Ampthill Population Query

[johnP-bedford]

From a book about Ampthill's history in Bedford library it says...
"In 1676, it was estimated that of all the inhabitants of Ampthill of 16 years of age & above; 339 belonged to Church of England, one was a papist.and 24 were non-conformists, thus total 364 which suggests the population of Ampthill at this time was about 500."

Also from Episcopal Visitations in Bedfordshire 1706-1720 - for Ampthill the entries are :-
1706 - About 200 families
1709 - Families 200, about 800 souls
1717 - About 9 score & 12 families in all, great & small

Cheers
John

[castlebob]

Excellent, John!
Thanks as ever.
Cheers,
Bob

[cbcarolyn]

I do have 3 books written by Andrew Underwood - who was a local historian:
17th century Ampthill & Hugh Reeve
Around Ampthill
Another Ampthill Bedside book
I couldn't spot any population stats in there at a glance.  the second 2 have a lot of history about the buildings in the town.

[castlebob]

Thanks for that info.
Cheers,
Bob