A large contingent of 147,000 was drawn from Devonshire, Wiltshire, Somersetshire, and the other south-western counties.
The west-midland counties sent up 84,000.
41,000 persons had come from Scotland, 91,000 from Ireland, 20,000 from the Colonies, and 66,000 from foreign parts.
In fact, over 37 per cent. of the population of London in 1871 were immigrants into the great metropolis—a great rushing river of humanity.
The returns were also of special interest in showing the changes in the distribution of the population. Speaking broadly, the previous movements were being continued—a diminishing population in the central parts, an increasing population in the outer parts.
It appeared to be inevitable that—
“As the trade of London continued to increase, so the districts which lay close to the great centres of business must be expected to be occupied more and more with warehouses, and less and less with the miserable dwelling-houses which had hitherto sheltered its poor and working-class population.”
The diminution of the population of the central parts of London was in no way a symptom of decay: it was, in reality, proof of the reverse, being the result of increasing trade, commerce, and wealth, which required more house accommodation for the carrying on of their enormous operations.
The great economic forces were in fact as active and powerful as ever. In the City the population had fallen in the decade from 111,784 to 74,635. In every one of the six parishes or districts composing the Central group the population had likewise decreased.