Scottish Census

The Census in Scotland

In Scotland the first Census was organised by an Edinburgh Minister the Reverend  Alexander Webster in 1755.  It was a simple affair and was carried out by Parish Ministers who split the the inhabitants of each Parish into "Papists" and "Protestants" and also included a notation of the number of "Fighting Men" i.e. those aged between 18 and 56. 

During the period 1801 to 1831 the Census was carried out by local Parish Schoolmasters and they listed:

• how many inhabited and uninhabited houses there were and how many were in the process of being built. 
• How many people were employed in agriculture, trade, manufacturing and handicrafts.
• How many males and females there were.

A limited amount of information summarising the above were then returned to a central point and made available to the public.

In the absence of a Registrar General (the post wasn't established until 1854) the 1841 and 1851 Census was co-ordinated by the Home Office in London assisted by Provosts (Mayors) and Sheriffs (a post that is still retained in Scotland).

From 1861 the Census was organised by the Registrar General for Scotland with local enumerators collecting the information.  The questions asked varied slightly from those asked under the English and Welsh Census with the most interesting difference being that the 1861 Scottish Census asked how many rooms there were in each dwelling with one or more windows! From 1891 onwards there has been a question which ascertained the number of Gaelic speakers.

The population of Scotland has been recorded as follows:

• 1861 - Population 3,069,403
• 1871 - Population 3,368,926
• 1881 - Population 3,742,564
• 1891 - Population 4,036,245
• 1901 - Population 4,479,104

Which does not mirror the Population "explosion" which occurred during the same period in England and Wales.