Victorian Values - Diversity

Every ten years from 1841 to 1901 the Census returns allow us to build up a picture of people in their homes, with their families, and to see where they have come from.  The 19th Century was a time of change throughout Europe and beyond, and this is reflected in the variety of places of birth given in the Census returns. 

Sheffield was no different.  People came to Sheffield from all over the British Isles, from Europe, from the Americas and from the colonies.  They came to find work, they came to escape religious persecution, they came to find a freer political life, they came to invest in a developing industrial area. 

Whether rich or poor, workers or industrialists, artists or artisans, 'native' or 'migrant'; they all contributed to Sheffield's economic, industrial and cultural growth.