Thursday 11 September 2003, 4pm, U Lounge
The geography of singleness
Christine Jones, University of Essex
This paper will show how the tables in the published census reports together with digitised boundaries from EDINA UKBORDERS can be used to produce thematic maps of the proportions of each sex aged 45 and over who were never-married and of the bachelor/ spinster ratio for this age range.
These maps will demonstrate the extent and range of the disparities in the conjugal condition of the population across England and Wales beyond the usual marriageable age. They will determine how far the patterns that the 19th-century statisticians found so remarkable among young not-yet-married people persisted among never-married people aged 45 and over, and persisted over time. They will also reveal the different perspectives obtained by viewing the data at county and at registration district level.
Despite the demographic and economic changes experienced by England and Wales during the 19th century the main features of the geography of singleness remained remarkably constant. The maps will also confirm the findings of the contemporary report writers that the percentage of the population never marrying was far from uniform across the country, but will show that it was not, as many contemporary writers supposed, merely a problem of redundant women or what to do with old maids; there were also substantial numbers of redundant men and old valets.
University of Essex, Department of History
17a Romford Close
Colchester
Essex CO4 0AP
Tel: +44 (0)1206 870307
Email: cejone@essex.ac.uk
Searching for nuptiality measures in the poll taxes of 1377-81
Richard Smith , University of Cambridge
When John Hajnal published his classic article on the European marriage pattern in 1965 he made use of some very limited attempts to calculate the proportions married among the population over the age of 14 who were netted in the English poll tax of 1377 by JC Russell. In effect he regarded this source as equivalent to a partial census of the lay adult population.
In recent years the poll taxes have become better understood, the original archive relating to them in the E179 class of the Public Record Office has been fundamentally reorganised and re-catalogued and the bulk of the archive has also been edited for publication. As a result we now have a clearer sense of the biases in that record relating to the recording of individual and their marital statues.
Nominative lists recording marital status are relatively rare for the tax of 1377 and those that Hajnal used are now known to have been deficient in ways of which he was unaware. Far more evidence is available for the taxes relating to 1279 and 1380-81. However, it is also possible to show that each tax from 1377 netted a smaller proportion of the lay population liable to pay tax such that women and young adult (especially) unmarried servants and offspring resident in their natal hearth were omitted. The paper reports marital estimates from various regions of the country following attempts to correct for the evidential biases. Conclusions are reached that are diametrically opposed to those of Hajnal regarding the pattern of marriage in late 14th-century England.
Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure
Department of Geography
Sir William Hardy Building
Downing Place
Cambridge CB2 3EN
Tel: +44 (0)1223 333181
Email: rms20@cam.ac.uk
Explaining demographic growth in industrialising Catalonia, 1680-1829
Julie Marfany, University of Cambridge
Over the course of the long 18th century, Catalonia experienced both rapid population growth and rapid industrialisation, in contrast to the rest of the Iberian peninsula. As yet, the factors underlying this rise in population are not fully understood, and there has been little attempt by historians to relate demographic change to the changes taking place in other sectors of the economy and society, such as industrialisation.
This paper draws on research carried out for my PhD thesis, which approaches the question of how industrialisation might have impacted on demographic behaviour through a family reconstitution of one proto-industrial community, Igualada. The thesis uses a family reconstitution of this population to investigate changes in demographic behaviour and the extent to which these may have related to changes in the economy.
The paper presents some of the findings from this family reconstitution. Age at marriage fell for both sexes, but more markedly for men, in contrast to the patterns found elsewhere in Europe. Industrialisation and urbanisation brought a severe penalty in the form of rising infant and child mortality. While marital fertility appears to have risen, it is not clear whether this was sufficient to compensate for higher mortality levels, leaving migration as the more likely variable when explaining demographic growth. While some differences can be observed across occupational groups, essentially all groups appear to have followed similar trends in behaviour, making any simple explanation along the lines of a 'proto-industrial effect' impossible.
Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure
Sir William Hardy Building
Department of Geography
Downing Place
Cambridge CB2 3EN
Email: jem23@cam.ac.uk