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 But the critical turning point in the long history of Leicester was near at hand. Towards the close of the 17th century the stocking-frame was introduced into the town, and the manufacture of hosiery very soon became established upon a comparatively large scale. It was estimated by Thompson that in 1700 the town of Leicester contained 6,000 inhabitants, and, although this may be an exaggeration, there is little doubt that a rapid increase had already set in. In the course of the next hundred years the population became at least three times as large as it had ever been. The return made to Parliament in 1800 showed that the number of inhabited houses at that period was 3,205, of uninhabited only 15. The Leicester families were 3,668, consisting of 7,921 males and 9,032 females, in all 16,953.

Thus, after remaining through many centuries a little community of from two to four thousand souls, the city of Leicester began to develop from a small country town into a densely-populated centre of modern commerce. Ever since 1800 its rate of increase has been maintained with a healthy regularity, and the following returns of the Census show with what irresistible steadiness its transformation has been effected: