1881 Census

The 1881 census shows a strong regional pattern for the Dovey surname in England and Wales.

In each case the small map image is a link to a larger version of itself.

Distribution by county

Of the 1143 occurrences, over 50% were found in just four counties, namely Worcestershire (21%), Middlesex including London (15%), Staffordshire (11%), and Warwickshire (10%). Worcestershire comes top both for the raw number – and hence percentage – and for frequency and hence relative density, with Shropshire in second place for relative density.

Top five percentages by countyWOR21.3%MDX15.0%STS11.1%WAR10.1%SRY7.3%
Top five densities by countyWOR14.6SAL6.5HEF4.9WAR3.6STS2.9

Distribution by registration district

Analysis at the registration district level shows that just over 50% of occurrences are in only 16 registration districts (out of 630 considered). The highest densities are in Worcestershire and Shropshire, as expected from the analysis by county, but there are also some fairly isolated spikes in other areas. Note that a single registration district can cover parts of several different counties.

Registration district map showing Dovey individuals - 1881 census - density
Registration districtCountyRelative density
Cleobury MortimerHEF, SAL, WOR55.9
TenburyHEF, SAL, WOR48.0
DroitwichWOR42.9
RingwoodHAM37.3
Upton on SevernWOR36.2
WorcesterWOR33.0
MartleyWOR32.9
BridgnorthSAL25.3
BromyardHEF, WOR22.6
LedburyHEF, WOR17.9
RomseyHAM, WIL17.1
MonmouthGLS, HEF, MON12.8
Chipping SodburyGLS10.4
Newport (Shropshire)SAL, STS10.3
New ForestHAM, WIL10.3

About the data and calculations

The occurrences of the surname Dovey are taken from the 1881 British Census and National Index CDs published by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1999. This data is a transcription of the original census enumerations and is known to contain some errors. No surname variants were considered and no corrections were made.

The populations at county and registration district level were taken from Philip Dance’s Modern British Surname Studies website (specifically from http://homepages.newnet.co.uk/dance/webpjd/index.htm and http://freespace.virgin.net/philip.dance1/offstats/rdpop81.html, which say “© Crown Copyright -Reproduced by kind permission of the ONS”) in May 2005.

See About the data and calculations for further information about the methods used.

Dovey Genealogy website © 2005. Page last modified 2005-12-04.