UK counts population of almost 11-million

March 10 1801 — The UK conducts its first detailed, national census. Census taking goes back to ancient times, with both the Romans and the kingdom of Dál Riata recording tax assessments. England’s first formal census was done in 1086 when William I wanted to know who lived where and who owned what. Scribes listed more than 13,000 places in England and parts of Wales in the survey, which still holds legal value today. William used the information in the “Domesday Book” to calculate taxes and available military resources. In 1798 English government official and statistician John Rickman (pictured) wrote an article outlining the usefulness in conducting a census. He presented 12 reasons, stating “the intimate knowledge of any country must form the rational basis of legislation and diplomacy” and “an industrious population is the basic power and resource of any nation, and therefore its size needs to be known”. One worry was that food supplies would not be able to keep up with the nation’s apparently growing population. Another major reason was to find out how many men were available to defend the seas and fight in the Napoleonic Wars. The Census Act was passed in 1800. Starting on March 10 1801, the first ever detailed, national survey is carried out in two parts. Schoolmasters and local “Overseers of the Poor” go house-to-house gathering details on household numbers, occupations, baptisms, marriages and burials. The population of England, Wales and Scotland is found to be almost 11-million. Ireland is not included until 1821.