Dorset Casualties during the ECW

I've just completed reading Tim Goodwin's excellent book 'Dorset in the Civil War 1625-1665'. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in the Civil War, at more than a superficial level, as Dorset proved to be a county whose control mirrored the War in general.

Indeed, Portland was the penultimate garrison to surrender in the west country; a mere week before Exeter and just nine before Oxford.

Anyway, to the main point of the post. Goodwin maintains that Dorset casualties amounted to at least 3,000 and probably reached about 4,000. With a population of about 85,000, this amounted to a total loss of about 7%; a proportion twice as high as Britain's losses during the 1st World War. He also points out that losses during the 1st World War "were said to have destroyed a generation".

Notwithstanding, that British losses the Great War were mostly restricted to male losses (causing a demographic imbalance) his point is well taken. At even 5%, the consequences of such a population decrease in a rural county must have been horrendous.