1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911 1921 |
6th June 30th March 7th April 2nd April 3rd April 5th April 31st March 2nd April 19th June |
Sunday Sunday Sunday Sunday Sunday Sunday Sunday Sunday Sunday |
To download a census transcript in searchable Excel format click on the year in the table below
.
|
Year | People | Dwellings | Notes |
Transcribed by
|
1776 | 936 | 197 | The earliest known 'census' of Coll is the List of Inhabitants of The Island of Coll of 2nd December 1776, made by the local church minister, which was entered in the Coll Kirk Session records. |
Flora MacDonald & Linda Temple |
1841 | 1,414 | 269 | In the 1841 census ages up to 15 were recorded correctly but ages above 15 were rounded down to the nearest 5 year multiple, e.g. ages 15-19 were recorded as 15, ages 20-24 as 20, and so on. Included in the official census records was a report by Mr Alexander Stewart, the local schoolteacher appointed to manage the 1841 census in Coll. | Keith Dash |
1851 | 1,106 | 244 | In the 10 years from 1841 to 1851 the population in Coll fell by 22%. This marked the beginning of the evictions of cottar families and the leasing of farms to 'incomer' tenants, with evicted families having to emigrate to the mainland or further afield to British colonies overseas. The 1841 and 1851 censuses have special significance for the descendants of these Collach emigrants because they are often the last homeland record of their ancestors. | Ian Scott |
1861 | 777 | 186 | Evictions continued after 1851, and by 1861 Coll's population was about half that in 1841. The proportion of 'incomers', i.e. people not born in Coll, had increased to 28%. | Ian Scott |
1871 | 722 | 160 | The population of Coll continued to decline after 1861 but at a slower rate than in the 1841-1861 period. This census recorded, for the first time, the number of windowed rooms in each dwelling (i.e. rooms with one or more windows). | Keith Dash |
1881 | 634 | 131 | The data for this transcript were extracted from the LDS Family History Resource File of the 1881 British census and the official (GRO) census records. |
Ann Hentschel & Keith Dash |
1891 | 522 | 115 | This census recorded for the first time the language(s) spoken by each person: Gaelic only, Gaelic and English, or English only: 24% of people in Coll spoke Gaelic only and 51% spoke Gaelic and English. Gaelic was the home language and children learnt English after they went to school. Most 'incomers' from the mainland spoke English only. | Keith Dash |
1901 | 432 | 101 | This census collected the same information as in 1891, i.e. name, age, birthplace, marital status, occupation, language spoken, and the number of windowed rooms in the dwelling. | Keith Dash |
1911 | 389 | 97 | This census collected the same information as in 1901 and in addition recorded personal information about married women: the number of years married, the number of children born live, and the number of children still living. | Keith Dash |
1921 | 383 | 85 | This census was postponed from April until June due to the nationwide General Strike. Due to the summer date of the 1921 census, mass displacement of the population occurred as people travelled from their usual residences to holiday destinations across Scotland and the wider UK. The impact of the First World War and the Great Influenza epidemic, commonly referred to as the ‘Spanish Flu’, were reflected in changes to the questions asked in the 1921 census. New questions relating to the population of young people were introduced, the number of orphans living at each address were surveyed for the first time and asked whether the father, mother or both parents were deceased, and the number of dependent children within a household. The question on infirmity was removed, but a new question asking whether individuals were eligible for benefit under the National Insurance Act 1911 was included. This was introduced to help calculate sick pay and unemployment in some industries. Information regarding an individual’s place of work and details of their employer were also asked in the Scottish 1921 census. | Flo Straker |