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population.
In 1901 the population aged 10 years and upwards was 119,880 persons, of whom 81,642 (68.1
per cent.) returned themselves as "gainfully employed"; in 1911 the corresponding figures were
119,741 and 73,818 (61.6 per cent.), and in 1921, 124,234 and 73,624 (59.2 per cent.). The percentages
of employed males were: 1901, 83.8; 1911, 84.2; and 1921, 82.6; and those for females, 1901,
56.9; 1911, 46.0 and 1921, 43.2.
Some of the shrinkage in the proportion of "persons" employed has been due to the lessened
employment of the very young. At ages 10.15 years the percentage of boys employed was 12.4 in
1901 and 1911, that of girls 6.8 and 6.6.
At ages 10.14* the percentages of youths employed was 1.9 in 1911 and 0.2 in 1921, that of girls
1.9 and 0.1. At ages 14.16 the percentages were: Males, 1911, 69.7; 1921, 61.7; females, 1911,
46.6, 1921, 48.0. The corresponding figures for ages 18.20 were: Males, 92.1 and 82.2; and females,
80.9 and 83.2. At the ages 25.45 and 45.65 there were insignificant changes in the percentages of
men returned as occupied, but among women there was some increase in 1911, but a slight decrease
in 1921, the latest proportions being, however, higher than those recorded in 1901. The percentages
of single women (all ages) were : 1901, 68.6; 1911,72.6; and 1921, 67.9; and of the married and
widowed (together), 1901, 16.4; 1911, 19.0; and 1921, 18.8.
The only occupation of which the figures from the successive enumerations can at present be safely
compared, is that of indoor domestic service—the most numerous of all occupations in the Borough.
The totals returned were, 1901, 17,752 (males, 2,048, females, 15,704); 1911, 14,854 (males, 1,023,
females, 13,831) ; and in 1921, 12,989 (males, 1,049, females 11,940). During the thirty years the
number of male indoor servants has decreased by 48.8 per cent., and that of female by 24 per cent.
Foreigners.—At the last census the population of the Borough included 5,344 persons born outside
the United Kingdom, of whom 1,393 were British by birth (706) or naturalisation (687), the foreigners
(aliens) numbering 3,951. Of the total (5,344) 4,838 described themselves as "residents"—
1,350 British, 3,488 aliens—and 506 (British 43, aliens 463) as "visitors." No information as to
their nationality was given by 433 aliens, and of the remaining 3,518, 2,984 were of European nationality,
109 Asiatic, 2 African and 423 American (North and South). The two sexes were practically
equally represented, there being 1,781 males and 1,737 females.
In 1901, 2,822 aliens were enumerated (equal to 1.9 per cent. of the population of the Borough),
and in 1911, 4,484 (3.1 per cent.). At the last Census the percentage was 2.7. The proportion of
aliens of European nationality was 84.8 per cent. of the total aliens in 1921, as compared with 87.4
in 1901. The proportion of those of Asiatic nationality increased from 0.9 in 1901 to 3.1, and of those
of American (North and South) from 11.0 to 12.1.
Estimated Population.—The estimate of the population of the Borough at the middle of 1922,
furnished by the Registrar.General, was 145,300 persons.
The population increased by 1,710 persons during the intercensal period 1911.21, equivalent
to an annual increase of 167, after adjusting for the extended interval between the two Censuses, 10¼
years. The interval for which adjustment had to be made when estimating the population in
1922, was practically twelve months, so that, following the usual assumption of a continued equal
(proportional) increase, the estimated population for last year would be 144,428 persons, 872 less than
the total furnished by the Registrar.General. In his covering Memorandum, the Registrar.General
observes that his estimate has " been based on the adjusted 1921 figures, after allowing for the varying
" rate of natural increase as evidenced by the births and deaths in each area and of migration as
" evidenced from other sources of information, such as the changes in the numbers on the Parliamentary
" Register and the Migration Returns obtained by the Board of Trade. "
The usual practice has been to distribute the estimated population among the Wards in the same
proportions as prevailed in the last Census return. In the present instance such method of obtaining
estimates of the populations of the Wards would result in the estimates exceeding the enumerated
(1921) populations, in every Ward, whereas in three Wards, viz., Queen's Park, Church (old) and
Hyde Park, the populations reported, both in 1911 and 1921, were less than those returned in 1901.
Moreover, the difference (increase or decrease) between the population of any Ward in 1911 and that
of 1921 is so small that the changes to be made in calculating the intercensal population based on
one.tenth of the intercensal change, would be almost insignificant. Rates calculated on the populations
as determined at the Census of 1921, would, it is thought, be sufficiently accurate for all immediate
uses. It has, in consequence, been decided to use the estimate furnished by the Registrar.
General for the Borough and the Census populations for the Wards.
* The actual number of children returned as employed was in 1911, 80 (boys 72, girls 8), and in 1921, 4
(boy 1, girls 3).