Census Comment:
Tatham 1801-1901

INTRODUCTION

Censuses have been carried out in this area every 10 years since 1801, with the exception of 1941. The first four, 1801-1831, were little more than head counts whereas subsequent state organised censuses named every individual and gave information on age, sex, marital status, occupation and place of birth, although differing in additional detail. Because of a 100 y confidentiality rule the census records are only available up to 1901.

The 1841 and later census surveys were carried out on a prescribed date by locally appointed enumerators, who recorded for every house the “name of each person who abode therein the preceding night”, their details being entered on a standard form. This task was organised on a Parish basis, with individual enumerators responsible for different sections: 2 covering Tatham Fells and 1 Lower Tatham (& 1 for Botton). Unfortunately, the division between the Fells and Lower sectors was not consistent and several places can appear in either. The confusion may even have led to the exclusion of Oxenforth Green from the 1861 census (unless uninhabited & unnamed)! The spreadsheets presented here have been based on copies of the original enumerator forms.

For this purpose, the original data have been interpreted and edited to some extent. As in the forms, the house is the primary parameter, usually named, except where a hamlet name is used for all or most houses as in all but the latest censuses, i.e. Lowgill & Millhouses (also no names are given for Botton in 1841). In the forms, the houses are dealt with in an order suited to a ride or walk around the area; in the spreadsheet they are alphabetical. The secondary parameter is the identity of the head of household. Everyone else in the household is listed below this person and, after the 1841 census, their relationship to the head is spelt out. More than one household may reside in a house, being identified by their heads.

The spreadsheets suffer from illegibility in the original handwriting, later marks made by persons counting the data, and inconsistent spelling, as well as typing errors (no guarantee is given of the accuracy of the spreadsheet data). Recognised uncertainties are indicated by question marks. The original spellings of places and persons are retained (usually). A spreadsheet giving the changes in house names from 1786-1901 is provided also, including information from early maps.

ANALYSIS

Population

The Statistics page summarises the information for each census year for the parish, its two divisions and the two hamlets within these, Lowgill & Millhouses, and for the Botton division of Wray Parish. The original data have been corrected to allow for the disagreement in the division’s boundaries, based on the practice used in early 19th century tithe payments, i.e. Oxenforth (Oxenfirth) Green and Thimble Hall (Cowkins) are in the Fells division and Ridges (Riggs), Mashiters (Misters) & Moorside in the Lower.

From 1841 to 1901, the data record the decline of about a third in the population of Tatham Parish and its divisions and a smaller decline of a qurter to one fifth in the number of families. Overall, these undoubtedly reflect the combined effects of decreasing viability of traditional industries and increased employment opportunities in industrial Lancashire. They show that the decline was due both to loss of households and to smaller household units, the latter probably resulting from both migration of family members and fewer births. Male and female numbers show the same trend and there is no difference between the two parish divisions. In contrast, the smaller, entirely farming based population of Botton has been relatively stable over this period, with a small net gain.

Inclusion of pre-1841 and post-1901 census data, for which gross population figures have been published, shows that the trend identified above was part of a long lasting decline which began after 1821, when population seems to have peaked, and ended around 1891. However, the earliest censuses, with cruder methodologies, may be under-estimates. From 1891 to 1951, the population was stable, followed by a second decline lasting up to at least 1971 (data missing here). This was probably due to increasing economic opportunities elsewhere coupled with the reduction of farm labour with increasing mechanisation. The final upturn is due the reverse migration of households into rural areas as economic factors allow car-borne commuting into neighbouring urban areas. In the pre-1871 period, there is a marked excess of males over females. Possible reasons for this might be a change in death rates due to childbirth, with better medical practice reducing the gender disparity after that time. Alternatively, it might be differential migration rates, with males more likely to be retained on farms in the earlier period.

Housing

The inhabited house numbers reflect the changing population numbers, with an overall decline of a third from 1821 for Tatham Parish. The total housing stock (inhabited & uninhabited) in 1821 was apparently 163 houses, reducing by a third to 112 in 1901. This indicates that houses were removed from the stock as demand decreased: by demolition (e.g. cottages at Lowgill and, at a later date, Balshaw farm); dereliction (e.g. Crossing or Railway Cottages, Lower Tatham); conversion to farm use (e.g. Higher Craggs farm) or incorporation in another house (e.g. Farr House farm ?). There is also some evidence of a peak in the demand for housing, with a farm building at Lowgill (Peat House) being converted to a dwelling by addition of fireplaces and flues in the gable walls on 2 floors, to be later returned to farm use. A more unusual example of flexible building use is the conversion of the redundant colliery beam engine house (Clintsfield) into a house, briefly occupied around 1861 before becoming derelict.

With c. 166 houses in 2001, the housing stock has now regained the level of the 1821 peak, achieved by the widespread conversion of redundant farm buildings and farmhouses, and some new building. Notably, although increasing recently, the population remains half that of 1821, reflecting the much smaller family units of today. In contrast, the Botton house numbers varied only slightly, with no net change over the whole period, again reflecting the stability of that community.

Economy

As a rural parish, it is to be expected that economic support of the population of Tatham was predominantly the farming sector. The details for 1851 and 1891(see figures.) showed the this contribution to vary between 78 – 94 %.

The composition of households in the farming sector in 1851 is illustrated for Tatham Fells. The majority of the population concerned lived on the farm (95 %), with just half of it being the full-time labour force made up of family members, i.e. from 14-15 year old children to retirement age adults, with only a small addition provided by servants. Although not yet legally required, younger children were usually at school from 5 – 14 y, i.e. ‘scholars’ in the census returns. Adult offspring (+ 21 y), usually unmarried, were often present, as were siblings of the household head, especially when this was a widower or widow. The last was often the case with a large young family or a large-sized holding.

Trades provided another source of income. These were of two broad categories: individual skilled craftsmen who supplied a local market (indirectly supported by farming) and, secondly, those, working in small scale industry supplying external markets. There was, of course, probably an overlap, with craftsmen producing a surplus for external sale. Both categories were based on local raw materials.

For example, at Tatham Fell (mainly Lowgill) in 1851, local craftsmen included: blacksmith; cooper, cartwright / wheelwright; carpenter / joiner, stone mason, tailor, dressmaker, clogger, shoemaker / cordwainer. However, a single bobbin maker at Tatham Mill was certainly supplying an external market and some craft production may have been for such markets, e.g. footware. However, by 1891, these trades had virtually disappeared, due to competition with industrial producers elsewhere in northern England, facilitated by the railways.

In Lower Tatham, in 1851, the sizeable Trade sector was largely due to the existence of the Bobbin Mill at Millhouses (17 workers). A single coal miner represents the last stages of an earlier local industry in the area. The only other craft trade not listed for Tatham Fells is weaving. By 1891, there was some decline in this sector. The Mill was still operating for woodturning, with fewer workers, but additional employment was now available outside the parish at the nearby Wray silk mill.

The Independent economic sector included those initially recorded as Landed Proprietors (living on rents) or Annuitants (on savings, retired or otherwise) and later as Living on Own Means. A single example of a Pauper (on charity) in Lower Tatham in 1851 also falls in this category.

The Other sector includes those supported by incomes from professional or non-professional services to the community. Professionals, in 1851 & 1901, mainly consisted of those connected with the church and education, with the addition of a barrister and a civil engineer. The non-professional services, comprising both employed and self-employed, become more diverse in 1901 than 1851, as well as being more concentrated in Lower Tatham than in Tatham Fells. For example, they include: innkeepers; alcohol merchant; coal agent; road and, latterly, rail workers (station master, porter, rail labourers); gardener; groom; horsebreaker; gamekeeper; charwoman.

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