The inhabitants of Cardington in 1782

cover image: the headstone of Thomas Willson who died in the year of the survey

The author and purpose of the document entitled ‘The General Account of the number of persons in each house on January 1st, 1782′ in Cardington, Fenlake, Harrowden and Cotten End & Pastors is unknown, although David Baker suggests that it was compiled by Cardington’s schoolmaster, James Lilburne.

The transcription of the document itself, the first page of which is illustrated on the frontispiece, has been supplemented from other categories of demographic sources including overseers’ accounts, wills, parish registers, tombstones, land tax documents and material created in the course of the 1784 parliamentary election. The result is a reconstitution of Cardington’s households in 1782, sixty years before the first surviving census.

It is preceded by a detailed introduction which examines the demography of the parish.

About the author(s)

Baker; David (2)

Reviews

‘The volume contains a full transcript of the listing, and its value has been greatly enhanced by the editor’s labours in assembling a wide range of other local records, and in linking them to individuals named in the listing. … Thus the transcript is transformed into a master record combining information about the demography, household structure, economic standing, religion, and political affiliation of the inhabitants … From the point of view of the academic historical demographer and sociologist the strategy adopted in this volume is an ideal one, for it enables him to get the best of all possible worlds. Those who merely wish to know the substantive information contained in the documents have the benefit of the editor’s full and carefully argued summary, while those who have more specialized questions … have a well-edited transcript of the original documents … All gain from the editor’s critical evaluation of the sources and from the application of intensive local research to a wide range of documents which, when cross-referenced, cross-fertilise each other to a remarkable extent. This volume is an excellent example of how local expertise can help the wider academic community.’ – Roger Schofield, Population Studies, 1974, vol. 28 no. 3, p. 539