England and Wales
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The total number of persons returned as living in England and "Wales at midnight on April 4th, 1881, was 25,968,286. This was an increase of 3,256,020, or of 14.34 per cent., upon the numbers living at the previous census of April 3rd, 1871, and was almost exactly equivalent to the addition of another London with all its inhabitants to the population. The rate of increase was higher than in any decennium since 1831-41, when it was 14.52. In the two succeeding decades (1841-51 and 1851-61) the rate fell, first to 12.65 and then to 11.93; but in 1861-71 the rate again rose to 13.19, to be, as already noted, still further advanced to 14.34 in the ten years just completed. The rate of increase in the aggregate population of England and Wales is almost entirely determined by two factors, namely, the birth-rate and the death-rate; for, in comparison with these, emigration and immigration have but an insignificant effect. The rapid growth of the past decennium was due to the fact that the birth-rate was unusually high, while the death-rate was still more unusually low. That is to say, the additions were somewhat above the average, while the losses were far below it. The higher birth-rate in 1871-81, as compared with the preceding decade, implies the addition of 26,774 extra members to the community, while the lower death-rate implies the survival of 299,385 persons who with the previous rate of mortality would have died. The difference between the total number of births and the total number of deaths in the ten years, or "the natural increment of the people," amounted to 3,425,982, or to an increase of 15.08 per cent, upon the population at the beginning of the period; and as the actual increase, as determined by enumeration, was 14.34 per cent., the combined effects of all other movements of the population, including emigration and immigration, resulted in a loss of no more than 0.74 per cent, in the whole period. How closely the growth of the population is determined by the "natural increment," and in what small degree comparatively it is affected by other causes, is seen in the following table, which gives the population and the rate of increase for three successive decennial periods, as they would have been, if determined simply by the natural increment, and as they were found actually to be on enumeration:— The slight difference apparent at each period was due to emigration, or rather to the difference between the number of emigrants and the number of immigrants, using these terms in a somewhat wide sense to embrace all additions and all losses other than by births and deaths.1
Neither the actual number of emigrants nor the actual number of immigrants can be told with more than vaguely approximative accuracy. The difference between the two, however, as deduced in the above table, amounted in the past decade to 169,962, the balance, as in each of the two preceding decennia, being on the side of the emigrants. In the course of the last half century the population of England and Wales has increased 86.9 per cent. Supposing a similar rate of increase to be maintained, the population just enumerated would be doubled in the year 1936. Such a supposition is, however, purely hypothetical, and we have scarcely more reason to assume that the rate of the last 50 years will be maintained for 55 years to come, than that a similar rate prevailed in former periods; and how far that was from being the case is shown by the fact that on such an hypothesis a single pair of persons living in the year A.D. 571 would have produced the whole of the present population of England and Wales. Of the 25,968,286 persons enumerated 12,624,754 were males, and 13,343,532 were females. This gives an excess of females over males of 718,778; an excess which would, however, be considerably lessened, were the army, and navy, and merchant service, abroad not excluded from the reckoning. To each 100 males enumerated there were 105.7 females. This is a slightly higher proportion of females than existed at the previous census. In fact the proportion of females to males has been steadily increasing at each census since 1851, having been successively 104.2, 105.3, 105.4, and 105.7. The rate of increase in the last ten years was 14.16 per cent, for males, and 14.50 for females. But the " natural increment " of the males, that is, the number of male births minus
the number of male deaths, was 1,704,144, or 15.4 per cent, of the male population in 1871, while the natural increment of the females was 1,721,838, or only 14.8 per cent, of the female population. From this it follows that the 169,962 persons who constituted the balance of emigrants over immigrants consisted of 138,324 males, and 31,638 females, and that the increase in the proportion of females in the population was entirely due to an excess of male emigrants. The number of families (single lodgers to whom schedules were supplied counting as separate families) was 5,643,353, which was an increase of 594,337 upon the number in 1871. The number of inhabited houses, that is, of houses in which any person slept on the night of April 3rd, was 4,833,844, showing an increase of 574,727 in the decennium. There were also 380,684 unoccupied houses and 46,759 in course of construction. The average number of occupants to each inhabited house was 5.37, against an average of 5.33 at the preceding enumeration. The inhabited houses, therefore, did not increase in equal proportion with the population. But this is probably to be explained by the fact that the houses in towns are, as a rule, more capacious than the houses in rural districts, and that the urban population, as will be shown later on, increased in a much higher ratio than the rural population. The increase of the population was by no means equably spread over the whole of the country. In 253 of the 630 districts, and in 986 of the 2,175 sub-districts into which the country is divided for registration purposes, there was an actual falling off in the number of inhabitants. Even when larger aggregates, such as counties, are taken, there are some in which the population declined, while in the remainder the rates of increase were excessively unequal. In the following list those counties in which the population rose are arranged in the order of their rates of increase:— COUNTIES in which the POPULATION INCREASED in the past DECADE.
In each of the 14 remaining counties the population declined. They are arranged in the following list in the order of their rates of decrease. COUNTIES in which the POPULATION DECREASED in the past DECADE.
The inhabitants of the country may be divided, for practical purposes into an urban and a rural population. Such a division can, however, only be roughly approximative; in the first place, because the terms urban and rural themselves have no very precise meaning, and, secondly, because many places which must indisputably be reckoned as urban have no distinct boundaries. The method of division usually adopted is to select those districts and sub-districts in which are situated the chief towns, and to consider the inhabitants of these as representing the urban population, while the inhabitants of all the other districts and sub-districts are considered to be of rural character. The urban population, as thus determined, consists of the inhabitants of the chief towns and their immediate neighbourhood, while the rural population includes the inhabitants of the smaller towns as well as of the strictly country parishes.2
Adopting this method of dividing the population, we have the following results:— The urban population, therefore, using the term in the sense of the inhabitants of the chief towns only or their immediate neighbourhood, stood to the remaining or rural population in the proportion of 147 to 100; the proportion in 1871 having been 132 to 100. This change in the proportions was not due to any decrease of growth. in the rural population, which fully maintained the rate of increase reached in the previous decade, but to a considerable rise in the rate, of growth of the urban population, this rate having mounted from 18.09 per cent, in the previous ten years to 19.63 in the decade just concluded. The rural population, however, as determined by this method, includes the inhabitants of a very large number of places, which, though not of sufficient magnitude to rank as "chief towns," are yet of such a size that their inhabitants can scarcely be considered as living under rural conditions. It would be highly desirable to ascertain, at any rate approximately, what was the number of the urban population, if the name be extended so as to include this class of persons. The recent division of the country into sanitary areas, some of which are styled Urban and the rest Rural sanitary districts, furnishes the best available basis for such a calculation. At the time of the late census there were 967 urban sanitary districts, besides the 39 districts within the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Board of Works. The aggregate population of these 1,006 districts was 17,648,354, while the population of the remaining or rural sanitary districts amounted to only 8,319,932. The proportion, therefore, of persons living in places, which, for one reason or another, were considered to be of sufficient importance to exercise urban powers, to persons living elsewhere was 212 to 100, or somewhat more than two to one. Among these urban sanitary districts, however, there were many of such small dimensions, that they have scarcely a right to be reckoned as towns, and these should be excluded from the list. The line of exclusion can only be an arbitrary one. But perhaps as good a limit as can be taken for our present purpose is one that shuts out all districts with populations under 3,000. This would leave 770 urban sanitary districts (or 771, reckoning London, as one), each with a population of more than 3,000 persons. Assuming these 771 districts to represent the urban element and the remainder to represent the rural element in the population, the following would be an approximate account of the distribution of the people of England and Wales:— *
This includes the entire District of the Metropolitan Board of Works, which is here reckoned as a single urban sanitary district. The urban sanitary districts are of such recent creation, and were often constructed with so little reference to previously existing boundaries, that it is impossible in many cases to ascertain what was the precise population at the date of previous censuses, and thus to calculate the comparative growths of the urban and rural elements in the country. If, however, we assume that the rate of growth has been the same for the total aggregates as for those parts for which the necessary data are procurable, the following figures will represent the respective growths of the present3
urban and rural population:— The figures in this table show the increasing predominance of the urban as compared with the rural element. In 1861 there were 165 dwellers in towns to 100 dwellers in rural districts; but in 1871 the number had risen to 184, and in 1881 had reached 199. There are 198 Parliamentary boroughs in England and Wales, neither their number nor their boundaries having been changed in the past ten years. The facts for each of These are given separately in Table VII. It may be interesting, however, to show here in one view the growth of these boroughs as an aggregate during the past 30 years:— *
Between 1861 and 1871 there were considerable changes of electoral areas which affected the figures for that period. The population of the 20 great English towns, of which weekly statistics are published by the General Register Office, amounted to 7,578,815, being an increase of 16.9 per cent upon the numbers enumerated in 1871. The rate of increase varied very widely in the different towns, but in one only was there no increase at all. This exception was Manchester, where the population was found to have slightly fallen. With this, however, must be taken into consideration the fact that the closely adjoining town of Salford showed an increase of no less than 41.2 per cent. Taking the two continuous towns together, there was an increase of 8.8 per cent. THE 20 TOWNS, in the ORDER of their RATES of INCREASE in the past DECENNIUM. *
The municipal boundaries of Brighton, Nottingham, and Bradford were extended during the decade 1871-81, but all the rates of increase given in the above table relate to the populations of the extended areas. The increase of the 19 provincial towns in the above list was 16.5 per cent, during the last decade, while that of London was 17.2 per cent. In the previous decennium (1861-71) the respective rates had been 16.1 for London, and 17.2 for the provincial towns. Thus London has increased in a somewhat higher ratio, and the 19 provincial towns in a somewhat lower ratio, than was the case in the preceding decennium. The population of London was 3,814,571, and by itself somewhat exceeded the aggregate population of the 19 large provincial towns, which amounted to 3,764,244. No fewer than 560,311 persons were added to the inhabitants of the metropolis in the course of the decade, a number exceeding the entire population of the largest of the provincial towns. The population of London has almost exactly doubled itself in the course of 41 years, whereas the population of the rest of England and "Wales has taken 57 years to multiply in an equal degree. The metropolis has thus been gaining in its proportions as compared with the country at large; and, whereas at the beginning of the century out of ten inhabitants of England and Wales one lived in London, the proportion has now risen to one out of seven. 4
The increase of population in the past, as also in the preceding, decade was entirely peripheral. In the centre of London is a compact area, consisting of ten Registration districts, in which, owing to the substitution of business premises for dwelling-houses, the population has for a long period been undergoing diminution. The inhabitants of this Central Area decreased by 7.8 per cent, in the course of the past ten years, having also diminished by 5.8 per cent, in the preceding decade. *
The number of "inhabited houses" in this Central Area has diminished by 6,388 in the last 10 years, while the number of "uninhabited houses," that is, of houses not occupied at night, has increased by 3,045. In other words, 6,388 houses previously used as dwellings have been replaced by 3,045 houses, not used for any but business purposes. Round this Central Area, and constituting the rest of Inner London, is a circle of districts, all of which have undergone more or less rapid increase, the growth, speaking generally, being greater the further the district is from the centre. The population in this circle increased 27.6 per cent, in the past ten years, and 28.4 per cent, in the preceding decade. *
Woolwich District forms an exception to the otherwise general rule, that those districts which increased in the past decade also increased in the preceding decade. Nor does this represent the entire growth of the metropolis. For outside this circle of districts is still further an outer ring, not included within the limits of Inner London, but only separated from it by an arbitrary line, in which the growth has been. even more rapid; its population having increased no less than 50.4 per cent, in the past decennium and 50.8 in the preceding one. That is to say, it has doubled itself one and a quarter times in the course of twenty years. The growth of Greater London, that is of Inner London together with this outer ring, amounted to 22.6 per cent, in the past decade, and to 47.8 per cent, in the past. twenty years. The following table will serve to give a summary view of the changes of population described above as having occurred in the several constituent parts of Greater London:— 1
"Emigrant" as used above includes: (1) Emigrants proper; (2) Persons gone abroad as travellers &c.; (3) Persons who removed from England to other parts of the United Kingdom; (4) Any persons who died in the decade, but whose deaths were not registered at the date of the census; (5) Any excess of English or Welsh persons in army, navy, or merchant service, abroad, over similar persons at previous census. "Immigrant" of course is used to include the opposites of these groups. The return of Emigrants at page 106 includes most of Group 1, and also many of Group 2; but of the other groups no numerical account whatsoever can as yet be given. 2
These are the urban and rural populations of the Registrar-General's Quarterly Returns. 3
It must be remembered that many of the districts, which are at present urban, would not have been so reckoned in 1871, and still less in 1861, for many places are doubtless included, which at those dates had less than 3,000 inhabitants. It may be assumed, therefore, that the urban population for 1861 and 1871, as given in the table, is overstated. 4
More precisely, the proportions were 1:9.3 in 1801, and 1:6.8 in 1881.Total population of England and Wales on April 4, 1881.
Causes of the high rate of increase.
Mean Annual
Birth-Rate.Mean Annual
Death-Rate.1841-51
32.61
22.33
1851-61
34.15
22.25
1861-71
35.24
22.50
1871-81
35.35
21.27
The natural increment.
Census
Years.POPULATION.
Difference of
"Natural
Increment"
Population
from "Enumerated"
Population.Increase per cent. in previous
Decade.Difference of
Natural
Increment Rate
from
Enumeration
Rate.Census
Years.As determined
by "Natural
Increment" only.As Actually
enumerated.As determined
by "Natural Increment"
only.As Actually
enumerated.1861
20,188,335
20,066,224
122,111
12.61
11.93
0.68
1861
1871
22,791,234
22,712,266
78,968
13.58
13.19
0.39
1871
1881
26,138,248
25,968,286
169,962
15.08
14.34
0.74
1881
Period in which the population doubles itself.
Proportion of males and females.
—
Males.
Females.
Persons enumerated in 1871
11,058,934
11,653,332
Births minus deaths in decade (April 187 1. April 1881)
1,704,144
1,721,838
Population in 1881 by "natural increment" only
12,763,078
13,375,170
Population enumerated in 1881
12,624,754
13,343,532
Difference, or excess of emigrants over immigrants
138,324
31,638
Number of families and of houses.
—
Inhabited houses.
Houses building.
Families and single
lodgers supplied
with Schedules.1871, April 3rd
4,259,117
37,803
5,049,016
1381, April 4th
4,833,844
46,759
5,643,353.
Increase in the 10 years
574,727
8,956
594,337
Surrey
31.5
per cent.
Worcestershire
12.2
per cent.
Glamorganshire
28.6
"
Northamptonshire
11.7
"
Durham
26.6
"
Berkshire
11.2
"
Essex
23.5
"
Hampshire
9.0
"
Nottinghamshire
22.6
"
Monmouthshire
8.1
"
Lancashire
22.5
"
Carmarthenshire
7.9
"
Derbyshire
21.5
"
Lincolnshire
7.6
"
Leicestershire
19.2
"
Gloucestershire
7.1
"
Yorkshire
18.5
"
Hertfordshire
5.6
"
Merionethshire
17.6
"
Flintshire
5.3
"
Sussex
17.5
"
Denbighshire
3.6
"
Warwickshire
16.2
"
Suffolk
2.3
"
Kent
15.2
"
Bedfordshire
2.2
"
Middlesex
14.9
"
Norfolk
1.4
"
Cheshire
14.6
"
Somersetshire
1.2
"
Staffordshire
14.3
"
Oxfordshire
0.9
"
Cumberland
13.8
"
Wiltshire
0.7
"
Northumberland
12.3
"
Devonshire
0.5
"
Carnarvonshire
12.3
"
Buckinghamshire
0.2
"
Cornwall
9.1
per cent.
Montgomeryshire
2.7
per cent.
Radnorshire
7.4
"
Dorsetshire
2.4
"
Huntingdonshire
6.4
"
Westmorland
1.3
"
Cardiganshire
4.4
"
Cambridgeshire
0.8
"
Brecknockshire
3.6
"
Pembrokeshire
0.2
"
Herefordshire
3.5
"
Anglesea
0.1
"
Rutlandshire
2.9
"
Shropshire
0.05
"
Urban and rural population.
—
Area in Acres.
Years.
Population
EnumeratedIncrease in
preceding
Decennium.Increase per
cent in
preceding
Decennium.England and Wales
37,319,221
{
1851
17,927,609
—
—
1861
20,066,224
2,138,615
11.93
1871
22,712,266
2,646,042
13.19
1881
25,968,286
3,256,020
14.34
Town Population
, i.e.
, inhabitants of the districts and sub-districts which include the chief towns.
3,184,419
{
1851
9,155,964
—
—
1861
10,933,234
1,777,270
19.41
1871
12,910,647
1,977,413
18.09
1881
15,444,808
2,534,161
19.63
County Population
, i.e.
, inhabitants of the remainder of England and Wales which comprises the smaller towns and the country parishes.
34,134,802
{
1851
8,771,645
—
—
1861
9,132,990
361,345
4.12
1871
9,801,619
668,629
7.32
1881
10,523,478
721,859
7.36
URBAN SANITARY DISTRICTS,
with Populations of—Number of
Districts.Aggregate Population,
1881.Percentage of Population of
England and Wales, 1881.100,000 and upwards
20*
7,696,132
29.7
50,000 to 100,000
28
1,850,088
7.1
20,000 to 50,000
96
2,883,702
11.1
10,000 to 20,000
160
2,214,366
8.5
3,000 to 10,000
467
2,640,738
10.2
Total Urban
Population
771
17,285,026
66.6
Total Rural
Population
—
8,683,260
33.4
Population of ENGLAND and WALES
—
25,968,286
100
—
Population.
Percentage of Population of
England and Wales.1861.
1871.
1881.
1861.
1871.
1881.
URBAN POPULATION
12,501,461
14,713,316
17,285,026
62.3
64.8
66.6
RURAL POPULATION
7,564,763
7,998,950
8,683,260
37.7
35.2
33.4
Population of ENGLAND and WALES
20,066,224
22,712,266
25,968,286
100
100
100
Parliamentary boroughs.
POPULATION AS ENUMERATED.
Year of Enumeration.
In Parliamentary
Boroughs.Outside Parlia-
mentary Boroughs.Total.
1851
7,438,679
10,488,930
17,927,609
1861
8,638,569
11,427,655
20,066,224
1871
10,649,997
12,062,269
22,712,266
1881
12,269,793
13,698,493
25,968,286
INCREASE in THREE successive DECADES.
1851-61
1,199,890
938,725
2,138,615
1861-71
2,011,428*
634,614*
2,646,042
1871-81
1,619,796
1,636,224
3,256,020
INCREASE per Cent. in THREE successive DECADES.
1851-61
16.1
8.9
11.9
1861-71
23.3*
5.6*
13.2
1871-81
15.2
13.6
14.3
The 20 great English towns.
TOWN.
Increase per cent.
1871-81.Increase per cent.
1861-71.Increase per cent.
1861-81.Salford
41.2
21.8
72
Oldham
34.8
14.2
53.9
Nottingham
34.2
13.9
52.9
Leicester
28.5
39.9
79.8
Hull
26.5
24.8
57.9
Bradford*
24.4
37.3
70.8
Leeds
19.3
25.1
49.2
Sheffield
18.5
29.6
53.6
Sunderland
18.3
20.5
42.6
London
17.2
16.1
36
Birmingham
16.6
16.1
35.4
Brighton*
16.3
17.5
36.6
Bristol
13.1
18.5
34
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
13.1
17.7
33.1
Portsmouth
12.7
19.8
35
Liverpool
12
11.1
24.4
Wolverhampton
10.9
12.2
24.4
Norwich
9.3
7.3
17.3
Plymouth
9.2
9.8
20
Manchester
-2.8
+3.7
+0.8
London.
Year of Enumeration.
Population in England and Wales and in London
at the Nine Enumerations.England and Wales.
London.
Persons in London to
100 in England and Wales.1801
8,892,536
958,863
10.78
1811
10,164,256
1,138,815
11.2
1821
12,000,236
1,378,947
11.49
1831
13,896,797
1,654,994
11.91
1841
15,914,148
1,948,417
12.24
1851
17,927,609
2,362,236
13.18
1861
20,066,224
2,803,989
13.97
1871
22,712,266
3,254,260
14.33
1881
25,968,286
3,814,571
14.69
Districts in Central Area.*
Decrease per cent.
Districts in Central Area.*
Decrease per cent.
1861-71.
1871-81.
1861-81.
1861-71.
1871-81.
1861-81.
St. George Hanover Square
0
4.1
4.1
Holborn
2.5
7.2
9.5
Westminster
3
9.2
11.9
London City
33
32.5
54.8
Marylebone
1.5
2.7
4.1
Shoreditch
1.7
0.5
2.2
St. Giles
1
15.5
16.3
Whitechapel
3
6.8
9.6
Strand
14.3
18.9
30.5
St. George-in-the-East
1.7
2.2
3.8
Districts in Rest of Inner
London.Increase per Cent.
Districts in Rest of Inner
London.Increase per Cent.
1861-71.
1871-81.
1861-81.
1861-71.
1871-81.
1861-81.
Kensington
48.8
24.4
85.1
Poplar
46.9
34.5
97.6
Fulham
64.9
73.8
186.6
St. Saviour, Southwark
0.7
11.5
12.2
Chelsea
12.1
23.9
38.9
St. Olave, Southwark
20.1
10
32.1
Hampstead
69
40.8
137.8
Lambeth
28.6
21.7
56.5
Pancras
11.4
6.7
18.8
Wandsworth
77.6
68.2
198.8
Islington
37.6
32.2
81.9
Camberwell
55.7
67.6
161
Hackney
50
49.2
123.8
Greenwich
17
30.5
52.7
Bethnal Green
14.3
5.7
20.8
Lewisham
61.2
42.2
129.3
Stepney
2
1.4
3.4
Woolwich*
-2.8
10.1
7
Mile End Old Town
27.5
13.3
44.5
—
—
—
—
—
Population in
Rates of Increase or Decrease per cent.
1861.
1871.
1881.
1861-71.
1871-81.
1861-81.
Central Area
1,010,962
852,529
877,782
-5.8
-7.8
-13.2
Rest of Inner Ring
1,793,027
2,301,731
2,936,789
28.4
27.6
63.8
Inner Ring or London Proper
2,803,989
3,254,260
3,814,571
16.1
17.2
36
418,731
631,381
949,741
50.8
50.4
126.8
Greater London
3,222,720
3,885,641
4,764,312
20.6
22.6
47.8