The Ardingly Censuses 1801-1891

The censuses from 1801 to 1831 do not record individuals but give an overall view of the parish. The later censuses give details of individuals and occupations. Charts 1, 2, 3 and 4 are a comparison of Ardingly census population and the surrounding villages and towns in the first 30 years of the 19th century.

1801 Census	Houses			Persons		Occupations			Total
Parish	Inhabited	By Families	Empty	M	F	Agriculture (Pers)	Trades	Others	Population
Ardingly	62	82	–	261	245	135	34	337	506
Balcombe	73	78	–	218	233	137	34	280	451
Crawley	26	51	2	98	112	32	35	143	210
Cuckfield	290	376	2	860	833	366	129	1198	1693
Horstead Keynes	88	106	1	309	282	156	42	393	591
Lindfield	168	213	7	548	529	260	102	715	1077
West Hoathly	113	144	2	397	397	241	77	476	794
Worth	194	207	5	766	735	315	87	1099	1501

The above census records persons in agriculture, in trades and the rest of the population including women and children. To estimate trends in families in agriculture divide the persons by two and then it is similar to the 1811 census, except for Cuckfield, Lindfield and Worth. Worth contains four villages :- Copthorn, Crawley Down, Turners Hill, Pound Hill as well as parts of Crawley.

1811 Census	Houses			Persons		Occupations			Total
Parish	Inhabited	By Families	Empty	M	F	Agriculture (Fam)	Trades	Others	Population
Ardingly	64	83	1	256	254	67	16	?	510
Balcombe	91	113	–	290	369	69	44	?	659
Crawley	41	45	–	121	113	14	32	9	234
Cuckfield	300	398	3	1063	1025	251	123	24	2088
Horstead Keynes	82	101	1	329	248	76	22	3	577
Lindfield	171	243	4	623	614	142	84	17	1237
West Hoathly	116	156	3	444	396	103	19	34	840
Worth	288	319	3	763	776	262	47	10	1539

This census records families in agriculture, in trades and in other occupations. Allowing two per family in agriculture (this will not be accurate, but my supposition is wife or one son employed in agriculture) Using these figures will allow a percentage of those in agriculture to be estimated. Again this may not be true for Cuckfield, Lindfield or Worth, but allows a graph (chart 7) to be drawn to show trends in agriculture compared with later years.

1821 Census	Houses			Persons		Occupations			Total
Parish	Inhabited	By Families	Empty	M	F	Agriculture (Fam)	Trades	Others	Population
Ardingly	70	99	2	299	280	72	23	4	579
Balcombe	101	114	–	338	268	70	28	16	606
Crawley	51	60	–	174	160	22	25	13	334
Cuckfield	324	436	3	1250	1135	275	126	35	2385
Horstead Keynes	116	135	2	377	336	94	37	4	713
Lindfield	238	266	5	729	681	149	93	24	1410
West Hoathly	119	172	1	523	420	115	38	19	943
Worth	264	276	1	931	794	221	40	15	1725

Keeping to the formula of doubling families in agriculture it is possible to assess the numbers in agriculture for both 1821 and 1831. A similar formula can be applied to traders who often described their family members as borders.

1831 Census	Houses			Persons		Occupations			Total
Parish	Inhabited	By Families	Empty	M	F	Agriculture (Fam)	Trades	Others	Population
Ardingly	108	120	2	313	274	76	20	24	587
Balcombe	87	121	3	333	308	79	33	9	641
Crawley	66	80	–	270	219	72	12	2	489
Cuckfield	376	465	7	1374	1212	213	126	126	2586
Horstead Keynes	116	150	1	411	371	100	29	21	782
Lindfield	263	272	8	753	732	138	82	52	1485
West Hoathly	159	177	3	518	462	106	47	24	980
Worth	303	340	11	993	866	214	75	51	1859

CHART 5 is a comparison of the census population of Ardingly to the surrounding villages and towns from 1801 to 1891. The figures in red indicate the number of people per acre. Although Crawley is included, its acreage and population was small being then a wayside village on the London road. With very little agriculture within its boundaries its population is only 0.269 per acre rising to 0.565 per acre. Cuckfield and Lindfield then of small town status with markets and agriculture expand comparatively rapidly. Worth, the largest local parish contained small villages of Turners Hill, Crawley Down, Copthorne, Pound Hill as well as the hamlet of Worth itself expanded in population to 4297 but only from 0.112 to 0.332 persons per acre.

Cuckfield’s population expands from 1673 to 7058, or 0.148 to 0.628 people per acre. This is because by the l890’s it had an established railway station and market at Haywards Heath. Lindfield also expands but not as dramatically from a population of 1077 to 2606, from 0.112 to 0.322 person per acre.

Ardingly, Balcombe, Horsted Keynes and West Hoathly have smaller rises in population, Ardingly increases the most from 0.131 to 0.350 persons per acre which can be attributed to St. Saviour’s College and to a smaller extent the branch railway Kine.

		Census Year
Parish	Acreage	1801	1811	1821	1831	1841	1851	1861	1871	1881	1891	1901
Ardingly	3,841	506	553	579	587	742	666	626	1,095	1,565	1,280	1,346
Balcombe	4,795	451	559	606	641	1,542	851	880	965	878	877	1,052
Crawley	780	210	234	334	394	449	447	473	505	461	437	441
Cuckfield	11,275	1,673	2,088	2,385	2,586	3,444	3,196	3,539	4,420	4,964	5,370	7,058
Horstead Keynes	4,232	591	627	713	782	812	847	790	811	1,149	932	1,005
Lindfield	5,673	1,077	1,237	1,410	1,485	1,939	1,814	1,917	2,018	2,080	2,233	2,606
West Hoathly	5,340	794	840	943	980	1,095	1,068	1,120	1,210	1,547	1,442	1,446
Worth	13,331	1,501	1,539	1,725	1,859	2,423	2,475	2,298	3,029	3,571	4,047	4,297

The comparisons are shown more clearly on Chart 6.

The graph on chart 7 compares those employed in agriculture and trades in the first thirty years of the 19th century in all the surrounding parishes.

Chart 8 is a comparison of the” expense and maintenance” of the poor in 1803 in Ardingly and the surrounding parishes. For its size and population Ardingly rates and taxes are very high. [Chart in preparation]

Chart 9 is a population graph for Ardingly 1801-1891 showing the highs of railway populations and the College. A graph of children under the age of 12 and 13 years. A graph of those employed in agriculture. [Chart in preparation]

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