Eleanora Mary Carus-Wilson (1897 – 1 February 1977) was a British

economic historian Economic history is the academic learning of economies or economic events of the past. Research is conducted using a combination of historical methods, statistical methods and the application of economic theory to historical situations and in ...

. She is known for her work on rural

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

textile industries in England. She made significant contributions to the understanding of Medieval technology in the region.

Biography

Carus-Wilson was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

, Canada. Mary Carus-Wilson was her mother. She grew up in London, England and attended St. Paul's Girls' School. She attended

Westfield College Westfield College was a small college situated in Hampstead, London, from 1882 to 1989. It was the first college to aim to educate women for University of London degrees from its opening. The college originally admitted only women as students and ...

and graduated in 1921 with a bachelors and 1926 with a master's degree. She taught part-time at a boarding school for around 10 years until in 1936 she received a

Leverhulme Scholarship The Leverhulme Trust () is a large national grant-making organisation in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1925 under the will of the 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), with the instruction that its resources should be used to supp ...

so she could focus on research full-time. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, she worked as a civil servant in

Colwyn Bay Colwyn Bay ( cy, Bae Colwyn) is a town, community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic county of Denbighshire. Eight neighbouring communities are incorpor ...

, where she worked for the

Ministry of Food An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...

. After the war, she returned to London to teach at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 mill ...

(LSE). At LSE, she was mentored by economic historian,

Eileen Power Eileen Edna Le Poer Power (9 January 18898 August 1940) was a British economic historian and medievalist. Early life and education Eileen Power was the eldest daughter of a stockbroker and was born at Altrincham, Cheshire (now part of Greate ...

. In 1948, Carus-Wilson was made a Reader and then went on to become a professor of

economic history Economic history is the academic learning of economies or economic events of the past. Research is conducted using a combination of historical methods, statistical methods and the application of economic theory to historical situations and i ...

. She taught at LSE from 1953 until she retired on 1965. She was a Ford's lecturer at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

between 1964 and 1965, where she taught English history. Carus-Wilson also worked on creating a publishing program for the Economic History Society between the years of 1951 and 1967. She was made an Associate Member of the

Royal Academy of Belgium The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium (RASAB) is a non-governmental association which promotes and organises science and the arts in Belgium by coordinating the national and international activities of its constituent academies s ...

in 1961 and a fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars span ...

in 1963. She also was given an honorary doctorate in 1968 from

Smith College Smith College is a private liberal arts women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith and opened in 1875. It is the largest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite women's c ...

. Carus-Wilson died on 1 February 1977.

Work

Carus-Wilson focused on

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

economic history. During the beginning of WWII, she started publishing her research on the cloth industry in England. Her paper, "An industrial revolution of the thirteenth century," was "widely read," and discussed how medieval textile workers made significant contributions to the technology of textile work in England. Her work led to the "discovery of the importance of rural industry in late-medieval England," according to ''

The Economic History Review ''The Economic History Review'' is a peer-reviewed history journal published quarterly by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Economic History Society. It was established in 1927 by Eileen Power and is currently edited by Sara Horrell, Jaime Reis ...

''. She, along with scholars,

Lewis Mumford Lewis Mumford (October 19, 1895 – January 26, 1990) was an American historian, sociologist, philosopher of technology, and literary critic. Particularly noted for his study of cities and urban architecture, he had a broad career as a w ...

and

Marc Bloch Marc Léopold Benjamin Bloch (; ; 6 July 1886 – 16 June 1944) was a French historian. He was a founding member of the Annales School of French social history. Bloch specialised in medieval history and published widely on Medieval France ov ...

, "captured the imaginations of a younger generation of scholars in the emergent field of the history of technology with their new vision of medieval technological prowess." Carus-Wilson studied 13th century England's textile industry and described a "rapid adoption of waterpowered

fulling Fulling, also known as felting, tucking or walking (Scots: ''waukin'', hence often spelled waulking in Scottish English), is a step in woollen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of woven or knitted cloth (particularly wool) to elimin ...

." Her article used research drawn from primary sources such as royal and

ecclesiastical {{Short pages monitor