Kirkby Malhamdale Population

Monarchs and their Governments have always wanted to assess the population in some way or other, whether it was to check the potential to gather tax revenue, see what manpower was available for war, view the population trends or verify the skills base of the work force. Governments like their statistics and there is nothing like a survey or census to provide plenty of facts to keep the civil service number crunchers busy.
The modern census was first proposed in 1753, the act passed by Parliament in 1800 and the first official Census was instigated on 10 March 1801, however until 1841 it was purely statistical and held no personal information. The years which provide personal information are subject to a 100 year closure rule so only the years 1841-1901 are currently available. However the population statistics which allow you to see the growth/decline of a population are made publicly available soon after the census is taken, and it is these figures which are reproduced here.
There are many interesting population movements to be seen in these figures and the trends they show could well be worth investigating further. For instance the numbers of inhabitants on Malham Moor peak during the time it was owned by Walter Morrison, possibly indicating the high staffing level on his estate or its prosperity at the time. The Cotton, and later silk, mill near Coniston Cold created much employment and led to the building of Bell Busk village. You can see the large population at the start of the 19th century, mainly workers at the thriving cotton mill, this declines toward the middle of the century to a low in 1861, the time of the Cotton Famine caused by the American Civil War. After turning to silk spinning its fortunes picked up until the mill closed causing a 50% slump in the population recorded in the 1901 census. Kirkby Malham's population was swelled by workers at Scalegill cotton Mill, as was Airton's, whilst in the other townships have populations which changed little. Population figures are going up again, depite fewer people sharing a dwelling, as new houses are built and barns converted.
Population statistics are not as dull as they may seem, when looked at in the context of local history.

* Figure probably inflated by a large number of guests at Newfield Hall

You can find out much more information from the data in the census returns, for instance the number of dwellings occupied by the current population, the number of people sharing dwellings can be quite high and many dwellings were just a couple of rooms. A reduction in the population could leave many vacant properties, just one of the many things you can investigate using the detailed census statistics for a township.
If you want to investigate the statistics for a particualr township in more detail, then the A Vision of Britain through Time website is a good place to start and the links below will take you direct to the relevant pages of their website.

	Malham Moor
	Malham
	Kirkby Malham
	Hanlith
	Scosthrop
	Airton
	Calton
	Otterburn
	Coniston Cold
	Eshton
	Flasby with Winterburn
	Bordley

We also have many other resources on the website which are good indications of the population, including full census transcripts for some townships; other resources may refer to the number of dwellings or eligible citizens, but they can often be usefully expanded to provide a good idea of the population of Malhamdale through the ages.