This thesis is an analysis of the conditions which promoted the industrialization of the countryside in Leicestershire in the second half of the seventeenth century and the transformation of its agricultural economy from a peasant-subsistence level to market-oriented production. Although the particular focus of the thesis is the emergence of rural industrialization in West Goscote and agricultural commercialization in Framland (both of which are hundreds in Leicestershire), it was necessary to place the Leicestershire experience both within a broader national context and in a historical perspective. The years following 1660 were marked by the accelerated progress of agricultural modernization on the national, county and local level. An important by-product of this agricultural modernization was the creation not only of food surpluses but also of rural underemployment as the land became concentrated into a relatively small number of large-scale productive units. As labour was freed from agriculture it could be engaged in industrial activity. In our examination of West Goscote and Framland it was found that as the soil type was not consistent within each hundred it was necessary to distinguish sub-regions: the Soar river valley, and the Coal Measures and Charnwood Forest in West Goscote; the Vale of Belvoir, the Wreak valley and the Eastern Uplands, and North-east Framland in Framland. By using the Probate Inventories for the 1660 - 80 period (stored in the Leicestershire County Record Office) to reconstruct the socio-economic profiles for the average villages in each of these sub-regions, we could see the influence of soil structure in retarding or accelerating the modernization of the individual agrarian economies. The inability of the peasant society in the Soar valley to transform itself from peasant-subsistence farming to market-oriented production resulted in the emergence of endemic underemployment and desperate poverty. The existence of cheap labour in the Soar valley attracted merchant capitalist who established the framework knitting industry in the over-populated, poverty-stricken villages. / Arts, Faculty of / History, Department of / Graduate

This research focused on the petrographic analysis of prehistoric ceramics within the East Midlands. Prior assessments have been intermittent and not drawn together by a research-based agenda, with a few notable exceptions. This research uses petrographic analysis to shed light on early prehistoric society within Leicestershire, a county overlooked in comparison to other regions. The aim of this research was to investigate the procurement of raw materials and the subsequent production of Neolithic and early Bronze Age ceramics in Leicestershire, placing the county in its regional context. Petrographic slides from several early prehistoric sites were produced and analysed to determine the presence of any non-local material within the fabric of the ceramics. Existing petrographic data from other sites in the East Midlands were used as a comparative data set to test whether the ceramics from Leicestershire were typical or atypical of the wider production and procurement pattern. The results of the petrographic analysis on the Leicestershire sites indicated that the clay and inclusions were most likely of local origin, with no definitive evidence for non-local inclusions. However, the results from the comparative petrographic data obtained from sites within the wider East Midlands does support the movement of raw materials and/or finished ceramic products within the region. Preferential sources appear to have been continually exploited, both chronologically and geographically. The prime target of the exploitation was the Charnwood Forest area of Leicestershire, with groups from Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire utilising this resource in addition to more local groups within Leicestershire.

This research focused on the petrographic analysis of prehistoric ceramics within the East Midlands. Prior assessments have been intermittent and not drawn together by a research-based agenda, with a few notable exceptions. This research uses petrographic analysis to shed light on early prehistoric society within Leicestershire, a county overlooked in comparison to other regions. The aim of this research was to investigate the procurement of raw materials and the subsequent production of Neolithic and early Bronze Age ceramics in Leicestershire, placing the county in its regional context. Petrographic slides from several early prehistoric sites were produced and analysed to determine the presence of any non-local material within the fabric of the ceramics. Existing petrographic data from other sites in the East Midlands were used as a comparative data set to test whether the ceramics from Leicestershire were typical or atypical of the wider production and procurement pattern. The results of the petrographic analysis on the Leicestershire sites indicated that the clay and inclusions were most likely of local origin, with no definitive evidence for non-local inclusions. However, the results from the comparative petrographic data obtained from sites within the wider East Midlands does support the movement of raw materials and/or finished ceramic products within the region. Preferential sources appear to have been continually exploited, both chronologically and geographically. The prime target of the exploitation was the Charnwood Forest area of Leicestershire, with groups from Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire utilising this resource in addition to more local groups within Leicestershire.

No description available.

Bibliography: leaves 309-336 / xi, 336 leaves (some folded), [7] leaves of plates : ill., geneal. tables, maps ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of History, 1986

No description available.