12 March 2009

Images of 1881 Scottish Census now online

Scotlandspeople, "the official government source of genealogical data for Scotland" announce the availability of images of the 1881 census on their site.

To date only transcripts for 1881 have been available, starting with those originally produced by the GSU on microfiche and CD. Ancestry have transcripts online, but Scottish authorities have been careful to guard their rights, and market, by refusing requests to make original images available to others.

Newspaper coverage of the release mentions some of the better known people found in the census:
- Mary Garden, a renowned opera singer in the 20th century;
- Bertie Charles Forbes, financial journalist;
- James Matthew Barrie, who was to write Peter Pan;
- James Keir Hardie, founder of the Scottish Labour Party;

Others not mentioned, but in the census are:
- Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes author;
- John Buchan, became 1st Baron Tweedsmuir and Governor General of Canada.

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