up to 1854, been put into force by the Municipal authorities.

The Eastern and Western Divisions of the county have different boundaries for Parliamentary and for Militia purposes; and the Ecclesiastical Divisions differ entirely from the Civil, Political, and Military Divisions of the county, about two-thirds of the population being in the Diocese of Norwich, and the rest in the Diocese of Ely.

CHAPTER III.

POPULATION, AGES, CIVIL CONDITION, BIRTH PLACES, AND OCCUPATIONS OF THE PEOPLE.

DURING the present century a census, or an official numbering of the people, has been made every tenth year. The last, in March, 1851, was the most important and complete we have ever had. All the inhabitants, visitors, and travellers in Suffolk, were numbered, from the lonely trio in the parish of Eastern Bavants, or the eight inhabitants of Havergate Island, to the 32,914 in the town of Ipswich.

In March, 1851, the population of our county, variously occupied and distributed over the surface, amounted to 337,215. It is difficult to form a just conception of this number, as few persons have had the opportunity of surveying such a large mass of human beings. If we imagine 1000 persons walking four abreast to form a line of 250 yards, a line formed by the whole population of the county would extend from the Cornhill, Ipswich, to the Castle Hill, at Norwich. But if we group the numbers, and allow a square yard to each individual for standing ground, the space they would occupy appears very small, an area of about 29 statute acres only being required to accommodate the population; and thus hundreds of our farmers have fields, or meadows, that would contain, without crowding, the whole population of Suffolk.

The number of the male population was 166,308, and of the female 170,907, the women and girls thus exceeding the men and boys by 4,599; but as a number of the men were at sea, the real disparity was something less than this number, and was probably about equal to the whole population of the town of Beccles. The excess of females was greatest in Bury St. Edmund's, Ipswich, and the Mutford district. Bury is a fine spot for a would-be "Benedict," as there are 125 females to 100 males. On the contrary, in the Risbridge, Cosford, Hoxne, Thingoe, Mildenhall, Bosmere, Samford, and Plomesgate districts, the males exceeded the females in number, the proportion being greatest in the Samford district, 105 males to 100 females. The annexed tables exhibit the population of Suffolk at each census from 1801 to 1851 inclusive.

We see here that a great difference in the proportion

of the sexes has taken place during the present century,

the excess of females at each decennial period being respectively, 8,318, 10,195, 4,723, 4,779, 6,883, 4,599. In 1811 there was an excess of females in every Hundred of the county, but in 1821 the proportionate excess was not merely greatly reduced in each district, but in three instances the males preponderated in numbers, and in 1851 the excess of females was less than at any of the previous decennial periods. In 1811 there were 109 females to 100 males; in 1851, not quite 103 females to 100 males. Comparing the numbers in 1801 and 1851, we find, that after the lapse of 50 years, the county is numerically stronger in the proportion of three to two, by far the largest increase occurring between 1811 and 1821. According to the English life table, half a generation of men of all ages passes away in 30 years, and more than three out of four of their number die in half a century; from this we infer that out of the 337,215 now in the county, not more than 50,000 were in Suffolk at the commencement of this century.

Passing from individuals, we come to families, the social units that comprise hamlets, villages, and towns. In 1801, the number of families was 43,481; and in 1851, the number of separate occupiers or families was 71,451. Comparing this return with the one at the commencement of the century, the result is that, since that period, upwards of 27,970 families or separate occupiers have been established in the county. At the commencement of this century the number of houses was 32,805, and 155 were building; in 1851 they numbered 72,389, and 449 were building, setting aside those untenanted. The inhabited houses more than doubled their number in the half-century. The increase of the population was 47 per cent; the increase of inhabited houses was 120 per cent. in the same period. At the commencement of the century there were 66 persons to every 10 houses. In 1851 the house

accommodation had so far increased that the occupied houses were inhabited in the proportion of 48 persons only to every 10 inhabited dwellings. Subjoined is a table, showing, for every district in the county, the population and the number of houses in 1841 and 1851, inhabited, uninhabited, and building.

In Cosford district the population decreased 231 in 10 years. In Plomesgate the inhabited houses decreased 27 in 10 years.

The above table shows that between 1841 and 1851, the increase per cent. of inhabited houses was greater than the increase of population. This is in many respects a good test of the degree of improvement in the county. In 13 of the 17 districts there has been an increase per cent. of the number of inhabited houses as compared with the increase per cent on the population. In the Cosford district, there was a decrease in the number of persons, but a slight increase in the number of inhabited houses; and, on the contrary, in the Bury, Hartismere, and Mutford districts there was a trifling, and in the Plomesgate district a considerable,