Economy and Culture in North-East England, 1500-1800

A rich picture of the complexities of early industrial development in the north-east of England.

A rich picture of the complexities of early industrial development in the north-east of England.

Historians increasingly emphasise that, in order to understand the industrial revolution fully as an economic, social and political process, the subject is best viewed from a regional, rather than a national, perspective. This book applies such an approach to the north-east of England in the early modern period, when, it is argued, the region experienced an early industrial revolution. Putting forward several new research findings and much new thinking, and covering many aspects of the economy of north-east England in the period, the book shows how rich and varied it was, and how vital the interplay of social, political and cultural forces was for industrial development. The book demonstrates that the economy of north-east England was not dominated by coal alone, and that previous historians' focus on 'the working class' misrepresents the full complexities of society in the period. Overall, the book has much to offer economic and social historians and historians of regional development generally, not just those interested in north-east England.

ADRIAN GREEN is Lecturer in History at Durham University. He is co-editor ofRegional Identities in North-East England, 1300-2000 (The Boydell Press, 2007).

BARBARA CROSBIE is Assistant Professor in History at Durham University, and is completing a study ofThe Rising Generations: AgeRelations and Cultural Change in Eighteenth-Century England.

Contributors: A. T. BROWN, JOHN BROWN, ANDY BURN, BARBARA CROSBIE, ADRIAN GREEN , MATTHEW D. GREENHALL, LINDSAY HOUPT-VARNER, GWENDA MORGAN, PETER RUSHTON, LEONA SKELTON, PETER D. WRIGHT, KEITH WRIGHTSON

Foreword - Keith Wrightson
Introduction - Adrian Green and Barbara Crosbie
Church Leaseholders on Durham Cathedral's Estate, 1540-1640: The Rise of a Rural Elite? - A.T. Brown
Durham Ox: Commercial Agriculture in North-East England, 1600-1800 - Adrian Green
Fluctuating Fortunes: The Bowes Family and Lead Mining Concessions, 1550-1720 - John Brown
Material Matters: Improving Berwick upon Tweed's Urban Environment, 1551-1603 - Leona Skelton
Work before Play: The Occupational Structure of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1600-1710 - Andy Burn
Maintaining Moral Integrity: The Economic and Cultural Relationships of Quakers in North-East England, 1653-1700 - Lindsay Houpt-Varner
Shipping on the Tyne: The Growth and Diversification of Seaborne Trade in the Eighteenth Century - Peter Wright
From Carboniferous Capitalism to Complementary Commerce: Coastal and Overland Trade between North-East England and Scotland, 1580-1750 - Matthew Greenhall
Provincial Purveyors of Culture: The Print Trade in Eighteenth-Century Newcastle upon Tyne - Barbara Crosbie
Parish, River, Region and Nation: Networks of Power in Eighteenth-Century Wearside - Gwenda Morgan
Parish, River, Region and Nation: Networks of Power in Eighteenth-Century Wearside - Peter Rushton
Bibliography