G'day Meg, From 1801 to 1831 the government in London only wanted Heads of Household and numbers of dependents by age group on the Census returns. (I believe that this is similar to the early American Census records). However there was no network of Civil Servants to conduct the Census, so the responsibility in England fell on the Poor Law Unions until the establishment of the Registrar General's Department. This explains why the 1841 and 1851 Census for England have a Public Record Office Class No. prefixed "HO" (Home Office) whereas from 1861 onwards the Class No. prefix is "RG". An Act of the Scottish Parliament in the late 1600s had ordered each Parish to establish a school. Consequently, the early Census recording fell on the Parochial Schoolmaster. These Census recorders often took extra information for their own purposes and it is these records for which the six Parishes of Orkney have survived. The originals being in the Orkney Archives. To summarise them. Stromness & Sandwick. These are originals with no comments from mid-19th century transcribers. All household members are named (wives with Maiden names); exact ages; no relationships given but order within the household allows it to be worked out; occupations given . Some of the occupations are "Sailor, Straits" - a reference to the Whaling grounds in the Davis Straits; "Old Maid" for older unmarried woman; "Servant HBC". St Andrews and Deerness. These are mid-19th century transcripts with comments by the transcriber (eg. Head of this Household is the brother of that Head of Household; Died aged 72; etc) All names and ages given. The order allows relationships to be worked out. South Ronaldshay & Burray. The same as St Andrews and Deerness except by a different 19th century transcriber and some occupations given. Orphir. This appears to be an original and is in a different format. A sample Halcro household reads: 110) Thomas Halcro, Farmer in Evie, 40 to 50; Catherine Clouston his wife, 20 to 30; their children, Isabella, 5 to 10; his sister, Catherine, 40 to 50. 4 Black Cattle, 1 Swine, 1 Cart You can see one immediate benefit to all researchers in Orkney from the Orphir Census and that is the stocktake of all farm animals and implements which I haven't seen on any other Census. The fiche are available in North America through the Ontario Genealogical Society http://www.ogs.on.ca and in Great Britain through the Aberdeen and North East Scotland F.H.S. All six Parishes of the 1821 have been microfiched and 17 of the 21 Parishes of the 1851 Census. The four outstanding Parishes being Sanday (in progress), Shapinshay, Stronsay and Westray which I hope to have available by the end of the year. I think that OGS charges about $4.50 a set. They were reviewed in the May 1995 edition of the OGS journal Families. Hope this helps David Western Australia ----- Original Message ----- From: Greenwood <finn@ionet.net> To: <davidrli@iinet.net.au> Sent: Friday, July 23, 1999 8:25 AM Subject: 1821 Census Orkney > David Armstrong - Thanks for posting about the 1821 surviving censuses. My local FHCenter says > these are enumerations only. It sounds like you might know differently ! One of the volunteers is > also most interested in this fiche. Please tell me more about this census. The bulk of my > relatives (that I can locate) are HALCROs and are from Orphir. A bit more information about > ordering the fiche would be most helpful !!! > > Ya'all take care now, y'hear?? > > Meg Greenwood - Oklahoma >