Migration and urbanization in northwest England circa 1760–1830

Pooley, Colin G.; D'Cruze, Shani

doi:10.1080/03071029408567913

Cited by 78 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…It is also important to understand mobility within the context of individual life events such as marriage (Pooley & D’Cruze 1994). In Northwest Europe, including the Netherlands, marriage was primarily neo-local, meaning that both the bride and groom would move to establish a separate independent household at the time of marriage (Hajnal 1982).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate variability and human migration in the Netherlands, 1865–1937

Jennings

Gray

2014

Popul Environ

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Human migration is frequently cited as a potential social outcome of climate change and variability, and these effects are often assumed to be stronger in the past when economies were less developed and markets more localized. Yet, few studies have used historical data to test the relationship between climate and migration directly. In addition, the results of recent studies that link demographic and climate data are not consistent with conventional narratives of displacement responses. Using longitudinal individual-level demographic data from the Historical Sample of the Netherlands (HSN) and climate data that cover the same period, we examine the effects of climate variability on migration using event history models. Only internal moves in the later period and for certain social groups are associated with negative climate conditions, and the strength and direction of the observed effects change over time. International moves decrease with extreme rainfall, suggesting that the complex relationships between climate and migration that have been observed for contemporary populations extend into the nineteenth century.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate variability and human migration in the Netherlands, 1865–1937

Jennings

Gray

2014

Popul Environ

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“…The migration histories of individuals can be explored in more detail by linking entries in the census enumerators' books for successive censuses but the number of definite linkages that can be made tends to be small relative to the effort involved (Pooley and Turnbull, 1998). Accounts of the movements of individuals and families can be constructed on the basis of diaries, memoirs and genealogies (Pooley and D'Cruze, 1994). Although these give migration a human face, such findings may not be representative and again require painstaking research effort.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Was Dick Whittington taller than those he left behind? Anthropometric measures, migration and the quality of life in early nineteenth century London?

Humphries

Leunig

2009

Explorations in Economic History

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Using a new source of evidence we explore the geographical mobility of mid-nineteenth century seamen. Among seamen born outside London, the tall, the literate and those who could remember the exact day, month and year when they were born -characteristics that we suggest mark them out as men with more choices in life -were more likely to migrate to London. Contrary to what might be inferred from contemporary descriptions of urban disamenities or from persistent differentials in mortality, London appears as a desirable destination for those who could choose. The conclusion must be that London was not so bad, and we should adjust our perception of the problems of urbanisation accordingly, with implications for the wider debate on the standard of living during the industrial revolution. The paper's methodological innovation is the use of height as an explanatory variable in the analysis of migration. Although correlated with other variables that are routinely used in anthropometric studies to indicate life chances, such as literacy and the ability to recall date of birth, height has many advantages over these alternatives in that it exhibits higher levels of significance, and is more flexible. Moreover while literacy and heaping are in essence binary variables, height is a (near) continuous one, and one that allows us to test for linear and non-linear responses, as we do with interesting results in this paper. Perhaps the most fruitful use of height in historical analyses may turn out to be as an explanatory variable; at the very least such a research strategy provides anthropometric historians with fresh opportunities.

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“…Indeed, it does not intrinsically matter which defi nition is "correct". What matters is that multiple studies have interpreted step-migration as the process by which individuals progressively moved from the countryside to the towns and cities throughout their lifetime, and this defi nition has ramifi cations for the 1851-1911 censuses as a source of evidence for migration data (Anderson 1971;Gwynne/Sill 1976;Holderness 1970;Llewellyn-Smith 1902;Mageean/Pryce 1982;Plane et al 2005;Pooley/D'Cruze 1994;Saville 1957;Smith 1951;Withers/Watson 1991). Indeed, as the census only recorded birthplace and location on census night, it misses any migratory "steps" that occurred in between.…”

Section: Figmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Process of Internal Migration in England and Wales, 1851-1911: Updating Ravenstein and the Step-Migration Hypothesis

Day¹

2020

CPoS

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Since their publication in 1885 and 1889 respectively, Ravenstein’s laws of migration – which have since been summarised as eleven broad rules – have achieved something approaching universal acceptance (Ravenstein 1885, 1889). While most of these laws have been tested and retested using data drawn from a range of countries and time periods – invariably reconfirming the status of his hypotheses as “laws” – one hypothesis has been resistant to attempts to confirm Ravenstein’s interpretation; the so-called step-migration hypothesis. Given the conflicting definitions of step-migration, this article first recounts the historiography of the term and the subsequent reason why this paper has defined step-migration as a means by which individuals migrated, rather than a population-level phenomenon in which out-migrants are continually replaced by in-migrants. Recent studies have invariably concluded that while step-migration may have been the predominant means by which migration occurred during periods of industrialisation in the past, it is no longer the process by which movement occurs in modern, post-industrial societies (Plane et al. 2005). This article therefore critically re-evaluates the evidence upon which Ravenstein based his laws. The census. Whereas Ravenstein used the published report of the 1881 census; the present study utilises the complete, individual-level manuscript census returns from 1851 to 1911. Through an analysis of approximately 160 million lifetime migration paths, this paper draws two important conclusions. First, that most people’s migratory activity tended to be concentrated in a single move – usually upon leaving home – rather than in a series of steps over their lifetimes. This means the census – recording only individuals’ birthplace and location on census night – captures most people’s full migration histories, amplifying its value as a source for studying migration in the past. By first identifying the age range in which migration occurred, this article argues that the similarity of the age profile of migrants to those leaving home suggests they were one-and-the-same process. By then constructing synthetic cohorts and analysing the distances migrated by the population in each census between the mean ages of key lifecycle events – leaving home, leaving service and entering marriage – it is demonstrated that very little migration occurred beyond the first move. This is reiterated in a cohort analysis which shows very little change in the destinations of migrants between censuses. In order to search for evidence of migration post-marriage, mothers’ migration paths are reconstructed from those of their co-resident children. This similarly demonstrates that only a minority of mothers migrated during their childbearing years with the majority of migration occurring prior to the birth of their first child. This article therefore shows that while 1851-1911 was not a period without migration, nor was it one of constant movement. Rather, England and Wales urbanised because the majority made a considered choice of destination once in their lives. This article therefore demonstrates that migration in steps was the exception rather than the rule and that the individual-level census returns are a valuable source of migration evidence between 1851 and 1911 and deserve far wider use. * This article belongs to a special issue on “Internal Migration as a Driver of Regional Population Change in Europe: Updating Ravenstein”.

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Migration and urbanization in northwest England circa 1760–1830

Cited by 78 publications

References 11 publications

Climate variability and human migration in the Netherlands, 1865–1937

Climate variability and human migration in the Netherlands, 1865–1937

Was Dick Whittington taller than those he left behind? Anthropometric measures, migration and the quality of life in early nineteenth century London?

The Process of Internal Migration in England and Wales, 1851-1911: Updating Ravenstein and the Step-Migration Hypothesis

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