Fàilte! (Welcome!)

Fàilte! (Welcome!)
This blog is the result of my ongoing research into the people, places and events that have shaped the Western Isles of Scotland and, in particular, the 'Siamese-twins' of Harris and Lewis.
My interest stems from the fact that my Grandfather was a Stornowegian and, until about four years ago, that was the sum total of my knowledge, both of him and of the land of his birth.
I cannot guarantee the accuracy of everything that I have written (not least because parts are, perhaps, pioneering) but I have done my best to check for any errors.
My family mainly lived along the shore of the Sound of Harris, from An-t-Ob and Srannda to Roghadal, but one family 'moved' to Direcleit in the Baighs...

©Copyright 2011 Peter Kerr All rights reserved

Sunday 30 May 2010

North Harris Demographics

This is a somewhat crude (but careful!) look at the population of North Harris (as defined for census purposes) from 1881 onwards.


Please not that these are the results of a fairly rough interrogation of a database so the figures are meant for indicative purposes only.

1881
2929 people, 1469 (50%) male, 1463 (50%) female
551Households 447 (81%) male, 104 (19%) female

1891
3120 people, 1479 (47%) male, 1656 (53%) female
555 Households 425 (77%) male, 132 (23%) females

1901
3312 people, 1543 (47%) male, 1788 (53%) female
679 Households 511(75%) male, (25%) 171 female

Three things strike me:


1)The growth in the population of North Harris of 22%.
2)The decline in the proportion of men in the first decade.
3)The increase in the proportion of households headed by women is surely of significance.


It would take a far more detailed analysis to reveal precisely what was taking place over these two decades but clearly 'something' led to the changes that I have described.
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4 comments:

  1. ADB30 May 2010 at 22:04

    Quite a few of the villages of North Harris have become depopulated over the years. Could you find out more about places like Molinginish?

    ReplyDelete
  2. direcleit30 May 2010 at 22:40

    Quite tricky with the spelling variations, but here are some figures: 1841 57, 1861 32, 1881 39, 1891 22.

    ReplyDelete
  3. direcleit30 May 2010 at 23:00

    There were 10 'Heads' of households in 1881 which correlates with the 1882 map: http://www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/search_item/index.php?service=RCAHMS&id=133891

    1861 6, 1891 7 - Hope that helps!

    ReplyDelete
  4. ADB31 May 2010 at 23:25

    Many thanks. It's a pity that comparable data for South Pairc (the two dozen deserted villages) are not available.

    ReplyDelete

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