Oxford historian wins international book prize

1 November 2011

An Oxford University historian has won the Ranki Prize, a biennial award for an outstanding book  in European economic history.

Professor Jane Humphries of the Faculty of History received the award from the Ranki Book Prize Committee of the Economic History Association for her scholarship on child labour, published in the book ‘Childhood and Child Labour in the British Industrial Revolution’.

The Prize Committee said: ‘Professor Humphries makes deft use of economic modelling and combines analysis with example in a truly magnificent way. Her work is deep in many ways and will have lasting influence. It opens new doors by raising and addressing the experiential characteristics of industrial change, a particular area where many economists fear to tread. Professor Humphries has figured out a way to get there: by doing so, she has added a whole new level of complexity to the debates on economic growth and progress. Congratulations to Professor Humphries!’

Professor Humphries said: ‘I was thrilled to be honoured in this way and particularly delighted to have my work recognised by international colleagues.’

Professor Shearer West, head of the Humanities Division, said: ‘This award is a tremendous and well-deserved accolade for Professor Humphries, whose research has added so much to our understanding of the industrial revolution in Britain.’

The book depicts the hardships faced by children during the classic era of industrialisation in Britain (1790-1850) and is based on the recollections of more than 600 working men of the 18th and 19th centuries and documents the upsurge of child labour during this period. Professor Humphries’ current research aims to identify and study the memories of working women, which are much rarer and more difficult to access.

The Ranki Prize was established by the Economic History Association in 1989 in honour of the late Gyorgy Ranki, a distinguished Hungarian economic historian who taught in both Hungary and the United States.

For an interview with Professor Jane Humphries, contact her on 01865 240109 or 01865 279346 or jane.humphries@history.ox.ac.uk .

For more information contact Matt Pickles in the University of Oxford press office on 01865 270046 or matt.pickles@admin.ox.ac.uk