Population growth

A Brief History of Badsey and Aldington (first edition) by R D H Seaman and T C Sparrow gives an interesting overview of population growth in the villages -

"Until the first official census in 1801, statements about population are largely guesswork, but statistics coming from the scrutiny of the records of baptisms and burials offer a rough indication of the rise and fall of population; here the figures are of Badsey and Aldington together.

The figures suggest that there may have been a slow rise in the population of the two villages during the Tudor period, with baptisms consistently well ahead of burials, but during the Stuart period the tendency was reversed and for 20 years in Charles II's reign burials actually exceeded baptisms and the population may have fallen. In the 18th century, and especially in the second half, a much increased rate of baptisms (and marriages) indicate a rise in births, but this was counterbalanced by some bad periods for mortality; during 1727-29, a time of national influenza epidemic, there were 87 burials, much the worst three-year period in Badsey's recorded history, although the 1770s and 80s were also a bad time, probably due to the prevalence of smallpox.

...The rapid development of the market gardening industry soon brought increased prosperity to the village. New people moved in and the dates recorded on many of the houses are an indication of the extensive building which occurred shortly before and after 1900. The population rose at a quite astonishing rate, as may be seen from the following figures for Badsey:

This was in marked contrast to other areas where there was no alternative to farming and many of the labourers either emigrated or left their villages to seek work in the large towns. If we look at a group of three parishes in another part of the county, the combined population of Upton Snodsbury, Grafton Flyford and Flyford Flavell fell from 792 in 1871 to 559 in 1911."

Here are population figures based on the censuses -

Notes

• Population increase is expressed as a percentage rise over the previous 20 years.
• From 1971 onwards, acreage was reported in hectares. For Badsey 577 hectares = 1425 acres. For Aldington 232 hectares = 573 acres. 1 hectare = 2.471 acres.
• Boundary changes. In 1921, 12 acres of land in Aldington was transferred to Badsey. In 1949, 205 acres was transferred to Badsey (90 from Aldington and 115 from Offenham).
• The large increase in numbers for Aldington in 1921 is accounted for by the fact that Council Houses had been built on land which had not yet officially trasferred to Badsey.
• There was no census in 1941.

This information is taken from Census of England & Wales, County of Worcester for each relevant year, published first by HMSO and more recently by OPCS.

Here are the 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891 and 1901 censuses, transcribed, checked and all fully indexed.