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

South Harris Demographics

This is a somewhat crude (but careful!) look at the population of South 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
1495 people, 748 (50%) male, 749 (50%) female
303 Households 228 (75%) male, 75 (25%) female

1891
1563 people, 748 (48%) male, 822 (52%) female
305 Households 226 (74%( male, (26%) 81 female

1901
1509 people, 691 (46%) male, (54%) 831 female
331 Households 234 (71%) male, 97 (29%) female

Three things strike me:


1)The relatively stable population of South Harris, averaging 1527 people.
2)The decline in the proportion of men - 0.2% per annum is remarkable
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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