Disappearing Job Opportunities in Northamptonshire in the 1830s : An Analysis of the 1834 Poor Law Report and the 1841 Census Enumerators' Books

1830ネンダイ　ノーサンプトンシャー　ニオケル　シュウギョウ　キカイ　1834ネン　キュウヒンホウ　ホウコクショ　ト　1841ネン　センサス　ノ　セツゾク

ヤマモト, チアキ

Yamamoto, Chiaki

The Economic Society of Osaka University

オオサカ　ダイガク　ケイザイ　ガッカイ

女性労働

農村工業

the Industrial Revolution

female labour

rural industry

England in the 1830s saw various social and political reforms such as the parliamentary reform, the passing of the Municipal Corporation Act, and the amendment of the poor law administration. Behind these developments lies transformation of the society and economy since the onset of the Industrial Revolution. This paper explore these socio-economic changes in rural parishes in Northamptonshire through an analysis of the 1834 Poor Law Report and the 1841 Census Enumerators’ Books. The Poor Law Report provides some information on female job opportunities at the parish level, and an attempt is made to link this information with the 1841 CEB data. Lacemaking was transplanted to Northamptonshire by French Huguenots after the revocation of the edict of Nante, and it seems to have been thriving in the 18th century. The 1834 Report shows the industry was still an important source of income for local women and children. The 1841 CEBs reveals, however, that lacemaking in the county disappeared in many parishes during the 1830s. This led to a serious curtail of female job opportunities in rural Northamptonshire.