List of Tables Series Editors foreword to the first edition Preface and acknowledgements to the first edition Preface and acknowledgements to the second edition Preface and acknowledgements to the third edition 1 Introduction: geography and environment 2 A Pennine backwater: Halifax before 1500 Prehistory from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age From the Iron Age to the Roman Conquest Britons, Angles, Saxons, Vikings and the Normans Medieval Halifax 3 The inhabitants do altogether live by cloth making: Halifax and its hinterland, 15001750 Halifax and the regional economy Social structure, occupations and living standards Religion and politics Local government Social welfare, education and culture A pretty well-built town of stone 4 An astonishing trading town: Halifax in the age of industrial expansion, 17501850 Commercial and industrial expansion Social structure, occupations and living standards Religion and politics Local government A large smoke-canopied commercial town 5 Town of a hundred trades: Victorian and Edwardian Halifax, 18511914 The economy: industrial diversification and the service sector Social geography Politics: Chartists, Liberals, Labour and the Suffragettes The provision of local services Culture: religion and recreation Restless Renaissance city 6 Halifax at War and Peace, 191445 Wars Population The economy: boom, bust and restructuring Local government Local politics Culture: religion and recreation Black Halifax boiled in phosphorus 7 Post-War Halifax: from County Borough to Metropolitan Borough, 19462018 Population Employment and industry: the decline of manufacturing and the growth of the service sector Local government Local politics Religious, social and cultural life A town full of character and hidden beauty Notes Index