Long Whatton in the 1851 Census
The following is a snapshot, made by Keith Murphy
of the Long Whatton History Society:
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 descendent 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.