Suchergebnisse

Since the 18th century at least, centenarians have fascinated thier contemporaries. But it was only in the 19th century that studies testing the hypothesis of the hereditary nature of longevity appeared. Do centenarians have parents and grand-parents who died at later ages than the rest of the population ? This article attempt to answer that question by assessing the principal research undertaken on the subject since the beginnig of the century, and then presenting the results of a recent study in Belgium. The article also presents a critical approach to the statistical methods used and concludes, with qualifications in favor of a family component in longevity.

If mobility in space is a démographie phenomenon still little known for the XIXth century, this is all the more true as concerns migration within the same town. Yet the phenomenon is important is important both in numbers and so as to be able to account for spatial segregation and social mobility within urban populations. In this paper, we have followed the movements of a thousand new immigrants coming from the country between 1867 and 1872 in the town of Châtelent and the industrial area of Charleroi.
First, where do the immigrants go when they arrive in the town ? By carving up the town into districts, we have noticed that two types of neighbourhoods concentrate the most neweomers : intra muros neighbourhoods with a very dense and mobile population and extra muros neighbourhoods near the coal extraction sites. In all cases, the historical centre of the town, circled off by ancient fortifications, is abandoned. Furthermore, it appears that about half of the immigrants remains less than two years in their first lodgings in Châtelet, while one out of five stays for ten or more years.
In following the migrations of these immigrants over three decades until the 1900 census, it can be ascertained that some two thirds left the town- the most often for another industrial township. Among the others remaining in the town, one out of five stayed in the same neighbourhood, even on the same street, two out of five changed neighbourhoods and the two others died. Of the 604 interior migrations of the immigrants over the three decades under observation, 23% took place on the same street, 21% were to another street of the same neighbourhood and 56% to another neighbourhood altogether. In all cases, the "peripheral" districts near the expanding coal-mines draw the most immigrants, spurred on by certain "informed" investors who hastily build row houses to absorb the town's demographic expansion.

Flemish emigration during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is too complex to be dealt with definitively in a single article. Our main objective is to provide an overview of the migration towards France and Wallonia by looking at its chronology, and the spatial distribution of emigrants and their descendants. In this effort, patronym distribution is very helpful. As markers of migratory movements, patronyms from a collection of nominative lists give us a handle on migration flows as no other evidence can. Comparing France and Wallonia, the two destination areas, it is possible to see similarities between types of migrants: workers in heavy industry, workers in the agricultural sector, and workers engaged in domestic services. In addition, three phases may be identified in the arrival of a Flemish population in France and Wallonia: an emigration phase, an integration phase, and a redistribution phase. The last phase is also part of the urbanization process and is linked with upward social mobility.

Flemish emigration during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is too complex to be dealt with definitively in a single article. Our main objective is to provide an overview of the migration towards France and Wallonia by looking at its chronology, and the spatial distribution of emigrants and their descendants. In this effort, patronym distribution is very helpful. As markers of migratory movements, patronyms from a collection of nominative lists give us a handle on migration flows as no other evidence can. Comparing France and Wallonia, the two destination areas, it is possible to see similarities between types of migrants: workers in heavy industry, workers in the agricultural sector, and workers engaged in domestic services. In addition, three phases may be identified in the arrival of a Flemish population in France and Wallonia: an emigration phase, an integration phase, and a redistribution phase. The last phase is also part of the urbanization process and is linked with upward social mobility.