POPULATION. 



SUMMARY OF ENUMERATION, 1801. 



The islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alder- 

 ney, and Sark ; the Scilly Islands, and the 

 Isle of Man, were not comprised in the 

 enumeration ; the total population of these 

 islands has been usually estimated at 

 about SQyO'JO. The number of houses in 

 Ireland has been nearly ascertained, by 

 the collection of a hearth-money tax, from 

 whence it has been computed, that the 

 population of that part of the united king- 

 dom somewhat exceeds four millions of 

 persons. Therefore, with a very moder- 

 ate allowance for those places from which 

 no returns were received, and for (/mis- 

 sions in others, the total population of 

 the united kingdom of Great Britain and 

 Ireland amounted to 15,100.000 persons. 



At the beginning of the preceding cen- 

 tury, Dr. Davenant published an account 

 of the toial number of houses' in England 

 and Wales, according* to the hearth books 

 of Lady -Day 1690; this account was pro- 

 bably as correct as the above, and a com- 

 parison of them shows an increase from 

 1690 to 1801 of 261,708 houses, which, at 

 5 1 persons to a house, makes an increase 

 of 1,465,563 persons. This appears to be 

 the least increase that can have taken 

 place, but it has certainly been greater, 

 on account of ihe number of soldiers and 

 seamen far exceeding those employed in 

 1690. 



A circumstance, which caused consi- 

 derable disagreement in the estimates, 

 which, previously to the enumeration, had 

 been formed on this subject, was the want 

 of sufficient accounts to determine the 



proportion of persons to a house. Dr. 

 Davenant and Dr. Brakenridge reckoned 

 six persons to a house ; while Mr. G. King 

 allowed rather more than 4^ in London, 

 4^ in the cities and market-towns, and 

 four in the villages. Dr. Price asserted, 

 that six persons to a house for London, 

 and five to a house for all England, was 

 too large an allowance ; but the fact now 

 appears to be, that in England and Wales 

 the proportion is 5.3 persons to a house, 

 and in Scotland 52. 



The proportion of inhabitants to a house 

 differs very considerably in some of the 

 counties of England ; the chief cause of 

 this difference is the large towns, and par- 

 ticularly the sea-ports, which some of 

 them contain, as in such places the inha- 

 bitants live more crowded together than 

 in moderate sized inland towns. The dif- 

 ference, in this respect, between large 

 towns and those of less extent will be 

 shown, with tolerable accuracy, by the 

 following statements. 



The other towns in England, contain- 



