Preece Family History



         & One Name Study
The website dedicated to the research of Preece individuals and families worldwide

                                                                                                      HOME              *BACKGROUND              RECORDS            LOCATIONS           LINKS             NOTABLE PEOPLE            CONTACT ME

Population Analysis - 1881 and 1999 - Numerical only

A glance at modern telephone directories will tell you that the Preece name is very prevalent in the general western Midlands area. It would also tell you that there are now arguably more Preece families in Wales than 100 years ago, and that there are Preece families in almost every county in England and Wales, and a far greater number in Scotland in 1881.

As shown elsewhere, it is widely thought that the Preece name originated in Wales, and spread into the border counties of England, where it retains a large presence today.

However, the picture in 1881 was very different.

At that time, Herefordshire was home to almost a third of all the Preeces living, With Shropshire weighing in with 15% itself, resulting in almost half of the total in just two counties. Further large concentrations were found in Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, and the two Welsh counties of Monmouthshire and Glamorgan. In addition quite a number had moved to London (Middlesex and Surrey) and Cheshire, but outside these counties the numbers were very sparse, reflecting the fact that traveling many miles for work was an exception rather than a rule as far as Preece families were concerned.

By 1999, the picture had changed, although the majority (around two thirds) still lived within the Western Midlands counties, with most counties having a number of Preece families. There are limitations in the 1999 data, which does affect the overall quality of the data, but the results are sufficient to produce the details required for trends and movement. Since the 1999 data is necessarily extracted from electoral roll lists and telephone directories the figures exclude anyone not appearing in either of these sources, and also fails to count young family members, who will of course be neither in the telephone directory nor old enough to vote! Various estimates have put the figure excluded at up to 20%, meaning that the figures shown for 1999 in the tables which follow could be increased by 20%, but since this would be theoretical I have not acted upon this, but have left the data as extracted.

The raw data is shown in the tables which follow, for England, Wales and Scotland. Two maps also follow the tables, showing a graphical representation of the density of the name Preece in the counties in both 1881 and 1999.


A further, more detailed look at 1881 has been carried out, taking into account place of birth, and excluding those shown on the census as wives, as they are not originally 'holders' of the Preece name. Click here to view this analysis.


ENGLAND

1881
 
1999
Area/County Number of Preece Population in 000's Preece density per 100k % of total Preece   Number of Preece Population in 000's Preece density per 100k % of total Preece
NORTH EAST  
Durham 20 867 1.3 0.41   53 880 6.0 0.71
Northumberland 5 434 0.9 0.10   7 310 2.3 0.09
Tyne & Wear           87 1116 7.8 1.16
NORTH WEST  
Cumberland 4 250 1.2 0.08          
Westmorland 0 64 0.0 0.00          
Cheshire 46 644 6.1 0.93   242 672 36.0 3.23
Cumbria           18 493 3.7 0.24
Greater Manchester           95 2577 3.7 1.27
Lancashire 110 3454 2.8 2.23   139 1739 8.0 1.86
Merseyside           86 1409 6.1 1.15
YORKSHIRE & HUMBER  
Yorkshire 56 2886 1.6 1.14          
East Yorkshire           12 575 2.1 0.16
North Yorkshire           28 848 3.3 0.37
South Yorkshire           119 1304 9.1 1.59
West Yorkshire           199 2113 9.4 2.66
EASTERN MIDLANDS  
Rutland 0 21 0.0 0.00   0 36 0.0 0.00
Derbyshire 25 461 6.7 0.51   123 970 12.7 1.64
Leicestershire 6 321 2.2 0.12   31 893 3.5 0.41
Lincolnshire 4 469 0.6 0.08   46 931 4.9 0.61
Northamptonshire 5 272 1.8 0.10   79 616 12.8 1.06
Nottinghamshire 13 391 2.8 0.26   42 1032 4.1 0.56
WESTERN MIDLANDS  
Herefordshire 1574 121 1113.2 31.92   625 168 372.0 8.35
Shropshire 783 248 269.0 15.88   387 430 90.0 5.17
Staffordshire 380 981 33.5 7.71   362 1062 34.1 4.84
Warwickshire 247 737 28.2 5.01   84 507 16.6 1.12
West Midlands           900 2628 34.2 12.03
Worcestershire 411 380 90.3 8.34   443 538 82.3 5.92
EAST  
Huntingdonshire 0 59 0.0 0.00          
Bedfordshire 1 149 0.7 0.02   41 556 7.4 0.55
Cambridgeshire 0 185 0.0 0.00   15 720 2.1 0.20
Essex 16 576 2.6 0.32   74 1606 4.6 0.99
Hertfordshire 15 203 5.9 0.30   52 1034 5.0 0.70
Norfolk 1 444 0.2 0.02   23 790 2.9 0.31
Suffolk 5 356 1.1 0.10   30 671 4.5 0.40
LONDON & SOUTH EAST  
Greater London           192 7188 2.7 2.57
Berkshire 10 218 5.0 0.20   51 800 6.4 0.68
Middlesex 217 2920 6.7 4.40          
Sussex 10 490 2.2 0.20          
Isle of Wight           17 127 13.4 0.23
Buckinghamshire 8 176 4.0 0.16   53 682 7.8 0.71
East Sussex           60 747 8.0 0.80
Hampshire 6 593 1.0 0.12   110 1644 6.7 1.47
Kent 12 977 1.4 0.24   123 1575 7.8 1.64
Oxfordshire 5 179 2.8 0.10   71 617 11.5 0.95
Surrey 120 1436 7.3 2.43   115 1061 10.8 1.54
West Sussex           68 752 9.0 0.91
SOUTH WEST  
Cornwall 1 330 0.3 0.02   16 490 3.3 0.21
Devon 28 603 4.0 0.57   146 1068 13.7 1.95
Dorset 2 191 1.0 0.04   55 690 8.0 0.74
Gloucestershire 229 572 34.4 4.64   408 1200 34.0 5.45
Somerset 34 469 6.4 0.69   93 845 11.0 1.24
Wiltshire 3 258 0.8 0.06   54 606 8.9 0.72
 
ENGLAND TOTALS 4412 24385 18.1 89.47   6074 49316 12.3 81.18

WALES
1881
 
1999
 Area/County Number of Preece Population in 000's Preece density per 100k % of total Preece   Number of Preece Population in 000's Preece density per 100k % of total Preece
Blaenau Gwent           61 72 84.7 0.82
Brecon 43 58 74.1 0.87          
Bridgend           96 131 73.3 1.28
Caernarvonshire 9 118 0.8 0.18          
Caerphilly           166 170 97.6 2.22
Cardiff           133 321 41.4 1.78
Cardiganshire 0 71 0.0 0.00          
Carmarthenshire 7 123 5.7 0.14   49 169 29.0 0.65
Ceredigon           3 71 4.2 0.04
Conwy           8 112 7.1 0.11
Denbighshire 1 110 0.9 0.02   5 91 5.5 0.07
Flintshire 3 78 3.8 0.06   17 147 11.6 0.23
Glamorgan 162 509 27.1 3.29          
Gwynedd           14 118 11.9 0.19
Isle of Anglesey 0 51 0.0 0.00   0 65 0.0 0.00
Merionethshire 1 53 0.0 0.02          
Merthyr Tydfil           48 57 84.2 0.64
Monmouthshire 167 211 81.0 3.39   36 86 41.9 0.48
Montgomeryshire 60 66 92.4 1.22          
Neath Port Talbot           60 139 43.2 0.80
Newport           129 139 92.8 1.72
Pembrokeshire 26 92 27.2 0.53   39 114 34.2 0.52
Powys           87 126 69.0 1.16
Radnorshire 36 23 156.5 0.73          
Rhondda, Cynon, Taff           81 240 33.8 1.08
Swansea           74 230 32.2 0.99
Torfaen           150 90 166.7 2.00
Vale of Glamorgan           59 121 48.8 0.79
Wrexham           12 125 9.6 0.16
 
WALES TOTALS 515 1563 32.9 10.44   1327 2934 45.2 17.74

SCOTLAND
1881
 
1999
 Area/County Number of Preece Population in 000's Preece density per 100k % of total Preece   Number of Preece Population in 000's Preece density per 100k % of total Preece
Aberdeenshire 0 271 0.0 0.00   14 439 3.2 0.19
Angus 0 271 0.0 0.00   10 257 3.9 0.13
Argyll & Bute 0 99 0.0 0.00   0 90 0.0 0.00
Ayrshire 0 220 0.0 0.00   4 375 1.1 0.05
Banffshire 0 60 0.0 0.00          
Berwick 0 35 0.0 0.00          
Caithness 0 40 0.0 0.00          
Clackmannanshire 0 24 0.0 0.00   1 49 2.0 0.01
Dunbartonshire 0 79 0.0 0.00   0 205 0.0 0.00
Dumfries-shire 0 65 0.0 0.00          
Dumfries & Galloway           0 147 0.0 0.00
East Lothian 0 39 0.0 0.00   0 90 0.0 0.00
Fife 0 174 0.0 0.00   10 349 2.9 0.13
Highland           0 208 0.0 0.00
Inverclyde           5 85 5.9 0.07
Inverness-shire 0 89 0.0 0.00          
Kincardineshire 0 35 0.0 0.00          
Kircudbrightshire 0 42 0.0 0.00          
Lanarkshire 3 955 1.4 0.06   18 1254 1.4 0.24
Midlothian 0 392 0.0 0.00   3 431 0.7 0.04
Moray 0 45 0.0 0.00   4 86 4.7 0.05
Nairnshire 0 8 0.0 0.00          
Orkney Islands 0 32 0.0 0.00   0 20 0.0 0.00
Peeblesshire 0 13 0.0 0.00          
Perth & Kinross 0 139 0.0 0.00   0 133 0.0 0.00
Renfrewshire 1 229 0.4 0.02   5 266 1.0 0.07
Ross & Cromarty 0 80 0.0 0.00          
Roxburgh 0 53 0.0 0.00          
Scottish Borders           0 106 0.0 0.00
Selkirkshire 0 26 0.0 0.00          
Shetland Islands 0 30 0.0 0.00   0 23 0.0 0.00
Stirling 0 108 0.0 0.00   6 227 2.6 0.08
Sutherland 0 22 0.0 0.00          
West Lothian 0 44 0.0 0.00   1 153 0.7 0.01
Wigtown 0 38 0.0 0.00          
 
SCOTLAND TOTALS 4 3757 0.4 0.08   81 4993 1.6 1.08
 
BRITISH TOTALS 4931 29705 16.6 100.00   7482 57243 13.1 100.00

Preece Population Comparison - 1881 & 1999
1881 Census - all Preece entries 1999 Electoral Roll & Telephone Directories


Counties shown as percentage of total Preece population :-

<1%     1-5%     6-10%     11-20%     21-30%     30%+