Tort Law and Victorian Government Growth: The Historiographical Significance of Tort in the Shadow of Chemical Pollution and Factory Safety Regulation

This paper deals with the role of tort in the field of chemical air pollution regulation during the period 1863, when the first statutory intervention occurred, and 1881, when reforms to both the common law and statute were enacted. It compares the prominence of tort in this context with its significance in the field of injury to factory workers. The implications of tort's relevance in these contexts are then examined, having particular regard to those historiographies of Victorian government growth in which the part played by tort is neglected.