Poverty : a study of town life / by B. Seebohm Rowntree.

  • Seebohm Rowntree
Date:
1902
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Poverty : a study of town life / by B. Seebohm Rowntree. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    383/472 (page 347)
    Of these total attendances 14 per cent were made by those attending Roman Catholic services. 43 38 5 Church of England services. Nonconformist services. Salvation Army and Mission services. Of course, the above figures do not represent the number of persons attending places of worship, for some would attend both morning and evening services. The exact number who attended twice on each Sunday is not known, but inquiry among those connected with various churches, chapels, etc., has elicited the opinion that upon the average about half the morning congregation attend again in the evening. This figure is a mere estimate; but assuming it to be accurate, we obtain 13,402 as the average attendance of adults at places of worship on each Sunday, that is, 28 per cent of the adult population of York.1 In carrying out this census an attempt was made to ascertain the working-class attendance, and the enumerator at each place of worship was asked to discriminate as far as possible in his returns between the “working” and “upper” classes. The results show that 66 per cent of the total attendance were made by the working class and 34 per cent by the “upper” class. Obviously any such differentiation —based as it was merely upon appearances—must be a rough one, and too much importance must not 1 The Preliminary Report of the 1901 census gives the population of York as 77,793. Details of this figure are not to hand at the time of writing, but assuming that the age distribution of the population is the same as it was in 1891, the number of persons over sixteen years of age, excluding those in public institutions, will be about 48,000.