Censuses 1881 Distribution The 1881 census transcription, despite its known faults, is a marvellous tool for considering the frequency and distribution of names in the late nineteenth century. The Guild of One-Name Studies has done important work in establishing baselines upon which to commence a study of individual names. The following table of conventions is based on the work of the Guild’s 1881 Project co-ordinated by Geoff Riggs: slt The number of surname occurrences at a sub-national level local Snt The National total of surname occurrences National n The population size of the area under study local N The National Population size National slt/Snt The percentage of occurrences local slt/N The frequency : usually expressed per 1,000 or per 10,000 local Snt/N The overall frequency National (slt/Snt)/(n/N) The Density National The density is an important indicator. If a surname was evenly distributed it would have a density of 1. Geoff Riggs shows in his articles that reliance merely on the number of occurrences (s) is a misleading indicator. For example, below are the 1881 county figures for my own name, Dance: County 1881 Population Number Total Occur % of 2514 significance per 1000 Rank n s 2514 s/n s/S (s/S)/(n/N) HEREF 121,062 160 2514 6.36 0.06 13.65 1.322 1 BERKS 218,363 227 2514 9.03 0.09 10.10 1.040 2 WILTS 258,965 105 2514 4.18 0.04 3.94 0.405 3 GLOS 572,433 194 2514 7.72 0.08 3.29 0.339 4 HANTS 593,470 181 2514 7.20 0.07 2.96 0.305 5 WORCS 380,283 113 2514 4.49 0.04 2.89 0.297 6 SURREY 1,436,899 341 2514 13.56 0.14 2.31 0.237 7 RUTLAND 21434 4 2514 2514 0.16 0.00 1.81 0.187 8 WARWICK 737,339 116 2514 4.61 0.05 1.53 0.157 9 NOTTS 391,815 50 2514 1.99 0.02 1.24 0.128 10 BUCKS 176,323 22 2514 0.88 0.01 1.21 0.125 11 MDSX 2,920,485 311 2514 12.37 0.12 1.03 0.106 12 OXON 179,559 19 2514 0.76 0.01 1.03 0.106 13 The data in the above and below tables is derived from considering figures derived from 1) counties, and 2) from the smaller registration districts. I have used Steve Archer’s LDS Companion to extract the number of references and location in both tables from the 1881 Census Cdrom. Alternatively, I could have collected them manually from the fiche version, and using M Bryant Rosiers Index to Census Registration Districts, assigned them to their correct area. The former is far simpler. Population figures are taken from the statistics section of this site. Surrey has the highest number of absolute numbers, but if one considers the density, then Herefordshire is the leading county, with Berkshire close behind. There is a wide margin to the next county, Wiltshire. I found this surprising, as a contemporary survey indicates Berkshire as the main county, whilst the IGI favours Worcestershire. The name Dance seems not to have a discrete source, but seems to have arisen independently in several counties from Worcestershire, through Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Berkshire,Hampshire. But then, in surname distribution studies, nothing is clear cut, as the following table of data arrranged by registration district reveals: Regn Dist Regn Cnty Count 1881 Population s/n s/S Density Significance Marlborough Wiltshire 47 9,588 0.02 0.03 4.9 51.47 Ledbury Herefordshire 53 12,691 0.01 0.02 4.2 43.85 Wokingham Berkshire 53 15,996 0.01 0.01 3.3 34.79 Bradfield Berkshire 46 16,719 0.00 0.01 2.8 28.89 Newent Gloucestershire 25 11,030 0.00 0.01 2.3 23.80 Catherington Hampshire 6 2,747 0.00 0.01 2.2 22.93 Castle Ward Northumberland 43 19,720 0.00 0.01 2.2 22.89 Andover Hampshire 47 15,700 0.00 0.02 2.1 22.07 Hartley Wintney Hampshire 44 21,326 0.00 0.01 2.1 21.66 Cirencester Gloucestershire 42 21.125 0.00 0.02 2.0 20.87 Hungerford Berkshire 33 17,802 0.00 0.02 1.9 19.46 The distribution is best seen as a map: This map shows the heartland of the Dance surname. Three foci can be discerned:- Marlborough (Wiltshire) Ledbury(Herefordshire) Bradfield/Wokingham (Berkshire) The map was created with Genmap v2. Figures are per 10,000 people. Marlborough is the 1881 Dance hotspot.Within the Registration District, the name is located in just 2 parishes: Marlborough St Mary (174 on map) numbers-35 Preshute- numbers 12 Map created from the HDS Historic Parishes of England and Wales CD.