On Sunday, June 7, 1841, the census taker made his rounds through the village of Clachan, collecting data from each household. He was now entering Cregnavullin, a small area inside the village of Clachan. Archie Darroch, Mary Milloy, and five of their eight children were there. Mary had been gravely ill for three weeks.
Like others in the Parish, the Darroch home observed the Sabbath as a day of rest, so Archie's loom would have been still. The enumerator was in the area and would soon approach the Darroch house. The events may have unfolded something like this...
The Darroch family had attended church, where Archie had fulfilled his duties as precentor. Mary did not attend, for she was convalescing from her illness. After lunch, while Archie was reading to the family from the scriptures, a knock came on the door. Letting Mary rest, Archie rose to answer it. He opened it to see a studious-looking man wearing spectacles. When he saw Archie, his eyes lit up with recognition.
"Mr. Darroch! I recognize you from the kirk. You are our precentor!"
"Yes, I am. I'm sorry, sir, you have the advantage of me. You are...?"
"Oh, of course. You're the only one at the precentor's desk, while I am one of hundreds in the congregation. I am Robert Harstone, the district enumerator. I have come to collect the census for your house."
"You've come to collect the census have ye? More like preparing to raise my taxes and conscript our sons, I'd say."
Mr. Harstone smiled weakly. He scrutinized Archie's face to discern if he was serious or joking.
Archie could see Robert's discomfort, so ended it by saying, "Don't worry. I'll get the papers."
"Did you have any questions filling in the forms?"
"Was I to put my wife's surname down as Darroch or Milloy?"
"Darroch is fine. So, she was a Milloy, was she? Not many Milloys around here anymore."
Hearing her family name, Mary got up from her sickbed and made her way to the kitchen. "Yes, I am one of the few Milloys standing--and mostly laying lately. My folks and siblings all went to Upper Canada. My brother and I are the only ones left."
"Mmm. My sister and brother-in-law moved to Wellington County. They say opportunity abounds."
"Wellington County? That's where we plan to go. My folks are arranging for us to come."
Mary winced at her own words. There wasn't really a plan or any arrangements. She had asked her Mom for help but had not heard from her in months. Besides, Archie was bent on staying in Clachan.
The enumerator smiled. "When do you plan to leave?"
Archie didn't like where this conversation was going, so he interrupted. "Our daughter Kate works as a servant at Ronachan House, but I didn't count her here. I was careful to only record those who slept here last night."
The enumerator could sense Archie wanted to get back to business. "Correct. I'll be going to Ronachan House soon and will ensure they included your daughter there."
When the enumerator left, Archie closed the door and slowly turned around. Mary had already returned to the bedroom. He needn't say anything, for he wanted her to rest. Besides, she already knew his mind on emigrating.
Mary lay on the bed, her pulse racing. Mr. Harstone's words, "Not many Milloys around here anymore," reminded her of how much she missed her family. Her old desire to emigrate welled up inside her again. She resolved to send another letter to her mother as soon as she had the strength to do so.
Of course, we will never know the exact conversations that took place as Mr. Harstone collected the 1841 Census from the Darrochs. It does, however, contain facts on which to draw and offers context on what life was like. The 1841 Census collected the following information:
Place (name of village, street, square, close, etc.)
Name of each person that had spent the night in that household
Age
Profession or occupation
Where born
The form was distributed the first week of June for the head of each household to fill out. Failure to comply earned "a fine of not less than 40 shillings" and as high as two pounds sterling (about $340 - $850 Canadian in today's currency). For comparison, refusing to complete our Canadian Census can be up to $500.
If the enumerator made no transcription errors, the names were preserved as the family had spelled them (not that that was always correct or consistent). Responses were to reflect individuals' status as of the night of 6/7 June 1841 for all who were in the house. People traveling were enumerated at the location where they spent the night.
In this vignette, I portrayed Archie as somewhat cynical of the census. When originally tabled in 1753, many people violently opposed the Bill fearing it might be used for a subversive end. One Member of Parliament stated, "...the addition of a very few words will make it the most effectual engine of rapacity and oppression that was ever used against an injured people." Many suspected the government would use the census for conscription, and that in the wrong hands, it would "acquaint our enemies abroad with our weakness."
In spite of the wealth of information collected, there are some curiosities about the census. Archie recorded his age as 50 even though he had already turned 53. That was not an error, but the result of the instruction to round down (to the nearest 5 years) the age of anyone over 15. Archie recorded Mary as 45, which gives a clue about her year of birth. Other sources estimate it as 1797. If that were so, she would not yet have turned 45. Recording her age as 45 implies she had already had her 45th birthday, so must have been born before June 7, 1796.
Enumerators collected the individual forms from each household on Sunday, June 7. They then copied the details into books to be sent to the Registrar General's office in London. I was hoping to obtain a sample of Archie's handwriting but learned the original householders' schedules were destroyed. The handwriting in the excerpt above is of Robert Harstone, who attested to his work in his signed statement below.
In addition to the enumerators' signatures, the Parish minister also signed off on it. In this case, it was Reverend John MacArthur who attested to its accuracy.
As I research and document our family history, I am so grateful for the 1841 Census. It has corroborated much information we heard about our ancestors and unearthed facts that had faded away over the generations. It greatly enlightened Frank Darroch about his great-grandparents and their family and was a catalyst to writing his red book (A Darroch Family in Scotland and in Canada). In the 1960s, Frank posted letters to Scotland and waited weeks to obtain the information. We can get the same information today with the click of a mouse.
PS: Robert Harstone did indeed find Kate (Catherine) Darroch working at Ronachan House, west of Clachan. She was not simply visiting, for she is listed as "F.S." which stands for female servant. The record shows her name as "Cathrine." I had originally thought the missing 'e' reflected an error in spelling. It appears, however, that it may have been Mr. Harstone's preferred spelling of the name. His enumeration district included several individuals named "Cathrine" and not one was spelled with an 'e' in the middle. You can see Kate's record here.
References: 1. About 1841 Scotland Census, Ancestry.com, retrieved May 8, 2021
2. Significant developments in the scope and organisation of the census, retrieved May 11, 2021