Studies dealing with the demographic events of any given period from the early historical up to World War I.
Comprehensive surveys, notes of sources, and items on the state of research. Particularly concerned with the period before modern vital registration was introduced and censuses were taken. Historical items that primarily pertain to one specific demographic variable are classified first under the specific heading and then cross-referenced to this heading.
62:40534 Anderson, Michael.
British population history: from the Black Death to the present
day. ISBN 0-521-57030-1. 1996. 421 pp. Cambridge University Press:
New York, New York/Cambridge, England. In Eng.
"The five
studies brought together in this volume between them survey the trends
and debates in English population history from 1348 to 1991, and in
Scottish and Welsh population history from 1500 to 1991." Four of
the studies included here have been previously published in the series
Studies in Economic and Social History. The work is designed for
"readers who are not themselves demographers but who, as students,
teachers, or non-specialist historians and social scientists, want to
know more about what happened and what are the main topics of current
debate. Full bibliographies for further study are
included."
Selected items will be cited in this or subsequent
issues of Population Index.
Correspondence: Cambridge
University Press, Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1RP,
England. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
62:40535 Anderson, Michael.
Population change in north-western Europe, 1750-1850. In:
British population history: from the Black Death to the present day,
edited by Michael Anderson. 1996. 191-279 pp. Cambridge University
Press: New York, New York/Cambridge, England. In Eng.
The history
of population developments in north-western Europe in the century from
1750 to 1850 is described. The author notes that population doubled
over this time period, and, more significantly, Europe seemed to break
free of the demographic constraints that had controlled population
growth up to that point. The significance of the late marriage patterns
that were common to much of the region, and their influence on
demographic trends, is assessed. Separate consideration is also given
to migration, natural increase, fertility, and mortality. The chapter
concludes with a look at the relationship between population trends and
economic change, and the author concludes that "there is little
reason to believe that population growth in [this] period played a
substantial independent role in accelerating economic
change."
Correspondence: M. Anderson, University of
Edinburgh, Department of Economic History, Edinburgh EH8 9YL, Scotland.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
62:40536 Hammel, E. A.; Wachter, Kenneth
W. Evaluating the Slavonian census of 1698. Part I:
structure and meaning. European Journal of Population/Revue
Européenne de Démographie, Vol. 12, No. 2, Jun 1996.
145-66 pp. Dordrecht, Netherlands. In Eng. with sum. in Fre.
"Microsimulation, other demographic tools, and evidence of
history and ethnography are used to evaluate an important 17th century
household census [in Slavonia, which is modern Croatia]. Linguistic,
ethnographic, and internal evidence allow adjustment of anomalies in
census categories. Microsimulation based on historically and
ethnographically plausible rates and household formation scenarios
produces simulated households in accord with those of the adjusted
census. Results permit estimation of the true population of the region,
of the kinship and age composition of households under frontier
conditions, and the probable future composition of households as the
frontier stabilized and land shortage began to exert pressure for
greater density and household complexity. Part I concentrates on
historical, ethnographic, and linguistic
evidence."
Correspondence: E. A. Hammel, University of
California, Department of Demography, 2232 Piedmont Avenue, Berkeley,
CA 94720. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
62:40537 Hatcher, John. Plague,
population and the English economy, 1348-1530. In: British
population history: from the Black Death to the present day, edited by
Michael Anderson. 1996. 9-93 pp. Cambridge University Press: New York,
New York/Cambridge, England. In Eng.
This study is concerned with
population trends in England during the two centuries following the
Black Death of 1348-1349. The author notes that over this period,
population was either stagnant or in decline, and that the shortage of
people played a major part in undermining traditional patterns of
agriculture and bringing about a fundamental redistribution of wealth.
"It can be seen...that high population coincided with low living
standards, and low population with high living standards, and that as
population rose so living standards fell, and that as population fell
so living standards rose." The implications of the relationship
between population trends and living standards are considered from a
theoretical aspect, particularly in the light of the work of Robert
Malthus. The author concludes that "the prime determinant of the
course of population in pre-industrial England was mortality rather
than fertility, and that changes in real wages were often merely a
secondary influence."
Correspondence: J. Hatcher,
University of Cambridge, Department of History, Cambridge CB2 1TN,
England. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
62:40538 Houston, R. A. The
population history of Britain and Ireland 1500-1750. In: British
population history: from the Black Death to the present day, edited by
Michael Anderson. 1996. 95-190 pp. Cambridge University Press: New
York, New York/Cambridge, England. In Eng.
Population trends in the
British Isles are examined over the period from 1500 to 1750. Due to
the varying availability of sources, much of the focus is on England,
but attention is given to the situation in Scotland and Ireland
wherever possible. "The aim of the [first] section...is to discuss
sources for early modern demographic history and the ways of exploiting
them. Population structures and trends are then outlined before the
dynamic components of fertility, nuptiality, mortality and migration
are discussed. A substantial chapter on the relationship between
demographic behaviour and its economic and social context concludes the
[study]."
Correspondence: R. A. Houston, University of
St. Andrews, Department of Modern History, St. Andrews, Fife KY16 9AJ,
Scotland. Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
62:40539 Rotariu, Traian.
Demographic aspects of Transylvania at the beginning of the
twentieth century. [Aspecte demografice în Transilvania la
începutul secolului al XX-lea.] Sociologie Româneasca, Vol.
4, No. 2, 1993. 171-86 pp. Bucharest, Romania. In Rum.
The author
first offers a general review of the demographic situation in the
Romanian province of Transylvania. Next, an analysis is provided of
demographic aspects of Transylvania in the first decade of the
twentieth century. The analysis covers regional aspects of the
population's structure by ethnic group (Romanian, Hungarian, German)
and the corresponding level of the birth rate. Data on ethnic structure
and birth rate for the 85 Transylvanian counties (average population:
25,000 inhabitants) from 1901 to 1910 do not confirm the thesis that
the level of fertility among Romanians was higher than among the
Hungarian minority. There is no reason to assume that the situation was
different in the past.
Location: Princeton University
Library (SPR).
62:40540 Woods, Robert. The
population of Britain in the nineteenth century. In: British
population history: from the Black Death to the present day, edited by
Michael Anderson. 1996. 281-357 pp. Cambridge University Press: New
York, New York/Cambridge, England. In Eng.
This is an analysis of
population trends in nineteenth-century Britain. It is "a study in
historical demography written by a geographer. It focuses on the form
and nature of long-term population change in Great Britain (not
Ireland), but it does so, where necessary, by stressing the
geographical variability of demographic forms and the role of
population re-distribution." There are separate sections on data
sources, migration, marriage, fertility, and
mortality.
Correspondence: R. Woods, University of
Liverpool, Department of Geography, Liverpool L69 3BX, England.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
Applications of demographic methodology to the records of the past. Relevant items are coded here and, if of more general interest than to historical demography alone, are cross-referenced to N. Methods of Research and Analysis Including Models .
62:40541 Alter, George; Carmichael,
Ann. Studying causes of death in the past: problems and
models. Historical Methods, Vol. 29, No. 2, Spring 1996. 44-8 pp.
Washington, D.C. In Eng.
The authors provide an overview of
articles in this issue of Historical Methods, which is devoted to new
approaches to the historical study of causes of death. Topics covered
include cause-of-death registration in the past, assessing long-term
changes in causes of death, and suggestions for future research
directions.
Correspondence: G. Alter, Indiana University,
Population Institute for Research and Training, Memorial Hall East 220,
Bloomington, IN 47405. Location: Princeton University Library
(SPR).
62:40542 Goose, Nigel. The
Bishops' Census of 1563: a re-examination of its reliability.
Local Population Studies, No. 56, Spring 1996. 43-53 pp. Cambridge,
England. In Eng.
"The ecclesiastical census of 1563, the
Bishops' Census [of England], has long been known to local historians
as a potentially valuable source of information on population size for
particular communities, has been used as a basis for estimates of urban
populations and, more recently, to suggest a national population figure
for this date. Like all early modern sources used for this purpose,
which invariably require manipulation to allow for categories of the
population excluded either intentionally or accidentally, it is far
from ideal, and certainly was not prepared with the interests of the
twentieth century demographer in mind. That said, it appears to be more
straightforward than most."
Correspondence: N. Goose,
University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL10 9AB, England.
Location: Princeton University Library (SPR).
62:40543 Razi, Z. Manorial court
rolls and local population: an East Anglian case study. Economic
History Review, Vol. 49, No. 4, Nov 1996. 758-63 pp. Oxford, England.
In Eng.
The value of manorial court rolls as a source of
demographic data in medieval England is examined using the example of
the Norfolk manor of Gressenhall. The results suggest that sources of
this nature, providing they are of high quality, can provide crude but
reliable data for estimating population size.
Correspondence:
Z. Razi, Tel Aviv University, Ramat-Aviv, 69 978 Tel Aviv, Israel.
Location: Princeton University Library (PR).
62:40544 Wallwork, Stephen C.
Allowing for migration in estimating early population levels.
Local Population Studies, No. 56, Spring 1996. 30-42 pp. Cambridge,
England. In Eng.
"If studies of population change are
undertaken for places that lack sources of mobility information, there
is a temptation to assume that in and out migration roughly compensate
each other so that they can be ignored. But differences in local
economies between neighbouring communities must often have caused
unequal migrations, and one of the purposes of this article is to point
out that serious errors may arise if the migration components are
ignored. A method is suggested by which these components may be roughly
estimated....The method involves noting the appearance and
disappearance of surnames in the parish register, together with the
numbers of continuing names, from which a further estimate of the
population may be obtained." The method is applied to the case of
the village of Beeston, Nottinghamshire, England, in the late sixteenth
and early seventeenth centuries.
Location: Princeton
University Library (SPR).
