A CUCKOO IN THE NEST - THE ORIGINS OF CIVIL REGISTRATION AND STATE MEDICAL STATISTICS IN ENGLAND AND WALES

Authors
Citation
E. Higgs, A CUCKOO IN THE NEST - THE ORIGINS OF CIVIL REGISTRATION AND STATE MEDICAL STATISTICS IN ENGLAND AND WALES, Continuity and change, 11, 1996, pp. 115
Citations number
46
Categorie Soggetti
Social, Sciences, Interdisciplinary
Journal title
ISSN journal
02684160
Volume
11
Year of publication
1996
Part
1
Database
ISI
SICI code
0268-4160(1996)11:<115:ACITN->2.0.ZU;2-H
Abstract
The history of the establishment of civil registration and of the Gene ral Register Office in England and Wales under the 1836 Registration A ct has tended to be written in terms of religion and medical science. This article argues, however, that it is more helpful to see these dev elopments primarily in terms of the registering of property rights, an d that early-nineteenth-century debates with respect to welfare provis ion for the poor also played a crucial role. This explains some import ant features of the demographic and medical data published in the Annu al Reports of the Registrar General.