Central Banking in the English Provinces in the Second Quarter of the Nineteenth Century

A feature of Britain's industrialisation during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was the persistence of small-scale production and producers. In a variety of contexts small businesspeople had a striking presence in the local economy and society. However, relatively little is known about this sector of the business community. This paper describes the economic characteristics of micro-scale and small craft businesses in one area of rural lowland Scotland between c.1830 and c.1900. Issues examined include firm size, capital investment, profits, multiple business strategies, persistence rates, the independence of producers, and formal organisation among these small businesspeople. The micro and small-scale business sector in this area is found to share many of the characteristics of such groups in other contexts. An internal diversity was also found, with producers merging with the world of wage labour at one end of the spectrum and the ranks of established enterprise at the other. This feature was reflected in the social standing of the small businesspeople.