Hebden Township Historical Data

Hebden Census 1841 - Age Profiles

It is worth pointing out that there is probably an imprecision in the recorded ages - thus, for example, of all the 210 ages of 20 years or over, only 11 are not given as a multiple of 5. The following chart shows the age range distribution in the population. It is worth noting that over 30% of the population were aged under 10.

The following chart shows the percentage of the population over a given age. It gives an indication of mortality rates and life expectancy. The indication from these figure is that only 50% of the population beyond the age of 16.

Hebden Census 1841 - Surnames

A number of family names dominate the census, with five surnames being shared by a third of the population. The following surnames occur ten or more times in the census. This table can be sorted by clicking on a column heading.

Surname Number
Baines 10
Birch 40
Bowdin 10
Bramley 11
Brown 18
Hammond 10
Hardacre 21
Hargrave 10
Hodgson 13
Joy 35
Lambert 11
Parker 12
Rodell 11
Walker 12
Whitacre(s) 36
Wiggin 24
Worsley 10

Hebden Census 1841 - Employment

On the whole, it appears that the employment for most of the Hebden population was not recorded in this census, but some deductions can be made. The dominant employee was the lead mining industry, with 43 people recorded as working as miners, ore dressers, and smelters. There were no mining in the Hebden Royalty at the time, so people would have been commuting to Grassington Moor or Appletreewick. Daniel Bowdin, who lived in the village, was one of the Duke of Devonshire's mine agents. Farming is the next most important employer, with 26 people recording their occupation as farming, and four as agricultural labourers. Ten people are recorded as being cotton workers, presumably employed in the cotton mill built in 1791 down by the corn mill, which employed four people. Twelve people are recorded as working as servants, and 15 as living on their own means.

Employment Number
Agricultural labourer 4
Blacksmith 2
Carpenter 3
Coal miner 1
Corn miller 4
Cotton spinner 9
Cotton weaver 1
Dress maker 3
Farmer 26
Female servant 7
Independent means 15
Labourer 10
Lead miner 28
Lead ore dresser 8
Lead ore smelter 6
Male servant 5
Mine agent 1
Publican and inn keeper 1
Shop keeper 1
Stone mason 1
Washer woman 1
Wool comber 2
Worsted weaver 4