Birth, Death, and Religious Faith in an English Dissenting Community : A Microhistory of Nailsworth and Hinterland, 1695-1837

This study lies at the intersection of three principal areas of social history: demography, religion and quantitative methods. It is a microanalysis of an English population at the level of the Anglican parish, during the era of the evangelical revival, which includes, unusually, Protestant dissenters from the Established church, in this case Particular Baptists, who were moderate Calvinists. It goes a step beyond previous studies by giving Anglicans and Dissenters co-equal status in a comparative demographic analysis and by demonstrating how religious values informed procreative activity. It does so through a combination of advanced statistical methodologies and an innovative treatment of data collection forms as readable texts. The study concludes principally that the likelihood of another birth occurring increased following a religious conversion experience, especially among both Anglican and Baptist wives following marriage. Mortality too had a less constraining effect on procreative activity which, in conformity with the English experience, was driven largely by fertility. This Microanalysis Of Population Levels Among Protestant Dissenters In England During An Era Of Evangelical Revival Uses Advanced Statistical Methodologies To Examine The Demographic Effects Of Religious Conversion Experiences--provided By Publisher. Religious Enthusiasm And Reproduction : A Probabilistic Connection -- Implicit Narratives : Textuality And Emotion In Demographic Behavior -- Baptist Fertility -- Anglican Fertility -- Mortality -- Appendix 1: Fecund Fertility Rates By Timing Of Female Baptist Conversion -- Appendix 2: Spacing Of Selected Birth Intervals (baptist) -- Appendix 3: Fecund Fertility Rates By Anglican And Baptist Female Conversion : Fecundity Length -- Appendix 4: Fecund Fertility Rates From Combined Anglican And Baptist By Female Conversion -- Appendix 5: Spacing Of Selected Birth Intervals (anglican) -- Appendix 6: Infant And Child Mortality And Burial Rates -- Appendix 7: Age-specific Adult Burial Rates 1695-1837 : Overall And By Gender, Tables A And B -- Appendix 8: Age-specific Adult Burial 1695-1768 And 1769-1837 : Life-table Analyses. Albion M. Urdank. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.