Regional unemployment patterns among skilled engineers in Britain, 1851–1914

R. C. O. Matthews, C. H. Feinstein and J. C. Odling-Smee, British economic growth 1856–1973 (Cambridge 1982), 84 Von Tunzelman, 1981, Britain 1900–45: a survey, The economic history of Britain since 1700, 2, 247 Southall, 1984, Regional unemployment patterns in Britain, 1851–1914; a study of the “Trade Union Percentages of Unemployment”, with special reference to engineering workers Friendly Society of Tin Plate Workers, 1798, Rules Seventeenth Report on Trade Unions, PP 1912 [Cd.6109] XLVII, lxxxvi–vii Agencies and Methods for Dealing with the Unemployed, PP 1893–4 [C. 7182] LXXXII 377-, 410–30 Building, construction of works, shipbuilding, ironfounding, vehicle building and sawmilling; W. H. Beveridge, Unemployment: a problem of industry (London 1930), 266–7 Using total membership of all unions as given by B. R. Mitchell and P. Deane, Abstract of British historical statistics (Cambridge 1971), 68 Eighteenth Abstract of Labour Statistics, PP 1926 [Cmd. 2740] XXIX, 46 Hanson, 1975, Craft unions, welfare benefits, and the case for trade union law reform, 1867–75, Economic History Review, 28, 243 Southall, 1984, Regional unemployment patterns in Britain, 1851–1914; a study of the “Trade Union Percentages of Unemployment”, with special reference to engineering workers, 25 Table 1 lists all unions specifically mentioned by the Board of Trade as permitting calculation of an unemployment rate from membership, as distinct from expenditure, data pre- 1888 (PP 1905 British and Foreign Trade and Industrial Conditions, [Cd.2337] LXXXIV 1-, 127). Also included are all societies listed in an earlier report which provided a continuous unemployment series based on an average monthly number of claimants, beginning in 1875 or before (Fourth Report on Trade Unions, 1889 and 1890, PP 1890–1 [C.6475] XCII 73-); membership figures for 1900 and 1910 come from the Thirteenth and Seventeenth Reports. Although many other societies reported expenditure on unemployment benefit, this often included expenditure on strike pay, emigration grants or travelling benefit for at least part of the series. Lastly, the table includes the total membership of all unions contributing to the Board of Trade's series (Eighteenth Abstract of Labour Statistics, 1926, [Cmd.2740] XXIX, 94); the figures are for the end of June, whereas the union membership figures are for December, and the figure listed for “1880” refers to June 1881 Phillips, 1958, The relation between unemployment and the rate of change of money wage rates in the United Kingdom 1861–1955, Econometrica, 25, 283 Tabulated in Mitchell and Deane, Abstract of British historical statistics (Cambridge 1971), 64–5. For further discussion of the aggregate series, see W. R. Garside, The measurement of unemployment (Oxford 1980) 9–28 As far is is known, the earliest official tabulation of regional unemployment, for Carpenters and Joiners, is given in the Labour Gazette for July 1902 (p. 194) The A.S.E. Monthly Reports used in the present study were obtained from the Mitchell Library (Glasgow), the British Library of Political and Economic Science, the Trades Union Congress Library and Nuffield College (Oxford) Jefferys, 1945 These local patterns were described to the Webbs by various local organizers in the 1890s; Webb T.U.Coll.E.A.XVI, ff.191–222 In this study, reports are dated by the month in which they appeared; the unemployment statistics therefore refer, strictly, to the preceding month S.C. on Distress from Want of Employment, 3rd Report, PP 1895 IX 1-, 74–5; evidence of H. Llewellyn Smith, Q.4826 This figure was estimated by interpolation from the annual admissions statistics for each branch given in the Annual Reports of the A.S.E. Ford, 1981, the trade cycle in Britain 1860–1914, The economic history of Britain since 1700, 2, 27 These follow modern local government units with the following exceptions: West Midlands: excludes Solihull, Meriden and Coventry Merseyside: excludes Southport and St. Helens Greater Manchester: excludes Wigan Central Clydeside: this is an ad hoc grouping centred on Glasgow. It is formally defined in: Central Statistical Office, Abstract of Regional Statistics (London 1974) J. R. T. Hughes, Fluctuations in trade, industry and finance: a study of British economic development 1850–1860 (Oxford 1960) 96 Ibid. J. R. T. Hughes, Fluctuations in trade, industry and finance: a study of British economic development 1850–1860 (Oxford 1960) 133 Ibid. J. R. T. Hughes, Fluctuations in trade, industry and finance: a study of British economic development 1850–1860 (Oxford 1960) 171 It has been argued that an additional factor was the over-production of cotton goods in 1859–60, no scarcity of finished cotton goods being experienced until 1863: W. O. Henderson, The Lancashire Cotton Famine 1861–1865, 2nd. edn. (Manchester 1969) 11–14 Aldcroft and Fearon, A set of specific “trough” years are listed by D. H. Aldcroft and P. Fearon, British economic fluctuations 1790–1939 (London 1972) 25–33 Henderson, The Lancashire Cotton Famine 1861–1865, 2nd. edn. (Manchester 1969) 7–10 Lee, 1979 Southall, 1984, Regional unemployment patterns in Britain, 1851–1914; a study of the “Trade Union Percentages of Unemployment”, with special reference to engineering workers, 127 Southall, 1984, Regional unemployment patterns in Britain, 1851–1914; a study of the “Trade Union Percentages of Unemployment”, with special reference to engineering workers, 204 Aldcroft and Fearon, A set of specific “trough” years are listed by D. H. Aldcroft and P. Fearon, British economic fluctuations 1790–1939 (London 1972) 55; Schumpeter, 1939, Business cycles, I, 378 J. Kelly, The end of the famine: the Manchester cotton trade, 1864–67—a merchant's eye view, in N. B. Harte and K. G. Ponting (eds), Textile history and economic history: essays in honour of Miss Julia de Lacy Mann (Manchester 1973) 354–386 A.S.E., Monthly Report 4/1867; 35; A.S.E., Monthly Report 9/1867, 46 G. Stedman Jones, Outcast London (Harmondsworth 1976) 242, 246; M. E. Rose, the crisis of poor relief in England, 1860–1890, in W. J. Mommsen (ed.), The emergence of the Welfare State in Britain and Germany (London 1981) 54–5 Phelps Brown, 1952, The climacteric of the 1890s: a study in the expanding economy, Oxford Economic Papers, 4, 266, 10.1093/oxfordjournals.oep.a042212 Coppock, 1956, The climacteric of the 1890s: a critical note, Manchester School, XXIV, 1, 10.1111/j.1467-9957.1956.tb00972.x Musson, 1959, The Great Depression in Britain, 1873–1896: a reappraisal, Journal of Economic History, XIX, 199, 10.1017/S0022050700109994 Coppock, 1961, The causes of the Great Depression 1873–96, Manchester School, XXIX, 205, 10.1111/j.1467-9957.1961.tb01191.x Saul, 1969 Musson, 1959, The Great Depression in Britain, 1873–1896: a reappraisal, Journal of Economic History, XIX, 199, 10.1017/S0022050700109994 Coppock, 1961, The causes of the Great Depression 1873–96, Manchester School, XXIX, 201 Coppock, 1961, The causes of the Great Depression 1873–96, Manchester School, XXIX, 206 Rostow, British economy of the nineteenth century (Oxford 1948) 202–210 Drawn here from the Labour Gazette for April 1894 (Vol. II, no. 4, 97–104); these reports refer to “the state of employment in March” Ibid. Drawn here from the Labour Gazette for April 1894 (Vol. II, no.4, 100) Ibid. Drawn here from the Labour Gazette for April 1894 (Vol. II, no.4, 103) Reported in British and Foreign Trade and Industrial Conditions, PP 1905, [Cd.2337] LXXXIV 1-, 101 1904, Labour Gazette, Vol. XII, 206 The rate for the Isle of Man is based on 35 eligible members 1909, Labour Gazette, Vol. XVII, 124 Saul, 1962, The motor industry in Britain to 1914, Business History, 5, 22, 10.1080/00076796200000003