A History of Preston
in Hertfordshire
The 1911 census was taken on Sunday, 2 April. Unlike earlier counts, when the enumerator books were shown, this census record displays the original householder’s schedules which were usually completed and signed by the occupant!
In addition to the usual information, the census also included: the number of completed years marriages had lasted to date; the number of children born alive; those still alive and those who had died. One of the enumerators at Preston was Tom Ashton, the village baker.
Preston had 332 inhabitants -
Villagers occupied 70 homes, eight more than ten years earlier, testament to the rebuilding of Preston in the early twentieth century especially in connection with the Temple Dinsley estate.
The following were ‘core’ families in Preston making -
Peters
Jenkins
Thrussell
Sharp(e)
Crawley
Wray
23
22
15
11
10
10
Ages
Thirty-
Occupations
Link to transcription of 1911 census.
Link to alphabetical list of names for easy searching.
Census headings: Surname; Christian name; Position -
Mobility
The occupations of the residents showed a greater diversity than in previous years.
There were the ubiquitous farm workers: the labourers, horse-
keepers, cowmen, groom, stockmen and woodmen who totalled forty-
The population was temporarily augmented by a builder’s foreman, bricklayers (5), carpenters (5), an electrician, hydraulic engineers and their fitters (4)
and an agricultural engineer fitter who were helping with the construction work around
the village. The usual trades-
The complete absence of straw plaiters among the women and children in 1911 points to the demise of the craft in the early twentieth century. Among the women there were the maids, nurses and domestic servants who were employed at the grand houses of Temple Dinsley and Poynders End.
Signs of the modern age in the village were the two chauffeurs, the electrician and the post office messenger who resided there.
A high proportion of villagers (45%) were born in Preston -