Granular Georeferencing in Industrial Manchester, 1851-1901

Abstract

Spatial studies of British Victorian cities have been historically limited either in scope or specificity due to the unwieldiness of census data. However, recent developments in geographic information systems (GIS) and the digitization of historical source material have created new possibilities for the exploration of geodemographic patterns. For the case of Manchester, the ‘shock city’ of the British industrial revolution, these advancements are especially pertinent in order to settle long-standing debates as to the extent of segregation in the city. This article presents a method for the highly granular georeferencing of census data for the Manchester township for the second half of the nineteenth century by drawing on historical material including geographic and commercial surveys. In linking households to specific buildings, we present new possibilities for studies of heterogeneity and neighbourhood patterns at a range of scales. This approach ultimately lays the groundwork for future revisitations of nineteenth-century cities and the traditional claims which have been made around their urban dynamics.