Today the National Records of Scotland broke radio silence on the much-delayed publication of the 1921 census. I won't go into the details of the sorry saga surrounding the release of these records - suffice to say this has not been the NRS' finest hour. Indexing is about 60% complete. The contract was signed in January, and the NRS are now saying they are "confident" they will publish before the end of the year, whereas a few months ago they were saying they "will" publish in the second half of this year, it seems likely we'll have to wait a few months yet before we can finally see the first census after World War One.
It seems opportune therefore to set out what to expect when the census is eventually released. From the first census in 1801, the amount of information gathered increased regularly, making the census returns more useful for historians and genealogists alike. The 1921 census continued that process, including more information than its 1911 counterpart. The individual household schedules are not being published - instead, what we will see are the enumeration books. It's important to understand the difference - the household schedules were filled in by the residents, usually by the head of household. The enumeration books are transcriptions of those schedules carried out by enumerators - individuals employed by the census office. So unlike the English equivalent, you won't be able to see your ancestors' handwriting.
The other change in terms of what the NRS are producing, is that once the indexing has been completed and the images published on Scotland's People, a complete transcription of all the fields will be produced as part of the contract. This is something academic historians have long been pushing for, as it makes all sorts of historical research possible in a way that isn't feasible with indexed images alone. As yet, though, it's not clear if this transcription will be made publicly available when it is eventually complete.
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175 years ago today, a small army of enumerators set out all across Scotland - and the rest of the UK - tasked with carrying out a population census. It wasn't the first national UK census - that was organised in 1801, with others in 1811, 1821 and 1831 - but it was the first to attempt to record every man, woman and child in the country. As such, it is an enormously important record set for family historians.
The purpose of the census was to provide accurate and detailed statistical information about the country to enhance government decisions. This was arguably an approach that had been pioneered by Sir John Sinclair with the Statistical Account of Scotland - a monumental work that introduced the word statistics into the English language. It seems a fitting day, then, for us to have completed phase one of our Scottish surnames project. The idea is really quite simple - to investigate the frequency and geographical distribution of surnames in Scotland using, among others, census records. In our client and transcription work, we have built up a large database of surnames - over 8,500 so far - found in Scottish historical records. We want to know how common each of these surnames is in Scotland, and whether they are more common in any particular part of Scotland. Phase 1 of our project - which is now complete - entailed counting the number of times each surname is found in each of Scotland's 33 historic counties, and in the four largest cities (Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow). Even the data-gathering part of this phase was a major task - we conducted over 300,000 database queries before we could even begin crunching the numbers. Having got the raw data, we then compared the number of instances of each surname [1] in each county with the total population of that county, giving the number of instances of each surname per 100,000 people in each county (the surname density). We then compared each county-frequency value with the equivalent figure for the whole of Scotland, to get an indication of relative surname density. [2] The higher the relative surname density, the more common the surname is in that county compared to Scotland as a whole. Our working hypothesis is that the higher the maximum relative surname density for a particular surname, the more likely that surname is to have a geographic origin in that area. We will be looking to test that hypothesis using a selection of surnames with known geographic origins. [3] A corollary to this initial hypothesis is that the lower the maximum relative surname density, the less likely the surname is to have a specific geographic origin. This appears to be borne out to some extent by the surnames with the lowest maximum relative surname density, shown in the table below
None of the top 9 surnames have a single origin, and the tenth - Frazer - may simply be a statistical artefact caused by the unusual spelling.
Several other interesting facts emerge from the initial results of this study.
[1] For the purposes of this study, we treated Mc- and Mac- surnames as identical.
[2] For example, there were 1580 Browns in Aberdeenshire in 1841. The total population of Aberdeenshire was 193,062. This means that the surname density for Brown in Aberdeenshire is Surname density (Brown in Aberdeen) = (1580 / 193,062) * 100,000 = 818.39
There were 28,617 Browns in the whole of Scotland in 1841, out of a total population of 2,589,636. So the surname density for Brown in Scotland is
Surname density (Brown in Scotland) = (28,617/2,589,636) * 100,000 = 1105.06
So the relative surname density for Brown in Aberdeen is
Relative surname density (Brown in Aberdeenshire) = Surname density (Brown in Aberdeenshire) / Surname density (Brown in Scotland) = 818.39 / 1105.06 = 0.7406
A relative surname density less than 1 indicates that the surname is less common in that county than in Scotland as a whole. Likewise a relative surname density greater than 1 indicates that the surname is more common in that county than in Scotland as a whole.
[2] A complication that arises here is that surnames based on specific place names may have first arisen elsewhere. Take for instance the surname Carstairs. This derives from the barony of Carstairs in Lanarkshire, but the surname is most commonly found in Fife. This can be explained by two 13th-century clergymen, Peter de Castiltarris (i.e. "of Carstairs") and John de Castiltarris, who were granted stipends in Dunkeld in 1231 and north-east Fife a little later in the 13th century. The progenitor of the surname presumably came from Lanarkshire, but the surname itself arose in and spread from Fife. Although perhaps at first glance counter-intuitive, this is in fact logical: it wouldn't make sense to refer to John of Carstairs in Carstairs itself, but away from Carstairs, "of Carstairs" would serve as a useful identifier.
Upcoming family history talks and events in Scotland, 4 - 10 June 2016
Note that there may be a small charge for some of these events, and some may be for members only. We will be publishing lists of upcoming talks and events regularly - if you are organising a talk or event relating to Scottish genealogy or history, please let us know and we will be happy to add your events to our list. Saturday, June 4 2016, 10 am - 12 pm Pre-1841 Censuses Bruce Bishop Venue: Scottish Genealogy Society Library, 15 Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh, EH1 2JL Bruce Bishop will talk about where to find these rare records, what they contain and how they can assist your research. Saturday, June 4 2016, 9 am - 4.30 pm South Ayrshire History and Family History Fair
Venue: Walker Halls, Troon, Ayrshire 9.00am – Registration 9.45am – Councillor Bill Grant Chairman – Dauvit Broun 10.00am “The Smuggling Coast from Stranraer to Girvan” Frances Wilkins 11.00am “Ayrshire before history: a personal view of early sites and their archaeology” Tom Barclay Lunch 2.00pm “Men at War: securing Burns’ memory in the West of Scotland, c 1859-c1896 (the race between the towns of the region to have a statue of Robert Burns)” Chris Whatley 3.00pm “A Founder’s Workshop from the Bronze Age? Excavations from the shadow of Hunterston” Thomas Rees Monday, June 6 2016, 10 am - 4 pm Day with Mary Queen of Scots
Venue: John Gray Centre Friends of the John Gray Centre Mary Queen of Scots still fires imagination of many people, and her story is closely interlinked with that of Haddington and East Lothian. Spend a fascinating day listening to talks about Mary and her links with the county viewing original documents and artefacts from the JGC collections and participating in the hands-on workshop. Monday, June 6 2016, 7 pm for 7.30 pm AGM and Members' Night
Venue: Drummond Community High School, Bellevue Place, Edinburgh
Upcoming family history talks and events in Scotland, 9 - 15 May 2016
Note that there may be a small charge for some of these events, and some may be for members only. We will be publishing lists of upcoming talks and events regularly - if you are organising a talk or event relating to Scottish genealogy or history, please let us know and we will be happy to add your events to our list. Monday, May 9 2016, 7 pm for 7.30 pm James Craig and the New Town Tony Lewis Venue: Drummond Community High School, Bellevue Place, Edinburgh Monday, May 9 2016, 7.30 pm Open Evening
Venue: Luncarty Church Centre West Stormont Historical Society Non-members: adults £3, concessions £2. (Open discussion meetings at Luncarty are free) Monday, May 9 2016, 7.30 pm 1884 Reform Protests in Ayrshire Dr Mark Nixon Venue: John Knox Church Hall, High Street, Stewarton Stewarton and District Historical Society Part of the largest political demonstration in Britain's history - "Our legislators should be chosen for the people by the people" as stated on a banner in Hawick Monday, May 9 2016, 7.30 pm AGM followed by A Local Topic and Refreshments
Venue: Dalkeith Baptist Church, North Wynd, Dalkeith Tuesday, May 10 2016, 7.30 pm Crail Fishing Disaster Alan Runciman Venue: Volunteer House (Vonef Centre) in 69 Crossgate Cupar KY15 5AS Tuesday, May 10 2016, 7.30 pm 1901 Census May & Alisdair Venue: Public Library, Airds Crossing, Fort William Lochaber and North Argyll Family History Group Tuesday, May 10 2016, 7.30 pm Listen Up! A WW1 Experimental Station in Fife Diana Maxwell Venue: Dining Hall, Dollar Academy Tuesday, May 10 2016, 7.30 pm - 9.30 pm The Original Olympics Valerie Reilly Venue: Masonic Halls, Collier Street, Johnstone Wednesday, May 11 2016, 2.30 pm Reconstructing Presbytery: Stirling and Dunblane Presbyteries 1688–1700 Andrew Muirhead Venue: Edinburgh Theological Seminar, The Mound, Edinburgh Scottish Church History Society Wednesday, May 11 2016, 6.00 pm ‘Fair hotchin’ wi conchies’: Dundee war resisters and conscientious objectors 1914-1919
Venue: Lecture Theatre 2, Dalhousie Building, University of Dundee Thursday, May 12 2016, 7.30 pm Members Night and Forum AGM
Venue: The Shawl Gallery, Paisley Museum, High Street, Paisley Renfrewshire Local History Forum Thursday, May 12 2016, 7.30 pm - 9.00 pm AGM
Venue: Johnnie Walker Bond, Strand Street Kilmarnock East Ayrshire Family History Society Friday, May 13 2016, 4.00pm-5.30pm The Female World of Love & Empire: Women, Family & East India Company Politics at the End of the 18th Century Professor Margot Finn, University College London Venue: Gannochy Room, Wolfson Building, - Glasgow University, Glasgow, G12 8QQ University of Glasgow Free tickets can be booked here Saturday, May 14 2016, 2.30pm-4.30pm Bereavement Services & Customs Ian Burnett Venue: Unitarian Church Centre Aberdeen and North East Scotland Family History Society
Upcoming family history talks and events in Scotland, 28 March - 3 April 2016
Note that there may be a small charge for some of these events, and some may be for members only. We will be publishing lists of upcoming talks and events regularly - if you are organising a talk or event relating to Scottish genealogy or history, please let us know and we will be happy to add your events to our list. 
Monday, April 4 2016, 6.30 pm From Abbotsford to Sanna Bheag, the vernacular revival in Scotland Simon Green Venue: St Andrew’s and St George’s West Church, 13 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 2PA Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland Simon Green is an architectural historian working in the Survey and Recording Section of Historic Environment Scotland. This involves examining, investigating and recording buildings throughout Scotland. He is also researching the architecture of the Baronial and the Arts and Crafts Movement in Scotland. He has published Dumfries House, an architectural story in 2014. He is the President of the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland. Monday, April 4 2016, 7.30 pm Following the Drum - the Life of Military Wives and Families from Feudal Times Wendy Sandiford Venue: John Knox Church Hall, High Street, Stewarton Stewarton and District Historical Society Monday, April 4 2016, 8 pm AGM
Venue: Dreghorn Loan Hall, Colinton, EH13 0DE Colinton Local History Society Tuesday, April 5 2016, 6.45 pm for 7.15 pm The Monuments and War Memorials of Edinburgh Paul McAuley, Museums Collection Centre Venue: Morningside Parish Church Hall Morningside Heritage Association Tuesday, April 5 2016, 7.00 pm - 9.00 pm Pre-1841 'Censuses' and other population listings Bruce Bishop Venue: Lanthorn Community Education Complex, Kenilworth Rise, Livingston EH54 6JL West Lothian Family History Society Tuesday, April 5 2016, 7.30 pm Roy, Wade, Wolfe et al: Military Road Builders in Scotland Joy Blair Venue: Fairweather Hall, Barrhead Road, Newton Mearns, G77 6BB ‘Had you seen these Roads before they were made, You would lift up your hands and bless General Wade.' Thursday, April 7 2016, 1.00 pm Art in Dundee Matthew Jarron, Curator, Dundee University Venue: Glasite Hall, St. Andrew’s Church, King Street, Dundee Friends of Dundee City Archives Thursday, April 7 2016, 7.30 pm The Battle of Halidon Hill Jim Herbert Venue: Eildon Centre, Berwickshire District Council, Victoria Pl, Coldstream, Berwickshire TD12 4AD Coldstream and District Local History Society Thursday, April 7 2016, 7.30 pm AGM and presentation
Venue: Dirleton Kirk Hall Gullane and Dirleton History Society Saturday, April 9 2016, 7.30 pm Do you know what’s under your feet? (Part 2) Clive Waghorn Venue: Queens Hall, Charlestown, KY11 3EG Preceded by AGM. HMS Tralair and the Hawkcraig Admiralty Experimental Establishment Station are Aberdour’s best kept wartime secret. It was home to a bustling wartime research station and vanguard of the fight to protect Britain’s shores from the deadly threat of U-boats. Other than two or three shattered concrete hut bases and the crumbling ruins of an old pier, nothing remains of the once bustling station. During its short period in operation, major technological advances were achieved in the battle against the German U-boat, and around 4,000 officers and men were trained there. Diana is a member of the Aberdour Cultural Association and is author of their first published book “Listen Up! ”. Diana’s book draws together information from local and national records along with personal recollections of the people who worked around the base.
Upcoming family history talks and events in Scotland, 29 February - 6 March 2016
Note that there may be a small charge for some of these events, and some may be for members only. We will be publishing lists of upcoming talks and events regularly - if you are organising a talk or event relating to Scottish genealogy or history, please let us know and we will be happy to add your events to our list. 
Monday, February 29 2016, 7.30 pm These Magnificent Men and their Flying Machines Leonard Hart Venue: Millennium Room, Cramond Kirk Hall Leonard Hart, the Aircraft Preservation Society, on the rebuilding of a Sopwith Strutter from scratch Monday, February 29 2016, 7.30 pm Glasgow's Magnificent Mansions Bill Black Venue: Caldwell Halls, 16 Campsie Road, Torrance, G64 4BN Torrance Heritage and History Group Tuesday, March 1 2016, 6.00 pm - 7.00 pm White, Black and Grey: recent discoveries in Aberdeen’s friaries Alison Cameron Venue: Regent Building Lecture Theatre, Regent Walk, Aberdeen, AB24 3FX Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Alison Cameron of Cameron Archaeology will present this lecture at the Regent Building Lecture Theatre hosted by the Aberdeen and North East Section of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Tuesday, March 1 2016, 6.45 pm for 7.15 pm Film Evening Ian Rintoul Venue: Morningside Parish Church Hall Morningside Heritage Association Tuesday, March 1 2016, 7 pm AGM
Venue: Shetland Family History Society, 6 Hillhead, Lerwick Shetland Family History Society Tuesday, March 1 2016, 7.00 pm - 9.00 pm Exploring and using the 1911 Scottish Census Ken Nisbet Venue: Lanthorn Community Education Complex, Kenilworth Rise, Livingston EH54 6JL West Lothian Family History Society Tuesday, March 1 2016, 7.30 pm The Southern General Hospital in the 20th Century: From Poorhouse to Powerhouse Alistair Tough Venue: Fairweather Hall, Barrhead Road, Newton Mearns, G77 6BB Tuesday, March 1 2016, 7.30 pm Old Ayrshire Farming John Stevenson Venue: Kilmarnock College, Holehouse Rd, Kilmarnock Kilmarnock & District History Group Thursday, March 3 2016, 1.00 pm The Memoirs of Captain Boyd Capt John Watson Fraternity of Masters & Seamen Venue: Glasite Hall, St. Andrew’s Church, King Street, Dundee Friends of Dundee City Archives |
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