The dataset contains data on the composition of the boards of directors (BoD) of the 250 largest UK companies by net assets for nine benchmark years between 1904 and 2010 (1904, 1938, 1958, 1976, 1983, 1993, 1997, 2003 and 2010). The sample is composed of 50 financial firms and 200 non-financial firms, categorized according to the dominant sectoral activity of each firm. In order to compile this data, we relied partly on existing datasets, 2 as well as various archival sources, including stock exchange yearbooks, lists of largest companies provided by other scholars, commercial providers and annual reports. For certain years, it was not possible to locate sources that would have allowed us to compile a full sample of 250 firms. As a result, we only have 187 firms in 1958, 218 in 1983 and 247 in 2010. For 1993, we have 251 companies; for all other years, 250. By and large, however, the samples are of comparable size across our nine census dates. We have used the Pajek software package in order to compute a series of indicators of network structure and coherence, as well as actor centrality measures.
