Industry

• 1851 = Great Exhibition in London's Hyde Park
• Show-cased the variety, inventiveness and skill of Britain's manufacturing industries
• Exhibits from competitor countries were included to underline British committment to free trade
• Also to emphasise by comparison the excellence and superiority of British made goods 
• However, reflected anxiety about Britain's position, free trade and peace
• Spin off = rapid increase in export orders and a growth in overseas markets
• 1/3 of all British goods were exported to the British Empire
• Coal was exported around Europe
• Many goods went to America because their own industries were not developed
• Producers and manufacturers were working flat out to meet increasing orders
• Britain = the workshop of the world
• Imported raw materials, manufactured the goods and exported the product around the world

Iron and Steel Production: (thousand tonnes)

• 1860-4 = 1500
• 1870-4 = 3000

Coal Production: (million tonnes)

• 1860-4 = 7
• 1870-4 = 12

Cotton Textiles: (million yards)

• 1860-9 = 2000
• 1870-4 = 3500

Woollen Goods (thousand yards)

• 1860-9 = 236,000
• 1870-9 = 311,000

• Several reasons for such marked industrial progress
• Britain had been the first industrial nation
• 1865 = Far outstripped other countries in establishing markets at home and abroad 
• Greatest Colonial Power
• Britain controlled vital sea routes to and from its colonies and other markets
• Britain had a plentiful supply of natural resources such as coal and iron ore
• Technology to exploit 
• 1865 = Foraging ahead in design, engineering, processes and production
• Against the background of laissez-faire
• Britain's popularity = 30 million in 1865
• Provided a large workforce for an expanding home market
• Mobility of the workforce and carriage of goods was made possible by extensive railway networks across Britain, which linked every major town and sea port
• Move towards free trade had also encouraged overseas trading and stimulated British industry
• Profits from increasing sales and exports were ploughed back into existing businesses
• Large amounts of capital were avaliable for reinvestment as a result of developments in banking facilities, and assured London's position as a world monetary centre

• Key industries = coal and iron
• Textiles had also spearheaded the industrial revolution 
• Still remained a staple and Britain continued to be a major exporter of cloth
• Almost all manufactured goods relied on coal and iron 

• Growth was immense
• 1865 output = 98 million tonnes
• 1875 output = 130 million tonnes
• Drop in the price of coal and an increase in demand helped to stimulate increased production
• Industry demanded an increasing percentage of the coal produced
• The manufacture of iron depended on coke 
• Iron was need in much greater quality
• 1870 = Iron industry was buying 1/3 of coal producted in Britain
• Coal was needed to power steam engines and so develop the railways
• 1860 = steam power was generally used in most major industries
• Development of iron-hulled steamships demanded coal to fire the engines and iron for construction 
• As other countries developed, they imported coal from Britain
• Increasing demand had implications for the orgnisation and running of coal mines
• All coal mines were privately owned
• Landowners were fortunate enough to have coal seams running under their property made vast fortunes
• Made largely from the manual labours of the coal hewers
• Massive quantities of coal were still dug out by hand
• Absence of mechanical progress at the coal face could be blamed on the continuing of private ownership of the coal mines

• One serious attempt to develop a coal-cutting machine in the 1860s which failed
• Population growth meant a ready supply of labour 
• Hewers were among the best paid in workers' industry
• Successful technical developments
• Introduction of the wire rope and steam-driven winding gear at the top of the coal shaft eplaced the hemp rope and the system of horse gin 
• Dealt more efficiently with the 600-800 tonne daily haul of coal from some pits
• Steam locomotives and iron rails facilitated the transport of coal from the put head to a wider distribution network and into towns, iron works, factories and sea ports 
• Railways became a vital link between the mine owner and his customers

• The demand for high-quality iron increased as the industry expanded
• Technological developments in the iron industry 
• Responsible for the improved quality of iron and the continuing increase of iron output 
• Engineering projects around the world were dependent on the continuous production of high-quality iron from Britain
• Iron ore production jumped from 10 million tonnes in 1865 to over 65 million tonnes by 1875
• Use of steel in manufacturing developed during this period
• Steel is tougher and more versatile than iron
• 1860s = new processes enabled steel to be produced quickly and cheaply in large quantities
• Most important of these were:
  •  
    • Henry Bessemer's Converter - produced semi-steel that halved the cost of steel production
    • William Siemens' Open Hearth Process - allowed the cheap production of mild steel in bulk
• Result = by 1870, many rail companies had replaced iron track with steel 

• Developments in transport were linked to the expansion of coal and iron industries
• Most dramatic and far-reaching = growth of railways
• Britain's well developed railway industry played a vital role in economic expansion
• 1860 onwards = development in the railway industry was more to do with expansion of an already established network across England, Wales and south Scotland
• Laying rail track across the Scottish Highlands presented a challenge because of the difficult terrain and the sparse population
• Costly exercise but essential - linked remote areas of Scotland to the rest of Britain
• Most linked seaside resorts to larger towns or setting up suburban railways
• New industry of tourism
• Expansion creatd any jobs, beyond temporary work such as laying a track
• Railway companies required permanent staff to run offices, to drive and maintain trains and to provide a service to their passengers
• 1870 = Railway employment was the 6th largest in the country
• Railway companies became concerned with producing better, faster and more reliable engines 
• Led to the development of precision engineering
• Companies were set up to produce more modern rolling stock and locomotives
• Led to the development of prosperous railway towns such as Derby 

• 1865 = 11,000 miles of railway track in Britain 
• Carried over 200 million passengers and 112 million tonnes of freight
• Ticket sales = £15 million and £18m in freight charges
• 1875 = 14,000 miles of railways track
• Carried over 500 million passengers and 200 million tonnes of freight
• Ticket sales = £24m and £32m in freight charges 
• First London underground line = the Metropolitan 
• Opened in 1863
• Before the electrification of railway lines
• Smoke made for a rather unpleasant ride
• Carried 10 million passengers in its opening year
• The Bessemer Steel Rails gave further boost to the railway industry
• Cut production costs, increased profits and produced more capital for further investment
• Profits were invested in railway building overseas
• No other eficient method of carrying large quantities of heavy bulky goods or people
• Virtual monopoly until the coming of the car 

• British shipping dominated the world
• Sailing ships still made up the majority of the marine but were expensive to build and run
• Most important stimulus for increasing shipbuilding was the growth in world trade
• Coincided with the huge increase in the production of cheap iron and later steel
• Made it possible for Britain to forge ahead in the development of steamships and monopolise the shipping routes
• The Suez Canal opened in 1869 
• Cut the journey time from West to India, China and Australia
• Canal was too narrow to pass along in a large sailing ship and this gave a further boost to the British steamship
• 1866 = the Atlantic cable was laid across the ocean between America and Britain
• Information could be relayed almost instantaneously using a semaphore system 
• Telegraph services opened up and became part of the Post Office in 1868
• First step in the gigantic communications industry

• Provided an impetus for the industrial revolution before 1800
• Remained a major industry after 1865
• Rate of progress was slower
• Share of Britain's export market began to fall in the 1860s
• Exports of other commodities rose
• British manufactured cotton cloth still accounted for two-thirds of cotton sold in world markets until just after 1900