The 1801 census, taken on 10 March, had a very different format from that of more modern censuses. Information was collected on a parish basis and there were no details on households. Forms for recording the information were distributed to each parish where the overseers of the poor, 'substantial landholders' and local clergy all had a responsibility to collect specific types of data. Once the statistics had been collected, they were sworn before the local Justice of the Peace and eventually sent to the Home Office. The results were then collated and laid before Parliament.
The 1801 census asked local officials to provide information on the number of inhabited and uninhabited houses in the parish and how many families occupied them; the number of people in the parish and their employment; and numbers of baptisms, burials and marriages. A similar format was followed for the censuses of 1811, 1821 and 1831, with the addition of further questions. In 1811, the enumerators were asked to give more information about the reasons houses were unoccupied, so that the prosperity of the district could be more accurately gauged. In 1821 a question relating to age was asked, in order to assess numbers of men able to bear arms, and to improve the tables on which life assurance was based. More detailed questions on occupations from 1831 provided the government with economic information.
The census 1841-1901
The census of 1841 was the first to record more detailed information. It is thus the earliest census generally used by family historians.
Regards, Steve :O)
Logged
McDonald originating in Aberlour. Smith (Aberdeenshire/Aberdeen), Esslemont, Christie, Robbie; Scott (in Aberdour). Crosbie and Willison. Roxburgh: Lawrie, Thomson, Paxton, Peacock, Amos, Robson
thanks for that, I did find James in the 1841 Census. Just wanted an earlier one to find who his parents were. Four births in Perth in 1791 and don't know which one he is. His parents are not named on his marraige cert to Ann Stewart.
If he died after 1855 - you'd be able to get his parents names from his death extract on ScotlandsPeople
Good luck.
Regards, Steve :O)
Logged
McDonald originating in Aberlour. Smith (Aberdeenshire/Aberdeen), Esslemont, Christie, Robbie; Scott (in Aberdour). Crosbie and Willison. Roxburgh: Lawrie, Thomson, Paxton, Peacock, Amos, Robson