To all:- Many thanks to Adrienne Leduc for the following -- it is a History of Census Records as we look forward to the 2001 Canadian census!! Muriel M. Davidson <davidson3542@home.com> ============================================= Canadian Census History Statistics Canada is preparing to count heads across the country. In the distant future will our descendants be able to consult the historical census records of 2001? Will the numerous details of that census shed light on us - their ancestors? Under current legislation, going back more than 90 years, any census taken after 1901 will never again be released to the public. Without a change in the legislation Canada's data from census will be lost to historians. The unavailability of the historical census records, an item of our culture, would constitute a harmful impoverishment of our nation's heritage. Taking the census of population has been established in Canada since 1666. The National Archives of Canada contains evidence, in the form of letters and schedules, that the early Canadian censuses were taken by enumerators going from door to door. The nominal census of 1666 covers 154 pages of manuscript and includes the age, conjugal status and occupation of each person. The first reference to the census of 1666 appears in a letter written April 5, 1666 by Colbert, Ministre de la Marine to Intendant Jean Talon in Quebec City. In it Colbert requests that Talon forward a roster of all the inhabitants of the colony. November 13, 1666 Talon writes: ". . . . Here is the official report I promised you in my previous dispatch. I am enclosing the rolle [roster] of families in which there are a few omissions, but they can not be corrected until next winter." Talon continues by stating that in the total population of 3,215 there are 2,034 males and 1,181 females. The natives and royal troops are not included. Giving a description of the progress made in the colony he writes: "The newly cleared lands have appeared better to me because of the care that was taken. When I distributed the seeds I had brought last year, I insisted that a like amount [should] be returned to me at the present harvest and this has been done. . . . I have found that to encourage the inhabitants to grow a great deal of hemp it was necessary to reduce [induce] them to want thread. To this end I seized all [thread] that I could find here and I will only distribute it to those who agree to return a stated quantity of hemp . . . " In his letter of April 5, 1667, Colbert reminds Talon that his majesty, Louis XIV, expects to receive a more complete list of inhabitants, including the increase in population. He requests that it should also include the number of domestic animals of each kind, the number of acres under crop, and the increased number of acres under cultivation since Talon's arrival. It was chiefly Intendant Jean Talon, personally, who took the census during the months of September and October 1667. We can imagine this genial-appearing official with his hooknose and wearing a curled wig, going from door to door. He no doubt courageously travelled by canoe, and portaged many rapids. This census, taken during a time of year when many men were away hunting or trapping, lists 3,918 persons, not including the royal troops and the aboriginal. Still, in spite of its dispersion over a vast territory, the sparse agricultural population made it possible for the administration to draw up a very satisfactory status of the demographic situation. Criticism leveled at the census is not a modern product. More than 300 years ago the census takers were criticized for not enumerating more people that there actually were. On May 17, 1674, Colbert wrote to Governor Frontenac in Quebec: "Your main purpose should be to augment the number of people in that country. His Majesty was surprised to see by the tables that you sent me that there were only 6,705 men, women and children in Canada. He is convinced that the ones who took this census, under your direction, made an obvious error, considering that over ten years ago there were more people than now." Six years later, on November 13, 1680, the new Intendant Jacques Du Chesneau, wrote to Colbert: "I can truthfully say, Monseigneur, [that I followed] the order given by the King . . . . to examine with great care the increase or decrease of population during the last five or six years, and if there is a decrease to blame myself for not having executed his orders, that I have done everything possible for the advantage of the colony and the increase of the population." Later he adds: " I could not persuade myself to send you this year's census because I can not certify it as correct. There are 800 persons in the woods [coureurs de bois] a thing that is forbidden and I am unable to ascertain the exact number because the persons interested are hiding it [not cooperating]. . . ." The Intendant also mentions that there were 960 aboriginal men, women and children - all baptized. Obviously the other aboriginal were not baptized. Over the years, new questions were being added to the schedules at each succeeding census. In 1681 the number of arms possessed by each family was listed. In 1685 further inquiries were added as to buildings, houses and mills. Eventually, until the end of the 17th century data about churches, acres under pasture, and yield of field crops were added. Such detail made the census at the close of that century almost the equal of the modern census in its comprehensiveness. Canada instituted a regular census in 1851, taking its first dominion-wide census in 1871. Returns for 1851, 1861, 1871 and 1881 are generally nominal, meaning that each person of the family is listed individually, with details as to age, sex, country or province of birth, religion, racial origin, occupation, marital status, education and physical disabilities where applicable. Census records have been used extensively by historians, genealogists and, in increasing numbers, by those seeking information regarding genetically transmitted disease. The historical census records constitute a valuable and frequently consulted source. They are priceless documents, revealing the mode of life of years ago. As a genealogical researcher, I still remember the thrills of discovering "all about" some elusive ancestor, in the 1861 nominal census. The record revealed that here was an interesting story, told not in the usual way, but in the way that invited engagement with the data; I really wanted to absorb it. Here was information not available from any other source. The census of 2001 will count a great number of heads - a large increase since 1991 when Canada's population amounted to 27,296,859 individuals. However, we are at a crossroad. The preservation and accessibility of Canada's heritage depends on the documentation and interpretation of collections such as the historical census records. These are the records of our ordinary lives. In this new millennium we are keenly aware of our need to know our ancestors, so we can tell our unique stories. Adrienne Leduc is a freelance writer with interest in Early Canadian History. adrienneleduc@imag.net Adrienne Leduc 2710 Crescentview Drive North Vancouver, BC V7R 2V1