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This series comprises contemporary or near-contemporary accounts of the political, economic and social history of the British Isles during the nineteenth century. It includes material on international diplomacy and trade, labour relations and the women's movement, developments in education and social welfare, religious emancipation, the justice system and special events including the Great Exhibition of 1851.

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240 results in Cambridge Library Collection - British and Irish History, 19th Century

Page 4 of 12

The Christian and Civic Economy of Large Towns
  • Volume 2
  • Thomas Chalmers
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    27 June 2013
  • This three-volume study by the Scottish churchman and social reformer Thomas Chalmers (1780–1847) is a revealing work of Christian morality as applied to urban economic theory. Having moved to Glasgow in 1815, Chalmers was given a free hand in 1819 for an experiment in urban ministry at the new parish of St John's in the poorest district of the city. His reforms improved education and reduced the need for institutional poor relief by dividing the area into manageable 'proportions' that were closely looked after by parish elders and deacons, reviving a traditional community spirit and promoting self-help. Although sometimes severe, Chalmers' system and this influential work reflect Enlightenment optimism regarding human nature, suggesting the need for the Church of Scotland to respond actively to problems of urban industrialisation. Volume 2, published in 1823, investigates the nature of pauperism in Scotland and England and the ways in which Parliament and the parish can work towards its abolition.

The Christian and Civic Economy of Large Towns
  • Volume 3
  • Thomas Chalmers
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    27 June 2013
  • This three-volume study by the Scottish churchman and social reformer Thomas Chalmers (1780–1847) is a revealing work of Christian morality as applied to urban economic theory. Having moved to Glasgow in 1815, Chalmers was given a free hand in 1819 for an experiment in urban ministry at the new parish of St John's in the poorest district of the city. His reforms improved education and reduced the need for institutional poor relief by dividing the area into manageable 'proportions' that were closely looked after by parish elders and deacons, reviving a traditional community spirit and promoting self-help. Volume 3, published in 1826, was written after Chalmers left St John's to become Chair of Moral Philosophy at St Andrew's. It focuses on the relationship between labour, wages and poor relief, discussing how labouring classes should not depend upon welfare and wages to relieve want, but rather practise self-help to reform their condition from below.

Fifty Years of Work without Wages
  • Laborare est orare
  • Charles Rowley
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    06 February 2014
    First published in:
    1912
  • Born in Ancoats, a deprived industrial area of Manchester, Charles Rowley (1839–1933) witnessed what he saw as the degeneration of inner-city life in the second half of the nineteenth century. His family's picture-framing business, combined with his love of culture, brought him into contact with the ideas and personalities associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, notably William Morris. As a social reformer, Rowley was suspicious of organised charity and its tendency to patronise those it tried to support. Through a number of progressive initiatives, he laboured to bring art and culture to working people: the Ancoats Brotherhood, which organised lectures and reading groups, was among the many projects he fostered. First published in 1911, these well-illustrated memoirs present a thoughtful portrait of Rowley's experiences and enthusiasms, touching upon his interactions with such artists as Ford Madox Brown, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Holman Hunt.

A History of the Criminal Law of England
  • Volume 2
  • James Fitzjames Stephen
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    23 January 2014
    First published in:
    1883
  • Sir James Fitzjames Stephen (1829–94) published this three-volume account of the English criminal law's historical development in 1883, four years after his appointment as a judge of the High Court. It is a revision and expansion of the second chapter in Stephen's 1863 General View (also reissued in this series). At first sight, it is ironic that the author of this classic of legal historical scholarship was himself a Benthamite who favoured and promoted the codification of the common law and worked on codes of criminal law and procedure for India and for England. Volume 2 contains a discussion of the limits on criminal jurisdiction in respect of time, person and place; of the history of criminal responsibility; of the different categories of criminal offence (treason, felony and misdemeanour); of inchoate offences (incitements, attempts and conspiracies); and of the history of the offences against the state (treason, seditious words, libels) and offences against religion.

The Principal Speeches and Addresses of His Royal Highness the Prince Consort
  • With an Introduction, Giving Some Outlines of his Character
  • Albert Prince Consort
  • Edited by Arthur Helps
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    12 December 2013
  • Initially faced with popular mistrust, Prince Albert (1819–61) fought hard to establish his own role both in public and in his marriage to Queen Victoria. Before he died, he came to be recognised as an influential figure in a kind of dual monarchy, acting as an intermediary with prime ministers and orchestrating the hugely complicated but ultimately successful Great Exhibition of 1851. This collection of speeches, edited by Sir Arthur Helps (1813–75) and published in 1862, was compiled at the request of the widowed Victoria. The speeches reflect the Prince's standing in public life and his unusual position as a consort who was afforded wide-ranging responsibilities. Clerk of the Privy Council, Helps had known Albert personally and his introduction provides an overwhelmingly positive character sketch. Official biographer Theodore Martin's five-volume Life of His Royal Highness the Prince Consort (1875–80) is also reissued in the Cambridge Library Collection.

Guide to the Mount's Bay and the Land's End
  • Comprehending the Topography, Botany, Agriculture, Fisheries, Antiquities, Mining, Mineralogy and Geology of Western Cornwall
  • John Ayrton Paris
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    13 February 2014
  • President of the Royal College of Physicians from 1844 until his death, John Ayrton Paris (1785–1856) wrote chiefly on medical topics, yet he also devoted time to the study of science and natural history. He served as physician to the Penzance Dispensary between 1813 and 1817, during which time he helped to establish what became the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall. First published anonymously in 1816, and reissued here in the second edition of 1824, this work explores the landscapes and natural history of the western part of Cornwall. Presented as a series of 'excursions', the guide takes in locations such as St Michael's Mount and the Lizard, also covering the rich mining districts at Redruth and St Just, and discussing local customs, the Cornish language and the health-giving climate. Several of Paris's medical and biographical works are also reissued in this series, including his life of the Cornish chemist Sir Humphry Davy.

The Gastronomic Regenerator
  • A Simplified and Entirely New System of Cookery, with Nearly Two Thousand Practical Receipts Suited to the Income of All Classes
  • Alexis Soyer
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    27 June 2013
  • Perhaps the first celebrity chef, Alexis Soyer (1810–58) was a flamboyant, larger-than-life character who nonetheless took his profession very seriously. As the chef of London's Reform Club, he modernised its kitchens, installing refrigerators and gas cookers. They became something of a showpiece, even opening for tours. In contrast, Soyer also organised soup kitchens during the Great Famine in Ireland and volunteered his services in the Crimea in 1855 to improve military catering. He was also a prolific inventor of kitchen gadgets, notably promoting the Magic Stove, used for cooking food at the table. This work, first published in 1846, is an illustrated culinary textbook - complete with plans for different types of kitchen and nearly 2,000 recipes - written primarily for grander households with a large kitchen staff, but not neglecting those with more modest budgets. Also reissued in this series are Soyer's Modern Housewife or Ménagère (1849) and his Culinary Campaign (1857).

Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands
  • Edited by W. J. S.; With an Introductory Preface by W. H. Russell
  • Mary Seacole
  • Preface by William Howard Russell
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    21 November 2013
  • The daughter of a Scottish soldier and a Jamaican herbalist, Mary Seacole (1805–81) gained recognition for her provision of care to British troops during the Crimean War. She had travelled widely in the Caribbean and Panama before venturing to England to volunteer as an army nurse in the Crimea. Although rebuffed by officials, an undeterred Seacole funded her own expedition, establishing the British Hotel near Balaclava to provide a refuge for wounded officers. Known affectionately as 'Mother Seacole' among the men, yet returning to England bankrupt at the end of hostilities, she had her plight highlighted in the press. First published in 1857, and reissued here in its 1858 printing, her autobiography was intended to share her story and restore to her some financial security. Probably dictated to her editor, who then polished the text for publication, this was the first autobiography by a black woman in Britain.

Official Catalogue of the Industrial Department
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    31 October 2013
  • This official catalogue, reissued here in its updated third edition, appeared in 1862 to accompany London's International Exhibition of that year. Held from May to November in South Kensington, on a site now occupied by the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum, the exhibition served to showcase the progress that had been made in a diverse range of crafts, trades and industries since the Great Exhibition of 1851. Over 6 million visitors came to view the wares of more than 28,000 exhibitors from Britain, her empire and beyond. The catalogue contains brief entries for participants, giving details of their name, location and products. The coverage includes mining, engineering, textiles, ceramics, metals, printing, photography, musical instruments, and pharmaceuticals. Containing a ground plan of the exhibition space as well as many contemporary advertisements, this publication remains an instructive resource for social and economic historians.

Perran-Zabuloe
  • With an Account of the Past and Present State of the Oratory of St Piran in the Sands
  • William Haslam
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    12 December 2013
  • The curate William Haslam (1817–1905) focuses here on the ruins of St Piran's oratory, for many years lost to Cornwall's shifting sands. First published in 1844, his work laments the site's fate: first destroyed by its environment, then, upon its rediscovery, pillaged by trophy hunters. Highlighting the importance of Cornwall's frequently overlooked ecclesiastical antiquities, of which the oratory is perhaps the most compelling example, Haslam also gives an account of his local parish. The work describes the surrounding landscape, before going into an analysis of the oratory itself, with a small number of accompanying illustrations. An account of the life of St Piran, who has come to be regarded as Cornwall's patron saint, complements the history of Christianity's growth in the area, which resulted in the oratory's construction. With a strong emphasis on the oratory's importance as an early Christian site, this study will appeal to readers interested in architectural, church and local history.

The Christian and Civic Economy of Large Towns
  • Volume 1
  • Thomas Chalmers
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    27 June 2013
  • This three-volume study by the Scottish churchman and social reformer Thomas Chalmers (1780–1847) is a revealing work of Christian morality as applied to urban economic theory. Having moved to Glasgow in 1815, Chalmers was given a free hand in 1819 for an experiment in urban ministry at the new parish of St John's in the poorest district of the city. His reforms improved education and reduced the need for institutional poor relief by dividing the area into manageable 'proportions' that were closely looked after by parish elders and deacons, reviving a traditional community spirit and promoting self-help. Although sometimes severe, Chalmers' system and this influential work reflect Enlightenment optimism regarding human nature, suggesting the need for the Church of Scotland to respond actively to problems of urban industrialisation. Volume 1, published in 1821, outlines his theories of locality and the ways in which the Church could support the community.

A History of the Criminal Law of England
  • Volume 1
  • James Fitzjames Stephen
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    23 January 2014
    First published in:
    1883
  • Sir James Fitzjames Stephen (1829–94) published this three-volume account of the English criminal law's historical development in 1883, four years after his appointment as a judge of the High Court. It is a revision and expansion of the second chapter in Stephen's 1863 General View (also reissued in this series). At first sight, it is ironic that the author of this classic of legal historical scholarship was himself a Benthamite who favoured and promoted the codification of the common law and worked on codes of criminal law and procedure for India and for England. Volume 1 contains a short preliminary account of Roman criminal law and pre-Conquest English criminal law; a survey of courts exercising criminal jurisdiction; a historical account of the development of the main elements of criminal procedure; a history of criminal punishments; and a general comparative view of the differences between English and French criminal procedure.

Aedes Hartwellianae
  • Or, Notices of the Manor and Mansion of Hartwell
  • Volume 1
  • William Henry Smyth
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    20 February 2014
  • The astronomer John Lee (1783–66) inherited Hartwell House in Buckinghamshire in 1827. During its colourful history, the mansion had notably been occupied between 1809 and 1814 by the exiled court of Louis XVIII. Lee turned the house into something of a museum for his antiquarian and scientific interests, constructing an observatory to the design of the his close friend William Henry Smyth (1788–1865), after whom Lee named a lunar sea. A naval officer, Smyth had helped to found the Royal Geographical Society in 1830. His Sidereal Chromatics (1864) and The Sailor's Word-Book (1867) are also reissued in this series. This charming history and description of Hartwell, its grounds, buildings and contents, appeared in two volumes between 1851 and 1864, illuminating especially the practice of contemporary astronomy. Illustrated throughout, the first volume (1851) includes coverage relating to the locality, the lords of the manor, the collected antiquities and the observatory.

The People of the Abyss
  • Jack London
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    22 August 2013
    First published in:
    1903
  • In the summer of 1902, respected American author Jack London (1876–1916), previously known for his descriptions of life during the Klondike Gold Rush, spent two months living 'down by the docks' in London's East End among the city's poorest residents. During this time he often slept in workhouses or on the streets, seeing first-hand how the impoverished struggled daily for adequate food, clothing and shelter while the rest of the city lived in relative prosperity - a prosperity which the author believed was gained at the expense of the poor. One of the earliest eyewitness descriptions of life in the slums of London, this book would influence later socially minded authors such as George Orwell. The text is also illustrated with photographs of the places and people mentioned, offering an important insight into the living conditions of the poor at the dawn of the twentieth century.

Portrait of a Chef
  • The Life of Alexis Soyer, Sometime Chef to the Reform Club
  • Helen Soutar Morris
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    13 June 2013
    First published in:
    1938
  • Perhaps the first celebrity chef, Alexis Soyer (1810–58) was a flamboyant, larger-than-life character who nonetheless took his profession very seriously. As the chef of the Reform Club, he modernised its kitchens, installing refrigerators and gas cookers. In 1851, during the Great Exhibition, he prepared spectacular (but financially ruinous) culinary extravaganzas at his restaurant, the Gastronomic Symposium of All Nations. In stark contrast, he organised soup kitchens during the Great Famine in Ireland and volunteered his services in the Crimea in 1855 to improve military catering. He was also a prolific inventor of kitchen gadgets, notably promoting the Magic Stove, used for cooking food at the table. First published in 1938, this biography by Helen Soutar Morris (1909–95) is based on François Volant and James Warren's anecdotal account of 1859 (also reissued in this series), and it faithfully conveys the adulation that Soyer engendered in his lifetime.

Aedes Hartwellianae
  • Addenda to the Aedes Hartwellianae
  • Volume 2
  • William Henry Smyth
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    20 February 2014
  • The astronomer John Lee (1783–66) inherited Hartwell House in Buckinghamshire in 1827. During its colourful history, the mansion had notably been occupied between 1809 and 1814 by the exiled court of Louis XVIII. Lee turned the house into something of a museum for his antiquarian and scientific interests, constructing an observatory to the design of the his close friend William Henry Smyth (1788–1865), after whom Lee named a lunar sea. A naval officer, Smyth had helped to found the Royal Geographical Society in 1830. His Sidereal Chromatics (1864) and The Sailor's Word-Book (1867) are also reissued in this series. This charming history and description of Hartwell, its grounds, buildings and contents, appeared in two volumes between 1851 and 1864, illuminating especially the practice of contemporary astronomy. Illustrated throughout, the second volume (1864) serves as a supplement, recording Smyth's researches in the years since the first volume went to press.

Reformatory Schools
  • For the Children of the Perishing and Dangerous Classes, and for Juvenile Offenders
  • Mary Carpenter
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    31 October 2013
  • Daughter of a Unitarian minister and schoolmaster, the penal reformer and educationist Mary Carpenter (1807–77) grew up in a pious family with a strong sense of obligation to those who were less fortunate. Moved by the appalling circumstances of destitute children in Bristol, she established her first ragged school in 1846. In her bid to improve the difficult lives of juvenile delinquents, her enlightened philosophy was one of rehabilitation rather than retribution, emphasising the importance of giving children a sense of self-worth. These views form the basis of this landmark work, first published in 1851. Marshalling a range of evidence in support of her argument, Carpenter highlights the need for radical change in the treatment of young offenders. Her lobbying bore fruit in England with the passage of the Youthful Offenders Act (1854), described as 'the Magna Carta of the neglected child'.

English Farming, Past and Present
  • Rowland E. Prothero
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    22 August 2013
  • The author and politician Rowland Edmund Prothero (1851–1937), an expert on British agricultural history, held the post of President of the Board of Agriculture in David Lloyd George's cabinet between 1916 and 1919. In 1885 he had written an article for the Quarterly Review in which he traced the progress of English agriculture since the middle ages. This was expanded into a book, published in 1888 as The Pioneers and Progress of English Farming. Then, in 1912, Prothero revised and greatly expanded it under its current title, bringing the story up to date. This classic work charts the development of farming from the medieval manorial system up to the Corn Laws in the nineteenth century and the agricultural crises that confronted administrators at the beginning of the twentieth. The appendices include a chronological list of agricultural writers as well as data on the Corn Laws, tithes, acreage and wages.

A View of the Art of Colonization
  • With Present Reference to the British Empire: in Letters between a Statesman and a Colonist
  • Edited by Edward Gibbon Wakefield
  • Published online:
    05 September 2014
    Print publication:
    25 November 2010
    First published in:
    1849
  • Edward Gibbon Wakefield (1796–1862) was a controversial colonial advocate and political theorist, who was the driving force behind the early colonization of New Zealand and South Australia. Barred from entering parliament after serving a three-year sentence in Newgate Prison, Wakefield read widely on contemporary economics and social questions, developing his influential theory of colonization. He formed the New Zealand Association in 1837 to create a new colony in that country, finally emigrating himself in 1852. This volume, first published in 1849, contains an explanation of Wakefield's philosophy of colonization. Writing in the form of letters to an anonymous statesman, Wakefield fully explores and discusses the social, political and economic aspects of his system of colonization, based on regulating emigration by fixing the price of land. Wakefield's ideas influenced early colonial economic policy in South Australia, and stimulated the development of later theories of colonization.

The Life of His Royal Highness the Prince Consort
  • Volume 3
  • Theodore Martin
  • Published online:
    05 July 2014
    Print publication:
    18 April 2013
    First published in:
    1877
  • A lawyer by profession, Theodore Martin (1816–1909) gained literary distinction as both a humorous essayist and versatile translator. He found his greatest success, however, in the role of biographer to Prince Albert (1819–61). Commissioned by Queen Victoria to memorialise her late husband, this five-volume work was first published between 1875 and 1880. Intended as a continuation of the biography begun by Charles Grey (also reissued in this series), it has been described as 'less adulatory in tone than might be expected'. A treasury of letters and memoranda, it presents a detailed portrait of the character, words and deeds of a man whose life was necessarily immersed in the great events of his time. Volume 3 covers the period from 1854 to 1856 and deals extensively with the significant role played by Albert during the Crimean War.

Page 4 of 12