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Census of 1881: England and Wales

Higgs & Schürer (2013)

The 1881 census of England and Wales, held on 3/4 April of that year, was authorized by the 1880 Census Act (43&44 Vict., c.37). This was the first of the decennial enumerations undertaken by the GRO under the leadership of Sir Brydges Henniker (Registrar General) and Dr William Ogle (Superintendent of Statistics). Yet despite this change at the top of the GRO, the census and the Reports it generated were similar in many ways to those of 1861 and 1871. Householders were to supply the same information for each individual in their households: name, relationship to head of family, marital status, age, sex, occupation, birthplace, and medical disabilities. As before, institutions and ships arriving in British ports within a set period were given their own schedules. As usual, household schedules in Welsh were produced but the enumerators' books were always in English. Moreover, no completely new enquiry was to be introduced into the census of England and Wales until that of 1891.[1] As already noted, the GRO in the late nineteenth century fought vigorously to prevent any expansion of the census, arguing that it wished to concentrate on improving the quality of the data it already collected.[2] This contrasts with innovations in census taking and reporting in the period before 1861. The Census Reports in 1881 also seem to have been shorter than their immediate predecessors. The General Report in 1871 (see reference above) contained 83 pages of text and 162 pages of tables, but that of 1881 had only 75 pages of text and 112 pages of tables (see reference below). This might have reflected the inexperience of the new management team at the GRO, or a problem of resources. But there also seems to have been a general paralysis of the Office in the last two decades of the Victorian period, which may have reflected weak leadership.[3]

The publishing history of the 1881 Census Reports for England and Wales (see references below) is slightly different to that of the 1871 volumes, although their overall structure is somewhat similar. The first volume to be published in 1881 contained preliminary tables giving the number of houses and populations in various administrative units, which included counties, registration districts, and sanitary districts. The latter districts were new, having been set up by the Public Health Acts of 1874 and 1875. The rest of the Census Reports for 1881 were all published in 1883. As in 1871, there were two Reports giving the areas, raw numbers of people and houses enumerated, both in registration district units, and older county units. Volume III contained more detailed tables relating to ages, civil conditions, occupations, birthplaces, and medical disabilities broken down by the various registration divisions of the country.

These were followed by the General Report, a broad discussion of the results of the census with general tables. This gave a detailed discussion of the results respecting the characteristics of individuals (sex, age, marital status, birthplaces, occupations and medical disabilities), and of places (houses, population densities, etc.). It also stressed the problems of large numbers of administrative units that had to be handled - old counties, parliamentary divisions, hundreds, civil and ecclesiastical parishes, registration units, sanitary districts, and so on. This discursive treatment was then followed by two appendices:

Appendix A - tables of data on the characteristics of individuals and places;

Appendix B - the Census Act, and copies of schedules.

Lastly, there was a separate Report along similar lines for the 'Islands in the British Seas'.

Census of 1881: Scotland

The 1881 census of Scotland was taken on 3 April 1881 under the Census (Scotland) Act (43 & 43 Vict. c.38), which had been passed on 7 September 1880. The manner in which the census was taken was almost the same as that in the previous two censuses, which had also been organised and taken by the General Register Office of Scotland. In the period since the previous census, however, a new Registrar General, Stair Agnew, had been appointed. He was assisted by a Dr William Robertson in the preparation of the first reports issued at this census, and by Dr R. J. Blair Cunynghame, who also signed the second report. These men as Superintendents of Statistics at the Scottish GRO were the equivalent of Ogle in London.

The householders' schedule for this census was remarkably similar to that used for the 1881 census of England and Wales. However, the question that had been asked in the previous census regarding children's education was omitted. In addition, an extra question relating to language spoken was asked, although it was not explicitly mentioned in the Scottish Census Act. It would seem to have been an afterthought, added to the householders' schedule after printing, as it was printed in red in a fold on the schedule. This question read: "In column 6 (headed "Where Born") the word "GAELIC" to be added opposite the name of each person who speaks Gaelic habitually". As in the earlier two censuses enumerators were asked to collect information on the uninhabited houses and numbers of rooms with windows. For this census, the definition of a house was revised to include: "(1) every dwelling with a distinct outside entrance from a street, court, land, road, &c., or (2) with a door opening directly into a common stair."[4] While this introduction almost certainly improved the results relating to housing in this census, it makes comparisons with earlier censuses somewhat difficult. As always, the Scottish occupational classification system used in the published reports was slightly different to that used in England and Wales.

The results of the Scottish census (see references below) were published in three volumes preceded by a preliminary report. The first volume contained a short report, along with a facsimile of the householder's schedule, and a number of general tables. This was followed by tables showing the population by civil counties and parishes, ecclesiastical sub-divisions, and towns, by parliamentary divisions and by registration counties and registration districts. Two sets of tables on institutions, and families and housing were also given. A useful table showing the differences between the civil and registration counties can also be found in this first volume. The second volume reported on the remainder of the census, covering, ages, educational statistics, marital status, birthplaces and occupations. A third volume covered the reporting of Gaelic speaking.

1881 Census Publications: England and Wales; Scotland; Islands in the British Seas

Census of England and Wales, 1881, Preliminary report, and tables of the population and houses enumerated in England and Wales, and in the islands in the British seas, on 4th April 1881. BPP 1881 XCVI 1- [C.2955].

Census of England and Wales, 1881, Vol. I. Area, houses, and population. Counties. BPP 1883 LXXVIII 1- [C.3562].

Census of England and Wales, 1881, Vol. II. Area, houses, and population. Registration counties. BPP 1883 LXXIX 1- [C.3563].

Census of England and Wales, 1881, Volume III. Ages, condition as to marriage, occupations, and birth-places of the people. BPP 1883 LXXX 1- [C.3722].

Census of England and Wales, 1881, Volume IV. General report. BPP 1883 LXXX 583- [C.3797].

1881 Census Publications: Scotland

Census of Scotland, 1881, Tables of the number of the population, of the families, of houses, and of rooms with windows, in Scotland and its islands on 4th April 1881. BPP 1881 XCVI [C.2957]

Census of Scotland, 1881, Ninth decennial census of the population of Scotland taken 4th April 1881, with report. Vol. I. BPP 1882 LXXVI [C.3320]

Census of Scotland, 1881, Ninth decennial census of the population of Scotland taken 4th April 1881, with report. Vol. II. BPP 1883 LXXXI [C.3657]

Census of Scotland, 1881, Return of numbers of gaelic-speaking people of Scotland, under census of 1881 BPP 1882 L (46)

Return of population of Scotland at each decennial period BPP 1883 LIV (161)

1881 Census Publications: Islands in the British Seas

Census of England and Wales, 1891, Preliminary report, and tables of the population and houses enumerated in England and Wales, and in the islands in the British Seas, on 6th April 1891. BPP 1890 – 91 XCIV 1- [C.6422].

Census 1881, Islands in the British Seas. Isle of Man. Jersey. Guernsey and adjacent islands. BPP 1883 LXXIX 1- [C.3563].