ABSTRACT
Conclusions in the discipline of history are rarely susceptible to the kind of verification which present-day social scientists routinely insist upon. There is, however, one type of test which is appropriate for the kind of conclusions offered are the interpretations advanced for the early Industrial Revolution plausible in light of subsequent developments in the later Industrial Revolution The types of social fissure which were already evident among workers in the 1820s became more pronounced with the passage of time. Trade unionism furnishes additional evidence of divisions within the ranks of district workers. Alongside the rich, multiform radical heritage bequeathed by the early Industrial Revolution, paternalism persisted as a popular touchstone for perceiving social responsibilities and guiding behaviour. The Stockport evidence is consistent with a major theme in regional and national social commentaries to the effect that distinctions among workers made it inappropriate to talk, in any meaningful way, about a single, unified working class.
