MyHeritage Publishes the Scotland Census, 1841-1901, with 24 Million Records

We are pleased to announce the publication of the Scotland Census, comprised of 7 collections with 24 million records from the years 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, and 1901. These collections are important, as they offer important details about Scottish ancestors not often found in other vital record collections, such as occupation information and residential addresses. If you are seeking more information on your Scottish ancestors, these collections are invaluable. The Scotland Census collections on MyHeritage are index-only and do not include the scanned documents.

In More Detail

From 1801 onward, following the Parliamentary Census Act of 1800, Scotland began collecting a census every 10 years. The first few census collections were mainly for gathering statistics and contained very little information on individual households. 

Starting in 1841, however, the census collections expanded to include important details about the members of each household, such as: name, gender, age, year and place of birth, marital status, and year and place of residence. The place of residence often included the name of the street, house name or number, county, and parish. Starting from 1851, the relationship of the individual to the head of household was also recorded. 

Census records were collected according to a national program and were taken in the same manner throughout Scotland. The records were subsequently preserved centrally and survive as a robust record of the 19th century from 1841 to 1901.

Here is a list of the 7 individual collections: 

Collection	Number of Records	Link to Search
1841 Scotland Census	2,625,739 records	Search collection now
1851 Scotland Census	2,912,392 records	Search collection now
1861 Scotland Census	3,006,924 records	Search collection now
1871 Scotland Census	3,349,107 records	Search collection now
1881 Scotland Census	3,716,329 records	Search collection now
1891 Scotland Census	4,015,584 records	Search collection now
1901 Scotland Census	4,437,453 records	Search collection now

Sample Records

Found in the 1851 Scotland Census is the record of inventor Alexander Graham Bell, the first person to patent a telephone and the founder of AT&T. Alexander was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1847. In this record, you can see details on his place of birth and residence. The record includes the other members of his household. In the MyHeritage collections, you can click on any of the other household members to see their census records.  

Census Record of Alexander Graham Bell [Credit: MyHeritage 1851 Scotland Census]

Census Record of Alexander Fleming [Credit: MyHeritage 1891 Scotland Census]

Summary

The Scottish census collections are invaluable for anyone with ancestors who lived in Scotland between 1841 to 1901. 

Searching the collections on MyHeritage is free. To view these records or to save records to your family tree, you’ll need a Data or Complete subscription. If you have a family tree on MyHeritage, our Record Matching technology will notify you automatically if records from these collections match your relatives. 

Enjoy the new collections!