ABSTRACT
A rich public life carefully nurtured and sustained by a strong sense of service at the local and national level, was remarkably uncorrupt. However, many in that literate minority which left the bulk of the evidence on which historians draw were less enthusiastic. Almost as important to Britain's development in the nineteenth century was Britain's empire. The main political parties, however, whether Liberal or Conservative–Ireland apart – did not intend to make more than minor adjustments to Britain's historic models of Empire. Benjamin Disraeli's line on the Empire struck a resonant, populist chord. Imperialists in the 1860s and 1870s took the argument further. Many also emphasised the importance of Christian missionaries working in the Empire. Before the industrial revolution, Joseph Parkes's 'Women of the lower class' could readily interweave family life with waged work since textile production was predominantly a domestic activity. Working-class families in industrial areas were likely to live cheek by jowl both with other families and lodgers.
