We know little about the ancient people who made and used the flint
implements which are found in the river gravels around Reading and
at other places, and even when we come to the latter part of the
Stone Age, though we find skeletons in the barrows or mounds upon
our downs, our information about the race is exceedingly small, and
this is perhaps not to be wondered at, for in no case do we find any
knowledge of the art of writing in the stage of culture when only
stone and no metal implements were used. Moreover, we must bear in
mind that all we know about early England from written history is
from the works of foreign merchants or of foreign conquerors.
The Belgae who occupied the part of Britain south of the Thames
at the time of Caesar's invasion may have been partly or mostly
Gauls. The tribe named the Atrebates occupied most or all of what is
now Berkshire, and Silchester in Hampshire was their chief town.
During the Roman occupation the district was far from the frontier,
and the inhabitants continued their peaceful village life, becoming
more or less Romanised.
After the departure of the Romans the Saxons spread gradually over the
country and were probably settled in Berkshire before A.D. 568. The
invaders made a clean sweep of Roman civilisation, destroyed the
villages and houses, and extirpated the Christian religion.
In A.D. 597 Augustine with his band of monks landed in the Isle of
Thanet, and the conversion of the Saxons proceeded rapidly, and in
time letters, arts, and civilisation returned to the county.
In later times Berkshire was overwhelmed by the Danes, and conquered
by the Normans, but neither Danes nor Normans made anything like so
great a change in the face of the country as had been effected by the
Saxons, and there is even now a large Saxon element in our people,
in our language, and in our manners and customs.
In early days there was a considerable population living on the chalk
downs, but by degrees they moved elsewhere, and for a long time the
people were mainly gathered in the valleys, especially along the banks
of the rivers Thames and Kennet. Nearly all the Berkshire towns are
situated upon one or other of those rivers. In quite modern times
there has been a great increase of population in the eastern end of
the county, large areas of heath-land having been built over.
The population of Berkshire was steadily increasing during the
whole of the last century. In 1801 the census gave a population of
110,752, and this had increased in 1851 to 170,243, and in 1901 to
256,509. That is to say the population of the county had more than
doubled in the century.
In 1901 there were 72,217 people living in the county borough of
Reading. Of the six municipal boroughs in Berkshire Windsor had the
largest population, and the others in order of numbers of inhabitants
were Maidenhead, Newbury, Abingdon, Wokingham, and Wallingford.
Of the persons registered as inhabitants of Berkshire in 1901, 398
were in hospital, 150 of whom were in the Royal Berkshire Hospital
at Reading; 1638 were in Lunatic Asylums, of whom 646 were in the
County Lunatic Asylum, Cholsey; 657 in the Criminal Lunatic Asylum
at Broadmoor, and 335 in the Holloway Sanatorium, Egham, which is in
the county of Surrey, but is included in Berkshire for registration
purposes.
One man and one woman were described as over 100 years of age and
they were both living in Reading. Five men and thirteen women were
described as between 95 and 100 years of age.
In the military barracks in the county there were 392 officers and
1860 non-commissioned officers and men--the 344 cadets at the Royal
Military College, Sandhurst, being included amongst the officers.
The number of men engaged in the general or local government of the
county was 1423. The number engaged in teaching as schoolmasters,
professors, etc., was 590 men and 1712 women.
In many counties a large number of persons are described as living
in ships, barges or boats, but in Berkshire the number in 1901 was
only nine.