This page mainly shows how the population and household number of Seaton Ross changed between 1841 and 2011 based on census data. Censuses of Seaton Ross were also carried out between 1801 and 1831, but only numbers were counted, not names. However, this first graph shows data for the whole parish from a wider period, combined from the ‘Vision of Britain through Time‘ website and other sources (lighter blue) and our analysis of the census data (darker blue).
Note the discrepancy between the data sets for 1861 – 1881. We can guarantee the correctness of the darker blue data set taken from the census for this period.
The population of the parish during the early part of the 19th century, when enclosure of the common was completed, rose from under 400 to around 550, slowed by 1841 and stayed constant for about four decades. The subsequent decrease is likely to be a result of the agricultural depression of the 1880s when many left the land. The population levelled out in the 1890s at 350 – 400 and had not grown as late as the 1960s. Today the population is back at around 550 but with a much larger number of (smaller) households than in the 19th century.
Focus on 1841-1911 (Census Analysis)
These next graphs show the population (left) and the number of households (right) in Seaton Ross parish by year. The Village is shown in blue and the additional population outside the village in green. The number of households is also broken down a little further into farms and other households outside the village. The population dips after 1871, but more than the number of households – in both cases this seems to be mainly in the village.
The actual number of houses does reduce but nothing like as much as the households – some houses were knocked down – based on comparing 1851 and 1891 maps – but there are also quite a few unoccupied houses identified in later censuses. It’s hard to interpret, but it also looks as though there was multiple occupancy in some houses in the earlier part of the period.
The next graphs are histograms showing much the same data in a slightly different form. This time the focus on the left is on the parish population and on the right the village population. The same decrease is seen after 1871.
Having both population and the numbers of households, we can of course calculate the changes in household size and this is shown in the next graph. This shows a fairly steady reduction in sizes of households – almost certainly from there being less children in the home. Households in the village are smaller than in the parish as a whole – presumably because farmhouses are larger and hold more people – many being boarders.
Finally we look at this data with the children separated out, to show the changes in the adult population (here identified as aged 16y and over). On the left is the actual population (0-8 years, 8-16 years and over 16 years) and on the right the proportions. This show (left) that the adult population does not fluctuate as much as the total, so at least some of the change in parish/village population is likely to be from there being fewer children which in turn is related to lower infant mortality. The proportion of adults rises from just over 50% to just over 60% during this period (right).
