ABSTRACT
It has long been recognised by historians that Quakers are overrepresented in the ranks of successful businessmen during the formative phases of Britain’s industrialisation in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. This article uses primary records to confirm the validity of Raistrick’s pioneering work on Quaker networks as an important source of capital funding. It extends Raistrick’s work by focusing attention on the Meeting House system as an institution conducive both to the internal surveillance of business conduct and the maintenance of commercial confidence. The article concludes with a case study of Quaker entrepreneurship in the early railway sector.
