Welsh Journals

THE ENUMERATORS' RETURNS AS A SOURCE FOR A PERIOD PICTURE OF THE PARISH OF LLANSANTFFRAID, 1841-1851 THE Enumerators' Returns are the manuscript books of the enumerat- ors of the 1841 and 1851 census.1 They are an invaluable source of information for students of historical geography, economic and agrarian history, and demography both independently and in con- junction with other sources. They provide a reasonably detailed and accurate picture of conditions in the period 1841-1851 when rural population was close to its peak, farming was relatively prosperous, and mechanisation of agriculture had scarcely begun. As an indication of their utility the Returns have been analysed for the parish of Llansantffraid, Cardiganshire, and an attempt has been made to reconstruct the pattern of life there in 1841 and in 1851 notice has been taken of differences elicited between the years and explanations have been sought for them. Before considering the results of the analysis it is necessary to assess the reliability and limit- ations of the data presented in the enumerators' books. Each parish was enumerated separately and within each parish each household was named or numbered and clearly distinguished. For each member of the household Christian name and surname, age, sex, and occupation were given at both dates in 1851 additional information in respect of relationship to the head of the household, marital status, and exact place of birth as opposed to merely whether the person was born in the same county or not enables the analysis to be conducted with greater precision. For most parishes, but unfortunately not for Llansantffraid, even more information of great relevance is provided in 1851, namely, the acreage of each farm and the number of workers employed on the farm. The spatial distribution of population in the parish has been dealt with previously,2 so it will be opportune to s'art by analysing the occupational structure as it was on 31 March 1841 when the enumer- ators conducted their census. As can be expected, the agricultural nature of the parish is reflected in the predominance of agricultural workers. Three main classes can be identified in the occupation columns. Firstly there are the farmers and their male relatives working on the farms. The principal difficulty associated with this group concerns the prestige attached to the term farmer which led to its adoption by persons holding only a few acres of land. In 1841 65 males and 6 females were recorded as farmers in the parish of Llansant- ffraid. Fortuitously the Apportionment of Rent Charges in lieu of Tithes in the Parish took place on 8 July 1841,8 and since this records