Created by Julie Goucher, 2021 using Wordscloud

Over the last few days we have seen the details of Compton. We have seen how the village might have expanded and this post is to crunch the numbers, examining what they actually tell us.

At first glance the numbers are showing a gradual increase, in terms of property and families. That makes sense, if you grow your population they need somewhere to live, though there was minimal growth between 1801 and 1811; just 3 properties. No additional properties were built between 1811 and 1821 and then this significant growth between 1821 and 1831.

Despite the minimal property grown between 1801 and 1811, there was a population of 15 additional families, and that figure remains showing some growth. The gender split is not something that can be biologically determined at this point – essentially couples had no idea what sex their baby was to be until the point of delivery. To delve deeper into the numbers, around family groups and then how genders are reflected I need to spend time examining the baptisms, marriages and deaths.

Something else I want to look at is a map of the village and how that changed – did the village expand naturally or did the parish expand because of boundary changes? In addition to a map, I want to take a look at the Tithe Map – who owned the land in the parish?