Mortality differentials and the peculiarities of mortality in an urban-industrial population: a case study of Tilleur, Belgium

Abstract

It is the aim of this article to examine the economy and demography of an industrial coal-mining community during the second third of the nineteenth century. There is already a considerable body of work by historical demographers, from E. A. Wrigley to M. Haines, who have studied industrial districts, particularly from an aggregated perspective. Their work has been mostly concerned with stressing the peculiarities of specific populations in comparison with those of other districts. Fewer attempts have, however, been made to assess the degree of variance within industrial populations. Tilleur, a small town in east Belgium on the left bank of the Meuse, offers an opportunity to make such an assessment for the years between 1846 and 1880.