The Sun.
London, England, 1863-04-16 00:00:00

Births, Deaths, mid Marriages in England.

The following report has been presented to the
Right Hon. Sir George Grey, G.C.8., M.P , her
Majesty's principal Secretary of State for the Home
Department, &c. :-
1
" General Register-office, S, merset•house,
March 28, 1863.
" Sir,— I have the honour to submit to you my annual
report for the year 1861.
" The progress of population in England in the last
qaarter of a century may be stated roundly and in such a
manner that it may be remembered without difficulty. Each
quinquennial period added a million or a little more to the
I account. In 1836-40 the population was rising through its
sixteenth million; in 1841-45 through its seventeenth; in
1846-50 through its eighteenth; in 1851-55 through its
nineteenth ; and in 1856-60 through its twentieth million.
In the middle of 1861 it is estimated to have reached
20,119,496. The English registration now Comprehends
within its scope a population greater by the present popula-
tions of London and the three .Ridings of Yorkshire com-
bined than it was when the national system was established
in 1837.
" In 1861 the marriages were less numerous than they had
been in either of the two previous years ; the births were
morn numerous than they had ever been in England ; and,
though the year was healthy, the deaths were more nume-
rous than they had been in 1860, which was still healthier.
"In 1861 there were enrolled of persons who married
82,000 more than had been registered in 1841, 20 years be-
fore.; 91,000 died more than in 1841; and 184,000 children
were born more than in the same year. The aggregate num-
ber of names entered in 1861, as of persons who had mar-
ried, who had been born, or who had died, is 1,458,932.
" On an average of 24 years 1,639 persons were married,
3,318 children were born, and 2,229 persons died to ICO,OOO
of the population; but in 1861 the respective numbers were
1,628, 3,461, and 2,163. Marriages were rather below the
standard mark of activity. The birth-rate was high. The
death-rate was below the average.
" The excess of births over deaths in the year was 261,292.
The conjunction of a high birth rate with a low death-rate
caused that access to be greater than the usual amount,
which in the present stage of the population may be stated
as nearly 245,000. About 30,000 English emigrants left
their country for foreign and colonial settlements in 1861.

" MARRIAGES.

"The number of marriages in the year was 163,706, The
proportion to the population was 814 per cent. ; or in every
hundred persons 1.628 were married (the average being
1.639). The marriage-rate has been accelerated since 1849 ;
for in the 12 years 1850-61 it has been in a majority of
cases 1.7 per cent., and not in any year below 1.6 per ceat.;
whereas in the 12 years 1833-49 it was in a majority of
years under 1.6 per cmt., and only in two instances 1.7 per
cent. The prosperity of the people during the later period
found its natural expression in the increased frequency of
marriages.

" Out of the total number of 163,706 marriages, 130,697
were solemnised according to the rites of the Established
Church. Of the latter number 102,955 were after publica-
tion of banns ; 20.090 by licence ; 40,048 by superintendent
registrar's certificate; 16 by special licence. This state-
ment, however, does not represent the real numbers with
perfect accuracy, as 3,588 marriages were not distinguished
in the registers in respect to these particulars, It will not
be far from the truth to state that for one person who is
married after licence five are married after bums.
" The number of marriages performed otherwise than
agreeably to the forms of the Established Church was 33,000.
Roman Catholic marriages were 7,782; those in the regis-
tered chapels of other religious denominations 12,182, those
of Jews 262, of Quakers 58, whila marriages contracted in
superintendent registrars' offices were 11,725. In 1851 the
marriages in the Established Church were about 131.,000;
in 1861 they were nearly the same number. In 1851 those
not performed in the Established Church were about 23,000 ;
in 1861 they were 33,000. It appears from these figures that
an increase of 9,000 which the total marriages in 1861 exhi-
bited as compared with those in 1851, was appropriated by
persons who married according to other rites than those of
the Established Church.

" In 1861 there were in England and Wales 4,564 build-
ings belonging to Roman Catholics and Dissenting denomi-
nations, and registered for the solemnisation of marriages.
A third part of that number belonged to Incependents,
1,000 to Baptists, 895 to Wesleyan Methodists, 551 to Roman
Catholics, 193 to Calvinistic Methodists, 152 to Unitarians,
137 to Scottish Presbyterians, 141 to various other bodies
who have not yet acquired numerical importance.
" Although the eleventh division (Monmouthshire and
Wales) does not contain half the population of London,
there are 710 religious buildings registered for marriages in
that division, while in London there are but 309. Cheshire
and Lancashire have little more than the population of Lon-
don, but the registered buildings in those counties are twice
as numerous as those of the metropolis.
" Re •marriages—There were more than twice as many
marriages betweenwidowers and spinsters as between bache-
lors and widows--the respective numbers were 15,067 and
7,034. Widows were married in greater number by widow.
ers than they were by bachelors.
" In 100 men who married the proportion of widowers
was 14 ; in 100 women who married the proportion Of
widows was 0.

" The marriages of widowers bore the highest proportion
in Spmersetshire, where they were 16'8 per cent. of the
total number. The smallest proportion was in Hereford-
shire, where it, was 9'62. In the latter county the number
of widows who obtained husbands was almost as great as
that of widowez s who got wives, though on the average of
England the number of widows marrying is only two-thirds
of that of the widowers who marry. After a destructive
war, or in districts where men are engaged in unhealthy
occupations, there will be few widowers, but many widows;
and the alliances which they respectively contract will also
be few and many.

" For one widower who marries a widow there are nearly
two who marry spinsters.

"Minors—Of persons who married under 11 years of age
there were thrice as many men as women; the exact num-
bers were 31,927 and 10,415. In 100 males who married
6.36 were not of full age; in 100 women 19'50 had not at-
tained the age of 21 years. In Buckinghamshire, Hunting-
donshire, Staffordshire, West Riding of Yorkshire, and
Durham more than a fourth part of the women who mar-
ried encountered the duties and responsibilities of the mar-
ried state while they were still under age. Of young men
marrying before their majority the largest proportion was
in Buckinghamshire, Huntingdonshire, and Bedfordshire.
Life in London appears to discourage and repress early
alliances, for the proportions were only 3.48 for males and
and 13.51 for females. The expensiveness of house accom-
modation is, no doubt, one important restraining influence
in the metropolis.

" Signatures of Persons Marrying—Of marriages in
which neither man nor woman can write his or her own name
there were 26,333 in 1861, The total number of men who
signed the marriage register with marks was 40,204, that of
women 56,770. But the schoolmaster is abroad over Eng-
land ; and, though the absolute number of persons who sign
with marks is not reduced within the last 20 years, it has
been prevented from increasing with the number of the
marriages, In 1861 the marriages were more by 41,000
than they were in 1841; but the men who signed with
marks were hardly more in 1861 than they were in that
earlier year, and the women were rather less. The mark
signatures fell from 41 per cent. of the marriages in 1841
to 30 per cent. in 1861.

" Of 100 men and 100 women who married 75 of the for-
mer and 65 of the latter wrote their names in the registers.
In an educational comparison, based on the mark-test,
there is no English county which stands so well as London
—and this superiority holds both with men and women,
though only in a small degree with the latter. The propor.
tions of persons in London educated so as to be able to write
their names are 89 and 82 in 100 of those who marry.
" The greater amount of ignorance in the military art of
writing is found in the following counties, where the pro-
portion of marrying men able to write fell below 70 per cent. !
Berkshire, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Huntingdon..
shire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Suffolk, Nor-
folk, Wiltshire, Cornwall, Herefordshire, Shropshire,
Staffordshire, Manmouthsire, North and South Wales. In
the Welsh division, which includes Monmouthshire, the
proportion ranged so low as 60 and 6.5, llampshire, Devon-
shire, Entlandshire, and still more the East and North
Ridings of Yorkshire, Northumberland, Cumberland, and
Westmoreland, may be mentioned among the better edu-
cated parts. Generally the men in the northern counties,
have received more education than those in the southern.
" It is deserving of notice that, by the marriage-signa-
ture test, the women in Sussex, Berkshire, Hertfordshire,
Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, and a few other counties, are better
educated than the men ; but in the northern portions of the
kingdom this anomaly is not observed ; and it is a very
grave fact
theythat a
women
in North gales.menarenotbetter educated in Lama.
shn than

" BIRTHS.

" In 1861 the births of 696,406 children were registered ;
355,972 were boys, and 340,434 were girls. These numbers
are exclusive of the still-born, who are not required to be
registered. The birth-rate was 3'461 per. cent. of the popu-
lation, or one birth to 29 persons living. It was higher than
the mean rate, which ie 3.318, or one to 30. Tho highest
that has been obtained since the Registration Act came into
operation was 3.504, in 1859.

" Sex—Males were born to females in the proportion of
104'6 to 100. In Northumberland the proportion of male
births was as high as 108, in Rutlandshire nearly as high
as 100. Somersetshire presented the only exception to the
rule ; in that county the boys were in the proportion to girls
of only 99 9 to 100.

" Seasons—lt invariably happens that births are more
numerous in the first six months of the year than in the
last six months. If 1,000 be taken to represent the average
number of births in each quarter then the proportional
numbers in 1861 will run in the March, June, September,
and December quarters, as follows :-1,007, 1,064, 980, and
949. ,

"Children Born out of NV edlock—The number of illegi-
timate births was 44,157, of which 22,728 were births of
males, 21,429 those of females. Of every 100 births in wed-
lock and out of wedlock 6.3 belonged to the latter category.
In London the proportion of the illegitimate was only 4,1
per cent. ; in Norfolk it was 10.3 ; in Westmoreland (a well
educated county, where men and women can write their
names), it was 10'6; in Cumberland, 11.2. In Monmouth-

shire and Wales, where education is low, illegitimacy is not
high, the proportion of children born, out of wedlock to 'the
total births being 6 or 7 per cent.
" Among illegitimate children the proportion of males
born to females is higher than it is among the legitimate.
" It has been shown that the birth rate of England (with-
out reference to the distinction of legitimacy) was 3.46 in
1861. Bat the rates in the several counties exhibited con-
siderable variety. Among the least prolific populations were
those of Surrey (the extra-metropolitan part of it is here
referred to), and Sussex, where the rate was 3.0 ; and
though in Kent (extra-metropolitan) it was 3.30, it is found
that the birth rate was low in the districts adjoining the
metropolis, which most readily absorbs within its vortex
the men and women of marrying age who live near the edge,
and who otherwise would form connexions at their homes.
But the lowest example of birth-rate was found in North
Wales, where it was 2'953, The highest were in Warwick-
shire, 3.69; in Lancashire, 3.77 ; in the West Riding, 3.71;
and in Staffordshire and Durham the birth-rates rose to
4.02 and 4.03.

"DEATHS.

"The deaths of males were 222,281; those of females
were 212,833—the total, 435,114. The death-rate was 2.163
per cent. The mean rate of 1852-61 is 2.221.

"England was generally healthy. The mortality was
below the average in all the counties, with the exception of
those that follow : —Buckinghamshire, Huntingdonshire,
Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Shropshire, East and
North Ridings of Yorkshire, Northumberland, Cumber-
land, and North Wales.

" Sexes—Males died at the rate of 2.268 per cent. of the
male population. Females diet at the lower rate of 2063
per cent. of the female population. It equal numbers living of
the sexes are taken the deaths of males were in propel tion
to those of females as 110 is to 100. But in the population as
actually constituted the females have a great preponder-
ance, and the deaths of males were 104 to 100.
" Seasons—The mortality was below the average in each
quarter, but the spring quarter was comparatively the
healthiest.

"GEORGE GRAHAM, Registrar-General."

Further Examination of the Rev. Thomas
Wycherley.

At the Lambeth Police Court yesterday, the Rev.
Thomas Wycherley, late minister of a Baptist chapel, at
Clapham-rise, and who has been in custody for a week on a
charge of receiving £25 in bank notes, wed knowing them
to have been stolen, was brought up on remand and again
placed at the bar before Mr. Elliott for further examination.

The court was much crowded during the lengthened
examination, and the proceedings partook of additional
interest by the fact of the young woman, Mary Ann
Newton, being brought from Wandsworth Prison, on the
Secretary of State's order, to give evidence against the
prisoner.

Mr. Chipper&ld appeared for the prosecution, and Mr.
Neale for the defence,

When the prisoner was placed at the bar the young
woman Newton was brought into the court in the custody
of one of the warders belonging to the Wandsworth House of
Correction.

The Witness commenced her evidence by saying that she
was a married woman, the wife of James Newton, a soldier
at present serving in India, and that she was at present a
prisoner in the House of Correction, Wandsworth, under-
going a sentence of 18 months' imprisonment for robbing
her mistress, Mrs. Levy, of Stockwell, with whom she had
lived as servant for four years and three months. In her
examination, by Mr. Chipperfield, she said she knew the
prisoner from the first time of her attending the Baptist
Chapel in Clapham-rise, of which he was the minister, and
which was about six months before she left the house of
her mistress, and he (the prisoner) was quite aware of the
fact that she was a married woman. He used to come to
the house of her mistress to officiate as a minister.

Chipperfield—He used to visit you at the house of
your mistress ?

Witness—Yes; he visited me as my pastor, but the
first time he came was by mistress's consent, and I intro-
duced him to mistress. That was two or three Sundays
after he came to the chapel, and the only refreshments he
had on that occasion was his tea. He had refreshments at
other times, but these I paid for out of my own pocket,
and were not the property of mistress. The first property I
took belonging to mistress were two chains and three rings,
and these I pawned. The next things were the notes. I
do not know how many there were, or what they were.
Some I changed ; I think three. One was at Hunt's the
linendraper's, one at Limes', and another at Clement's;
and the prisoner had one to change for me, and brought
back the change, Some of the notes I threw away.
Mr. Elliott—What do you mean by saying you threw
away the bank notes ? You know you are sworn to tell the
truth and the whole truth, and you had better do so. You
have stated that the prisoner had one of the notes to change
for you, and that he brought you back the change ; had he
any portion of that change for himself ?
Witness—No, sir, he had not any of it.
Not two pounds of it ?—No, sir, not any part of it.
What was said by the prisoner when you gave him the
tiote 2—He said he would get change, and he did.
You have told Morton, the officer, that the prisoner had
half of the notes you had stolen, which would be half the
£so—l did not say so ; what I said was that he had part of
the notes.

Morton, the officer, was here re-called and swore posi-
tively that after the commitment of the witness for trial,
she said to him " I now know my fate. Wycherley had
half the notes. It was him I meant when I said I did not
wish to bring others into trouble."
Mr. Elliott—You have heard what the officer has stated :
what have you got to say to it ?
Witness—That I did not tell him any such thing. I
only said he had part of the notes.
Morton—You said half the notes.

Mr. Morton—Where was the prisoner when you gave him
the note to change ?

Witness—l gave it him at mistress's gate, and asked him
to get change of it for me. He got change for me the same
evening, and I paid him £2 out of it, which I had borrowed
from him four or five months before.

Why it is only this moment you told me and repeated
the assertion on oath, that the prisoner had not £2 or any
part of the change, but gave you the whole £5 ; what do
you mean by swearing in so reckless a manner ?—Well, I
did pay him £2 I borrowed •f him.
You only account for four of the notes ; I now ask you
what you have done with the other four ?—The notes were
in a roll when I took them, and I am sure I did not know
how many there were of them ; but I did not tear up any
of the notes that I know of, but I did destroy all the things
I had before I gave myself np.
Why, just new you said you threw part of the notes
away ; what do you mean ?—No, I did not throw any
away; they were all in a roll when I took them.

One of the notes you have stolen, and which has been
paid into the Bank, has your name on it; when did you
change that 2—l signed them all.
Mrs. Levy—And what did you do with the gold you
took out of my drawers as well as the notes ?
Witness—l did not have any gold. I took the notes out
of the purse and left it with whatever it might contain in
the drawer.

To Mr. Chipperfield—l signed my name to all the notes,
not immediately after I took them, but when about taking
up the dinner on the same afternoon. I did so in the
kitchen.

111 r. Chipperfietd—Now, who told yon to do so ?
Witness (After a lengthened pause)—l did so on my own
accord.

Now what was your reason for doing so ?—Witness (after
another lengthened pause)—Because I thought I should
have to sign them when I went for change, and therefore
that I should do so at once.

Was there any person present when you so marked the
notes ?—Yes ; the other servant, who is now present.
Are you sure the prisoner was not there ?—Witness
(pausing for some time)—No, I think not.
Was he there when you took the notes ?—Yes, he was.
(Sensation.)
Had you told the prisoner that the notes wero in your
mistress's drawer, as it appears you had seen them before
you took thorn P—Witness (hesitating)—No, I did not.
Had the prisoner ever been to your mistress's bed-room,
where these notes were kept P—No, never.
You got the permission of your mistress to visit your
mother at Yarmouth I believe about the middle of Febru-
ary. What time did you start on your journey ? Early in
the morning, as the train started at half-past six. I went
in a cab, which I had ordered on the night before.
Did you see the prisoner on that morning?
Yes ; he came in the cab and accompanied me to the
Eastern Counties Railway, and stayed there till he saw me
off by the train.

Mr. Elliott—Then it was not true, as you told your mis-
tress, that your uncle was to accompany you to Yarmouth ?
Witness—No sir; it was not true. I went to Yarmouth,
but only stopped one day there. I then returned to town
and took the train for Tunbridge. While I was there the
prisoner came up to me in the street, and touching me on
the back said, " What have you done ?" He said he had
heard I had robbed my mistress. I said it was true, that I
was sorry for it, and should give myself up. He took me to
a coffee-house, and told the woman there to take care of me
for the night, and the next day I came with him to town,
went to the police station, and gave myself up.
Did you meet the prisoner by arrangement or mere acci-
dent ?—By accident.
Who can believe that—that without any intimation of
what One you o
h
your going to or being there he should have met you by
mere d
?notleswyoisu have wish
to
u
f
them has been paid in, and has your name on, and you
ai,e done ac c accident
we
tt
h a t t
h Tunbridge utn wborg we
must know where you changed it ?—I did not change any
£lO note. I did not know I had a £lO note, and when told
by the woman at the public-house that the one I offered for
change there was a £lO note, I took it back and put it
back.

Do yeu mean to say you returned it to your mistress's
drawer ?—I did, sir.
Mr. Chipperfield—You have admitted that the prisoner
had been at the house of your mistress on the morning you
stole the notes. Now, I wish to ask you again whether he
has ever been to the bedroom of your mistress where these
notes had been stolen from by you?
Witness—He has not.
How did you get at the notes if the drawer was

locked ?—lt was not locked. I noticed two or three days
before that it slipped open as we were about to move the
carpet, and I looked into it once or twice to see what was
there before I took the notes, but I did not inform the pri-
soner what I had seen there. The witness went on to say
that the prisoner used frequently to visit her mistress's
house two or three times a week, and sometimes stopped
there all night, when she made up a bed for him in the
kitchen. She used to keep him out of charity, because she
considered him not well housed at home, as his lodging was
at a coffee-shop. The prisoner did not make love to her
particularly, but he used to talk of religion sometimes, but
not much. (Laughter.)

And all this took place, and the prisoner even allowed to
sleep there, without your mistress's knowledge ? My mis-
tress did not care, so long as I paid for the things he had,
how often he came there, and it used to cost me a good bit
to provide him with breakfasts and what he had.

In cross-examination the witness said she made the
acquaintance of the prisoner by attending his chapel, and
before she asked him to her mistress's house she had Mrs.
Levy's permission, and in fact it was more on her mistress's
account that he came than hers, although it cost her (wit-
ness) a great deal to provide him (the prisoner) with what
he required. Her mistress had no objection how often the
prisoner came so long as she (witness) provided out of her
own pocket the necessary refreshments for him. Indeed,
she said the oftener he came the better, as it would keep
witness out of bad company, as she had a wayward way
with her. (Laughter.) The first time the prisoner came
to the house her mistress asked her into the drawing room
to hear him pray. (Renewed laughter.) She received £lO
a year wages, and borrowed £2 10s. from the prisoner to
pay a doctor's bill. The prisoner knew nothing of the rob-
bery, and when she gave him the £5 note at the gate to get
changed she said she had got it from her mistress for her
wages, and on his bringing her the change she paid him
the £2 108. she had borrowed of him. The prisoner bought
a turkey at Christmas, which he said he had paid 4s. 6d. or
ss. for, and bnught it on Christmas-eve, as he was to dine
there on the following day, and she (witness) bought the
sausages out of her own pocket. (Laughter.)
Mr. Chipperfield—As the prisoner had purchased the
turkey I think the least ho could do would be to purchase
the sausages also, (Renewed laughter.)

The witness went on to state that her " missu.s" dined off
the turkey the next day, and that it fed the family for three
whole days. She did not tell her "missus" (as she called
her) at the time how she came by or who provided the tur-
key, but she did in a day or two after.
The witness in her re-examination was pressed closely
about borrowing £2 10s. from the prisoner at a time when,
according to her own showing,she had to provide him with
necessaries from motives of charity, when her answers were
as unsatisfactory as the preceding part of her evidence, and
she was told to stand down.

The officer called into the box the young woman who
was fellow-servant with the last witness; but
Mr. Chipperfield, addressing the magistrate, said he had
been but just instructed in the case, and he should feel
obliged if the case was remanded at its present stage.
Mr. Elliott complied with the learned gentleman's re-
quest, and the prisoner was again remanded.