http://www.ayecan.com/ for more on Scots and the 2011 Census

http://www.urbandictionary.com/ to be used until Google Translate does Scots-> English!

There's an interesting article on the BBC website today about the differences between the 1911 census and the 2011 census. Although it talks about the 'UK' census I'm sure it is referring to the 1911 census on England and Wales as there are some differences. Foremost at the moment is that the 1911 census for England and Wales has been released while we have to wait a couple of months for the Scottish one!

However, the differences it highlights between the 1911 and 2011 census are interesting e.g.

• In 1911 the census fitted on one sheet of paper. This year it will fill up about 30 pages
• The husband was automatically the Head of the household - not sure if that would be tolerated today!
• The language used to describe infirmity e.g. imbecile, lunatic feels uncomfortable

Ultimately though the purposes of the censuses remain the same - it is important to find out how many people are in your country. What remains to be seen is that will 2011 be the last census undertaken in the UK?

Almost on a daily basis Archive.org seem to have more and more digitised copies of the National Library of Scotland's collection - the current count stands at 3,069 items!

I have only looked at fraction of what is available but I have spent a fair amount of time on Pigot and Co.'s national commercial directory for the whole of Scotland and the Isle of Man. This particular edition was published in 1837 and not only does it contain lists of the higher status members of each area and tradesmen but also contains a 'gazatteer' type description of the area.

I came across this particular edition while searching for ancestors of a friend who came from Pitsligo and Rosehearty. There are a variety of file formats that are available that can either be downloaded or read online and all verions can by searched by keyword.

What other commercial directories have you found useful?

While researching the history of my house in Edinburgh I came across this fantastic resource which lists all pupils who attended Edinburgh Academy from its foundation in 1824 to 1914. It is out of copyright and can be found in various formats at the Internet Archive.

Entry for physicist and mathematician, James Clerk Maxwell

It lists information about the pupils' achievements both in school and also after leaving school in addition in gives information about parents and wives. The PDF version is fully searchable.

Entry for author, Robert Louis Stevenson

A document I recently came across while doing some researching for a friend was the Farm Horse Tax returns. They are a valuable resource for anyone in search of their rural ancestors to find a hidden gem, because they name tenant farmers, who can be difficult to find otherwise. The tax was introduced in 1797 raised to help the war effort against the French and was abandoned soon after. The returns for the whole of Scotland can now be searched free online at the Scotlands Places website

There were several other taxes introduced into Scotland in the late 17th and 18th centuries including:

• Hearth Tax
• Poll Tax
• Window Tax
• Cart Tax
• Shop tax
• Carriage Tax
• Dog Tax
• Clock and Watch tax
• Male and Female Servant Tax

The National Library of Scotland has a fantastic collection of early photographs taken in Scotland Belgium, Italy and Malta.

St. John's Chapel, West End Princes Street, Edinburgh.

Photographed by Hugh Lyon Tennent (1817-1874) and Robert Tennent (1813-1890)

These two albums of the Edinburgh Calotype Club, the first photographic club in the world, are among the earliest photograph albums in the world ever assembled. They contain over 300 images by a group of pioneering Scottish photographers working in Edinburgh and St. Andrews.

South Street, St. Andrews.

Photographed by Hugh Lyon Tennent (1817-1874) and Robert Tennent (1813-1890)

The calotype process was discovered by William Henry Fox Talbot; Talbot’s friends coined the term Talbotype. The calotype process was novel in a number of ways. It can be regarded as a direct forerunner of modern photography with its use of both a negative and a positive; the paper negative was the earliest process to allow the manufacture of several prints and it was also the first paper process- its predecessor, the daguerreotype, primarily used for portraiture, was printed onto a silvered copper surface.

William Henry Fox Talbot (1800 - 1877)

The albums can be browsed or searched and contain a number of images taken around Edinburgh, Fife and Ayrshire.

While researching using the 1841 Scottish Census I came across the abbreviation "F S" under profession. As I was not sure what this was I did a quick search online and came across this useful list of commonly used abbreviations in a rootschat.com forum here.

These are the official abbreviations used in the censuses:

Ag. Lab. 1841-81 Agricultural labourer
Ap. 1841-61 Apprentice
Army 1841 Members of HM land forces of whatever rank
Cl. 1841-61 Clerk
FS. 1841 Female servant
H.P. 1841 Members of HM armed forces on half-pay
HLW 1841 Hand loom weaver (followed by silk, cotton etc for material they work in)
FWK 1841 Frame work knitter
Ind. 1841 Independent - people living on their own means
J. 1841 Journeyman
M. 1841 Manufacturer
m. 1841 Maker - as in 'Shoe m.'
MS 1841 Male servant
Navy 1841 Members of HM naval forces, including marines,
of whatever rank
P. 1841 Pensioners in HM armed forces
Rail Lab. 1851 Railway labourer
Serv. 1861 Servant
Sh. 1841 Shopman

Are there any others that you know of?