The population of Staplehurst on 6 June 1841 was
1591 . Population by District
District Households
Males Females
Total
5
113
275 297
572
6
41
133 128
261
7
87
256 219
475
8
47
157 126
283
Total
288
821 770
1591
Population by Age Bands
Percent
Males Females Total
of Total
Under 1 year old
31
20
51 3.2
1 to 5 years of age
132 115
247 15.5
6 to 12 years of age
147 153
300 18.9
13 to 20 years of age 156
146 302
19.0
21 to 30 years of age 132 122
254 16.0
31 to 40 years of age
81 80
161 10.1
41 to 50 years of age
58 55
113 7.1
51 to 60 years of age
37 44
81 5.1
61 to 70 years of age
37
25 62
3.9
71 to 80 years of age
6
6
12 0.8
Over 80 years of age
5
3
8 0.5
Total
822 769
1591 100.0
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Population born in Kent Of the total
Staplehurst population in 1841 (1591) :
1 only was classed as born out of England with an I indicating Ireland.
64
people were classed as born in England but outside of Kent;
of the 64, 36 were women not born in Kent.
This means that 1524 people were born in Kent or 96% of Staplehurst
inhabitants.
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Occupations
Of the total population of Staplehurst in 1841, 32.6% or 518 are
shown with an occupation. This
518 represents 55.0% of the population over 14 years of age while
the male population over 14
shows an occupation for 88.2%. Only 19.7% of the females over 14 years of
age show an
occupation.
In addition to the 518 employed, there are 29 people (6 of them men)
shown as having Independent
Means.
The youngest children recorded as employed were two boys aged 10 classed
as male servants
within the same household. There are two 12 year olds and four 14 year
old boys classed as male
servants plus one 14 year old employed as a brick layer.
Fifteen seems to be the normal age of employment and there are 37 fifteen
year old boys engaged
in an occupation. Of the 15 year old boys not showing an occupation (37
in total) almost all of them
are shown on farms and will almost certainly be working with the family.
No doubt younger children
are also working with their families, but we have no way of establishing
how many.
There are 33 men aged 16 to 25 shown without an occupation (and only 6
over 25 years of age).
As the
enumerators were instructed that there was no need to enter an
occupation if the person
was living with their parent and not receiving a wage, we might assume
these young men are
also working with their families.
We can make similar assumptions about the young women. Most will be
employed (unpaid) within
the family. Of the woman shown as employed, the youngest are three 13
year olds employed as
female servants. There are two 14 year olds and twenty-one 15 year olds
shown as employed. The
vast majority of women work within the family unit. Of the total of
769 females in Staplehurst, only
90 are shown to have an occupation and 60 of these are over the age of
20.
Note the following statistics account for only those people with a
recorded occupation.
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Agriculture
Agriculture is the main employment in Staplehurst in 1841 with
64.1% (332 people) of the
employed population engaged in farming. Note that I have included
within this category the men
who are show as male servants. Of the 75 men classed as male
servants, 61 are under the age
of 21. When looking at the data in detail most of the men in this
category are living with a farming
family and not their own. I am, therefore, assuming that the largest proportion of male
servants are
employed in agricultural and living within the farmers household. Those classed as
agricultural
labourers are living in separate households and most will be married men.
Males Females Total
% of Employed
Farmers
49 4
53
Agricultural Labourers 200
1 201
Male Servants
75 0
75
Bailiff
2 0
2
Poulterer
1 0
1
Total
327 5
332
64.1%
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Domestic
The group I have titled domestic, is the second largest occupation in
Staplehurst. The largest
element within this group is the female servants. Many of the better off
families employed one
female servant, while the Hoare family at Staplehurst Place, appear to
have 7 female servants.
There are several instances of 2 female servants but generally there is
one; and of course, the
vast majority of families had no servants. Most female servants were
young with only 10 over
the age of 21.
Males Females Total
% of Employed
Female Servants
69 69
Char
2 2
Gardener
1
1
House Stewart
1
1
Governess
1 1
Total
2 72
74
14.3%
I must note here that some of the male servants within the agriculture
category may well be domestic
servants. Also worth pointing out that of the 90 women classed as
employed, 80% are employed
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Trades
The occupations I have grouped together under this heading are all
related to providing a service
to a rural community.
Blacksmith
5
Brick-maker
2
Wheelwright
3
Cooper
1
Sawyer
3
Basket-maker 1
Timber Hewers
1
Saddler
1
Carrier
2
Tailor
3
Miller
4
Shoemaker
11
Hairdresser
1
The 2 following items are the only trades involving women.
Dressmaker
3
Milliner
1
The building Trade makes up a large section of the trade group.
Bricklayer
6
Carpenter
13
Mason
1
Builder
1
Painter
1
Labourer
1
Apprentice of unknown trade 1
The total people involved in the trades is 68 or 13.1% of the recorded
people with
occupations.
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Retail
T0 provide the provisions for the villagers, there is the bakers,
grocers, butchers,
drapers, and beer retailers.
Baker
2
Butcher
6
Grocer
8
Draper
3
Retailer of Beer
2 Total of 21
people (of which 2 of the grocers are women).
There is also 2
innkeepers, 1 ostler, and 1 victualler.
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Professional
Solicitor
1
Appraiser 1
School Master / Mistress 6
Clerk
1
Surgeon & Assistants
3
Nurse
2
Dissenting Minister
1
Artist
1
Surveyor of Highways
1
Toll Collector 1
Army
1
Of the total of 19 people in this group, there are 4 women school
mistresses and
2 female nurses. Both nurses are older women shown in the homes of people
with
new babies.
The other item of note is that there is not shown a Rector for the
village church,
however, Thomas Hornbuckle was the Rector at this time and he is living
in the
village but with an occupation shown as Independent Means.
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