With the exception of 2001, these data have been created for Vision of Britain by re-districting statistics originally reported for other units. We have also had to deal with variations in the categories and classifications used in statistical reporting over the years.
- 1841: The data come from the Occupational Abstract of the 1841 census, which the project has computerised in full. The calculation of numbers in each of the six sectors used here was based on the data having already been grouped into the detailed Booth-Armstrong occupational classification, designed for use with nineteenth century data. All workers in AG1 to AG4 were assigned to Agriculture. All workers in M1 to M4 were assigned to Mining. All workers in MF1 to MF24 were assigned to Manufacturing, apart from gas workers in MF8 who were assigned to Utilities. All workers in B1 to B3 were assigned to Construction. All workers in T1 to T5 were assigned to Utilities. All workers in D1 to D13, all in PP1 to PP13 and all in IS1 and IS2 were assigned to Services, apart from those employed in posts and telegraph in PP1, those employed at waterworks in PP3, and labourers in IS2 who were all assigned to Utilities. Everyone in PO ('Property Owning') was assigned to either Mining or Utilities, based on what they owned (this was unproblematic).
- 1881: The data are derived from the full transcription of the 1881 Census enumerators' books organised by the Genealogical Society of Utah. The raw data therefore contained all the individual occupational descriptions, but we worked with a dataset supplied by Kevin Schürer and Matthew Woollard of Essex University, which had already been grouped into the 414 occupational categories used in the most detailed tables in the 1881 census reports. All occupations in the 'Professional Class' and the 'Domestic Class' were placed in Services, with the exception of Mining Engineers who were placed in Mining. The 'Commercial Class' was divided: those in 'Commercial Occupations' were placed in Services, but those in 'Conveyance of men, goods and messages' were placed in Utilities. All in the 'Agricultural Class' were placed in Agriculture. Most in the very large 'Industrial Class' were placed in Manufacturing but there were extensive exceptions. Within 'Workers and Dealers in House, Furniture and Decorations', all in 'Houses' plus carvers and gilders were placed in Construction. Within 'Workers and Dealers in Various Mineral Substances', all in 'Mining' plus coke, charcoal and peat cutters/burners, and all workers in quarries, clay pits etc were placed in Mining; navvies and other workers on roads and railways were placed in Construction. Those employed at gas works and water works were placed in Utilities, as were undefined 'contractors', general labourers', 'firemen', 'artisans', apprentices' and those in 'town drainage service'. Finally, many within the 'Industrial Class' were placed in Services because they were described as 'brokers, 'dealers' or 'merchants' (including some identified by specialist terms, such as 'Woolstapler' or 'Mercer'), or because they were clearly primarily shopkeepers: book sellers; newspaper agents; 'funeral furniture maker/undertakers'; 'figure, image - maker, dealer'; 'animal, bird &c. preservers, naturalists'; 'chemists, druggists'; everyone involved with 'Tobacco and Pipes', 'Board and Lodging' and 'Spirituous Drinks' apart from maltsters and brewers; everyone in 'Food' apart from corn millers and sugar refiners; 'stationers' and ticket and label writers; coal merchants and heavers; ironmongers; pawnbrokers, costermongers, hucksters, street sellers, chimney sweeps, scavengers, crossing sweepers and rag gatherers. 'Persons returned by property, rank &c. and not by special occupation', occupational descriptions whose meaning was unknown, and illegible entries were all classed as 'Unknown'.
- 1931: The original sources are tables 16 'Occupations of Males and Females aged 14 years and over', for large towns, and table 17 'Occupations (Condensed List) of Males and Females aged 14 years', for small towns and Rural Districts, in Census, 1931: Classification of Occupations (London: HMSO, 1934). These tables cover occupations, not industries, but unlike modern occupational classifications the vast majority of categories were specific to particular industries or sectors. We reorganised the 32 orders into the six sectors as follows: Agriculture is orders I (fishing) and II (agriculture). Mining is order III (mining and quarrying). Manufacturing is orders IV (non-metalliferous mine and quarry products), V (bricks, pottery and glass), VI (chemical processes: makers of paints, oils, etc), VII (metals), VIII (precious metals and electro plate), IX (electrical apparatus), X (watches, clocks, and scientific instruments), XI (skins and leather), XII (textiles), XIII (textile goods and articles of dress), XIV (foods, drinks, and tobacco), XV (wood and furniture), XVI (paper and cardboard), XVII (printers and photographers), XX (other products), XXI (mixed products). Construction is orders XVIII (builders, bricklayers, stone and slate workers; contractors) and XIX (painters and decorators). Utilities is orders XXII (transport and communication), XXIX (warehousing) and XXX (stationary engines, etc). Services is orders XXIII (commercial, finance, and insurance), XXIV (public administration and defence), XXV (professional services), XXVI (entertainment), XXVII (personal service), and XXVIII (clerks and draughtsmen; typists). Order XXXI (other undefined workers) was treated as 'Unknown', and Order XXXII (retired or not gainfully occupied) was excluded from the analysis. Numbers of women in certain minor orders were not tabulated by the census for small towns and Rural Districts, but were estimated prior to redistricting on the assumption that numbers in each order in each district matched the proportions in these orders over the relevant county, once numbers in the larger towns had been deducted.
- 1951: The original sources are table 20, 'Selected Occupations with Status Aggregates', for large towns, and table 21, 'Selected Occupations with Status Aggregates - abridged analysis', for smaller towns and Rural Districts, in Census 1951 England and Wales: Occupation Tables (London: HMSO, 1956). This census used a slightly simplified and renumbered version of the occupational orders used in 1931, in which most 'occupations' were again specific to particular industries. Agriculture consists of orders I (Fishermen) and II (Agricultural, etc, occupations). Mining consists of order III (Mining and quarrying occupations). Manufacturing consists of orders IV (Workers in ceramics, glass, cement, etc), V (Coal gas, etc. makers, workers in chemicals), VI (Workers in metal manufacture, engineering), VII (Textile workers), VIII (Leather workers, fur dressers), IX (Makers of textile goods and articles of dress), X (Makers of foods, drinks and tobacco), XI (Workers wood, cane and cork), XII (Makers of, workers in, paper; printers) and XIII (Makers of products, not elsewhere stated). Construction consists of orders XIV (Workers in building and contracting) and XV (Painters and decorators). Utilities consists of orders XVII (Persons employed in transport, etc), XXIV (Warehousemen, storekeepers, packers, etc), XXV (Stationary engine drivers, stokers, etc) and XXVI (Workers in unskilled occupations, not elsewhere stated). Services consists of orders XVI (Administrators, directors, managers, not elsewhere stated), XVIII (Commercial, finance, etc, excl clerical), XIX (Professional and technical, excl clerical), XX (Persons employed in defence services), XXI (Persons engaged in entertainments and sport), XXII (Persons engaged in personal service) and XXIII (Clerks, typists, etc). There is also an 'Unknown' category consisting of order XXVII (Other and undefined workers). Women workers in orders I, III-V, XI, XIII-XV, XX, XXI, XXV and XXVII in smaller towns and Rural Districts were not separately listed in the census report, but we have estimated their numbers on the assumption that the number in a particular order in any given district would have been proportionate to numbers in the county as a whole, excluding those in large towns; the numbers involved are small.
- 1971: The data are computed from table 28, 'Industry of Employed Person' in the 1971 Small Area Statistics, via the Linking Censuses through Time system. They are from the 10% sample, are not broken down by sex, and list seven sectors: agriculture; mining; manufacturing; construction; 'utilities and transport'; and 'distribution and services', 'national and local government, and defence', grouped together as Services.
- 1981: The data are computed from table 46 in the 1981 Small Area Statistics, via the Linking Censuses through Time system. They are from the 10% sample, are broken down by sex, and list seven sectors: agriculture; manufacturing; construction; energy and water (which included mining but is treated here as Utilities); and 'distribution and catering', 'transport' and 'other services', grouped together here as Services.
- 1991: The data are computed from the 1991 Small Area Statistics, via the Linking Censuses through Time system. They are from the 10% sample, are broken down by sex, and list ten sectors plus a residual category: agriculture and 'forestry and fishing'; 'mining'; 'manufacturing metal' and 'other manufacturing'; construction; 'energy and water', and transport, grouped together here as Utilities; and 'distribution and catering', 'banking & finance', and 'other services', grouped together here as Services; plus 'inadequately described or working outside the UK'.
- 2001: The data are taken from table KS11 'Industry of Employment: Census 2001, Key Statistics for local Authorities', combining data from KS11b for males aged 16-74 in employment and KS11c for females. They are broken down by sex and list fourteen sectors plus a residual category: 'Agriculture, hunting, forestry', plus Fishing; 'Mining and quarrying'; Manufacturing; Construction; 'Electricity, gas and water supply', and 'Transport storage and communication', grouped together here as Utilities; 'Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles', 'Hotels and catering', 'Public administration and defence', 'Education', 'Health and social work', 'Financial intermediation', and 'Real estate, renting and business activities', all grouped together here as Services; plus 'Other', which covers 'other community [work]; social and personal service activities; private households with employed persons and extra-territorial organisations and bodies'.