Bollington at the Time of the 1911 Census
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A Century Ago – Bollington at the time of the 1911 census SOMEWAYS DIFFERENT…SOMEWAYS NOT. The Bollington of 100 years ago was not so very different in appearance from the Bollington of today, give or take wedges of new housing at Bollington Cross, Ingersley Road and elsewhere. The basic physical outline of the village with its stone cottages and houses was already in place alongside the churches, public houses and other community features in that Census year 1911. The aqueduct carrying the Canal across the valley was there, and the railway viaduct with the green sward of the (Gnat Hole) Recreation Ground between them. White Nancy had been standing guard on Kerridge Hill from 1815 onwards. The Cotton Mills (Clarence, Adelphi and Olivers’ Waterhouse Mill) were working and the Paper Mill, Oak Bank, and others. There were, to be sure, many more shops and, other than on foot, by horse, train, and such cars as there were, there was no great back and forth to Macclesfield and beyond. Supermarkets lay in the future and Bollington was much more self-contained than it is now. The skies above were quiet with no Manchester Airport nearby and the main noise (and smell) in the streets came from horses, although cars were beginning to make an appearance. With no radios, TV sets or Internet it was naturally the case that folk knew more about their actual neighbours than “breaking news” about people on the other side of the world and in the country at large. Yet, without a doubt, events national and international could have their impact in Bollington as when the American Civil War had (many years before) shut down our Cotton Mills through lack of raw materials. Down in London in 1911 the Commons won their great battle with the Lords and by the “Parliament Act” their Lordships were no longer able to veto major legislation from the Commons while British Members of Parliament were paid for the first time. National Insurance came into being under the Liberal Government and Bradford City (in a replay at Old Trafford) won the FA Cup for the first and only time, beating Newcastle United 1-0. By that year Macclesfield Town FC had won the Cheshire Senior Cup five times, Warwickshire won the Cricket County Championship and a New Zealand player beat an English one in the Wimbledon Men’s Final in the middle of what turned out to be a perfect summer. Yet all was not sunshine in 1911. There was a National Railway Strike (which closed Bollington Station for two days in August) and a Strike by the Miners for more money. In faraway Antarctica the brave British Captain Scott was beaten to the Pole by the Norwegian explorer Amundsen. In London a new King was crowned: George V, grandfather of our present Queen after the short reign of King Edward (Teddy) had ended with his death in 1910. A Revolution in China probably didn’t bother the people of Bollington overmuch, but no doubt there was something exciting in the air just a fortnight before Easter 1911 when, (on Sunday April 2nd to be exact) people had to be counted, household by household, in this village and throughout the land for the Census of 1911, as happened again in the National Census for 2011. Looking east from the aqueduct in 1910 Market Place and High Street in 1912 STATISTICS We can get an impression of how Bollington has changed over the last century or so by comparing statistics from the 1911 census with those from the 2001 census*. This comparison is not as straightforward as might first appear for a number of reasons, not least because different questions were asked on the census forms. The total population living in Bollington and Kerridge in 1911 was 5,224; in 2001 it was 7,095. But of course Bollington in 1911 was principally a cotton town, with 38% of people over 12 years of age working in the cotton and calico industries. 170 people (4% of those aged over 12) worked in the paper staining mill, but even more (186) worked in shops around the village. People are generally living longer than they used to, and this can be seen from the census results; in each of the age-groups under 30 years old, there were more people in 1911 than in 2001 (even though the total population was smaller), whereas in all the older age-groups there were many more in 2001. In 1911 children were expected to attend school until 12 or 13 years of age. Many 13 year-olds attended school part-time and also worked in one of the mills. Nowadays of course, children stay at school longer and many go on to further education. It may be that on the night of the 2001 census there were a significant number of university students away from home and therefore not counted in the Bollington census. It is also possible that the absence of a secondary school in Bollington meant that in 2001 there were fewer families with teenage children living in Bollington than the average in other larger towns. We don’t know for sure, but considerations such as these may distort the population statistics. In 1911, 47.0% of the population were male; in 2001, the proportion was 48.6% male. In 1911, 70.5% of the total male population of Bollington were employed, compared to 58.1% in 2001 – of course, in 1911 people started work at a much younger age. The Welfare Reforms of the Liberal Government elected in 1906 were starting to take effect, and a number of people were listed as pensioners. Nevertheless, welfare benefits were not what they are today and most households needed able- bodied family members to be gainfully employed; in 1911 over 95% of all males over 12 years of age were recorded as working full- or part-time. The number of women in employment in 1911 was 1,049 (37.9% of all females), compared to 1,788 (49%) in 2001. The 1911 census is the latest for which we have any details about individuals. For the later censuses, including 2001, we only have statistics relating to population groups. But for 1911 we know the names of each person living in Bollington (or visiting on the night of the census). We know how old they were, whether they were married or not, where they lived, how many rooms were in their house, what their occupations were, and where they were born. We also know for married people, how many years they had been married and how many children had been born from their marriage. Also (very usefully for genealogists) how many of these children were still alive at the time of the census. *These details are taken from a book published before 2011 census results were available The “top ten” family names in 1911 were as follows (numbers of people with surname): Jackson 111 Goodwin 82 Wright 72 Gleave 62 Wood 62 Potts 61 Snape 59 Mayers 56 Nolan 55 Bradley 53 HEALTH ISSUES Bollington in 1911 seems to have been fortunate in having a very able Medical Officer of Health in the person of Dr Main who kept a keen eye on all matters concerning the health of local people. The year before the Census was taken he had issued a long Annual Report covering everything from housing and sanitary conditions to general cleanliness in the village. “Diseases of the chest and various form of Rheumatism are perhaps the most common ailments to which the inhabitants are liable,” he says. Black smoke from Mill Chimneys and general smoke from household fires no doubt contributed to these chest problems, together with dust and fluff in the air in the Cotton Mills. As to housing conditions he says that there were 1180 inhabited houses in the district, most of them “two up and two down”. “The air space at the back of the houses was, on the whole, satisfactory although, here and there, they have no backyards but simply a passageway”. With such small houses he records “there is generally insufficient sleeping room for families”. This was especially so in view of the larger families of those times, as is well demonstrated in the Census returns. But things were on the mend, he says, and with the later built houses there was now a scullery added below and a third small bedroom above it. “Some of the newer houses have a small bathroom added”. Five new houses had been built during 1910, he says and three old ones had been closed for habitation. In that period of time, and for many years to come, most properties were rented, although at that time Bollington had no “lodging houses”. During 1910 there had been 100 registered births, a lower figure than the previous year and also lower than the average of the previous ten years. 52 people had died during 1910. More in than out. “No offensive trade is carried out in this district” he says and “all dairies, cowsheds and the premises of purveyors of milk had been inspected. The milk is of good quality and no complaints have been made as to its being adulterated or impure”. One problem which concerned Dr Main (as it still concerns the Public Utility Companies) is that of dripping taps in homes and industrial premises. “A very increased supply of water is needed for the district. Until a time of stress comes it is difficult to gauge how far the supply will stand it but we cannot but help awaiting such a time without a certain sense of foreboding”.