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The family Names in Barwick-in-Elmet in the mid-19th century

From the Barwicker No.3
September 1986



In the spring of 1981, you or a member of your household filled in a census form. There has been a census every tenth year since 1801 with the exception of 1941. until 1841 the information collected was confined to a count of people and houses. In the early days people chosen in each locality, called enumerators, filled in the forms on behalf the population. Ever since the earliest census the forms have been sent for analysis and have then been filed. After one hundred years the forms are made available to the general public for their examination.

Copies of the census forms for Barwick-in Elmet for 1881 and before are held on film in the central Reference Library in Leeds. They give a snapshot of the village on one day every ten years. For the person interested in the past they are full of fascinating information. The census form records each house in the village, the names of all occupants and their relationship to one another. As time went on the government of the day wanted more information. Later census forms give more details of where people were born and even physical or mental disabilities.

The census details for Barwick-in-Elmet in the period from 1841 to 1881 are being analysed and will provide much interesting material for future editions of "The Barwicker". To start we thought you would be interested in knowing which families were living in the village in 1841 and 1871. The list shows the names of the head of each household and the number of households with that surname. We have excluded Potterton, Kiddal and the occupants of the Workhouse. Some of the names you will recognise. Others have long since disappeared from the village.

If a person was missing from the village on the day of the census then there is no record of them. Visitors to the village at the time of the census are recorded. There are very few cases of visitors being recorded so it is likely that few people were absent. It is very unlikely that a family was absent en masse on both occasions. Therefore if a name you are interested in is not listed under either 1841 or 1871 then it is most probable that the family was not living in the village of the 19th century.

There are 137 names listed. In most of the cases where there are three or more households with the same name, the family name is still surviving in the village today. If you want to find out when an old established family first arrived in the village, then you will have to consult the parish registers for I know that many of the popular names do occur in the registers before the year 1800.

I have had difficulty reading the microfilm record in places where the handwriting is feint. In addition I suspect that the spelling and possibly the pronunciation of some of the surnames may have changed over the years. Wherever possible I have double checked the record. Even so I suspect that "Ponter" is the same as "Porter". I know that "Flowill"(184l) refers to the same household listed as "Flowitt" thirty years later.

Harold Smith


BARWICK-IN-ELMET

(Main village excluding the outlying hamlets and the Workhouse)

Surnames of villagers in 1841 and 1871

Number of households with that surname


Name '41 '71 Name 41 '71 Name '41 '71
Abbott 1 1 Gummersgill 1 Pitt 1
Askey 1 Hayter 1 Ponter 1
Aspinall 1 Heaton 4 1 Porter 1
Ayers 1 Helm 1 Prival 1
Bar1and 1 Hemsworth 1 Pullan 2 3
Barton 2 3 Hesslegrove 1 Purdon 1 2
Bathurst 1 Hewitt 3 5 Rawdon 1
Batty 2 1 Hill 2 2 Raw1inson 3
Baxter 1 Hobson 1 Reed 1
Bean 1 Hodgeson 1 1 Rhodes 1
Bean1and 1 1 Hope 1 Richardson 1 2
Benson 1 1 Hopkins 1 Riley 1
B1akey 1 Howson 1 1 Robertshaw 1
Boyce 1 Ingham 1 Robinson 1
Braithwaite 2 2 Jackson 3 1 Robshaw 7 5
Briggs 1 Johnson 1 Scarf 1
Brooke 1 Jowett 1 Siberry 1
Broomhead 1 King 1 Smith 2 1
Brown 1 Knapton 1 1 Sparling 3 2
Burnett 1 1 Land 1 Spence 1 1
Butler 1 Lawn 1 2 Stead 1 1
Carpenter 1 Lee 1 Stoner 1
Carr 1 Loder 1 Tate 1
Carrs 1 Lumb 1 1 Tea1e 1
Cawood 1 Lye 1 Thompson 1 2
Child 1 Mackin 1 Todd 2 2
Clapham 1 Mackintosh 3 2 Tomlinson 1 3
Collett 4 5 Maskell 1 Trickett 1
Conne1l 4 1 Mason 1 1 Varley 3 1
Cross 1 Megon 1 waite 1
Cullingworth 3 2 Milman 1 Wales 2
Cumpsey 1 Mi1nes 1 Walker 1
Dickinson 1 4 Monk 1 Walton 4 1
Dinse11 1 Monks 1 Ward 3 1
Easton 1 Morrell 1 Warrington 1 1
Eccles 1 Morritt 3 Watson 1
F1owill/or 1 Morsett 2 Westwood 1
F10witt 1 Mosby 1 White 1 2
Foreman 1 Mouncey 1 Whitehead 3 1
Foster 3 2 Muspratt 1 Wilkinson 1 2
Fowler 2 1 Nay10r 1 Wi1son 2 4
Galloway 1 Newby 1 Wood 2
Geary 1 Nicholls Wormald 1
Gill 1 2 Parker 3 Wrigglesworth 1
Gooda11 1 1 Perkin 6 Wright 1
Gough 2 1 Pickergill 1


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