In
a blog post of 14
January 2014 I commented on how certain events can be observed in an analysis
of birth, marriage or burial records, particularly from entries in parish
registers. That post dealt with a short term peak in marriages that occurred
during the Interregnum (1649-1660) when marriages were decreed to be performed
by Justices of the Peace in certain centres.
There
are also long-terms trends evident in the parish records if one has such data
summarized adequately. As an example, following are some observations of data
from Plympton St. Mary and Plympton St. Maurice parishes in southwest Devon (Figure 1).
Entries
in the registers of Plympton St. Mary parish are continuous from 1603 to 1982,
so we have a great long-term view of births, marriage and deaths in the area.
When combined with the 1616-1957 data from Plympton St. Maurice Parish we can
see the statistical trends that cover the rural and urban areas around Plympton
town. One should note that the numbers are only from Church of England records.
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Figure 1 – index
map to parishes in Southwest Devon
The
more complete data for Plympton St. Mary parish (Figure 2) shows an early peak
in baptism numbers around 1620 after which the number of baptisms dropped, with
minor fluctuations, until about 1702 when the decline was arrested. From about
1668, and for many years through to the early 1720s, burials outnumbered
baptisms, by almost 2,000 for the period, indicating a decline in overall
population. Marriages declined in annual number slightly between 1603 and 1720.
Numbers of baptisms rose after 1740 to a peak in 1862. They fell off again
until the 1930s when rates climbed again. Following the Second World War there
was an explosion in numbers, the beginning of the Baby Boom. Baptisms mostly
exceeded burials in Plympton St. Mary parish throughout 19th
Century, indicating population growth. With few exceptions, marriages were
fairly constant throughout the 1600s, 1700s and 1800s and did not begin to rise
significantly until the 1920s.
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Figure 2 – annual
baptisms, marriages and burials as recorded in the Church of England registers
of Plympton St. Mary Parish – 1603 to 1972
The
trends are slightly less pronounced for Plympton St. Maurice (Figure 3), mainly
because it is a much smaller parish. It is almost wholly urban in character and
probably experienced much inflow and outflow of individuals and families.
Through the 17th and 18th centuries, baptism and burial
numbers were almost in lock-step indicating a stable town population with
little or no growth. The steady drop in numbers of baptisms, however, shows
that overall population was probably in decline. The last peak in baptisms
happened in the latter part of the 19th century. A decline in the
number of baptisms continued into the early 20th century. Burials
also increased in the early 1800s, peaking earlier than for baptisms, but then
dropped as the 19th Century closed. Burials once again steadily rose
during the 1900s. Interestingly, marriage numbers increased from the late 1880s
even while baptisms declined.
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Figure 3 – annual
baptisms, marriages and burials as recorded in the Church of England registers
of Plympton St. Maurice Parish – 1616 to 1957
The
trends for both Plympton St. Mary and Plympton St. Maurice parishes, when
combining rural and urban areas around Plympton Town (Figure 4), are somewhat
clearer. Baptisms peaked sharply in 1865 and burials in 1883. In the previous
two centuries, baptisms had steadily declined from a peak in 1629. The trend
was not reversed until the 1740s. Burial numbers lagged baptisms until the
1640s. Thereafter they generally matched each other in number, until the late
1700s. Marriages were fairly steady throughout the 18th century,
grew steadily during the 1800s and then rapidly increased beginning in the
early 1900s.
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Figure 4 –
annual baptisms, marriages and burials as recorded in the Church of England
registers of Plympton St. Mary and Plympton St. Maurice Parishes – 1603 to 1957
In
contrast to the observed major decline in baptisms in these two parish during
the latter part of the 19th Century, the population of the region
actually increased (Figure 5); so what was the reason the Church of England
events dropped in number? One explanation may be that, after the introduction
of mandated civil registration in 1837, the importance of the Church as the
repository of vital statistics data waned. Perhaps society developed along more
secular lines, reducing the influence and meaning of religious services and, in
particular, the Church of England. It may also be that non-conformist
institutions assumed a more important role in baptisms, marriages and burials
as regulations and laws affecting them were relaxed and larger numbers of
people moved toward these churches.
Or,
perhaps, other influences were in play, some of which we might surmise and some
we have yet to determine.
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Figure 5 –
population of combined Plympton St. Mary and Plympton St. Maurice Parishes,
1801 to 2001 (Data is from Online Historical Population Reports and the UK
Office of National Statistics. No census was taken in 1941.)
When the annual numbers for baptisms, marriages
and burials are plotted over long periods of time, as seen here, many trends
are apparent, with numbers increasing or decreasing in regular patterns.
Individual anomalies also stand out, in the form of sharp spikes or troughs.
Both are an indication of change in population and a reflection of specific
events that unfolded in the communities. Recognizing these trends may give us
better ideas about how changes were playing out in local communities which, of
course, affected any ancestors who may have lived there at the time.
In my next post I will offer some
comments on the contrast between church and civil records and what conclusions
might be derived from the statistical analyses.
Wayne Shepheard is a volunteer with the Online Parish Clerk program in England, handling four
parishes in Devon, England. He has published a
number of articles about various aspects of genealogy and is the Editor of Relatively
Speaking, the quarterly journal of the Alberta Genealogical Society.
Wayne also provides genealogical consulting services through his business, Family History Facilitated.
