This article is intended to broaden the debate on literacy and industrialization in England to cover a wider area and timespan. It traces the advance of northern England from low literacy in the sixteenth century to precociously high levels in the late eighteenth century. Literacy is judged by the ability to sign a deposition before the assize court; use of this source is considered. Male illiteracy is shown to be lower than female, higher social groups have superior literacy to lower, and cities are more literate than towns or villages. Relative levels and change overtime among these categories are related to demographic change, economic development, and urban growth. In a period of rapid economic development before factories, the lack of a necessary connection between economic growth and literacy, or vice-versa, is made clear.
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