Читать книгу Who Do You Think You Are? Encyclopedia of Genealogy: The definitive reference guide to tracing your family history - Nick Barratt - Страница 189

Censuses were taken in Scotland on a similar basis to England and Wales from 1801 onwards. Scotland was divided into registration districts and sub-districts and enumerators were responsible for circulating and collecting the schedule forms. The enumerators would then enter the information into the census return books, which form the Scottish census returns that you can see today.

The original returns are now held at the GROS in Edinburgh. These records are also subject to 100-year closure rules. Nevertheless, it is possible to view the returns from 1841 to 1901 at GROS, which has computerized indexes for these returns for the entire period along with some other indexes, such as street indexes for certain areas and some privately produced indexes. As microfilm and fiche copies were made of the original returns, various local archives, record offices and libraries will hold copies for their area as well, so a trip to Edinburgh might not be necessary.

The returns are also available online on the following websites:

• www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk This is the main website for those conducting genealogical research in Scotland, being the official government source of genealogical data. Most of the key sources have been placed here, including all publicly available census returns for Scotland. The information is not free of charge, although you can search the databases after registering for free. However, you will have to pay to view the results and see digital images.

• www.ancestry.co.uk Ancestry has also placed Scottish data on its website. At the time of writing, searchable indexes for all census returns from 1841 to 1901 were available. These indexes relate to transcriptions of the original entries on the forms. It is not possible to view a copy of the original entry, only the transcription.

‘Most of Ireland’s early census records were destroyed by a fire in 1922.’