Analysing the census records

Transcribing all the census records into a set of spreadsheets makes it easier to analyse how North Queensferry changed over the years from 1841 to 1921.

Population
Where Born
Occupations
Names over the decades

Population


The simplest statistic is how the population changed over the years. It grew from 1841 to 1851 then declined gently through 1881 before growing more rapidly.


The ratio of males to females shows slightly more females than males until 1911 and 1921. These last two decades bracketed the First World War and saw an influx of workers to build Rosyth Dockyard followed by a military presence that persisted after the War. Many of the workers and military personnel were single, hence the increase in the male population.

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Population – where born?

This chart shows “place of birth” of the population.
From 1841 to 1891, the bulk of the population was born in Fife with most of the remainder from elsewhere in Scotland.

In 1841, the census only recorded place of birth as Fife, Scotland, England, and Elsewhere, so it is not possible to see the numbers for Inverkeithing or North Queensferry. These are recorded for 1851 to 1881.
In 1891, North Queensferry was counted as part of Dunfermline Parish, so North Queensferry births are included in “Rest of Fife”.
In 1921, North Queensferry was counted as part of Inverkeithing Parish, so North Queensferry births are included in “Inverkeithing”

The population growth in 1891 to 1901 came from “Rest of Scotland” – workers arriving to build the Forth Bridge.
The influx in 1911 and 1921 was created by worker and engineers on Rosyth Dockyard, and the WWI Military presence of Army and RAF personnel. They came from Scotland and further afield.

In 1911 we can identify about 175 people working on the Dockyard, plus a further 240 relatives and dependents. 415 in total (total population was 1357).
In 1921 there are 80 Dockyard-related workers, plus 157 dependents. 227 in total (total population was 1377)

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Occupations

The hundreds of individual occupations recorded in the census records have been grouped into a number of categories to make it easier to see trends over time.

Household duties and Education

Category All years 1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911 1921 Notes
Household Duties 420 0 51 14 17 18 7 4 0 309 Poorly recorded until 1921
Infants 798 57 68 77 80 68 90 90 121 147 Under 5’s
Students 1365 0 125 117 91 115 172 197 299 249 Not recorded in 1841, surge from 1901 – Bridge, Dockyard, & Military
Teachers 29 2 1 3 1 2 2 5 6 7 New teachers were required by the increase in students

 

Independent

Category All years 1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911 1921 Notes
Independent 99 25 17 6 1 10 14 10 16 0 Living in Annuities or on Private Incomes

 

Low volume traditional occupations with little growth or decline

Category All years 1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911 1921 Notes
Hotel 32 2 5 4 5 3 2 2 5 4 The “Albert” and the “Roxburgh Arms”
Spirits 9 3 1 0 1 0 1 3 0 0 Independent spirit dealers in 1841 and 1851}
Post 23 1 2 0 2 2 0 4 7 5
Religion 12 0 0 0 2 1 2 2 4 1 Ministers and missionaries
Police 10 1 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 0
Miner 5 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 3 Miners tended to live next to the pits

 

Higher volume traditional occupations

Category All years 1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911 1921 Notes
Land 124 8 14 22 14 13 18 14 11 10 Farmers, gardeners and a few land-owners
Quarry 575 7 93 56 56 90 42 82 92 57 Numbers increased in 1901 and 1911 – Forth Bridge and Rosyth Dockyard
Maritime 186 29 23 17 14 15 18 15 18 37 Ferries, fishermen, boatmen
Coastguard 41 0 6 6 8 6 5 6 4 0
Labourer 350 0 21 22 32 6 24 38 131 76 A big influx in 1911 – building Rosyth Dockyard
Tradesperson 522 19 25 34 24 19 41 74 145 141 A big influx from 1911 – building Rosyth Dockyard
Servant 351 32 22 36 27 36 46 53 40 59 Numbers matched the overall growth in population

 

New and growing opportunities

Category All years 1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911 1921 Notes
Shop 107 7 9 10 5 6 13 10 20 27
Professional 100 9 0 6 8 4 4 9 22 38 Engineers, accountants, draughtsmen – Rosyth Dockyard
Factory 84 1 0 1 1 1 2 25 31 22 Linen workers and Caldwell’s Paper Mill-
Railway 48 0 0 0 0 5 7 7 12 17 Steady increase with the growth of the railways

 

Military personnel

Category All years 1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911 1921 Notes
Army 104 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 30 73 }
RAF 47 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 47 } A sudden influx of Military personnel at the outbreak of WWI
Royal Navy 18 0 0 6 0 0 0 1 0 11 }

 

Not working

Category All years 1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911 1921 Notes
None 1539 257 97 147 159 128 165 221 330 35 A high number in 1841 – no Scholars or Household Duties were recorded
Retired 48 1 7 8 3 3 4 8 13 1
Pauper 10 0 9 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Unemployed 4 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 1 0
Invalid 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1

Total numbers

Category All years 1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911 1921 Notes
Total 7066 461 599 593 556 555 681 885 1359 1377

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Names

Female names

Here are the top ten female names for each decade from 1841 to 1921.

Rank 1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911 1921
1 Margaret Margaret Margaret Mary Mary Mary Mary Mary Margaret
2 Janet Janet Janet Margaret Janet Margaret Margaret Margaret Mary
3 Eliza Elizabeth Mary Janet Margaret Elizabeth Elizabeth Janet Janet
4 Ann Mary Elizabeth Elizabeth Elizabeth Janet Janet Elizabeth Elizabeth
5 Mary Agnes Agnes Isabella Isabella Isabella Isabella Isabella Isabella
6 Helen Isabella Isabella Agnes Agnes Jane Catherine Annie Annie
7 Isabella Ann Jane Catherine Ann Helen Jessie Catherine Agnes
8 Jane Helen Ann Jane Jane Christina Jane Helen Jane
9 Christine Jane Helen Ann Catherine Jessie Christina Agnes Catherine
10 Agnes Christina Christina Euphemia Helen Agnes Agnes Jessie Helen

 
There are a total of 265 female first names
You can view the full listing of female names ranked by frequency
and the full listing of female names in alphabetical order

Male names

And the top ten male names in each decade from 1841 to 1921.

Rank 1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911 1921
1 John John John John John John John John William
2 James James James James James William William William John
3 William William William William William James James James James
4 David Thomas Robert Robert Robert Robert Robert Robert Robert
5 Robert Robert Alexander Alexander Alexander Thomas Alex George Thomas
6 Alex Alexander Thomas Thomas Thomas Alexander Thomas Thomas George
7 Thomas Andrew David David George George George David David
8 George David Andrew George David David Andrew Alex Alexander
9 Andrew George George Peter Andrew Andrew David Charles Peter
10 Charles Peter Peter Andrew Henry Henry Peter Peter Andrew

There are a total of 187 male first names
You can view the full listing of male names ranked by frequency
and the full listing of male name in alphabetical order
 

Family Names

Here are the top twenty family names for each decade from 1841 to 1921.
While first names reflect changes in fashion, family names chart the comings and goings of individual families.

Rank 1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911 1921
1 Brown Anderson Anderson Brown Syme Clark Dowie Brown Ogg
2 McRitchie Brown Brown Anderson Brown Mitchell Brown Bald Brown
3 Anderson McRitchie Beveridge Penny Bald Dowie Wilson Ogg Anderson
4 Robertson Bell Wilson McRitchie Mitchell Brown Anderson Hunter Moore
5 Purvis Johnston McRitchie Taylor Anderson Mill Hunter Anderson Robertson
6 Bell Collier Taylor Keir Duff Syme Ogg Stewart Dowie
7 Paterson Beveridge Collier Syme Steel Barclay Duff Dowie Hutchison
8 Gray Pringle Knox Reith Dowie Hunter Clark Bell Thomson
9 Seggie McLean Baxter Chalmers Clark Anderson Thomson Horn Smith
10 Mitchell Scott Seaton Beveridge Horn Ogg Bell Smith Cunningham
11 Roxburgh Jeffrey McLean Martin Robb Davidson Martin Proudfoot Bald
12 Inglis Patterson Davidson Quick MacGregor Wilson Carmichael Todd Miller
13 Johnstone Malcolm Cameron Knox Cameron Adamson Syme Millar Stewart
14 Cunningham Steedman Syme Cameron Mack Lindsay Horn Syme Roberts
15 Malcolm Craig Keir Muir Gray Thomson Makepeace Moore Sinclair
16 Frater Bain Duff Mack McGee Scott Robertson Hutchison Watson
17 Collier Grant Ramsay Maggee Ogg Simpson Morrison Wilson Burns
18 Mason Doig Pringle Mitchel Munro Smith Etherington Davidson Neilson
19 Thomson Cowie Scott Bain Reith Clarkson Adamson Dow Wilson
20 Beath Raith Patterson McCallum Knox Wallace Allan Clark Mitchell

 

There are a total of 904 family names
You can view the full listing of family names ranked by frequency
and the full listing of family names in alphabetical order

Names from the Census Records lists all of the Christian names, followed by all of the Surnames, in the records from 1841 to 1921.