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

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.

This census is the first census that lists names, ages and place of birth. The main place of employment was at the local collery and occupations connected with farming.

Ballgreen was a mining village in a quite rural district to the north of Stoke-on-Trent. As a result, the vast majority of residents were employed within the mining industry. In many families three generations were employed including grandparents.

In this census of 1901, there have been huge increases in the number of residents over the previous ten years amounting to 449. The whole community has changed with the demand for coal increasing but how many other occupations have arrived and what about the community facilities such as schoolteachers, shop keepers and publicans. How have these changed the community landscape.
It is an interesting document to use along with other census returns to both follow families throughout 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.