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Eilidh Garrett BSc PhD

Senior Research Associate, the Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure

Historical demographer working on the demography of nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century Britain.

Biography

I work on contract from home in Sheffield, but I am happy to meet in Cambridge by prior arrangement.

Career:

  • 2003 - Senior Research Associate, Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure, University of Cambridge.
  • 2001-2003 Senior Research Fellow, Department of Geography, University of Portsmouth. Funded by Wellcome Trust
  • 1991-2000 Senior Research Associate, Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure, University of Cambridge
  • 1988-91: Lecturer in Population Studies, London School of Economics
  • 1987-88: Temporary Lecturer in Population Geography University of Leeds
  • 1985-87: Research Fellow Regional Centre for the Study of Economic and Social Policy/Department of Sociology, University of Aberdeen
  • 1982-1985: PhD Student, Department of Geography, University of Sheffield.
  • 1981-82: Apprentice Genealogist Institute of Heraldry and Genealogy, Canterbury, Kent.

Qualifications

  • BSc Geography, University of St. Andrews
  • PhD Geography, University of Sheffield

Research

Nineteenth and early twentieth century demography of the British Isles, particularly fertility behaviour and mortality decline, with a growing interest in the impact of migration flows on demographic rates. Am working at the Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure with Alice Reid and Ros Davies on an ESCR funded project to compare urban and rural demography in late nineteenth century Scotland. We work in collaboration with Prof. Andrew Blaikie, Department of Sociology, University of Abrdeen. The project will link census data to entries in the civil register for the Isle of Skye, the town of Kilmarnock and two lowland rural parishes; Rothiemay in the North East and Torthowald in the South West, to allow the various social, economic and demographic regimes to be compared and contrasted. Am also working with Dr. Peter Razzell, University of Essex, on an ESRC funded project linking late nineteenth century census material to the vaccination birth and death registers for the town of Ipswich. This will allow us to study fertility and mortality behaviour in the town over the 40 years 1871-1901.

Publications

  • R. Davies and E.Garrett (forthcoming), 'More Irish than the Irish?: nuptiality and fertility patterns on the Isle of Skye' in L. Kennedy and R. J. Morris, eds, Order and Disorder: Scotland and Ireland, 1600-2001 (forthcoming, Tuckwell Press,).
  • A. Blaikie, E. Garrett and R. Davies (forthcoming, 2005), 'Migration, living standards and illegitimate childbearing: a comparison of two Scottish settings, 1871-1881' in A. Levine, T. Nutt and S. Williams (eds.) Illegitimacy in Britain, 1700-1920. (Palgrave)
  • E. Garrett (2004) 'Close to the truth or far from the fact? Reassessing vital statistics isomh individual data and nominal record linkage, Skye and Kilmarnock, 1861-1901' Paper presented at Wellcome Symposium on 'Birth pangs and death throes:the creation of vital statistics in Scotland and England', University of Glasgow. Proceedings published at: http://www.arts.gla.ac.uk/History/Medicine/birthdeath.html
  • E. Garrett and R. Davies (2003), 'Birth spacing and infant mortality on the Isle of Skye, Scotland in the 1880s; a comparison with the town of Ipswich, England' Local Population Studies, 71 pp. 53-74.
  • E. Garrett, A. Reid, K. Schürer & S. Szreter (2001), Changing family size in England and Wales: place, class and demography, 1891-1911. (Cambridge University Press)
  • S. Szreter & E. Garrett (2000), 'Reproduction, compositional demography, and economic growth: family planning in England long before the fertility decline' Population and Development Review 26,1 pp. 45-80.
  • E. Garrett (1998), 'Was women's work bad for babies? A view from the 1911 census of England and Wales.' Continuity and Change, 13,2 pp. 281-316.
  • E. Garrett (1997), 'Thinking of England and taking care: family building strategies in England and Wales, 1891-1911' in R. Rowland & I. Moll Blanes (eds.) La demografia y la historia de la familia (Universidad de Murcia).
  • E. Garrett (1995), 'The dawning of an new era? Women's work in England and Wales at the turn of the twentieth century' Social History/Histoire Sociale, XXVIII, 56 pp. 421-464.
  • E. Garrett and A. Reid (1995), "Thinking of England and Taking Care: family building strategies and infant mortality in England and Wales, 1891-1911' International Journal of Population Geography 1. pp. 69-102.
  • E. Garrett and A. Reid (1994), "Satanic Mills, Pleasant Lands: spatial variation in women's work, fertility and infant mortality as viewed from the 1911 census' Historical Research 67, 163 pp. 156-177
  • E. Garrett and A. Weir (1994),'Suffer the little children: mortality, mothers and the State' Continuity and Change 9,2 pp. 179-184.
  • Erickson and E. Garrett on behalf of the Women's Committee of the Economic History Society (1993), Women in Economic and Social History UK Research Register.
  • H. Southall and E. Garrett (1991) "Morbidity and mortality among early 19th century engineering workers", Social History of Medicine. 4,2 p231-252
  • E. M. Garrett (1990), "The trials of labour: motherhood versus employment in a nineteenth-century textile centre', Continuity and Change 5, 1.
  • E. M. Garrett (1983), "In Search of Scottish Roots", Family History (Journal of the Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies) Vol. 12, New Series 71-72, pp. 318-325.

Teaching

  • External supervisor for Open University PhD students working on projects researching the decline of infant mortality using nineteenth and early twentieth century vaccination registers.

External activities

  • Member of British Society for Population Studies, Local Population Studies Society
  • Member of the Editorial Board Local Population Studies,
  • Member of the Editorial Board Continuity & Change