Table Of ContentThe Population of the British Colonies
in America before 1776
Robert V. Wells
The Population of the British Colonies
in America before 1776
A Survey of Census Data
Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey
Copyright © 1975 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press, Princeton and London
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data will
be found on the last printed page of this book
This book has been composed in Linotype Caledonia
Printed in the United States of America
by Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey
Contents
List of Tables vi
Preface ix
Bibliographical Abbreviations xi
I Subject, Sources, and Methods 3
II The Northern Colonies 45
III New England 69
IV The Middle Colonies 110
V The Southern Colonies 144
VI The Island Colonies 172
VII Colonial Patterns 259
VIII Household Size and Composition 297
Index 335
List of Tables
Table Page
1-1 Colonial Censuses 8
1-2 Census Taking by Time and Region 14
III Newfoundland, 1675-1775 47
II-2 Servants and Children: Newfoundland, 1675-1775 50
II-3 Sex Ratios: Newfoundland, 1675-1775 53
II-4 Average Household Size and Composition:
Newfoundland, 1675-1775 54
II-5 Servants and Boats: Newfoundland, 1677 57
II-6 Factors Affecting Household Size:
Newfoundland, 1677 57
II-7 Birth and Death Rates: Newfoundland, 1730-1775 59
III-l Age Distribution—Males: New Hampshire,
1767-1775 72
III-2 Sex Ratios: New Hampshire, 1767-1775 74
III-3 Marital Status: New Hampshire, 1767-1774 76
III-4 Distribution and Race: Massachusetts, 1764 81
III-5 Age Composition: Massachusetts Whites, 1764 83
III-6 Sex Ratios: Massachusetts, 1764 85
III-7 Massachusetts Households and Families, 1764 87
III-8 Size, Growth, and Distribution: Connecticut,
1756-1774 90
III-9 Age Distribution: Connecticut, 1774 92
111-10 Sex Ratios: Connecticut, 1774 93
III-ll % Married by Age: Connecticut, 1774,
Whites Only 95
111-12 Population: Rhode Island, 1708-1774 98
111-13 Racial Composition: Rhode Island, 1708-1774 100
111-14 Age Composition: Rhode Island, 1755 and 1774 102
111-15 Sex Ratios: Rhode Island, 1755 and 1774 103
111-16 Household Size and Composition: Rhode Island,
1774 104
111-17 Household Composition by Region: Rhode Island,
1774 105
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Table Page
111-18 Household Composition by Race of Head:
Rhode Island, 1774 107
IV-I New York Population, 1698-1771 112
IV-2 Age Distribution: New York, 1698-1771 116
IV-3 Detailed Age Distribution: New York, 1698 117
IV-4 Sex Ratios: New York, 1698-1771 122
IV-5 Mean Household Size and Composition: New York,
1697-1714 124
IV-6 Household Variations: New York, 1697-1714 126
IV-7 Composition of Household by Size: New York, 1698 132
IV-8 New Jersey Population, 1726-1772 135
IV-9 Age Composition: New Jersey, 1726-1772 137
IV-IO Sex Ratios: New Jersey, 1726-1772 139
IV-Il Household Size and Composition: West New
Jersey, 1772 140
V-I Maryland Population, 1701-1762 147
V-2 Age Composition: Maryland, 1704-1755 152
V-3 Sex Ratios: Maryland, 1704-1755 154
V-4 Mean Family Size and Composition: Maryland,
1704 156
V-5 Virginia Population, 1624-1703 161
V-6 Age and Sex Composition: Virginia, 1625 163
V-7 Georgia Population, 1738-1756 170
VI-I Bermuda Population, 1698-1774 173
VI-2 Age Composition: Bermuda, 1698-1774 176
VI-3 Sex Ratios: Bermuda, 1698-1774 177
VI-4 Bahamas Population, 1722-1773 183
VI-5 Mean Household Size and Composition:
Bahamas, 1731-1734 185
VI-6 Household Composition: Bahamas, 1731-1734 189
VI-7 Household Size and Composition by Race and Sex of
Head: Bahamas, 1731-1734 191
VI-8 Jamaica Population, 1661-1774 196
VI-9 Population by Parish: Jamaica, 1730 198
VI-IO Age Composition and Fertility—Whites:
Jamaica, 1661-1730 200
VI-Il Mean Household Size and Composition:
Jamaica, 1680 203
VI-12 Household Size and Composition by Place and
Sex of Head: Jamaica, 1680 204
VI-13 Population in the Leeward Islands, 1678-1756 209
VI-14 Racial Composition: Leeward Islands, 1678-1756 212
VI-15 Ethnic Background of Whites: Leeward Islands,
1678 213
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Table Page
VI-16 Age Composition and Fertility: Leeward Islands,
1678-1756 216
VI-17 Sex Ratios: Leeward Islands, 1678-1756 219
VI-18 Mean Household Size and Composition: Leeward
Islands, 1678-1756 221
VI-19 Household Size and Composition by Sex of Head:
Leeward Islands, 1678-1729 223
VI-20 Mean Household Size by Age: St. Christopher, 1707 226
VI-21 Household Size by Economic Status: Nevis, 1678 228
VI-22 Correlations of Wealth and Households:
Montserrat, 1729 229
VI-23 Wealth and Occupation: Montserrat, 1729 232
VI-24 Household Composition by Occupation:
Montserrat, 1729 233
VI-25 Barbados Population, 1676-1773 238
VI-26 Age and Sex Composition of Whites: Barbados,
1676-1773 242
VI-27 Household Size and Composition by Sex of Head:
Barbados, 1715 248
VI-28 Average Household Size and Composition by Age
of Head: Barbados, 1715 249
VI-29 Population of the Neutral Islands 253
VI-30 Age and Sex Composition of Blacks: Neutral Islands,
1747-1775 256
VII-I Size and Growth of England's Colonies 260
VII-2 Racial Composition of the Colonies 265
VII-3 Comparisons of Age Composition and Fertility 269
VII-4 Comparisons of Sex Ratios 272
VII-5 Estimated Population of Colonies in 1775 by Region 284
VIII-I Mean Household Size 299
VIII-2 Total Household Size 304
VIII-3 Household Composition 306
VIII-4 Total Slaves per Household 309
VIII-5 Inequality of Distribution of Persons in Households 311
VIII-6 White Children per Household 315
VIII-7 Household Size by Race of Head 321
VIII-8 Mean Household Size by Age: St. Christopher, 1707 323
VIII-9 Correlation of Total Whites and Total Slaves 329
VIII-10 Total Whites per Household 330
Preface
The origins of this study go back to my days in graduate school. In
seeking an appropriate topic for a dissertation in demographic history, I
gave considerable thought to exploring census materials before decid-
ing that a study based on family reconstitution of Quaker records would
be more practical. However, once my work on the Quakers was com-
pleted, I found my interest in the colonial censuses was still great. In
fact, after studying only 276 families, the thought of examining the
demographic patterns of large numbers of colonists was most appealing.
While my interest in the colonial censuses goes back a number of
years, the idea for this book grew during the summer of 1971, while I
was in London studying the censuses. As more and more evidence
came to light, it became apparent that I had unearthed the sources
for a full-scale comparison of population patterns in virtually all parts
of England's empire in America before 1776. It seemed natural to write
the book. The eight chapters which follow can be divided into three
parts, each of which grew out of a somewhat separate interest. The
first chapter makes up the first part. In it, I have sought to explore the
origins of the censuses and to establish the fact that they are adequate,
if not perfect, sources. At the same time, however, I was seeking at least
a partial answer to the question of how and why governments begin col-
lecting data that had never before been of interest. The second part of
the book includes chapters II through VI. In this section, the popu-
lation patterns of each colony for which a census was available have
been treated in detail. My purpose here has been to provide data on
population to historians of individual colonies; at the same time, I have
tried to set the stage for a comparison of demographic patterns among
various parts of the empire. The last two chapters make up the third
part. In them I have sought to describe, explain, and consider the sig-
nificance of intercolonial differences and similarities in population
trends.
This study provides an exhaustive survey of census data, but it does
not end the need for further research in the demographic history of the
colonies. As will be seen below, the available evidence raises some fas-
IX
Preface
cinating questions about population trends which can only be answered
by family reconstitution studies in a wide variety of locales. Equally
interesting would be comparisons of population trends among the Eng-
lish, French, and Spanish colonies. Such studies should be possible, since
records indicate that censuses were taken in parts of the French and
Spanish empires. Suffice it to say that while this book provides consid-
erable evidence on early American population, it should also act as a
stimulus to further research in areas of demographic history which now
appear important.
In the course of this work I have been helped by a number of people
and institutions, among them the staffs of the Public Record Office and
the British Museum in London, and the historical archives section of
the New York State Library in Albany. At various times Steven Levy,
Esther Miller, Ellyn Roth, Nancy Renzi, and Peter Weger have pro-
vided considerable aid in data processing. My progress has been more
rapid because of the funds (and time) made available by grants from
the Penrose Fund of the American Philosophical Society, the Child
Health and Human Development Council of the Department of Health,
Education, and Welfare (grant number HD 06846-01), and the faculty
research funds of Union College. Finally, my wife, Cathie, deserves
special thanks, not only for having typed the manuscript but also for
having put up with me while I was living with her and in the seven-
teenth and eighteenth centuries as well.
Portions of chapter VIII are reprinted with permission from The
Journal of Interdisciplinary History, iv (1974), copyright 1974, by the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the editors of The Journal
of Interdisciplinary History.
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