Perth, Scotland, Survey of Inhabitants, 1766, 1773

This database contains two 18th-century surveys taken in the burgh of Perth, Scotland, most likely for tax purposes. The 1766 survey provides names for heads of families only, but also lists occupation and includes data on age and gender of children, servants, lodgers, and religious affiliation. Note that a 2 in the column for “No. of Heads of Families” indicates a husband and a wife, though the spouse’s name is not listed.

On 11 January 1773, the magistrates and town council of Perth ordered landlords within the burgh “and liberties thereof, betwixt and Candlemas next, to give in at the Town Clerk’s Office, a figured account, or list of their Tenants, and Sub-tenants and their Families, and their occupations, and from what county and parish they came.” Merchants and craftsmen were also to supply a list of their “journeymen, apprentices, and men Servants.” Unlike the 1766 survey, there was no standard form for these records, and many appear as short letters or notes. Sometimes wives’ names are not included, though the parish a wife came from may be.

Typewritten indexes for both surveys were created from the original records and are included in the database. These list name and occupation.