The 1861 census – held on 7 April 1861

The 1861 census of the UK was held separately in the three jurisdictions of the UK; England and Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. Unfortunately, the 1861 Ireland census records have not survived and this article, therefore, mainly discusses the 1861 census of Great Britain.

The Householder’s Schedule

This census form instructed every ‘occupier or Person in charge of the Dwelling’ to enter the personal details of every person who stayed in the dwelling overnight on 7th April plus, for the first time, every person who returned home on 8th April from travel or work.

The schedule needed to be ready for collection by the enumerator on the following morning. To dispel fears of state intrusion, the following assurances were added to the schedule:

‘The facts will be published in General Abstracts only, and strict care will be taken that the returns are not used for the gratification of curiosity’.

A couple of the questions were extended in the schedule. For British subjects born outside the British Empire (‘Foreign Parts’), the ‘Where Born’ question asked for a distinction between ‘British Subject’ and ‘Naturalized British Subject’. Also, the ‘disability’ question now asked whether the individual was affected ‘from birth’. Neither of these additions show up in the ‘Census Enumerator’s Book’ (see below).

The Scotland census contained a couple of new ‘household’ questions which were designed to gain a better understanding of people’s social and living conditions: the number of school children, and the number of windowed rooms per household.

Identifying Employers

The lengthy ‘General Instruction’ regarding ‘Rank, Profession, or Occupation’ underwent a few modifications. The previous census of 1851 had required, for the first time, a tradesperson to be specifically described as ‘Master’ where applicable and the number of employees provided. This was extended; ‘Master’ was replaced with the term ‘Employer’ in the description and the type of employment extended from ‘Trades’ to ‘Trades, Manufactures, or other Business’. The example used in the 1851 census, however, was identical apart from the addition of ‘boys’; ‘Carpenter – Master, employing 6 men and 2 boys’. In the case of Firms (i.e. partnerships) the number of employees was now also requested (from ‘one partner only’).

Once again, the description ‘Farmer’ was only to be used for occupiers of land, with an assumption that they were also employers. The example given in the instructions was a repeat of the 1851 census, plus the addition of ‘boys’ i.e.: ‘Farmer of 317 acres, employing 8 labourers and and 3 boys’.

Identifying the Unemployed and the Retired

There was still no question directly relating to the unemployed. However, the ‘General Instruction’ with minor alterations in wording, continued to indirectly make this enquiry: ‘Persons in Almshouses, after being described as such, should state their previous occupations’.

People retired from their usual occupation were to be so described; ‘Retired Watchmaker etc.’

The Census Enumerator’s Book

Once the enumerator had collected all the householder’s schedules within his ‘enumeration district’, he copied their contents into a ‘Census Enumerator’s Book’ (CEB). The original forms were destroyed and this means that the CEBs are our prime source of census record.

The CEB was designed for use by census officials rather than the general public, so the census questions that appeared in the original householder’s schedules were often abridged. For example, the changes to the ‘Where Born’ and the disability question (mentioned above) are not readily apparent simply by looking at the CEB. Also, the ‘General Instruction’ to householders, which can be seen as an extension to the ‘Rank, profession or occupation’ question, was not reprinted in the CEB as it was for guidance purposes.

The General Register Office for Scotland (GROS)

Since the census of 1841, the General Register Office (GRO) for England and Wales had overseen both the censuses of England and Wales, and of Scotland. The GRO continued to oversee the 1861 census of England and Wales, but the newly formed (in 1855) General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) took control of the 1861 Scotland census. This means that the 1861 Scotland census records were the first to be held in Edinburgh rather than by the GRO in London.

Population Recorded

A ‘General Report’ was included in the census for England and Wales for the first time. This analysed population trends at great length, including the impact of emigration and immigration on the UK population.

1861 Census – Population recorded

Country	Population	†Change(%)
†Change(%) since last census. Source: Census of England and Wales, 1921, Preliminary report. Please visit Census Records for population in other census years. Population excludes servicemen and merchant seamen overseas.
England	18,954,534	12.0%
Wales	1,111,690	10.5%
Scotland	3,062,294	6%
Ireland	5,798,967	-11.8%
UK population	28,927,485	5.6%
Islands of the British Seas	143,447	.2%

The General Report observed an increased population since the 1851 census of around 12% for England and Wales, but less than 6% for the UK as a whole. This was because, whilst the population of England and Wales had increased by over 2m, it had declined in Ireland by almost .8m. These figures highlighted the grim legacy of the Potato Famine.

Population of the British Empire

The 1861 census was the first national census to make an attempt at arriving at a population figure for the British Empire. The figures arrived at were 9,496,669 (British Colonies) and 135,571,351 (British India). However, the figures were unreliable to say the least; in fact the exact figure for British India was an estimate. Please visit our Census Records page for more information.

‘Increase of the Population of England and Wales since 1651’

The General Report for the 1861 census also contained a section analysing the ‘increase of the Population of England and Wales since 1651’. The estimates were largely based on those baptism and burial records which had been preserved since 1571 in many English and Welsh parishes.

The findings suggested that there had been a massive population explosion in the last one hundred years. In 1651 the estimated population was 5,466,572 which grew modestly to 6,335,840 by 1751. However, by 1851, it had jumped to 18 million. In the decade to 1861 alone, the population had grown by over 2 million.

These estimates were followed by a scathing repudiation of Thomas Malthus and his theory of population growth. The ‘Malthusian theory’, put forward at the end of the 18th Century, had argued that population growth would always outstrip food production. The authors’ view was that Malthus had not taken into account ‘human industry’. Ironically, it was the fears surrounding the Malthusian Theory that were largely behind the push for a first national census in 1801.

Victorian Britain at the time of the April 1861 Census

Prime Minister

Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (1859 to 1865).

Government of the day

The ‘Liberals’ – a coalition of Whigs, Peelites (free trade Conservatives) and Radicals.

Foreign Secretary

Lord John Russell, Earl Russell (1859 to 1865).

Chancellor of the Exchequer

William Ewart Gladstone (1859 to 1866).

Historical Snapshot – Victorian Britain in the decade up to the 1861 Census

The decade leading up to the 1861 Census witnessed turbulence abroad, new alliances at home and further industrial progress such as the advent of mass steel production.

Industrial and technological developments

The decade began with the Great Exhibition of 1851. Organised by Prince Albert and Henry Cole, the ‘Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations’ (aka the Crystal Palace Exhibition) was the first international exhibition of manufactured products. Running from 1 May – 15 October, it attracted over 6 million visitors. Many of the exhibits became the original exhibits of the South Kensington Museum which was founded in 1857 and is now known as the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Also in 1851, the first successful telegraph cable was laid across the English Channel.

In August 1856, the mass production of steel, so essential for industrial progress, was made possible by Bessemer’s Steel Process (developed by Sir Henry Bessemer).

Domestic affairs

The march to free trade continued

Gladstone was of the view that tax should be as low as possible – because governments never spend money wisely. Gladstone’s first budget of 1853 lasted 4 hours but is still considered a masterpiece. Many duties were abolished and the intention (scuppered by the Crimean War) was to get rid of income tax as well.

The decade ended with the Cobden-Chevalier Treaty (1860) – a beneficial trade deal with France.

1858 – The Fenian Society was established

Its mission was armed revolt against the British to secure an independent Ireland.

1859 – The Birth of the Liberal Party

Lord Palmerston was the first leader of this coalition of Whigs, Peelites (free trade Conservatives) and Radicals. It was the logical conclusion of the new political allegiances forged after the repeal of the Corn Laws over a decade earlier.

Foreign Affairs

The Crimean War (1853 – 1856)

This was considered the first ‘modern’ war; it was documented extensively and used modern technologies such as explosive naval shells. Britain entered the war in 1854, allying herself with France, Turkey and Sardinia, against an expansionist Russia.

Although Britain and her allies won, the war was disastrously managed. The Charge of the Light Brigade, where the wrong position was charged and the wrong set of guns captured, gives a flavour of the general level of competence on display during this conflict. Of the 20,097 British soldiers who died in this war, over 16,000 died from disease. It is, therefore, fitting that the most famous figure to emerge from this war was a nurse: Florence Nightingale.

The Victoria Cross was introduced in 1856 to reward acts of valour during the Crimean War.

The Second Opium War (1856 – 1860)

Britain secured from the Chinese the bizarre twin objectives of a) free movement of Christian missionaries and b) the legalisation of opium imports.

The Indian Mutiny (1857 – 1858)

This occurred when the Bengal Sepoys (Indian Soldiers) rose up against the British East India Company (who effectively ruled India on behalf of the British). The Sepoys had many grievances including British ‘westernising’ policies and the ‘doctrine of lapse’ (a form of annexation). Rumours that new rifle cartridges were greased with animal fat were the final trigger for the outbreak.

Following the siege of Cawnpore (now Kanpur) which fell to the rebels in June 1857, around 200 British women and children were massacred in the Bibighar Massacre. This led to a spiralling of atrocities on both sides, with ‘Remember Cawnpore’ becoming the British Army’s battle cry.

A comprehensive list of recorded inscriptions from tombs and memorials to the British victims of the Indian Mutiny is contained in the List of inscriptions on Christian tombs and tablets of historical interest in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh by Sir Edward Blunt. A free downloadable copy is available at archive.org/details/listofinscriptio00blunuoft . You can download the book in your chosen format and search the place name e.g. ‘Cawnpore’ for research of the Bibighar massacre.

The British eventually quashed the mutiny, abolished the East India Company and brought in direct rule in India; the ‘British Raj’.

Outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861

Within days of the Census, America was plunged into civil war. Palmerston and Russell were surprisingly successful in managing to sit this one out.