1881 Census

The 1881 census was carried out on the night of Sunday 3rd April 1881. It is very similar in layout to the 1871 census.

The columns in the 1881 census are as follows:

1. Number of schedule
2. Road, street, etc and number or name of house
3. Houses – inhabited or uninhabited (U) or building (B)
4. Name and surname of each person
5. Relation to head of family
6. Condition (i.e. married, widowed, single, etc)
7. Age last birthday of males/females
8. Rank, profession or occupation
9. Where born
10. Whether 1.Deaf and dumb, 2. Blind,  3.Imbecile or idiot, 4. Lunatic.

The 1881 census was the first to be transcribed and indexed for the whole country, including Scotland. This was done in a joint project undertaken by the Church of the Latter Day Saints and the Federation of Family History Societies. Our Society takes great pride in the fact that the Coordinator of this mammoth undertaking was one of ‘our own’, namely Dick Sowter (Member number 0053). This index was originally published on CD and microfiche, and is now available free of charge at the FamilySearch website. It is also used by many of the pay websites. These also provide the original images, and may have received corrections to the index.