Dudley Baines

Making sense of the census : the manuscript returns for England and Wales, 1801-1901

Providing researchers with a guide to the 19th century census records, this book also provides an administrative background to the census, describing the documents in detail and commenting on the nature and reliability of the information they contain. These manuscripts are widely used by genealogists, historical demographers, and those interested in social, economic and local history and the book can also be used both as a general introduction to the subject and as a means of reference when working on the records.

Population and regional development

INTRODUCTION: POPULATION GROWTH IN THE LONG TERM Population growth (or in rare cases decline) occurs for one of three reasons: changes in the number of births, changes in the number of deaths and changes in the migration balance. However, simple birth, death and migration rates (e.g. deaths per 1,000 people) are rather crude measures. For example, it is possible for the overall death rate to be rising while deaths at each age are falling. This could occur if the population was ageing – i.e., the number in the older age groups was rising. In this case, improvements caused, say, by improved nutrition, would be masked. Demographers therefore prefer to talk about mortality and fertility, which are defined below and which measure deaths and births holding age structure constant. (The measurement of migration poses some particular problems, which are discussed below.) The main features of population change between the 1840s and the 1940s are as follows. The population of Great Britain increased by nearly two and half times from 18.5 to 45.8 million. Most of the growth occurred in the cities and suburbs, especially London and the great cities of the north and Midlands. There was considerable migration from the countryside and the more remote the area the more likely that it would be depopulated. Many people left Britain for overseas destinations. Most of them went to the new Europe overseas – countries with a low population density (and high resource/population ratio). These countries were also attracting emigrants from many other parts of Europe. Further, there was a rather smaller flow of immigrants from continental Europe and Ireland into Britain.

Did They Jump or Were They Pushed? The Exit of Older Men from the London Labor Market, 1929-1931

We examine the income of older men in London around 1930, based on a large sample. The income of nonworking older men was substantially below that of men still working. We find no evidence that retirement rates increased at the state-penionable—unsurprisingly, since pension paryments provided less than a povertyline income. Less demanding or part-time work was unavailable. Hence we conclude that the decision of older manual workers to leave the labor market was determined primarily by the absence of appropriate employment opportunities, rather than the presence of substantial assets or nonlabor income.

Ireland: A New Economic History, 1780-1939.

Ireland: A New Economic History offers a fresh, comprehensive economic history of Ireland between 1780 and 1939. Its methodology is mould-breaking, and it is unparalleled in its broad scope and comparative focus. Cormac O Grada unites historical research with economic theory in an original and stimulating book, which will be essential reading for all students of Irish history.

Emigration from Europe, 1815-1930.

1. Problems in the history of European emigration 2. Sources of historical information 3. Emigration and economic change in Europe 4. Emigration regions 5. Return migration 6. Did emigration change in character? 7. Assisted emigration 8. Emigration and urban growth 9. The economic effects of immigration 10. The family and assimilation 11. The end of mass emigration Conclusion Select bibliography Index.

The Economic Advisory Council 1930-1939.

The experience of the Economic Advisory Council provides the relevant policy background to the Keynesian revolution in economic theory, and to the adoption of the principles of economic management in Britain during the Second World War. This study of this pioneering advisory institution against the inter-war setting of depression, financial crisis and recovery is based on government records, supplemented by other contemporary sources. The book deals with the political and economic origins of the E.A.C. in the post-1918 decade; the role of the Council and its committees of inquiry as the world slump began to make an impact on an already depressed British economy; and the part played by individual economic advisers in the dramatic events which led to the fall of the second Labour Government and Britains departure from the gold standard in 1931. Throughout the nineteenthirties the work of the Council was carried on by the Committee on Economic Information, which helped to provide the National Government with solutions to the complex and novel problems of a post-gold standard world. In addition to assessing the significance of the E.A.C. experiment, the book reprints a number of reports and gives a guide to the relevant documents in the public archives.