Why was this such a period of growth for British industry?
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• The 1850s and 1860s are always seen as the high point in the growth and development of the British economy. Some of the reasons for Britain’s success were the complete absence of any serious rivals, either in Europe or elsewhere. Other reasons were a good banking system, a superb geographical position, a tradition of international trade, an excellent transport network and a growing home market.
• However, as with agriculture, warning signs could be seen:
  • A lack of investment in new technologies
  • A decline in entrepreneurship
  • A poor educational system
• A growing social divide between those who generated the wealth and jobs, and the political and social elite who wished to have less and less to do with ‘trade’, and who failed to understand its needs and its role in the creation of wealth.
• Viewed from almost any angle this was a period of ‘boom’. The ‘feel good’ factor was evident wherever you looked. The ‘Great Exhibition’ in London at the beginning of the period demonstrated the ingenuity and longstanding success of British industry.
• The boom used large amounts of labour in any town or city – Aberdeen to Glasgow, Leamington Spa to London – which is illustrated in large housing developments from the 1850s and 1860s onwards.
• Prices, investment and production rose.
• The quantity theory of money points to the increase in gold supply (there were discoveries in California in 1848 and Australia in 1852, the bulk of which ended up in vaults in the Bank of England).
• The rise in public demand, however, seems to be the primary reason. The demand for British manufactured goods was stimulated by wars such as the Crimean in the 1850s and the American Civil War of the early 1860s. Reasonably inelastic supply and increased demand was bound to have a healthy impact on prices from the British point of view.
• Britain made a great deal of money in opening up and developing industries in other countries.

Other Notes in this Category

1. How important were the railways to Great Britain?
2. To what extent was this a boom time for British agriculture?
3. To what extent was this a period of industrial boom?
4. What was the impact of the repeal of the Corn Laws?
5. What were the main developments in agriculture during this period?
6. What were the main weaknesses in British agriculture during this period?
7. Why was this such a period of growth for British industry?

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