Poverty in St Mary Bishophill Junior Parish – Analysis of census data 1841

Our research project explores mid-nineteenth poverty locally, focusing on St Mary Bishophill Junior (SMBJ) parish. This includes streets outside the City Walls such as Dale Street, Dove Street and Swann Street. The pilot project focuses on the period 1839-43 . An analysis of 1841 census data gives a picture of whose who lived in these three streets, their households and  work.

People  in Dale Street, Dove Street and Swann Street

The General Register Office in 1841 required ages of adults to be rounded down to the nearest five years.

Adults
Age	Males	Females
80	3	2
75	2	4
70	4	4
65	4	6
60	10	9
55	3	7
50	12	11
45	9	10
40	13	22
35	17	15
30	28	29
25	31	32
20	30	24
15	20	30
	186	205

 

Children
Age	Boys	Girls
14	11	3
13	8	2
12	7	11
11	6	4
10	9	4
9	8	8
8	10	8
7	12	6
6	11	6
5	16	8
4	6	6
3	10	13
2	17	8
1	9	13
Under 1 yr	13	10
	153	110

Total number of adults is 391. Men make up 47.6% and women 52.4%. Children (ie under the age of 15)) total 263, of whom 58.2% are male and 41.8%  female.  Gender breakdown overall (adults and children): 339 males (51.8%) and 315 females (48.2%).  Thus women outnumber men in the adult figures but boys markedly outnumber girls and skew the overall balance.

The distribution between men and women is broadly similar in the different age bands with the exception of women outnumbering men  to a significant degree at the ages of 55, 40, 20 and 15. 

Household composition

Each Schedule entry represents one property but may include several households.  This is the case when people sublet rooms. 

	No of people recorded	No of properties	No of households	Households per property	People per property	People per household
Dale Street	247	63	79	1.25	3.92	3.13
Swann Street	240	41	68	1.66	5.85	3.53
Dove Street	167	35	62	1.77	4.77	2.69
Totals	654	139	209	1.50	4.71	3.13

 This shows that while there were more households per property in Dove Street, there was a higher overall density of occupation per house in Swann Street.

HH's per property	1	2	3	4	5	Total	Total HHs
Dale Street	51	9	2	1	0	63	79
Swann Street	25	9	4	2	1	41	68
Dove Street	14	16	4	1	0	35	62
Total	90	34	10	4	1	139	209

 This shows that a third of houses are in multiple occupation.

 Occupation – Men

Classification	Occupations listed	No	%
Agriculture/Animal handling/Horticulture (A)	Cow keeper, Farmer, Gardener, Gardener J., Livery stable keeper, Miller, Ostler, Woodman	16	8.8
Clerical (Cl)	Attorney's Clerk, Bank Clerk, Clerk, Merchant's Clerk	8	4.4
Construction (Co)	Bricklayer, Hammerman, Joiner, Joiner J., Painter J., Painter's Ap., Sawyer, Slater J., Slater's Ap., Stone mason	21	11.6
Domestic service/Hospitality (D)	Lodging House Keeper, Male Servant, Servant, Waiter	7	3.9
Food/Drink (Fd)	Baker, Brewery J., Butcher, Confectioner's Ap.	4	2.2
Labourer (L)	Labourer	21	11.6
Manufacturing (M)	Bookbinder J., Cabinet M. Ap., Cabinet Maker, Cabinet Maker J., Carver & Guilder, Carver & Guilder Ap., Chair Maker J., Chair Maker's ap., Coach Maker J., Comb Maker, Comb Maker J., Flax Dresser, Gig Maker Ap., Lace Weaver J., Plane Maker, Plane Maker J., Printer Ap., Printer J. , Saddler, Shoe Maker, Silversmith J., Tailor, Whitesmith J., Whitesmith's Ap., Wood-turner	44	24.3
Professional  (P)	Accountant, Catholic Priest, Civil Engineer, Civil Engineer Assistant, Engineer, School Master, Surveyor, Wesleyan Minister	20	11
Retail (R)	Commercial Traveller, Draper, Druggist, Law Stationer, Porter Merchant	9	5
Transport (T)	Assistant on Railway, Carrier's Ap., Carter, Coachman, Engine Cleaner, Engine Driver, Engine Fitter, Mariner, Plate Layer on Railway, Porter, Railway Clerk, Railway Guard, Railway Police, Railway porter, Waterman	20	11
Miscellaneous incl independent means	Gas Lighter, Ind.	11	6.1
		181	99.9

11 men have no occupation listed.  Ten are shown as having independent means, nine of whom over 60. In the table below J refers to journeymen, and Ap to apprentice.

	Dale Street	Dove Street	Swann Street	Total	Classn	Sub total
Cow keeper			1	1	A
Farmer		2		2	A
Gardener	2		2	4	A
Gardener J.			2	2	A
Livery stable keeper	1			1	A
Miller	3			3	A
Ostler			2	2	A
Woodman			1	1	A
	6	2	8			16
Attorney's clerk		1		1	Cl
Bank clerk		1		1	Cl
Clerk	1	2	2	5	Cl
Merchant's clerk	1			1	Cl
	2	4	2			8
Bricklayer	4			4	Co
Hammerman	1			1	Co
Joiner	3	1		4	Co
Joiner J.			5	5	Co
Painter J.			1	1	Co
Painter's Ap.	1		1	2	Co
Sawyer	1			1	Co
Slater J.		1		1	Co
Slater's Ap.		1		1	Co
Stone mason			1	1	Co
	10	3	8			21
Lodging house keeper	1			1	D
Male servant	2		1	3	D
Servant	1			1	D
Waiter	2			2	D
	6	0	1			7
Baker	1			1	FD
Brewery J.	1			1	FD
Butcher		1		1	FD
Confectioner's Ap.			1	1	FD
	2	1	1			4
Labourer	11	1	9	21	L
	11	1	9			21
Bookbinder J.		1		1	M
Cabinet M. Ap.	2		3	5	M
Cabinet Maker		1		1	M
Cabinet maker J.			1	1	M
Carver & guilder	1			1	M
Carver & guilder Ap.			2	2	M
Chair maker J.			1	1	M
Chair maker's ap.	1			1	M
Coach maker J.		1		1	M
Comb maker	6	2	3	11	M
Comb maker J.			1	1	M
Flax dresser	1			1	M
Gig maker Ap.	1			1	M
Lace weaver J.			1	1	M
Plane maker		1		1	M
Plane maker J.			1	1	M
Printer Ap.		1	1	2	M
Printer J.			1	1	M
Saddler			1	1	M
Shoe maker	1	1	1	3	M
Shoemaker			1	1	M
Silversmith J.		1		1	M
Tailor			1	1	M
Whitesmith J.			1	1	M
Whitesmith's Ap.			1	1	M
Wood-turner		1		1	M
	13	10	21			44
Gas lighter			1	1	Misc
Ind.	3	3	4	10	Misc
	3	3	5			11
Accountant		2		2	P
Catholic priest		1		1	P
Civil engineer	1	1		2	P
Civil engineer assistant		2		2	P
Engineer	4	2	3	9	P
School master		1		1	P
Surveyor		1	1	2	P
Wesleyan Minister	1			1	P
	6	10	4			20
Commercial traveller		4		4	R
Draper	1			1	R
Druggist	1		1	2	R
Law stationer	1			1	R
Porter merchant		1		1	R
	3	5	1			9
Assistant on railway		1		1	T
Carrier's Ap.	1			1	T
Carter			1	1	T
Coachman	1			1	T
Engine cleaner			1	1	T
Engine driver			3	3	T
Engine fitter			2	2	T
Mariner	1		1	2	T
Plate layer on railway	1			1	T
Porter	1			1	T
Railway clerk		1		1	T
Railway guard	1		1	2	T
Railway police	1			1	T
Railway porter	1			1	T
Waterman		1		1	T
	8	3	9	181		20

50% of Professionals but only 15% of Transport workers and 5% of Labourers live in Dove Street.  Given  Dove Street has the smallest number of houses of the three streets, this might suggest  the houses were more upmarket. 

48% of men engaged in Manufacture live in Swann Street.

53% of Apprentices and 75% of Journeymen live in Swann Street.

Apprentices	Dale Street	Dove Street	Swann Street	Total	Classn
Painter's Ap.	1		1	2	Co
Slater's Ap.		1		1	Co
Confectioner's  Ap.			1	1	FD
Cabinet M. Ap.	2		3	5	M
Carver & guilder Ap.			2	2	M
Chair maker's Ap.	1			1	M
Gig maker Ap.	1			1	M
Printer Ap.		1	1	2	M
Whitesmith's Ap.			1	1	M
Carrier's Ap.	1			1	T
	6	2	9	17

The Apprentices above are all aged 15 or over. 

The census also shows five 14 year olds and one 13 year old in employment.  Five are Apprentices (three Cabinet Makers, one Slater and one Whitesmith) and one is an Attorney’s Clerk.  They are not included in above table.

Journeymen	Dale Street	Dove Street	Swann Street	Total	Classn
Gardener J.			2	2	A
Joiner J.			5	5	Co
Painter J.			1	1	Co
Slater J.		1		1	Co
Brewery J.	1			1	FD
Bookbinder J.		1		1	M
Cabinet maker J.			1	1	M
Chair maker J.			1	1	M
Coach maker J.		1		1	M
Comb maker J.			1	1	M
Lace weaver J.			1	1	M
Plane maker J.			1	1	M
Printer J.			1	1	M
Silversmith J.		1		1	M
Whitesmith J.			1	1	M
	1	4	15	20

Occupation - Women

Only 29 women are shown as working and 15 have independent means.  Eight of these are over 60 and the age range for the remainder is between 25 and 55.  There is a  narrow spread of occupations with  seven dressmakers, nine female servants and eight engaged in laundry work.  Of the remainder there is a cane worker, a cook, a milliner, a school teacher and a seamstress.  These figures are almost certainly a gross underestimate of the number of women  with occupations. Edward Higgs writes:

There is a growing body of evidence which indicates problems with the recording of the work of women in the censuses. Women often worked for pay on a casual or part-time bsasis, and this labour often does not appear to have found its way into the returns as an 'occupation'. There are also the inevitable problems of how one treats the work of women in the home. Was such work an 'occupation', or 'merely' housework? This is especially serious when, as very common in the ninetennth century, the home was a place of production of articles or services for sale, such as lodging houses, inns, farms and shops. Some forms of remunerative activity, such as prostitution, often went unrecorded. The exact economic and social position of domestic servants also causes some problems.' (Higgs, 1996).