Enumeration Abstract

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PREFACE.



Enumeration Abstract.



THE fifth decennial Census of the population of Great Britain was taken on the 7th of June, 1841, under the authority of two Acts of Parliament, viz 3 and 4 Vict. cap. 99, and 4 Vict. cap. 7.

It may be necessary to give a sketch of the machinery by means of which the present Census of the Population of Great Britain has been taken, inasmuch as it differs very materially from that which was adopted on former occasions.

In the years 1801, 1811, 1821, and 1831, the Overseers of the Poor in the several parishes were the parties directed by the respective Acts of Parliament to furnish the information required for England and Wales,—a body of men, in many parts of the country, fully competent to the task thus imposed upon them, and anxious to discharge it to the best of their ability; but in some districts, from want of education, or habits of business, and from ignorance of the importance and real object of the inquiry they were conducting, essentially unfitted for it. The mode and form in which the information was to be procured and returned by them, differed entirely from the plan adopted in 1841. Questions referring to the numbers, ages, and occupations of the persons to be enumerated within their parishes were delivered to them, to which they were to return answers, the result of their own inquiries, while the work was directed to be performed by them day after day , if one day was found insufficient, till answers to all the queries were obtained.

Upon the present occasion, the information required, embraced not only the particulars furnished in 1831, but also the exact age, occupation, and place of birth of each person; the Act moreover directed that the business of numbering the people should be completed "in one day ," in order to obviate the chance of inaccuracy from omissions or double entries to which the extension of the inquiry over a greater period might have given rise.

The Census Act, 3 and 4 Vict. cap. 99, directed that the Officers of the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths, and Marriages, throughout England and Wales, should be employed under our orders in carrying out the arrangements required under this new system.

By means of the Superintendent-Registrars and Registrars, the whole of England and Wales was, in accordance with directions furnished by us, divided into Enumeration Districts, the boundaries of which were strictly defined, each being regulated as to its extent by the varying circumstances of facility of communication or density of population, but so that it should contain not more than 200, and not less than 25 inhabited houses; while in no case should it include a larger extent of country (where houses were scattered over a thinly populated district) than an active man could travel over between morning and sunset on a summer's day, and obtain from each person dwelling therein all the particulars required by the Act.

To the office of Enumerator, was appointed by the Registrars, (subject to our approval,) one individual for each of these sub-divisions, selected from the neighbourhood, with reference to his particular fitness for the office. In consequence of the small size to which these districts were necessarily limited, no less than 35,000 such persons were required for England and Wales; and a careful inspection of the Schedules returned by them has enabled us to announce that notwithstanding the large number of persons thus to he selected, their duties were carefully and intelligently discharged.

All public institutions, barracks, gaols, and workhouses, were, in accordance with the provisions of the Act, directed, to be enumerated by the several officers residing therein.

Schedules1 were furnished to the Enumerators, and to the heads of each Public Institution, in which they were to enter—not the answers to a set of questions applicable to their particular division, as in 1831—but the actual description of each person who had slept within it on the night preceding the 7th of June, 1841, with reference to each head of inquiry.

The whole of these schedules were ordered to be returned to us, after having been examined by the 'several Registrars, and submitted to, and countersigned by, the Superintendent-Registrars.

From the subjoined specimens it will be seen that the number of houses inhabited, uninhabited, or building, were ascertained from the actual entry of each house under its proper description in the very place where it stood.

The name, age, sex, and occupation, as given by each individual, were entered in the Enumerator's Schedule, to be returned to us in that form, in order to be afterwards arranged in such classification as might be considered most useful for public information.

In addition to these Enumeration Schedules, we suggested the issuing, under the authority of a subsequent Act of Parliament, Householders' Schedules, in the annexed form2 which were placed in the hands of each householder a few days before that appointed for taking the Census, thus informing him, before the arrival of the enumerator, as to the nature of the particulars required, all of which he was directed to enter at full length beforehand in the same form in which they were to be afterwards transferred by the enumerator to his own Schedule.

The Householders' Schedules contributed in no small degree to the accuracy of the Returns, particularly from large establishments, while they greatly lightened the labours of the Enumerators on the day on which the Census was taken.

It must be evident that the distribution of the whole of Great Britain into minute subdivisions upon the principle above alluded to, viz., that no Enumeration district should comprehend a greater area than could be visited by one person in the course of a day, added very materially to our preparatory labours, as in such arrangements we were obliged to have regard to the variable circumstances of the density of population and the nature of the country to be traversed; we were happy, however, to find that every Enumerator was able to complete his work within the day, without the risk of the errors which might have resulted from a second day's counting.

With regard to the Enumeration of Scotland, the agency through which it was conducted was substantially the same as that of former years. The superintendence of the enumeration of each Parish was generally entrusted to the official schoolmaster, than whom no one could be better qualified for the task. In other respects the same preliminary measures were taken in Scotland as in England, each parish being divided into Enumeration Districts when too extensive or populous for an Enumerator to obtain the requisite information in one day.

The Sheriff Substitute of each County was placed (for the purposes of the Census) in the same relation to the several schoolmasters as the Superintendent-Registrars in England were to the several Registrars. And Mr. Cay, the Convener of Sheriff's in Edinburgh, greatly facilitated the preliminary business of each County, by the assistance he afforded us in making the necessary arrangements.

It will be seen, that in the following Abstract we have retained the fundamental subdivision of Counties into Hundreds throughout the greater part of England, Wapentakes in Yorkshire, and Parts of Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire, and Rapes and Lathes in some of the southern Counties, which had been adopted in 1801-11-21-31.

We have not deemed it necessary to reprint the elaborate account of the origin of these ancient divisions, which has already a place in each of the four Prefaces to the Abstracts of those years. Indeed, had the present been the first occasion of taking a Census of the Population, we might have been disposed to disregard these divisions, and retain only that of Parishes and Counties; as considerable inconvenience often arises from portions of Parishes being situated in two Hundreds; while an alphabetical arrangement of the Parishes of each County would be more accessible for the ordinary purposes of reference.

Considering, however, that to facilitate a comparison between the respective periods it was advisable to prepare the Abstract as nearly as possible in the same form as that adopted on former occasions, and, in the absence of any legislative direction to take a different course, we have continued the sub-division of Counties, first into Hundreds, Wapentakes, &c. and then into Parishes; furnishing, moreover, an alphabetical index of Parishes and Places, by which each may be found under its respective Hundred.

In the present Abstract considerable pains have been taken to distinguish the population of distinct places forming parts of Parishes, such as Townships, Tythings, Hamlets, or Villages, which had not been separately noticed in any former Abstract; and where a return of the population of such places could not be given, their names have been inserted in the Notes at the foot of each page.

The number of Parishes returned in the present Abstract is 11,769
The number of distinct places forming parts of Parishes is 13,702
Making the number of places separately noticed 25,471

The number of Places of which the population is distinctly stated is 22,303, being 5601 more than were returned in 1831.

Throughout the Abstract, the Municipal Boroughs and Towns of England and Wales, and the Royal Boroughs of Scotland, are placed in their respective Counties; the particulars of the Parliamentary Boroughs being given in an Appendix.

In the Abstract for Scotland, besides numerous "additional Returns of places similar to those above alluded to, the population of the Parishes quoad sacra , has been added. Prior to 1831, with a view to meet the exigencies of the case, Ministers had been appointed to attend to the spiritual condition of the people belonging to certain localities; but no districts had been defined for their labours, nor were they invested with the general privileges of parish ministers; but since that period, by the authority of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, their condition has been closely assimilated to that of parish clergymen, and districts have been assigned to them, which have the character of parishes, quoad sacra .

Although the existence of such Parishes is precarious, it has been deemed proper to give a separate Return for each, without impairing the integrity of the mother parishes out of which they have severally been formed.

The present Volumes contain all the information obtained under the authority of the above-mentioned Acts, except that relating to the occupations of the population of Great Britain, and the Parish Register Returns.

The tables of the Occupations of the people will form a separate publication; as they could not be incorporated with the Enumeration Abstract. They will be published, when completed, together with the Parish Register Abstract; which latter, however, has lost much of its interest, from the greater correctness of the information furnished on the subjects to which it refers, by the Annual Reports and Tables issued by the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths, and Marriages.

As the Information contained in this Abstract differs in some respects from that printed on former occasions, a few general remarks are added in explanation of the results furnished under each column.


1

Specimen of Enumerator's Schedule


Each Schedule contained a sufficient number of these pages to embrace the Census of the District, each page containing 25 lines.

Directions given as to the Manner in which Entries were to be made in the Enunieration Schedule.

After "City or Borough of" write the name, if the District is in a City or Borough; if not, draw a line through those words, or through whichever of the two the District does not belong to. After "Parish or Township of" write the name; if there is no Township in the Parish, draw a line through "Township" ; If it is a Township, write the name of the Township, and draw a line through "Parish" . If it is Extra-Parochial, draw a line through "Parish or Township of," and write "Extra-Parochial" over those words, and after it the name.

In the column headed "Place," write the name of the house (if it has a name), or of the street or other part of the town, or of the village, hamlet, or extra-parochial place in which it stands, opposite to the mark denoting each houses or the first house in the street, &c., and write do." opposite to every other in the same street, &c.

"Houses." —Insert houses uninhabited or building in the manner shown in the Example, writing "1 U." or "1 B," as the case may be, in the proper column, opposite to the inhabited house to which each stands nearest. Every house which is unoccupied at the time of your visit, and is believed not to have been slept in the night before, may be inserted as uninhabited. New houses, not yet inhabited, may be inserted as "Building." Where there is a row of such houses, the total number may be inserted before the letter B., instead of the separate insertion of each.

By "House" is meant Dwelling-House; and every building in which any person habitually sleeps must be considered as a dwelling-house but buildings, such as churches or warehouses, or any others which were never used, or intended to be used, as dwelling-houses, must not be inserted,

Names of each Person who abode therein the preceding night." "—Insert, without distinction or omission, every living person who abode or slept in each house. Leave no blank spaces between the names, but enter each immediately after the one preceding it, so that each page may contain 25. Set down one after the other those who have the same surname, beginning with the heads of the family, and put no others between them. As long as the surname is the same do not repeat it, but write "do," Where there are more christian names than one, as "John William", or "Maria Louisa," write down only the first.

When the person is a Peer or Peeress, the title may be written instead of the name. The words "Lord," "Lady," "Sir," "Rt. Ron.," Hon.," may be put before the names of those to whom they belong.

If no christian name has been given to an infant, write "n. k," for not known, as in Example.

If, as may happen in a lodging-house or inn, a person who slept there the night before has gone away early, and the name is not known, write "n. k." where the name should have been.

At the end of the names of each family draw a line thus /, as in Example. At the end of the names of the inmates in each house draw a double line, thus //.

"Age and Sex." —Write the age of each person opposite to the name in one of the two columns headed "Males and Females," according to the sex.

Write the age of every person under 15 years of age as it is stated to you. For persons aged fifteen years and upwards, write the lowest of the term of 5 years within which the age is. Thus, for Persons aged—

15 years and under 20 write 15 45 years and under 50 write 45
20 years and under 23 write 20 50 years and under 55 write 50
25 years and under 30 write 25 55 years and under 60 write 55
30 years and under 35 write 30 60 years and under 65 write 60
35 years and under 40 write 35 65 years and under 70 write 65
40 years and under 45 write 40 70 years and under 75 write 70

and so on up to the greatest ages.

If no more can be ascertained respecting the age of any person than that the person is a child, or is grown up, write "under 20," or "above 20," as the case may be.

"Profession, Trade, Employment, or of Independent Means." —Men, or widows, or single women, having no profession or calling, but living on their means, may be inserted as independent, which may be written shortly thus, "Ind."

The profession, &c., of wives, or of sons or daughters living with their husbands or parents, and assisting them, but not apprenticed or receiving wages, need not be set down.

All persons serving in Her Majesty.s Land service as officers or privates in the Line, Cavalry, Engineers, or Artillery, may be entered as "Army," without any statement of their rank, adding "H. P." for Half Pay, and "P." for Pensioner .

All persons belonging to Her Majesty.s Sea service, including Marines, may be entered as "Navy," adding "H. P." for Half Pay, and "P." for Pensioner .

All domestic servants may be entered as "M.S." for Male Servant, or "F. S." for Female Servant, without statement of their particular duties, as whether butler, groom, gardener, housekeeper, cook, &c. &c.

Insert all other professions, trades, or employments, as they are described by the parties, or by others on their behalf, writing "J." for Journeymen, "Ap." for Apprentice, and "Sh." for Shopman, after the statement of the trade of those who are such. "Master" need not be inserted; every one will be so considered who is not entered as journeyman or apprentice.

Time may be saved by writing the following words shortly: thus, "M." for Manufacturer, "sen." for Maker, as Shoem. for Shoemaker , "Cl." for Clerk , "Ag. lab." for Agricultural labourer , which may include all farming servants and labourers in husbandry. Use no other marks or abbreviations but those herein allowed.

Rank, or any such term as "Esq." or "Gentleman" , must not be entered in this column.

Where Born.—Whether in the same County." —Write opposite to each name (except those of Irish, Scotch, or Foreigners,) "Y." or "N." for Yes or No , as the case may be.

Whether in Scotland, Ireland, or Foreign Parts —Write in this column, "S." for those who were born in Scotland ; "I." for those born in Ireland ; and "F." for Foreigners . This latter mark is to be used only for those who are subjects of some Foreign State, and not for British subjects who happen to have been born abroad.

Enter the Totals at the bottom of each page as in the Example, and enter and add up all the Totals in the Summary in the last page. This may be done at home, and must be written with ink .

Form of declaration made by the Persons engaged in taking the Census

2

Specimen of Householder's Schedule

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