Abstract/Summary

This thesis examines the impact of the railways upon the business history of the county of Berkshire during the nineteenth century after 1830. The major towns in the county were Abingdon, Maidenhead, Newbury, Reading, Wallingford, Wantage, Windsor, and Wokingham.. The county is located fifty miles from London with the Thames and Kennet valleys providing important transport passages through the landscape towards Bristol and the west with the already developed canal networks providing transport links towards the industrial midlands and north. The years after the arrival of the railways saw considerable change to the business landscape of the county, although whether this was directly caused by the railways has been found to be doubtful. The economies of the towns examined in this thesis exhibited very different trends within each sector of business and even between companies in the same trade. The critical factor in the success and development of a single business, or indeed a sector, was the ability of companies to take advantage of the new railway services and the reaction of owners and management to the demands of Britain’s developing and changing economy through the provision of products and services at a quality and price point which enabled them to remain competitive, profitable, and successful. Several factors of significance emerged from the research undertaken which directly challenge two common assumptions made about the relationship between the economy and the railways in Victorian Britain. Firstly, the railway has been found not to have been the sole reason for economic growth. They were only part, albeit an important one, of the development of the British economy. It has also been found that the situation was highly nuanced with changes found to have been different between places, and within types of business, and that growth was not necessarily the result. Secondly it has been found that the rural counties were important to the economy, and that they did have industry which evolved during the period of railway building. They are thus an important part of the study of Victorian industrial change, railway development and societal change, and require further study of other locations.