Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 8.djvu/234

Rh 222 ENGLAND [EMIGRATION. estimated number for the middle of each of the same years was as follows :- To 1000 Persons living. Years. Births. Deaths. Persons Married. 1841 32-2 21-6 15 4 1846 33-8 23-0 17 2 1851 34 2 22-0 17-2 1856 34-5 20-5 167 1861 34 6 21-6 16-3 1866 35-2 23-4 17-5 1871 35-0 22-6 167 1876 36-6 21-9 17-0 Mean average 84-0 22-3 16 5 opor- m of legiti- acy. arly ar- ages. ital sta- stics of igland m pared th reign untries. Taking the average of the whole period of 37 years, from 1841 to1876, there was one birth annually to _ every 29 persons, one death to every 45 persons, and one individual married to every 61 persons. The highest birth rate was in 1847, when there was one birth to 32 persons; the lowest death rate in 1845 and 1850, when there was one death to 48 persons; and the highest marriage rate in 1853, when one individual was married to every 56 persons. The proportion of the sexes born not quite regular throughout the period, but with a marked tendency to male decrease was that of 104,811 boys to every 100,000 girls. The disproportion in the excess of male births has been ascertained to find its equilibrium, through a higher rate of infant mortality among the males, about the tenth year of life, and is finally changed, by perilous male occupations and other causes, to the extent that there are 100,000 women of all ages to 94,900 men in England. The number of illegitimate births underwent a gradual decline in the period from 1840 to 1876, which was greatest in the last decade. The average annual number of illegitimate births to every 100 births was 5 7 in the ten years from 1865 to 1874, and fell to 5-0 in 1875, and to 4-8 in 1876. The rate of illegitimacy was highest in the agricultural counties, where it increased in recent years, while largely decreasing in the urban districts. The in crease was highest in Essex, where it rose to 10 5 per cent. ; in Hertfordshire, where it rose to 17 3 per cent.; and in Rutlandshire, where it went as high as 23 5 per cent,, so that in the latter purely agricultural county nearly one- fourth of all the births were illegitimate. It seems probable that the decrease of illegitimacy in the urban districts is much influenced by a constantly increas ing number of early marriages. While in the quinquennial period 1841-45 the proportion of males under age that married was 4 38 per cent., and of females 13 33 per cent., the marriage rate of minors, undergoing a steady and unin terrupted rise, went up in the period 1871-75 to 8 15 for males and to 22 22 for females. In the ten years from 1846 to 1855, the proportion of males under age who married was 10-64 per cent,, and of females under age 33 47, while in the ten years from 1866 to 1875, the proportional percentage was 17 05 for men and 47 09 for women. The rates of births, deaths, and marriages in England and Wales compare very favourably with those of most Continental countries. While the average annual birth rate in the twenty years from 1856 to 1875 was higher in some states, such as Prussia and Austria, the annual death rate during the same period was much lower, resulting in a larger actual surplus of births over deaths. AS regards the average marriage rate within the period, that of England and Wales was not as high as in some Continental countries; but this again was more than compensated for by a greater fecundity of marriages. Taking the total increase of popu lation within the century, England stands at the head of the listFrance beingat the bottom of all the states of Europe. The increase of population would have been still greater, but for the disturbing element of emigration. It was soon after the cessation of the Napoleonic wars that the emigra tion movement from the United Kingdom began, setting in at first very feebly, and being directed almost solely towards the United States of America. It gained intensity during the decade from 1841 to 1850; and, gradually rising, reached its highest point in 1851 and 1852, in which years respectively 335,966 and 368,764 persons left the kingdom. After this there was a gradual decline in the number of British emigrants till 1861, when it sank to 91,770, which decrease was followed, with changes, by a further rise, and then by a final decline, lasting to the present time. The following table gives a survey of the emigration from the United Kingdom to foreign countries, in groups of years and single years, distinguishing two great periods of rise and fall, from 1815 to 1852 and from 1853 to 1876 : Emij tion Elm- gran i rom 1815 1876 Years. Number of Emigrants. Years. Number of Emigrants. 1815-1820 123,528 1853-1860 1,582,475 1821-1830 247,292 1861-1870 . 1 967 570 1831-1840 . .. 703 150 1871 252 435 1841-1850 1,684,892 1872 295,213 1851 335,966 1873 310,612 1852 368,764 1874 241 014 1875 173,809 1876 138,222 Total, 1815-1852. 3,463,592 Total, 1853-1876. 4,961.350 During the whole of the two periods, embracing sixty- two years, the total number of emigrants that left the United Kingdom was 8,424,042. In the returns of emigration issued by the Government, no distinction of nationalities was made previous to the year 1853 ; aud it cannot be stated, therefore, how many of the emigrants who left the country from 1815 to 1853 were natives of England and Wales. In the eight years from 1853 to 1860 the number of English emigrants was 195,684, and in the ten years 1861 to 1870 it rose to 365,115. In 1871 the number was 71,926, and in 1872 it rose to 82,339. The number fell 78,968 in 1873, to 56,338 in 1874, to 43,867 in 1875, and to 34,612 in 1876. During the whole of the twenty-four years from 1853 to 1876 the number of emigrants from England and Wales was 928,898, out of the total emigration of 4,961,350. The proportion of English emigrants was thus less than one-fifth, and assuming the same to have been the case during the whole period, it may be calculated that about a million and a half of natives of England and Wales quitted the country in the sixty-two years from 1815 to 1876, which formed the emigration period. The period all but closed with 1876, in which year the surplus of British emigrants over returning immigrants was reduced to the small number of 17,822. Since the year 1870, but not previously, tolerably accurate accounts were kept of immigration as well as emigration, with the results shown in the following table, which gives for the seven years from 1870 to 1876 the number of emigrants of British origin, together with the number of immigrants, with the balance of net emigration. Emi- graiv from Engl and Wal&amp;lt; Eini grant and i mign Years. Number of British Emigrants. Number of Immigrants. Net Emigration 1870 202,511 49,157 153,354 1871 192,751 53,827 138,924 1872 210,494 70,181 140,313 1873 228,345 86,416 141,929 1874 197,272 118,129 79, 1 43 1875 140,675 94,228 46,447 1876 109,469 91,647 17,822