[154] British business in the 19th century was dominated by what could be called 'family capitalism', and the trend towards corporate forms of enterprise was halting and patchy. During the phase of 'family capitalism', the nature of the family affected in a fundamenta way the patterns of growth and development of the firm. Most obviously, 'the search for safe income to support dependants - wives, chidren, younger siblings and adult female relatives - had marked effect on investment and production decisions of the middle class as a whole, turning them from the sole pursuit of maximum profit'. More generally, Dr. Davidoff and Ms. Hall have argued, 'a concern with morality and religious values centred on a domesticated lifestyle limited and framed economic activity throughout the early nineteenth century'. [L. Davidoff and C.Hall, Family Fortunes: Men and Women of the English Middle Class, 1780-1850 (1987), p. 195.] The emergence of corporate enterprise meant more than a change in the nature of the firm, for it also entailed a reassessment of the family.