The Census (Great Britain) Act 1900 (63 & 64 Vict. c.4), long title An Act for taking the Census for Great Britain in the year one thousand nine hundred and one, was an

Act of Parliament Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...

of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

, given the Royal Assent on 27 March 1900 and since repealed. It laid down the methods for taking the

United Kingdom Census 1901 The United Kingdom Census 1901 was the 11th nationwide census conducted in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and was done on 31st March 1901 "relating to the persons returned as living at midnight on Sunday, March 31st". The total p ...

, providing that it would take place on Sunday the 31st of March and be administered by the

Local Government Board The Local Government Board (LGB) was a British Government supervisory body overseeing local administration in England and Wales from 1871 to 1919. The LGB was created by the Local Government Board Act 1871 (C. 70) and took over the public health a ...

. The information to be recorded was broadly the same as in previous years - the name, sex, age, occupation, marital status, birthplace, and nationality where appropriate, along with the relation to the head of the family, for every person staying in that house on the night of the census day. If any of these people were "blind or deaf and dumb, or imbecile or lunatic" this was to be recorded. Information was, as usual, also to be gathered from aboard ship, as well as in prisons, hospitals, workhouses, asylums, etc. A limited amount of information on housing was also gathered; if the occupier lived in less than five rooms, they were to state the number of rooms occupied. In Scotland, the number of rooms in each dwelling which possessed windows, inclusive of the kitchen, was to be recorded. The information was to be held by the

Registrar General General Register Office or General Registry Office (GRO) is the name given to the civil registry in the United Kingdom, many other Commonwealth nations and Ireland. The GRO is the government agency responsible for the recording of vital recor ...

, who would compile a preliminary report within five months and a full report as soon as practicable. The Act only applied in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

- England, Scotland and Wales - with the Irish census provided for by a separate Act, the Census (Ireland) Act 1900. There were, however, some small differences in the way the census was to be handled in each. In

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

and Monmouth each person above the age of three was to state if they spoke Welsh or English, or a mixture of both. In Scotland, the relevant authorities were the Secretary of State for Scotland and the

Registrar General for Scotland The General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) ( gd, Oifis Choitcheann a' Chlàraidh na h-Alba) was a non-ministerial directorate of the Scottish Government that administered the registration of births, deaths, marriages, divorces and adopti ...

, and each person above the age of three was to state if they spoke Gaelic or English, or a mixture of both. The Act was repealed in part by the

Statute Law Revision Act 1908 The Statute Law Revision Act 1908 (8 Edw 7 c 49) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It repealed the whole or part of Acts, from the Consolidated Fund (No. 1) Act, 1887 to the Appropriation Act, 1900. This Act was repealed for t ...

, with the residue repealed by the

Statute Law Revision Act 1950 The Statute Law Revision Act 1950 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. This Act was partly in force in Great Britain at the end of 2010. The enactments which were repealed (whether for the whole or any part of the United Kingdom) ...

References

*''The public general acts passed in the sixty-third and sixty-third and sixty-fourth years of the reign of her majesty Queen Victoria''. London: printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1900. *''Chronological table of the statutes''; HMSO, London. 1993. {{Census in the United Kingdom United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1900 Repealed United Kingdom Acts of Parliament Censuses in the United Kingdom Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning Great Britain