The Original Canvey History Website

First published on the internet in 2000

New Pictures being added

Canvey Island

Essex, UK

The population of Canvey Island has been very transient over the years. The workers have been mainly made up of Agricultural Labourers, in this farming community. There were several families from the Coastguards having a large presence on the Island for many years. Many of the families moved away to new locations after only a few years. From the census records there were only 96 people living there in 1861, increasing to 282 by 1881. (These figures do not include the population on Canvey that was recorded in different parishes. This makes it very difficult to gain an exact figure.) 1901 shows a small increase to 301 and the workers turning to different employment, one of which was working as ‘Sea Wallers’ on the Sea defences, vital for the islands survival. But 1901 may also have been the start of big changes for Canvey Island because the entrepreneur Fred Hester moved to the Island and can be found there with his family in the census at Leigh Beck. Fred bought most of the farms on Canvey and tried to develop the Island into a Holiday Resort. You can read all about him in the History page. The population continued to grow, by 1911 there were 583, 1921 there were 1795, 1924 saw a large increase to 3000. By 1938 it had more than doubled to 6579. Before the floods, of 1953 there were more than 11,000 people living on Canvey. Today the population tops 45,000.