Insolvency and reform of English bankruptcy law, 1831-1914
This thesis is a history of the reform of English bankruptcy law 1831-1914 and a statistical analysis of the insolvency the reforms sought to limit. The first two chapters describe the historiography of government growth in nineteenth-century Britain and outline the history of English bankruptcy legislation until 1831. Using statistics from bankruptcy reports published by the Board of Trade after 1883 and returns issued by other government entities prior to that date, chapters three and four define the extent and the characteristics of insolvency. These chapters analyze the aggregate level of bankruptcy in particular occupations and geographic areas; they also examine the effect of trade cycles on bankruptcy levels, both in terms of numbers of bankruptcies and losses occasioned. The remaining chapters trace the history of bankruptcy legislation and examine why Parliament embraced the concept of government supervision of bankrupt estates in 1831, then dismantled the system in the 1860s, only to reimpose it once again a short time later. The roles of three groups in this story -- the business community, the legal profession, and the government -- are examined in detail using the records of the local chambers
Lester, Vernon Markham
Bankruptcy ; History ; England
Insolvency and reform of English bankruptcy law, 1831-1914. This thesis is a history of the reform of English bankruptcy law 1831-1914 and a statistical analysis of the insolvency the reforms sought to limit. The first two chapters describe the historiography of government growth in nineteenth-century Britain and outline the history of English bankruptcy legislation until 1831. Using statistics from bankruptcy reports published by the Board of Trade after 1883 and returns issued by other government entities prior to that date, chapters three and four define the extent and the characteristics of insolvency. These chapters analyze the aggregate level of bankruptcy in particular occupations and geographic areas; they also examine the effect of trade cycles on bankruptcy levels, both in terms of numbers of bankruptcies and losses occasioned. The remaining chapters trace the history of bankruptcy legislation and examine why Parliament embraced the concept of government supervision of bankrupt estates in 1831, then dismantled the system in the 1860s, only to reimpose it once again a short time later. The roles of three groups in this story -- the business community, the legal profession, and the government -- are examined in detail using the records of the local chambers
reform english law history reform english law statistical_analysis reform seek limit first_two describe historiography government growth nineteenth_century_britain outline_history english legislation using statistic report_publish board_trade return government entity prior date define extent characteristic analyze aggregate level particular occupation geographic_area also_examine effect trade cycle level term number loss occasion remain trace_history legislation examine parliament embrace concept government supervision estate dismantle system short time later role three_group story business community legal profession government examine_detail use record local chamber