Of the Bournes whose literacy was recorded, 81.9% could both read and write, 0% could read but not write, and 18.1% could do neither. Women came out slightly ahead, 85% reading and writing against 78.1% of men. Bear in mind these figures include young children; the census itself only counted people aged nine and over when calculating illiteracy, on the grounds that it was unfair to label a child illiterate before they'd had a chance to learn.