DECLINING POPULATION ii 



noted above, became absolute. Between 

 182 1 and 1831 the agricultural families fell 

 from 773,732 to 761,348 in England, and from 

 978,656 to 961,134 in Great Britain. It was a 

 period of extreme agricultural depression, in 

 which many farmers and smallo\\Tiers were 

 ruined and much land went out of cultiva- 

 tion, while the condition of labourers became 

 pitiable. The movement of the population 

 during the ensuing 20 years cannot be statis- 

 tically given in the same terms on account of 

 changes in the Census, as already explained ; 

 but from 185 1 onwards we have a continuous 

 record for England and Wales. It is set out 

 in the Census Report for 1901 in a compara- 

 tive table in which allowance has been made 

 for minor changes in enumeration. 

 England and Wales. 



The total decrease in 50 years was 520,572 ; 

 and of that number 390,902 were males and 

 129,670 females. The fall between 1871 and 

 1881 is somewhat higher than it should be 



