This paper analyses why hours of work increased in London between 1750 and 1800. On the basis of a new technique, changes in labour input are described. The main part of the paper uses the data gathered from witnesses accounts to evaluate a number of competing hypotheses. The main part of the...

Little is known about the length of the working year in pre-industrial times. This paper develops a new method for analysing patterns of time-use in the past. Witnesses accounts in court records, it will be argued, reflect the actual behaviour of a group that is representative of the population...