Abstract
Following the ‘historical turn’ within entrepreneurship and organisational research, we use a historical case study of Lancaster (UK), 1780-1920, to examine and demonstrate the importance of considering organizations from a historical perspective. We raise the factors, including those from social, spatial and economic contexts, that are overlooked due to the traditional individual and organizational focus on theorizing serendipity. This, coupled with a modern gaze that assumes a universal entrepreneurial experience, limits their utility to entrepreneurship studies. We also extend the understanding of the historiographical investigations to cities like Lancaster that could have rich insights into entrepreneurship research but were traditionally overlooked. In particular, we found four factors, the variety of circumstances that can drive the manifestation of serendipity. Namely, the role of the geographical environment, the technological developments, the regional social structures, and family firm dynamics. This research demonstrates the value of historical perspectives to entrepreneurial research.