PH_Population

Introduction

Industry

Agriculture

Population

Appendices

Recommended Reading

POPULATION

Measurement and growth

It is not easy to calculate the size of the population of Britain at the time of the industrial revolution. Although the first Census was introduced in 1801, the early censuses were unreliable. Only after 1841 did the census become significantly more accurate. For population before 1801 historians must rely upon shakey estimates based upon tax figures such as the hearth tax or upon parish registers which were very incomplete, particularly as they dealt only with the Church of England population at a time when non-conformity was increasing significantly.

Although it is difficult precisely to date the upturn in growth which occurred in the later eighteenth century, it appears that between 1791 and 1831 the population of England and Wales grew at an unprecedented rate: from about 7.7 million to 13.2 million and it was to double again to around 25 million by the 1860s. The Scottish population grew much more slowly doubling from around 2 million to 4 million during the whole period from the 1780s to the 1860s. Growth in England in particular was accompanied by marked and unprecedented urbanisation. By 1840 England had a much higher urban share (48% living in towns over 10,000) than did most of the rest of Europe half a century later. London was by far the biggest city in Europe and expanded its population to well over a million by 1830. The British towns growing most rapidly were new industrial centres such as Bradford, Bolton, Leeds and Oldham and port cities such as Bristol, Glasgow, and Liverpool.

Positive and Preventive Checks on Population Growth
Adapted from: E.A. Wrigley and R.S. Schofield, The Population History of England 1541-1871: A Reconstruction.

Birth rates, marriage and illegitimacy

Population growth can result from higher fertility, lower mortality or from a combination of the two. Research suggests that rising birth rates were more than twice as important as improving life expectancy in accounting for growth in the eighteenth century. It also appears that changes in marriage practices (nuptiality) were the main force behind the growing birth rate. Couples were having more children because they were tending to marry some two or three years earlier (on average) than they had in earlier centuries. The average age of marriage for women fell from about 26 to 23 years and for men from 27 to 25. As most births occurred within marriage this was important in adding three more child-bearing years for each couple. In addition, fewer people were going through life without marrying and this also contributed to rising birth rates. Finally, illegitimacy rose, accounting for about 2% of all births at the beginning of the 18th century and 6% at the end. There was a very significant increase in conceptions occurring outside marriage which resulted either in illegitimate births or in shot-gun weddings.