Britain 1740 – 1950

An Historical Geography

Richard Lawton, Colin Pooley, Colin G. Pooley

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781032005843
• eBook ISBN: 9781000390285
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Human Geography

Originally published in 1992, this book provides students with a well-illustrated, clearly written text which offers a coherent overview of Britain's development from a pre-modern to a modern economy and society. The key processes that have shaped the geography of modern Britain are rooted in the significant demographic, economic, technological and social transitions of the early eighteenth century, the impact of which was not fully diffused through the nation until the mid-20th Century. This country-wide survey examines the nature of this transformation. The material in the book is accessible because the book is clearly structured into 3 phases: 1740 to the 1830s; the 1830s to the 1890s and the 1890s to 1950. For each period, the principal aspects of change in population, industry, the countryside and urban life are examined, and regional examples given to support the analysis.

SECTION I:Britain from the 1740s to the 1830s

DOI: 10.4324/9781003174783-2

2The political, economic and social context 1740—1830

DOI: 10.4324/9781003174783-3

The transformation of the British economy initiated in the early eighteenth century was three-fold (Figure 2.1). First, a mainly rural society became a mainly commercial and industrial nation. Secondly, associated changes in work patterns, mobility of labour and the size and structure of increasingly urbanized communities induced a profound social revolution. Thirdly, associated changes in population behaviour saw the onset of a demographic revolution through the gradual control of mortality and in increased mobility.

In the early eighteenth century indigenous food supplies largely controlled prices and were the major influence on the economy and population. Relatively high mortality and control of family size in a society with a relatively high average age of marriage restricted population growth. That Britain largely avoided demographic crises from the late seventeenth century reflects social as well as economic factors, but it also indicates a varied and generous endowment of natural resources: a climate supporting a range of crops and stock but not given to seasonal or cyclical extremes; varied soils adaptable to the more specialized farming systems of the new agriculture; well-distributed supplies of fuel, particularly abundant coal, and ferrous and non-ferrous metals. In a mainly organic economy based on agriculture and handicraft industries these were sufficient to sustain a relatively small and slow-growing population.

The growth of output in early eighteenth-century England both in agriculture (0.9 per cent per annum between 1700 and 1750) and industry (0.7 per cent p.a.) was not matched in Scotland, but in both countries economic growth exceeded a population growth of some 0.3 per cent p.a. Agricultural production was significantly widened, though not equally in all regions and certainly not on all farms, by innovation in crops and farming methods. Increased productivity in well-farmed areas, both open field and enclosed,

Figure2.1 A simple model of social, economic and technological relations in the industrial revolution.

and reclamation of wetland and heathland began to transform rural landscapes and settlement patterns in the age of the improver. Substantial growth in traditional industries, especially textiles, was achieved by changes in the organization of production that made fuller use of family labour in many rural economies, not least in some marginal farming areas (Chapter 5). Growing market orientation of a greater range of both agricultural and industrial production promoted and depended upon better transport from the mid-eighteenth century and was reflected in both growing regional specialization and increased trade and commerce.

In 1700 four-fifths of the population was rural and two-thirds agricultural. By mid-century just under half of England's rural population was agricultural and one-third mainly industrial. By 1800 these and the urbanized sectors were roughly equal and, according to the crude census occupational statistics, by 1821 46 per cent of Britain's three million families depended on 'trade, manufacture and handicraft' as against 33 per cent in agriculture. By that time two-fifths of England's population and over one-quarter of Scotland's were town-dwellers, and many countryfolk were industrial workers.

As economic power and social status began to shift from the landed aristocracy to the bourgeoisie, so the political emphasis began to change. Despite continuing dominance of Parliament by the landed interest, commercial and manufacturing interests were influential in both domestic and foreign policy. The loss of the American colonies and the turmoil of European wars, especially against the French, emphasized the role of industry in productivity and overseas trade. Moreover, the need to take account of the urban, trnading and manufacturing interests were the subject of necessary moves towards Parliamentary reform and the franchise.

The response of society was vital for economic change. Despite much concern over the consequences of change, direct gov...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Original Title Page
• Original Copyright Page
• Contents Page
• List of tables Page
• List of figures Page
• Preface Page
• Section 1: Britain from the 1740s to the 1830s
• Section II: Britain from the 1830s to the 1890s
• Section III: Britain from the 1890s to the 1940s
• 17 Conclusion: Continuity and change in the regional geography of Britain
• Appendix
• Index