1921 Census

Tollerton in 1921

With the on-line publication of the 1921 Census in 2022 we can now build up a picture of Tollerton and its residents about a hundred years ago. This Census took place on 19 June 1921 and was undertaken nearly 3 years after the end of WW1 and at a time of great change across the country.

This Census was originally due to have been taken on 24 April, but industrial upheaval intervened and it was delayed until June. On that date in June there were 141 people in Tollerton but this includes visitors and lodgers. For the first time lodgers had to complete their own Census form, and not be reliant on the head of the house to include them in their return.  Not all households recognised these changes and some clearly did not correctly distinguish between a lodger and a visitor, which resulted in some errors. Data for Tollerton suggests there were nine visitors in the village at the time of the Census so this would take the ’normal’ population of the village down to 132.

One person logged themselves as a visitor, but we know he was a lodger working on a casual basis at one of the farms and there are two other families who logged themselves as visitors who could well have been lodging at the properties and assisting in farm duties.

Like many small villages in 1921, few properties beyond the farms and larger properties in Tollerton were identifiable as many still had no house name, house number or road name. There were 11 cottages listed for Tollerton which had no name or any indication of their exact location though they would all have been clustered close to Tollerton Hall. To ensure each household in the village was captured in our research, initial searches focused on the stated schedule numbers but even that threw up anomalies. It is clear that the schedule number for two properties in Tollerton were incorrectly transcribed (see the comments in the schedule number column below) so we have assumed what the correct schedule number might have been.

With these assumed corrections we have determined there were 30 Tollerton households in 1921. Schedule Number 1 was Russells Farm, the household furthest from the centre of the village and the last schedule number was 30 (Tollerton Hall).

We believe this is a full listing of all Tollerton residents on the night of 19 June, 1921 including all boarders and visitors. The listing is presented in alphabetical order by family name.

What makes the 1921 Census particularly interesting is that it is the last Census release we can now access until 2052 when the 1951 Census should be available. Sadly the 1931 Census records were destroyed in a fire in 1942 and no Census was taken in 1941 because of Second World War. There is a register for 1939 but this is not a ‘true’ Census. Information gathered for this register was used to produce identity cards, to issue ration books, to administer conscription and to support evacuation plans during World War 2. 

The 1921 Census was the most comprehensive census since 1841 in that it asked for information not previously requested. For instance, it did not just ask for a person’s occupation but also asked for the name and address of employers and, if unemployed, the name and address of last employer.

Prior to 1921 the head of the household had to submit all information about those living in their household but, given the detailed personal information requested in 1921, individuals could choose not to give their data to the head of household and instead submit a separate confidential return.

Analysis of 1921 Census data for Tollerton

The national population in England and Wales in 1921 was around 38 million so Tollerton was a very small place with only 141 residents on that day, including visitors/lodgers and just 30 households. The population of the village was 16.5% lower than in 1911.

It is suggested that the population of Cotgrave in 1921 was 617 and 836 in Keyworth so Tollerton was more like a hamlet when compared with these neighbouring villages.

As you might expect, the majority of those in employment were farmers, farm labourers or working at Tollerton Hall. Most female residents of an employable age indicated that their occupation was “home duties”. One young woman was a teacher, employed by Nottinghamshire County Council, though we do not know where she taught and another female resident worked in a shop at Edwalton. A further resident, Mary Hickman born 1870, is listed as a ‘charwoman’ but there is no indication of who she worked for.

Looking at the gender split 53% of Tollerton’s population in 1921 were female and 47% male. This compares with 56.2% female and 43.8% male in 1911. The gender data for Tollerton in 1921 is very similar to the data from across England and Wales for that year when 52% of the population was female and 48% male.

In 1921 in Tollerton there were 35 children and young people under 14 years of age (nearly 25% of the village’s population). This age was significant as it was the age at which children left school (previously 12). Presumably most of those under 14 and eligible to be at school attended Plumtree School since the school room at North End Cottages had closed well before 1921 and there would have been no other ‘local’ school. Plumtree School had been extended in 1905 so would have been better placed to accept all children 5-14 from Tollerton and other neighbouring villages. Even then, it was a fairly long journey on foot, particularly for the younger ones, though not dangerous given the lack of transport apart from an occasional horse and/or farm vehicle. Presumably a few of the older children might even have had a bicycle they could use to get to school.

School classes would have been large and learning was by rote. Books would have been shared between groups of pupils as books and paper were expensive. Writing was still practised with a tray of sand and a stick, progressing to a slate and chalk as the children became more proficient. Apart from the 3Rs, the children may have had opportunities to engage in nature study, sewing, woodwork, country dancing and the singing of traditional folk songs.

The following graph shows the breakdown of Tollerton’s population in 1921 by age groups, excluding visitors.

The oldest resident in Tollerton in 1921 was Charles Sweet who worked for Mrs Burnside at Tollerton Hall. Charles had worked for Mr and Mrs Burnside long before they moved to Tollerton Hall from Radcliffe on Trent so was a long standing and valued employee. Sadly, Charles died just over 4 years later in 1925 whilst working at the stables.

By 1921 Mrs Burnside of Tollerton Hall had been a widow for about 10 years, her husband William Elliott Burnside having died in 1911. She still had a number of staff including cook, butler, housekeeper, maids, footman, gamekeeper and gardeners, 7 of whom lived in. Alice Burnside died 6 years later in 1927. The Burnside family was the last family to own the Tollerton Estate and live in the Hall before it became a college, school etc.

There were a number of recognisable family names in the 1921 Census – families that had remained in Tollerton after 1911 and were still here in 1921, these include the Chambers, Wilds, Muirs. 25 Tollerton residents in 1921 had been born in the village. Of these 19 were 16 years of age or less, one in their 30s, two in their 40s and three in their 50s.

It is interesting to compare some of the 1921 data for Tollerton against that of 1911. The following graph compares the age profile of residents in those two years.

This graph shows a considerable drop in young children under the age of 5 years in 1921. National data across England and Wales shows that in 1921 there was the lowest number of children under 4 years of age in 40 years.  In 1921 Tollerton had an ageing population with far more residents 50 years plus than in 1911. The overall population of the village dipped even further after 1921. Records show that Tollerton’s population in 1931 was just 127 but then increased significantly as a result of new houses being built and families moving into these new homes. To think a hundred years later in 2021 the village’s population stood at 1,634!

It is incredible to think that in 1921 there were 25 residents living in the six small North End Cottages at the northern end of the village; that’s around 18% of the whole population of Tollerton. They would all have been sharing the outdoor toilet facilities at the back of this block of cottages. Alice Burnside had these six properties converted into four cottages later in 1921, after the Census was undertaken.

There are 10 cottages in the village not named in the 1921 Census. Maps from around this time would indicate that these cottages were located on Tollerton Lane near Tollerton Hall.

Accessing the 1921 Census data

This Census data has been accessed from the ‘Findmypast’ (FMP) website which is the only genealogy site that currently offers the 1921 data for England and Wales. This is because this company won the contract to digitise the Census records. Other than accessing the data online at home it is free to view on the FMP website at The National Archives at Kew, at the Manchester Central Library, and at the National Library of Wales, in Aberystwyth. 

Non-subscribers to this genealogy site can view these records on a pay-per-view basis. Viewing transcriptions costs £2.50 per record; viewing images of the original records costs £3.50 each. Pro subscribers to this site do get a 10% discount on all 1921 Census pay-per-view purchases.

You can search by name or by address if you know it. Searching by address is OK if the properties have name or number and a street name but many small villages did not have any of this information. Initial searches for Tollerton, Nottinghamshire yielded a very long list as it included those who had been born here but had moved away from the village before 1921.

Acknowledgement

The Tollerton Village History Group are grateful for financial support from Tollerton Parish Council that enabled us to fund the purchase of records for each household within the village.