Agricultural History Review, Volume 57 Part 1 (2009), p. 140

For a considerable period of time Peter Razzell has continued to make important contributions to English historical demography, specifically in relation to the role of mortality in determining demographic change in the period from the mid-sixteenth century onwards. This volume brings together ten separate essays, together with a brief conclusion, structured around four interrelated themes: methodology; the structure of demographic change; causal factors in mortality decline; and the consequences of population change. Three of the papers were originally co-authored by Christine Spence; two have appeared in Local Population Studies; two were published in the Social History of Medicine; chapters four and seven were initially book contributions (in the latter case the introduction to the revised edition of Razzell’s The conquest of Smallpox). Inevitably, particularly in the current economic climate, both individual scholars and university librarians will question whether such a collection of papers offers any significant value-add, but some of the new material certainly develops ideas and hypotheses which might repay further investigation, even if the general thrust of the book is already well known.

The core of the book is devoted to refuting the findings of the Cambridge Group and rehabilitating the earlier belief that the process of demographic change between 1550 and 1850 was ‘largely shaped by mortality patterns and the disease environment’. As might be expected, Razzell’s approach is predicated on a deep scepticism towards mathematical models and theoretical constructs, particularly when they are not based on detailed empirical research using local sources and rely on data ‘too uneven to be reliable’. Indeed, one of the implicit strengths of Razzell’s case is the incorporation of a wide range of alternative source materials, including, for example, marriage licences, apprenticeship records, and the reconstitution schedules of Quaker communities. But an underlying problem throughout this collection of papers is a strong degree of overlap between individual essays and a rather eclectic approach to data derived from other studies which are seldom analysed in sufficient depth. This is particularly evident in the treatment of the relationship between poverty and disease, where the case for the existence of an inverse social class mortality gradient in the period between 1600 and 1750 is attributed to environmental factors, rather than negative life-style influences. The wealthy were ‘forced to reside in unhealthy disease environments for economic reasons’, while a higher travel frequency, whether a result of business considerations or leisure choices, resulted in an inflated exposure to epidemic disease. But the later decline in adult mortality among élite groups is simply explained by residual arguments, including improvements in sanitary conditions and public hygiene, the more effective washing of both furniture and clothes, and the increasing use of brick-built housing. Unfortunately, none of these are examined in any detail. Razzell does offer a more focused assessment of the impact of poor personal hygiene and adverse environmental factors on the mortality of members of the royal family, but again the evidential base is relatively thin and the need for more research in this field only too apparent. Nor does it appear realistic to claim that the new standards of hygiene in the eighteenth century were disseminated throughout the country by the domestic servants of the aristocracy visiting their relatives, particularly when this is based on a single (and rather dated) secondary source. However, the relationship between adult mortality and life-style choices is re-examined in an interesting discussion of the hazards of wealth using some of the savage cartoons of Gilray and Rowlandson which, by definition, were intent on exaggerating some of their victims’ characteristics. But the emphasis on the adverse effects of ‘status stress’ or the excessive consumption of alcohol and tobacco on life expectancy of the aristocracy and other élite groups within English society is difficult to sustain in a context where the available data are limited in scope, both in sample size and geographical coverage, and the evidence for the adverse health consequence of wealth-holding is essentially anecdotal.

Overall, this collection of papers offers some promising insights into wider debates relating to the process of demographic change in England between the mid-sixteenth century and the late-nineteenth century. But it would be overstating the case to argue that it contains ‘a number of unexpected and new findings’ which subvert the ‘current consensus on England’s demographic history’. Razzell’s critique of the work of the Cambridge Group is well known and some of his arguments undoubtedly merit further consideration and debate. But the evidential basis for some of the hypotheses advanced in this volume is seldom substantial enough to sustain his conclusions and although considerable use is made of alternative source material and local case studies, there is no opportunity to examine the evidence in sufficient depth or to extend its geographical coverage in a systematic manner. Moreover, the publication of collected papers is seldom a straightforward undertaking. There is too much overlap between the various essays and no real attempt has been made to restructure the available material in order to generate a more cohesive and focused argument. But even if the volume as a whole has its faults, Razzell should be commended for highlighting a number of areas which would undoubtedly repay further analysis and exploration.