Report

Previous Selection

CENSUS OF 1911.

PRELIMINARY REPORT
TO
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE JOHN BURNS, M.P.,
PRESIDENT OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD, ETC.

Census Office, London, S.W.,
10th June, 1911.

SIR,

WE have the honour to present our Preliminary Report on the twelfth Census of the population of England and Wales which was taken on 3rd April, 1911. This Census gives the means of ascertaining the number of persons returned as living at midnight on Sunday, the 2nd of April, and of measuring the growth of the population not only since the Census of 1901, but also during the 110 years since the first English Census was taken in March, 1801.

Owing to demands for an extension of the subjects of inquiry, to the numerous inter- censal changes in the areas into which the country is divided, and to the growth of population, each successive enumeration tends to become a more complex operation than its predecessor. The recent Census was no exception to this rule, the following additions having been made to the subjects of inquiry:-(a) the duration of existing marriages, (b) the number of children born to such marriages, (c) the industries or services with which workers are connected, as distinct from the occupations in which they are per- sonally engaged, (d) in the case of persons born outside England and Wales whether they are residents or visitors in this country, (e) the number of rooms in all dwellings, instead of as at the two-previous Censuses in dwellings of less than five rooms only.

The interest shown by the public in the present Census, which it is hoped may have been productive of fuller and more accurate Returns than on previous occasions,, must in large measure be attributed to the invaluable aid rendered by the Press, to the cordial co-operation of the Parliamentary Committee of the Trades Union Congress, and to the efforts of the teachers in the public elementary schools, who under the instructions of the Local Education Authorities throughout the country gave special Census lessons to the children under their charge.

The present Report, as its name implies, is merely a preliminary one; and it will perhaps be well to explain in a few words in what respects it differs from the more detailed account which it will be our duty to submit at a future date. This Report is based not on a tabulation direct from the Schedules at the Central Office, but on the population summaries furnished by the local Registrars and Superintendent Registrars who are severally responsible for the enumeration of the people in their respective areas. It deals simply with the numbers and sexes of the people, and the numbers of families or separate occupiers-: that is to say. it gives an account of the number of inhabitants in the whole country, and in the more important of its sub-divisions, namely, Counties, Urban Districts, Rural Districts, Parliamentary Areas and Registration Districts and Sub-districts.

After the revision of the contents of the schedules we shall present amended population statistics which will be given in greater detail than those published in_ this Report: we shall also present in due course Reports embodying the social statistics obtainable from the Census. The proposed scheme of publication is indicated in the final paragraphs of this Report.

Some reference may be made to the methods both of enumeration and of tabulation, though, as will be seen from the foregoing remarks, it is the first of these questions only which properly belongs to the Preliminary Report. The enumeration was carried out by the same machinery of Household Schedules as has been in use from the year 1841, the enumerators working under the direction of the 2,009 local Registrars, and these again under the direction of the 635 Superintendent Registrars, With the co-operation, of the Ordnance Survey Department, special attention was given on this occasion, daring the period preceding the Census, to a careful study of the various areas into which the country is divided and to the planning and mapping of the enumeration districts, a process which is already known to have greatly facilitated the accurate taking of the Census, and which, by eliminating small enumeration districts, especially in urban areas, resulted in a considerable reduction of their total number. The 2,009 Registration Sub-districts were sub-divided into 35,000 enumeration districts for each of which an enumerator was appointed. This number compares with 38,000 appointed for the Census of 1901, when the population enumerated was less by some three and a half millions.

Persons in public institutions and in large establishments were enumerated by the chief resident officers, and the enumeration of "homeless persons" was undertaken by the Police. The enumeration of Soldiers in large military establishments, and of Sailors on board H.M. Ships, was undertaken by military and naval Officers respectively; Officers of H.M. Customs enumerated persons on board mercantile vessels, and the Corporation of Trinity House enumerated the persons in Lighthouses and on Lightships.

The most important change in the enumeration arrangements and one which also has a bearing on tabulation, was the discontinuance of the use of enumeration books. At previous Censuses the contents of the schedules were copied into books from which the results of the Census were tabulated-a laborious task very, generally complained of by the enumerators. At this Census it was decided, following the practice adopted in Ireland, to relieve the enumerators of this lengthy and monotonous work, thus avoiding the risk of errors heretofore made by the copyists in the course of transcription.

In place of this process, the information contained in the schedules will be transferred in the Census Office by punching-machines to cards, one for each person enumerated, and these cards will subsequently be mechanically sorted and counted. It will thus be easier to analyse and combine the results of the Census than by the methods formerly employed. Further comment on this considerable change of practice, which rather belongs to the subject of tabulation, must be deferred until the publication of the subsequent Reports.

Area. -For the purposes of this Report, Area is defined as "land together with inland water," tidal water and foreshore being excluded. According to Returns furnished by the Director General of Ordnance Surveys the area of England and Wales consists of 37,337,630 acres of land and inland water.

Population and Rates of Increase. -The total number of persons returned as living in England and Wales at midnight on Sunday, April 2nd, 1911, was 36,075,269. This total shows an increase of 3,547,426, or 10.9 per cent, upon the number returned at the previous enumeration of April, 1901.

The increase now recorded is numerically greater than in any previous decennium, but the progression per cent. is lower than in any previous decennium, as the following Table shows:—

TABLE A.

Census Year.	Families or Separate Occupiers.	Population.			Increase of Population since last Census.	Decennial Increase per cent. of Population.*	Number of Females to 1000 Males.†
		Persons.	Males.	Females.
1801	1,896,723	8,892,536	4,254,735	4,637,801	—	—	1,057
1811	2,142,147	10,164,256	4,873,605	5,290,651	1,271,720	14.00	1,054
1821	2,493,423	12,000,236	5,850,319	6,149,917	1,835,980	18.06	1,036
1831	2,911,874	13,896,797	6,771,196	7,125,601	1,896,561	15.80	1,040
1841	Not returned	15,914,148	7,777,586	8,136,562	2,017,351	14.27	1,046
1851	3,712,290	17,927,609	8,781,225	9,146,384	2,013,461	12.65	1,042
1861	4,491,524	20,066,224	9,776,259	10,289,965	2,138,615	11.90	1,053
1871	5,049,016	22,712,266	11,058,934	11,653,332	2,646,042	13.21	1,054
1881	5,633,192	25,974,439	12,639,902	13,334,537	3,262,173	14.36	1,055
1891	6,131,001	29,002,525	14,052,901	14,949,624	3,028,086	11.65	1,064
1901	7,036,868	32,527,843	15,728,613	16,799,230	3,525,318	12.17	1,068
1911	8,018,857	36,075,269	17,448,476	18,626,793	3,547,426	10.90	1,068
* See note*, Table 1, page 1.				† See note †, Table 1, page 1.

The rate of increase of Population depends on two factors, (1) the balance between births and deaths and (2) the balance between outward and inward passenger movement.

(1)The net gain of population by excess of births over deaths, which had been 15.09, 13.97, and 12.39 per cent, in the three preceding intercensal periods, rose in the period 1901-1911 to 12.44. This result was due to the counterbalancing of a great reduction of the birth-rate by a still greater reduction of the death-rate.

(2) The loss of population by balance of passenger movement, which may be stated (see Table B, page vi) as over 164,000 in 1871-81 and over 600,000 in 1881-91, fell to 68,000 in 1891-1901 and rose to nearly half, a million persons in the past inter-censal period.

The provisional official estimates of population of England and Wales as a whole which have been prepared from year to year since 1901 have been based on the assumption of an annual rate of increase equal to the mean rate in the period 1891 to 1901. This method showed in 1891 an excess of estimated over actual population of 701,843 or 2.42 per cent, and in 1901 a deficiency of 144,231 or .44 per cent. On the present occasion the estimate has again been in excess of the actual population in 1911 to the extent of 406,402 or 1.13 per cent., and it may therefore be inferred that the errors in the estimates for the years 1901 to 1910 rose more or less irregularly from zero to about 1 per cent. Rates of mortality and other figures showing proportions to the estimated population were, necessarily affected to a corresponding extent, but of course in the opposite direction; and the birth-rate and death-rate for the year 1910,. which were provisionally shown in the recently published Annual Summary of Births and Deaths as 24.8 and 13.4, are found on revision to be 25.1 and 13.5 respectively.

That such discrepancies would inevitably appear when the results of the Census became known was of course anticipated, but, as the figures above quoted show, the errors arising from the traditional method of estimating the population are not of a very serious character as regards England and Wales taken as a whole. It is in its effect on the calculation of mortality and other rates in certain local areas,¹ where the variations between estimate and Census result are much greater, that the defect of any method based on a general assumption is most apparent; and here unfortunately it is more difficult to devise a remedy. But even as regards the total figures of population the existing method is open to objection. The alternative method of calculating the population, not on any arbitrary hypothesis, but by means of such data of the movements of the population from year to year as might be available, would obviously be more satisfactory, but has not hitherto been found to be practicable. If it were possible to add to the population enumerated at a Census the number of births and the number of persons who have entered the country up to a given date, and to subtract the number of deaths and the number of persons who have left the country, the population at that date could be accurately ascertained. But although the addition and subtraction on account of births and deaths is provided for by the statistics prepared in the General Register Office, there are at present no returns which show even approximately how many persons enter and how many leave England and Wales year by year. In other words, the natural increase of population is known, but the balance of inward and outward passenger movement (often referred to as the balance of migration) is not known. Returns of passenger movement are collected by the Board of Trade, and statistical tables based on those returns which have been furnished by the Board for publication in this Report, will be found on pages 117-119. But those tables relate to the United Kingdom as a whole, and provide no means for allotting the arrivals and departures to the several portions of the Kingdom. Moreover, the returns on which those tables are based were not complete during the years 1901-1907, though the degree, and even the direction, in which this incompleteness has affected the totals cannot be determined. The following general statement for the United Kingdom in the period between the Censuses of 1901 and 1911 will be of interest as showing the degree of accuracy which can be reached by this method even with returns incomplete for certain years when applied to the whole Kingdom with the assistance of the present figures:—

Population of the United Kingdom enumerated in 1901	41,458,721
Add natural increase (by excess of births over deaths) from April, 1901, to March, 1911	4,845,868
	46,304,589
Subtract excess of outward over inward passenger movement recorded from January, 1901, to December, 1910†	1,351,812
Population of the United Kingdom in 1911 as estimated by recorded natural increase and balance of passenger movement	44,952,777
Population of the United Kingdom enumerated in 1911	45,216,665
Difference, being the defect in the estimate as above	263,888

^† The figures for the exact intercensal period are not available.

It will be seen that the error of this estimate amounts to less than .6 per cent. of the population, or only about half as much proportionally as the error of the estimate made for England and Wales only by the old method. Part of the error is no doubt attributable to movements which did not come within the scope of the Returns to the Board of Trade-such as the return of soldiers from South Africa in the earlier years of the period. It may be hoped that in the near future some modifications will be introduced into the Returns collected by the Board, which will enable them so to classify the persons entering and leaving the United Kingdom, as to show with approximate accuracy the effect on the number of the population in England and Wales, in Scotland, and in Ireland separately. In the absence of such information for past years, the effect of migration in England and Wales in the intercensal periods already completed can only be indirectly inferred by means of the enumerated populations and the natural increase. This is done in the following Table:—

TABLE B.

Census Year.	Enumerated Population of England and Wales.		Actual Intercensal Increase.	Natural Increase.	Difference between Natural Increase and Actual Increase—to be accounted for as loss by Balance of Passenger Movement.
1871	22,712,266
		}	3,262,173	3,426,480	164,307
1881	25,974,439
		}	3,028,086	3,629,475	601,389
1891	29,002,525
		}	3,525,318	3,593,648	68,330
1901	32,527,843
		}	3,547,426	4,044,922	497,496
1911	36,075,269

The figures in the last column show that the balance of migration varies greatly from one period to another. Undoubtedly the annual variations must be considerable, and as a result the growth of the population from year to year must proceed by irregular steps. Were statistics of passenger movement available, classified according to the places of residence of the passengers, it would become possible to frame current estimates of the population of England and Wales which would, at least approximately, represent the actual population from year to year.

It may be added that the result of applying the method now used for England and Wales to each Division of the United Kingdom would have been an over-estimate for the whole of the Kingdom of 1.0 per cent.

Population and rates of increase or decrease in county areas. —By the Local Government Act of 1888, 61 Administrative Counties were created, for each of which a separate County Council was established. In addition, 61 Boroughs which on the 1st June, 1888, either had populations of not less than 50,000 or were counties of themselves, were created separate Administrative Counties, and termed County Boroughs. Since the passing of the Act, the Isle of Wight has been created a separate Administrative County. The County Boroughs now number 75, including the County Borough of Stoke on Trent, which includes the former County Borough of Hanley.

Table C on page vii shows how the rate of increase of the population, which in the whole of England and Wales in the ten years 1901-1911 was equal to 10.9 per cent., was distributed over the whole country; and how, while there were a few counties in which the population declined, the rates of increase in the remainder were very unequal.

The areas selected for comparison are the Administrative Counties together with the County Boroughs geographically within or adjacent to them. In the cases of Cambridge- shire, Hampshire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Suffolk and Sussex, however, the populations of the separate Administrative Counties into which each of them is divided have been stated collectively in the Table, the figures for the separate Administrative Counties being shown in a footnote. The figures for 1891 and 1901 relate to the Counties as constituted in 1911.

It will be seen that some of the highest increases occurred in the counties surround- ing the Metropolis, viz.: Middlesex, Surrey, Essex and Hertfordshire, in each of which the increase was more than 20 per cent. The county of Kent, however, shows an increase of only 8.8 per cent. Other counties showing increases of more than 20 per cent. Were Monmouthshire (32.8) and Glamorganshire (30.4). Three English counties (including London) and five Welsh Counties showed decreases ranging from 0.3 in London, to 6.7 in Merionethshire. Of the counties showing decreases between 1901 and 1911 four (Westmorland, Cardiganshire, Montgomeryshire, and. Merionethshire) had also declined between 1891 and 1901.

TABLE C.

Administrative Counties together with associated County Boroughs.		Population.			Increase (+) or Decrease (-) per cent. in intercensal period.
		1891.	1901.	1911.	1891-1901.	1901-1911.
(1) COUNTIES IN WHICH AN INCREASE WAS RECORDED IN THE INTER- CENSAL PERIOD (1901-11 ):—
Middlesex		543,223	792,496	1,126,694	+45.9	+42.2
Monmouthshire		258,133	298,076	395,778	+15.5	+32.8
Glamorganshire		687,218	859,931	1,121,062	+25.1	+30.4
Surrey		521,844	653,661	845,544	+25.3	+29.4
Essex		783,374	1,083,998	1,351,102	+38.4	+24.6
Hertfordshire		226,587	258,423	311,321	+14.1	+20.5
Hampshire*		692,055	799,582	950,678	+15.5	+18.9
Carmarthshire		130,566	135,328	160,430	+3.6	+18.5
Nottinghamshire		445,622	514,459	604,077	+15.4	+17.4
Worcestershire		385,212	452,759	526,143	+17.5	16.2
Northumberland		506,030	603,119	697,014	+19.2	+15.6
Durham		1,016,562	1,187,474	1,370,011	+16.8	+15.4
Cheshire		750,109	835,941	954,919	+11.4	+14.2
Derbyshire		515,159	599,694	683,562	+16.4	+14.0
Flintshire		77,041	81,485	92,720	+5.8	+13.8
Bedfordshire		161,378	171,707	194,625	+6.4	+13.3
Lincolnshire*		474,041	500,022	564,013	+5.5	+12.8
Buckinghamshire		186,680	197,046	219,583	+5.6	+11.4
Yorkshire, East Riding (York C.B.)		409,401	462,921	515,101	+13.1	+11.3
Yorkshire, North Riding		359,547	377,338	419,601	+4.9	+11.2
Warwickshire		838,837	940,879	1,040,628	+12.2	+10.6
Dorsetshire		193,542	202,063	223,274	+4.4	+10.5
Yorkshire, West Riding		2,449,492	2,761,321	3,045,749	+12.7	+10.3
Sussex*		571,631	602,255	663,416	+10.0	+10.2
Denbighshire		118,979	131,582	144,796	+10.6	+10.0
Brecknockshire		51,393	54,213	59,298	+5.5	+9.4
Staffordshire		1,086,240	1,236,919	1,348,422	13.9	+9.0
Lancashire		3,900,430	4,378,293	4,768,474	+12.3	+8.9
Leicestershire		376,263	437,490	476,603	+16.3	+8.9
Kent		830,390	961,139	1,045,661	+15.7	+8.8
Berkshire		236,173	252,571	271,028	+6.9	+7.3
Cambridgeshire*		183,985	184,759	198,084	+0.4	+7.2
Oxfordshire		189,495	186,460	199,277	-1.6	+6.9
Devonshire		632,782	662,196	699,739	+4.6	+5.7
Wiltshire		262,551	271,394	286,876	+3.4	+5.7
Suffolk*		362,188	373,353	394,080	3.1	+5.6
Somersetshire		430,010	434,950	458,074	+1.1	+5.3
Norfolk		468,605	476,553	499,049	+1.7	+4.7
Gloucestershire		654,563	708,439	736,125	+8.2	+3.9
Northamptonshire*		299,542	34835,628	348,552	+12.0	+3.9
Rutlandshire*		20,659	19,709	20.347	-4.6	+3.2
Shropshire		236,827	239,783	246,306	+1.2	+2.7
Huntingdonshire		55,015	54,125	55,583	-1.6	+2.7
Pembrokeshire		88,296	87,894	89,956	-0.5	+2.3
Cornwall		322,571	322,334	328,131	-0.1	+1.8
Anglesey		50,098	50,606	50,943	+1.0	+0.7
Herefordshire		115,762	114,125	114,269	-1.4	+0.1
(2) COUNTIES IN WHICH A DECREASE WAS RECORDED IN THE INTER- CENSAL PERIOD (1901-11):—
London		4,227,954	4,536,267	4,522,961	+7.3	-0.3
Cumberland		266,549	266,933	265,780	+0.1	-0.4
Carnarvonshire		117,586	125,649	125,049	+6.9	-0.5
Westmorland		66,215	64,409	63,575	-2.7	-1.3
Cardiganshire		63,467	61,078	59,877	-3.8	-2.0
Radnorshire		21,791	23,281	22,589	+6.8	-3.0
Montgomeryshire		58,003	54,901	53,147	-5.3	-3.2
Merionethshire		48,859	48,852	45,573	-0.0	-6.7
* The following are the figures for the separate Administrative Counties grouped in the above table:—
Hampshire:—	Southampton	613,383	717,164	862,485	+16.9	+20.3
	Isle of Wight	78,672	82,418	88,193	+4.8	+7.0
Lincolnshire:—	Holland	76,204	77,610	82,860	+1.8	+6.8
	Kesteven	105,361	103,962	11,332	-1.3	+7.1
	Lindsey	292,476	318,450	369,821	+8.9	+16.1
Sussex:—	East	406,949	450,979	487,093	+10.8	+8.0
	West	140,682	151,276	176,323	+7.5	+16.6
Cambridgeshire:—	Cambridgeshire	120,645	120,264	128,325	-0.3	+6.7
	Isle of Ely	63,340	64,495	69,759	+1.8	+8.2
Suffolk:—	East	240,838	255,800	277,166	+6.2	+8.4
	West	121,350	117,553	116,914	-3.1	-0.5
Northamptonshire:—	Northamptonshire	264,293	294,506	303,830	+11.4	+3.2
	Soke of Peterborough	35,249	41,122	44,722	+16.7	+8.8

Comparing the increases in the two decennia 1891-1901 and 1901-1911 it is found that of the Home Counties, Surrey (25.3 and 29.4) and Hertfordshire (14.1 and 20.5) have accelerated rates of increase while Kent (15.7 and 8.8), Middlesex (45.9 and 42.2) and Essex (38.4 and 24.6) show reduced rates. Of the counties in which mining is the principal industry, Monmouthshire (15.5 and 32.8) and Glamorganshire (25.1 and 30.4) show accelerated rates while Northumberland (19.2 and 15.6) and Durham (16.8 and 15.4) show reduced rates of increase. Nottinghamshire, partly mining and partly industrial, increased its rate from 15.4 to 17.4. In the industrial Counties, the increases, while still substantial, are less than in the previous ten years. Lancashire, for instance, reduced its rate of increase from 12.3 to 8.9, Staffordshire from 13.9 to 9.0, and the West Riding of Yorkshire from 12.7 to 10.3. Among the Counties, such as Lincolnshire, Buckinghamshire, Dorsetshire and Oxfordshire, in which agriculture was returned as the occupation of more than one-fifth of the male population over ten years of age at the Census, of 1901, the rates of increase for 1901-1911 compare favourably in nearly all cases with those recorded in the earlier period.

Referring to Table II, page 2 (Administrative Counties excluding the County Boroughs) the following counties show increases of over 20 per cent.:-Middlesex (42.2), Glamorganshire (39.7), Monmouthshire (35.2), Surrey (30.1), (Essex 30.0), Nottinghamshire (25.3), Northumberland (21.9), Durham (21.0), and Hertfordshire (20.5). It thus appears that by excluding County Boroughs the three coal mining counties of Durham, Northumberland and Nottinghamshire are added to the list of counties with increases over 20 per cent., and the rates of increase in all the counties already in that list (except Middlesex and Hertfordshire which contain no County Borough) are raised.

Urban and Rural Districts. —Reference to Table IV. 011 pages 5 to 25 will show the populations of the 1,137² Urban districts, including County Boroughs and Municipal Boroughs. Their aggregate population at the date of the Census was 28,168,970 persons, while the population of the Rural Districts (which number 657) was only 7,906,299; so that, broadly speaking, the proportion in 1911 of persons in England and Wales living under urban conditions was 78 per cent., and under rural conditions 22 per cent.

The following Table shows the population in 1901 and 1911 of the areas- which were constituted as Urban and Rural Districts at the latter date.

TABLE D.

	POPULATION.		Increase per cent. between 1901 and 1911.
	1901.	1911.
England and Wales	32,527,843	36,075,269	10.9
Total of 1,1372 Urban Districts as constituted in 1911.	25,350,898	28,168,970	11.1
Total of 657 Rural Districts as constituted in 1911.	7,176,945	7,906,299	10.2

In the preceding intercensal period the rates of increase in the Urban and Rural Districts (as constituted in 1901) had been 15.2 and 2.9 per cent. respectively Thus while the rate of increase in Urban Districts has declined from 15.2 to 11.1 per cent., the rate of increase in Rural Districts has risen from 2.9 to 10.2 per cent. It should be pointed out, however, that the rates in the last decennium represent an actual increase of 2,818,072 persons in the Urban, and of only 729,354 persons in the Rural Districts.

In order to make a comparison of the population in rural areas back to 1801, it will be convenient to select, as a sample of such areas, the 105 Registration Districts which at the recent Census contained no portion of an Urban District. Their aggregate population at each Census was, approximately, as follows:—

TABLE E.

CENSUS YEAR.	POPULATION.	Increase (+) or Decrease (-) per cent. in intercensal period.	CENSUS YEAR.	POPULATION.	Increase (+) or Decrease (-) per cent. in intercensal period.
1801	852,313	—	1861	1,207,580	-0.41
1811	913,713	+7.20	1871	1,202,499	-0.42
1821	1,044,331	+14.30	1881	1,187,124	-1.28
1831	1,115,641	+6.83	1891	1,174,958	-1.02
1841	1,181,758	+5.93	1901	1,189,713	+1.26
1851	1,212,548	+2.61	1911	1,306,565	+9.82

During the first half of the past century the population of these distinctly rural areas in the aggregate increased in each decennium, but at a gradually diminishing rate except in the ten years 1811-21. In the second half of the century there is a want of regularity in the series, but the general tendency has been for the decrease of population which first manifested itself in the ten years 1851-61 to continue at an accelerated rate until the last two decennia, when there was a notable change.

Table F shows the increasing predominance of the- Urban as compared with the Rural element. Taking the Urban and Rural Districts as constituted at each of the four past Censuses, it will be observed that in 1881 68 per cent. of the population were dwellers in towns; the proportion rose to 72 per cent, in 1891, to 77 per cent, in 1901, and to 78 per cent, in 1911.

TABLE F.

—	POPULATION.				Proportion per cent. of Population of England and Wales.
	1881.	1891.*	1901.	1911.	1881.	1891.*	1901.	1911.
Urban Population at each Census	17,636,646	20,895,504	25,058,355	28,168,970	67.9	72.0	77.0	78.1
Rural Population at each Census	8,337,793	8,107,021	7,469,488	7,906,299	32.1	28.0	23.0	21.9
England and Wales	25,974,439	29,002,525	32,527,843	36,075,269	100.0	100.0	100.0	100.0

^* The figures for 1891 relate to the Urban and Rural Districts as constituted at the date when the General Report on that Census was published towards the end of 1893.

Urban Districts Classified by Population. — At the date of the issue of the Report on the Census of 1891 there were 1,011 Urban Districts; at the Census of 1901 the number had increased to 1,122, and in 1911 to 1,137: these 1,137 districts may be grouped by the numbers of their populations as shown in the following Table, which gives the populations of the areas as constituted in 1911.

TABLE G.

Population of Urban Districts.	Number of Districts.	Aggregate Population, 1911.	Aggregate Population of the same areas, 1901.	Mean percentage of Increase (+) or Decrease (-) of Population 1901-1911.
Over 1,000,000	1†	4,522,961	4,536,267	-0.3
500,000 and under 1,000,000	3	1,986,953	1,872,186	+6.1
250,000 and under 500,000	8	2,639,524	2,451,230	+7.7
150,000 and under 250,000	10	1,915,291	1,677,242	+14.2
100,000 and under 150,000	22	2,631,880	2,304,257	+14.2
75,000 and under 100,000	17	1,434,820	1,235,745	+16.1
50,000 and under 75,000	37	2,172,383	1,846,351	+17.7
40,000 and under 50,000	25	1,101,414	975,664	+12.9
30,000 and under 40,000	50	1,717,053	1,392,061	+23.3
20,000 and under 30,000	72	1,754,667	1,528,700	+14.8
15,000 and under 20,000	84	1,434,178	1,230,183	+16.6
10,000 and under 15,000	147	1,822,269	1,557,663	+17.0
5,000 and under 10,000	255	1,832,594	1,627,777	+12.6
4,000 and under 5,000	107	478,626	434,462	+10.2
3,000 and under 4,000	97	337,209	313,265	+7.6
2,000 and 3,000	100	250,182	235,568	+6.2
Under 2,000	102	136,966	132,277	+3.5
Total	1,137	28,168,970	25,350,898	+11.1

^† Administrative County of London here reckoned as one district.

London and the Great Towns .—Among the 1,137 Urban Districts are 98 (including London as one district), each of which had in 1911 a population exceeding 50,000.

In the following Table these towns are arranged in the order of their populations in 1911. All the population figures relate to the towns as constituted in 1911.

TABLE H.

NAMES OF TOWNS.		POPULATION.			Increase (+) or Decrease (-) per cent. in Intercensal Period.
		1891.	1901.	1911.	Between 1891-1901.	Between 1901-1911.
Total of 98* Towns		13,809,901	15,923,278	17,303,812	+15.3	+8.7
London (Administrative County)		4,227,954	4,536,267	4,522,961	+7.3	+8.7
Liverpool	C.B.	644,243	704,134	746,566	+9.3	+6.0
Manchester	C.B.	575,741	644,873	714,427	+12.0	+10.8
Birmingham	C.B.	478,922	523,179	525,960	+9.2	+0.5
Sheffield	C.B.	339,170	409,070	454,653	+20.6	+11.1
Leeds	C.B.	367,505	428,968	445,568	+16.7	+3.9
Bristol	C.B.	296,356	339,042	357,059	+14.4	+5.3
West Ham	C.B.	204,903	2267,358	289,102	+30.5	+8.1
Bradford	C.B.	265,728	279,767	288,505	+5.3	+3.1
Kingston upon Hull	C.B.	200,472	240,259	278,024	+19.8	+15.7
Newcastle upon Tyne	C.B.	208,194	247,023	266,671	+18.7	+8.0
Nottingham	C.B.	213,877	239,743	259,942	+12.1	+8.4
Stoke on Trent	C.B.	183,977	214,712	234,553	+16.7	+9.2
Salford	C.B.	198,1939	220,957	231,380	+11.5	+4.7
Portsmouth	C.B.	159,981	188,928	231,165	+18.1	+22.4
Leicester	C.B.	174,624	211,579	227,242	+21.2	+7.4
Cardiff	C.B.	128,915	164,333	182,280	+27.5	+10.9
Bolton	C.B.	146,487	168,215	180,885	+14.8	+7.5
Croydon	C.B.	102,695	133,895	169,559	+30.4	+26.6
Willesden	U.D.	61,265	114,811	154,267	+87.4	+34.4
Rhondda	U.D.	88,351	113,735	152,798	+28.7	+34.3
Sunderland	C.B.	131,686	146,077	151,162	+10.9	+3.5
Oldham	C.B.	131,463	137,246	147,495	+4.4	+7.5
Tottenham	U.D.	71,672	102,703	137,457	+43.3	+33.8
East Ham	M.B.	32,703	96,008	133,504	+193.6	+39.1
Blackburn	C.B.	121,318	129,216	133,064	+6.5	+3.0
Brighton	C.B.	115,873	123,478	131,250	+6.6	+6.3
Birkenhead	C.B.	99,857	110,915	130,832	+11.1	+18.0
Leyton	U.D.	63,106	98,912	124,736	+56.7	+26.1
Walthamstow	U.D.	46,346	95,131	124,597	+105.3	31.0
Derby	C.B.	98,602	114,848	123,433	+16.5	+7.5
Norwich	C.B.	63,106	113,922	121,498	+10.7	+6.6
Southampton	C.B.	46,346	104,824	119,039	+27.6	+13.6
Preston	C.B.	98,602	112,989	117,113	+5.0	+3.6
Gateshead	C.B.	85,692	109,888	116,928	+28.2	+6.4
Swansea	C.B.	91,034	94,537	114,673	+3.8	+21.3
Plymouth	C.B.	88,931	107,636	112,042	+21.0	+4.1
Stockport	C.B.	80,778	92,832	108,693	+14.9	+17.1
South Shields	C.B.	81,809	100,858	108,649	+23.3	+7.7
Huddersfield	C.B.	95,420	95,047	107,825	-0.4	+13.4
Coventry	C.B.	58,503	69,978	106,377	+19.6	+52.0
Burnley	C.B.	87,016	97,043	106,337	+11.5	+9.6
Middlesbrough	C.B.	75,532	91,302	104,787	+20.9	+14.8
Halifax	C.B.	97,715	104,944	101,556	+7.4	-3.2
St. Helens	C.B.	72,413	84,410	96,566	+16.6	+14.4
Wolverhampton	C.B.	82,662	94,187	95,333	+13.9	+1.2
Walsall	C.B.	71,789	86,430	92,130	+20.4	+6.6
Rochdale	C.B.	76,161	83,114	91,437	+9.1	+10.0
Northampton	C.B.	75,075	87,021	90,076	+15.9	3.5
Wigan	C.B.	73,413	82,428	89,171	+12.3	+8.2
Hornsey	M.B.	44,523	72,056	84,602	+61.8	+17.4
Newport (Monmouth)	C.B.	54,707	67,270	83,700	+23.0	+24.4
York	C.B.	67,841	77,914	82,297	+14.8	+5.6
Devonport	C.B.	55,986	70,437	81,694	+25.8	+16.0
Kings Norton and Northfield	U.D.	28,300	57,122	81,163	+101.8	+42.1
Merthyr Tydfil	C.B.	59,004	69,228	80,999	+17.3	+17.0
Bournemouth	C.B.	45,268	59,762	78,677	+32.0	+31.7
Wallasey	M.B.	33,229	53,579	78,514	+61.2	+46.5
Ilford	U.D.	10,922	41,244	78,205	+277.6	+89.6
Reading	C.B.	60,054	72,217	75,214	+20.3	+4.1
Aston Manor	M.B.	68,639	77,326	75,042	+12.7	-3.0
Grimsby	C.B.	51,934	63,138	74,663	+21.6	+18.3
Ipswich	C.B.	57,433	66,630	73,939	+16.0	+11.0
Warrington	C.B.	55,288	64,242	72,178	+16.2	+12.4
Smethwick	C.B.	36,106	54,539	70,681	+51.1	+29.6
Bootle	C.B.	49,888	60,235	69,881	+20.7	+16.0
Handsworth	U.D.	32,756	52,921	68,618	+61.6	+29.7
West Bromwich	C.B.	59,538	65,175	68,345	+9.5	+4.9
Edmonton	U.D.	25,381	46,899	64,820	+84.8	+38.2
West Hartlepool	C.B.	42,815	62,627	63,932	+46.3	+2.1
Barrow in Furness	C.B.	51,712	57,586	63,775	+11.4	+10.7
Southend on Sea	M.B.	13,242	28,857	62,723	+117.9	+117.4
Rotherham	C.B.	42,061	54,349	62,507	+29.2	+15.0
Ealing	M.B.	23,979	33,031	61,235	+37.7	+85.4
Hastings	C.B.	63,072	65,528	61,146	+3.9	-6.7
Tynemouth	C.B.	46,588	51,366	58,822	+10.3	+14.5
Bury	C.B.	57,212	58,029	58,649	+1.4	+1.1
Blackpool	C.B.	23,846	47,348	58,376	+98.6	+23.3
Acton	U.D.	24,206	37,744	57,523	+55.9	+52.4
Lincoln	C.B.	41,491	48,784	57,294	+17.6	+17.4
Enfield	U.D.	31,536	42,738	56,344	+35.5	+31.8
Great Yarmouth	C.B.	49,334	51,316	55,808	+4.0	+8.8
Darlington	M.B.	38,060	44,511	55,633	+16.9	+25.0
Wimbledon	M.B.	25,777	41,652	54,876	+61.6	+31.7
Dewsbury	M.B.	51,852	51,246	53,358	-1.2	+4.1
Oxford	C.B.	45,742	49,336	53,049	+7.9	+7.5
Eastbourne	C.B.	35,062	43,574	52,544	+24.3	+20.6
Gillingham	M.B.	28,040	42,745	52,252	+52.4	+22.2
Stockton on Tees	M.B.	49,708	51,478	52,158	+3.6	+1.3
Southport	C.B.	41,415	48,083	51,650	+16.1	+7.4
Wakefield	M.B.	43,914	48,256	51,516	+9.9	+6.8
Dudley	C.B.	45,724	48,733	51,092	+6.6	+4.8
Aberdare	U.D.	38,431	43,365	50,844	+12.8	+17.2
Swindon	M.B.	33,001	45,006	50,771	+36.4	+12.8
Bath	C.B.	51,844	49,839	50,729	-3.9	+1.8
Barnsley	M.B.	35,427	41,086	50,623	+16.0	+23.2
Gloucester	C.B.	41,303	47,955	50,029	+16.1	+4.3
Luton	M.B.	30,053	36,404	50,000	+21.1	+37.3
*The list of 98 Towns includes all the County Boroughs except the following:—
Exeter		45,766	47,185	48,660	+3.1	+3.1
Burton on Trent		46,047	50,386	48,275	+9.4	-4.2
Worcester		42,908	46,624	47,987	+8.7	+2.9
Chester		37,105	38,309	39,038	-3.2	-1.9
Canterbury		23,062	24,899	24,628	+8.0	-1.1

Of these 98 towns 53 showed increases in excess of 10 per cent., the largest increases being in Southend on Sea (117.4), Ilford (89.6), Ealing (85.4), Acton (52.4), Coventry (52.0), Wallasey (46.5), and Kings Norton and Northfield (42.1). A number of the towns showing the largest increases really constitute portions of "Greater London" (see the analysis of the Population of the "Outer Ring" on page xv.). The same remark holds good of Southend on Sea, which may almost be regarded as one of London's eastern suburbs. In 41 towns the rate of increase was less than 10 per cent.: these include some of the largest towns, such as West Ham (8.1), Liverpool (6.0), Bristol (5.3), Leeds (3.9), and Birmingham (0.5). The remaining four towns actually declined in population, viz.: London (0.3), Aston Manor (3.0), Halifax (3.2), and Hastings (6.7 per cent.).

A remarkable feature of the Table is the decline in the rate of growth as compared with that in the ten years from 1891 to 1901. The population of the 98 towns in the aggregate increased in the period 1901-1911 by 8.7 per cent, as compared with 15.3 per cent, in the preceding period. In the case of 19 towns only was the rate of increase higher in the second period; of these Coventry and Swansea are striking examples. On the other hand, West Hartlepool, Plymouth, Reading, East Ham, Walthamstow and Ilford are instances in the opposite direction.

It is obvious that a falling off in the-rate of increase, or even an actual diminution of the population resident within the limits of a town, does not necessarily imply any corresponding decline in its prosperity. Unless the boundaries of the town are periodically adjusted, the relation between its area and its population must constantly alter as the latter increases. Thus, as the population resident within the boundaries of the town approaches more and more nearly that density which under the local circumstances may be regarded as the point of saturation, the tendency is for further increase to slacken within, and probably to accelerate without, the town limits, simply because there is less and less room left within for new buildings. This tendency has been markedly accentuated in the past decennium by the provision of improved means of transportation, enabling the city worker to enjoy the advantages of residence outside the city limits. If at the same time overcrowded slum areas are rebuilt with more generous provision of light and air, and if residences are, owing to increasing site value, replaced by railways, warehouses and business premises in the central portion of the town, it may well be that even an actual decrease in population represents not decrease, but increase of the town's prosperity. The growth of large urban communities can only be measured by considering jointly the population of the central area and of all its suburbs, whether the latter do or do not happen to be under the same local government as the central area.

The cases of Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester illustrate this. The population of the City of Birmingham, as constituted at the date of the Census of 1911, was 525,960, an increase of 0.5 per cent., on the numbers returned at the Census of 1901. Since the taking of the Census, the Provisional Order for the extension of the City has been con- firmed by Parliament and the population of the whole of the area to be included within the new City amounts to 840,372; at the Census of 1901, 759,059 persons were enumerated within the same area. The rate of increase within the limits of the City as extended is therefore 10.7 per cent.

The population of the City of Liverpool, as constituted at the date of the Census of 1911, was 746,566, an increase of 6.0 percent, on the numbers returned at the enumeration of 1901. Within an area comprising the City of Liverpool, the County Boroughs of Bootle and Birkenhead, the Municipal Borough of Wallasey, the Urban Districts of Litherland, Waterloo with Seaforth, Great Crosby, Little Crosby, Higher Bebington, and Lower Bebington, and the Civil Parish of West Derby Rural, no fewer than 1,095,558 persons were enumerated, showing an increase of 112,826 in the decennium, or 11.5 per cent.: nearly double the rate recorded for the City alone.

During the past intercensal period, the City of Manchester had been extended by the addition of the Urban Districts of Moss Side, Withington, Gorton, and Levenshulme, and part of Prestwich. The population of the City as constituted in 1911 was 714,427; this total shows an increase of 69,554, or 10.8 per cent, on the numbers returned at the preceding Census. If, however, we take the City boundaries as constituted in 1901, the increase of population in the past intercensal period amounted to only 24,785 persons, or 4.6 per cent.

Difference between estimated and enumerated population. — Reference has been made on page v. to the method by which the provisional estimates of population for England and Wales as a whole are framed for publication year by year in the Registrar-General's Reports. It was shown that this method would have overstated the population at the time of the recent Census by 1.13 per cent.; and reasons were given for hoping that it may in future be possible to abandon the assumption of a constant rate of increase, and to frame more accurate estimates by the help of current statistics of births, deaths, and inward and outward passenger movement.

As regards local areas, provisional estimates have hitherto been based on the last intercensal increase in the several areas, and adjusted so that the total of the local estimates shall correspond with the estimate for the whole country. As on previous occasions, the Census results have shown many of the estimates for towns to be seriously in error; it is obvious that the more the rate of change of a population in the decennium 1901-1911 has differed from the rate in the preceding decennium, the greater must be the error of the estimate. Notable instances of this among 77 great towns are afforded by Huddersfield, Swansea, and Coventry which increased more rapidly in 1901-1911 than in 1891-1901, with the result that their populations in 1911 were under-estimated by 12.5, 13.8, and 22.9 per cent, respectively; and by Walthamstow, Hornsey, East Ham, and West Hartlepool, which increased less rapidly in 1901-1911 than in 1891-1901, with the result that their populations in 1911 were over-estimated by 17.2, 19.5, 21.2 and 31.3 per cent. respectively.

The over-estimation of the West Hartlepool population led to its death-rate for the 13 weeks ended 1st April, 1911, being stated as 11.4 instead of 15.0, and its birth-rate as 22.5 instead of 29.5. Conversely, owing to the under-estimation of the population of Coventry its true death-rate of 16.0 was stated as 20.7 and its birth-rate of 27.2.as 35.3.

The following is a general summary of the results relating to these 77 towns:—

Number of Towns.	Aggregate Population of Towns.		Error of Estimate for 1911.
15	2,356,857		Under 2½ per cent.
18	2,658,817		2½ per cent. and under 5 per cent.
20*	8,028,133		5 per cent. and under 10 per cent.
15	2,068,368		10 per cent. and under 15 per cent.
6	740,207		15 per cent. and under 20 per cent.
3	305,693		Over 20 per cent.

^* Including London.

The method of estimating by births, deaths and migration is not practicable in the case of portions of the country, since no records are made of internal migration. Other methods of more or less complexity based on local data hare been suggested, and will be considered with a view to the possibility of their adoption. Of the local data which might be used, the best on the whole would appear to be the rate book records if these were kept with a view to showing the number of inhabited tenements in a form more suitable for the purpose.

In the case of the Metropolitan Boroughs, estimates based on data of this kind have been framed for many years for the purpose of the London (Equalization of Rates) Act, 1894, and there is reason to believe that in the course of those years the accuracy of the data has been much increased. These estimates for the year 1910 are on the whole much more nearly consistent with the results of the Census of 1911 than are the estimates prepared by the old method. The total error in the population of London is only about half that by the old method; and in a majority of the Boroughs the separate errors do not reach 5 per cent. of the population. In a few cases, however, the method fails, presumably on account of changes in the housing conditions since the Census of 1901. One of the most noticeable failures is in the case of Wandsworth Borough, the population of which is over-estimated nearly 10 per cent, by a calculation based on inhabited houses and dwellings, while it is almost accurately given by the old method. Other cases of failure are those of the City of Westminster, and the boroughs of Finsbury, Woolwich, Lewisham and Greenwich, in all but the last named of which better results are obtained by the old method. These instances serve to show that the best devised methods for estimating populations of local areas cannot be considered trustworthy in the later years of a decennium, even under the most favourable circumstances. They therefore emphasise the importance of more frequent Census enumerations, not only in the interest of vital statistics and sanitary progress, but also for the purpose of ensuring the proper distribution of public funds when this is to be determined by the number of the population.

London. —Reference to Table IX, page 114, will show that the population of the area now covered by the Administrative County of London had increased in the 100 years 1801-1901 from 959,310 to 4,536,267. The population enumerated at the Census of 1911 numbered 4,522,961, showing for the first time an actual decrease.

In the decennium 1871-1881 the rate of increase had been 17.4 per cent., in the decennium 1881-1891 it fell to 10.4 per cent., in the decennium 1891-1901 it further fell to 7.3 per cent., and in the last intercensal period an actual decrease of 0.3 per cent. took place.

Table J on the next page shows the population enumerated at the three past Censuses in the Administrative County of London, in each Metropolitan Borough and in the City of London: and also the rates of increase and decrease in the two intercensal periods. The figures for 1891 and 1901 relate to the Boroughs as constituted in 1911.

London furnishes the most remarkable instance of decline of population in the central portions of large Cities. Attention has been drawn in previous Census Reports to the gradual decentralisation of its population: it was pointed out that in the centre of London was a group of districts in which the population had long been decreasing, owing to the substitution of business premises, warehouses, &c., for dwelling-houses, that around this central area was a circle of districts the population of which was increasing, the increase, generally speaking, being more marked in the districts furthest removed from the centre, and that outside the County of London, was a zone of suburban districts in which the population was increasing with extraordinary rapidity.

The process of decentralisation, which at first affected the inner districts of London only, has gradually affected a much wider area until in 1901-1911 only nine of the 28 Metropolitan Boroughs showed an increase of population. These Boroughs, which it will be seen are mainly those farthest removed from the centre, are Hampstead, Hackney, Fulham, Hammersmith, Wandsworth, Camberwell, Greenwich, Lewisham, and Woolwich.

TABLE J.

Boroughs arranged in order of their Increase or Decrease, 1901-1911.	POPULATION.			Increase (+) or Decrease (-) per cent. in Intercensal Period.
	1891.	1901.	1911.	Between 1891-1901.	Between 1901-1911.
Administrative County of London	4,227,954	4,536,267	4,522,961	+7.3	-0.3
Wandsworth	155,490	231,922	311,402	+49.2	+34.3
Lewisham	88,933	127,495	160,843	+43.4	+26.2
Fulham	91,790	137,289	153,325	+49.6	+11.7
Hammersmith	97,283	112,239	121,603	+15.4	+8.3
Hampstead	68,126	81,942	85,510	+20.3	+4.4
Woolwich	98,994	117,178	121,403	+18.4	+3.6
Hackney	199,277	219,110	222,587	+10.0	+1.6
Camberwell	233,706	259,339	261,357	+11.0	+0.8
Greenwich	78,493	95,770	95,977	+22.0	+0.2
Battersea	150,166	168,907	167,793	+12.5	-0.7
Deptford	101,770	110,398	109,498	+8.5	-0.8
Paddington	135,955	143,976	142,576	+5.9	-0.1
Stoke Newington	47,988	51,247	50,683	+6.8	-1.1
Bethnal Green	129,123	129,680	128,282	+0.4	-1.1
Lambeth	278,393	301,895	298,126	+8.4	-1.2
Islington	319,155	334,991	327,423	+5.0	-2.3
Kensington	170,071	176,628	172,402	+3.9	-2.4
Bermondsey	136,014	130,760	125,960	-3.9	-3.7
Poplar	166,880	168,822	162,449	+1.2	-3.8
Shoreditch	124,533	118,637	111,463	-4.7	-6.0
Stepney	285,116	298,600	280,024	+4.7	-6.2
Southwark	202,479	206,180	191,951	+1.8	-6.9
St. Pancras	235,345	235,317	218,453	-0.0	-7.2
Chelsea	72,954	73,842	66,404	+1.2	-10.1
St. Marylebone	143,487	133,301	118,221	-7.1	-11.3
Westminister, City of	201,969	183,011	160,277	-9.4	-12.4
Finsbury	109,981	101,463	87,976	-7.7	-13.3
Holborn	66,781	59,405	49,336	-11.0	-16.9
City of London	37,702	26,923	19,657	-28.6	-27.0

Greater London and the Outer Ring. —Outside the Administrative County of London is a wide belt of suburban Towns and Districts conveniently designated the "Outer Ring"; this Outer Ring together with the County of London constitutes "Greater London." It will be seen from the subjoined Table that the inhabitants of Greater London now exceed seven and a quarter millions, and although the growth in the decennium 1901-1911 was less than in the preceding decennia, it amounted to more than 670,000 persons or 10.2 per cent.

In the Outer King, the increase of population had been about 50 per cent, in each of the three intercensal periods between 1861 and 1891, and 45 per cent, in the period 1891-1901. In the last intercensal period it fell to 33 per cent.: this, however, represents a numerical addition of 684,867 persons, an addition greater than that in any previous intercensal period, and considerably more than the entire population of the Outer Ring fifty years ago.

^* Corresponding with the City of London and Metropolitan Police Districts and with the Greater London of the Registrar General's Returns.

TABLE L.

—		Population.			Increase per cent. in Intercensal Period
		1891.	1901.	1911.	1891-1901.	1901-1911.
In SURREY:
Urban Districts with population exceeding 20,000:—
Croydon	C.B.	102,695	133,895	169,559	30.4	26.6
Wimbledon	M.B.	25,777	41,652	54,876	61.6	31.7
Kingston upon Thames	M.B.	27,059	34,375	37,977	27.0	10.5
Richmond	M.B.	26,875	31,672	33,223	17.8	4.9
Barnes	U.D.	14,673	17,821	30,379	21.5	70.5
Sutton	U.D.	13,977	17,223	21,275	23.2	23.5
Other Urban Districts		46,951	57,981	91,426	23.5	57.7
Rural Parishes		37,786	50,024	87,592	32.4	75.1
TOTAL		295,793	384,643	526,307	30.0	36.8
In KENT:
Urban Districts with population exceeding 20,000:—
Bromley	M.B.	21,684	27,397	33,649	26.3	22.8
Beckenham	U.D.	20,707	26,288	31,693	27.0	20.6
Erith	U.D.	13,414	25,296	27,755	88.6	9.7
Penge	U.D.	20,375	22,465	22,331	10.3	-0.6
Other Urban Districts		21,952	27,825	33,057	26.8	18.8
Rural Parishes		18,989	21,795	23,855	14.8	9.5
TOTAL		117,121	151,066	172,340	29.0	14.1
In MIDDLESEX:
Urban Districts with population exceeding 20,000:—
Willesden	U.D.	61,265	114,811	154,267	87.4	34.4
Tottenham	U.D.	71,672	102,703	137,457	43.3	33.8
Hornsey	M.B.	44,523	72,056	84,602	61.8	17.4
Edmonton	U.D.	25,381	46,899	64,820	84.8	38.2
Ealing	M.B.	23,979	33,031	61,235	37.7	85.4
Acton	U.D.	24,206	37,744	57,523	55.9	52.4
Enfield	U.D.	31,536	42,738	56,344	35.5	31.8
Wood Green	U.D.	25,831	34,233	49,372	32.5	44.2
Heston and Isleworth	U.D.	26,004	30,863	43,316	18.7	40.3
Finchley	U.D.	16,647	22,126	39,425	32.9	78.2
Hendon	U.D.	15,843	22,450	38,806	41.7	72.9
Chiswick	U.D.	21,963	29,809	38,705	35.7	29.8
Southgate	U.D.	10,970	14,993	33,613	36.7	124.2
Twickenham	U.D.	16,027	20,991	29,374	31.0	39.9
Southall Norwood	U.D.	7,896	13,200	26,327	67.2	99.4
Other Urban Districts		88,827	116,571	163,370	31.2	40.1
Rural Parishes		30,653	37,258	48,138	21.5	29.2
TOTAL		543,223	792,476	1,126,694	45.9	42.2
In HERTFORDSHIRE:
Urban Districts		29,895	37,431	45,390	25.2	21.3
Rural Districts		6,141	7,305	9,519	19.0	30.3
TOTAL		36,036	44,736	54,909	24.1	22.7
In ESSEX:
Urban Districts with population exceeding 20,000:—
West Ham	C.B.	204,903	267,358	289,102	30.5	8.1
East Ham	M.B.	32,703	96,008	133,504	193.6	39.1
Leyton	U.D.	63,106	98,912	124,736	56.7	26.1
Walthamstow	U.D.	46,346	95,131	124,597	105.3	31.0
Ilford	U.D.	10,922	41,244	78,205	277.6	89.6
Barking Town	U.D.	14,301	21,547	31,302	50.7	45.3
Other Urban Districts		34,880	43,415	57,630	24.5	32.7
Rural Parishes		6,518	8,599	10,676	31.9	24.2
TOTAL		413,679	672,214	849,752	62.5	26.4
Total Urban Districts in Outer Ring		1,305,765	1,920,154	2,550,222	47.1	32.8
Total Rural Parishes in Outer Ring		100,087	124,981	179,780	24.9	43.8
TOTAL OUTER RING		1,405,852	2,045,135	2,730,002	45.5	33.5

Table L on the previous page shows the constitution of the "Outer Ring" by Urban and Rural Districts at each of the last three Censuses, showing separately those Urban Districts with populations in excess of 20,000 in 1911. The figures relate to the areas as constituted at the date of the Census of 1911.

Analysis of the Population Returns for the "Outer Ring" shows that while the population in the towns increased from 1,920,154 in 1901 to 2,550,222 in 1911, the population in the rural portion of the "Outer Ring" increased from 124,981 to 179,780; of this increase of 54,799 no less than 14,591 occurred in the rural parish of Mitcham.

Parliamentary Areas. —The number of members of the House of Commons for the- 468 Parliamentary areas in England and Wales, not including the Universities, being 490, and the enumerated population in England and Wales being 36,075,269, an equal numerical distribution would give one member to 73,623 persons. How far the actual representation departs in either direction from this average is shown in the following Table:—

TABLE M.

Constituencies having the following Population per Representative.	Total Population.	Number of Electors, including Ownership Electors, Occupation Voters, Lodgers, Freemen, and Free- holders, but exclusive of those for the Universities.*	Number of Con- stituencies.	Number of Repre- sentatives.
100,000 and upwards	11,275,644	1,901,703	83	86
90,000 and under 100,000	3,119,909	542,727	33	33
80,000 and under 90,000	4,060,866	676,600	46	48
70,000 and under 80,000	3,952,368	695,037	50	53
60,000 and under 70,000	4,729,832	843,859	70	73
50,000 and under 60,000	4,828,431	918,794	85	88
40,000 and under 50,000	2,739,796	531,274	57	60
30,000 and under 40,000	824,607	151,350	20	23
20,000 and under 30,000	398,674	73,133	16	17
10,000 and under 20,000	125,485	22,251	7	7
Under 10,000 (City of London)	19,657	30,988	1	2
	36,075,269	6,387,716	468	490

^* Furnished by Home Office.

NOTE.— Where an undivided constituency is represented by two members, each member is reckoned in the above Table as representing half the population of the entire constituency, which is classified acordingly.

Of the total population in England and Wales in 1911, 54.4 per cent were resident in Parliamentary counties and 45.6 per cent, in Parliamentary boroughs, while the proportions of electors in these Counties and Boroughs were respectively 58.7 and 41.3 per cent.

There are eight constituencies in which the population per member is under 20,000, viz.:—

The Parliamentary Boroughs of—	Population, 1911.
Durham	15,956
Bury St. Edmunds	16,785
Montgomery (District of Boroughs)	16,814
Penryn and Falmouth	17,624
Whitehaven	18,575
New Windsor	19,840
Salisbury	19,891
City of London (two members)	19,657

On the other hand, there are no fewer than 83 constituencies in which the number of inhabitants per member is 100,000 or more; extreme examples of such are shown in Table N on the next page.

TABLE N.

Boroughs and Divisions of Boroughs.	Population, 1911.	Divisions of Counties.	Population, 1911.
Wandsworth	253,797	Southern or Romford Division   of Essex	312,864
		Harrow Division of Middlesex	247,877
South Division of West Ham	187,285	Southern Western or Walthamstow   Division of Essex	246,807
		Tottenham Division of Middlesex	186,661
Cardiff, District of Boroughs	185,881	Enfield Division of Middlesex	180,100
		Bootle Division of Lancashire	167,528
Croydon	169,559	Eastern Division of Glamorgan-   shire	164,816
Lewisham	160,972	North Eastern or Wimbledon   Division of Surrey	160,203
		Handsworth Division of Stafford-   shire	159,794
Fulham	153,360	Ealing Division of Middlesex	159,727

It may be noted that in 1891 there were only seven constituencies with populations exceeding 100,000; in 1901 the number had risen to 41; and in 1911 it further rose to 83.

Numbers of Families. —The numbers of families or separate occupiers given throughout these Tables are equivalent to the numbers of Schedules collected. For Census purposes, a family may consist of a private household, occupying the whole or part of a house or flat, a lodger or lodgers (not boarding with a family), the inmates collectively of a boarding-house, hotel, club, large business establishment, barrack, institution, ship, &c.

The number of Schedules collected in 1911 was 8,018,857, as compared with 7,036,868 in 1901, an increase of 981,989, or 14.0 per cent. In 1901, the increase from the previous Census was 14.8 per cent., which was considerably greater than that of the population, namely 12.2 per cent.

Sexes. —Of the 36,075,269 persons enumerated in England and Wales in 1911, 17,448,476 were males and 18,626,793 were females. This gives an excess of 1,178,317 females over males, which would, however, be considerably reduced if the English and Welsh members of the Army and Navy and of the Merchant Service abroad were included in the reckoning.

The proportion of females to males in the population of England and Wales was 1,057 to 1,000 in 1801; it then declined Census after Census, though with some irregularity, down to 1851, when it stood at 1,042 to 1,000. But after that a change in the opposite direction set in, and up to 1901 there was a slight but continuous, increase in the proportion of females to males.

The proportion of females to males was the same in 1911 as in 1901, viz., 1,068 to 1,000, but when due allowance is made for the number of males absent on military service in South Africa in the last-named year there is no doubt that the true proportion of females to males was somewhat lower in 1901 than in 1911.

The sex distribution of the population differs very greatly in different parts of the country. The following are the ten Registration Counties in which the proportion of females was lowest and the ten in which it was highest:—

PROPORTION OF FEMALES TO 1,000 MALES.

Lowest.		Highest.
Monmouthshire	912	Sussex	1,218
Glamorganshire	924	Cardiganshire	1,211
Flintshire	967	Cornwall	1,162
Rutlandshire	973	Gloucestershire	1,157
Durham	985	Somersetshire	1,145
Carmarthenshire	987	Middlesex	1,140
Radnorshire	990	Surrey	1,136
Brecknockshire	991	Carnarvonshire	1,128
Denbighshire	1,003	London	1,126
Wiltshire	1,005	Worcestershire	1,117

The United Kingdom. —So far we have dealt with the population in England and Wales, that is to say, that portion of the United Kingdom in which the enumeration was carried out under our superintendence. It will, however, be convenient if we give here a summary of the enumeration as carried out in the United Kingdom as a whole. We are enabled to do this by the courtesy of the Registrars-General for Scotland and Ireland, who furnished us in advance with the provisional figures for those parts of the United Kingdom.

The first complete Census of the United Kingdom was taken in 1821, and the following Tables shows that there has been considerable variation in the intercensal growth of population during the past 90 years.

TABLE O.

Census Year.	POPULATION.*					Increase (+) or Decrease (-) per cent. in each Intercensal Period.
	United King- dom	England	Wales†	Scotland	Ireland	Uni- ted King- dom	Eng- land	Wales	Scot- land	Ire- land
1821	20,893,584	11,281,957	718,279	2,091,521	6,801,827	—	—	—	—	—
1831	24,028,584	13,090,615	806,182	2,364,386	7,767,401	+15.0	+16.0	+12.2	+13.0	+14.2
1841	26,730,929	15,002,250‡	911,898‡	2,620,184	8,196,597	+11.2	+14.6	+13.1	+10.8	+5.5
1851	27,390,629	16,921,972	1,005,637	2,888,742	6,574,278	+2.5	+12.8	+10.3	+10.2	-19.8
1861	28,927,485	18,954,534	1,111,690	3,062,294	5,798,967	+5.6	+12.0	+10.5	+6.0	-11.8
1871	31,484,661	21,495,219	1,217,047	3,360,018	5,412,377	+8.8	+13.4	+9.5	+9.7	-6.7
1881	34,884,848	24,614,001	1,360,438	3,735,573	5,174,836	+10.8	+14.5	+11.8	+11.2	-4.4
1891	37,732,922	27,483,551	1,518,974	4,025,647	4,704,750	+8.2	+11.7	+11.7	+7.8	-9.1
1901	41,458,721	30,807,310	1,720,533	4,472,103	4,458,775	+9.9	+12.1	+13.3	+11.1	-5.2
1911	45,216,665	34,043,076	2,032,193	4,759,445	4,381,951	+9.1	+10.5	+18.1	+6.4	-1.7

^* The figures for 1821 and 1831 are exclusive of the Army, Navy, and Merchant Service at home. This has not been taken into account in computing the rate of increase 1831-1841.

^† For the purpose of this Table the boundaries of the Principality of Wales are taken as defined in the reign of Henry VIII.

^‡ These figures have been proportionately adjusted to include 5,016 persons who were travelling on Railways and Canals on the night of the Census of 1841, but who were not apportioned to Counties in the Census Volume for that year.

As will be seen from the preceding Table the total number of persons returned as living in the United Kingdom at midnight on Sunday, April 2nd, 1911, was 45,216,665. This total shows an increase of 3,757,944 or 9.1 per cent. upon the number returned at the previous enumeration of April, 1901. It will be observed that the rate of increase of population in the United Kingdom in 1901-11 was 0.8 per cent. below that in the previous decennium, due to the fact that neither in England nor in Scotland was the rate of increase so high as in 1891-1901. On the other hand, the growth of population in Wales was greater, and in Ireland the decrease of population was less, than in any of the previous six decennia.

While the populations of England, Wales, and Scotland have shown continuous increases during the past 90 years, that of Ireland, which had risen to over eight millions in 1841, has since that date shown a continuous decrease. The marked variations in the rate of increase of the population of the United Kingdom are largely due to the decrease of population in Ireland. The remarkable fall in the rate of increase in the population of the United Kingdom, viz.: from 11.2 per cent, in 1831-1841 to 2.5 per cent, in 1841-1851 was almost entirely accounted for by the loss in the latter decennium of over one and a half millions of the population of Ireland. The gradual rise in the rate of increase in the population of the United Kingdom in the successive Censuses 1861-1881 was to a large extent due to the fact that the decrease in the population of Ireland, which in 1841-1851 was at the rate of 19.8 per cent., had become less and less in each succeeding decennium, until it fell to 4.4 per cent, in 1871-1881. In the next decennium, however, the proportionate decrease in the population of Ireland rose to 9.1 per cent.: it fell again in 1891-1901 to 5.2 per cent., and further fell to 1.7 per cent, in the last intercensal period, a rate of decrease less than any recorded since 1851.

The following Table shows the proportion per cent. of the population of the United Kingdom in its different divisions at each Census, 1821-1911:-

TABLE P.

—	1821.	1831.	1841.	1851.	1861.	1871.	1881.	1891.	1901.	1911.
England	54.0	54.5	56.1	61.8	65.6	68.2	70.6	72.8	74.3	75.3
Wales	3.4	3.4	3.4	3.7	3.8	3.9	3.9	4.0	4.1	4.5
Scotland	10.0	9.8	9.8	10.5	10.6	10.7	10.7	10.7	10.8	10.5
Ireland	32.6	32.3	30.7	24.0	20.0	17.2	14.8	12.5	10.8	9.7

England now contains over 75 per cent. of the population of the United Kingdom, Scotland rather more and Ireland rather less than 10 per cent., while Wales contains the remaining 4 ½ per cent. In the early part of last century Ireland contained nearly a third of the population of the United Kingdom, but the proportion has steadily declined until at the recent Census it was only 9.7 per cent.

Islands in the British Seas. —The Census in these Islands was taken on the same day as in England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland, and related to all persons alive at midnight on 2nd April, 1911. The Schedules and other necessary documents, after approval by the Secretary of State for the Home Department, were supplied from the English Census Office, while the conduct of the Census was undertaken by the Authorities of the several Islands.

TABLE Q.

Census Year.	ENUMERATED POPULATION.				Increase + or Decrease - per cent. in each Intercensal Period
	Islands in the British Seas.	Isle of Man.	Jersey.	Guernsey and adjacent Islands.	Islands in the British Seas.	Isle of Man.	Jersey.	Guernsey and adjacent Islands.
1821	89,508	40,081	28,600	20,827	—	—	—	—
1831	103,710	41,000	36,582	26,128	+15.9	+2.3	+27.9	+25.5
1841	124,040	47,975	47,544	28,521	+19.6	+17.0	+30.0	+9.2
1851	143,126	52,387	57,020	33,719	+15.4	+9.2	+19.9	+18.2
1861	143,447	52,469	55,613	35,365	+0.2	+0.2	-2.5	+4.9
1871	144,638	54,042	56,627	33,969	+0.8	+3.0	+1.8	-3.9
1881	141,260	53,558	52,445	35,257	-2.3	-0.9	-7.4	+3.8
1891	147,842	55,608	54,518	37,716	+4.7	+3.8	+4.0	+7.0
1901	150,370	54,752	52,576	43,042	+1.7	-1.5	-3.6	+14.1
1911	148,934	52,034	51,093	44,997	-1.0	-5.0	-1.3	+4.5

The aggregate population of the Islands in the British Seas (i.e. Isle of Man and Channel Islands) at the recent Census amounted to 148,934, which was less by 1,436 than the number enumerated in 1901; the decrease in the ten years was only 1 per cent.

Isle of Man. —The population enumerated in the Isle of Man which had been 55,608 in 1891 declined to 54,752 in 1901, and further declined to 52,034 at the recent Census, showing a decrease in the past intercensal period of 5.0 per cent.

Channel Islands. —In Jersey the population decreased from 54,518 in 1891 to 52,576 in 1901, and further decreased to 51,903 in 1911, showing a decrease in the past intercensal period of 1.3 per cent. In Guernsey (including the adjacent islands of Alderney, Sark, Herm, and Jethou) the population which has shown an increase at each succeeding Census since 1871, rose from 43,042 in 1901 to 44,997 in 1911, an increase of 4.5 per cent.

Form of Presentation of Census Results. —Two different methods have been adopted for publishing the results of the more recent Censuses.

These are (1), the issue of volumes each dealing with the whole country, and containing information upon certain subjects only, and (2), the issue of volumes each dealing with a section of the country only, but containing all the information tabulated with regard to that section. Both methods were kept in view in reporting upon the Censuses of 1891 and 1901, but whereas the first method was principally employed in 1891, the second was adopted in 1901. The results of the Census of that year were issued in the form of county volumes, each dealing completely with the returns from a separate county, but with the addition of a volume of Summary Tables presenting a certain amount of the most important information only for the country, as a whole, and of a Report commenting generally upon the results of the Census.

Both methods of publication present very definite advantages, to secure which it appears desirable that each should in large measure be employed. After carefully weighing the advantages of each method as the primary (and principal) form of publication, we have decided to revert to the practice of issuing in the first place volumes relating to the whole country, but dealing with particular subjects only. At a somewhat later date, volumes will be issued which, to meet the convenience of those interested in particular localities only, will relate to separate counties or groups of counties, and will collate the information regarding these from the various subject volumes.

The subject volumes will be divided into two groups, the volumes of the first group dealing severally with the populations of various classes of area, as administrative, poor law and registration, parliamentary and ecclesiastical areas. Each of the volumes of the second group will deal with a separate branch or branches of social statistics, such as age and civil condition, occupation, birth-place, infirmities, housing, and fertility. These statistics will be classified mainly by administrative areas.

Census of the British Empire. —Our final task will be to present a Report on the Census taken this year throughout the British Empire, somewhat on the lines of the Report of the Census of 1901 (Cd. 2660, 1906) which for the first time afforded authoritative statistics for the Empire as a whole. With the object of securing more complete and uniform information than was available on that occasion, we entered into communication with, the Colonial Office more than two years ago; and great care has been taken to impress upon the Governments of the various Dominions, Colonies and Protectorates the desirability of a Census of some kind being taken, as far as possible simultaneously, in every part of the Empire, to direct attention to the subjects which are of importance in an imperial comparison, and to supply suggestions and instructions applicable to special conditions. We hope that the effect of these measures will be both to facilitate the preparation of the Report and to increase its usefulness and interest.

We have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your most obedient Servants,

BERNARD MALLET, Registrar-General.
A.C. WATERS.
T. H. C. STEVENSON.

ARCHER BELLINGHAM, Secretary.

T. A. SAUNDERS,
J. W. READING, Assistant Secretaries.

---

¹ See also pages xii and xiii.

² Including the Administrative County of London, which for the purpose of this section is reckoned as one district.

Previous Selection