How many Swinfields were there in 1921?

A census of England and Wales has been taken every ten years since 1801. In the first four censuses, those of 1801 to 1831, the government was only interested in obtaining a headcount of how many people were living, divided up by sex and age groups. Occasionally the enumerators recorded the name of the head of each household. 

In 1841, for the first time, the names of all those in the two countries were to be recorded in the household where they were on the night of the 6th June. Their occupation, if any, was stated and the age of adults was generally "rounded down" to the nearest five-year interval. Those of children under 15 were stated “accurately”. For those born in England and Wales, the question was asked "was this person born in this county?" to which the answer was either yes or no. 

Every ten years, from 1851 to 1911, the census in very late March or the first week of April, with the information compiled being recorded into enumerators' books for each census district. This varied from census to census. Generally, for all those residing in each household, we learn their relationship to the head of the household, marital status, age in years, or perhaps months, weeks or even days in the case of new-born babies, occupation and place of birth, usually expressed as the county and parish, hamlet or sometimes even a street. In 1911, for the first time, each householder completed and signed their own return. He or she was required to state, in the case of a married couple, how long their union had lasted, how many children it had produced and the number who were then living or had died. In more recent years, the censuses have been made available by the National Archives (TNA) for public inspection and research after their 100th anniversary. 

Earlier this year, the enumeration taken in 1921 was released and can now be searched by name index and the householder’s return viewed on the Find My Past (FMP) website. Currently, it is only available on a pay-for-view basis although it can be seen free of change at TNA. The information seen is very similar to that recorded in 1911 but, in addition, where someone was working for an employer, that company or individual will be named. Of course, this is a very valuable resource for any family historian or genealogist who is seeking vital information about someone who was living in England or Wales in 1921. The census, which was originally to have been taken in late April, was delayed until 19th June due to the general social and industrial unrest of that year. 

1921 census of 67 Deburgh Road, Wimbledon, London S.W. 19 (RG15/3622, schd. 304
 for John and Mary Swinfield and their four children 

 

How many Swinfields were enumerated in that year? Using the name index provided by FMP, together with some inventive use of searching techniques, it has been possible so far to locate and identify: 

 152 people indexed as Swinfield 

   20 people identified as Swinfield-Wells or Swinford-Wells 

   29 people who have now been positively identified as Swinfields but have been indexed as: 

        Salinfield (4), Sarsfield (6), Scourfield (1), Shinfield (2), Summerfield (6), Sunfield (2), 

        Swinford (3), Swinpold (2), Swinsfield (1) and even Thursfield (2) 

 In addition, 3 people are indexed as Swingfield but have yet to be identified 

Of the 104 males, 47 were married men or widowers, 22 were bachelors, 12 were teenage boys and 23 were boys under the age of thirteen. Amongst the 97 females, 48 were married woman or widows, 16 were spinsters over the age of nineteen, 9 were teenagers and 24 were girls who were 12 and younger. 

In Australia, mainly in New South Wales, the Swinfield surname has found a home since the emigration of two married brothers from Warwickshire with their families in 1848 and 1853. The first census in Australia was taken of NSW in November 1828. Although many censuses were taken of that colony from 1846 onwards, at five or ten year intervals, until 1881, those were all destroyed by fire in 1882. All Australian colonies held censuses from 1881, every ten years, until after Federation in 1901. The first national census was in 1911. There was a census of the whole country in 1921 and again in 1933, 1947 and 1954. From 1961 onwards, a national census has been taken every 5 years. However, after the compilation of the statistical data, the household information is then destroyed as a matter of privacy. 

Thus, as there is no surviving 1921 census for NSW, we cannot compare the population of Swinfields from those records. However, an analysis of the online state birth indexes, which are now available to 1921, and the family trees and databases which I have compiled, it would seem that there were 64 Swinfields living there in 1921. There were 35 males with 15 of those being either a married man or widower. There were 3 unmarried men, 8 teenage boys and 9 boys aged from 0 to 12. Of the 29 females, who were then using our surname, 16 were married women or widows, 2 were unmarried adults, 4 teenage girls and 7 girls aged 12 or less. 

Thus, it can be calculated that the World population of the surname of Swinfield in 1921 was approximately 265.