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Analysis by age - children
There were 420 children, 30.65% of the total population. In 1901 most 13 year olds were considered adults and were working full time, only the children of wealthy families were able to remain in education.
Of the 420 children 188 were below school age, thus there were 232 at school, 55.23%. Of the 188 below 5 years, 83 were one year or under, sadly half of these did not reach 5 years. The burial records confirm high infant mortality.
There were three sets of twins aged 1 year, 5 years and 11 years. Three to five children were the norm for most families, however there were some larger families.
Samuel Henson was the Verger and had 12 children at home in 1901, next came the Almonds with 8, the Youngs, Tatums and Goldsmiths had 7 each, there were 6 little Jaggards, Deacons, Gibsons and Cooks.
Teenagers and 20 year olds
There were 171 in this group, all in employment, some living in as domestic staff, or on farms as ‘boys’, some still at home employed as errand boys at local shops.
The migration into service in London or employment in the fast growing industrial areas accounts for the drop in numbers of 18 years to 22 years as against the 13 - 17 year olds, the former averaged 16 per age group, the latter 23 per age group.
21 years to 65 years
This, the largest group, totalled 669 - 48.10% of the population, very different from the present day.
Most of the wives have no given occupation, a few had retarded family members to care for. Two were recorded as adult Imbeciles and two as feeble minded; this official notation would have meant the former were unemployable, the latter were registered as agricultural employees. However, none would have been schooled.
65 years to 87 years
Totalling 120, 8.75% of the population, most would in 1901 still have been working, the eldest at 87 was in the Almshouses in Clacton Road.
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MAY 2002