Subject Clophill and Sharnbrook – a comparative study using census data 1841 -1911
Speaker/Organiser
Colin Watt
Date
October 26, 2016

Details

Colin had been to Sharnbrook many years ago to help us launch our own Census project. We have now collaborated to compare the census returns from the two villages. The investigation looked at all the major measures across time e.g population, age distribution , gender and found many similiarities between the two sites.  It was suggested that Clophill was perhaps more influenced by Luton than Bedford whereas Sharnbrook had infences from both Bedford and Northants. This was particularly evident in the analysis of occupations (lace vs straw). The presence of the railway only in Sharnbrook was identified as a key factor. Domestic service was also more significant in Sharnbrook.

The distribution of Surnames and Forenames showed significant differences across the County.

Interestingly the age at which children went to school over the period was similar at both sites but the distribution of population by age shows that Sharnbrook had a lower rate of infant mortality