The character of English geographyc. 1660–1800: a textual approach

This article re-evaluates the character of geography in England in the 150 years after the Restoration. Most historians have focused either on exceptional geography books or on texts of geographical knowledge, rather than on geography booksper se. Drawing on cultural–historical approaches to the book, this article looks at the character of geography as a textual tradition. This requires an analysis of geography books from three points of view: the texts themselves and the definition of their function and audience; the readership and their sites of reading; and authorship and the milieu of book production. This analysis shows that geography was consistently related to two social and intellectual traditions: a commercial and practical tradition, and a humanistic and scholarly tradition. Such a position allies geography as a textual tradition with recent characterizations of the English Enlightenment.     

British Lobbying in Newspaper and Parliamentary Discourse, 1800–1950

Lobbying is a significant component of the modern politics industry in Britain, but we know relatively little about its historical origins and evolution. This article draws on parliamentary debates and three databases which together account for 51 newspaper titles, in order to explore how lobbying was discussed in parliament and the media between 1800 and 1950, and to gauge the growing professionalisation of lobbying. Perceptions of lobbying became somewhat less negative over the period; there are relatively few reports or allegations of corruption associated with lobbying; and lobbying by the railway industry seems to have been less substantial, while public sector lobbying was more significant, than is commonly supposed. Direct advocacy with policymakers is overwhelmingly the dominant tactic used by lobbyists of the period, with few reports of coalitions or grass‐roots campaigns. Particular concerns were expressed about the influence of lobbying around private bills. While lobbying back‐bench MPs and parliamentary committees (rather than ministers and civil servants) accounted for over 80% of the activity revealed across the whole period, there are signs by the middle of the 20th century that the focus of lobbyists is beginning to turn away from Westminster and towards Whitehall. The article paints a detailed view of the scale, scope, and significance of lobbying as it was developing into a national and systematic industry.     

The Speakership of the House of Lords, 1660–1832

The speakership of the house of lords was a lucrative and prestigious post, held by individuals who either as lord chancellor or lord keeper carried out a range of high-profile and demanding judicial duties. There seems to be a contradiction between this and the time-consuming but largely empty ceremonial duties appropriate to this role in the conduct of business in the theoretically self-regulating house of lords. This article suggests that the apparent insignificance of the Speaker's role was a façade that disguised the chancellor's ability to influence the conduct of business in the Lords as well as to exercise leadership and electoral influence over the membership of the Commons. Nevertheless, the precise level of power that he was able to exercise was mediated by the nature of the political infrastructure within which he operated, his own personal and political skills and his relationships with the crown and its other ministers.     

LANDSCAPE CHANGE IN THE LAKE SIMCOE-COUCHICHING BASIN, 1800–1983

Census data and Trimble's erosive land use (ELU) index are used to document changes in agricultural land use and potential erosion in the Lake Simcoe—Couchiching Basin during the past two centuries. The ELU index is represented by the cover-management factor in the universal soil loss equation and takes values between 0 (no erosion) and 1.0 (accelerated erosion). Basin-wide farmland ELU scores increased prior to 1901 due to intensification of agriculture, fell between 1911 and 1961 as yields and areas under grass increased, and then increased again from 1961 onward due to expansion in corn hectarage. The 0.152 index computed in 1981 is almost as large as the largest index (0.154)computed in 1891 and illustrates the huge environmental changes in the basin since early settlement without the beginnings of a permanent and more viable system of land use. Les changements d'utilisation des sols survenus au cours des deux derniers siècles dans le bassin du Lac Simco-Couchiching de même que I'érodibilité de ces sols, font I'objet d'une évaluation à I'aide des données de re-censements et de I'indice d'érosion particulier aux dif-férentes utilisation du sol (indice de Trimble). Le facteur de gestion de la couverture dans l'équation universelle de la partie de sol figure dans cet indice dont la valeur se range entre 0 (absence d'érosion) et 1.0 (érosion en accélération). Les scores pour les terres agricoles à I'éhelle du bassin ont augmenté avant 1901 quand l'agriculture s'est intensifiée, puis ont chuté entre 1911 et 1961 à mesure que les rendements et les superficies herbacées augmentaient, et enfin ont de nouveau re-monté depuis 1961 à la suite de l'expansion des superficies plantées en maïs. L'indice obtenu pour 1981 (0.1521 est presque aussi élevé que I'indice le plus fort atteinten 1891 (0.154). ll démontre les changements considérables survenus dans I'environnement du bassin depuis le tout début de son peuplement, alors qu'aucun système d'utilisation des sols permanent et plus viable n'a encore pu èmerger.