Peter Kitson MA MPhil PhD
Research Associate, Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure
The demographic history of pre-industrial England c.1550-1850, especially: the socio-economic context of family formation, the relationship of occupational structure to demographic change, the seasonality of demographic events, and the nature of parochial registration; and the occupational structure of England and Wales c.1380-1880
Biography
In 2004, I completed my doctoral thesis on a set of related issues concerning family formation, male occupation and parochial registration in England from the mid-sixteenth to the early nineteenth centuries. From November 2004 until September 2005, I was a Research Associate on the ESRC-funded project into Male Occupational Change and Economic Growth in England 1750-1851. From October 2005 to September 2008, I have been working on my British Academy postdoctoral project: 'The economic context of family formation in England, c.1550-1851'. Since October 2008, I have been working on the following research projects: the Leverhulme Trust-funded project, 'The occupational structure of England and Wales c.1379 to c.1729', as well as the ESRC-funded project, 'Male occupational change and economic growth in England 1750-1851'.
Career:
- 2004-5: Research Associate, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge
- 2005-present: British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Geography, University of Cambridge
- 2008-present: Research Associate, Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure, University of Cambridge
Qualifications
- 1999 BA University of Cambridge
- 2000 MPhil University of Cambridge
- 2003 MA University of Cambridge
- 2005 PhD University of Cambridge
Research
My research seeks to investigate how the economic contexts of individuals influenced patterns of family formation in England between the mid-sixteenth and mid-nineteenth centuries. During this period, England experienced massive population growth and economic change. Demographic change was principally associated with increasing nuptiality and thus the creation of new households, while the household lost many of its economically productive functions as it became primarily a unit of reproduction and consumption. However, comparatively little direct empirical research has been conducted into how the behaviour of historical actors leading to the formation of households were related to their livelihoods, how it was influenced by the changing strategies by which households supported themselves, or on the extent of regional variation during this period. By performing a series of case studies of communities with distinctive local economies, it will be possible to address these issues, and to assess the extent to which demographic experiences varied between and within different communities.
Publications
Selected publications:
- 'Religious change and the timing of baptism in England, 1538-1750', Historical Journal (accepted subject to revisions, September 2008).
- 'Parochial registration and occupational recording in eighteenth-century England' (forthcoming).
- 'Re-appraising the seasonality of marriage in mid-sixteenth-century England' (forthcoming).
- 'The emergence of a mineral-based energy economy: the male occupational structure of Northumberland, 1762-1871' (forthcoming); [draft version of this paper]
- 'The male occupational structure of Bedfordshire c.1698-1881' (forthcoming); [(early) draft version of this paper]
- 'The nature and extent of individual-level occupational change in two English market towns, c.1600-1820' (forthcoming).
Teaching
- University of Cambridge, supervisor, British economic and social history 1500-1750 and 1700-1914 (Historical Tripos Part I Papers 9 and 10)
External activities
- Bye-Fellow, Downing College, University of Cambridge
- Member of the Economic History Society