The history of Stapleford
The first census which counted every person in the country was made in 1801. Prior to that there had been a number of counts for different purposes of various sectors of the community e.g. men over 16, families, communicants etc. which enables some estimate to be made of the size of the population in the parish at the time when the count was made.
The Domesday survey of 1086[1]gives details of those living in Stapleford. In addition to Robert de Heres and his family there was a priest, 6 villeins and 2 serfs.
The Lay Subsidy Rolls for 1334 do not exist for Broxtowe but the Poll Tax for 1377 shows that 81 persons were taxed in Stapleford.[2] This was a tax raising device where every person over the age of 14, who was not a beggar, was assessed 4d. per head. Stapleford had to pay 324d or £1. 7s.0d.
The Protestation Returns of 1641/2 were prepared when, by order of the House of Commons, all males over 18 were asked to swear an oath of allegiance to, firstly, the Protestant religion, secondly, the King, thirdly, Parliament and, lastly, the lawful rights and liberties of subjects. Their names were duly inscribed in a list in each parish, and the list sent back to Parliament. In Stapleford the names of 66 men were recorded. None refused to sign.[3]
The Hearth Tax was introduced in 1662. The Act stated that 'every dwelling and other House and Edifice …shall be chargeable ….for every firehearth and stove….the sum of twoe shillings by the yeare'. Lists for 1674 for the parish show 34 houses with 52 hearths in total.[4]
The Compton Census of 1676 was an attempt to provide estimates of the number of conformists, popish recusants and protestant dissenters in England and Wales. The original returns for Stapleford are held by the Manuscripts and Special Collection Department of Nottingham University.[5] There were 110 communicants in Stapleford.
The Visitation of Archbishops Herring and Drummond took place in 1743 and 1764. Prior to the visit a list of questions was circulated to each parish and it is the answer to one of these questions, “What Number of Families have you in your Parish?”, that indicates the population at that time. In Stapleford in 1743 there were 50 families (143)[6] In Stapleford in 1764 there were 120 families [7]
In all these cases there are problems with how to interpret the data, particularly in the choice of a multiplier to convert the raw data to a figure that gives the total population. The integrity of the data itself can also often be questioned.
By applying appropriate multipliers to these figures, we can gain some idea of the size of the population. The suggested multipliers are as follows: - Domesday Survey-5 [8], Poll Tax-2.5 [9], Protestation Returns-3.32 [10], Hearth Tax-4.3 [11], Compton Census-1.5 [12], Visitation Returns-4.75 [13]
The application of the multipliers gives the following figures:-
| Year | Purpose | Number | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1086 | Domesday Survey | 50 | |
| 1377 | Poll Tax | 200 | |
| 1641 | Protestation Return | 205 | |
| 1674 | Hearth Tax | 224 | |
| 1676 | Compton Census | 165 | |
| 1743 | Visitation Herring | 238 | |
| 1764 | ``Visitation Drummond | 571 |
Population from Census Returns
| Year | Population | Year | Population | Year | Population | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1801 | 748 | 1901 | 5766 | 2001 | 14991 | ||
| 1811 | 954 | 1911 | 7789 | 2011 | 15241 | ||
| 1821 | 1104 | 1921 | 8513 | 2021 | |||
| 1831 | 1533 | 1931 | 8838 | ||||
| 1841 | 1837 | 1941 | |||||
| 1851 | 1968 | 1951 | 12663 | ||||
| 1861 | 1729 | 1961 | 13307 | ||||
| 1871 | 1967 | 1971 | 11812 | ||||
| 1881 | 3196 | 1981 | |||||
| 1891 | 4255 | 1991 | 17165 |
In the years between 1801 and 2011 the population of Stapleford grew from 748 to 15241. Three distinct phases can be identified. Firstly, 1801 to 1871 when the population grew from 748 to 1967. Secondly, 1871 to 1961 when the population grew from 1967 to 13307. Thirdly, from 1961 to 2011, when the population grew from 13307 to 15241. The average annual growth rate in these three periods was 1.39% in the first period, 2.15% in the second period and 0.27% in the third period
Between 1821 and 1831 there was an increase from 1,104 to 1,533, attributed to the flourishing state of the bobbin lace industry and machine manufacture.[14] Between 1851 and 1861 there was a decrease from 1,968 to 1,729 mainly attributed to migration owing to the introduction of steam power into the lace factories.[15] By 1871 it had recovered to 1,967, an increase attributed to 'facilities for communication by railway'.It is assumed that this refers to employment opportunities on the Midland Railway at Toton rather than the ability to commute.
In 1841 there were 50 houses uninhabited out of 433.[17] This was at a time when the population had increased from 1,533 in 1831 to 1,837 in 1841. The 1831 census had referred to the flourishing state of the lace trade and the increasing affluence appears to have enabled many families to build a new house in the garden. The increasing population was still to catch up with the housing so created.
Between 1871 and 1961 the population rose from 1,967 to 13,307.[18] This can be attributed mainly to the growth in employment opportunities at Stanton ironworks just to the north of the parish and at Toton Sidings to the west. In 1911 large increases in population-from 5,766 in 1901 to 7,789 in 1911 were attributed to the development of the lace-making and other industries.[19] In 1921-when there had been a further increase to 8,513-it was said to be mainly due to the establishment of an Army Ordnance Depot in Chilwell.[20]
From 1961 to 2011 the population increased from 13,307 to 15,241.
Even in 1801 Stapleford was predominantly non-agricultural. In 1801 56 persons were engaged in agriculture whereas 189 were engaged in trade, manufactures or handicrafts.[21] In 1811 39 families were engaged in agriculture and 156 families in trade etc.[22] One family was engaged in neither.
In 1861 the total population was 1729.[23] The normal split is roughly 50:50 males and females with a slight preponderance to males. However, in 1861 the split was 846 men and 883 women. This happened at a time of a reduction in population caused by migration when steam power was introduced into the factories and possibly the men left to seek work elsewhere and left the rest of the family back in Stapleford, joining them when they had become settled.
In 1993 there was an adjustment of the boundary between Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.[24] The boundary had followed the old course of the Erewash but a Commission recommended that the boundary should henceforth follow the current course of the river. In most cases this meant that washland enclosed by old twists and turns of the river was merely exchanged between the two counties. However, in Stapleford there was a considerable area containing factories and houses to the west of the current line of the river which would be transferred to Sandiacre. Stapleford opposed this but the Commissioners, although they considered the petition, did not alter their opinion and the anomaly of a county boundary that divided streets, houses and gardens was removed. Approximately 200 people acquired Derbyshire citizenship and 8 acres of land were transferred.
Click on the footnote to return to the text