[History by Numbers] London calling

Some capital thoughts for family historians

For those of us in Britain who live and work outside London, it can often seem that media attention is unduly focused on the metropolis. But historically there’s no escaping what the rural radical William Cobbett referred to as ‘the Great Wen’, seeing the metropolis as a tumour sucking in energy, resources and people from the countryside.

How many of us actually have Londoners in the family tree, though? A precise answer is impossible, but poring over the stats can give us a sense of the significance of the capital in times past.