The files for this exercise can be found in K:\IT\FourthForm; they are called: census_woolwich_1871, census_woolwich_1881 and census_woolwich_1891.
The data in each file contains the census records for 1871, 1881 and 1891 for Burrage Road in Woolwich, south London.
Before using each file check that Autofilter has been turned on - you should see arrows next to the column headings in row 1. If you cannot see the arrows then select Data/Filter/Autofilter.
Remember to use the 'All' option in a drop-down list to restore the full list of data items.
Answer the following questions in a word processor document. Use Copy and Paste where appropriate to include data in your answers.
Using the drop-down list on the House Number column isolate all but number 122.
How many families appear to live in this house? What are their names?
One of the families has two sons. What was the name of the youngest, recorded as 0 years old in 1871? (Where will you find this information?)
Use the House Number column to find the Edmonds family at number 178 Burrage Road in 1871.
List the family members and note their occupations.
Repeat this with the 1881 census data and note the changes that had occurred in the family.
Repeat this with the 1891 Census data and note the changes that had occurred in the household.
Use the 1871 and 1891 census data files to to draw up a family tree of the Pickett family.
From the 1891 census data select all children aged 13 (use the Age column).
How many 13 year olds were still at school? What kind of jobs did the children do? Was there a difference between the jobs done by boys and those done by girls?
Use the Occupation column to find all the teachers who lived in Burrage Road in 1871. Repeat this for 1891.
What differences do you notice between the two sets of data? What explanation can you offer for the differences?
For this exercise we need to find out how many children of school age were in school. Those who were in school are recorded as 'scholar'.
Using the 1871 census, select all of the data and then choose Data/Sort. Choose the Age column as the field on which to sort. You are interested in children aged 5-11 so move the cursor to the first row with age=5. (Excel cannot select values between two limits such as 5 and 11, for this a true database is required.)
Click in cell L2 and enter the heading 'Age'. Click in M2 and enter the heading 'Number'. Enter the ages 5, 6, 7, etc. in cells L3-L9 and then enter the following formula in M3: =COUNTIF($G$2:$G$1480,"5").
(The $ symbols mean you can drag this formula into the cells below.) Change the value in quotation marks to 6 in M4, 7 in M5 and so on to 11 in cell L9.
Use the Sum button to find the total number of children of school age.
Now enter the following into cell M11: =COUNTIF(H201:H414,"Scholar")
Use the mouse to select the first row where the age is 5 and drag down to the last row where the age is 11 (the rows have to be sorted on age).
This will give you a value from which you can work out the percentage of pupils who were aged 5-11 and at school.
Repeat all of this for 1891 (good practice!). Alternatively, work in pairs and have your partner do 1891 while you do 1871.
Did the proportion of pupils in school change between 1871 and 1891? What reasons might there be for this? Why might children not be at school? How did the government enforce school attendance?
With the data file for 1881 sorted by House Number find all the people who were "Head" of their household (Relationship to head of family="head").
Write down the occupations of this group of people.
Now find houses numbered 155-165 and note the occupations of these heads of household.
Finally, find houses numbered 230-250 and note the occupations of these households.
What do you notice about the differences in occupation? How do occupations change between the northern and southern ends of Burrage Road and the middle? Did particular types of occupation cluster together in Burrage Road?
You can see similar trends in the layout of houses on a map of the time and also from the age and frequency of 'Scholars' in the houses.
It is possible to find a map of this area online. Click here to load the OS Get-a-map service and follow these instructions:
Click the large button on the right hand side of the screen
Choose 'Historic maps' from the panel on the right of the new window.
Enter 'Woolwich' as your search term and choose the one in Kent.
Burrage Road is a little to the south so click three times on the lower red marker and choose "Enlarged View".
Burrage Road is just to the east of "Trinity Ch", which is marked clearly in the river.
Burrage Road runs south from the river towards Plumstead and you can see, even on this map, the characteristics of the area change.
You can also convert the map display to a modern aerial photograph, just click on the button.
Make sure the 1891 data file is set to all records. Set the Gender to M and set the County of Birth to Ireland (alright, it's a country now but it wasn't then!). What are the occupations of this group of people?
Repeat this for Gender ="M" and County of Birth="Scotland". What do you notice about this group and their differences with the Irish group?
Sort the 1891 data sheet by Age. Look at the women (age >18) for houses numbered 1-15. What types of occupation were they involved in?
Now look at the houses numbered 250-262. How do their occupations compare with the first group?
Make sure the 1871 data file is set to all records. Isolate the inhabitants of number 200 Burrage Road. What was the occupation of the Head of the household? Who else lived in this house? What conclusions can you draw about the standard of living of this household, compared with that of the northern end of Burrage Road.
Use the data files for 1871, 1881 and 1891 to construct a family tree for the Wise family.
Sort the data in the 1871 data file by Age. Scroll towards the end of the file until you find the first person aged 75 or over. Repeat this for 1881 and 1891. Can you see any relationship between old age and gender? Is there any relationship between old age and house number? Does the number of old people change between the three censuses?
Where were the public houses in 1891? (Search by occupation.) Note the names of the public houses. Which groups of people were most likely to drink in these pubs? Which groups of people probably did not drink in these pubs?
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