An exploration of the theory and practice of social investigation in
rural England in the late 19-early 20C.
This book explores the theory and practice of social investigation in
rural England in the period 1870-1914. It shows the extent to which a
developing 'passion for inquiry' drew to the English countryside a wide
range of social investigators concerned with such issues as agricultural
trade unionism, rural depopulation, rural poverty, the condition of
rural housing and the land question. Adopting a broad definition of
social investigation, incorporating reports of royal commissions and
special correspondent journalists as well as the popular literary
accounts of Richard Jefferies and George Sturt, the study also enhances
the literature of social inquiry by examining the rural investigations
of men like Charles Booth and Seebohm Rowntree, best known for their
urban social surveys. At the same time Social Investigation and Rural
England makes a significant contribution to the rural history of the
period, by illustrating how social and political conflicts in the
English countryside influenced the processes of information-gathering by
social investigators, and how the rural population responded to their
activities.
MARK FREEMAN is lecturer in social history, University of Glasgow.