Population change

Health and housingPopulation change

The population of Great Britain increased rapidly during the 1800s, with cities like London seeing a sharp rise in the number of people living there. The rapid growth was accompanied by overcrowding and associated medical issues.

In 1811 the population of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland was 18 million.
By 1851 this had increased to 27 million.
London had grown in size from around 1.5 million to 2.5 million people. At the same time the number of people emigrating from Britain grew hugely from 2,000 to 300,000.
By 1850 more than half the British population lived in towns and cities and worked in factories and mines.
Many cities such as Liverpool, Glasgow and Manchester had grown in size.

Living conditions in cities

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Health and housingPopulation change

Population change

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