Grenfell Family History

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Distribution of Grenfell Individuals (including Grenfield, Grenfeld, Grenfill, Granfell, Granfill)
1841, 1861,1881 and 1901 census.

In the 19th century, in addition to those migrating to various parts of the world, many Grenfells moved out of Cornwall to other mining areas of England, Scotland and particularly Wales, and to the business and banking centres in London. This resulted in the percentage of Grenfells living in Cornwall falling from 86% in 1841 to 53% in 1901.

In terms of frequency of the name, in the 1881 census there were 578 Grenfells recorded which represented 0.00223% of the population or 1 in 44,931. An Office for National Statistics database for the year 2002 recorded 750 Grenfells equal to 0.00138% of the population, a frequency of 1 in 72,533. This shows a considerable reduction as a percentage of the population as a whole. The name was ranked =8835.

Census 1841 1861 1881 1901 1841 % 1861 % 1881 % 1901 %
Cornwall 410 459 331 321 86 85 57 53
Sussex 13 3 3 1
Somerset 8 1 3 2
Greater London 9 17 52 45 2 3 9 7
Wales 17 46 41 3 8 7
Devon 9 18 21 2 3 3
Bucks 11 4 12 2 1 2
Warwickshire 6 6 9 1 1 1
Lancashire 33 27 6 4
Staffordshire 15 6 3 1
Cumberland 11 19 2 3
Gloucestershire 10 19 2 3
Scotland 18 3
Northumberland 10 2
Hampshire 11 2
Others 37 19 49 48 7 4 8 8
Total 477 539 578 610 100 100 100 100
Distribution of Grenfell Individuals in the 1841 & 1861 Census

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Distribution of Grenfell Individuals in the 1881 & 1901 Census

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Maps created with GenMap UK from Archer Software