The Manchester Statistical Society was founded in 1833 to investigate the affects of industrialisation and urbanisation on society. This collections includes a variety of papers from the society's members, documenting their efforts to gather information on their rapidly changing society. They cover a wide range of topics relating to life in Manchester and the surrounding areas as well as British public life in general. Social issues are a major preoccupation: education, sanitation, poverty, crime and incaceration. Other topics of interest include national and global economics, the operation of financial systems, political representation, working conditions, and the labour movement.