cen 9 1861 census Ball Green, Stoke-on-Trent

The 1871 census follows on with this study of Ball Green, its family relationship as well as its relationship with itself as the majority worked together in the local coal mine.

It is interesting to use along with the other census returns to both follow families throughout time and also to obtain a visual of how and when other occupations started to appear in the village. Make a good project for a local history group or local school to draw conclusions.

The 1851 is the first census that is reliable especially regarding the ages, even so many parents had no idea how old their children were as birthdays were not celebrated as they are now.
Not only useful for family research, but this census gives an insight to the very nature of workhouses, the break-up of families just to survive. A study of each location of birth gives data regarding areas of poverty or unemployment. Other areas can be identified as wealthy. The grouping of ages also gives remarkable results for students of humanities. Lastly the gender balance in certain areas can be identified.

The 1911 census for the Spittals workhouse contains in excess of 700 inmates, a huge number the care for and to provide meals each day. The burden upon the local community was huge and with constant problems to manage.
The listing in this excel report is a further valuable contribution for those wishing to study the returns each year and as 1911 was almost at the hight of the industrial revolution and therefore the numbers fail to reflect that.
Viewing this return firstly using the age listing can easily locate the young from the old and importantly those of working age to enable a graph illustrating the difficulties in society. The same applies to the place of birth whereby setting a radius around stoke at every 10 or 20 miles to ascertain there most are coming from. There is no end to the illustrations of life in 1911. A further example of the work that can be done with facts and figures.