Examines the main features of the statistical movement in early Victorian Britain, especially in the 1830s and 1840s until its demise in 1852, in order to find out how it organized itself, to assess its achievements and to discover a distinctive philosophy, if it had one. Most of the social statisticians of the time are included here and their activities are introduced by a survey of British social statisticis from 1660 to 1830. The remainder of the book is divided into two parts: government departments and social statistics, 1832-1852; the statistical societies of London, Manchester, and of other provincial towns such as Glasgow, Bristol, Belfast and Leeds.