Antigonish County 1891 Nova Scotia Census Project Forword
GEORGE N. McINNIS, Genealogist
gmcinnis@apc.net
FOREWORD:
During a number of years of genealogical research in Eastern Nova
Scotia, I have often wished for some kind of Index, to facilitate
faster access to the Census Records. Finally, I decided to do it!
The task began, with the 1881 Inverness and Antigonish County
census, with the eventual objective of also doing Guysborough,
Richmond, Cape Breton, and Victoria Counties, and to include all
the Census 1871 and subsequent, as they become available.
During the work, the 1891 census was released. It
has the advantage of showing "relationships", and has
been given priority.
It would have been desireable to re-check accuracy, but the choice
was between the alternatives of greater perfection, versus the
risk of leaving the task uncompleted, as old age is gaining on me.
Having made the necessary practical choice, indulgence is
solicited for such errors as have crept in.
OVERVIEW:
What has been done, is this:
1. The entire County Census has been transcribed from
microfilm at the local Later-Day-Saint (Mormon) Library.
Their assistance and cooperation are gratefully acknowledged
a. The microfilm was of fair quality, and the film readers
of the excellent "zoom-lens" type. Even so, there may be
errors from reading a scratch as data, or smudges, or
blots, etc. The photography of the 1891 Census is
inferior to previous efforts.
b. One becomes keenly aware of the luxury of handwriting,
as compared with typing! The Census Enumerator could (and
occasionally did) scribble when he got a name he did not
know; but it must be typed using the 26 letters of the
alphabet. The written letters were interpreted as they
appeared - right or wrong. Sometimes it seemed that the
enumerator made a simple, recognizable error, and it was
tempting to "make it right". So far as possible, that
temptation was resisted, but some obvious gross errors
were corrected.
c. The clarity of the handwriting of the Census
Enumerators varied widely. In some Districts, the
handwriting is almost undecipherable.
d. Being of Scotch descent, most of the Scotch names were
familiar, which is most helpful when trying to decipher a
scribble. However, some guesses in the French areas will
be inadequate, and possibly hilarious!
2. The second phase was to transfer hand-written copies to a
computer "Data Base", which is then sorted into two
sequences: Family (Census, or "as enumerated" sequence),
and Last Name/First Name. (Alpha sequence). Finally, the
entire County is combined, and alphabetized.
Here is the result. Hopefully, it will be helpful in
leading you to the records that interest you. It would be
wise to look at the actual records, to assure your own
accuracy, after you have located your people here.
PHILOSOPHY:
One must make a number of decisions and judgments, in planning how
to transcribe a Census. Here are the major decisions:
1. Index vs. full-listing. A name-only Index, would have
been a much smaller work. But, in the Counties of interest
there were so many persons of the same name, that a name-only
Index was not much of a gain over the raw census. Thus, the
decision to make a full listing. [1871, 81, 91].
2. The Census lists "Habitations" under the categories:
Vessels", "Shanties", "Houses Under Construction", "Houses
Uninhabited" and "Houses Inhabited" For these reports, they
are combined into a single category "Dwelling". With this
exception, ALL of the enumeration data is included, although
in condensed, coded format. Enumerators sometimes added newsy
little notes, and these usually are included, as space allows.
[1871, 81, 91]
3. The Census displays a number of check-marks and similar
markings, apparently made during the totalling process; these
may have been mis-interpreted as data. This is especially
true on the right-hand side of the enumeration sheet, where
"Infirmities" are listed, co-mingled with "counting checks'.
Possibly a "counting check" has been mis-interpreted as an
Enumeration Entry, and thus your grand-uncle is listed
incorrectly as of "unsound mind". If so, apologies are
extended! [1871, 81, 91]
4. It is apparent that the Census was gone over, after the
enumeration was completed, and some entries were altered. This
is especially noticeable under "Occupation", where a two
letter code is often inserted, both where the enumerator
listed an occupation, and in many instances where no
occupation is listed. The code is listed in the rightmost end
of the "Occupation" field; an "INDEX of Small Occupation
Codes" is attached. It may be possible to infer a missing
"Occupation" via the code. [1891 only]
5. There is a code, entered by the Enumerator somewhat
randomly, in the area designated for "Dwellings". The entries
are only made opposite Heads of Households, and are in the
form "W 1/4" or "W 2/5". It is assumed that this is intended
to convey that "W 1/4" is a wood-construction, one story, four
room house; and that "W 2/5" is a wood-construction, two
story, five room house. "S", for Shanty, was enumerated in
the column titled "Shanty", and when it occurs, there is no
"W-code". A "W-code" of "S 2/5" would be a 2-story stone
house with 5 rooms. [1891 only]
6. Entries under "Relationship to Head of Family" vary widely
between enumerators. Some only gave relationship if the
person was a member of the Head's immediate family; others
entered relationship of grand-children, cousins, aunts, etc.
The children of a married son living with his parents, might
be listed as grand-children (the relationship to the Head), or
as children of the son. In many cases, especially when the
relationship was listed as "Dom" (Domestic), the entry has
been scribbled over with "mb", the meaning of which remains
obscure, but perhaps means "member" of the family. [1891 only]
NOTES:
1. Spelling. For a variety of reasons, there are alternate
spellings of the same basic name. Accordingly, the user
of this listing should consider the possible alternatives,
when using the alphabetized list.
a. There were differences between the way different
enumerators spelled a name.
Catherine Catharine Catherin Katherin
Flora Florah Floria
McAskill McKaskill
McFayden McPhayden
Etc.
b. The use of diminutives or nicknames, especially among
younger persons.
Alexander Alex Alex'r Sandy
Donald Dan Danny Dannie
Isabell Bell Belle
Etc.
c. Names which might have been spelled incorrectly, or at
least differently than current usage:
McEachen McEachern McEachran McEachren McKichan
Boyd Boyde
Etc.
d. Some names have "anglecized" versions, and may have
been enumerated in either the "old" version or the
"anglecized" version:
Seonaid = Janet or Jessie
Marcella = Marjorie, etc.
LeBlanc = White
e. It appears possible that the enumerator may have
occasionally inadvertently omitted the "Mc", as when:
Kenzie is enumerated. Was McKenzie meant?
Phail is enumerated. Was McPhail meant?
When suspected, and where possible, this lister
checked against the 1881 Census, and if
appropriate, added the "Mc", together with a
clarifying note. This was done to list the name
in the alpha-lists, where a researcher might
expect to find the name. However, if external
confirmation could NOT be found, the entry was
NOT corrected by adding "Mc".
f. To facilitate rapid data entry, a computer technique
was used to enter with a single keystroke, a longer entry,
such as "occupation". Thus, occupations may be entered
uniformly, not exactly as enumerated, as "farmer" when the
enumerator acutally entered "farming", etc. This
technique WAS NOT used on person's names.
2. Problems with enumerator's handwriting.
a. Some of the handwriting was quite hard to read.
b. Some handwriting is so "colorful", with flourishes and
embellishments, that it is hard to read all the letters,
or perhaps more precisely, it is difficult to eliminate
flourishes that look like letters. I.e. it is often
difficult to tell if one is reading McDougall, or
McDougal, or McDougald. Often, a name ends in an "e",
which might have been intended, or may have been a simple
flourish.
3. Enumeration problems.
a. Some persons who appear to have been husband and wife,
have had the "M" (for "Married") omitted by the
enumerator.
b. It appears that some "occupations" were omitted by
enumerators. Other enumerators found "occupations" for
most every adult.
c. The material reported was not always consistent from
Enumerator to Enumerator. Some gave the bare minimum, or
less; others wanted to enter more than the form
requested.
4. "Mc" and "Mac". There were few instances of "Mac" in the
1891 Census. Where it was used, it was accurately reflected
in this listing, even though it makes a problem in
alphabetizing.
5. "Ditto" marks. Some enumerators used them as we now
understand them. But, others used them simply to fill an
otherwise blank field, in which case it is not possible to
determine when "ditto" means to carry down from the previous
record, and when "ditto" is simply an indicator of a blank
field.
ERRORS: Of course there are errors! And, these should be
corrected, on the basis of this ground-rule: If the census has
been mis-read, that is a "correctable error", an error by this
lister. But, if the Enumerator got the information wrong, that
"error" is not correctable here. The author would appreciate
learning of ANY errors, hopes you understand, and approve.
A PLEA: There is a real need to do this task for ALL of CANADA.
If you have the time and equipment, please undertake a county of
interest. IF WE ALL USE THE SAME FORMAT, someday we will have an
"all Canada" census data base, of tremendous value to future
genealogists. Please help if you can!
What I have used is an IBM-type personal computer, and a
"shareware" ("try it, and if you like it, pay a small fee")
program called "PC-FILE". Any database program would do the
job. e-mail me if you might be interested in helping on this
project.
Inverness County 1891 Nova Scotia Census Main page
Soccgs Home Page
Transcribed by George N. McInnis
soccgs@savoury.net