Although Leland claimed great activity in Birmingham in 1538 it would not have been the result of large numbers of workers, more the energy expended in their work. There is no record of the population of the town at that time, most of them would not have wished to be counted, but in 1650 the population was only 5472 and its growth then took off, becoming 15032 in 1700. These energetic people who settled in Birmingham were the sort of folk who did not find it easy to tug the forelock to the landed gentry. Ket's Rebellion was the last of the peasants' revolts. It took place in 1549 eleven years after the visit of John Leland to Bermingham, but the cause of this and the other rebellions, the failure of the King to prevent the destruction of homes and the enclosure of land by the gentry created a dissident population looking for somewhere that they could make their home.