Census Returns

The ten year census returns, from the first in 1841 to the last publicly available one in 1911, provide a snapshot of the people in a household on a given night and so can provide details of a particular family and anyone else who happens to be in the house at the time, for example, servants, lodgers, or visitors.

The returns, which detail each property in a street, list all those residing at the census date, relationship to the head of family, condition (whether widow, married or unmarried), age, occupation and place of birth. The census returns can be helpful in identifying individuals and family members where you are finding it impossible to do so through other means. For example, the named resident’s relations can help in working out who the resident is in instances of father and son having the same name, or the date of birth can give an age of someone that may help in other searches or in consulting birth or marriage records.

Copies are on microfilm at Edinburgh’s Central Library. You first need to look in the index for that census to find which part of the city your street is within (the librarians will be happy to assist). These can be consulted for free and pages of the returns printed out a small charge. While census returns are on line at Scotland’s People website, there is a charge to use this service and searches are under family name, rather than address, so not helpful for searching for house residents.

There may be instances where someone is listed in the street directory for a census year but does not appear in that census return. This is not uncommon in the New Town as many house owners had houses and estates elsewhere, and the Edinburgh house only used at times. Where the main female is recorded as married, but no husband listed, then that often will indicate that the husband was elsewhere on the census date.

Where no resident information is recorded for a property that will indicate it was empty at that time.

Under the column ‘Rank, Profession or Occupation’ you may see the terms ‘Fundholder’, ‘Independent’ or ‘Living on Annuity’. These refer to individuals with an independent income or some from of pension, and thus living on their own means. If you come across an occupation that is unclear, this helpful website may have the answer. http://www.worldthroughthelens.com/family-history/old-occupations.php

Servants

Servants were never recorded in the Street Directories, but were listed in the census returns. Otherwise, servants remain almost invisible in the archives although in Albany Street for example, upwards of 4,000 individual servants worked there in the century. Where individual servants are mentioned in archival sources, this is almost always due to criminal activity; clearly not a fair reflection on the honest majority who would have worked long hours for minimum return.