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A Cultural History of the British Census“A National Undertaking”: Taking the Census

A Cultural History of the British Census: “A National Undertaking”: Taking the Census [On November 19, 1800, Charles Abbot addressed the British House of Commons proposing that “leave be given to bring in a bill to ascertain the population of Great Britain.”3 Abbot declared, “It has long been a matter of surprise and astonishment, that a great, powerful, and enlightened nation like this should have remained hitherto unacquainted with the state of its population.”4 He explained that at any time, the knowledge of the country’s population “must be serviceable for so many important purposes of wise legislation and good government, and without [it] no country can avail itself of the full extent of its resources, or effectually and permanently provide for its wants.”5 However, it was in “times like these” that “this knowledge becomes of the highest importance,” and he then described the particular social and political conditions that made conducting a census of the British population so desirable at the present time. Abbot focused on the food scarcity that Britain had been experiencing as a result of bad harvests and a shortage of agricultural laborers; the dislocation of trade caused by the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars; and the need for troops to fight in these wars. He insisted that in order to provide food for the population, the government must know “the extent of the demand,” and “the proportion borne by the agricultural class to the other classes of his majesty’s subjects,” and if necessary, more land could be cultivated to meet the needs of the increasing population.6 He argued that a knowledge of the precise population of the country would aid the government in its decision making about both army recruitment and agricultural policy, and would be of great help in the current troubled times of war, scarcity, and popular discontent.] http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png

A Cultural History of the British Census“A National Undertaking”: Taking the Census

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Publisher
Palgrave Macmillan US
Copyright
© Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Nature America Inc. 2011
ISBN
978-1-349-29824-2
Pages
15 –46
DOI
10.1057/9780230337602_2
Publisher site
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Abstract

[On November 19, 1800, Charles Abbot addressed the British House of Commons proposing that “leave be given to bring in a bill to ascertain the population of Great Britain.”3 Abbot declared, “It has long been a matter of surprise and astonishment, that a great, powerful, and enlightened nation like this should have remained hitherto unacquainted with the state of its population.”4 He explained that at any time, the knowledge of the country’s population “must be serviceable for so many important purposes of wise legislation and good government, and without [it] no country can avail itself of the full extent of its resources, or effectually and permanently provide for its wants.”5 However, it was in “times like these” that “this knowledge becomes of the highest importance,” and he then described the particular social and political conditions that made conducting a census of the British population so desirable at the present time. Abbot focused on the food scarcity that Britain had been experiencing as a result of bad harvests and a shortage of agricultural laborers; the dislocation of trade caused by the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars; and the need for troops to fight in these wars. He insisted that in order to provide food for the population, the government must know “the extent of the demand,” and “the proportion borne by the agricultural class to the other classes of his majesty’s subjects,” and if necessary, more land could be cultivated to meet the needs of the increasing population.6 He argued that a knowledge of the precise population of the country would aid the government in its decision making about both army recruitment and agricultural policy, and would be of great help in the current troubled times of war, scarcity, and popular discontent.]

Published: Nov 15, 2015

Keywords: Cultural History; Enumeration District; British People; Census Form; Census Taker

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