Analysis unit

Persons, households, and dwellings Scotland only

UNITS IDENTIFIED: - Dwellings: yes - Vacant Units: No - Households: yes - Individuals: yes - Group quarters: yes

UNIT DESCRIPTIONS: - Dwellings: no - Households: A group of people who eat at the same table or in the same house, including lodgers and servants - Group quarters: Yes

Universe

All persons who slept in a dwelling in the country on the night of April 3, 1881 and persons who were working or travelling on the night April 3,1881 but returned home on April 4, 1881

Kind of data

Population and Housing Census [hh/popcen]

Sampling procedure

MICRODATA SOURCE: Registrar General

SAMPLE SIZE (person records): 3741017.

SAMPLE DESIGN: Not applicable

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

A single household form collected information on individual characteristics

This computerised transcription of the census enumerators' books for the 1881 Census for England, Scotland and Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man is a by-product of a project to create a microfiche index of the population of Great Britain for genealogists. Covering the entire enumerated population of England, Scotland and Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man in 1881, it is the largest collection of historical source material to be made available in computerised form. The data consists of the name, address, relationship to the head of household, marital status, age, occupation and birthplace of some 26 million individuals, together with information about disabilities.
In 1999 the Genealogical Society of Utah published a version of this computerised transcription as a CD-ROM product suitable for genealogical research (Genealogical Society of Utah (1999) 1881 British census and national index. [25 CDs]. Salt Lake City, Utah: GSU). This study is an enriched version of these data.This study (SN:4178) comprises the returns for Scotland; those for England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are available in SN:4177 1881 Census for England and Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man (Enhanced Version).

This computerised transcription of the census enumerators' books for the 1881 Census for England, Scotland and Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man is a by-product of a project to create a microfiche index of the population of Great Britain for genealogists. Covering the entire enumerated population of England, Scotland and Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man in 1881, it is the largest collection of historical source material to be made available in computerised form. The data consists of the name, address, relationship to the head of household, marital status, age, occupation and birthplace of some 26 million individuals, together with information about disabilities.
In 1999 the Genealogical Society of Utah published a version of this computerised transcription as a CD-ROM product suitable for genealogical research (Genealogical Society of Utah (1999) 1881 British census and national index. [25 CDs]. Salt Lake City, Utah: GSU). This study is an enriched version of these data.The sample is a 5 per cent random sample of the parishes of Great Britain. The sample was chosen in the simplest manner possible. A list of all the parishes in England, Wales, Scotland and the Islands in the British Seas was created; using a random number generator in Microsoft Excel, a random number between zero and one was allocated to each parish. All those less than or equal to 0.05 were selected for the sample. The records relating to the individuals in each of these parishes were then extracted from the data and combined in a database.

Tables B1 and B3 in Appendix B of the documentation list the 716 parishes in the sample.

This Special Licence access dataset contains names and addresses from the Integrated Census Microdata (I-CeM) dataset of the censuses of Great Britain for the period 1851 to 1911. These data are made available under Special Licence (SL) access conditions due to commercial sensitivity.

The anonymised main I-CeM database that complements these names and addresses is available under SN 7481. It comprises the Censuses of Great Britain for the period 1851-1911; data are available for England and Wales for 1851-1861 and 1881-1911 (1871 is not currently available for England and Wales) and for Scotland for 1851-1901 (1911 is not currently available for Scotland). The database contains over 180 million individual census records and was digitised and harmonised from the original census enumeration books. It details characteristics for all individuals resident in Great Britain at each of the included Censuses. The original digital data has been coded and standardised; the I-CeM database has consistent geography over time and standardised coding schemes for many census variables.

This dataset of names and addresses for individual census records is organised per country (England and Wales; Scotland) and per census year. Within each data file each census record contains first and last name, street address and an individual identification code (RecID) that allows linking with the corresponding anonymised I-CeM record. The data cannot be used for true linking of individual census records across census years for commercial genealogy purposes nor for any other commercial purposes. The SL arrangements are required to ensure that commercial sensitivity is protected. For information on making an application, see the Access section.

The data were updated in February 2020, with some files redeposited with longer field length limits. Users should note that some name and address fields are truncated due to the limits set by the LDS project that transcribed the original data. No more than 10,000 records out of some 210 million across the study should be affected. Examples include:

• England and Wales:
  • 1851 - truncated at the 24th character (maximum I-CeM field length 95 characters)
  • 1881 - truncated at the 16th character (maximum I-CeM field length 50 characters).
• Scotland: for 1851‐71, truncations affect less than 0.01% of all addresses and for 1851 around 1% at most
  • 1851 - truncated at the 70th character
  • 1861 - truncated at the 76th character
  • 1871 - truncated at the 82th character
  • 1881 - truncated at the 50th character.

Further information about I-CeM can be found on the I-CeM Integrated Microdata Project and I-CeM Guide webpages.

The Integrated Census Microdata (I-CeM) project has produced a standardised, integrated dataset of most of the censuses of Great Britain for the period 1851 to 1921: England and Wales for 1851-1861, 1881-1921 and Scotland for 1851-1901 and 1921, making available to academic researchers, detailed information at parish level about everyone resident in Great Britain collected at most of the decennial censuses between 1851-1921. Users should note that the 1871 England and Wales census data and 1911 Scottish census data are not available via I-CeM.

The original digital data has been coded and standardised. In addition, the original text and numerical strings have always been preserved in separate variables, so that researchers can go back to the original transcription. However, users should note that name and address details for individuals are not currently included in the database; for reasons of commercial sensitivity, these are held under Special Licence access conditions under SN 7856 for data relating to England, Wales and Scotland, 1851-1911 and SN 9281 for data relating to England and Wales, 1921.

This study (7481) relates to the available anonymised data for 1851-1911, i.e. all available years except 1921. Data for England and Wales 1921 are available under SN 9280. The data are available via an online system at https://icem.ukdataservice.ac.uk/

Latest edition information

For the second edition (June 2024), the 1851-1911 data have been redeposited with amended and enhanced data values.

Further information about I-CeM can be found on the "https://www.campop.geog.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/icem/" target="_blank"> I-CeM Integrated Microdata Project webpages.

This Special Licence access dataset contains names and addresses from the Integrated Census Microdata (I-CeM) dataset of the censuses of Great Britain for the period 1851 to 1911. These data are made available under Special Licence (SL) access conditions due to commercial sensitivity.

The anonymised main I-CeM database that complements these names and addresses is available under SN 7481. It comprises the Censuses of Great Britain for the period 1851-1911; data are available for England and Wales for 1851-1861 and 1881-1911 (1871 is not currently available for England and Wales) and for Scotland for 1851-1901 (1911 is not currently available for Scotland). The database contains over 180 million individual census records and was digitised and harmonised from the original census enumeration books. It details characteristics for all individuals resident in Great Britain at each of the included Censuses. The original digital data has been coded and standardised; the I-CeM database has consistent geography over time and standardised coding schemes for many census variables.

This dataset of names and addresses for individual census records is organised per country (England and Wales; Scotland) and per census year. Within each data file each census record contains first and last name, street address and an individual identification code (RecID) that allows linking with the corresponding anonymised I-CeM record. The data cannot be used for true linking of individual census records across census years for commercial genealogy purposes nor for any other commercial purposes. The SL arrangements are required to ensure that commercial sensitivity is protected. For information on making an application, see the Access section.

The data were updated in February 2020, with some files redeposited with longer field length limits. Users should note that some name and address fields are truncated due to the limits set by the LDS project that transcribed the original data. No more than 10,000 records out of some 210 million across the study should be affected. Examples include:

• England and Wales:
  • 1851 - truncated at the 24th character (maximum I-CeM field length 95 characters)
  • 1881 - truncated at the 16th character (maximum I-CeM field length 50 characters).
• Scotland: for 1851‐71, truncations affect less than 0.01% of all addresses and for 1851 around 1% at most
  • 1851 - truncated at the 70th character
  • 1861 - truncated at the 76th character
  • 1871 - truncated at the 82th character
  • 1881 - truncated at the 50th character.

Further information about I-CeM can be found on the I-CeM Integrated Microdata Project and I-CeM Guide webpages.

The Integrated Census Microdata (I-CeM), England and Wales, 1921 study contains the standardised England and Wales data for 1921.

The Integrated Census Microdata (I-CeM) project has produced a standardised, integrated dataset of most of the censuses of Great Britain for the period 1851 to 1911: England and Wales for 1851-1861, 1881-1921 and Scotland for 1851-1901, and 1921 making available to academic researchers, detailed information at parish level about everyone resident in Great Britain collected at most of the decennial censuses between 1851-1921.

The name and address details for individuals are not currently included in the database; for reasons of commercial sensitivity, these are held under Special Licence access conditions under SN 9281 Integrated Census Microdata (I-CeM) Names and Addresses, England and Wales, 1921: Special Licence Access. See the catalogue record for 9281 for instructions on how to apply for those data.

These data are available via an online system at https://icem.ukdataservice.ac.uk/

Further information about I-CeM can be found on the "https://www.campop.geog.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/icem/" target="_blank"> I-CeM Integrated Microdata Project webpages.