Population Growth: England, 1680–1820

Abstract

Though it has long been agreed that population growth accelerated sharply in the course of the ‘long’ eighteenth century (1680–1820), there have been sharp differences of view about the reason for the acceleration. The disagreements have extended both to what might be termed demographic mechanics (i.e. the relative parts played By changes in birth and death rates), and to the wider context of the change. In what follows I shall describe the results of recent research which appears to have settled the controversy regarding the immediate demographic mechanics of the remarkable spurt in growth rates. Wider issues, such as the interplay between economic circumstances and the tempo of birth, marriage and death, also merit discussion in the light of the new findings, and are touched on briefly at the end of this essay.