Scotland in the nineteenth century

8. Health and living conditions

Section 8.2: Census

Report by John Rickman, appointed by His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Home Department to digest and reduce into order the population returns.

"the Act which was passed at the close of the year 1800, "for taking an account of the population of Great Britain, and of the increase or diminution thereof" having now been repeated, after an interval of ten years, a comparison of the results of these two national investigations seems to he required..."

According to the instructions of the Census Acts of 1800 and 1811, a list of questions were addressed to the overseers in England and to the schoolmasters in Scotland, who were required to take an account of the population of their district. A comparison of the returns of 1801 and 1811 showed that the population of Scotland had increased by 13 per cent during this period.

Tables of returns concerning persons, houses and occupations in Scotland were included (pp. 473-508).

According to the provisions of the Census Act, 1820, a third census was held in 1821. The results of the censuses of 1801, 1811 and 1821 were compared. A table showing the population of Scotland on each of these dates was given (pp. xxxiv-xxxv). On each of these occasions, lists of questions were addressed to the overseers in England and the schoolmasters in Scotland. A new question concerning ages was added in 1821. A comparative statement of the ages of persons in the several shires of Scotland on 28th May, 1821, was included (pp. xviii-xix).

Questions were directed to the ministers in England concerning the number of baptisms, burials and marriages recorded in the parish registers. Few registers were kept in Scotland so this inquiry was not extended to Scotland in 1811 or 1821.

The returns for Scotland, giving details of houses, the numbers and ages of persons and their occupations were given (pp. 488-541).

Vol. I of the report dealt with the acreage of Scotland and the extent under cultivation, the races, the population and its distribution, the number of people in each family, houses, public institutions, and children between the ages of five and thirteen in receipt of education.

All the statistics referred to in the report were included in the appendix.

[page 149]

Vol. II of the report dealt with ages of the population, the blind, deaf and dumb, imbeciles, insane, foreigners, educational statistics, marital status, birth-places, and occupations.

A separate report on births, deaths, and marriages between 1861 and 1870 was included. All the statistics referred to in the reports were included in the appendix.