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all from this group, as were a good number also of those from the southern, seacoast edge of the Delta, and from Sze Yap (266 males, and 65 females; and 28 males and 6 females respectively).
In Southern District, the dominance of the land population in 1911 by people born outside the area was not so noticeable among females. Only 773 females were recorded born outside the New Territories (15%), and only 364 of these were born outside San On and Tung Kun (7%). This, however, was still a noticeably higher percentage than in the Northern District.
This temporarily resident male immigrant component of the Southern District population, as compared with the Northern District, is discernible also in the dialects recorded in the 1911 Census as spoken in the home among the land populations. In the Northern District only 50 male Hoklo speakers were recorded (28 of them were working in the salt-fields at Sha Tau Kok), a mere 0.1% of the recorded male population (25 female Hoklo speakers were recorded). In the Southern District, however, 701 male Hoklo speakers were noted within the land population (11.3%) (365 female Hoklo speakers were recorded).
Thus, from all the statistics in the 1911 Census, it is clear that the seasonal movement of the fishing fleets, and the general coastal sea-borne trade, with the coolies and traders required to service these trades, was a sufficiently major social factor in traditional islands life to give the islands land population an “immigrant" type of social structure with an imbalanced male/female ratio, and heavy dominance of male society by persons born outside the area, and speaking non-local dialects. At the same time, underlying this urban, immigrant society was a small settled agricultural society, especially on Lantau, but also on Lamma to a less extent, probably not dissimilar to that seen more clearly in the Northern District.
The 1921 figures for the Southern District floating population (Table 12) show a pattern generally similar to the 1911 islands land population. There appears to be very little under-reporting in these figures - perhaps because of the difficulty of hiding children when enumerators visited any sampan homes. Taking into account those children who died shortly after birth, and who would be omitted by the census in any case, it
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all from this group, as were a good number also of those from the southern, seacoast edge of the Delta, and from Sze Yap (266 males, and 65 females; and 28 males and 6 females respectively).
In Southern District, the dominance of the land population in 1911 by people born outside the area was not so noticeable among females Only 773 females were recorded born outside the New Territories (15%), and only 364 of these were born outside San On and Tung Kun (7%). This, however, was still a noticeably higher percentage than in the Northern District
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This temporarily resident male immigrant component of the Southern District population, as compared with the Northern District, is discernible also in the dialects recorded in the 1911 Census as spoken in the home” among the land populations." In the Northern District only 50 male Hoklo speakers were recorded (28 of them were working in the salt-fields at Sha Tau Kok), a mere 0.1% of the recorded male population (25 female Hoklo speakers were recorded). In the Southern District, however, 701 male Hoklo speakers were noted within the land population (11.3%) (365 female Hoklo speakers were recorded).
Thus, from all the statistics in the 1911 Census, it is clear that the seasonal movement of the fishing fleets, and the general coastal sea- borne trade, with the coolies and traders required to service these trades, was a sufficiently major social factor in traditional islands life to give the islands land population an “immigrant" type of social structure with an imbalanced male/female ratio, and heavy dominance of male society by persons born outside the area, and speaking non-local dialects. At the same time, underlying this urban, immigrant society was a small settled agricultural society, especially on Lantau, but also on Lamma to a less extent, probably not dissimilar to that seen more clearly in the Northern District,
The 1921 figures for the Southern District floating population (Table 12) show a pattern generally similar the 19 islands land population. There appears to be very little under-reporting in these figures - perhaps because of the difficulty of hiding children when enumerators visited uny sampan homes. Taking into account those children who died shortly after birth, and who would be omitted by the census in any case, it
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