Lambston Parish Population
No doubt the biggest change in the population of Lambston came about in the 12th century when the Normans used Flemish settlers to drive out the native Welsh residents. There no (unless I have missed them) old Welsh place names in the parish and historical records seem to see this as what would today be unpleasantly termed ‘ethnic cleansing’. We have little or no information about the process in this parish.
The only really clear information that we have for the parish of Lambston is from 1801 to 1961 where we have parish level census returns. This shows a peak of population in 1841 when we usefully have the detailed tithe maps which give at least some information about where houses in the parish are located. The information is shown graphically on this page on this page of the Vision of Britain website
The pages on lost houses and farms suggest that since 1841 about 24 cottages, houses and farmsteads which are shown on the tithe map, no longer exist and this might be expected to fit with the reduction of population that we see between 1841 and 1961.
We have a longer but more patchy and interpreted run of data on house or household numbers with 12 households in 1563, a century later we have double (25) that number of hearth tax payers in 1670 and in 1801 we have 40 families registered (which of course may not be the same thing). In 1821 the census shows 48 inhabited dwellings with 55 families in them while by 1841 there are 63 houses registered. A count today from Google maps aerial photos, shows 93 dwellings with most of the increase being in Portfield Gate.
To bring the recent figures on dwellings, back to numbers of residents; in 2016 the average household size in Pembrokeshire was 2.25. If that figure is applied in Lambston a population of 209 is suggested. This would be a reduction of a third from 1841 and roughly the same as the parish population in the 1920s and the 1800s. As you might expect the increase in numbers of dwellings is offset by a much smaller number of family members on average.
Population of Lambston Parish
| Date | Population or measure* | Or other measure | Source |
| 1563 | 12* | Number of Households | Pembrokeshire County History Volume 3 1987Pembrokeshire County History Trust
P22 |
| mid 16thc | 20,079 Pembs pop | As above | |
| 1670 | 25* | Number of Hearth Tax Payers | Pembrokeshire County History Volume 3 1987Pembrokeshire County History Trust
|
| 31,535 Pembs pop | As above | ||
| 1801 | 40* | Number of families | Pembrokeshire County History Volume 3 1987Pembrokeshire County History Trust
|
| ?1801? | 56,280
Pembs pop |
As above | |
| 1801 | 219 | Census for Lambston Parish | |
| 1811 | 197 | Census for Lambston Parish | |
| 1821 | 253 | Census for Lambston Parish | Detailed information below**
48 Inhabited dwellings with 55 families |
| 1831 | 286 | Census for Lambston Parish | |
| 1841 | 319 | Census for Lambston Parish | 63 Houses listed |
| 1851 | 283 | Census for Lambston Parish | |
| 1881 | 200 | Census for Lambston Parish | |
| 1891 | 281 | Census for Lambston Parish | |
| 1901 | 193 | Census for Lambston Parish | |
| 1911 | 193 | Census for Lambston Parish | |
| 1921 | 203 | Census for Lambston Parish | |
| 1931 | 185 | Census for Lambston Parish | |
| 1951 | 168 | Census for Lambston Parish | |
| 1961 | 172 | Census for Lambston Parish | |
| 2016 | 93? | Number of houses | Count from Google Earth |
| 1801-1961 figures above Sourced from Vision of Britain website using census data
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