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Pressure of Numbers

The early census report reveal a sharp rise in the population of Pitstone between 1801 and 1831 when the total figure rose from 275 to 436, representing a net gain of 161 or over 30%. Most of the increase seems to have occurred after 1811 and was greatest between 1821 and 1831. In some neighbouring parishes such as, for example Ivinghoe and Edlesborough, the rise was proportionally higher than in Pitstone, and in a number of parishes in the Vale of Aylesbury it was higher still at well over 50%. In others the rise was relatively slight.

The picture then is one of complex variations of a general theme of expansion. Whilst these variations may some extent reflect the actual differences in birth rates, there is no doubt that the local migration was an even more important factor and this in turn was influenced by differences in rural economies of the parishes concerned and by differences in the degree to which the laws of settlement were enforced. Economically, if we leave rural industries out of the picture, there seems to be a broad contrast between arable parishes like Pitstone which offered employment on a comparatively large scale, and the primarily grassland parishes where labour requirements were somewhat less. These differences were not however, in every case reflected straightforwardly in the population figure because social and legal factors operated to separate residence from employment. A prosperous "closed" parish whose authorities took pains to exclude indigent newcomers might draw much of its labour force from a poverty stricken "open" parish where no such control was exercised.

In Pitstone the picture revealed by the 1851 census, the first to give birthplaces, is of a relatively immobile population. About 70% of the total were said to be born in the parish, of the remainder, 8% were born in Ivinghoe and altogether 90% were born within 5 miles radius. The immigrants can be categorised as follows: -

It can be seen that most of the migration was linked to marriage, kinship or service. Only 12 families were immigrants in the full sense of the term and these had evidently come into the parish over a long period of time; half of them were labouring families. The proportion of families, over half, having one parent born outside the parish may seem high at first glance but it hardly compares, for example, with the situation reported at Cardington in Bedfordshire in 1782 when out of 109 families only seven had both parents born in the parish.

There is no way of knowing how closely the 1851 figures reflect the situation at the beginning of the century, but there is no evidence of large scale immigration at that time and some signs that active steps were being taken to keep out undesirables likely to become a charge on the rates.

It would seem then, that most of the increase in the population of Pitstone between 1801 and 1831 must be accounted for by the natural increase and there may even have been a net loss by emigration. The demographic origins of this increase, like those of the corresponding national increase, go back well before 1800. Unfortunately, the state of the parish registers is such that it would be unsafe to base any precise calculations on figures derived from them. Nevertheless, it is clear that the age of marriage, a major factor in determining fertility- was already low in 1800 and remained low thereafter.

The relative stagnation of Pitstone's population after 1830 is most readily explained in terms of increasing out-migration caused in part by the shortage of housing. Housing was of course a key factor in regulating the size of population of any community. Increasing numbers sooner or later required more houses. Within limits, expansion could continue for some time by means of increased concentration of people in existing houses. This is what happened in Pitstone. According to the census reports the number of houses in the parish rose from 60 in 1801 to 76 in 1831, representing an increase in average household size from about 4.5 to 6. Moreover, a close study of the estate maps and deeds makes it clear that half the additional dwellings were new buildings and that they were made up roughly as follows: -

Thus not only were the household getting larger but may of the houses were getting smaller. A few (?) of the sub-divided buildings were redundant farmhouses but most were cottages. In addition, at least 3 cottages were pulled down and two were rebuilt.

After 1831, when the population had levelled out for a time, changes in the housing stock are increasingly difficult to follow in detail. According to the census there were 81 inhabited houses in 1841 and 76 in 1851 with for "buildings". Other records show the following: -

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