The is a comparative study of the effects of local, regional and national change on nine parishes in the Upper Eden Valley in north Westmorland during the Victorian years. It is based on a study of the entire population of the parishes of Appleby, Brough and Kirkby Stephen, and six surrounding parishes over six censuses from 1841 plus Marriage and Burial Registers. The analysis of a database of 65,000 records from these sources has given a rare insight into a series of rural parishes and has allowed the exploration of themes of continuity and change within and between parishes, setting them in context within regional and national changes during the Victorian years. Migration is an important theme and includes in-, intra- and out-migration. Destinations of out-migrants have been identified and analysed.