Occupations in Beeston, March 1851

The table reveals a number of interesting facts relating to the pattern of employment in Beeston in 1851:

• The female population outnumbers the male population by almost 10%
• 64% of the working population is working in the textile industry (60% of working males, 71% of working females)
• 25% of the working population is working in the lace industry (30% of working males, 17% of working females)
• 50% of household heads are working in textiles, 25% of them in the lace industry
• Hosiery and glove knitting still employs 16% of the working population
• Less than 8% of the working population are employed in agriculture and horticulture combined
• 37% of married women are employed, overwhelmingly in the textile industry

In is also noted that the above analysis, whilst broadly similar, differs in detail to that presented as Appendix Nine in "The Beeston Story"¹⁷. In particular, that source found a total working population of 1,670 in the 1851 Census. This difference of approximately 3.4% is unexplained.

Behind these overall facts - which themselves beg many questions - we might expect to be able to discover evidence relating to industry trends, the effect of immigration and emigration on the workforce and of social trends - including the employment of women and children. Later, we would hope to study more detailed social trends, such as birth and death rates, family size, etc.

As a start, we have prepared a breakdown of the population by gender and age. To view, choose each of the following options:


Click to view our analysis of the Male Population in 1851 by Age and Occupational Groupings

Click to view our analysis of the Female Population by Age and Occupational Groupings

Click to view a Similar Analysis for the 1861 Census
or
Return to the Top of this Page

Notes on Methods :This analysis of the 1851 Beeston census has been prepared from the author's database of Beeston database which includes transcriptions of all available censuses. The author's own industry and occupational classifications have been used; these attempt to present an analysis based, wherever possible, entirely on industrial groupings and without, for example, considerations of social class¹⁴; in particular, ancillary workers (such as factory engine drivers, clerks, managers, etc) have been included in the respective industry totals as it is felt that this reflects more accurately the effect of that industry on the local economy - although the numbers involved are relatively small. Another example of the effect of this is that station masters, railway engine drivers, railway booking clerks and station porters would all be classified in the "Transport:Railway" as they all contribute to running the railway and are working in that role because of the existence of that railway. In particular, the analysis attempts to avoid factors relating to social class - such as those included to some degree by Tillott¹⁵ and by Armstrong¹⁶ in studies elsewhere. Analysis by this dimension will be attempted separately at another time.

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Notes on occupation groupings
¹Includes masons, architects, bricklayers, plumbers, joiners, painters, etc and their apprentices
²Includes gamekeepers, veterinaries, land surveyors, etc
³Labourers not identifiable to a specific industry
⁴Included to quantify a major industry not present before about 1875
⁵Includes brickyard workers
⁶Includes clerks & bookkeepers (except those associated with specific industries), insurance workers, bankers, house agents, etc
⁷Includes local and state officials, military, police, firemen, tax collectors, etc
⁸Includes hairdressers, chimney sweeps, piano tuners and others performing services for individuals.
⁹Includes winders, etc who may be more specifically part of the lace industry
¹⁰Those making gloves and similar products, usually on knitting frames; an extension of the hosiery industry
¹¹Includes blacksmiths, shoemakers, cabinet makers, saddlers, printers, tinsmiths, etc and their apprentices
¹²Includes tailors, dressmakers, bonnet makers, stay makers, shirt makers, etc
¹³Living on personal wealth, annuities, share and property income, etc

Source References
¹⁴Similar to that used by Charles Booth, in 1886 for his social survey, Life and Labour of the People of London - but with much less detail and with an emphasis relative to local occupations.
¹⁵P. M. Tillott - who devised a classification used in census analysis by extra-mural classes in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire in the 1960s
¹⁶Alan Armstrong, Stability and Change in an English County Town - A Social Study of York 1801-51, Cambridge University Press
¹⁷Margaret Cooper, The Beeston Story, Nottinghamshire County Council Leisure Services, 1996, page 86

© David Hallam - 2008