Great Hallingbury One-Place Study

Great Hallingbury is a small village, home to a number of families who have long been a part of the village’s history. In studying one branch of my family, the Sapsfords, I became interested in the history of the village.

Of particular interest is the sharp drop in population illustrated in 1881 and subsequent censuses. Between 1841 and 1911, the Sapsford family went from 14 individual family units totalling 74 individuals in a village of just over 650 people, to just one family of 3 people in 1911 out of a village of 496 people. Why did they leave and where did they go when other old families in the village remained? And why did the overall population drop so dramatically?

I am interested in the general history of the village as well as the various families who lived there over a number of centuries.

Image courtesy of Hornet Photography.