Population and Rates of Increase

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II.—POPULATION AND RATES OF INCREASE.

1. England and Wales.

Total population of England and Wales

The total number of persons returned as living in England and Wales at 12 p.m. on April 5th, 1891, was 29,002,525.

This shows an increase of 3,028,086, or of 11.7 per cent., upon the number returned at the previous enumeration of April 1881.

Not only was this increase absolutely less than that of the preceding decennium, 1871-81, but the rate of increase was lower than in any previous decennial period in the century, that is, in any decennium since the first enumeration in this country, as the following table shows:—

Date of
Enumeration.
Number of
Inhabited
Houses.
POPULATION. Increase of
Population
since last
Census.
Decennial
Rate of
Increase
per Cent.
Persons. Males. Females.
1801, March 10th 1,575,923 8,892,536 4,254,735 4,637,801
1811, May 27th 1,797,504 10,164,256 4,873,605 5,290,651 1,271,720 14.00
1821, May 28th 2,088,156 12,000,236 5,850,319 6,149,917 1,835,980 18.06
1831, May 29th 2,481,544 13,896,797 6,771,196 7,125,601 1,896,561 15.80
1841, June 7th 2,943,945 15,914,148 7,777,586 8,136,562 2,017,351 14.48
1851, March 31st 3,278,039 17,927,609 8,781,225 9,146,384 2,013,461 12.89
1861, April 8th 3,739,505 20,066,224 9,776,259 10,289,965 2,138,615 11.90
1871, April 3rd 4,259,117 22,712,266 11,058,934 11,653,332 2,646,042 13.21
1881, April 4th 4,831,519 25,974,439 12,639,902 13,334,537 3,262,173 14.36
1891, April 6th 5,451,497 29,002,525 14,052,901 14,949,624 3,028,086 11.65
These rates have been corrected for the varying length of the intercensal periods.

Difference between estimated and enumerated population

Had the rate of increase in 1881-91 remained as it was in 1871-81, the addition to the population would have amounted to 3,729,929, whereas it was in reality only 3,028,086; and, as official estimates of the population in the years following an enumeration are based on the hypothesis that the preceding intercensal rate of growth has been maintained, the estimated population in April 1891 was 701,843 in excess of the actual population. Such differences between estimates of this kind and reality are unavoidable when the interval between two consecutive enumerations is so long as a decennium.

The factors that determine the growth of the population

The growth of a population is determined by two factors, firstly, the balance between births and deaths, and, secondly, the balance between emigration and immigration. Of these two, the former is in this country always a cause of increase, for the births invariably outnumber the deaths; while the latter is always a cause of decrease, for the emigrants are invariably more numerous than the immigrants, Such at any rate has been the case since 1851.

The recent decline in the rate of growth might, therefore, be due to either of two causes, namely, a falling-off in. the excess of births over deaths, that is, in the "natural increment," or to an increase in the excess of emigrants1 over immigrants. As a matter of fact, it was due to both these causes, acting in combination.

Decline of natural increase and increased loss by emigration

For had the excess of births over deaths, or natural increase, been in the same proportion to the population as it had been in the preceding decennium, the addition to the population from this cause would have amounted to 3,919,543, whereas it was in fact only 3,629,474, so that there was a falling-off of 290,069 under this heading. Again, had the loss by excess of emigrants borne the same proportion to the population as in. 1871-81, the decrease under this heading would have been only 189,614, whereas the figures show (see table on the next page) that it must have amounted to no less than 601,388.

These two deficiencies, namely, the 290,069 from diminished natural increase and the 411,774 from increased excess of emigrants, together make up the 701,843, by which the enumerated population fell short of the number estimated on the hypothesis of a maintenance of the preceding intercensal growth.

The decline in the natural increase was not due to increased mortality, for the mean annual death-rate in 1881-91 was lower than in any earlier decennium on record, but to a decline in the birth-rate, which was unprecedentedly low:—

Intercensal Periods. Increase per Cent.
by Births.
Decrease per Cent.
by Deaths.
Gain per Cent. by excess
of Births over Deaths,
or Natural Increase.
1841-51 34.64 23.73 10.91
1851-61 36.19 23.58 12.61
1861-71 37.56 23.98 13.58
1871-81 37.89 22.8 15.09
1881-91 34.24 20.27 13.97

It is only, however, as compared with 1871-81 that the natural increase showed any decline; as compared with any earlier decennium it was still in excess.

As regards the increased loss from excess of emigrants over immigrants, there are no means of ascertaining with accuracy in what degree it was due to increased emigration and in what, if any, to diminished immigration. This much however, is certain, that emigration was excessively active during the decennium, for while the number of persons of English or Welsh origin who left the United Kingdom for places outside Europe in the interval between the enumerations of 1871 and 1881 was, so far as could be ascertained by the Board of Trade, 996,038, the number in the next intercensal period rose to 1,572,717. The loss to the population by the excess of emigration amounted, as already stated, to 601,388, and, as the following table shows, was very considerably greater than the aggregate losses from the same cause in the three previous decennia.

Census Years. POPULATION. Difference—
being loss by
excess of
Emigration over
Immigration.
Increase* per Cent in previous
Deccenium.
Difference—
being loss by
excess of
Emigration over
Immigaration.
As determined by
Natural Increment
only.
As actually
enumerated.
As determined by
Natural Increment
only.
As determined
by actual
Enumeration.
1861 20,188,335 20,066,224 122,111 12.61 11.98 0.68
1871 22,791,234 22,712,266 78,968 13.58 13.19 0.39
1881 26,138,746 25,974,439 164,307 15.09 14.36 0.73
1891 29,603,913 29,002,525 601,388 13.97 11.66 2.31
* The rates of increase in this table refer to the intervals between the several censuses without correction for the very slight inequalities of the periods.

Population in each intercensal year of the last decennium

It is desirable, for many purposes, to know what was the probable population of the country in each of the intercensal years, as well as in the census years themselves.

If it be assumed that the rate of growth was uniform throughout the whole of the last decennium, and that this rate of growth continued to the middle of 1891, the population of England and Wales in the middle of each year was as follows:—

1881 26,046,142
1882 26,334,942
1883 26,626,949
1884 26.922,192
1885 27,220,706
1886 27,522,532
1887 27,827,706
1888 28,136,258
1889 28,448,239
1890 28,763,673
1891 29,082,585

It will be seen on looking at the last Table that the rate of growth of the population of England and Wales has been far from regular; the decennial increase having varied in the last four decennia from 11.66 to 14.36 per cent.; and, consequently, great uncertainty must attach to all forecasts of the probable future growth. It is, however, necessary for many practical uses to make some forecast or other; and the method of estimation which is least likely to lead to serious error is to assume that the average annual rate of growth in the last intercensal period will be maintained without change in each of the succeeding 10 years. Experience has shown that, as a general rule, this assumption has been justified by the results; for neither in 1851, 1861, 1871, nor in 1881 did the difference between the population as anticipated by this method and the population as actually enumerated amount to so much as 2 per cent.; the greatest difference having been in 1851, when the population was overestimated by 1.60 per cent. In 1891, however, the difference, as already stated, was more serious, amounting to 2.36 per cent., which on a population of such large size means a difference of more than 700,000. This doubtlessly is a large number; and yet, for most, if not for all, purposes for which an estimate of the population is required, it is in reality of little or no importance. It is not great enough, for instance, to affect the estimated birth-rate or death-rate or marriage-rate in any but the most insignificant degree. Thus, the average annual death-rate in the 10 years 1881-90, when calculated from the population as forecast, was 18.93 per 1,000; while, when calculated on the population as deduced from actual enumeration, it was 1915 per 1,000; the total difference being only 0.22 per 1,000, and of no practical account whatsoever. Even in the year 1890, when the error would of course be at its maximum, the difference was only 0.43 per 1,000.

Estimated population of future intercensal years

On the assumption, then, that the annual rate of growth in the past intercensal period will be maintained without change to the year 1901 A.D., the population of England and Wales in the middle of each successive year will be as follows:—

1891 29,082,585 1897 31,071,848
1892 29,405,054 1898 31,416,372
1893 29,731,100 1899 31,764,714
1894 30,060,763 1900 32,116,930
1895 30,394,078 1901 32,473,015
1896 30,731,092    

2. Registration Counties, Districts, and Sub-Districts.

The increase of population was by no means equally spread over the whole of the country. In 270 of the 633 districts, and in 997 of the 2,110 sub-districts, into which England and Wales are divided for registration purposes, there was an actual falling off in the number of inhabitants between 1881 and 1891, Moreover, in 201 of these 270 districts, and in 721 of these 997 sub-districts, which lost population, the decline in the interval between 1881 and 1891 followed a similar decline in the next preceding decenniuin.

Even when larger areas are taken, such as registration counties, there are some in which the population declined, while in the remainder the rates of increase were very unequal.

In the following table those registration counties, in which the population increased in 1881-91, are arranged in the order of their rates of increase in that period.

REGISTRATION COUNTIES in which the POPULATION INCREASED in the last DECENNIUM.

Registration County County. Increase per cent.,
1881-91.
Increase or Decrease
per cent., 1871-81.
Middlesex 50.93 43.78
Essex 37.82 25.26
Glamorganshire 33.70 27.74
Surrey 24.09 26.22
Monmouthshire 17.47 6.66
Durham 17.01 26.28
Northumberland 16.67 12.27
Leicestershire 16.08 18.64
Hampshire 15.83 9.64
Nottinghamshire 15.20 23.40
Cheshire 13.76 15.30
Kent 13.68 12.62
Lancashire 13.54 22.34
Sussex 12.20 17.41
Yorks—West Riding 12.12 18.55
Derbyshire 11.87 18.96
Northamptonshire 11.26 11.60
Yorks—East Riding 10.41 18.20
London 10.38 17.28
Worcestershire 10.31 13.96
Warwickshire 9.75 15.87
Staffordshire 9.60 14.76
Berkshire 8.37 10.16
Bedfordshire 7.59 1.78
Carmarthenshire 6.62 9.74
Cumberland 6.34 13.80
Hertfordshire 6.29 3.99
Yorks—North Riding 5.96 17.74
Buckinghamshire 5.57 .056
Devonshire 4.60 0.38
Gloucestershire 4.52 7.42
Somersetshire 3.84 1.68
Oxfordshire 3.49 1.21
Denbighshire 3.29 7.39
Norfolk 3.03 1.64
Westmorland 2.96 -1.25
Suffolk 2.77 1.82
Wiltshire 2.68 1.02
Cambridgeshire 2.60 -0.48
Dorsetshire 2.17 -2.13
Carnarvonshire 1.44 11.14
Lincolnshire 0.91 8.17
Note. —The minus sign in the last column signifies a decrease.

In each of the remaining 13 registration counties the population declined. They are arranged in the following list in the order of their rates of decrease:—

REGISTRATION COUNTIES in which the POPULATION DECLINED in the last DECENNIUM.

Registration County. Decrease per cent.,
1881-91.
Decrease or Increase
per cent., 1871-81.
Montgomeryshire 11.68 2.81
Cardiganshire 9.20 2.79
Radnorshire 7.58 6.23
Flintshire 7.01 +5.19
Huntingdonshire 5.51 8.29
Merionethshire 5.15 +11.01
Shropshire 4.18 0.48
Herefordshire 3.93 3.15
Rutlandshire 3.84 1.62
Anglesey 2.57 +0.04
Cornwall 2.43 8.92
Brecknockshire 2.34 4.90
Pembrokeshire 2.00 0.23
Note. —The plus sign in the last column signifies an increase.

On comparing the figures in columns 2 and 3 in these two tables, which give the rates of increase or decrease in 1881-91 and in 1871-81 respectively, it will be seen that those counties which showed increase in the past decennimn had, as a rule, also shown increase in the preceding decennium, and that there was the same coincidence as to the direction of change among those in which the population had decreased. There are, however, some trifling exceptions to this general rule; for Westmorland, Cambridgeshire, and Dorsetshire, in each of which the population had declined in 1871-81, had taken a fresh start in 1881-91. and showed some increase. On the other hand, Flintshire, Merionethshire, and Anglesey, in each of which the population had increased in 1871-81, were in the next decennium among those which showed decline.

As a rule, also, when the rate of growth had been large in 1871-81, it was again large in 1881-91. The same causes which in the earlier decennium led to the accumulation of population in some parts of the kingdom, and to its decline in others, continued in operation in the succeeding 10 years period.

Lastly, speaking generally, the counties in which the rates of increase were highest are counties which are largely affected by the neighbourhood of London, namely, Middlesex. Essex, Surrey, and in a slighter degree Kent and Sussex, in each of which the growth was greater than in London itself; or counties in which coal-mining is the prevailing industry, as Glamorganshire, Monmouthshire, Durham, Northumberland, and to a smaller extent Derbyshire and Staffordshire. Then follow the manufacturing counties, as Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Lancashire, and the West Riding of Yorkshire, while last of all come the rural counties, with rates of increase below the general average, or with actual decrease. The 13 registration counties in which the population declined are all agricultural counties, and among them are eight Welsh counties, namely, Montgomeryshire, Cardiganshire, Radnorshire, Flintshire, Merionethshire, Anglesey, Brecknockshire, and Pembrokeshire; the five English counties in the list being Shropshire and Herefordshire, on the Welsh border, with Huntingdonshire, Rutlandshire, and Cornwall, of which:tne two first mentioned are the least populous counties in England.

3. Ancient Counties, Administrative Counties and County Boroughs.

Ancient counties

The ancient geographical counties have practically ceased to be of more than sentimental interest, excepting that it is on them, as has already been noted, that the subdivision of the kingdom into parliamentary areas was based in 1885, and that it is to them that persons refer in ordinary parlance when stating their county of birth or residence. Therefore, although we have given a Table (Table IV., Vol. I.) showing the population in each of these ancient counties, we shall limit our remarks to those areas which for most purposes have taken their place, namely, the administrative counties and the county boroughs, created by the Local Government Act of 1888 (cf. P. 4).

Administrative counties

The relation of the ancient county to the administrative county of the same name and the county boroughs is shown in Tables 3 and 4 of each set of county Tables in Vol. I.

The relation of the registration county to the administrative county of name is shown in Table 13 of each divisional part in Vol. II.

The smallest, or rather the least populous, of the administrative counties of which there are altogether 632 , are the Isles of Scilly, Rutlandshire and Radnorshire, with populations respectively of 1,911, 20,659 and 21,791. There are 13 others in which the population in 1891 did not amount to 100,000, namely the Soke of Peterborough, Merionethshire, Anglesey, Brecknockshire, Huntingdonshire, Montgomeryshire, Cardiganshire, Isle of Ely, Westmorland, the parts of Holland in Lincolnshire, Flintshire, Isle of Wight, and Pembrokeshire; while the most populous are London With 4,232,118, Lancashire with 1,768,273, and the West Riding of Yorkshire with 1,351,570 inhabitants.

County boroughs

In a schedule to the Local Government Act of 1888, a list of large boroughs is given, to which were granted by that Act the position of administrative counties and the title of county boroughs; these boroughs being stated to-be either counties of themselves or to have had, on June 1st, 1888, populations of not less than 50000 'To the 61 thus scheduled, two more, namely, Oxford and Grimsby, were added by Order before the date of the census, while a third, namely Newport in Monmouthshire, was similarly added shortly afterwards. With this last, which is included in the Summary Table (Vol. I, p. vii.), the total number of county boroughs is 64 Among them are 10 in which the population enumerated in April 1891 did not reach 50,000, namely Canterbury, Chester, Exeter, Gloucester, Lincoln, "Worcester, Dudley Oxford, Bootle and Great Yarmouth; while on the other hand there are in the list of urban sanitary districts (Vol. II., p. vi.) one municipal borough, Warrington, and six non-municipal urban districts, namely Ystradyfodwg, Tottenham, Aston Manor, Leyton, Willesden, and Merthyr-Tydfil, none of which, though in each the population enumerated in 1891 exceeded 50,000, rank among the county boroughs.

4. Urban and Rural Districts.

Sanitary districts

In the Table (Vol. II., p. vi.), which gives the names and populations of the urban sanitary districts, are included some few that were not urban at the actual date of the census, but became so shortly afterwards. It was thought better to include these, rather than to leave their urban character unrecognised for another ten years. The total number of urban districts, as thus given in the Tables is 1,011, and their aggregate population, together with that of the 41 sanitary areas in the county of London, which are not technically styled urban sanitary districts, consisted at the date of the census of 20,895,504 persons, while the population of the remaining or rural sanitary districts was only 8,107,021; so that the proportion of persons living in places that for one reason or another were considered of sufficient importance to exercise urban powers, to persons living elsewhere, was 258 to 100, the proportion in 1881 having been only 21.2 to 100.

Urban districts

The changes of area since 1881 in some urban districts and the creation of new ones make such a comparison, however, somewhat fallacious; and perhaps a fairer idea of the comparative growth of the urban and rural populations may be obtained by giving the population for 1881 and 1891 of the areas which were urban at the latter date; for such areas were probably almost as urban in. character, though not technically so designated, in 1881 as in 1891. The population, then, of the urban sanitary districts in 1891, was, as already stated, 20,895,504; while in 1881 the population of these same areas, not at that time in all cases urban, was 18,101,737; so that, measured in this way, the urban population had grown in the course of the decennium by 15.4 per cent., while the increase in the remaining or rural population had been only 3.0 per cent.

Line of demarcation between urban and rural population

Even this comparison, however, is hardly a fair one. A very considerable number of districts that are, technically speaking, urban, are in reality of thoroughly rural character, using the term rural in the somewhat vague sense in which it would be used in popular language. Even among the towns there are many that are practically rural. The small towns that form the centres of agricultural districts, and which are the places to which the farmers resort for the sale of their products, and the transaction of their business, and which mainly depend for their existence upon the rural population that surrounds them, are practically as much a part of the rural organisation as are the villages, and in any fair reckoning should be included, spite of their technical name, in the rural whole. A line, which shall separate these rural towns from those which are really urban, can only be drawn in a somewhat arbitrary manner, but we shall probably not be very far from the truth if we so draw it as to include in the rural division all urban districts with populations not exceeding 10,000, leaving all more populous towns to constitute the urban division. As, however, it may perhaps be thought that such a line is drawn too high, and that towns of from five to ten thousand population ought not to be considered of rural character, we shall also, though such is not our own opinion, draw a second line, and by this include under the rural category only those urban districts that have less than 5,000 inhabitants.

The urban sanitary districts in 1891—including, as said before, some few created after the census date, but during the preparation of the volumes—may be grouped by the numbers of their populations, as in the following table, which also gives the populations of the same areas in 1881:—

Urban Sanitary Districts with
Populations of.
Number of
Districts.
Aggregate Population,
1891.
Aggregate Population
of the same areas in
1881.
Mean Percentage of
Increase of Population,
1881-91.
600,000 and over * 1 4,232,118 3,834,194 10.4
250,000 and under 600,000 5 2,193,209 2,045,409 7.2
100,000 and under 250,000 18 2,828,647 2,359,557 19.9
 50,000 and under 100,000 38 2,618,710 2,132,653 22.8
 20,000 and under 50,000 123 3,691,150 3,024,234 22.1
 10,000 and under 20,000 175 2,362,376 1,986,356 18.9
  5,000 and under 10,000 262 1,837,054 1,646,990 11.5
  3,000 and under 5,000 195 767,480 720,129 6.6
Under 3,000 194 364,760 352,215 3.6
         
Total 1,011 20,895,504 18,101,737 15.4
* Administrative County of London here reckoned as one district.

No diminuition in the aggregate rural population

The urban population, excluding all urban sanitary districts with less than 10,000 inhabitants, as shown in the foregoing table, consisted of 17,926,210 persons in 1891, while the population of the same area was only 15,382,403 in 1881; so that the urban population, as thus measured, had grown by 16.54 per cent. in the course of the decennium; while the population of the remaining areas, namely, all the rural sanitary districts and the urban districts with less than 10,000 inhabitants, had increased from 10,592,036 to 11,076,315, or by 4.57 per cent.

If, on the other hand, the line separating urban and rural be drawn at 5,000 instead of 10,000, the urban population will be found to have increased from 17,029,393 in 1881 to 19.763,264 in 1891, or by 16.05 per cent., while the remaining population will have grown from 8,945,046 to 9,239,261, or by 3.29 per cent.

If, lastly, the line of demarcation be made to coincide with the technical division into urban and rural sanitary districts, the population of the former areas will have grown, as already shown, from 18,101,737 to 20,895,504, or by 15.4 per cent; while the population of the remainder will have grown by only 2.98 per cent., namely, from 7,872,702 in 1881 to 8,107,021 in 1891.

Local rural depopulation

Thus, whatever be the line of separation selected, the rural population is found to have increased, though in much smaller proportion than has the urban. There has been no depopulation, therefore, of the aggregate rural area, though there has been loss of population in many parts of it.

In order to ascertain in what parts this depopulation has occurred, let us now treat each separate registration county in the same way as we have treated England and Wales in the aggregate Let us, that is to say, add to the population of the rural sanitary districts of 1891 the inhabitants of urban districts of less than 10,000 population, and taking the total thus obtained to represent the rural population, see how it changed in the interval between 1881 and 1891; and let us also make a similar calculation with the line drawn at urban districts of less than 5,000 inhabitants. The actual figures thus obtained are given in Table 10 in Appendix A.; here it will be enough to give the rates of increase or of decrease. These are following table:—

REGISTRATION COUNTY. Increase or Decrease per
cent. of Population of Areas
that in 1891 were Rural
Sanitary Districts.
REGISTRATION COUNTY. Increase or Decrease per
cent. of Population of Areas
that in 1891 were Rural
Sanitary Districts.
By them-
selves.
With Urban San-
itary Districts
containing
in 1891
By them-
selves.
With Urban San-
itary Districts
containing
in 1891
Under
5,000
Inhab-
itants.
Under
10,000
Inhab-
itants.
Under
5,000
Inhab-
itants.
Under
10,000
Inhab-
itants.
Column 1. 2. 3. Column 1. 2. 3.
London Leicestershire 4.79 4.94 6.19
Surrey 19.80 20.04 19.63 Rutlandshire -3.84 -3.84 -3.84
Kent 8.67 8.49 9.19 Lincolnshire -5.34 -4.38 -4.29
Sussex 5.57 5.89 6.88 Nottinghamshire 7.70 9.76 14.06
Hampshire 8.20 8.85 9.11 Derbyshire 8.28 8.46 10.68
Berkshire 3.92 4.02 3.74 Cheshire 11.46 10.59 11.83
Middlesex 15.24 15.24 17.33 Lancashire 11.47 11.65 13.07
Hertfordshire 4.01 3.97 3.40 Yorkshire, West Riding 7.78 5.59 7.81
Buckinghamshire 3.56 2.48 4.03 Yorkshire, East Riding -3.40 -3.03 -2.41
Oxfordshire -1.24 0.80 0.80 Yorkshire, North Riding -7.65 -5.85 -4.62
Northamptonshire 0.94 1.88 4.73 Durham 9.89 9.45 10.31
Huntingdonshire -8.14 -5.51 -5.51 Northumberland 2.81 4.74 6.34
Bedfordshire -3.59 -3.37 -2.55 Cumberland 1.81 2.85 2.87
Cambridgeshire -0.17 -0.30 2.15 Westmorland 0.28 2.31 2.31
Essex 5.49 6.29 6.72 Monmouthshire 3.57 4.31 9.94
Suffolk -2.39 -1.17 -0.56 Glamorganshire 16.26 15.87 15.22
Norfolk -1.13 -0.65 -0.68 Carmarthenshire 3.94 4.12 4.12
Wiltshire -2.70 -2.61 -2.14 Pembrokeshire -4.27 -3.61 -3.59
Dorsetshire 0.71 0.94 0.47 Cardiganshire -10.12 -9.53 -9.20
Devonshire -1.47 -0.87 2.45 Brecknockshire -5.26 -5.13 -3.44
Cornwall -4.45 -4.29 -3.76 Radnorshire -10.12 -7.58 -7.58
Somersetshire -0.50 0.40 1.85 Montgomeryshire -12.77 12.49 -11.68
Gloucestershire -1.21 -1.41 0.25 Flintshire -10.30 -8.26 -7.01
Herefordshire -5.48 -5.12 -5.18 Denbighshire 2.38 2.02 2.10
Shropshire -3.94 -4.08 -4.39 Merionethshire -8.53 -5.88 -5.81
Staffordshire 5.50 5.52 5.70 Carnarvonshire -5.10 -0.02 1.44
Worcestershire 6.79 6.56 5.98 Anglesey -4.14 -3.66 -2.57
Warwickshire 6.37 6.36 6.47

If we pick out from column 3 in this table those counties that show a decrease in their rural population—meaning by that the inhabitants of the rural sanitary districts and of the urban districts with less than 10,000 population—and arrange the counties so picked out in the order of their decreases, we have the following list, comprising twelve English and eight Welsh Counties.

  Per cent.     Per cent.
Montgomeryshire 11.68   Rutlandshire 3.84
Cardiganshire 9.20   Cornwall 3.76
Radnorshire 7.58   Pembrokeshire 3.59
Flintshire 7.01   Brecknockshire 3.44
Merionethshire 5.81   Anglesey 2.57
Huntingdonshire 5.51   Bedfordshire 2.55
Herefordshire 5.18   East Riding of Yorkshire 2.41
North Riding of Yorkshire 4.62   Wiltshire 2.14
Shropshire 4.39   Norfolk 0.68
Lincolnshire 4.29   Suffolk 0.56

It thus appears that it is in the Welsh Counties that the rural depopulation has assumed the most notable proportions, and with the Welsh Counties may be classed, the border counties of Herefordshire and Shropshire, Of the remaining English Counties that have lost rural inhabitants, some, as Huntingdonshire and Rutlandshire, are numerically insignificant, while in others, as Norfolk and Suffolk, the loss has been too slight to have serious effect; and the only English counties of any numerical importance in which the rural population has declined in the decennium in more than a trifling degree are Lincoln shire, the North and East Ridings of Yorkshire, Cornwall, Bedfordshire, and Wiltshire.

There is another method by which we may examine the changes in the rural population, and which it may be well to use, as it will allow us to carry our view back through the whole series of previous censuses up to 1801.

Among the 633 registration districts are 137 that in 1891 were entirely rural, that is to say which contained no part, however small, of any urban sanitary area, The population of these 137 purely rural areas in 1891 was 1,718,137, and at each earlier census had been as shown in the following figures:—

Year of Census. Population. Increase per cent
in preceding
Decennium.
Year of Census. Population. Increase per cent
in preceding
Decennium.
1801 1,181,198 1851 1,693,999 2.08
1811 1,272,509 7.73 1861 1,712,119 1.07
1821 1,456,771 14.48 1871 1,724,486 0.72
1831 1,558,969 7.02 1881 1,717,336 -0.41*
1841 1,659,558 6.45 1891 1,718,137 0.05
* Decreased.

It will be noted that the population of these 137 purely rural districts has gone on increasing, census after census, through the whole 90 years, with the single exception that in 1881 there was a minute falling off; and, secondly, that the rate of increase has regularly declined, with the exception of 1821, when the population made an exceptionally large bound, in consequence, it may be surmised, of the cessation of the long war.

5. London and the Great Towns.

Towns with 50,000 inhabitants

Among the towns or urban sanitary districts are 62, each of which had more than 50,000 inhabitants in 1891. The following is a list of these, arranged in the order of their populations. In some cases the boundaries of the towns had been extended since 1881; and when such had been the case the population given in the table as that of 1881 is the population at that date of the area as afterwards extended.

London and Urban Sanitary Districts. Enumerated Population. Increase
per Cent.
1891. 1891. 1881-91.
Total of 62 Towns 10,371,813 11,872,684 14.5
       
London (Administrative County) 3,834,194 4,232,118 10.4

URBAN SANITARY DISTRICTS.
     
Liverpool 552,508 517,980 -6.2
Manchester* 462,303 505,368 9.3
Birmingham* 436,971 478,113 9.4
Leeds 309,119 367,505 18.9
Sheffield 284,508 324,243 14.0
Bristol 206,874 221,578 7.1
Bradford* 194,495 216,361 11.2
Nottingham 186,575 213,877 14.6
West Ham 128,953 204,903 58.9
Kingston-upon-Hull* 165,690 200,044 20.7
Salford* 176,235 198,139 12.4
Newcastle-upon-Tyne 145,359 186,300 28.2
Leicester* 136,593 174,624 27.8
Portsmouth 127,989 159,251 24.4
Oldham 111,343 131,463 18.1
Sunderland 116,526 131,015 12.4
Cardiff 82,761 128,915 55.8
Blackburn 104,014 120,064 15.4
Brighton 107,546 115,873 7.7
Bolton 105,414 115,002 9.1
Preston* 96,537 107,573 11.4
Croydon* 78,811 102,695 30.3
Norwich 87,842 100,970 14.9
Birkenhead* 84,006 99,857 18.9
Huddersfield* 86,502 95,420 10.3
Derby* 81,168 94,146 16.0
Swansea* 76,430 90,349 18.2
Halifax* 81,117 89,832 10.7
Ystradyfodwg 55,6322 88,351 58.8
Burnley* 63,339 87,016 37.4
Gateshead 65,803 85,692 30.2
Plymouth 73,858 84,248 14.1
Wolverhampton 75,766 82,662 9.1
South Shields 56,875 78,391 37.8
Middlesbrough 55,934 75,532 35.0
Walsall* 59,402 71,789 20.9
Rochdale 68,866 71,401 3.7
Tottenham* 36,574 71,343 95.1
St.Helens 57,403 71,288 24.2
Stockport 59,553 70,263 18.0
Aston Manor 53,842 68,639 27.5
York* 61,789 67,004 8.4
Southampton 60,051 65,325 8.8
Leyton* 27,026 63,056 133.3
Willesden 27,613 61,265 121.9
Northampton 51,881 61,012 17.6
Reading* 49,117 60,054 22.3
West Bromwich 56,295 59,474 5.6
Merthyr Tydfil 48,861 58,080 18.9
Ipswich 50,546 57,360 13.5
Bury* 54,717 57,212 4.6
Wigan 48,194 55,013 14.1
Hanley 48,361 54,946 13.6
Devonport 48,939 54,803 12.0
Newport (Mon.)* 38,469 54,707 42.2
Warrington* 42,552 52,743 23.9
Coventry* 44,831 52,724 17.6
Hastings 42,258 52,223 23.6
Grimsby* 40,010 51,934 29.8
Bath 51,814 51,844 0.1
Barrow-in-Furness* 47,259 51,712 9.4
* The limits of these towns (except those of Tottenham, Croydon, and Leyton, which were reduced) was extended between 1881 and 1891, or during the preparation of the Census volumes; but the population given for 1881 invariably is that of the altered area.

The aggregate population of these 62 towns increased by 14.5 per cent. in the course of the deoennium; but it will be seen in the last column of the table, that the rate of growth differed enormously in the different towns; and that while there are some, in the immediate neighbourhood of London, namely, Tottenham, Leyton, and Willesden, which doubled, or more than doubled, their population during the decennium, and others, such as West Ham, Cardiff, and Ystradyfodwg, where the increase exceeded 50 per cent., there are also a considerable number in which the increase was smaller than in the country at large, that is to say, was less than 11.7 per cent. In all, however, with one exception, there was some amount of increase. This exception was Liverpool, in which great city, the next after London in population, there was a decline of 6.2 per cent.

It must not be supposed that a falling off in the rate of increase, or even an actual decline, of the population of a great town necessarily implies any corresponding decline in its prosperity. It may, indeed, imply the very opposite. For it may be that the limited area within the official boundary of the town has become too valuable for ordinary residence, and that warehouses and business premises have taken the place of dwelling-houses; the displaced inhabitants, as well as the new-comers, settling themselves outside the recognised town limits. This process, as is well known, has long been going on in the central districts of London, where the resident population has diminished with each successive enumeration; and doubtlessly it has been going on, if in a less conspicuous degree, in other cities. Thus the real growth of a great town can oftentimes only be properly estimated if the official or administrative boundaries are ignored, and the ring of suburbs be included in its area. The case of Manchester illustrates this. In 1881 it was found that of the 20 great towns, which at that date had a place in the Registrar-General's Weekly Returns, Manchester was the only one in which the population had declined in the preceding decennium, the falling-off being 2.8 per cent. But in the interval between the enumerations of 1881 and 1891, the municipal area o Manchester was extended so as to include its former suburbs, and the population of this wider area, so far from having fallen off in 1871-81 by 2.8 per cent., had in reality increased, so nearly as can be estimated, by some 8 or 9 per cent., and in 1881-91 had further increased by another 9.3 per cent. A similar change would occur in the figures for Liverpool, if the excessively restricted municipal area of that city were extended so as to include the suburbs; for, while the municipal population was declining, the population in these extra-municipal suburbs increased by somewhat more than 61 per cent., and the population of the whole area, municipal and suburban together, was 5.83 per cent. greater in 1891 than it had been in 1881.3

London

The population of London, meaning thereby the London of the Registrar-General, which, with an insignificant exception,4 coincides with the Administrative County of London, was 4,211,743, showing an increase of 396,199, or 104 per cent. upon the population of 1881. Thus the population of London increased in a somewhat lower ratio than the population of England and Wales as a whole; and the fact is notable, inasmuch as it is the first time that such a phenomenon has presented itself, London having been found in every preceding intercensal period, to have gained more or less in its proportions as compared with the country at large.

Year of
Enumeration.
Population in England and Wales and in London at the Ten
Enumerations.
England and Wales. London. Persons in London
to 100 in
England and Wales.
1801 8,892,536 958,788 10.78
1811 10,164,256 1,138,746 11.20
1821 12,000,236 1,378,853 11.49
1831 13,896,797 1,654,870 11.91
1841 15,914,148 1,948,293 12.24
1851 17,927,609 2,362,105 13.18
1861 20,066,224 2,803,847 13.97
1871 22,712,266 3,253,785 14.33
1881 25,974,439 3,815,544 14.69
1891 29,002,525 4,211,743 14.52

Suggestion has been made that the explanation of this apparent relaxation in the growth of London, as compared with the country at large, may lie in the fact that the Census of 1891 was taken only a week after Easter Day, when a number of persons who had gone away for an Easter holiday had not come back from the country. It is possible that this may have had some slight effect upon the enumerated population in those quarters that are mainly inhabited by the class that is wealthy enough to take prolonged holidays; but it is difficult to suppose that it could have had any sensible effect upon the aggregate population of the whole town; especially when it is recollected that, if many Londoners migrate at Easter into the country, many countrymen on the other hand pay a visit at that season to London.

It was pointed out in the last Census Report that in the centre of London was a group of districts in which the population had long been undergoing decrease, owing to the substitution of business premises for dwelling-houses; and that round this central area, and constituting the rest of Registration or Inner London, was a circle or ring of districts, all of which had undergone more or less rapid increase, the growth, speaking generally, being greater the farther the district was from the centre, and the rate of growth, it may be added, showing in most cases a tendency to become smaller and smaller; and, lastly, that outside this Registration London was a wide belt of suburban districts, conveniently designated the Outer Ring, in which the population was increasing with extraordinary rapidity.

All these phenomena were repeated in the enumeration of 1891. All the central districts that showed decreases in 1861-71 and in 1871-81 showed, with one exception, further decrease in 1881-91. The exception was Whitechapel, which, after declining 3.0 per cent. in 1861-71 and 6.8 per cent. in 1871-81, showed an increase of 4.3 per cent in the next decennium undoubtedly owing to an additional influx of foreigners. On the other hand, two of the districts in the Inner Ring which had previously shown increases, namely St. Pancras and Stepney, were added in 1891 to the list of districts in which the population had declined.

The following table shows the changes in the last three decennia in those central districts in which the population fell off between 1881 and 1891:—

Districts in Central Area. Decrease per Cent. Districts in Central Area. Decrease per Cent.
1861-71. 1871-81. 1881-91. 1861-71. 1871-81. 1881-91.
St. George Hanover Square 0.0 4.2 10.4 Holborn 2.5 7.1 6.6
Westminster 3.0 9.1 19.8 London City 33.0 32.3 25.5
Marylebone 1.5 2.7 8.1 Shoreditch 1.7 0.5 2.0
St. Pancras* +11.4 +6.7 0.8 St. George-in-the-East 1.7 1.9 2.9
St. Giles 1.0 15.6 12.1 Stepney* +2.0 +1.5 2.0
Strand 14.3 18.8 18.1
* In these districts the population decreased in the last decenuium only.

The total decrease in this group of central districts in 1881-91 was 7.2 per cent.; having been 2.7 and 4.6 per cent. in the two next preceding decennia; the whole decrease in the 30 years amounting to 13.9 per cent. It will be noticed that the rate of decrease has become larger and larger with each successive decennium.

In all the remaining districts of Registration or Inner London, of which the following table gives particulars, there was, as already said, an increase, this increase being, as a rule, only slight in such districts as border on the central area, but very large in such as are more remote. Taking the whole group together, the increase in the ten years 1881-91 amounted to 17.5 per cent., having been 29.8 and 29.3 per cent. in the two next preceding decennia; so that here also there has been, though not actual loss of population, successive diminutions in the rate of growth.

Other Districts of Inner London. Increase per Cent. Other Districts of Inner London. Increase per Cent.
1861-71. 1871-81. 1881-91. 1861-71. 1871-81. 1881-91.
Paddington 27.7 10.6 10.1 Poplar 46.9 34.5 6.5
Kensington 71.6 35.6 1.9 St. Saviour, Southwark 0.7 11.5 3.9
Fulham 64.9 74.0 64.5 St. Olave, Southwark 20.1 10.0 1.5
Chelsea 11.5 24.6 9.2 Lambeth 28.6 21.8 8.5
Hampstead 69.0 40.8 50.5 Wandsworth 77.6 68.3 46.1
Islington 37.6 32.3 12.8 Camberwell 55.7 67.6 26.1
Hackney 50.0 49.2 23.1 Greenwich 17.0 30.4 26.0
Bethnal Green 14.0 5.7 1.7 Lewisham 61.2 42.2 30.0
Whitechapel* -3.0 -6.8 4.3 Woolwich -2.8 10.2 32.8
Mile End Old Town 27.5 13.3 1.9        
* In this district the population increased in the last decennium only.
In this district the population decreased in the decennium 1861-71.

The same tendency to diminution in the rate of growth is visible, though to a much smaller degree, in the population of the Outer Ring, that is to say, in the belt of suburban districts which lie outside the boundary of Registration London, but are included in the Metropolitan Police District. Here the increase in 1861-71 was 50.8 per cent.; in the next decennium, 1871-81, it declined slightly, falling to 50.5 per cent.; while in 1881-91 the fall became more distinct, and the rate was only 49.5 per cent. It would thus appear that even this wide belt of suburbs is beginning to show some signs of repletion; and possibly, were we to extend the inquiry to a still wider radius, we should find that there was a further ring of districts, outside the Metropolitan Police Area, in which the gradual filling up of the central areas was causing more and more active growth.

Population. Rates of Increase or Decrease
per cent.
1861. 1871. 1881. 1891. 1861-71. 1871-81. 1881-91.
Central Area* 1,187,687 1,155,462 1,101,994 1,022,951 -2.7 -4.6 -7.2
Rest of Inner London 1,616,160 2,098,323 2,713,550 3,188,792 +29.8 +29.3 +17.5
               
Inner or Registration London 2,803,847 3,253,785 3,815,544 4,211,743 +16.0 +17.3 +10.4
Outer Ring 418,873 631,856 951,117 1,422,063 +50.8 +50.5 +49.5
               
Greater London 3,222,720 3,885,641 4,766,661 5,633,806 +20.6 +22.7 +18.2
* That is, the group of districts in the first table on page 15.

6. Municipal Boroughs.

When the census was taken in 1881 there were 243 municipal boroughs in. England and. Wales. In the course of the next ten years 52 more were incorporated, raising the total number at the date of the census in 1891 to 295. During the preparation of the volume, up to the end of 1892, eight more were added, and these also have been included in the Summary Table5 of Municipalities (Vol. I., p. xix.), which has also recognised such extensions as were made up to that date in the boundaries of boroughs already in existence.

These municipal boroughs vary enormously in their populations. There is one, Hedon, with only 979 inhabitants, and there are 13 others with less than 2,000 persons, namely Appleby, Bishop's Castle, Cowbridge, Higham Ferrers, Lampeter, Llandovery, Llanfyllin, Lostwithiel, Montgomery, New Romney, Okehampton, Queenborough, and Woodstock; while at the other extreme are Manchester and Liverpool, each with a population of more than half-a-million.

7. Parliamentary Areas.

The number of members of the House of Commons for the 468 parliamentary areas in England and Wales, irrespective of the Universities, being 490, and the enumerated population being 29,002,525, an equal numerical distribution would give one member to 59,189 persons. The figures in the following summary show how far on either side the actual distribution departs from such equality. There are, it will be seen, 14 constituencies in which there is a member to less than 20,000 persons, namely, Boston (18,711), Bury St. Edmunds (16,630), Durham (15,287), Grantham (17,170), King's Lynn (18,360), City of London (37,705, 2 members), Montgomery District of Boroughs (17,801), Penryn and Ealmouth (17,454), Pontefract (16,407), Salisbury (37,362), Taunton (18,026), Whitehaven (19,236), Winchester (19,073), New Windsor (18,893), while at the other end of the scale are seven constituencies with 100,000 or more inhabitants per member. These seven are Cardiff District of Boroughs (132,229), Wandsworth (113,244), West Ham, South (112,780), the Romford Division of Essex (103,546), Croydon (102,695), Deptford (101,286), and the Walthamstow Division of Essex (101,236).

Population per Representative. Number of
Constituencies.
Number of
Representatives.
100,000 and upwards 7 7
 90,000 and under 100,000 17 19
 80,000 and under 90,000 26 26
 70,000 and under 80,000 62 66
 60,000 and under 70,000 107 108
 50,000 and under 60,000 124 128
 40,000 and under 50,000 75 79
 30,000 and under 40,000 19 23
 20,000 and under 30,000 17 19
 10,000 and under 20,000 14 15
     
  468 490

8. Civil Parishes.

By a civil parish is meant an area for which a separate poor-rate is or can be made and a separate overseer is or can be appointed.

Originally civil and ecclesiastical parishes were identical, but, in course of years, by successive divisions and amalgamations, sometimes limited to civil and at other times to ecclesiastical purposes, the two have ceased in ever-increasing proportion to be conterminous, A very large step in this direction was taken by the Divided Parishes Acts, and especially by that of 1882, by which every detached part of an extra-metropolitan parish which was entirely surrounded by another parish was for civil purposes transferred to this latter, while its ecclesiastical position remained unaltered.

The total number of civil parishes, which in 1881 had been 14,926, had, in consequence of amalgamation, fallen in 189] to 14,684, while the number of ecclesiastical parishes at that date was 13,780,6 and in only 5,642 instances did the civil and ecclesiastical boundaries coincide.

The civil parishes differ enormously from each other both in area and population. There are 11 altogether without inhabitants, and 2,004 more with less than 100 (see Appendix A., Table 32, p. 122); while, on the other hand, there are seven with populations over 200,000, and 24 others with populations between 100,000 and 200,000. The most populous parish of all is Islington, having 319,143 inhabitants in 1891.

The administrative county with by far the largest proportion of very small civil parishes is Northumberland, where exactly 50 per cent. of the whole have less than 100 inhabitants, while 16 per cent. more have less than 200, and a further 8 per cent. less than 300. After this comes the North Riding of Yorkshire, where slightly over 53 per cent. of the parishes have populations of less than 200. The particulars for each administrative county will be found in Table 32 appended to this Eeport. But, taking England and Wales in the aggregate, the parishes may be classified by their population in the following way:—

Number of Civil
Parishes.
Population in 1891. Percentage of all Civil
Parishes.
11 None 0.1
2,004 Under 100 13.6
2,412   100 and under 200 16.4
1,940   200 and under 300 13.2
1,448   300 and under 400 9.9
1,076   400 and under 500 7.3
2,432   500 and under 1,000 16.6
2,436  1,000 and under 5,000 16.6
421  5,000 and under 10,000 2.9
504 10,000 or more 3.4
     
14,684   100.00

It thus appears that of the 14,684 civil parishes, 6,367, or slightly over 43 per cent., have less than 300 inhabitants.

9. Ecclesiastical Provinces, Dioceses, and Parishes.

From an ecclesiastical point of view, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands are united to England and Wales; the Isle of Man constituting the diocese of Sodor and Man, and the Channel Islands being comprised in the diocese of Winchester, The whole consists of two provinces, namely, the province of Canterbury, with 24 dioceses and 19,373,428 inhabitants; and the province of York, with a population of 9,776,939 persons and 10 dioceses. The population of each of the 34 dioceses is given in Summary Table VII. of Vol. I. (p. xxiv), where it will be seen that the least populous are Sador and Man with 55,608, and Bangor with 215,956, inhabitants; while the most populous are London, with 3,245,533 inhabitants; and Manchester, with 2,644,424.

As has been already noted in a previous section of this report, the boundaries of the ecclesiastical parishes in a large proportion of cases do not tally with those of the civil parishes, and are, moreover, undergoing very frequent alteration. The local enumerators had, consequently, very imperfect knowledge of these boundaries, and in a large proportion of cases failed to set them out aright in their returns. We were compelled, therefore, to put ourselves into direct correspondence with every incumbent in the whole country, in order to obtain means of rectification. Even the incumbents, as we found, were in many cases not very certain as to the precise limits of their areas, and it often happened that neighbouring incumbents were at more or less variance with each other as to the line of separation between their respective parishes. We have, however, as a rule, succeeded, after much expenditure of labour, in arriving at some common understanding, though in some few cases we have found ourselves compelled to cut the knob in a somewhat arbitrary manner; and the results of our labours are given in the eighth of each set of County Tables in the first volume.

Excluding the diocese of Sodor and Man, and the Channel Islands, and confining ourselves to England and Wales, there were altogether 18,780 ecclesiastical parishes at the date of the enumeration. Of these 3.2 per cent. had less than 100 inhabitants; 35.0 per cent. had from 100 to 500; 20.9 per cent. from 500 to 1,000; 27.2 per cent. from 1,000 to 5,000; 10.1 per cent. from 5,000 to 10,000; while 3.6 per cent. had 10,000 or more inhabitants.

The proportions, however, differed much in different dioceses, as is shown in the following table, from which it appears that, as might be anticipated, the dioceses which contain many or large towns had, generally speaking, the largest proportion of very populous parishes, while the proportion of small parishes was highest in the rural dioceses. Thus, while in England and Wales as a whole, only 13.7 per cent. of the parishes had 5,000 or more inhabitants, the percentage rose in the diocese of Manchester to 47.1, in the diocese of Rochester to 51.3, in that of Liverpool to 55.7 and in that of London to 58.3. The constitution of each diocese is shown in Summary Table VIII. (Vol. I., p. xxv.)

Diocese. Number of
Ecclesiastical
Parishes.
Ecclesiastical Parishes having a Population
Under
100.
100— 500— 1,000— 5,000— 10,000 and
upwards.
Bangor 141 2 29 39 65 5 1
Bath and Wells 494 27 246 111 97 12 1
Canterbury 428 10 109 106 169 29 5
Carlisle 288 2 107 83 71 22 3
Chester 259 1 41 57 112 31 14
Chichester 367 10 117 88 131 19 2
Durham 240 24 19 125 56 16
Ely 560 17 268 145 116 12 2
Exeter 502 17 219 118 119 24 5
Gloucester and Bristol 491 22 206 88 132 37 6
Hereford 367 38 193 93 41 2
Lichfield 459 11 122 92 144 67 23
Lincoln 583 35 325 120 89 9 5
Liverpool 192 2 7 76 84 23
Llandaff 236 11 90 33 48 29 25
London 518 6 37 22 151 212 90
Manchester 507 1 22 40 205 179 60
Newcastle 163 31 41 58 21 12
Norwich 899 39 496 211 134 15 4
Oxford 651 31 309 156 138 14 3
Peterborough 577 39 279 121 104 25 9
Ripon 347 1 93 73 100 60 20
Rochester 335 1 26 27 109 122 50
St. Albans 599 13 210 168 163 27 18
St.Asaph 202 67 65 58 11 1
St. Davids 397 18 164 106 92 12 5
Salisbury 491 37 249 114 86 5
Southwell 470 14 154 101 143 48 10
Truro 233 5 61 58 101 7 1
Wakefield 165 3 7 99 46 10
Winchester 511 11 145 140 173 35 7
Worcester 489 17 168 88 136 53 27
York 619 10 218 142 158 54 37
               
Total 13,780 446 4,830 2,879 3,743 1,387 495
NOTE.—As the parishes in this table are exclusively those of England and Wales, the diocese of Sodor and Man is omitted, and the diocese of Winchester is exclusive of the parishes in the Channel Islands.

10. Density of Population.

The density of the population may be expressed equally well in several ways. We may either give the average number of persons to a square mile or other convenient unit of space, or the amount of space available on an average for each person, or, lastly we may state the distance which would separate each individual from his next neighbour it the whole population were spread as uniformly as possible over the surface of the country.

At the date of the census there were, on an average, 497 persons per square mile; each person, on an average-occupied 1.29 acres; and if the population had been uniformly distributed, the distance between any two neighbouring individuals would have been 85 yards.

The gradual increase of density of population in this country, at each successive census is shown in the following table:—

Date of Census. Persons per
Square Mile.
Acres per Persons. Proximity in
Yards.
1801 153 4.20 153
1811 174 3.67 143
1821 206 3.11 132
1831 238 2.69 123
1841 273 2.34 114
1851 307 2.08 108
1861 344 1.86 102
1871 390 1.64 96
1881 445 1.44 90
1891 497 1.29 85

The density of the population differs enormously in different parts of the country, the determining causes being the presence or absence of large towns or centres of industry, and the proportions in which the several areas are occupied by mountain, moor, or fen.

In England, the most sparsely inhabited registration county is Westmorland, with only 84 persons to the square mile, after which come in succession Rutlandshire, Herefordshire, Huntingdonshire, Shropshire, Cumberland, Lincolnshire, and the North Riding of Yorkshire, in which the inhabitants per square mile vary from 129 to 181. At the other end of the scale are London with 35,998 persons to the square mile, Middlesex with 2,061, and Lancashire with 1,938. In Wales there are five counties, viz., Radnorshire, Montgomeryshire, Brecknockshire, Merionethshire, and Cardiganshire, with less than 100 inhabitants per square mile; while the two most densely populated are Flintshire with 370, and Glamorganshire with 770.


1 "Emigrant" as used in this report includes:—(1) Emigrants proper, that is persons who have left the country to establish themselves outside Europe. (2.) Persons who have gone to foreign countries, in or out of Europe, as travellers &c. (3.) Persons who have migrated from England and Wales to other parts of the United Kingdom. (4.) Any persons who died in the decennium, but whose deaths were not registered at the date of the enumeration.

"Immigrant" of course is used to include the opposites of these groups.

2 We are informed by the Local Government Board that the Islands of Scilly are not, strictly speaking, an administrative county; and this ruling has been followed in the Cornwall tables in Vol. I. But by a provisional order of the Local Government Board, dated 19th May 1890, and afterwards confirmed by the Local Government Board's Provisional Orders Confirmation (No. 6) Act, 1890, the Islands have a separate Council, so that for all practical intents and purposes they constitute an administrative county, and are so considered in the paragraph above. Technically, however, there are only 62 administrative counties., not 63, as stated above.

3 In making the above calculation, the following areas have been taken as approximately representing the suburbs: the sub-districts of Crosby and Litherland, with the parishes of Bootle, Walton-on-the-Hill, and Wavertree, and the extra-municipal parts of West Derby and Toxteth Park.

4 The civil parish of Penge is included in the Administrative County of London but not in Registration London.

5 By an unfortunate clerical error, the City of London, with a population of 37,705 persons, has been omitted from the Summary Table.

6 This is in England and Wales, without the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands.

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