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FENNAS IN ENGLAND (1841-1881)
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According to the 1881 census there were 123 FENNAS resident in England. Of these, more than 80% were living in the counties of Cheshire and Lancashire. Interestingly, about 70% of the Fennas were residing in just 3 regions of Cheshire, 2 of which lie on borders with Lancashire. These 3 regions are shown on the map below and I will refer to them as "West Cheshire", "East Cheshire" and "South Cheshire".
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WEST CHESHIRE: includes the townships of Liscard*, Birkenhead and Oxton in Cheshire as well as Liverpool, West Derby, and Warrington in Lancashire. There were 28 Fennas residing in this district, The majority in Liscard.
EAST CHESHIRE: includes the communities of Hollingworth, Romiley, Timperley and Bredbury in Cheshire as well as Salford, Gorton. and Ardwick in Lancashire. This district accounts for the residences of 31 Fennas.
SOUTH CHESHIRE: includes a number of largely rural communities surrounding the township of Nantwich in Cheshire. These include: Monks Coppenhall, Church Coppenhall, Willaston, Burland and Sound Heath. There were 26 Fenna residents in this region.
* It is unusual that the heads of all 3 families (16 members) residing in Liscard were females: Jessie, Ellen and Sarah. In 1881 their ages would have been 24, 39 and 29 respectively. It is interesting to speculate whether their respective husbands were mariners or members of the military; and as such were out of the country at the time of the census. Edward Fenna, age 23 is listed as a soldier resident at Warrington Barracks at that time.
OTHER REGIONS:
CHESHIRE: Great Boughton, near Chester (family of 6). Wirswall (1).
LANCASHIRE: Over Darwen, near Blackburn (7), Aughton (2).
YORKSHIRE: Bradford (family of 6).
COUNTY DURHAM: Mainsforth (family of 6), Byers Green (family of 4)
SHROPSHIRE: Selattyn (2), Whitchurch (1).
LONDON: Lambeth (2).
LEICESTERSHIRE: Leicester St. Nicholas (1).
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1841 CENSUS AND FENNA MIGRATION
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It is interesting to compare the distribution of Fennas in 1881 with that of 40 years earlier in 1841 (data taken from the 1841 England census). In 1841, 87 Fennas are listed as resident in England. Of these about 60% lived in the regions previously described as :East Cheshire (24) and South Cheshire (30). However, it is notable that only one resident is listed in the West Cheshire region. In contrast there are 17 residents listed in Great Boughton near Chester, and this number falls to a single family of 6 by 1881.
In 1841 other Fennas were living in Shropshire (8), Staffordshire (2), South East England (4) and Wales (1).
It appears that the community of Fennas in the West Cheshire region was established between 1841 and 1881, possibly by migration from Great Boughton and rural regions of South Cheshire. Additionally Fenna families moved to Bradford in Yorkshire and also to County Durham during this period.
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