Growth and decay during the industrial revolution: The case of East Anglia

Abstract The continuing debate on the standards of living in Britain during the first half of the nineteenth century has proceeded largely in terms of aggregates. The battle is waged with national statistics of wages and prices, of consumption, income, and taxation; generalized statements (of not always well-founded generality) are lobbed to and fro. Not much heed seems to be paid to that diversity of the English economy of which the historian grappling with an earlier age is, or should be, almost painfully aware. The drama of national change has from the start attracted the critics and apologists alike, Engels as well as Ure. Conversely, those undramatic regions away from the centre of the stage have moved all but unnoticed. The present article, which is no more than a partial and preliminary survey, is about such a region.