1871 Census of Great Britain
Surviving 1871 census records of the UK are limited to the 1871 census of Great Britain. This is because the 1871 census records for Ireland were deliberately destroyed by the Irish Government on privacy grounds.
As always, the ‘census of Great Britain’ is an amalgamation of the census of England and Wales, and the census of Scotland.
1871 census records online
- FindMyPast.co.uk
- Ancestry.com
- National Archives
- ScotlandsPeople.gov.uk (Scotland only).
Improvements since the census of 1861
The 1871 census of Great Britain asked virtually the same questions as the census of 1861 i.e. name, address, relationship (to householder), marital status, age, sex, occupation (including if unemployed), place of birth and certain disabilities.
In the previous census of 1861, every householder had to advise whether any of his occupants were blind, deaf or unable to speak. This was now extended to include ‘imbecile or idiot’ or ‘lunatic’ – a description that some householders found too tempting to resist applying to some individuals.[1]
The 1871 Census for Scotland continued to gather two extra figures; number of children receiving an education, and the number of rooms with windows.
1871 census questions
Full address of property.
Householder/head of family to provide personal details of those who stayed overnight on 2 April, or who returned the next morning:
- Name
- Relation to head of family
- Marital status
- Age
- Male or female
- Rank, profession or occupation (including unemployed)
- where born (parish).
- Whether a person was blind/deaf/unable to speak/’imbecile or idiot’ or ‘lunatic’.
Scotland only:
- Number of schoolchildren (aged 5 – 13 years).
- Number of windowed rooms.
Procedure
The procedure for all parts of Great Britain remained unchanged from the previous census of 1861. All householders were required to complete a householder’s schedule listing all inhabitants (including those due to return on the morning after census day). This schedule was collected by an enumerator who copied its contents into a ‘census enumerator’s book’. As with previous years, the schedules were destroyed, leaving us with the CEB, digital copies of which are available for us to view today.
The British Empire
First attempted in the census of 1861, the 1871 census was the first British census to measure the population of the British Empire with any degree of accuracy. In 1901, a census report which focussed solely on the British Empire was published[1]. This report estimated that the total population of the British Empire had increased from 259m to 283m.
| Country | Population |
|---|---|
| England & Wales | 22,712,266 |
| Scotland | 3,360,018 |
| Ireland | 5,412,377 |
| Total UK population | 31,484,661 |
| Channel Islands & Isle of Man | 144,638 |
| British India | 193,712,357 |
| British colonies | 9,460,937 |
Sources
[1]Census of England and Wales, 1921, Preliminary report including tables of the population enumerated in England and Wales (administrative and parliamentary areas) and in Scotland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands on 19-20th June 1921 BPP 1921 XVI [Cmd.1485] p.62 & 63
[2]Census of England and Wales, 1871, Preliminary report, and tables of the population and the houses enumerated in England and Wales, and in the islands in the British Seas on 3 April 1871 BPP 1871 LIX [C.381] p. ii