Iron, Steam & Money

by Roger Osborne

Britain’s wealth and 5, 9, 11, 12, 16, 24, 152, 153, 157, 285

  diversification into manufacturing from 24, 36, 46, 159, 286, 314

  makes Britain a nation of craft workers and artisans before the coming of the Industrial Revolution 152–9

  manufacturing infrastructure and 157

  protection of 21, 40, 154, 159, 160

  putting-out and 155, 156–7, 161, 180, 218, 319

  specialisation of work in 12, 317

  transition of Britain from supplier of fleeces to producer of woollen goods 153

  ubiquity of 153

  worsted and see worsted

  Woolf, Arthur 140

  Worcester 59, 83, 84, 92, 93, 240, 263,271

  Worcester and Birmingham canal 271

  work 311–42

  life in the industrial city 334–42

  the nature of work and the rise of the factory 313–33

  specialisation of 12–13, 16, 23–4, 138, 291–2, 293, 304, 314–17

  see also under individual area of working life

  working class 320, 339

  worshipful companies 13, 39–40

  worsted 21, 153, 154, 157, 161, 180, 195,196

  Worthy, Edward 72

  Wribbenhall, Worcester 262–3

  Wright, Ichabod 194, 297

  Wright, John 194, 297

  Wright, Joseph 205

  Wright, Lemuel 45

  Wyatt, John 170–1, 172, 173, 175, 191, 318

  Wylam colliery, Northumberland 272

  Yorkshire:

  coal production and 56, 62, 72, 129–30, 268, 326

  iron/steel production in 19, 22, 253–4, 264

  Luddites in 331

  textiles production in 21, 154, 156, 161, 163, 170, 217, 322

  West Riding of see West Riding of Yorkshire

  Young, Arthur 25, 253–4, 259

  Young, William 203

  Select Bibliography

  The central argument of this book, that the Industrial Revolution should be defined as the conversion to an economy based on coal-derived energy to drive machines, was proposed by E. A. Wrigley (1988) and enlarged in his 2010 book. Modern economic interpretations of the Industrial Revolution begin with Wrigley’s work which has been taken on and challenged by Allen (2009) and De Vries (2008) among many others. The social aspects of the period, in particular the role of the household economy, have been particularly illuminated by Humphries (2011). While economic and social studies of the period have undergone a revival, the history of technology in the late eighteenth century remains highly fragmented. Studies of invention such as Mokyr (1990) and, again, Allen (2009) are fascinating, but authoritative accounts of leading figures are lacking – Fitton’s 1989 biography of the Arkwright family is a lonely exception. Short biographies and accounts of industries have been published, or reissued, principally by Shire Publishing; otherwise local history societies remain a fertile source of material – the best book on the crucial technical developments in the cotton industry is by Catling (1970) now kept in print by Lancashire County Council. The history of technology has been better served by the revival of industrial museums, particularly in the old industrial heartlands, with working machinery often on display.

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  Robert C. Allen (2000) Enclosure and the Yeoman, OUP, Oxford.

  Robert C. Allen (2009) The British Industrial Revolution in Global Perspective, CUP, Cambridge.

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