Introduction

1891

At the time of this census, the Liberal Party was rediscovering its radical edge, the minimum working age was raised to 11, feminism was on the rise and the arrival of the detachable pneumatic tyre made cycling a more pleasant experience for everyone.

The tenth census of England, Wales and Scotland was carried out on the night of 5 April. New questions were introduced on the employment status of workers and on the numbers of rooms used by a household.

Everyone counted had to state whether they were an employer, an employee or neither. Also, each household (in England and Wales) had to return the number of rooms inhabited if it were less than five. This information was collected to understand levels of overcrowding among the working-classes – a subject that had become a major social question in the early 1880s.

A further new question, pertinent only to Wales, was asked to mirror the question on Gaelic speakers in Scotland which had been introduced in the previous census. The question asked whether people spoke English only, Welsh only or both.