The census enumerators' books (CEBs) of Winchester between 1841 and 1891 are the focus of this thesis. They are examined, in association with other records like trade directories, share contracts and visual evidence of photographs, maps and plans, to track aspects of the economic, social and topographical development of Winchester, with specific reference to the effect of the railways in the later nineteenth century. Surviving rail company records of passengers and freight for this period are scarce and so the census is used to indicate a tangible yet difficult to quantify effect: the impact of the railways upon a city that was neither a railway town nor an industrial centre. The census provides evidence of the structure of the de facto population on census night every ten years, and the CEBs show this detail at the level of the individual. It therefore provides a revealing picture of change and continuity in the city at a time when it experienced its most momentous demographic change since medieval times. As such, the analysis contained within is of relevance to people studying both nineteenth century history and the post-medieval history of Winchester. The methodology employed in this work, a sourceoriented KAE1CD database, is a product of the techniques employed by those working in historical computation. The study uses almost 2 million pieces of information in a database covering a continuous run of 50 years of censuses, allowing both a broad and detailed analysis of the data to take place. Using evidence from CEBs as well as concomitant local sources, this thesis questions the extent to which the railway did affect the city. It finds that despite the redistribution of a larger population throughout the city and many changes in the economic and topographical structure of the city, it is rarely possible to expose a quantifiable influence of rail transport.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:550225 |
| Date | January 1999 |
| Creators | Allen, Mark Andrew |
| Contributors | James, Tom ; Richardson, Roger |
| Publisher | University of Southampton |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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