Total Population for the Island 1726-1891

Taken from A.W.Moore History of the Isle of Man 1900 (+reprinted 1977,1994)
Note transcription error in Moore's original table - 1726 Santon and Malew confused; 1726 Malew includes 360 of Ballasalla separated in original returns; The 499 shown for Marown are an estimate (quoted by Cumming 1861 without note though based on Quayle and accepted by Moore.)

1726 are based on returns collated by Bishop Wilson; note the suspicous number ending in 5 or 0; there is also some doubt as to the date of these - Waldron refers to them as appearing in Wilson's 'short but exact account of the Island' - which presumeably was the addition to the 1722 edition of Camden's Britania - Waldron (writing in 1726) also states that since these figures had been collected many Irish had come over. It is thus possible that these figures relate to the early years of Wilson's tenure (ie. c.1698/1700) before the influx following the Irish disturbances.
1757 return by clergy
1792 return by clergy at request of Governor Smith
1821 - first official census - at 10 year intervals subsequently.

(note that 1881 figures are the corrected figures allowing for double counting of those fishermen at Kinsale - the original uncorrected figures often appear in references deriving from London based publications)

note Douglas boundaries changed pre 1861 following the 1852 Town Bill thus the population rise of Onchan (Conchan) is over estimated as much of the growth was within the new Douglas boundaries.

The growing domination of town over country can be seen in the plot below:

The growth in population during the 18th century was seen elsewhere, especially in in England where the now accepted explanation is a rise in the rate and a drop in the age of marriage (Wrigley & Schofield). Note however the levelling of population (and after 1900 a fall) due to continued emigration which started up again post 1840.

Earlier Estimates

The earliest estimate of the Island's population is given by Bede as 300 families.

Blundell writing in 1640's states:

The Island of Man is at this day in a mean populous; it neither wanteth nor aboundeth, much less is it overburthened by its natives; all confess it' to have been in antient days and times much more populous, and more fully inhabited, but neither now nor at any time heretofore, was this island famed to abound with numerous natives; their kings were truly called kings of Man but not kings of Men, for if a body of 6 or 7000 here upon urgent or necessitous occasion to be transported out of the island, it wou'd, as I conceive, be so dispeopled as y^t their women would be compel'd to practise to become Amazons, and to pray to God for his assistance

A useful collection is given in Thomas Quayle's General View of Agriculture, 1812 Appendix H.