Parwich Parish in the 1840's: Some Statistics

Peter Trewhitt

In 1841, the first Government Census took place that listed each individual in each Parish. The Deeds/Buildings Sub-group of the Parwich and District Local History Society has been looking at the Census for the Nineteenth Century as part of their collection of information on the history and development of the houses in Parwich.

Tithe Map

In 1843, there was a Tithe Map prepared for Parwich. Tithes were money each person paid towards the upkeep of the parish priest (though usually only part of the tithes ended up in church coffers or with the priest in by this date). The Tithe Map is a list of everyone who owned land or was a tenant of land or houses in a parish. By combining information from both the Census and the Tithe Map, we can find out a lot about the parish in the early 1840's.

The Census

There were some 531 people in the parish on the night of the Census. Two of these were visitors: Mary Taylor and her infant child staying with the Kirkhams at Blanche Meadow. It is not clear how many people who were normally resident in Parwich were away that night. Nevertheless we can say that there were around 530 people living in the parish in 1841, which is not very different from the present (approximately 520 people today). Also, there were some 109 households, which means there was an average of 5 people per household. There were only 3 one person, and 12 two person households. The majority of one and two person households contained people aged over 60. This contrasts with the largest household, which was Hawkslow Farm inhabited by Thomas Gould (famer) and his wife, their 4 children and 5 servants. It is probable that the servants were farm workers rather than employed about the house.

There are more houses today (202, excluding holiday cottages), and fewer people per household (average 2.5). This is in part due to the lack of servants. In 1841, if we exclude servants, the average household was 4 people. The difference in household size may be due not so much to fewer children now, as to more people living in one and two people households. In 1841, fewer people chose to, or could afford to live by themselves or as a couple.

At the time the 1841 Census was taken, the youngest child in the parish was Eliza Smith, 3 days old and living at Orchard View. The oldest person was John Millward, a 90 year old agricultural labourer, living in Creamery Land. There was the mixture of ages we still have in the village today, with no age group domnating. The shorter life expectancy can be seen, however, in the smaller numbers of people aged over 40.

In 1841, the Census tells us whether or not each person was born in Derbyshire, but unlike the later Censuses, does not give a place of birth. Some 40 individuals were born outside Derbyshire, which is approximately 8% of the population. From later Censuses we see that the person who had come the furthest was Mrs Harriet Sin, wife of the Vicar, living at the Hall. She was born in Cape Town. Also, from a later Census, we see that many of the residents born in Derbyshire were from neighbouring towns and villages. The list below gives the surnames on the census.
Names

The number of surnames we find is surprising, especially the number occuring only once (40%) or twice (10%). The majority of those with such surnames are servants. This suggests that there was a lot of moving for work. However, a small number of presumably interrelated families with names that are connected with Parwich back to the sixteenth century and beyond from the majority of the population. 15 surnames account for 54% of the population.

Surnames from Parwich 1841 Census:

There are some problems interpreting the occupation of everyone on the Census, as generally only the occupation of the head of the household and of the servants is given. There are, for example, a number of farming households where there are adult children with no listed occupation. In these situations it must be highly likely that these children are employed on the farm.

The pattern of employment was very different from what it is today. The largest single occupation is 'servant', but it is likely that as most of the servants are employed in farming households, their work primarily relates to the farm. The Vicar, living in the Hall, only employs three servants. Many farmers employ three or four servants. For the under twenties, being a servant is the most common form of employment, except where they were working for their parents. Children started work as young as 9 or 10.

Taking farm servants into account, agriculture was by far the largest source of employment, involving more than 50% directly. The occupation I was not expecting was 'chair bottomer'. Would this be making straw seats on wooden chair frames? This seems very specialised for a smallish village. The Crown and The Wheatsheaf both have publicans listed, but the Sycamore has a brewer and a valuor listed but no publican. There is a mystery in that I have no idea what a 'JI' is: this seems to be what is listed under the occupation of James Webster living at The Mount, with his father who was a butcher.

St. Peter's church, Parwich