Thomas Southcliffe Ashton (11 January 1889 – 22 September 1968) was an English

economic historian Economic history is the study of history using methodological tools from economics or with a special attention to economic phenomena. Research is conducted using a combination of historical methods, statistical methods and the application of ...

. He was professor of economic history at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

from 1944 until 1954, and

Emeritus Professor ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

until his death in 1968. His best known work is the 1948 textbook ''The Industrial Revolution (1760–1830)'', which put forth a positive view on the benefits of the era. He donated money to provide the T. S. Ashton Prize, an annual award from the Economic History Society. The prize is currently £750 and is awarded at every other annual conference to the author of the best article accepted for publication in the ''

Economic History Review ''The Economic History Review'' is a Peer review, 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 Editor-in-chief, edited by ...

'' in the previous two calendar years. Following a BBC Freedom of Information request in January 2012, it was revealed that Ashton turned down a knighthood in 1957.

Educational career

Ashton was educated at the

Ashton-under-Lyne Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 48,604 at the 2021 census. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, Greater Manchester, ...

secondary school and

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

. His academic career was focused on economics and public finance. Ashton was Assistant Lecturer in Economics at the

Sheffield University The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Firth College in 1879 ...

from 1912 to 1919, and from 1919 to 1921, he was Lecturer and Tutor at

Birmingham University The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

. In 1921, he was appointed Senior Lecturer in Economics at Manchester University. Eventually, he became Dean of the Faculty of Commerce and Administration and served in this capacity from 1938 to 1944. He then became professor of economic history at the

where he served from 1944 to 1954. In 1951 he was elected a Fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy for the Promotion of Historical, Philosophical and Philological Studies 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 sa ...

. In 1954 he gave the Ford Lectures at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. He was president of both the Manchester Statistical Society (1938–1940) and the

Economic History Society The Economic History Society (EHS) is a learned society that was established at the London School of Economics in 1926 to support the research and teaching of economic history in the United Kingdom and internationally. The society also acts as a ...

(1960–1963).

Publications

His publications cover the economy of the 18th century and include the iron, steel and coal industries: * ''Iron and Steel in the Industrial Revolution'' (1924) * ''The Coal Industry'' (with Joseph Sykes) (1929) * ''Economic and Social Investigations in Manchester 1833–1933'' (1934) * ''An Eighteenth-Century Industrialist: Peter Stubs of Warrington 1756 – 1806'' (1939) * (1948, 1997
online edition
* * * ''An Economic History of England: the Eighteenth Century'' (1955
online edition
* ''Economic Fluctuations in England 1700–1800'' (1959) * ''English Overseas Trade Statistics 1697–1808'' (1960), by E. B. Schumpeter, edited by T. S. Ashton

References

External links

*
Economic History Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashton, Thomas Southcliffe 1889 births 1968 deaths Academics of the London School of Economics Academics of the University of Manchester Academics of the University of Sheffield Alumni of the University of Manchester English economists British economic historians