Census data - 1881 & 1911
The official government censuses, which have been conducted every ten years since 1841, have provided me with invaluable information about the village. The censuses for Henfield and Woodmancote from 1841 to 1891 have been transcribed by Marion Woolgar and are available in ring-binders in the Henfield Museum. Data from the 1841 to 1911 English censuses are available online through subscription agencies such as Ancestry.co.uk.
I have used the 1881 Census of the village as a kind of marker to compare then with now and to see how the village has changed in over 130 years. In some ways, 1881 was on the cusp of change, with new housing developments and changes about to happen. On the 1881 Census page, I have extracted some broad facts from the Census data which give a profile of the village at that period - I hope you find it interesting. One interesting fact struck me above all others - how houses were occupied and by whom. Many of the old, large houses and farmhouses existing today are lived in by reasonably wealthy families and are desirable period buildings. In 1881, however, many of them were not homes for the wealthy but homes for several families of agricultural labourers and people of similar station in life. However, it should be borne in mind that "agricultural labourer" often meant a freeholder of the yeoman class, who might have been a farmer.
I have used the 1881 Census of the village as a kind of marker to compare then with now and to see how the village has changed in over 130 years. In some ways, 1881 was on the cusp of change, with new housing developments and changes about to happen. On the 1881 Census page, I have extracted some broad facts from the Census data which give a profile of the village at that period - I hope you find it interesting. One interesting fact struck me above all others - how houses were occupied and by whom. Many of the old, large houses and farmhouses existing today are lived in by reasonably wealthy families and are desirable period buildings. In 1881, however, many of them were not homes for the wealthy but homes for several families of agricultural labourers and people of similar station in life. However, it should be borne in mind that "agricultural labourer" often meant a freeholder of the yeoman class, who might have been a farmer.