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See List 2 for Bennett and Bennett (map 43 - population trends).

The major source for the nineteenth century is W. Page (ed.) Victoria History of the County of Lincoln, II (only volume published, London, 1906). This contains a Table of Population, which is much superior to directories, since it gives population figures for all townships at every census from 1801 to 1901. For census figures since the 1901 census, there is a full set of 1911-1991 Lincolnshire Census Reports in LCL, and some in LAO. However, note that the 1981 and 1991 Reports do not contain parish population totals. For these consult Lincolnshire County Council, Highways and Planning Department, 1991 Census Profiles, several volumes for different districts, covering the LCC area. For the former Humberside area look for Humberside Facts and Figures for various years, or the Humberside County Monitors for 1981 and 1991 in either the Scunthorpe or Grimsby Central Library.

The table of populartion data for a group of parishes in South Kesteven illustrates how to handle these tricky sources. Note, in particular, the variety of administrative arrangements

Sources

(1) 1086: Domesday Book (see above List 5)
(2) c. 1300: a crude multiplication of 1086 x 3.5 for the medieval peak, based on national sources (R. A. Dodgshon and R. A. Butlin, eds., An Historical Geography of England and Wales, 1978, p. 87).
(3) 1563: Appendix 1 of vol VI of the History of Lincolnshire quotes the Diocesan Return, which gives figures by families or households. These have been multiplied by the conventional 4.5 for comparative purposes.
(4) c. 1715 - R. E. G. Cole, ed., Speculum Dioceseos Lincolniensis, Part I, 1705-23, Lincoln Record Society, 4, 1913. Gives population figures by 'families' (i.e. households). In the table an average of the three dates has been multiplied by 4.5.
(5) 1801 census.
(6) The Victorian peak - the census showing maximum population, after eliminating 1851 when railway navvies were at work in this area.
(7) 1901 census.
(8) 1991 census, from 1991 Census Profiles, Lincolnshire County Council, Department of Highways and Planning, volume relating to South Kesteven parishes.

Note: All the early figures should be treated with caution, but the general impression will be reliable for the district as a whole. The first peak of population after the Conquest was almost certainly in the early fourteenth century before the Black Death, although the figure estimated could be well above the actual figure, as national trends have been used, which may not apply fully to this area. For example, the richness of some of the churches lends some support to the idea that it was at a peak of wealth in the early middle ages, on either side of the Conquest. Even with the burst of population growth c. 1750-1850, the Victorian peak was probably lower than the c. 1300 peak. The present day population is no more than the level in the eleventh century, and about two-thirds the Victorian peak. An impression is that the settlements have more or less maintained their relative positions, except that at the bottom of the scale there has been disproportionately more shrinkage, especially the lost places of Bowthorpe and Southorpe, but also at Counthorpe and Creeton, and possibly Scottlesthorpe and Elsthorpe.

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