The 1861 Scottish census provided the following information:
- Parish
- Quoad Sacra Parish (a quoad sacra parish is one created and functioning for ecclesiastical purposes only)
- Parliamentary Burgh
- Royal Burgh
- Town or village
- Road or street, and number or name of house
- Inhabited and uninhabited buildings
- Full name of each person
- Relationship of each person to the head of family
- Marital condition of each person
- Age
- Gender
- Rank, profession, or occupation of each person
- Birthplace
- Whether blind, or deaf and dumb
- Number of children from 5 to 13 attending school
- Number of rooms with one or more windows
In 1861 the responsibility of the censuses passed to the newly-formed (1855) General Register Office for Scotland. The Registration Districts were used to manage the census, whereas previous censuses had been based on church parishes.
