The "deaf, dumb, imbecile" part of the 1911 census

[Ahmed_U]

Hi Evie,

Yes, that is exactly what I was thinking. Do you have any idea of (very) approximately what percentage of people would be classified as having a "disability" in say the 1901 census? I mean, if I was to look at 50 households, and say 5 households had an x in the column for some persons, and none of the 50 households had no other writing in that column, would this mean that the 'x' probably meant disability, as one would expect at least someone from 50 households to be disabled?

Thank you.

[Preshous]

Ahmed I have looked at thousands of pre 1911 census and it it is rare to see any entry in the column so if it changes to x in 1911 then I would be very wary. I can't wait until they make the 1911 census available for Durham then I could answer your question for sure.

[davidft]

Prehous,

The census in question here is 1901 not 1911 (Ahmed made a mistake in the title) so the x's in the extract are from 1901.

You will not be able to see the information on disabilities in the 1911 census until 2012 as the Govt has imposed a 100 year embargo on that part of the 1911 census

[Evie]

Hi

I wouldn't like to hazard a guess regarding percentage. Interesting question though. I wonder if anyone has done any statistics on it?

[Tati]

Welcome to RootsChat Ahmed  

You often see X in that column (defo a check mark!) for people born out of the county. Were they?

 

[Pels.]

Hi Ahmed,

The same applied to the family of my paternal great grandparents in 1901.

Like you .. I was very concerned at the time, and also quite surprised it referred to only the parents .. the mark appeared to be the number 4?

Then it dawned on me .. when I looked at the previous and following pages, all the people who weren't born in county had exactly the same mark .. it was a cross and not as I'd first thought .. !

Pels.

Snap Tati .. ! 

[Ahmed_U]

Hi Tati, Pels,

Ah! Yes, the husband and wife were born near Huntingdon, as was their eldest daughter. Then they moved to Salford later on. That explains it!!!

Many thanks to you all, this is a most helpful forum, and I am sure I will be returning to ask more questions in the future as I carry on with my research! 

[Preshous]

Prehous,

The census in question here is 1901 not 1911 (Ahmed made a mistake in the title) so the x's in the extract are from 1901.

You will not be able to see the information on disabilities in the 1911 census until 2012 as the Govt has imposed a 100 year embargo on that part of the 1911 census

Sorry Davidft my mistake getting late now, tired eyes syndrome taking hold.

[Gaie]

Hi All!

The 'x's on the sheet look like they were written with a different pen and were probably added after the sheet was originally filled in, in other words, they look like statistical counting and not part of the original information.  My instinct is to ignore them  

Prehous, you're right about earlier censuses, usually that column doesn't have any marks in it apart from specifying the disability; but the 1901 census sheets do seem to be plagued with these marks - statistical research must have taken off in a big way at that time, yawn ..... 

Kind regards
Gaie