Illegitimacy and Authority in the North of England,c. 1450–1640

Abstract

This article explores the impact of illegitimacy upon the social, judicial and political landscape of the North of England, from the late medieval period to the eve of the English Civil War. Historiographies of the gentry and of marriage might suggest that irregular unions and resulting bastardy were increasingly frowned upon and of declining significance. At a time when civil strife and Reformation settlements altered the political structures of the North of England and provided alternative approaches to office holding, social and religious commentators expressed concern about the ordering of society at elite levels. In the face of that, this article considers some of the evidence which suggests the extent of bastard-bearing among the elite throughout the period. It further demonstrates the degree of acceptance of this phenomenon among gentry families, including the inheritance of land, property and goods, and involvement in informal political networks, and demonstrates that base-born sons of the nobility and gentry were often accepted into the Church and ranks of northern officialdom, holding highly localised but strategically important offices as Wardens of the Marches in the far North and acting as Justices of the Peace.     

British Merchants in New Markets: The Case of Wylie and Hancock in Brazil and the River Plate,c. 1808–19

In 1808, after the Portuguese royal family was forced to leave Portugal and move to Brazil, Brazilian ports were opened to British merchant houses, which were quick to open offices in the likes of Bahia and Rio de Janeiro. By 1810 there were probably over 200 British merchant houses operating in Brazil, but we know very little about them because most of their historical records have not survived. In addition, scholars have assumed that, on account of the dominant British economic power, the establishment of new mercantile houses in South America c. 1808–19 was an easy task. This assumption is challenged in this paper, which sheds new light on the activities of one of these British merchant houses, making use of a recently discovered business collection concerned with the activities of Wylie & Hancock, a Scottish house which operated in Brazil and the River Plate from 1808 to 1819. These papers also provide a unique insight into neglected topics such as: the nature of managerial mercantile organisations; what the economic actors at the time actually did and thought; and how strategic and tactical choices were reached.     

The Dissolution of a Monetary Union: The Case of Malaysia and Singapore 1963–1974

The abrupt separation of Singapore and Malaysia in 1965 set these two states on separate political trajectories, but the economic ties proved more difficult to untangle. This article explores the nine years of transition required to complete the separation of the monetary systems of the two territories based on new archival evidence. It argues that, while socio-political hostility raged between the two partners, common economic interests prolonged an intimate monetary relationship that extended the interdependence of the two states for many years beyond their formal separation.     

The Dynamics of African Agricultural History: Is it Time for a New Development Paradigm?

Much of our present day perception of African agriculture is still indirectly based on the coloured accounts of the early explorers and administrators. It involves an often very static conception of ‘traditional’ African agriculture. Not only does this fail to dojustice to the rich and dynamic history of African agriculture, it has also led to an inappropriate research and development paradigm which treats African agriculture as a disrupted equilibrial system that needs readjustment to return to an equilibrial and productivestate. A diachronic study of African agricultural history reveals that many of our preconceptions of African society and agriculture are invalid: agriculturists are not inert, but respond in innovative and dynamic ways to the perturbations of their natural and socialenvironment. It appears that their survival is not so much dependent on the establishmentof a fine-tuned equilibrium, but rather on the dynamic responses to these external disturbances. It is very likely that the agro-ecosystems in large parts of Africa function mainly as non-equilibrial (unstable), but nevertheless persistent systems. This has importantimplications for development interventions and agricultural research. It requires a shiftfrom a synchronic approach to a diachronic approach that is firmly based on an understaning of the past.     

All quiet on the western front? Royal politics in Galicia from c.800 to c.950

For complex reasons pertaining to the course of Spanish historiography throughout the twentieth century, the region of Galicia has been seen as politically peripheral to the initial stages of the Reconquista. In this article I argue that Galicia was a key marcher region in the ninth and tenth centuries, and that its magnate class, far from being marginal, was closely implicated in the rudimentary political structures of the kingdom. I propose that documents which seem to disclose little more than idealized abstractions of the political relationships between Astur‐Leonese kings and Galician magnates reveal aspects of elite political practice in action.     

Evolution of the Territorial Coverage of the Railway Network and its Influence on Population Growth: The Case of England and Wales, 1871–1931

Abstract

The introduction of the railway network brought with it an unprecedented improvement in accessibility. In this work, the authors analyze the evolution of the territorial coverage of the railway network and its influence on the uneven distribution of population. To carry out this research, they used comparable data on total population obtained from census records relating to civil parishes of England and Wales, taken at 10-year intervals from 1871. The hypothesis that they wished to test was that good access to a railway station was related to significant increases in population. This exercise provides a better understanding of regional variations in population growth and allows the authors to identify current differences between urban and rural areas that have resulted from their historical evolution.