Study title

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Great Britain Historical Database has been assembled as part of the ongoing Great Britain Historical GIS Project. The project aims to trace the emergence of the north-south divide in Britain and to provide a synoptic view of the human geography of Britain at sub-county scales. Further information about the project is available on A Vision of Britain webpages, where users can browse the database's documentation system online.

Although these data come from the reports of the 1851 Census, they result not from the main household enumeration but from a separate survey of school attendance conducted on 31st March 1851. While modern census education statistics, from 1951 onwards, are concerned mainly with educational attainment, measured by either level of qualification achieved or age at termination of education, the 1851 data are concerned mainly with how schools were funded, and in particular the role of different religious denominations, which were very finely categorised. The only data concerning pupils are the numbers of female and male pupils on the attendance register of each category of school, except that for Scotland there are separate counts of the actual numbers of females and males in attendance on the census day.

Numbers of schools, and total numbers of female and male pupils, in schools of different types in each area. Schools are divided into day schools and sunday schools, and day schools are finely categorised in terms of how they were administered and funded, with a particular emphasis on schools operated by different religious demominations.