The Nineteenth Century 129 



This second half of the nineteenth century was also marked by another 

 feature in the rural circumstances of the County. During the earlier half of 

 the century, population had continued to grow despite distress and unem- 

 ployment. But before the middle of the century, this situation was changing. 

 A hint of things to come is provided by that footnote, in the 1841 Census 

 Returns, which states that, from WiUingham, "upwards of 100 persons 

 have emigrated to the United States since 183 1 ". At Wimpole, a decrease 

 was "attributed to several large famihes having left the Parish, and others 

 having emigrated since 1831". The 1851 Returns noted that the decrease 

 at Croxton was also due in part to einigration, as was that at Wimpole 

 and West Wratting. The 1861 Returns have very many of these references. 

 One footnote tells its own story: 



General decrease of population throughout the district of Caxton and especially 

 in the parish of Caldecote is mainly attributed to emigration and migration owing 

 to lowness of wages, etc. 



Similar causes helped to account for a decrease in thirty other villages in 

 the County. The reason stated was sometimes "emigration"; sometimes 

 "migration of labourers to towns", or to "manufacturing districts", or to 

 "London and the north of England", or to "Manchester and its vicinity", 

 or, again, to "the metropohs and other large towns". It is true that the 

 Census footnotes also record some increase due to "the erection of new 

 cottages on a recent enclosure", as at Gamlingay and Hardwicke; or due 

 to a temporary influx of labour employed upon railway construction at 

 Great Shelford and Harston, or employed upon a new cut at Clench- 

 warton.^ At Sawston and Whittlesford, the increase was "due to the 

 paper mill and parchment factory at Sawston". Then, too, there were the 

 attractions of the coprohte diggings ^ ; there were also some miscellaneous 

 explanations. 



After 1 871, the explanatory footnotes cease to appear in the Census 

 Returns, but the figures themselves tell their own story. Fig. 30 sums 

 up the evidence for three rural hundreds in the County, and shows quite 

 clearly how the countryside was emptying itself. The difference between 

 this diagram and that of Fig. 3 1 is explained by the growth of Cambridge,^ 

 Wisbech, Ely, March, and Whittlesey, and also by local circumstances 

 (e.g. jam-making at Histon). By the end of the century, the urban and 

 semi-urban centres had grown; the rural settlements had become smaller. 



A fuU picture of rural conditions towards the end of the century is 

 given in the Cambridgeshire section of the Report of the Royal Commission 

 on Agriculture (1895). This drew a great distinction between north and 

 south Cambridgeshire : 



' The Eau Brink Cut; see pp. 120, 191. * See p. 126 above. 3 Sgg Fig_ ^j^ 



DBA 9 



