The Population of the City and its Origins
The achievement of self-government, the assumption of financial and other obligations by the civic community, and the self-consciousness evinced by the struggle with
the ecclesiastical liberties all testify indirectly to York's recovery from the disasters of
the 11th century. Constitutional development reflected the expansion of economic
activity and the accumulation of wealth. This recovery and expansion, moreover, probably involved a growth of population, although it is impossible to demonstrate this fact
statistically. On the other hand, if the population of the city in 1086 was possibly in the
region of 4,000–5,000, it may nearly have doubled by the second quarter of the 14th
century. (fn. 83) A good deal of this increase perhaps took place during the years of the Scottish wars, when the presence of the court and the armies brought much business to the
city. There are, however, topographical indications of expanding settlement in the 12th
and 13th centuries, (fn. 84) some clear signs of the economic importance of York at this time,
and much evidence of immigration throughout the period.
The presence of incomers is only occasionally directly attested, although we are told
that William of Hunmanby came to reside in the city at the mature age of 45 years. (fn. 85)
At the same time, names like his are themselves indicative of immigration. It is true
that, well into the 12th century, many of the inhabitants still bear names of a Scandinavian origin—Asze, Romund, Askil, Yol, Barn, Gamel, Outhan, Vesing, Balki, Bonda,
Ketal, and so forth (fn. 86) —and that such names are rarely linked with a topographical
element suggesting immigration from the countryside. This would seem to imply that,
to begin with, the core of the population of 12th-century York was composed of AngloScandinavian settlers of some standing. On the other hand, the freeman's register opens
in 1272 with the names of Thomas of Fulford, Peter of Foxholes, James of Pickering,
and John of Settrington—all names of East and North Riding villages. Names similarly
formed are found frequently enough in the 12th-century records. They suggest at least
an ultimate rural background for a high proportion of the citizens, and regular immigration as the source of much of the city's population.
These names also indicate the geographical range from which the population of the
city was recruited. Most incomers clearly derived from the villages and small towns of
the broad plain between Doncaster and Thirsk. A smaller number came from the more
distant parts of Yorkshire—the Durham border, high up Ribblesdale and Wharfedale,
the Wolds and the coastal area beyond. Some came from Lincolnshire, in particular from
the villages along the south bank of the Humber, and a few from more distant places—
Carlisle, Nottingham, Newcastle, Durham, Kendal, Lincoln, Coventry, and Northampton. There were even foreigners in the modern sense: Reiner of Flanders in Henry
II's reign; and later Adam 'Lumbard', Raymond of Dinant, John called 'of Paris,
dwelling in York', John de Skotland, and a whole tribe called 'le Flemyng', some with
Christian names suggesting an oversea origin rather than kinship with the landed family
of that name long settled in Yorkshire. (fn. 87)
These data cannot be manipulated to give a rate either of immigration or of population growth. They are too fragmentary; and since men kept the label of their origin
over many generations, a topographical name does not by itself indicate that a man is an
incomer. Further, even if the rate of inflow could be measured, it would not necessarily
provide an index of the increase of the city's population. It seems likely that mortality
was high. In 1246, for example, a claim to property was traced back to a tenant in Richard
I's reign whose two sons and daughter all died without heirs. The title then reverted to
the original tenant's brother. His two sons also died without heirs, leaving their sister as
sole claimant to the rights of both branches of the family. Similarly, William of Otley
in 1268 inherited family property because his two elder brothers and a sister had all died
without issue; and William of Harewood acquired a tenement in right of his wife because
her two brothers and two sisters had all died without heirs. (fn. 88) Such instances may suggest
that immigration was necessary to maintain the city's population, let alone to augment
it. It seems none the less likely that, in fact, immigration did increase the number of the
inhabitants of York, slowly perhaps but fairly steadily, between the beginning of the
12th century and the beginning of the fourteenth.