Strawopolis: Luton Transformed 1840-1876
By (author) Stephen Bunker Edited by Chris Pickford
Publication date:
01 January 1999Length of book:
320 pagesPublisher
Bedfordshire Historical Record SocietyDimensions:
234x156mmISBN-13: 9781800107656
Based on the author's PhD thesis, traces the transformation of Luton from a market town to a manufacturing centre during the mid-nineteenth century.
This volume, based on the author's PhD thesis, traces the transformation of Luton from a market town to a manufacturing centre during the mid-nineteenth century. Its development was built on the straw hat industry. While this trade, from which the title of the book is taken, is examined in Chapter 1, the aim of the book is to elucidate the cottage economy antecedents of a modern engineering town. This involves a consideration not only of its industrial base but also the distinctive nature of the local economy, the challenges posed by unrestricted urban growth, religion, education, politics and institutions such as the Board of Health.
Above all, however, this book is about the people of Luton who created the town's transformation. Fittingly, the book concludes with biographical notes on some of the people of mid-nineteenth century Luton.
This volume, based on the author's PhD thesis, traces the transformation of Luton from a market town to a manufacturing centre during the mid-nineteenth century. Its development was built on the straw hat industry. While this trade, from which the title of the book is taken, is examined in Chapter 1, the aim of the book is to elucidate the cottage economy antecedents of a modern engineering town. This involves a consideration not only of its industrial base but also the distinctive nature of the local economy, the challenges posed by unrestricted urban growth, religion, education, politics and institutions such as the Board of Health.
Above all, however, this book is about the people of Luton who created the town's transformation. Fittingly, the book concludes with biographical notes on some of the people of mid-nineteenth century Luton.