Disability in Herefordshire, 1851-1911

Disability history is a comparatively new field of study, and to date little use has been made of the British census as a source because of its perceived difficulties. This article shows that it is possible to study a local, disabled population in the second half of the nineteenth century from this source, even thought the way in which individuals' disabilities are described can sometimes vary from one census to the next. Age distribution for each condition and was found to vary between those with congenital and those with acquired conditions. Among those with a handicap of sight, hearing or speech a higher proportion remained unmarried. Disabled people were likely to remain in the parental home until their late thirties, and when their parents died they moved in with siblings or became a lodger or inmate. Although few of the disabled children seemed to be receiving education, over 60 per cent of the adult males were found to be working and almost 25 per cent of the adult females. Disabled people, it appears, were viewed not merely as statistics, but were included as members of the local population, and not always dependent members.