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Immigrant business proprietors in England and Wales (1851–1911)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 July 2019

Harry Smith ,
Robert J. Bennett  and
Carry van Lieshout
Harry Smith*
Affiliation:
Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure, University of Cambridge
Robert J. Bennett
Affiliation:
Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure, University of Cambridge
Carry van Lieshout
Affiliation:
Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure, University of Cambridge
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

This article examines the history of immigrant business proprietors in England and Wales between 1851 and 1911. The newly available electronic version of the Census (I-CeM) allows all business proprietors in each Census year to be identified, and provides birthplace information that allows entrepreneurs from different countries to be compared to each other and to business proprietors born in the United Kingdom. Immigrant populations had higher rates of business proprietorship than the English and Welsh-born population. This article argues that this was caused by labour market structure and demography rather than cultural differences between English- and foreign-born business proprietors.

French abstract

Cet article s'attache à l'histoire des chefs d'entreprise immigrés en Angleterre et Pays de Galles entre 1851 et 1911. La version digitale des recensements, qui est désormais disponible (I-CeM), permet d'identifier tous les entrepreneurs propriétaires, pour chaque année de recensement, et fournit des informations sur leur lieu de naissance. Ainsi peut-on identifier les chefs d'entreprise originaires de différents pays, les comparer entre eux et aussi les comparer aux entrepreneurs propriétaires nés au Royaume-Uni. Au sein des populations d'immigrants, on note des taux plus élevés de propriétaires d'entreprise qu'au sein des populations d'origine anglaise et galloise. Les auteurs soutiennent que cette différence est due à la structure du marché du travail et à la démographie plutôt qu'aux différences culturelles entre entrepreneurs propriétaires natifs et ceux qui sont nés à l’étranger.

German abstract

Dieser Beitrag untersucht die Geschichte von eingewanderten Geschäftsinhabern in England und Wales zwischen 1851 und 1911. Die neuerdings verfügbare elektronische Version der Volkszählung (I-CeM) ermöglicht die Identifikation aller Geschäftsinhaber in jedem Volkszählungsjahr und bietet Informationen zu den Geburtsorten, die es erlauben, Unternehmer aus unterschiedlichen Ländern untereinander sowie mit Geschäftsinhabern zu vergleichen, die im Vereinigten Königreich geboren waren. Einwanderergruppen hatten höhere Geschäftsinhaberschaftsquoten als die in England und Wales geborene Bevölkerung. Wir behaupten, dass die Gründe dafür in der Struktur des Arbeitsmarkes und in der Demographie lagen und nicht in kulturellen Unterschieden zwischen den in England und den im Ausland geborenen Geschäftsinhabern.

Type
Research Article
Information
Continuity and Change , Volume 34 , Issue 2 , August 2019 , pp. 253 - 276
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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References

Notes

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43 Robert J. Bennett, Piero Montebruno, Harry Smith and Carry van Lieshout, ‘Reconstructing entrepreneur and business numbers for censuses 1851–81’, Drivers of Entrepreneurship and Small Businesses, Working Paper 9, https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.37738. It is important to note that the reconstruction method excluded any information on birthplace so that the migration data are independent of the method employed.

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