Population and industrial change: a geographical approach Rossendale and Haut Beaujolais 1700 - 1880

Abstract

Rossendale and Haut Beaujolais in the pre-industrial period, were part of the domestic outwork system. This system based on hand spinning and weaving, provided a broad economic base in regions of limited agricultural potential, and produced distinctive geographic and demographic patterns. To some extent these patterns were modified by the introduction of the factory system and the large-scale expansion of industry, though there remained clear strands of continuity between the pre-industrial and industrial periods. Economic continuity is seen as largely inevitable in the early water power phase of industrialization. Later, with the development of steam power, the continuous growth of the textile industry in Haut Beaujolais, stretching back some two centuries or more, was severely disrupted. In contrast, Rossendale, with local deposits of coal, was able to accommodate technological change and retain its prosperity throughout the 19th century.