., 'The Selection of Sites for Slum Clearance in London 1875-1888',
Journal of Historical Geography, 7 (1981)
'LCC Slum Clearance Policies 1889-1907', Institute of British Geographers
Transactions, 7 (1982)
Young, K., 'The Politics of London Government 1880-1899', Public Adminis
tration, 51(1973)
'The Conservative Strategy for London 1855-1975', London Journal, 1 (1975)
Young, K., and Garside, P. L . , Metropolitan London: Politics and Urban Change
1837-1981(1982)

F.M.L. Thompson - The Cambridge Social History of Britain, 1750-1950, Vol. 01. Regions and Communities

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

F.M.L. Thompson - The Cambridge Social History of Britain, 1750-1950, Vol. 01. Regions and Communities

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

THE CAMBRIDGE SOCIAL HISTORY

F . M . L . T H O M P S O N was Director of the Institute of Historical Research

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

Regions and communities

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

© Cambridge University Press 1990

First published 1990

British Library cataloguing in publication data

Library of Congress cataloguing in publication data

ISBN 0 521 25788 3 hardback

Transferred to digital printing 2002

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

5 The north-west 355

6 The north-east 415

7 London and the H o m e Counties 471

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

1.1 Percentage of the population of E n g l a n d and W a l e s

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

T h e h i s t o r i a n ' s j o b is to find o u t a b o u t t h e p a s t a n d m a k e it intelligible

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

Town and city

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

T a b l e 1.1 Percentage of the population of England and Wales living in

Towns 2,500- Towns 10,000- Towns over All

has e x a m i n e d m o r e than 125 such listings, a n d from their evidence

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

T a b l e 1.2 Relative and absolute growth of the urban population of England

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

Increase in urban Pop. of towns

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

I n t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y a n y o n e w h o s a i d ' t o w n ' w a s likely t o m e a n

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

T h e s e a s o n w a s a n a n n u a l g a t h e r i n g o f t h e c o u n t r y ' s elite for p u r ­

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

county gentry and s o m e of the lesser nobility cultivated the habit

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

b e c a m e m o r e closely involved with t h e m in the course of the eigh­

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008

T h e s e a s o n w a s a n a n n u a l g a t h e r i n g o f t h e c o u n t r y ' s elite for p u r

b e c a m e m o r e closely involved with t h e m in the course of the eigh

a b s e n c e of an active a n d interventionist urban aristocrat w a s of mar

a m o n g m e m b e r s of the gentry a n d the gentry fringe; b u t evangeli

services; while t h e s t r e e t - n e i g h b o u r h o o d w a s a product of the environ