This study attempts to provide a descriptive and analytical account of the origins of the British Commercial Crisis of 1847. The approach adopted is as follows: An introductory chapter outlines the main questions to be studied and provides a brief narrative account of the development of the crisis. Subsequent chapters examine the development of the crisis through individual sectors of the economy and by way of certain key economic variables. Chapters II to VI concentrate on aspects of the railway investment boom, aggregate income and consumption, and the experience of four major industries - house-building, coal-mining, and iron and cotton goods manufacture. Chapter VII looks at money and banking aspects of the crisis and deals especially with the role of the Bank of England. It also considers other parts of the banking system as well as some aspects of railway investment not discussed in earlier chapters. Questions of trade and the balance of payments are examined in Chapter VIII. The chapter also considers the immediate causes of failure among mercantile houses during the crisis of 1847. The final chapter summarizes the principal conclusions contained in the preceding chapters
