In 1841, the Home Office was given the jurisdiction of gathering of census information in Scotland, assisted by the Sheriff
Substitute of each Scottish county.
According to ScotlandsPeople (the official online government resource for genealogy in Scotlnand), census enumerators were 'usually schoolmasters, who were deemed best
equipped for the task. They were each assigned an enumeration district
and distributed a schedule to every household in that district before
census night. They collected the completed schedules the following day,
checked the details and copied them into an enumerator's book. These
were checked by the Sheriff Substitute and then despatched to the
Registrar General’s office in London. The census information that we
see derives from these enumerators' transcript books, not the original
schedules, which were destroyed.'
The site also asks us to consider the following about the 1841 Scottish Census:
- Although the names of household members were recorded, the relationship of household
members to the head is not recorded.
- Enumerators had instructions to round down the ages of people over the age of fiteen to the nearest five years
e.g. a given age of 28 would
be recorded as 25, one of 63 as 60 and so on. It was not uncommon for
people to lie about their ages and this, compounded with the rounding
down, could severely
distort the actual age. There are several examples of where enumerators
did
not comply with instructions on age and recorded the given age on the
schedule instead.
- The 1841 census only recorded whether or not the person was born in the county where
the census took place, or whether a person was English, Irish or
Foreign.
- Many occupations were recorded in an abbreviated form, e.g. H.L.W. denoted handloom weaver
- Information given in the census can be inaccurate – age and place
of birth in particular can be unreliable, either by accident or by
design. For example, sometimes a person did not know their correct age
or was not always honest about it!
- Since the census recorded those in a particular household on census
night, the person you are looking for may be missing from home because
they were living and working elsewhere, staying with relatives, in an
institution, hospital, prison, at sea, etc. and either recorded there
or not at all.
- Married women were generally recorded by their married name in the
census, but it is not uncommon for the maiden name to be used.
- A widow might also have reverted back to her maiden name so you should check for both.
- Children might have taken the name of the stepfather if the mother remarried.
- The family name may have been altered after emigration from Scotland.
The information collected showed the following:
- Place: name of the village, street, square, close, court, etc
- Whether the building was inhabited or not
- The full name of each person
- The gender of each person
- The age of each person
- The occupation of each person - profession, trade or whether the person was of independent means
- The birthplace of each person - if born in Scotland, the county is stated; otherwise the person is listed as a Foreigner, or Born in England or Ireland
Back to Scottish Censuses
