For Hargrave in Suffolk UK
The 1841 census was the first to be held differently from previous years (1801/11/21/31) and is known as the “first modern census”. It was administered centrally as opposed to on a local level.
The information is scant compared to later decades and only included every member in a household, approximate ages and occupations. The relationship to the head of each household was not recorded. The enumerators were instructed to record the ages of those under 15 accurately but those over 15 were to be rounded down to the nearest five years – eg, someone aged 63 would be shown as 60 – although some disobeyed and recorded ages correctly. The reason for rounding down was to group the population in age bands (eg 20-25; 40-45 etc)
Places of birth were only recorded as whether in the county or not and sometimes simply as ‘NK’ or not known. Only three in Hargrave were born outside the county and no-one was noted in the column entitled “Whether Born in Scotland, Ireland or Foreign Parts”.
The Hargrave census follows this pattern and shows a population largely involved in agriculture. 16 different occupations are recorded with the numbers working on farms – labourers or farmers –
making up the vast proportion of workers. Others provide services connected to the land, eg blacksmith, gardener, wheelwright, plus others such as thatcher, dressmaker. In this year in Hargrave there was also, excitingly, a tea dealer.
The recording of addresses was variable and not terribly helpful at times. Most people in Hargrave are recorded as living in ‘street’, some at Knowles Green and some just as ‘Hargrave’. Later censuses, as you will see, are even more vague. This year the records were noted from Knowles Green and then north through the village, ending at Birds End.
The most common family name – Nunn. (Nickname for a pious and demure man, or an occupational name for someone who worked at a convent, from Middle English nunn ‘nun’ (Old English nunne, from Latin nonna, originally a respectful term of address for an elderly woman. The Latin word probably originated as a nursery term).
A decade after the first modern census, the population had barely changed – although it is worth bearing in mind that the census is a snap shot of who is in a particular house on the given night. If someone is recorded as ‘visitor’ I have not included their details but they are included in the population figure. Likewise, some household member may have been away at the time. Again, Nunn is the most common family name.
The number of houses has increased by 13 but two are still uninhabited; whether they are the same two as before is impossible to tell.
Again we have addresses recorded simply as ‘Street’ but some are recorded as ‘Roadside’, ‘near Frogs End’, ‘by the Mill’ and ‘near the church’. Not overly helpful but the lists are in some sort of
order geographically and start at Birds End, progressing south through the village, ending at Knowles Green. Handily, this time they have recorded some actual addresses and place names such as ‘Hall Farm, Wash’, ‘Stone Hall’, ‘Deeks Farm, Barrow Hill’.
By this time, the census includes places of birth which is a great improvement and can lead to much more interesting discoveries. For example, I notice that generally speaking, most of those born outside the parish tended to be the wife of the head of the household. Hargrave is the most common place of birth by a country mile but there are many other places mentioned, mostly local and nearby villages. Outside the county we have someone from Saffron Walden and, romantically, the “East Indies” although this lady is down in subsequent censuses as being born in slightly different locations around the Indian Ocean. There are two recorded as being born in the Bury St Edmunds Union Workhouse.
There are now 27 different occupations recorded with agricultural labourers being most numerous at 126 followed by farmers at 16. They also recorded scholars, there being 56 of these. Young children, sometimes below the age of 12-13, are occasionally recorded as farm labourers. There are also, of course, servants, carpenters, blacksmith, a milliner, thatchers etc. All the services and trades one would expect to find in a largely self-sufficient community and by now there is also a charity school mistress. As in the previous census in 1841, there is only one inn keeper, which was at the Bull.
Finally, 14 people are recorded as being on ‘parish relief’, but luckily for them one man is down as the Parish Relieving Officer.
Including Great Southwell Park, Little Southwell Park, Hargrave Hall, the Rectory, Hargrave Hill, Field Cottages at the Parish Boundary on the north, Seeleys Farm, Birds End, The Wash, Bull Inn, Stone Hall, all the houses and cottages in the Street, Grove Farm, Cocks Head Inn and Knowles Green.
By 1861 the population is largely unchanged. There are now 36 different occupations with agricultural labourers again the most numerous but now at only 96, fewer than the previous decades. Other new jobs that have popped up include “Governess”, “Poulterer”, “Groom” and “factory hand”. Alas, the tea dealer has not reappeared. “Working at a machine factory” is a new departure.
No more are listed as being on parish relief but there are two “Almswomen”.
London is now in the “Where Born” category, recorded either just as “London”, or “London, St George” and “London, Hackney Road”.
Nunn is still the most common surname.
Including Southwood Park, Hargrave Hall, the Rectory, Hargrave Hill, Field Cottages at the Parish Boundary on the north, Seeleys Farm, Birds End, The Wash, Stone Hall, Bull Inn, all the cottages in the Street, and Cottages on the road leading to Chevington, Grove Farm, Cocks Head Inn and all the houses and cottages on Knowles Green.
Census forms were sent to all households some days before census night and householders had to complete the forms themselves. All responses reflect the individual's status as of 7th April 1861 for all individuals who had spent the night in the house, not those who lived there. Anyone away from their house would be recorded wherever they were. As in previous years, health was included with records showing whether an individual was blind, deaf, dumb, imbecile, idiot or lunatic.
There are now 40 different occupations listed. Agricultural Labourers number 111 and there are 76 scholars. They have separated out quite a lot of the “servant” roles – charwoman, cook, domestic, housemaid, nursemaid (at the rectory) and servant/waiter are just a few of them. The biggest obvious change in employment is shown by 34 women working as either “Sewing Machine Worker” or “Machine Needlewoman” at a local clothes factory, possibly in Chevington. This is quite a departure as being recorded mostly as “Farmer’s Wife” or “Ag Lab’s Wife” or whatever the husband’s occupations were. No-one is shown as being on Parish Relief but there are six “paupers”.
The lady born somewhere in the East Indies is here down as being born in “Madilas, India” and further afield places are appearing – eg Plaistow, Essex and Upperthong in Yorkshire.
Nunn is still the most common surname with 10 individual families listed. There are seven families listed with the surname Plummer (eithger derived from Old English one who lives near a plum tree; one who deals in feathers. Or an occupational name for a worker in lead, especially a maker of lead pipes and conduits, from Anglo-Norman French) and somewhere called “Mossey Hill” has appeared. It comes between Hargrave Hill, Frogs End and Hargrave North Hill.
Including Southwood Park, Hargrave Hall, the Rectory, Hargrave Hill, Field Cottages at the Parish Boundary on the north, Seeleys Farm, Birds End, The Wash, Stone Hall, Bull Inn, all the cottages in the Street, and Cottages on the road leading to Chevington, Grove Farm, Cocks Head Inn and all the houses and cottages on Knowles Green.
A little bit more detail on location is available now although no specific houses are identified. Most people are listed as living on “The Green”. Mossy Hill is still there with a family called Wallis in residence.
The lady from the East Indies, Jane Pearson, is now down as having been born in “Isle of France, Indian Ocean” and her son, Alfred, is an “Imbecile”. Sadly this is the last time she appears so she either died, wasn’t at home or they ran out of exotic sounding places to record her birth. The vast majority were born in Hargrave, of course, but people are now here from far and wide. Again London is prominent but also people from Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Lincolnshire and Wiltshire.
One thing which stands out in this census is there appears to be quite a large number of older unmarried offspring living with their parents. I cannot think of any obvious reason why this should be.
Nunn and Plummer are now equal as the most common surname with six individual families each.
There are 34 different occupations noted with Agricultural Labourers the most at 96. There are 83 children down as Scholars which shows that more of them in the village were receiving some sort of education. A lot of “Tailoresses”, maybe those who worked at the clothes factory but this is not specifically recorded.
Including Southwood Park, Hargrave Hall, the Rectory, Hargrave Hill, Field Cottages at the Parish Boundary on the north, Seeleys Farm, Birds End, The Wash, Stone Hall, Bull Inn, all the cottages in the Street, and Cottages on the road leading to Chevington, Grove Farm, Cocks Head Inn and all the houses and cottages on Knowles Green.
By 1891 the population has started to decrease with over 100 fewer people listed on the census than in 1851 which is when it as at its highest. The most common surname of individual families is now with Cross (topographic name for someone who lived near a stone cross set up by the roadside or in a marketplace, from Old Norse kross).
The young schoolmaster, Arthur English, has come from Carlisle in what was then Cumberland. He lived in the schoolhouse with his wife, Sarah (born in Stradishall) and their two year old daughter, Ada. However, they shared this with an agricultural labourer, Albert Long, with his wife (also called Sarah) and their baby daughter, Mabel. Neither is recorded as being a lodger and both men are down as “Head” of their households.
There are 35 different occupations noted with, for the first time, one “Engine Driver, Threshing Machine” and one “Traction Engine Driver”. This is the first mechanisation of farm labour to appear. Also, in another new departure, Jacob Cook, aged 32, is the Prudential Assurance Agent (the Man From the Pru) who was living at Birds End with his family. Mr Cook was born in Little Gransden, Cambridgeshire and his wife, Mary, was born in Waresley, Huntingdonshire. Their young children (delightfully called Eva, Mabel, Albert and Percival) were born here and there – not in Hargrave – so presumably Mr Cook travelled around a bit with his job. There were 95 Agricultural Labourers and 54 Scholars.
There is a Vest Maker, a Hurdle Maker and the Plasterer is recorded as being blind – interesting.
On a sad note, this is the first time that two names appear which live on in Hargrave to this day. Horace Race and Oscar Plummer (5 and 1 respectively) are two names which appear on the First World War memorial as casualties from that conflict. It appears that Horace Race was an illegitimate child as he lived with his mother, Anna Race, and with his grandparents, George Race and his wife, in a property described as “Adjacent to Grove Farm”. He died in 1918, aged 33 in France and was the sole support of his mother at the time. Oscar Plummer was, at this time, the youngest of the seven children born to Nathan and Isabella Plummer of Birds End. He died aged 26 in 1916.
There are now 11 uninhabited houses, two of which are at Mossy Hill. This is quite a big jump from the usual two which reflects the lower population at this time.
The records for this year are a little bit different in that they do not give a geographical explanation of the parish. Locations other than the following are still vague with few house names or specific locations given. Those we can identify are: Hargrave Hall, Rectory, Willow Farm, Frogs End Farm, Mill House, Bull Inn, Stone Hall Farm, School House, Green Farm House, The Grove, Lodge Farm (Gt Knowles Green), Cocks Head Inn, Guiles Farm and Gt and Little Southwood Farms. However, the records start with Hargrave Hall and end with the Southwoods.
Guiles Farm is recorded as being in the ecclesiastical parish of Ousden St Peter (Part of) and the Southwoods are again recorded as Extra Parochial.
The population is down to 337 (although, a reminder that this is a snapshot of who was in the houses on this night – some may have been away and there was at least one visitor recorded).
Starting with Hargrave Hall, the head of the family Bell is now recorded as Margaret, widow of Sampson and she is described in the occcupations as a “Retired Farmeress”. She is 88 years old and unmarried daughter, Sophia, is still there at the age of 60.
46 distinct occupations are listed and agricultural labourers have declined to just 50 from the 95 recorded 10 years previously, although it is notable how many farm workers carry specific titles. For instance, there are several down as “horsekeeper on farm”, “horseman on farm” and a “yardman on farm” Added to the 50 above they would give us about 70+ actually working on the land. Maybe they just like to specify what they did more than before to big themselves up.
We still find several “tailoresses” but they all work from home; some distinguish themselves as “coat and trousers hand”, or “trousers hand” and “waistcoat hand”. There is a “tinker and scissor grinder” and a “platelayer on line” which I am assuming refers to the railways. It is interesting to see the development of different trades over the years.
The Rector, Peter Wilson, is from Ireland (even further than the incumbant in 1891 who had come from Carlisle). He is shown as being married but there is no Mrs Wilson mentioned, just a general domestic servant, Emily Cater, a Hargrave-born woman.
Most residents are Hargrave-born – 189 in total – but the geographical range continues to be spread far and wide. Mostly Suffolk/East Anglian parishes, it has to be said, but also a smattering from Essex, London and up north. As mentioned above, the Rector was from Ireland and Mrs Mary Buxton, living at The Wash, was born in India.
Cross is again the most common family name along with a new one, Hurst (topographic name for someone who lived on a wooded hill, Old English Hyrst) with 5 apiece.
There is one thing that stands out to me – whilst each page is pretty much a mixture of different birth places with many locations mentioned, there is one page where all but two people were born in Hargrave. The Street runs from the School House to The Green and seems to be the place where native Hargravers congregated. Make of it what you will.
Again I have found two WWI casualties. Eric Pettit, aged 8 son of Alfred Pettit, was killed aged 27 in 1920 of severe wounds. Frank Pearson, aged 10 in the census was killed in 1915. He was the son of Thomas and Mary Pearson recorded as living at The Grove.
A few noteworthy bits:
John and Ellen Hurst are shown as being 59 and 50 respectively but there youngest childen are only six and one years old.
Mrs Minnie Last, living in The Street, has the splendid maiden name of Minnie Murkin.
No scholars are recorded.
Mr Jesse Taylor and his wife Emma have seven children aged 18 to 2. Not that unusual but I did note that their birthplaces are spread over five different locations. Jesse Taylor is a “Horsekeeper on Farm” so I am wondering whether his job entailed a lot of travelling about.
Alfred Pettit, of Wickhambrook Road, has a son called Frederick who is four. I was wondering whether this was David Pettitt’s father as his middle name was Frederick.
The 1911 Census was the first census where the original forms were kept and is the first census where the householder's schedule has remained the master entry, rather than the enumerator's notes. Therefore, the handwriting on the original image is that of the householder. Worth looking at if you are a subscriber to one of the ancestry websites and want to know how your ancestors wrote.
The locations are again quite poorly recorded but it started at just before Knowles Green and proceeded down to Birds End. The only properties identified were the usuals – The Grove, Green Farm, The School House, Stone Hall Farm, Bull Inn, Mill House, Hall Farm, Rectory and Willow Farm. Mostly addresses are simply Hargrave, Hargrave Green, Birds End etc.
The details recorded for each person were slightly expanded over the previous censuses and the occupation had to include the industry/service and employment status. A really interesting addition is that along with the usual family and Christian names, ages etc, the married woman of the household had to record the number of years of the present marriage and the number of children of that marriage. This seems fairly standard so far but what I found intriguing is that there are columns for living children and dead children. It is sobering to notice how many children families had and how many had been lost. 1911, although over 100 years ago, doesn’t seem like ancient history and, indeed, several of us would have known people alive at that time and yet the stats on children dying seem to come from the middle ages. Of course it doesn’t say how old the children were but it is a fair bet that most of them would have died in infancy.
If you look at the column on the spreadsheet I have recorded those details and some are, to our modern eyes, startling. For instance, the Smart family had seven children with four still alive, three having died. The figures for the Bailey family are 10 born, four alive, six died; the Cross (Henry) family – 11 born, five alive and six died. The record number born was to the Hurst family – 14 born, 10 alive, four died. But not all was tragedy as the Cross (Robert) family had eight children all of whom were alive at the time of the census and many other families had also not lost children at that time. And on that theme Horace Race, Eric Pettitt, Oscar Plummer, George Phillips and Joseph Nunn are all recorded here, just a few years before their untimely deaths in the First World War.
Cross is once more the most common family name followed by Phillips.
With regard to occupations, agricultural labourer is still the most common at 62. Farmers number five as do those described as “Farmer’s son working on father’s farm” and “Horseman on farm” number seven. Six people describe themselves as “domestic servant”. There are several other occupations connected with the land, of course. There was one general engineer for the farm machinery and one lucky chap described himself as in “Gentleman’s Service”. Most women were recorded as doing “household duties”. There was one person described as a sewing machinist working at the clothes factory and one mantle cutter there. There was only one innkeeper, at the Bull Inn, as Cocks Head House was not recorded as a pub. Interestingly, the Corn Miller, John Buxton, has a wind and steam mill.
As before, most residents were born in Hargrave (166) with most others coming from the nearby villages (18 Barrow, Chevington 15) but the Rector was from Tullamore, Ireland, one lady was born in India (the Miller’s wife) and a handful were from various parts of London.
A few points:
One thing I noticed was there there seemed to be quite a few middle-aged unmarried men, some living with their parents others on their own.
I was amused by the fact that Mrs Bertha Wallace recorded that her husband was “away with sheep”.
The Steele Family, William George, his wife and four children, were all born in St James’ Parish, Bury St Edmunds. He was a coach painter by occupation at a coach builders, but it doesn’t say where. The whole family obviously upped-sticks and relocated here. Was there a coach building business nearby?
Finally, a note on the population. This was down to 285 showing a steady decline since the heady days of the mid-19th century. There were only 73 dwellings. The 1921 census won’t be available until next year at which time we can see what difference The Great War had made on Hargrave’s population.
Taken on June 19 1921 after being delayed by two months due to industrial unrest, the 1921 Census saw over 38,000 enumerators dispatched to every corner of England and Wales to capture the details of more than 38 million people. This included over 8.5 million households as well as all manner of public and private institutions ranging from prisons and military bases to public schools and workhouses.
The population had declined further, down from 285 a decade earlier.
As in the 1911 census the writing on the return is that of the householder, or sometimes another family member. The head of the family’s signature is there but some are signed with a cross and “his mark” notated.
The dwellings are still quite vague, apart from the obvious, eg The Bull Inn, Mill Farm, The Grove, The Rectory, Giles Farm etc. Otherwise it is usually just “Hargrave”, “The Green”, “The Wash”, “Birds End”, “Gt and Little Knowles Green”. Barrow Hill is recorded as “Hargrave Hill” with Willow Farm and one other dwelling.
The most common family name is Phillips (6) followed by Cross (5) and Murkin (4).
The number of agricultural labourers is down to 42 but, of course, many other people worked on farms and are recorded in more specialised roles such as horseman, ploughman, yardboy etc so the overall number working on the land is higher. The highest recorded “occupation” is “home duties” at 66. This is shown for the women of the households and occasionaly the daughter of the family as well. Sometimes it is the elderly mother of the head of the household where he is a widower.
Mr Charles W Murkin aged 30 was a Master Watch Repairer at Birds End. For the first time, a Methodist Minister is recorded. He is Mr Ernest Sellars and he lodged at Holly Bush (Bush House). He was 29 and came from Glossop. At Thorne Cottage lived Mr Elias Bridge, with his daughter Elizabeth Margaret. Mr Bridge is an Army Pensioner and in 1921 he was 79, meaning he was born in about 1841/2; we must wonder what wars or battles Mr Bridge fought in when he was a young soldier.
The extra information this year is the addition of where and for whom people worked. There was a clothing factory in Barrow, J Harvey Ltd, where two ladies worked at machinists. The names and locations of local farms become clear – Mr Sangster in Chevington, Mr Fison in Higham, Mr Farrow at Gate Farm, Depden, Mr Marriage at Barrow Hill and the well known name of Morley at Hargrave Hall – to select just a few.
There are people listed here who are familiar to many of us in Hargrave. Little Laura Irene Pask, aged just 2 lived at the the post office. She was well known as Mrs Morley and her future husband, Frank Morley, is recorded at Hargrave Hall aged 4, the youngest of eight children. Also, the Pettitt family were butchers at Moat Farm.
A point worth noting is that there are 22 unmarried men over the age of 25, either living at home, with another family member, or on their own. The number of unmarried women over 25 is 14.
One family worthy of mention is that of Arthur and Emma Ruse, living somewhere between The Grove and Knowles Green. They are aged 78 and 66 respectively and have their three grandaughters in their charge. The children - Florence May, Eva Jessie and Jessie Mabel Manning are aged between 13 and 8 and both their parents are dead. We don’t know, of course, how they lost their parents but we can hope they their grandparents were taking good care of them.
There seem to be a slightly smaller spread of places of birth than previously. The majority of people are Hargrave born at 189 with the rest fairly evenly spread around the local district. The most exotic iS British Guiana from where Henry Cotton Cornwall Gibbins hailed. He lived alone at Southwood Park House and was a retired major in the Enniskillin Fusiliers. Gibbings is not a name that has cropped up before so did he just decide to retire here, or did he have family connections?
This will be the last opportunity for this until 2051 as no 1941 census was held and the tragic fate of the 1931 records is told above.
The mid-Twentieth Century
The 1931 census records were destroyed in a catastrophic fire (no copies were kept, extraordinary as it may seem). There was no census in 1941 for obvious reasons but in 1939 a headcount was compiled of the population on 29th September, just after war was declared. It is a bit harder to track down as it is not recorded on parish lines but on local council boundaries, and to find Hargrave you have to look for Thingoe RDC and even then Denham pages interrupt Hargave and I nearly missed everyone in Birds End, the Rectory and some of Bury Road.
It was designed to capture a picture of the civilian population so did not include members of the armed forces other than those on leave.
The record of anyone born less than 100 years ago is closed unless they are known to have died although I have noticed the odd anomaly in this and it is by no means perfect. Many females’ names are crossed out and their married names inserted as this record was continually updated while National Registration was in force, when it was a legal requirement to notify the registration authorities of any change of name or address. This ended in 1952, but since 1948 the Register had also been used by the National Health Service, who continued updating the records until 1991, when paper-based record keeping was discontinued. So, delightfully, this paper register was in constant use for over 50 years.
Changes of name for any reason were recorded; in practice this was mostly when women changed their surnames on marriage or re-marriage, but also includes changes of name for any other reason, such as by deed poll. This practice is very useful as one can track women as they married, and sometimes re-married, as dates are generally also included.
The relationship to the head of the household is not recorded leaving one to make wild stabs in the dark about who was who, unless it is blindingly obvious. Also, no note of where people were born.
It helpfully lists what some villagers were doing in the war effort, such as ARP Wardens with various responsibilities, a village organiser and a few Special Constables, notably Sydney Gooch of Hillcroft, Barrow Hill who is recorded as being a “civilian cook with the RAF” but was a Special Constable and went on to be a Chief Constable of West Suffolk.
I found Eric W Pettitt, then a 20 year old agricultural labourer, who was one of the casualties listed on the war memorial. The others on the memorial – Arthur Murkin, Leslie Hunt and Geoffrey Hooper - are not listed but may have been away or already in the armed services and therefore in their own records. Although, the Rector was Henry M Hooper who was at the rectory with his family so perhaps Geoffrey Hooper was his son. Also, poor Anna Race who, at 75, was the bereaved mother of Horace Race who was killed in WWI.
The addresses are a bit more locatable but I haven’t looked up the most common family name as so many people are redacted or just not on the list. Although there are a lot of Morleys, Crosses and Murkins.
Occupations reflect the fact that this is now modern times with a few clerks in various offices, lorry and tractor drivers and an electrical supply designer among others. There are two retired Met Policemen, a Portrait Painter, Mr Peter Bridge living somewhere in Hargrave Green and a Watchmaker, Mr Charles Murkin at Birds End. However, Agricultural Labourers and others working on the land in various capacities still lead the way on numbers employed.
