The Census returns for Long Whatton

1851 Census

The census was held on Sunday the 30th March 1851, Film - HO 107/2085
The census was conducted in two parts:-
Part 1:All that part of the Parish of Long Whatton which lies West of the Road from Hathern to Disewoth.
Part 2: All that part of the Parish of Long Whatton which lies to the East of the road leading from Hathern to Diseworth. Statistics
Part 1 Totals, Inhabited Houses 96, Uninhabited Houses 4, Total 100
Males 209, Females 222, Total 431
Enumerator - Joseph Peat, District No 10a
Part 2 Totals, Inhabited Houses 95, Uninhabited Houses 1, Total 96
Males 203, Females 204, Total 407
Enumerator - Henry Pratt, District No 10b
An Index has been provided for a quick check. Please note that the Enumerators numbers are duplicated as they refer to both Part 1 and Part 2
Parts 1 and 2 give; The Enumerator's number for each household, street, the surname and other names, relation, condition as to marriage, ages, occupations, birthplaces and disability

1851 Census, Introduction by Keith Murphy

National census returns enable us to take a slice through the history of our village and obtain an insight into the lives of people living and working here at that time. The first census to give any meaningful data was 1851. At this time the population of the village was 838 persons. There were 412 males and 426 females in 191 households. This gives an average household of 4.4 persons. The majority were born in Long Whatton, with those from outside the village mostly being born elsewhere in Leicestershire. The largest household was that of Edward Dawson at Whatton House. This consisted of 20 persons, 16 of whom were servants of one sort or another. The largest household consisting entirely of family members was that of James Barker, a frame work knitter. There were 12 persons, himself, his wife, five sons, four daughters and one granddaughter. In general, households consisted of 2 to 5 persons. Although large families were the norm at this time only 49 households contained more than 5 persons. The reasons for this are probably associated with the fact that family groups were constantly changing, expanding as more children were born, contracting as older children moved out to get work or married, or people died.
The main industry was hosiery, 279 people were employed in one form or another, but mainly frame work knitters. In comparison only 104 people were employed in agriculture, of which 17 were farmers. Several other trades were represented, among these were 5 butchers, 4 wheelwrights, 3 blacksmiths, 3 bakers and 3 cordwainers, a high quality shoe maker rather than a plain bootmaker. There were 4 public houses in the village in 1851, the Royal Oak, Falcon Inn and Boot Inn plus King William IV, which was located in the older part at what is now No. 1, The Green.
There were 139 children in the age range 0-5, a sixth of the total population, 63 boys and 76 girls, with 32 under one year old. At the other end of the scale the oldest occupant was Elizabeth Garner, who had been born in Nottinghamshire. Her age was recorded as 86. The oldest male was Joseph Peat, local born, who gave his age as 85. There were 66 people who survived beyond the age of 60, 34 were men and 32 women. Of these 17 were between 71 and 80 and a further 8 over 80.
The most common surname at this time was Barker, a large proportion coming from the aforementioned James Barker. Other well represented families included Draper, Peat, Cartlidge/Cartridge, Pepper, Groves, Fox and Lester, as well as the inevitable Smith. In all a total of 150 different surnames were recorded, 47 of these only once. Many of the latter were servants with a few lodgers and visitors. In general these people came from outside the village and were obviously single. William and Mary were the most common first names. There were 74 Williams and an astonishing 98 Marys, almost 25% of the female population. John, Thomas, Joseph and George were the next most common male names while Ann/Anne/Annie, Sarah, Elizabeth and Hannah were the next most common female names. There were one or two unusual names. One boy was called Mash while 4 females were called Zillah, a name that had a small measure of popularity throughout the country at this time. This is a Hebrew name from the Old Testament, Zillah was the second wife of Lamech, a descendant of Cain. Perhaps the most unusual was Karranappach. The census records this child as the daughter of William and Mary Cartlidge, while the All Saints Baptism Register records a Kerrnhappach, son of William and Mary Cartridge. Note the variation in surname spelling. Further research has shown a marriage of Kerenhappuck Cartlidge to Robert Smalley at Barrow on Soar in 1859. So the enumerator got it right. She died in 1907, two years before her husband. Another Old Testament name, Keren-Happuch was the third of Job’s daughters, who were supposedly the most beautiful of women. Given that you’d think the Incumbent at All Saints would have got the gender correct.
Naturally most people recorded were related in some way to the head of the household. Family units were much closer than today and this was reflected with the recording of 27 grandchildren, 4 fathers-in-law, 2 mothers-in-law and 4 mothers, along with a few other more distant relatives. There were also 61 servants, 29 lodgers and 6 visitors. There was a small number of unmarried people over 30, 15 men and 20 women. There were also 26 widowers and 22 widows, ages ranging from as low as 36 to Elizabeth Garner at 86. The village population had remained stable since 1841, when there were 842 persons in 175 households. However there followed a steady decline throughout the remainder of the 19th and into the 20th century.on

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